Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2021 22:54:26 -0600 From: Billy Wright Subject: Us, For You (Chapter 15) This story is fiction, based on real events, but fiction. This is the final part of the series that includes five chapters so... you are in for a final ride, a final boy and a final everything. (I'm a college student so you'll have to forgive me if I don't upload that often). If you'd like to talk to me about anything, here is my email: billy.alexander.wright@gmail.com ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ *** Characters *** *Alex - Me (16) *Chris - My brother and frenemy (2 years older) *Minakami - Japanese boy, kind, daring and helpful (same age as me) *Ekrem - Turkish boy, warm, caring and sweet (2 years older) *Baruk - Ekrem's boyfriend (1 year older) *Golden-Haired boy (same age as me) ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ *** Part 4, Finale *** Skyscraper Constellations 2 (New York) "You don't remember my name, do you?" That phrase, that one phrase was enough to make me feel like the biggest jerk in the world. Turns out that visiting the Empire State wasn't as straight forward as in the movies, depending on the day and time, there was an enormous line of people. It was midsummer so, of course: it was crowded. The first floor of the building and several others were, practically, nothing but a long queue. True, they had put up various paintings and fun facts to get distracted but what I didn't need was to be trapped in a line with the boy I rejected on a text at another city six months ago. "Princes don't just come to you, you have to go and get them." That had been the first lesson, the one I learned three years ago in Japan. Yet, there I was, with the golden-haired boy, arriving out of nowhere, unsolicited. "Only that... he isn't a prince." "Hey Alex," he greeted me, friendly. I stayed quiet, one, two, five, ten seconds. In the end, he gave me a strange look. "You don't remember my name, do you?" I moved my head from side to side. The golden-haired boy stopped looking at me after that. "He isn't a prince alright, but it looks like I'll still have to go and get him," I told myself. That didn't mean that princes didn't easily come to you, it meant that if you want something, you have to work for it and even if the golden-haired boy had easily came to me, emotionally he couldn't have been farther away. "I'll have to go out and get him." Although... did I really want to be with him? I wasn't sure how well I remembered our time in Prague six months ago but, according to me, he was kind of boring with not a lot to say. "Better than having someone who tells you everything you want to hear just to sleep with you," Alexjei had become a funny memory. Maybe the golden-haired boy wasn't that bad. Maybe I could give him a chance. "After all we are in New York, New York, the City so Great They Named it Twice and if the best things deserve to be done twice, maybe he is worth a second shot." My parents were talking with Chris' girlfriend, meeting her and she, despite the impression she gave me at Prague, was actually being quite friendly. On the other hand, her brother and I were just there, in silence. "You won't find a better moment to talk," I told myself before walking towards him. "Hey, I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry for everything that happened," I surprised myself when I heard those words come out of my mouth. Did I apologize? I wasn't sure why I said that. "Sorry, really. Can we start again?" The golden-haired boy seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding. "Pleasure," I said with exaggerated movements, joking. "I'm Alex." "Hey, Alex," he replied. "James." "James? That is a pretty memorable name." "It better be," he stretched his hand out. I shook it. I spent the rest of my time there getting to know James. In spite of Prague and the fact that we were in the same school... that was the first moment when I truly felt that I knew him. He told me that he and his sister had been born there in New York, that they lived there until he was seven when their parents got a divorce and they went to live with his father while his mother stayed in the city. Now, every winter their mother went to see them and every summer, they went to New York. It was funny how in most real life stories there wasn't such a thing as a villain, only complicated and imperfect people trying their best to be happy. Maybe that's what we all were. I told him about my relationship with Chris. I chose not to tell him about Japan or Turkey, even less so about Prague. I told him that Chris and I had had a difficult relationship, that even if we had some good moments we also had some bad ones and that we now were entering a new good moment but I wasn't so sure. All that, then, lead us to chat about who could name more nicknames for New York (turns out it has more than thirty besides the ones Chris and I had already named). The Center of the World sounded a bit egocentric for me and the Empire City was just bs but I won using the nickname Chris insisted was real: The City so Great They Named it Twice. "They named it twice?" James asked, curious. "New York and Manhattan?" "New York, New York. The city and the state. My brother says that great things must be done twice." "They you should call me James, James." "Oh, you think you are great?" "I don't think, I am," he then paused for a second. "Well, I know you don't think so, there must be a reason why ditched me in Prague." "Ouch," that was the first thing I thought. I had hoped he didn't care but it looked like he did. I asked myself: what would he said if I told him that I ditched him to date the waiter? I chose not to find out. A few dozen stairs and an elevator ride later, we got to the top of the Empire State Building, the top of New York. The first thing I felt was the coldness of the wind. My parents were thrilled, so were Chris and his girlfriend. We all took turns taking pictures. After a while, my parents were on a pair of telescopes and Chris and his girlfriend on another. James got close to the edge and tried to look down. We walked back. "Woah, that's high." "You are great," I said as an answer, he looked at me funny. "You are great." "I heard you the first time but... why do you say so?" "Well, like I said... the greatest thing are ought to be done twice. We already went out for a cup of coffee but, I think we should go out for another." James took a second to think about it. "Are you..." "Inviting you on a date? Yes," I completed. I had paid attention, James never called our incident in Prague a date so, maybe if I did so, I could show him I meant it. "Yes, of course." "And where are you planning on taking me?" "I don't know, I don't know this city." That made him smile. "Well I do and I can think of a place." "That's a yes?" "We can try," James replied. "Greatest things are done twice, right?" I had no idea how we were going to have a date with my parents there but the change appeared sooner than we thought. That afternoon, Chris and his girlfriend invited us to meet James' mother. My parents said yes, of course. It wasn't formal but we dressed as fancy as we could and, around six, we got to Chris' girlfriend's house. Our hotel was in midtown Manhattan but they lived in Brooklyn. I wasn't sure what to expect but the apartment was big, much more than I thought it would be and, in spite of it being obvious that it belonged to a rich family, there were few decorations in the house. There was a storm of greetings I couldn't remember. Truth be told, I felt somewhat overwhelmed. However, James seemed to notice it and saved me. He asked for permission to go to a café with me using his boredom as excuse and, ten minutes later, we were sitting at café half a block away from his house. "I'd never come here before but I've always wanted to," James mentioned while watching the place. "This café is special, you know? This used to be a house and it was here where George Washington created his battle plans for the Revolution." "Really? Here?" I looked around me, it seemed like any other place, calm. Maybe that's why Washington chose it. James gave me a blank look before starting to laugh. "No, not at all. I'm kidding but the fact that you believed it already says a lot." "A lot about what?" "About how you trust me," James winked at me, a part of me flushed. "Well, it was either that or the fact that everything seems to happen in New York. It's a little overused if you ask me. No, I mean it, think about all the movies that you can, ready? It doesn't matter which movies you thought of, I'm sure that at least half have a scene in New York. "Even Gotham is based in New York," I added. "Not even made up cities can escape New York." Just then a waiter came to us, giving us the menu. I thought of Alexjei, then I felt guilty. I didn't even looked at the waiter. "What food is traditional of New York?" James looked at me, confused. "Oh, right. I forgot about how much you like food. Well, New York pizza is pretty famous." "Pizza? Pizza?" I remembered it was his favorite food. "Pizza is from Italy." "Never say that to a New Yorker." "What? Facts?" We both laughed with that. In the end we ended up ordering pizza with our coffee, a weird combination but it got the job done. James spent half an hour defending that pizza even though I only graded it as tasty but nothing from another world. In the end I thought that for a city founded by immigrants, maybe pizza was the best food to represent it. There was something in that café. Yeah, maybe Istanbul was a legend and Prague a fairy tale but New York was a movie, modern magic, it felt like every second was part of an epic montage. When we were done eating, I could help but feel like the protagonist of a romantic movie. We walked back to his building. When we got to the apartment I could hear the laughter of my parents, Chris, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother, they were saying goodbye. "It looks like we got here just in ti..." James pulled me from the jacked towards the little closet next to the entrance. He closed the door and left us in the dark for a second, then a little bulb lit up. It was funny, a small space like that, closed, full of coats and with a soft warm light that softly moved from one side to the other. I was about to ask what we were doing there when I felt James' hand touch mine. It was then that I realized that, excluding our initial handshake, it was the first time he touched me. "Hey," I said stupidly, nervous. "Hey," he said with a smile. "I like the way you dressed up today." I looked at my outfit. "I didn't dressed up today, this is how I always look." "Then I like the way you always look." I opened my mouth but I didn't know what to say, my heart stopped, the air seemed to get stuck inside. I didn't see that coming, I wanted to smile but the nerves were in control. "I like your hair," I mentally punished myself after saying that. I tried to correct it. "I mean, I think you are handsome." It was James' turn to blush. "Really?" That answer was a little weird. "You don't believe me?" James looked me in the eyes, insecure, with a face that gave away his youth, then he moved side to side, his blond hair dancing with every movement. "Well," I said taking a step towards him, whispering. "What about now?" I closed my eyes and let my lips touch his. James wasn't a good kisser, maybe I was his first... no, judging by his shyness I was definitively his first. However, inside that closet with the coats around us I didn't care, I hugged him and let his lips melt in mine. I tried to find a flavor just like with the other but as much as I looked I was unable to... We both looked to the side when the doors suddenly opened. I feared it was my mother or father o even worse James' mother but, standing there, there was just Chris. Our eyes crossed for an instant before he closed the doors and his footsteps announced his walking away. "He saw us!" James was alarmed. "Don't worry," I said opening the doors, getting out quietly. "It was my brother." "But he saw us!" "Don't worry, I'll talk to him." *** When we got out of the closet everything was okay. James and I joined our families, talked for a while and said goodbye not long after. I lent him my phone number but he told me he already had it. I remembered Prague. On the way back my parents seemed very happy with Chris and his girlfriend, they seemed to have gotten along fairly well with her and her mother. It was a good sign, Chris was smiling. When we got to the hotel room, all that joy, all that emotion became silence. Chris saw me kissing James in the closet, he definitively saw me, there was no doubt. "But he already knew," a voice reminded me. It was true, he knew since Prague or maybe even from sometime before. I thought of something to say, to ask but my lips remained closed. Neither said a word. We watched the TV for half an hour until we felt sleepy and turned off the lights. I couldn't believe I hadn't say a thing. I didn't understand why but a part of me needed to talk about it, needed to say something, needed to know what gave me away. With the lights off, each one was on his bed. I closed my eyes, filled myself with courage and, without raising my voice, I said: "Chris," one second, two, three, four. Nothing. Again. "Chris." "What?" I smiled with that, it was brief. Only then I realized my leg was shaking. "Nothing," that was my answer, I hurriedly added more. "It's just that... in your girlfriend's house, when you opened the door to the closet..." "Alex," he cut me off. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." I stood still for a moment. "But..." "But what?" I didn't answer, I couldn't, I didn't think of a thing to say so I just kept quiet. "Alex?" Chris turned on the lamp in between our beds. "Do you want to talk?" he asked. My words were unable to come out so I just nodded. Chris took of the blanket above him, stood up and sat down in the far end of my bed. I froze for a second realizing that Chris had nothing on but a pair of red boxers that hugged his body firmly. I couldn't help but notice how big he was, maybe it was the age difference, maybe his boxers were a size too small or, maybe, my brother was bigger than me. I was dazzled, I hadn't seen my brother like that in a while. "Everything okay?" He asked leaning towards me. I was surprised by that, Chris had never been that caring with me, maybe being with his girlfriend had softened him. "Hey," he then said. "I'm sorry about the closet, I didn't want to..." "Don't apologize," I cut him. "It wasn't your fault, how would you know I was in there? Besides, well..." I sighed. "Well, this is what I wanted to talk about, I've been meaning to bring it up but... eh, when you opened the closet you, what you saw... well, it wasn't something you didn't already know." "Is that a question?" I said no with my head. Chris waited for a second, then two, then I realized we wasn't going to say anything. "In Prague when you were looking for me in the city and found me there you said that I was crazy for doing that only to see a boy. That's what you said, you used the word boy." "Really?" Chris seemed genuinely surprised by that. "I didn't notice, sorry." "No, I don't want you to apologize I just want to know... how did you know?" Chris look in front of him, thinking. He sighed, that wasn't easy for him either. "I didn't until one day when our parents went out, we were the only ones in the house, we didn't have permission to go out but I did it anyway. It was before Prague, like nine months ago. I left the house but I only walked a few blocks before feeling guilty so I went back. I let the cat inside, stayed downstairs for a while, and then walked up the stairs. I was going to my room and I was on my phone so I didn't make a lot of noise. That's when I saw the hallway window closed so I opened and then looked at your room... you were doing, having a video call I think with some friends..." My heart stopped, I knew exactly what day he meant: that day when I was with Minakami and Ekrem, getting naked in front of them. "... well, I saw that and went to my room" Chris nodded. "It was then that I knew." There was a moment of silence in which neither said a thing, we were both looking at the other. "Although, I don't' know why you never said anything. It's just that... you know how much I love you, right? No, no, I don't say that a lot but, you know, I thought you ought to know in case you didn't already know." I smiled. "I know." "And... well, you know our parent's love you, I just... I just don't want you to have the impression that it isn't the case. I know you know but, just in case." I sat on the bed and threw myself into his arms, hugging him. It was weird, that moment, me hugging Chris. Our relationship had never been good or magical but, in that moment, in that instant, I understood what people meant when they said they were happy for having a brother. Middhug, however, I realized we were both in our boxers, our bodies pressed together, one against the other so my member started reacting but it wasn't the only one. Against my thigh I could feel Chris reacting too. We slowly stepped away from the other but when our faces were inches away from the other we stopped for a second, we were close, so close, only inches between our lips. I leaned towards him but he stopped me. "We can't do that" he said in a whisper. "Nobody has to know." "It's not that," Chris stepped away. "We are brothers. And, truth be told, we haven't always figured out how to get along as brothers; I don't think it's a good idea to add another layer of complexity on top. Besides, I have a girlfriend and I like her, Alex, I really do." "Oh," I sighed. "I understand." "Don't' think that I don't love you, it's just that..." "Chris," I stopped him. "I understand. It's okay but... do you want to sleep with me?" His face showed every emotion: confusion, uneasiness, curiosity. "Only to sleep?" "Only to sleep." After a pause Chris nodded. He turned off the light and got inside the sheets with me. I could feel his warm body next to mine. It wasn't cold but I liked to feel him close, it was a comfortable sensation, safe, trustworthy. Then I felt his arms taking me by the back, holding me. I smiled with that, feeling him close to me. I arranged my back against his chest. It was then that I felt his hand sliding all the way to my boxers, peeking inside and taking a hold of my erection. "This is all that I will do," he murmured. "So you better settle for this." I smiled and we both fell asleep. ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Only three chapters away from the finale. Don't wait, next chapter will be a scene of those if you know what I mean. Please write me if you can. Also, don't forget to donate to nifty.