h The Year I Learned to Love My Brother
THE YEAR I LEARNED TO LOVE MY BROTHER
BY: KEWL DAD




The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely a coincidence. This work of fiction depicts sexual acts between minor males. If reading such is illegal where you reside or you are not of legal age, please go no further.

This work of fiction is the property of the author, Kewl Dad and should not be reposted or reproduced without his permission.
Comments are always welcomed and should be addressed to: kewl_dad1@hotmail.com

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The year I learned to love my brother

By: Kewl Dad

Chapter One
A new friend and a second chance



Hi, my name is Cody Graham and I'm 12. I'm a pretty normal kid. I like sports, video games and texting and Skyping and Facebook. I have brown hair and brown eyes and I'm pretty average body wise except I do work out and have sort of a six pack....okay, maybe a four pack...lol.

I have average parents, my dad is a car salesman at the big GMC dealership out on Route 6 and my mom works part-time at an insurance office so she's home a lot for us. Us being me and my younger brother.

Yeah, I have a younger brother. His name is Danny and he's 10. I remember when he was born, sort of, and I guess I was excited at the thought of having a little brother to play with. That excitement didn't last long though.

I soon found out just how annoying a little brother can be, not to mention the fact that my parents seemed to like him better than me and devote most of their attention to him.

Just to look at us you might not be able to tell we were brothers. I got dad's brown hair and eyes, but Danny got mom's blond hair and blue eyes and I have to admit, her good looks. Everyone always fussed over him and said stuff like, "Oh, he's so cute." "Oh, all the girls will be crazy for him." blah, blah, blah.... and I soon began to hate him.

I know, I know that's not cool and I sort of felt bad about it, but I was only a little kid and Danny was the competition and I wanted him out of the way. 

Of course, that wasn't possible so I did the next best thing, the only thing I could do, I pushed him out of my life and ignored him. Looking back I realize how much I hurt him, actually hurt both of us, but at the time I thought it was the right thing to do.

We had separate rooms back then, which was a good thing, because it would have been hard to ignore someone sleeping a few feet away from you. As it was it was easy. Except for dinner and the occasional family outing I had very little contact with my brother.

We had our own lives you might say, I had my friends and he had his. I played little league and he played soccer and our folks managed to attend both or split up if the games were on the same day. All in all I was pretty happy, but deep inside I guess I had this longing to make things right with my brother, only I was too stubborn and too proud.

I was just about Danny's age when I first figured out that I was different than my buddies. They were starting to notice girls and I went along with the talk and stuff, because I wanted to fit in, but truth was I was more interested in my buddies than girls.

Fortunately some of my buddies were curious about sex and I managed to mess around with a few of them, but none of them seemed as serious about it as I was. I had to be careful, even though no one ever told me that, I just knew that you didn't go around telling the world that you might like guys more than girls. Not even in this day and time when gays can be married and have actual rights. That stuff didn't help you out at school where something like being gay could cause you a whole world of trouble. Not to mention what my folks would think. I was pretty sure my dad would disown me, but also pretty sure my mom wouldn't, but the thought of disappointing either of them caused me to feel all sick inside.

I didn't want to be gay, it was just something that happened somehow, and I knew had no control over it. I've heard that being gay is just something  you're  born with, maybe a special gene or something, but really no one knows for sure why some people turn out that way while most are straight. Sometimes I hated myself for being that way then I'd see a boy at school or at the mall or whatever that was so cute and sexy and I'd forget all about that and just go with my feelings. Not that I got a chance to mess around with guys that much. Sure a few of my buds were open to some playing around, but mostly it was pretty tame. Only once did I actually touch another boy's junk and that was with Thomas, this skinny blond kid that I suspected was gay too. Unfortunately he moved away before I got a chance to find out. The rest of my buds that I messed with were mainly into jerking while we looked at straight porn, or at least they looked at the porn. I was mostly looking at them and that made me come really hard.

I knew there was a lot to gay sex that I didn't understand, but after all I was a kid of the internet and though I knew all the terms and the mechanics of sex, I had yet to do anything about it. That is until just a few months ago.

I guess you're wondering what all this has to do with me suddenly discovering I love my brother, but I'll get to that. First I want to tell you about Bastion.

His real name is Sebastion Thomas Grant, but everyone calls him Bastion, like that kid in The Neverending Story. That's where the comparison ends though. This Bastion is miles above that one. At 5' and 95 pounds he outweighs me by almost ten pounds and is two inches taller than me. He has long brown hair and big blue eyes and a body  that's to die for. He makes me look like a wimp with his ripped body and long muscular legs and on top of that he's the cutest (handsomest) guy I've ever seen. He has dimples at each corner of his mouth and the most kissable lips you'd ever want to see, but of course it was later that I found out just how kissable they were.

He's what adult writers call an Adonis, which I guess is some kind of young God, and though I didn't know exactly what that meant, I guess that's sort of how I saw him after a while.

It was the first day of seventh grade  when we first met. I had just turned twelve a few months before and I was looking forward to  Junior High and making some new friends. Of course a lot of my old friends from grade school were going there too, but the junior high drew in kids from several of the elementary schools in town so there were lots of new faces and Bastion's was one of them.

Maybe if we hadn't had homeroom together and maybe if  we didn't land next to each other because of the alphabet (Graham and Grant) we might never have met and become so close, but who knows. Life is weird and things happen. Bastion calls it karma.

Anyway that first day I checked the seating chart on the blackboard and slid into my seat near the middle and just as I sat down here came this kid I'd never seen before and once he checked the blackboard he headed my way. I noticed right away that he was taller than most of us other boys and he seemed to be more self confident and sure of himself. He was a good looking kid and while the gay part of me took that in and processed it, I figured he was way out of my league as far as friendship of any kind was concerned.  I watched with disinterest as he slid into the seat in front of me and then began looking around to see if any of my old friends were in my homeroom. 

I spotted at least six kids I knew and that made me feel a little better. This was Junior High after all and a guy needed all the friends he could get to make it through. When I turned back around here was the kid in front of me grinning at me and I noticed he had braces.

I figured he was a rich kid since he had braces and sort of figured that was why he looked so self confident and that he was probably stuck up like most rich kids. So I was pretty surprised when he suddenly stuck out his hand, "I'm Sebastion," he said in a soft voice, "but my friends call me Bastion. You can call me Bastion," he added blushing.

I shook his hand and found his grip was firm but his hand was soft and warm and he seemed to hold onto mine for a moment longer than necessary. I sort of perked up a little then and began to look at him in a whole new way.

He was drop dead gorgeous, I decided and looking his body over I could see that he was miles ahead of any of the rest of us as far as development went. I could practically see his muscles ripple beneath his Tommy Hilfiger shirt and I felt a little stirring in my lap.

"I'm Cody," I finally managed to say, "You can call me Cody," I chuckled.

He laughed back and smiled even wider, "Glad to meet you Cody. I'm glad we're alphabetically aligned."

"Huh?"

"Graham and Grant...both our names begin with G so they placed us next to each other."

"Oh...okay, yeah, that's cool. So...what school did you come from?"

"Well until this year I attended school in California. My parents moved here this summer to start a new practice. You see they're both doctors." he said but he didn't sound arrogant or stuck up. In fact he sounded a little sad about it.

"My dad sells Chevies and Cadillacs and my mom works in an insurance office, nothing too exciting," I offered just  to see what he would say.

"Well, perhaps my parents can use your parents services. My father loves Cadillacs and everyone needs insurance."

Was that a rub or was he trying to fit in? I shrugged it off and suddenly the teacher was yelling for us to quiet down and I sort of forgot about him while I paid close attention to the teacher. This was our first year to travel for classes and I guess none of us wanted to screw up so everyone was pretty attentive and the time passed quickly.

When we were dismissed we all headed to our first class and I forgot all about Bastion.  The first three hours went by quickly and I managed to make it to each on time and I was ready for lunch by the time third period Math class was over. The cafeteria is actually in a separate building with the gymnasium and as I headed out the double doors to go outside I heard someone call my name  and when I turned around I saw it was Bastion.

"Hi, hello...remember me?" he said sprinting up and skidding to a stop beside me, "Are you headed to lunch Cody? May I join you?" he asked looking nervous.

What the heck? I decided, it wasn't like I had any better offers and he was fun to look at.

"Sure, come on. I'm starved. I hope the food is better than grade school or I'm gonna start packing a lunch."

He looked grateful and relaxed a little and by the time we got our trays and sat down he was talking as if we were old friends. He told me all about his old school and his interest in martial arts (that's how he got his ripped body) and about his folks and how busy they had been back in California.

"I'm hoping that here they have more free time and don't have to work so hard. They decided to start a practice so they could spread the patients between the two of them. That should give them more free time, but we'll see. Oh, sure I understand that since they are just starting out they may have to work a little harder, but I'm hoping that eventually...well, I know it's selfish, but I'm hoping we can spend more time together as a family. But, I'm dominating the conversation," he said suddenly, "I'd like to hear about your life Cody. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

At first I was tempted to say no, but you can't really hide something like that for too long so I decided to tell the truth, well not all the truth, but to at least admit that Danny existed.

"I have a bratty ten year old brother named Danny, no sisters and we're pretty tight as far as families go. I mean you know, we have supper together most nights and go on vacations and to church a few times a year, stuff like that."

"I envy you having a brother," Bastion said in a serious voice, "I would give anything to have a brother to share my time with...since I don't see my parents much."

"Trust me, it's not as great as it sounds. So...since your folks are doctors you must be...well, pretty well off. Do you have a lot of cool stuff, like video games and a computer, stuff like that?"

Bastion shrugged, "I have everything I need. I don't ask for much but my parents seem to be constantly throwing gifts at me, I suppose because they feel guilty. My one passion is martial arts and I need to find a new instructor here. Back home I had the same instructor from age 8 until we moved. I miss him a great deal," he said sadly.

"Cool, maybe you could teach me some stuff, I work out, but man you are way more buff than I am. I feel like a 50 pound weakling compared to you," I laughed.

He smiled and showed those braces again and suddenly I realized just how cute he really was and the braces only added to it, "I would be happy to show you a few things, and when I find an instructor perhaps you could join us for a session occasionally."

"Really, way cool...thanks."

"You are so welcome Cody...and thank you."

"For what?" I asked curiously.

He diverted his eyes to his half eaten tray, "For letting me sit with you..and hopefully for becoming my friend. You see...I don't make friends easily, but I...really feel like...well, this is so embarrassing...."

"What? Go on," I said anxious to hear what he was thinking.

He sighed, "I think it's best I just leave it there. I need to excuse myself now. I need to use the restroom and go back to my locker before fourth period. Thank you again, Cody. I'm looking forward to seeing you again." He said standing up and grabbing his tray.

I mumbled a goodbye and assured him I'd see him later then went back to my lunch but  suddenly I didn't feel very hungry. What had he been trying to tell me? I picked at my food and thought about that until one of my old buddies from the old school pulled up a seat and we shot the bull till the bell rang.

I headed to my locker and grabbed my books for fourth hour and headed that way. Fourth hour was English Lit and when I walked in I saw Bastion on the first row grinning as if he knew all along that we shared another class. 

I grinned back at him and slid into the desk next to him since most of the kids seemed to have taken seats toward the back there were plenty near the front. 

"Did you know?" I said quietly.

He shrugged, "Not really, just luck I guess," he said grinning. His funk of earlier seemed to have disappeared and he seemed as happy as a puppy to see me again. And suddenly I realized I was happy to see him again too.

I like English, it's really my favorite subject and I think I might like to be a writer some day. But as much as I loved English and Literature, Bastion seemed to love it even more. It should have been obvious that language was his passion from the way he spoke so formally and properly and now it all made sense. I felt like an illiterate yokel compared to Bastion and decided right then and there to study even harder and try to emulate (a new word I looked up) his speech.

After English was PE and guess what? Bastion and I had that together too. Imagine my surprise and joy when I discovered that the two of us would be together for not one, not two, but three classes a day, and that in PE I'd have a chance to see a bit more of that chiseled body and maybe even all of it if he showered after class as I intended to.

The first day the coach just sort of got to know us and figure out who was good at what and who was strongest and when he got to Bastion I saw his eyes light up. In addition to being the PE teacher he also coached wrestling and I think he was hoping he could interest Bastion in trying out.

After a little while the coach divided us into teams and Bastion and I wound up on the same side, the skins, and as we took off our shirts everyone's eyes were on Bastion's rippled chest and washboard stomach. MG, I am not kidding when I say that he had the kind of body that every man and boy dreams of and I guess I sort of fell in love with him right then and there.

We squashed the other team at hoops and then the bell rang and most everyone headed for the showers. Unfortunately Bastion was not one of us. I was disappointed but it didn't keep me from getting naked and checking out the other boys nearby and was amazed at the variety of maturity I saw. Some of the boys were still boys down there, hairless with little pink worms and tiny balls pulled up tight into them while others sported hair and had decent looking equipment. I had gotten my hair when I was 11 and started coming shortly after that and my cock was almost four and a half inches when it was hard and my balls were pretty big and hung free between my legs.

I caught a couple of the other guys checking me out and I smiled at them just for giggles and shits. I was proud of my stuff and if they wanted to look I figured that was fine and if they wanted to do more, well bring it on dude....lol. 

I wished Bastion had stayed around and showered but I supposed he was a little bit more shy than I was and maybe that just wasn't something he could do so easily. 

I lingered until all the other guys were gone and was just about to get out when I heard someone enter the showers and looking around I came face to face with Bastion. I was surprised and I'm sure it showed in my face but he just smiled shyly and took the spot next to me in the shower. He was wearing a white towel around his waist and when he pulled it off and hung it up he turned his back to me and I stared at his perfect ass for a moment.

Now up until the day I had never really thought of a guy's ass as sexy or hot and of course I was a complete virgin to that kind of stuff, but looking at Bastion's ass gave me a whole new appreciation of asses.

But as lovely as his tight muscular ass was when he spun back around and I got a glimpse of his junk I forgot all about it. Up until that moment I had been convinced I was the most developed boy in PE class, but when I saw what Bastion was packing I felt like a hairless grade-schooler again. 

His bush was dark and made a perfect v between his legs and surrounded a cock that was as big as mine, only his was still soft. Hard I guessed it would be 6" or more and his balls were humongous. 

I just stood there staring like a retard and if he hadn't said something I might very well have stood there all day.

"Cody, are you alright?" he said as he started to soap up his ripped body.

"Uh...fine...I just...you surprised me, that's all," I stuttered, "I thought everyone was gone."

"I..I'm a little shy, but I'm glad you were still here. I don't feel quite so alone now."

"Shy?" I said before thinking, "Why? You...you...your...uh, you got no reason to be shy. You..." I shook my head to clear it and was suddenly aware that I had a boner.

"Oh, that?" he said getting me off the hook, "I guess I am a bit more developed than most boys my age, but I don't like just anyone looking." He said staring into my eyes.

I looked away and listened to my heard beating in my ears for a moment and I felt faint. Was this what love was like?

"I'm sorry...I was thinking about...something...a girl..." I said knowing full well he could see through my lie.

He smiled, "I'm not upset. I'm flattered. You shouldn't worry about that," he said pointing squarely at my erection, "It's quite natural you know. All us males get them."

As if to prove his point his own penis began to expand to it's full 6.5" length then and I couldn't have taken my eyes off it if I had wanted to.

"It...it's so..."

"Big," he giggled, "Yes, my father says I am quite well endowed for a twelve year old boy, and way ahead of them in other areas of development."

"I'll say, I feel puny compared to...um mm, that."

Bastion shrugged, "It's okay I guess, but of course I don't really need the size or the development at my age."

I cocked my head and squinted my eyes, "Still, if I had one that big...I'd be...you know, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off it," I laughed then blushed.

Bastion threw back his head and laughed loudly, "Well, there is that little problem,"  he said mysteriously. Then as we locked eyes he scooted a bit closer and suddenly we were sharing the same shower head.

I don't know who touched who first, maybe it was mutual, but before I knew what was happening we were hugging and kissing as our hard cocks pressed together between us. I had jerked off a million times and had that one hand job from my friend that moved away, but just kissing Bastion and rubbing against him was a hundred times more exciting. It was as if my eyes were suddenly opened to something that had been there all along, but I'd just never taken the time to see it. It wasn't about sex as much as it was about intimacy, about touching and feeling and sharing one's body and I would never be satisfied with less after that. 

His lips pressed against mine sending shivers all up and down my body and when I tried offered him my tongue he sucked it in and then pushed back with his own. I could feel the cool metal of his braces and my cock throbbed harder. I could feel his huge hard cock pressing against my pubis and it was hot and seemed to be pulsing in time to his heartbeat.

I didn't know how much time we had before Coach or someone came to check if the showers were empty or even what I wanted to happen next, but I knew something very important and permanent had already happened and I would never be the same again. I wasn't a boy anymore, and I would never be satisfied with what I had before. The problem was I didn't  know what I'd do if Bastion didn't want to do this again.

He broke the kiss and looked around as if he had been in some kind of daze and finished showering as if nothing had ever happened between us. I turned off the water and grabbed my towel and began to dry off, my erection now gone, and watched him with  worry. 

What if this was a trick and he was going to go tell everyone that I got a boner in the shower and attacked him? I know that was crazy, but I was  young and stupid and confused and on top of all that I had the worst case of blue balls in history. I couldn't wait to get home and jerk off but first I had to find out how Bastion felt about what had just happened. 

I went on out to the locker room and grabbed my clothes and eventually Bastion joined me. He smiled shyly at me and as he slipped on a pair of KC briefs he said, "I don't suppose you could come over tomorrow after school...to my house and hang out?"

"Tomorrow, uh sure...I guess...I mean, where do you live exactly?" I said encouraged that he wanted to see me alone and outside of school.

He told me where he lived and I was surprised to find that he lived only a mile of so from my house. His house was in a nicer and newer edition but an easy bike ride or walk from my house and there was a park half way in between where we could meet if we wanted to play hoops or anything.

We got dressed and exchanged cell numbers but neither of us mentioned what had happened in the shower and I was glad because I needed time to process it and figure out what it all meant to me.

I rode the bus home but even though Bastion lived near me he wasn't on the same bus. I wasn't sure how he got home but  guessed I'd find out tomorrow. I went straight to my room when I got home anxious to get my pants down and get after it when there was a knock on my door.

I pulled my pants back up quickly and ran to the door, assuming it was my mom but when I saw it was my brother Danny, my mood changed right away. 

"What do you want fungus face?"

"Damn it Cody," he began sounding frustrated, "Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?" He said sounding more angry than hurt. He wasn't the kind  of kid who cried easily and I sort of respected him for that.

"Because you exist," I said smartly, "Speak or have a door shut in your face."

"It's mom, she called and she's gonna be late. She said that dad would be late too and we should use the emergency money and call in a pizza. That's all...that's what I had to tell ya. I'll leave ya alone now. Just save me some pizza, okay?"

"If I feel like," I yelled as he headed back to his room. But he knew I would, I wasn't a complete tyrant. I certainly didn't want him to starve. I just didn't want him to eat around me. 

I was out of the mood now and I grabbed my I-phone and fell across the bed to check my FB page. I had a poke from my friend Randy and another friend had posted a cool link for an animated vid some kid had made. I was checking out some cool stuff on YouTube when I got a text from a number I didn't recognize.

Hi, just making sure I got your number right...this is Bastion.

Oh, hi..yah I'll save your number and put your name on it so I'll know who's texting next time.

So, have you asked your parents about coming over tomorrow after school?

Naw, no one home yet. I'm pretty sure they'll say it's cool. They're pretty cool.

Good, well I have to go but I might text you later if it's okay.

Sure,ttyl.

I held the phone for a second hoping he's reply back but when he didn't I threw it on the bed and stretched out and closed my eyes. The next thing I knew someone was knocking on my door again.

I jumped up but this time I figured it was Danny and I wasn't surprised when I opened the door.

"Sorry, I'm hungry Cody," he said looking forlorn, "Can I phone in the pizza now?"

"Go ahead, I don't care," I said with less hate than usual, "Just take half and leave the rest."

"Okay, thanks Cody," he said smiling a little. There was that damn smile again. The one that made him so much cuter than me and won everyone over to his side. I knew it was stupid to hate someone for how they looked or how much other people liked them, but I had put myself in a box and it would take more than me to break  out of it.

I felt a little horny again when I went back to my bed and I hauled out the big stuff and started to jerk it as I thought about what had happened between me and Bastion in the shower. I took my good slow time letting the feeling build then slowing down and even stopping to make it last. I had discovered that when I did that I came a lot more and for some reason that was important to me at the moment. 

I guess if I had been thinking clearly that day I would have latched my door back before I started jerking, but until that day Danny had never dared to enter my room without knocking first. 

My eyes were closed and I was jerking like a madman and so into my impending orgasm that I didn't realized Cody was there at the end of my bed watching me until I started to spew. 

My eyes jerked open as the second jet hit my upper lip and I licked it off and sighed. Then suddenly aware that I was not alone I cried out as the third and fourth volley landed midway on my chest.

"Holy shit!" Danny said staring at me as if he's just seen the second coming...no pun intended.

"What the fuck!" I screamed as I tried to hide my leaking cock which for some reason was refusing to go down, "You little pervert. Ever hear of knocking?"

"I did, I knocked," he said as his eyes remained on my hand and my junk, "but you...uh, didn't answer. The pizza is here." he said as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"If you tell mom and dad I will kill you, you little bastard!" I said as I grabbed my shirt and covered my slowly deflating dick.

"I won't." he said simply, "Why would I? I don't hate you like you hate me. Anyway, it's no big deal. All boys do it. Anyway, your half is on the table, I'll be in my room." he said then turned with a sigh and hurried out of my room.

Damn, now the little weasel had something on me, I grumbled. But if he tells then he's in trouble for barging into my room. Still it would be so embarrassing and I can't let that happen.

But what could I do? I wiped myself off and slipped on a pair of shorts and went in to eat my pizza. Suddenly I was starved and I ate all  four pieces and washed it down with a big glass of SunnyD. I found some ice cream bars in the freezer and was unwrapping one when the disease walked in.

"Uh, what do you want?" I said roughly, "The show is over."

"Shut up, I'm sorry, but you won't let it go. Just like everything else that's ever happened. Sometimes I just want to run away or hang myself," he said sounding as close to tears as I'd heard him, "I just wanted some ice cream, but forget it. I'll go back to my room."

I thought I must be going soft because I tossed the kid my ice cream bar and grabbed another for myself, "You're welcome." I said sarcastically, "Anything else?"

He actually smiled, "Nope, thanks," he said turning to go, "Oh, and by the way," he added with a little chuckle, "That was pretty impressive, you came a lot."

"What? You little pervert. Get out," I said feigning a step toward him, but I wasn't really as mad as I pretended.

He was giggling a he bounced out and I when I heard his door close I let myself smile. So he's impressed with my junk and my spunk, I thought proudly.

Mom got home around eight but I was in bed before dad made it home. Even though the dealership closed at 8 sometimes they hung around then went out for a drink or something. Mom didn't seem to care but it sucked for me, because I really liked my dad and tried to spend as much time with him as I could, especially when Danny wasn't around.

I asked mom about going to Bastion's house after school the next day and as expected after a few questions about who he was and who his parents were she agreed that it would be okay. She seemed impressed that they lived in that nicer neighborhood and mumbled something about how she and dad had looked at houses there when it was first opened but that they were way out of their price range.

I thought about jerking off again before I went to sleep but once my head hit the pillow I decided I was too tired. I lay there for a while thinking about Danny and the ice cube in my soul began to melt a little.  Why did I still hate the kid? All the bad stuff had been when he were both younger and if I really looked back on it a lot of it was as much my fault as his. Still it's not easy to let go of hate and to admit you've been a jackass for the last six or eight years so I tabled it and managed to get to sleep.

School was a lot more fun the second day now that I knew what to expect and when I walked into home room and saw Bastion I bounced over and sat down behind him. He turned around and smiled and I smiled back.

"Hi, did you sleep okay?" I asked trying to make conversation.

"Very well, thank you. And did you sleep well?"

"Very well," I said then blushed, "I was tired, but I feel great today."

"So do I," he said smiling warmly, "May I join you for lunch today. I packed a lunch and there's enough for both of us."

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh, what did you bring? I mean yeah, it doesn't matter...thanks. I can't wait."

"I think you'll like it."

Then class began and we didn't get a chance to talk again till we were leaving. We agreed to meet at the exit at lunch time and we parted to go to the next class. By lunchtime I was starved and couldn't wait to see what Bastion had brought and I wasn't disappointed.

He had turkey and cheese sandwiches on thick buttery bread, chips and cookies and an apple each. We got milk from the line and found a table near the window. I saw a couple of my friends looking our way and suddenly I was very proud that Bastion had chosen me for his friend. What I didn't know was that most of the looks weren't looks of envy, but instead were looks of concern.

I didn't feel much like an apple so Bastion swapped his cookies for mine and by cutting it up into small pieces he was able to make quick work of it braces and all. I admired the way he did things, even little things and I guess he noticed that I was watching him because suddenly he said, "What do you see when you look at me?"

"Huh?" I said having been caught off guard, "I mean...well, I see someone who is strong and confident and....smart," I stammered.

"And.....?"

"Well, I see someone I like a lot...already and we only just met. I see someone that I envy a little and who is soooo cool." I said really opening up.

He smiled, "Do you know what I see when I look at you?"

I shook my head and braced myself for the truth, but his truth was not what I expected.

"I see the most wonderful friend I have ever had. A boy who understands me and whom I would like to get to know even better. Someone I would like to spend a great deal of time with. A boy who makes me happier than I've ever been. I know, I know...it's crazy since we only just met, but do you believe in karma Cody?"

"I guess, but I thought that was sort of what happened when you did something wrong."

Bastion laughed, "No, not just when you do something wrong. It's sort of like fate. I believe it was karma that brought us together."

"Well, whatever it was....it's pretty cool."

"Very cool," he said then giggled. It was very unlike him to use the word cool or to giggle and I supposed I was rubbing off on him just as he was rubbing off on me.

We threw away our trash and I walked Bastion to his locker to put up his lunch bag and got the shock of my life. In red magic marker someone had written Fag four times on Bastion's white locker.

When he saw the words there he lowered his head in shame and said softly, "I thought it would be different here. I'm sorry Cody, you probably don't want to be seen with me again. It might ruin your reputation."

"What, why? This is nothing," I said wiping at it with my hand, "Just some idiots randomly spreading their hate. It's not directed at you. It's just....it's no big deal."

But I knew it was a big deal and if it was my locker I'd be so humiliated I'd probably just crawl into a hole and die. I hated the kind of mindless idiots who did shit like that and I was tough enough that if I found out who they were they were going to get their asses kicked. The problem was haters were also cowards and did shit like this anonymously so they wouldn't have to confront anyone man to man.

"I don't think we should hang out any more," Bastion said taking a napkin from his lunch bag and wiping at the writing, but it was no use the idiots had used permanent markers.

"What? No, why? What did I do?" I said almost too desperately.

He turned wet eyes to me and shook his head, "Don't you see...it's true and if you hang around me they'll think you're that way too and they'll torture you like they torture me. It's so hopeless."

"No, it's not," I said stubbornly, "And trust me, no one will come at me like that and get away with it. I can kick some ass if I need to and all my friends know it. And no one is going to tell me who I can be friends with, no matter what."

"Do..do you really mean it?" Bastion asked looking at me with sad but hopeful eyes.

"Damn straight," I said with a little laugh, "you're my friend and if anyone messes with you they mess with me." Then shouting at a hall full of kids who stared at us curiously, I made it official, "Get this, and get it good. Anyone that messes with Bastion answers to me. Got it! And I don't take no shit from no one."

I might have gotten away with my little speech except Mrs. Anderson my third period teacher happened to over hear me and came stalking up as the kids made a path for her.

"Mr. Graham, right?" she said eying me critically, Please refrain from using profanity while you are at school. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am," I said daring to look her in the eye and not cower as most kids might have.

Then noticing Bastion and eventually the writing on his locker she nodded, "I want to see both of you in the office, now," she said sternly and I suddenly wondered if she thought we had written the words ourselves.

Well, despite my being a bad ass I was practically cowering as we sat and waited for the principal to join us in his office. Bastion seemed to have gone inside himself and showed no emotions and something he had said earlier led me to believe that this was not the first time he had been the target of some hater. But how did they know that Bastion was gay? I mean I only knew because of what had happened in the shower and what he had said earlier, but even that wasn't 100 per cent proof. The kid could like the ladies too as far as I knew.

"Good afternoon gentlemen," Principal Chambers said as he sat down. He had already been briefed by Mrs. Anderson but he seemed more opened minded than she had been, "Would you mind telling your side of the story, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grant?"

I shrugged, "Not much to tell, when we got to Bastion's locker someone had written some dirty words on it and I sort of got mad and yelled some stuff."

I saw a slight smile cross the principal's lips and I wondered if he'd been a tough and give em hell student when he was my age.

"Is that what happened Mr. Grant?"

"Yes sir, we were just coming back from lunch and I wanted to put my lunch bag away. As we approached I saw the words and Cody...uh, Mr. Graham was only trying to help."

"I see, well I'm afraid Mrs. Anderson misread the whole incident. But after hearing your side of it I have no doubt what you say is true. The problem now is to find out who did this horrible thing and to make sure it doesn't happen again. Do you have any idea who might have done this, has anyone approached you in any sort of threatening manner?"

"Of course not," I muttered, "Cowards don't confront, that's why they're cowards."

"Point taken, Mr. Graham. Mr. Grant?"

"No sir, until now I had hoped things would be different here."

"So....you've experienced this kind of thing before?"

Bastion nodded, his eyes turned downward and his voice quivering as he spoke, "Back in California, it was pretty bad. I even got...beat up once, but no one ever did anything about it."

I was horrified at the thought of my new best friend being harmed physically, but I couldn't understand how that could happen considering how buff he was. He could easily beat up a grown man with those muscles and he had said he practiced martial arts, so why didn't he defend himself?

"Well, we take this kind of thing very seriously here and I promise you, we will look into this incident and do our best to make sure it doesn't  happen again."

"Thank you sir," Bastion said looking up, "but I'm afraid it's hopeless. You can't change how people think."

Mr. Chambers didn't seem to have an answer for that, and not much else was said. A few minutes later we were sent to class with notes explaining that we had been in the principal's office and we tried our best to act as if nothing had happened.

The problem is, bad news spreads like wildfire even in school and by PE everyone knew about the writing on Bastion's locker. There were about thirty of us in that class and it was almost funny how the other twenty eight or so tried to keep their distance from us. We were marked, Bastion because someone had labeled him as Faggot and me because I had dared to defend him. I know I should have been outraged and angry and a hundred other things, but all I felt was pride. Proud that I had stood up for a friend, no matter what others said about him, and proud that I hadn't let what happened push me away from someone that I truly liked.

Neither of us showered in PE that day, for obvious reasons, and  needless to say no one shared a seat with me on the bus. I stared out the window and thought about how unfair all this was and by the time I got to my stop I was pretty worked up. I slammed the door as I came in causing Danny to look up from the TV he'd been watching and look at he quizzically. I went into my room and threw my books down and changed into some old clothes and went out back to grab my bike. 

Danny watched me the whole time with interest and I saw him staring out the front window as I rode off toward Bastion's house. 

I found his house easily and was ready to knock on the door when the door swung open to reveal a Spanish looking woman standing there smiling at me, "Hello, you must be Cody. Come in Sebastion is expecting you. He said I should have you wait in the kitchen. I have a snack for both of you."

I nodded and followed her inside paying special attention to all the cool stuff and nice furniture and when we reached the kitchen I was blown away by how modern and fully equipped it was. I slid onto a bar stool at a broad breakfast bar and pretty soon Bastion came in from somewhere behind the kitchen.

"Hell Cody. I'm glad you came...despite what happened."

"Awww...it's no big deal. Like I said it's just some random idiot hater."

The Spanish lady gave Bastion a worried look then hurried off leaving the two of us alone. On the counter there was a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk and as Bastion hopped up on a bar stool next to me he pulled the plate of cookies closer.

"Maria makes the best cookies in the world," he said snatching one off the plate,"I hope milk is okay, we don't usually have soda in the  house....except for mixers at the bar," he said grinning.

"Milk is great. Good old moo juice, yummy," I said feeling much better about things now that I was with Bastion.

"Yes, good old moo juice," Bastion said mocking me.

We talked quietly as we ate our snack, but neither of us mentioned what was really on our minds. What had happened the day before in the shower had been overshadowed by what had happened at the locker and in the principal's office, but I think we both knew we would have to deal with both before too long.

When we had finished our snack Bastion asked if I would like to see his quarters and I agreed. I wasn't sure exactly what quarters were but I guessed he meant his room and as he led me back through the kitchen I realized that this was where he had come from when he had joined me earlier.

His quarters turned out to be an apartment just beyond the kitchen and it was awesome. He had a huge living room, a bedroom, a little kitchenette and a large bath with a jacuzzi and a separate shower. I guess my mouth was hanging open the whole time he was showing me around and I could see the sparkle in his eyes as we finished up in his bedroom.

"This is amazing, so cool...and your folks live upstairs?"

"Yes, and Maria lives in a small house beyond the pool. Oh, I forgot to show you the pool. Would you like to see it?"

"Maybe later," I said moving a little closer to Bastion. My heart was beating so fast I could hear it in my ears and my palms were all sweaty. I was too nervous to get hard, but I knew if things worked out right I would be boning up shortly.

I could see fear in Bastion's eyes, but there was longing there too and raw need, the same kind of raw need that must've shown in mine, because suddenly just as we had in the shower we fell into each other's arms and began to kiss passionately. 

As predicted my cock sprang to life and I was relieved to find his was just as hard and it felt nice even through our clothes.

"Can we get naked?" I giggled and without answering Bastion began to undress me. I was a little embarrassed when he got down to my frayed and graying undies but I don't think he noticed or cared because as soon as I was naked I began undressing him.

Once we were naked we fell into his bed and picked up where we had left off. My hands were all over him, feeling his muscles and smooth skin and then I let my hand wander down to his hard cock and he moaned as I began to explore his junk.

"Oh, Cody," he cooed in my ear, "be careful, I may make a mess if you're not careful."

"I don't mind if you don't," I replied feeling very near to making a mess myself.

"I...let me get a sock or a towel...." he protested as he stood up, but suddenly I knew what I needed to do.

Even though I had heard of oral sex since I was a little kid and seen it a million times on the internet up until that moment I had never really thought about what it would be like to actually have a cock in my mouth. But suddenly I realized I wanted it more than anything in the world.

I think Bastion was as surprised as I was as when I jumped up and  slipped down his body and fell to my knees and when I lifted his cock and placed my mouth on it that was all it took to bring him to orgasm.

I was busy for the next couple of seconds swallowing what seemed like a gallon of hot sticky stuff and though it was my first taste of jizz, I somehow knew that this was a taste I had been craving for as long as I had known I was gay. I loved the taste and smell of Bastion down there and I was reluctant to turn loose of his cock even after it was spent and he began to go soft. 

Finally I kissed the head and gave it an affectionate pat and stood. He pulled me against him immediately and kissed me passionately as he reached down and grabbed my cock and a few minutes later I began to spew all over us both. I moaned into his mouth and my knees went week, but fortunately he was strong enough to hold me up while we kissed and I experienced the most intense orgasm of my young life.

"I'm sorry I didn't....you know, do that for you. I really wanted to, but it was too late," he said breaking off the kiss and nuzzling my ear, "Next time I will do it and I will do it right. It will be wonderful."

"So...how was it?" I asked wanting some feedback on my blow job, "Was it good or what?"

"Oh, Cody. Good? No...good doesn't begin to describe it. It was without a doubt the most enjoyable and wonderful feeling I have ever experienced and it only brings us that much closer together."

I grinned and suddenly felt very proud of myself, "I wish I could have sucked it longer, but you came so damned fast," I teased.

"Almost as quickly as you," he teased back. "We are both new to this, it will get easier and we'll last longer and I am looking forward to the next time."

"Heck yeah, so am I," I said falling down on the bed. He went into the bathroom then and when he returned he was wiping my jizz off his body with a fluffy looking towel and when he was done he fell down beside me and began to clean me up. He was gentle and loving as he cleaned me and I couldn't resist reaching down and rubbing his shoulders. He sighed and when he was done he kissed me again then jumped up and began to get dressed.

"You should probably go now, before my parents get home. I haven't told them about you yet, only Maria knows and she does what I tell her," he said looking serious.

"Oh, am I a dirty little secret?" I teased.

"I hope so," Bastion said winking, "but not for long. As soon as I'm sure they are ready to meet you, I'll introduce you to them."

That bothered me a little, but if being a dirty little secret meant I could have sex with Bastion again, then I could live with that. I got dressed and Bastion walked me to my bike and waved as I rode off.

It was around 5 by the time I got home and Dad was actually home early for a change. It was his day off, I found out, but he had gone in for a while to deliver a new car to a customer. We tossed a football around in the front yard for a while as Danny sat on the porch and watched us and I suddenly realized that if Danny and I had had a regular relationship he would be out there with us throwing the ball around.

I guess something inside me snapped then and I decided to see if I could make that happen, even if only for this one time. 

"Yeh, Danny....catch," I yelled as I threw the football toward him, but either he didn't hear me or he was too shocked to react because he just sat there and suddenly the football hit him squarely in the nose.

I actually saw the blood fly as the football hit his nose with a crunching sound and suddenly all hell broke loose. Dad was running toward Danny and Danny was screaming bloody murder and then mom was there and seconds later Dad scooped him up and the three of them headed toward the car.

"Well, come on Cody," Dad yelled, "We've got to take Danny to the ER, I think you broke his nose," there was as much disgust in his voice as there was accusation and I knew that none of them would believe me when I said I was only trying to get him to play with us.

"I'll stay here," I said staring at them with tears rolling down my cheeks and no one tried to convince me otherwise. 

I watched as they drove away, went inside and laid down on my bed and cried for a little while. I felt awful and not just because I had probably broken my little brother's nose. Looking back I was amazed that I hadn't done him physical harm before now. But the ironic thing was, this time I hadn't meant him any harm and I had actually wanted to try to make things better. Fat chance of that now, I snorted and that started the water works again, I can't do anything right, I added as I began my own private pity party.

I fell asleep in my clothes but woke up when I heard the garage door go up. I considered waiting in my room and making them come to me, but in the end I decided to face my fate like a man.

I was waiting for them as they entered through the garage and Danny looked at me with sad eyes from behind a white bandage on his nose and then headed off to his room. Mom looked tired and defeated and didn't say a word as she went off to make sure Danny was comfortable.

That left me and dad and I thought I might have half a chance with him, "I'm sorry dad. I really didn't do it on purpose. I just thought he might want to play and well, I guess I should have made sure he made eye contact like you taught us before I threw the ball."

"You know what Cody," my dad said sighing, "I actually believe you this time. Those tears in your eyes tell me you're sorry. I don't think you'd cry for yourself, but if those tears were for your brother, you just might be changing. I'm gonna go check on Danny. Did you eat something?"

"No sir," I said realizing I'd skipped dinner, "but, I'm not hungry. I think I'll take a shower and go to bed. And I really am sorry, dad. I know it's hard to believe, but this time it really was a mistake."

"I think the one you need to apologize to is down the hall. If you can get him to forgive you, then your mother and I have nothing to more to say."

I nodded, "I'll check on him before I go to bed," I said near tears again.

Dad held out his arms and that was all it took for me to lose it. I buried my face in his strong shoulder and smelled his manly smell and blubbered like a baby for the next five minutes. I was vaguely aware of mom entering the room but dad shooed her away and then he picked me up like I weighed nothing and carried me to my room.

"You can take a shower in the morning," he said as he began to unlace my shoes. The love in his eyes humbled me. How could he love me so much when I had been so rotten to my own flesh and blood all those years?

He placed my shoes and socks by the bed and leaned down and kissed my forehead, "Get some sleep Tiger, Danny can wait till tomorrow. I love you very much son, and I was serious when I said I believed you. It was just an accident..this time, but I hope you learned something from all this."

I nodded, "Thanks dad. I love you too...a lot," I said sniffing back tears, "and...I love Danny too," I said as I fell apart once more. It's amazing how cleansing tears can be and as I lay there I realized things really had changed. But of course six years of bad wasn't going to get right overnight and I knew I still had a long way to go.

I awoke sometime after midnight with a desperate need to pee and realized I was still dressed. I remembered dad carrying me to bed and how I had cried and I was a little ashamed that I had broke down like I did, but if it brought all of us closer I decided it would be worth it. 

I swung my feet over the bed and stepped down on the carpet and stood up and stretched. My neck had a crick in it from sleeping wrong and my mouth felt like a raw sewer and I was hungry, but first I had to pee.

I made my way to the bathroom that Danny and I shared and pushed the door open and there stood Danny draining the lizard at the toilet.

"Oh, sorry bro," I said shocking us both with my familiarity, when most of the time I only used insulting names when I spoke to him, "When you're done I gotta go bad," I said dancing around on one foot.

He shook it off and when he turned to me I saw that not only was his nose bandaged but he had two black eyes and then I really felt bad.

"Awww dude, your eyes...I'm so sorry," I said hoping I sounded as sincere as I was.

He shrugged, "Guess you got the last laugh again," he smirked.

"No, wait...danm...let me pee and let's talk...." but he was already out the door.

I took a long piss and decided to go get something to eat before I did anything else and when I got to the kitchen mom was sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee and looking like she'd lost her best friend.

"Hi sweetie," she said smiling at me as if I were the best son in world, "are you hungry? There's some cold chicken in a Tupperware container or there's a new batch of peanut butter cookies in the jar."

I chose both grabbing a drumstick and two cookies and pouring myself a glass of SunnyD I sat down across from mom.

"Mom," I said after I'd chewed my first bite of chicken, "I don't know if Dad told you or not, but what happened with Danny...it was an accident, really. I swear. I just threw the ball to him without making sure he knew it was coming, that's all. Dad taught us to always make eye contact before throwing any ball, but I just forgot. I'm really sorry, but Danny doesn't believe me. Dad believes me...I gotta know...Mom, do you believe me too."

"Come  here sweetie," she said holding out her arms. 

I swarmed into them and snuggled up to her like I was four years old and almost started crying again.

"Your father and I had a long talk after he left you tonight and he convinced me you were genuinely sorry and that it was an accident. And now, looking into your lovely brown eyes I see he was right."

"Aww..mom, my eyes are just plain brown...not like Danny's. He got the lovely eyes,"  I mumbled.

My mom took me by the shoulders and held me a arm's length then and looked me squarely in the face, "Is that what you think sweetie, that Danny is better looking than you? Well, let me tell you something, you are the spitting image of your father and how do you think that makes me feel? I chose your father over every other man I ever met because I loved his brown eyes and his wavy brown hair, but most of all I loved what was inside and that's exactly what I love about you little man," she said pulling me into a hug and kissing my hair.

"But, I've been a real ass," I said figuring I could get away with one swear word since we were bonding so nicely, "and I treated Danny like crap all these years. How could you love me?" I said suddenly realizing that I must have the greatest parents in the world if they could love me after all that.

She smiled and looked me in the eyes again, "We haven't always been happy with everything you did, but deep inside you're a good person and we both know that. You're our son, a part of us, just as Danny is, and it's a natural thing...loving a child," she sighed, "Do you want things to change Cody. I mean really change between you and Danny?"

I nodded, "I swear I do. I feel really bad about what happened. I never wanted to hurt him like that."

"There are all kinds of hurt sweetie. The kind of hurt Danny has is deep inside. It may take a while for him to get over that and come around, but don't let that stop you from trying, okay?"

I nodded again, "I guess I'm not as hungry as I thought. If Danny is still awake I'd like to go talk to him and apologize."

Mom nodded and kissed my cheek, "Well don't wake him if he's asleep but if he's awake give it a try, but don't keep him up too long he's had a rough night. I'm letting him skip school tomorrow. I have the day off and he needs a little rest and a chance for the swelling to go down."

I took the cookies with me as a peace offering and tip toed down to Danny's room and gently knocked on the door. Danny is a very heavy sleeper so when he answered right away I knew he was awake.

"Who is it?" He said in a muffled voice.

"It's me Cody, your brother," I said realizing how silly I sounded.

"What...do..you...want?" he said sounding tired.

"Just to talk. And I brought you some cookies," I said trying to sound cheerful.

"Come in, it's a free world," he finally conceded.

"Thanks," I said as I slipped in and closed the door behind me. I held out the cookies and he took one and began munching on it. I stared at the other one and he pointed to me and I smiled and took a bite of it.

"Does it hurt?" I asked as I sat down on the edge of his bed.

He shrugged, "A little..if I touch it, but it's not that bad....not now. But it hurt like hell at first."

I sighed, "I know you don't believe me, but it really was an accident. A stupid accident. I shouldn't have thrown it till I was sure you'd catch it. I'm sorry...I really am. I know I've been a jerk for a long time, but I'm trying to change that...if you'll let me," I said, my voice cracking half way through.

I guess the tears in my eyes or the sincerity in my voice swayed him because suddenly he laid his soft hand on my arm and smiled, "Just don't do that again, okay?" He said grinning.

I grinned back and we ate our cookies without saying much more. When it was time to go I decided to do something I hadn't done since we were both little kids, I hugged my little brother.

"Good night bro," I said feeling better than I had in a long time, "Lucky you gets to stay home tomorrow. Maybe I can get you to break my nose so I can stay home," I teased.

"Any time bro," he said totally serious and I had to laugh.

"I'll check on ya when I get home from school tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," he said suddenly looking very tired, "Cody?"

"What bro?"

"What happened? Why'd you suddenly turn nice?" He asked dead serious.

Boy did that make me feel awful. "I guess I just grew up a little, that's all. I'm in Junior High now and I was acting like a pre-schooler. Plus someone, a new friend, opened my eyes to what I was missing by not being friends with my brother."

"I like this new friend," Danny said smiling, "when can I meet him?"

I ruffled my bro's blond hair and he grabbed my hand and just held it for a moment. It was as if we were frozen in time for those few seconds as we gazed into each other's eyes and he held my hand in his. His hand was warm and soft, but strong and as he sat there I could feel all the old hatred and bitterness boil away leaving me feeling revived and free.

We said our goodnights and I went off to bed after hugging him again and as I closed the door mom was coming down the hall. She smiled when she saw me and gave me a wink and I stopped to hug her before going off to bed again.

The next day the bus was running late and by the time I got to homeroom everyone was already seated, everyone that was except Bastion. I kept staring at the door willing him to appear even after the bell rang, but he never showed.

Morning classes seemed to be twice as long as usual and by lunchtime I was starting to get really worried about Bastion. I waited at the double doors for ten minutes in case he had come to school late, but again he never showed. 

I headed off to the cafeteria and got a tray and looked around for somewhere to sit. I saw a couple of the guys I knew from my old school and a kid that had played on my little league team and headed their way. There was one seat open to the right of the black kid,Tony, that I had played ball with and I scooted it out with my foot and prepared to plop down in it when Tony spoke.

"Hey man, that seat is saved. Sorry you'll hafta find another place to sit."

"Yeah, where's your gay friend?" one of the other boys giggled.

It only took me about five seconds to realize what was really going on and I went form calm and cool to red hot and dangerous in about two.

"Whoa, wait a minute. Are you guys serious? You won't let me sit with you because you don't like the friends I choose?"

Tony lowered his head and began to pay close attention to something on his tray while the other boys just sat and waited for the fireworks to begin. See, I sort of had a reputation as a fighter and back in grade school no one messed with me.

"You, Tony," I said pointing at him, "I guess you surprise me most of all...being black and all you must know how much it sucks to have people hate you for no reason. Remember when you sprained you ankle at that tournament last year and me and my dad carried you to our car and took you to the ER? What if we'd have called you a nigger and said we couldn't help you?" I said making fists with both hand and gritting my teeth, "I loved you like a brother," I said as tears glistened in my eyes, but I guess I was the only one who thought we were friends."

"And you Andy, I've known you since you were so little you still pissed the bed. And all those times you stayed over and we had to change the sheets and stuff, not once did I ever make fun of you or tell anyone about that...what about that....huh?" I said as Andy cowered beneath my wrath.

"You know what, you're all haters and losers and I don't need any of you. You guys deserve each other," I said giving them all go-to-hell looks, "Enjoy your lunch...you, you, bunch of homophobes."

I stomped off and hadn't gone ten feet before I was aware of several students clapping and then about half of the kids in the cafeteria stood up and the clapping got louder. I turned red faced and tried to back out of the cafeteria. I hadn't realized I was being watched or that I was so loud but apparently everyone including the ladies in the serving line heard me.

I left quickly grabbing the cookies off my tray and  sitting the rest of the untouched tray on a table as I made my get-a-way. I found a quiet place under a tree by the gymnasium and sat down and munched on my cookies and had a good think.

"Hey," I looked up and here was this goofy looking white kid with red hair and a freckled face standing over me. He had bright green eyes and his hair was so bright I bet it glowed in the dark and his skin was ghostly white, "That was pretty cool, what you did back there. Most everyone agrees with you, including me,  but they're just afraid to speak up. But you did just fine, you spoke for all of us."

"I wasn't speaking for anyone but myself," I said glaring at the kid. His hair was starting to freak me out, "I thought those kids were my friends, now I know better."

"There's plenty of other guys who would like to be your friend...including me," he said sounding shy.

"You don't even know me," I protested.

"I know your name is Cody," he said grinning, "And I'm Luke," he said sticking out his freckled hand. It seemed like every part of him was freckled and that got me to wondering if his privates were freckled too.

I took his hand and shook it because that was the polite thing to do, but I wasn't sure I wanted him for a friend. "Do you wanna sit down?" I said trying to be polite.

He sat down Indian style across from me and folded his long skinny legs up like a pretzel. I swear I could see his bones poking out beneath his clothes and I wondered if he was sick or just skinny.

"Me and my brother Tommy just moved here from Arkansas," he said smiling and revealing uneven teeth and one empty hole where a tooth had once been.

"Cool, do you like it here..so far?"

"We like it a lot. It's a lot better here for us. Back in Arkansas we had to fight every  day just to stay in school and the teachers didn't do nuthin about it."

I frowned, "Why? I mean why did you have to fight?"

"Can't you guess?" he said looking worried suddenly, "I thought you understood. You was takin up for that one guy, the one who's locker they wrote on....."

"Bastion," I said, then it suddenly  dawned on me what this freckled skeleton was saying to me,"Oh....OH! That," I said chuckling. "Well, I'm not sure it will be much better here, but at least the principal and the teachers seem to care about bullying."

"Oh, yeah....I already know. My ma talked to the principal and he told her he would make sure we didn't have the same thing happen to us here that happened back in Arkansas."

"You said you had a brother. Does he go to school here too?"

"Not here, he's only 10. He goes to Lincoln."

"Lincoln? That's my old school and my little brother goes there. He's ten too, maybe he knows your brother."

"He might, things aren't quite as bad in grade school. He aint had no trouble so far."

The bell rang then and we walked back to the school and parted to go to our next class. A couple of people, mostly girls came up to tell me how cool what I did in the cafeteria was but mostly kids just stared at me like I had a third eye or something.

I was glad when it was time for PE, but I missed Bastion but at least most of the other guys weren't treating me like I had leprocy today. We did push ups and pull ups and tumbles on the mats then coach had a few of us try some wrestling moves and I wound up with this kid named Carl.

Carl was some kind of mix, maybe black and white or Mexican I wasn't sure, but I didn't care really. I didn't care if a guy was black or white or whatever as long as he was decent and treated me right but Carl was an asshole from the first minute we met.

Carl was about an inch taller than me and outweighed me by at least ten pounds but he didn't have the muscular development that I had. Most of this extra weight was fat and I guess he thought he's just use his bulk to push me around and pin me.

I hadn't formally wrestled before, but I did have a friend last year in sixth grade that did and he taught me a few things about leverage and stuff like that. He said leverage was why a little guy could throw a bigger guy around like a rag doll and he showed me how it worked.

So Carl must've thought this was going to be easy but when we hit that mat I started using what I'd learned to counter everything he tried. If he tried to pin me, I'd flop around like a fish and eventually I was back on top. After about ten minutes of this it was clear that he was getting tired and winded. After all fat can only go so far.

Once I figured out he was done I went to work on him and pretty soon I had him pinned face down on the mat with my arms locked around him holding him in place. He struggled for a little while then finally started yelling for coach to break it up.

"Get this faggot off me coach. He's tryin to rape by butthole," he screamed.

"Break Graham, and Asher, watch your mouth," coach said after blowing his whistle, "Now break and shake hands. Graham, good work. Any interest in going out for wrestling?"

Carl looked at my hand like it was something nasty but finally shook if for half a second as he glared at me. If he thought I was such a faggot, why did he agree to wrestle me in the first place. Was it because he wanted to be on top? LOL.

I didn't let Carl's words bother me, they were just words and I'd heard them a million times before. Of coure in the past they had been directed at someone else besides me, but if I was going to be gay I guessed I'd better get use to them.

I was heading toward the showers when coach stopped me and said that the principal wanted to see me before I left that day. I thanked him and took a really quick shower, mostly cause I didn't want to smell up his office.

I was nervous as heck as I entered the main office and announced who I was and the girl behind the desk told me to go on in. Mr. Chambers was sitting behind his desk and and there was a man and woman sitting in the two chairs across from him. They were dressed really nice and my first impression was that they were rich. The only thing I couldn't figure out was, why was I there?

Mr. Chambers didn't seem in a big hurry to tell me and when he stood and went out in the main office to grab another chair the man and woman smiled at me and spoke.

"You must be Cody," the man said sticking out his hand to shake. Was that a Rolex on his wrist?

"Yes, sir...ma'am," I said more confused than ever. All the teachers called us by our last name so how did they know my first name?

"Here's you a chair Mr. Graham," Principal Chambers said as he rolled an office chair in and parked it to the left of his desk against the wall. 

I sat on the edge of the seat and leaned forward more nervous than I'd been the day before when Bastion and I were in this very office.

"I guess you're probably wondering why you are here Mr. Graham," he said finally, "This has to do with the incident yesterday and the graphitti on Mr. Grant's locker."

I nodded, But who were these people who knew my name? I wanted to scream.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Grant, Bastion's parents," he said at last and they wanted to meet you. It seems young Mr. Grant has painted you as a hero of some sort," he chuckled.

I shrugged, "I just don't like people messing with my friends," I explained blushing. His parents had to think I was a crackpot to be calling Bastion my friend since we'd only just met three days ago, "There are too many bullies and haters around and if we don't stand up...well, the teachers can't be everywhere all the time."

"Bravo young man," Mrs. Grant said smiling, "You are so right. The world can be a hateful and dangerous place at times. My husband and I saw just how hateful and dangerous when we were practicing medicine in California. That is one reason we moved here and started our own practice. We were very upset when he heard about this incident and we wanted to meet the young man who came to our son's defense."

I shrugged again, "It was no big deal. But...there's one thing I don't understand. As, uh...buff and strong as Bastion is and considering he knows martial arts, why doesn't he stand up for himself?" I regretted my words as soon as they left my mouth. This was a question I should have asked Bastion and not his parents.

"I'm afraid that is our fault," Mr. Grant said staring directly into my eyes, "We have taught Sebastion to be a pacifist, do you know what that means Mr. Graham?"

"I think so," I said searching my memory for the exact meaning, "It's something like, turn the other cheek or something like that. It means he won't fight, right?"

Mr. Grant nodded, "Unfortunately I'm afraid he misunderstood what we were trying to teach him. What we really meant was for him to try settling his difficulties with words first, but he has taken it to mean he can never use force, even if it's necessary."

"He could probably kick some....(I almost said ass), I mean clean the floor with anyone who messed with him and the great thing is, you only have to do it once in school then everyone knows you're tough and don't take no crap, excuse my words, and they respect you after that. I know cause I sort of have that kind of rep, you know, that's why I was telling everyone in the hall that if they messed with Bast...uh Sebastion they had to answer to me. And I didn't get any takers," I added grinning.

"Sebastion is very lucky to have found a friend like you so quickly," Mrs. Grant said smiling politely. He tells me the two of you have several classes together. I wonder if you would do us a favor and keep an eye on him. I don't mean you have to fight his battles for him, but just make sure he doesn't get into a situation he can't handle."

"Yes maam...uh, sir, I'd be glad to do that. We have lunch together every day, well until today," I said blushing, "Hey, where is he anyway?" I said suddenly curious about his absence.

"He didn't feel well this morning and he had a slight fever so we allowed him to stay home. He should be well enough by tomorrow to return to class."

"In case you're wondering, Mr. Graham," the principal said then, "we caught the two young men who wrote the hurtful words on Sebastion's locker. We have a number of surveillance cameras in the halls and we were lucky enough to get good face pictures of the two. They are being dealt with in accordance with the rules of this school district and the laws of this state."

"You mean they might go to jail?" I asked with concern. As much as I hated what they'd done, they were still just kids like us and the thought of them going to jail sort of made me feel sick.

"I don't think it will come to that, but since they are minors their parents will be responsible for all monetary damages. It appears they used some sort of permanent ink and it was very difficult to remove."

I nodded, "Oh, okay. Uh...I don't suppose you're going to tell me who they are?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Graham, but only Mr. and Mrs. Grant are privilege to that information. Whether or not they choose to share the boys' indentites with Sebastion is their choice."

"Okay, well...I was wondering," I said turning to Bastion's parents, "if Bast..uh, Sebastion could have a visitor today?"

Mrs. Grant smiled and looked over at her husband and exchanging some unspoken sign she nodded, "I think a visit from you might be just what the doctors ordered," she chuckled. If it's alright with your parents you could ride with us and Maria could bring you home."

"Oh, I could walk home," I said grinning, "It's not far, I rode my bike the other day...." I said then shut up quickly. As far as I knew Bastion hadn't told his parents that I had been to their house.

If they caught on or cared they didn't mention it and after that I was told to go get my things and call my parents for permission and if I could go to meet them out front. My mom answered and after a few minutes of explanation she gave me her blessings but warned me to be home by six for dinner. I thanked her and told her I loved her and grabbed by things and hightailed it out the front doors.

I waited about ten minutes before Sebastion's parents came out and wasn't surprised when they directed me to a shiny Cadillac in the parking lot. I slid into the back seat and buckled up without being asked and looked around. It was like the cars my dad sold at the dealership but we couldn't afford a car like that in a million years. The closest we ever came was a demo my dad had driven for a few weeks until he sold it to an old couple but we took plenty of trips in it while we had it.

Since I knew exactly where we were going I didn't pay much attention to the trip until we were almost there and when we pulled up in the driveway there was a Mercedes in the slot next to the house. I supposed it was Mrs. Grant's car and I wondered what my chances of ever getting to ride in it would be.

They led me inside and apparently they had already phoned ahead because Bastion met us in the hallway. We shook hands but what we really wanted to do was jump each other and rub together while we kissed. I almost giggled when he said politely, "It's so good of you to come, Cody. I was getting a bit stir crazy."

"Why don't you show Cody your room," Mrs. Grant said, "I'll have Maria fix a snack tray for you boys."

"Thank you mother," Bastion said leaning in and kissing her cheek. His dad had gone straight to his office and as we passed on the way to Bastion's room he waved and then went back to whatever he was doing on the computer.

Once we were inside his room Bastion let loose. Grabbing me he pulled me into a hug and ran his hands up and down my back, "I would kiss you, but I don't want to give you my cold or whatever."

"I never get sick," I said leaning in and kissing him anyway, "and even if I did it would be worth it."

He smiled and pulled away as Maria knocked on the door but as soon as she was gone he was right back in my arms. He kissed me passionately despite his fear of making me sick and then took my hand and led me to the bed.

"I'm afraid it's too risky to do much more with mother and father here, but we can kiss and make out," he said grinning, "but first we need our energy," he said grabbing a small sandwich off the tray Maria had brought. 

I was surprised to find she had also brought tall glasses of my favorite drink SunnyD but it didn't take a genius to figure out that Bastion was responsible for that little treat. I  was sure I had mentioned a few dozen times that I liked that drink and he had probably told Maria to lay in a a supply.

We ate our snack slowly and talked and I brought him up to speed on things at school but I didn't go into detail about what had happened earlier in the principal's office. I figured it was his parent's place to tell him about that, and I sure didn't want him to know I had questioned his reluctance to fight back.

When we finished our snack we walked downstairs and he showed me the pool and the gardens.

"That's where Maria lives," he said pointing to a small but fancy house sitting just to the right of the pool, "It's really a pool house, but since I have the servants quarters for my room my parents gave it to Maria. It's nice to have her close by but not under foot all the time," he chuckled, "especially now."

I blushed, "I can't wait for it to get warm enough to swim," I said bending down to stick my hand in the pure blue water of the pool. It was warm to the touch and I looked at Bastion who was grinning widely.

"It's heated, so we can swim anytime you'd like. And if my parents aren't home," he said lowering his voice, "we can swim nude."

"Skinny dipping," I chuckled, "Heck yeah, that'd be kick ass. Oh boy, you just gotta invite me over to stay the night some time."

"Perhaps after my parents come to love you as much as I do," he said grinning, "so you must be on your best behavior. But I suppose you already know that. Apparently you made quite a good impression on them today for them to bring you home with them."

"Yeah, well...I just told them the truth, that's all. I told them you were my friend and no one messes with my friends," I said punching his arm playfully.

He stared at where my hand had touched his arm and seemed to zone out for a moment. Then his eyes lit up and he said, "I know a place where we can go and be alone for a few minutes if you're game."

"If I'm game? Heck yeah, lead on oh wise one," I said feeling my cock start to chub already.

He laughed and led me around the pool and past Maria's house and through the middle of one of the gardens. I wondered what he had in mind, but didn't have to wait long to find out. Leading me to a small tool shed no bigger than 8 by 10 feet he opened the door and ushered me in.

"It isn't much, but it's private and I promise my parents wouldn't be caught dead out here," he laughed, "No one ever comes in here except the gardeners and they only work a few hours a week this time of year."

It was darker inside but the roof was made of some sort of translucent panels and there was plenty of light once our eyes got adjusted. There were all kinds of tools hanging on the walls and a few sacks of grass seed and fertilizer but they were neatly stacked against one wall leaving most of the wooden floor clear. It was actually pretty clean for a shed and not a bad place to make out.

Bastion looked shy suddenly so I decided maybe I should make the first move. I moved a little closer to him and when I put my arms around him he was trembling. I pulled back and looked into his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Cody, I'm so sorry. Suddenly I feel very ill. I'm afraid we're going to have to do this another time."

"Hey, no problem," I said trying not to sound as disappointed as I was, "You need to get well buddy. Come on I'll help you back to the house."

He must've been feeling bad because he barely shuffled along as I helped him back to the house and when we got there Maria took one look at him and called for his father. I helped him to his room and into bed and then stood back while his father examined him. He had one of those doctor bags like you see on TV and he pulled out a stethoscope and listened to Bastion's chest then took his temperature with a thermometer he stuck in his ear. I thought that was pretty cool but from the look on his dad's face I guessed Bastion wasn't, cool I mean. 

He checked his blood pressure and pulse and looked down his throat then sighed, "I'm afraid you'll be out of school for the rest of week young man. Your lungs are congested and your temperature is 102. How does your tummy feel?" he said pressing on Bastion's stomach. I thought it was totally out of character for Mr (Dr.) Grant to call it a tummy, but also thought it was so cool.

"Ouch, it hurts sir. And I feel nauseous."

"I'll get you something for your fever and nausea and bring you some ice water." he said gently.

Then turning to me he said, "I'm sorry Cody but I'm  afraid we'll have to cut your visit short. I had hoped Sebastion would be better by now, but it appears he is worse."

"Can he stay a few more minutes, just until you get back sir?" Bastion asked looking at me with apologetic eyes.

"Yes, of course, just don't get too close. He may be contagious," Dr. Grant warned.

Now he tells me, I thought to myself, after we played tonsil hockey

When Bastion's dad was gone I walked over to the bed and took his hand and squeezed it gently, "Man, I am so sorry. Why didn't you tell me you were so sick?"

"I wanted to be with you," he said sadly, "but now I've probably infected you as well," he sighed, "I'm sorry Cody. I'm afraid I let you down."

"No, don't say that. You didn't let me down. I wanted to see you even if we didn't get to...well, you know," I said grinning.

"I don't deserve you," Bastion said looking ready to cry.

"I don't deserve you either, but I guess we're stuck with each other," I said poking him playfully.

He managed a weak smile, "I hope so."

His dad knocked on the door then and I laid his hand back down and moved away.

"Text me," I mouthed behind his dad's back and he nodded.

Maria was outside the door and ready to take me home and I got another shock when she led me out to the Mercedes.

As I slid into the leather seat and pulled the shoulder harness around me I looked over at her and grinned, "Is this yours?"

"No, but the Doctors let me use their cars whenever I need them. I could have taken the Cadillac but I thought you might enjoy this one more," she said grinning back.

"Cool," I said checking out the radio and forgetting about Bastion for the moment.

When we pulled up at my house I was lucky enough to have an audience. I guess Danny had come out to get some fresh air and mom and dad were sitting on the front porch I suppose to keep an eye on him.

Danny saw us first and yelled something to mom and dad and then they were off the porch and headed our way. I rolled down the power window as Danny came up to the car and I grinned at him.

"How do you like my new wheels bro?"

"Cool, who's is this?" he said bending down to see who was driving.

"This is Maria my chauffeur," I teased.

Maria got out long enough to introduce herself to my folks and Danny and then we waved to her as she drove away. I sat down on the porch by Danny at my parents feet and told them about what had happened at school...all of it, and that Bastion was sick and I had to come home early.

"I hope it's nothing contagious," my mom said, "or both of you boys will probably get it."

"Cody, I want to talk to you alone later," my dad said mysteriously and I wondered what I'd done now.

I nodded and went in to wash up and soon mom had the food on the table and we were eating and talking like a normal family. I noticed that Danny was a bit more talkative than usual but none of it was directed at me. I guess old wounds don't heal that easy. I finally decided to draw him out and start the ball rolling.

"So bro, how's the nose today?"

"Fine," he said looking up at me with surprise, "it hardly hurts at all."

"That's good. I'm glad. Cause like I said, I'm really sorry about what happened and I want you to know  it really was an accident."

My mom and dad were watching us closely, not saying a word now, and when Danny replied it was like a breath of fresh air had just blown into the room.

"I know, it's cool Cody. Really, I believe you. I shoulda caught it."

"I should have made sure we had eye contact," I said again,"Dad taught us that, but I got careless. I just wanted to include you in our fun."

Danny  smiled a little and flicked his eyes toward mom and she winked. Dad had a little grin on his face and soon the conversation got back to normal only this time Danny actually talked to me.

It felt weird, but good to have my little brother talk to me again and I realized that my stubbornness and pride had cost me six years of his friendship and love. I felt my eyes tearing up and I guess it showed on my face because the conversation sort of died while I pulled myself together and when we were finished, Dad told me he wanted to talk to me and that mom and Danny could clear.

I was nervous as I followed him into the little room he called his office. It was actually the fourth bedroom but it looked more like a closet and even though all dad had in there was a desk and a couple of chairs and a bookcase, it looked cluttered.

I pulled the extra chair up to dad's desk and he sat down in his office chair and laced his hands behind his head and leaned back. I imagined that was what he looked like when he had a customer in his office closing the sale and I smiled. What kind of deal was dad offering me, I wondered.

"Cody, I'm proud of the way you stood up and accepted responsibility for what happened to Danny and I'm glad that my boys are finally speaking again. You can't imagine how hard it's been for your mom and me. We love both of you equally and and we can't choose sides."

"Really?" I said daring to test him a bit, "I just always thought, you know, that you liked Danny better. I mean he's cuter and younger and nicer than me."

Dad shook his head, "Is that really how you feel Cody? Have we ever shown any favoritism when it came to you and your brother?"

I tried to think of one instance and I squirmed in my seat. Try as hard as I could I couldn't think of one time they had chosen Cody over me or treated him better. Suddenly I realized I was a victim of my own stupidity and pride. And what was worse, Danny and my parents were victims of it too.

"I'm sorry," I said simply, "can you forgive me dad?" I said as tears rolled down my cheeks.

He leaned over and wiped at my tears with his thumbs and smiled, "Son, we have already forgiven you long ago. We love you more than you can imagine, both of you, and nothing makes me happier than to see you two talking again."

I sniffed back tears and wiped at my eyes, "Well, I guess I just grew up a little," I offered, "plus someone made me see what I was missing by shutting my brother out of my life."

"Oh? And is that person this new friend of yours, Bastion?"

I nodded.

"Well, he must be very special then. I think I have to say I approve of him."

I smiled, "He's really cool dad."

My dad sighed, "That brings me to the other reason I wanted to talk to you."

Uh oh, I thought. Now what?

This incident at school....I'm a little concerned about what happened. These boys who wrote on your friend's locker....do you think they know something about your friend or was this just a random thing?"

I felt my heart speed up and I thought about how to answer. What my dad was really asking was: is Bastion gay? and I couldn't answer that one, no matter what.

"I don't know dad. Does it really matter?" I said throwing it back in his corner, "You always taught us to stand up for the underdog and for what was right. His social life is his business, right?" I almost said sex life, but caught myself before it slipped out.

It was his turn to squirm then, and I felt proud of the way I was handling things so far.

"I suppose but, if you are going to be friends with Bastion you realize his problems become your problems and there may be....well, repercussions."

 I guess I looked confused because he added, "If you dabble in shit, you're bound to get some on you." he said causing my mouth to drop open. My dad seldom ever used dirty words around us kids but at least I understood that one.

"But if you like someone, I mean if they're your friend shouldn't you stand up for them?"

"Of course, as long as they're not doing anything wrong or illegal. All I'm saying is: just think about what might go along with being friends with this boy."

"You...you're not gonna keep me from seeing him are you?" I said feeling a little panicky.

Dad sighed, "You really like this boy, don't you?" he said as if he could read my mind.

"Daaaadddd...." I whined, "it's not like that," I said red-faced, but it really was like that.

"He laughed, "Well, I hope not, but no...I'm not going to choose your friends for you. You and your brother are both smart enough to know which people are worth your friendship and which aren't. I just want you to be careful and if things get too bad, ask for help. It doesn't have to be us, a teacher, your principal or another trusted adult."

I sort of giggled, "A trusted adult dad...really? I'm not being molested," I said before I thought what that might imply, "I mean it's just a couple of bullies and the school took care of them."

Dad nodded and seemed to be satisfied but this was a wake up call that I had to be careful around him because he saw things that mom didn't. We started talking about sports then and I told him the coach had asked both Bastion and me to try out for wrestling.

"I used to wrestle when I was about 14. I was actually pretty good and it was a lot of fun. What do you think son, do you want to give it a try? It would help you stay in shape until ball season."

"I think so dad. Bastion knows a lot about martial arts and he's promised to teach me some stuff and he says wrestling would be easy compared to what he's been doing."

Dad nodded, "The more I hear about this new friend of yours the more I like him. But one thing bothers me: if he knows martial arts and he's so well developed, why does he need you to watch out for him?"

I explained to dad what his folks had told me and he seemed to digest that before speaking, "Sounds like something straight out of The Karate Kid," he chuckled.

I laughed too, "Yeah, wax on, wax off." only I was thinking whacks off as in whacking my cock off.

"Well, you should probably go take your shower and get ready for bed. Do you have any homework?"

"No sir, so far none of my teachers have given out any. I guess they're letting us get used to things first before they drop the bomb on us," I chuckled.

"Alright then, give me a hug and go take your shower. I need to pay some bills and answer some emails," he said sounding tired.

I bounced up and hugged his neck and then got out of there while the getting was good. I practically ran  Danny down in the hallway and he squealed then giggled. It felt good to hear him giggle instead of retreat in fear and I followed him to his room just to talk.

"You're really gonna do this, aren't you?" Danny said sitting down on his bed.

"Huh, do what?" 

"Be my brother again?" he said in a quite little voice as if he said it too loud it might not come true.

I fell down on his bed and blew out a puff of breath, "Look bro, if we're gonna make this work, we gotta get some things straight, okay?"

"O...kay, like what?"

"Like....we can't keep bringing up the bad stuff. I'll admit right now that I was a jerk and it was mostly my fault, but we need to put that behind us and move on, okay?"

He shrugged, "Okay, but what if...what if you get mad at me again or change your mind?" he said tears welling up in his eyes, "I...I don't think I could stand it if...if that happened."
     My heart felt as if it was going to burst out of my chest then as I realized that Danny had loved me all those years despite what a jerk I was and his only fear now was that I would snatch back what I had offered him now.

I choked back a few tears of my own and sat up and took his shoulders in my hands and made him look at me, "I hurt you...a lot and I'm sorry, but I swear to you that I will never do that again. I love you...yeah, I said it, I love you and I want my brother back."

He nodded slowly and managed a weak smile. Then sniffing delicately he reached up and put his hands on my arms and we just sat there like that for a few minutes. Finally to seal the covenant I had just declared I pulled him into a hug and he hugged me back fiercely. I felt him tremble and felt his tears spill out on my neck and run down my neck cooling on my chest. I didn't cry, not then. I just sat there and held him and patted his back and let him get 6 years of pain and suffering out of his system. When he was all cried out, he pulled away and wiped at his eyes and smiled weakly.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," I said smiling back at him, "Hey, I have an idea. When I'm done with my shower, wanna play some Wii?"

"Really? In your room?" he said with excitement.

"Yeah, in my room. From now on, you're welcome in my room, but you gotta knock first, okay?"

"Oh, sure..yeah, but it may take some getting used to..being allowed in your room."

"You'll get used to it..and pretty soon you won't even remember all that bad stuff. It's how people are, they adjust and move on. I guess in a way that's what you did for the last six years."

"I never got over it," he said softly, "I hated it every day and I tried hard to think of what to do to fix it, but I never found out what was wrong. I never knew why you hated me."

I stopped dead in my tracks and listened. I had thought we'd said all that needed to be said, but it seemed like Danny still had some things inside he needed to get out.

"Cody?"

"Uh huh."

"I... know I said this before, but...I thought about...you know, killing myself a few times," he said holding his head in his hands and rocking back and forth.

I sat back down and put my arm around him, "Well, I 'm glad you didn't cause I think I might have killed myself too if you'd done that."

"Really, I thought you didn't care if I lived or died."

"It's complicated, but I don't think I ever really hated you. I was just jealous of you and I wanted to be you," man as soon as the words were out I knew it was the gospel truth and I felt like my soul had just been washed clean.

"Why? You were always the cool one and the one mom and dad always talked about and all my friends said I had the coolest brother in the world...only they didn't know that...well, that we weren't really like brothers back  then."

My eyes were opened, my soul was purged and there was nothing left to say, "I'm gonna go take a shower. See you in a bit."

He nodded as I stood to go and a few minutes later I was naked and in the shower. The water felt good on my body and I suddenly realized how tired I was. The shower revived me a little though and by the time I was dried and dressed in undies and a tee I was ready to keep my promise to Danny.

He was still sitting on his bed, but now he was dressed in the shorts he liked to sleep in and a Bat Man t-shirt. 

"Ready?"

"Yeah, I got ready for bed while I was waiting."

"Well, if you get tired just let me know," I said as I led him to my room.

I played Wii for about an hour and would have played longer except mom knocked on the door and told us it was time to go to bed. I could tell that she was tempted to let us play all night if that meant we were brothers again, but after all she was a mom and mom's wanted their kids to get there sleep.

I hugged Danny goodnight and he bounced off to go to his room and a little while later mom knocked on my door again. I was under the covers but hadn't turned out the light yet and mom came on in and sat down on my bed and pulled the covers up around me like she had when I was a little kid.

"I'm so proud of you," she said smiling with tears glistening in her eyes, "I feel like I have my family back," she sighed and leaned down and kissed me, "Sweet dreams son, and thank you...thank you for making me so happy."

I blushed and shrugged, "Mom, how come you and dad never tried to tell me how stupid I was being all these years?"

"Well...we tried a few times...early on. Maybe you don't remember, but after a while it became just too frustrating and painful to deal with. I suppose looking back we should have tried to get you help...maybe some counseling, but I guess we just always thought you'd get over it."

"I'm sorry I was such an idiot," I said closing my eyes and blowing out my breath in frustration. I was actually getting kind of tired talking about this. I just wanted everyone to forget about the past and move forward like with me.

"Well, it's all in the past now. It was so good to see you and Danny playing together tonight. It was all I could do not to cry."

I squirmed a little knowing how much I had hurt her and dad. Up until then I had thought that Danny was my only victim.

"Goodnight sweetie," she said looking down at me and smiling, "pleasant dreams. Oh, and dad says you might be trying out for wrestling with this new friend of yours. I think that's wonderful. I know you'll do well."

"Goodnight mom." I said hoping she would take the hint that I wanted to be alone.

"I'll see you at breakfast," she said starting for the door, "waffles sound good?"

"I love waffles," I said grinning, "thanks mom. Love ya."

"I love you too baby," she said throwing me a kiss.

I caught it just like I used to do when I was a little kid and threw one back.

When she was gone I turned out the light and tried to sleep but there was too much on my mind. I managed to push Danny and my family out of my mind, but Bastion wouldn't go away as easy.

I wondered if this was love. If so, it was my first and I had heard that your first love was always the one you remembered the most and compared every love after that to. I knew I loved the stuff we had done, the touching and kissing and that I wanted to be with him as much as I could, but was I in love with him?

I thought about how cute Bastion was and how much I loved how his body looked and felt and how wonderful it had been when we had made each other come that day and my hand went down to my cock and it was hard in a half second. I rubbed it slowly as I pictured Bastion's body in my mind and pretty soon I threw the covers back and pushed my underwear down and went after it like a crazy man.

It didn't take me long to get close and I stopped long enough to grab a sock and skinned it onto my dick to catch the cum. Two or three strokes later and I blew my load. It filled the end of the sock and just kept coming and my nuts felt like they'd been turned inside out. It felt sooo good, yet it almost hurt. It's hard to describe how it really felt but when it was over I was exhausted. I pulled the sock off and dropped it on the floor, covered back up and was asleep a few minutes later.




End of Chapter One...More to come.




I hope you have enjoyed chapter one and are looking forward to more as much as I am. I really like the new characters and have to admit I got very emotional at certain points in the story. I always wanted a brother growing up, but never had one. Here is a boy who has a brother but for six years treated him as an enemy. Only after meeting Bastion does Cody realize just what he has been missing all those years and he sets out to make things right. As Cody examines his feelings toward both his brother and his new friend Bastion he is almost overwhelmed. Even as he begins to accept his own sexuality he finds  himself defending Bastion's against his fellow students and that leads to problems for both him and his old friends. But in some student's eyes he is a hero and his actions bring him a new following. 

Much more ahead as Cody and Bastion explore their new friendship and Cody learns to love his brother once again. 

Feedback is important, so feel free to email me at kewl_dad1@hotmail.com

Be sure to check out my other stories in the Prolific Authors Section at Nifty.