Disclaimer: This is a romantic love story about love between young adolescent boys. There will be some explicit sex scenes in the story later, in subsequent chapters, but they are not the main focus of the story.
So if you are looking for a story with a lot of explicit sex action, you are in the wrong place.
If you like to read a sappy romantic tory with occasional kinky sex scenes, then please sit back and enjoy!
Thanks again to all those who wrote with comments and feedback!
I am posting this chapter in HTML format as an experiment, mainly because HTML allows for a wider variety of fonts compared to plain text.
Of course, as usual, comments and constructive criticism are welcome!
albert.c87@yahoo.com
Oh, yeah, and please, donate to Nifty: donate.nifty.org
His nature is too noble for the world:
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
Or Jove for's power to thunder.
William Shakespear, Coriolanus
He was on a train, sitting by the window, alone. Didn't know how he got there. Or where he was going. Had no ticket.
The train moving faster and faster. People, trees, cars, houses behind the window blurring, merging into a long seamless endless stream ...
Somebody tapping him on the shoulder. A uniform, a heavy mustache, a hard hat. A conductor.
"Son, your ticket, please."
"Umm, sorry, Sir, I got no ticket ..."
"No ticket, eh?"
"No, sorry. Can't remember where I'm going. What do I do, Sir? What do I do?"
"You gotta get off this train, son. You can't stay here."
The next morning, right after breakfast, the boys were back in their room.
Diego was at the computer, looking up some astronomy websites. Luke was sitting quietly on the couch.
After a while, Diego turned his head and saw that Luke was doodling something in a notebook with a pencil.
"Whatya doing?" Diego asked, sitting down next to Luke on the couch.
"Sketching. See!" Luke replied showing Diego the page. "That's my sketchbook. I do that sometimes, for fun."
Diego looked at the page. He saw the head and torso of a horse. The picture was very expressive and there was something really familiar about it.
"It's Summer!" Diego exclaimed with sudden realization.
"You noticed, eh?" Luke giggled. "Yeah, that's Summer. I try sketching horse faces sometimes 'cause it's real hard. I meant, real hard to make them different from one another. I watch lots of horse videos on YouTube just to see their faces."
Diego looked at the page again.
"Wow, Luke, that's amazing!" he uttered in awe. "I had no idea you can draw so good. You got any others?"
"Sure, lots of them," Luke replied.
He turned the page back and showed Diego another sketch. Two boys sitting under a large sprawling tree, with a thick trunk separated in the middle into two main branches.
"That's us, under the old willow," Luke explained.
Diego looked back at the picture. One boy was unmistakably Luke. Tall, broad shoulders, wavy hair, broad smiling face.
The other, smaller, thinner, boy with huge round eyes and long eyelashes. Who was he? Was that Diego?
Diego blinked. The boy in the picture, he looked familiar, yet different, almost a stranger. That boy, he had a soul, a real face, with a real expression on it. You could see it, even in this rough sketch.
Diego blinked again and looked away. He still didn't really know who he was. Felt like he hasn't been completely born yet. Luke didn't know, but Diego still avoided looking at himself in the mirror in the bathroom. Too afraid to see the stranger looking back at him. He did look, once, and almost froze to death. It was scary.
Diego looked at the page again. The boy in the picture, he was alive. He's been born already. Luke made him alive.
Luke turned the page back and continued sketching Summer. Diego watched him silently for a while.
"Hey, Luke," he said quietly at last, "remember the other night, that story you told me about your mom and that song ..."
"Yeah?" Luke stopped sketching and looked up at Diego.
"There's a story I wanna tell you too ... about my mom ... but not yet ... not yet ... I ...," Diego paused, struggling for words.
He felt Luke's warm hand gently squeezing his shoulder.
"That's okay, Diego, it's okay," Luke said softly. "I can wait. It can wait. Whenever you're ready, buddy."
"Yeah ...," Diego continued, "thanks Luke, thanks! But ... I've also been thinking something else, seeing you drawing..."
Diego raised his head and looked Luke in the eyes, those beautiful green eyes, now shining with friendship and compassion.
"Yeah, Diego, what is it?" Luke asked.
"Well, seeing how good you are with drawing faces ... maybe you could ... you know ... draw ... her?" Diego spoke almost whispering. "See, I've got nothing left from my old life, from before ..., no pictures, nothing ..."
Luke looked at Diego in awe and the locked him in a sudden tight hug.
"Diego, buddy, of course I'm gonna try! Thank you for trusting me with this!" Luke embraced Diego again.
"But dude, it's gonna be hard, real hard," Luke said, looking Diego in the eyes and holding his shoulders gently. "First off, I never done nothing like this. May take a long time. Might not work." He paused. "Then, it's gonna be real hard on you, you understand that right? You're gonna have to describe to me her face, your mom's face real clear like, think about it real hard as you do. Are you sure you are up to it, Diego? Are you okay with it?"
"Yeah, yeah, I think I am," Diego answered after a pause. "I can handle it now."
Diego gave Luke a questioning look.
"So, umm, ..., Luke," Diego asked haltingly. "How do we do ... this? Are you gonna draw her here?"
Luke thought for a moment.
"Nah, let's go visit the old willow," he said. "Better lighting there. Better vibe too, right?" He winked at Diego.
"Right ...," Diego agreed uncertainly.
"Okay, then, let's go!" Luke declared.
"What, right now?" Diego recoiled slightly.
"Yep, sure, right now! We gotta make hay while the sun shines, man!" Luke exclaimed. "Come on, we'll take a boat, it'll be quicker."
Luke got a new sketchbook and put it in his backpack.
"Okay, amigo, let's go!" he exclaimed.
Diego suddenly felt a bit queasy and uncertain. Luke stopped and looked at Diego with a gentle grin, lightly tapping his shoulder.
"Come on' Diego, I think it's a real good idea," Luke said looking Diego in the eyes. "It'll be good. I think it'll help. And I think I can do it! Wadaya say?"
"Okay. Yeah, okay, lets go," Diego replied with a nervous smile.
The boys headed outside.
During the boat ride along the pond, Diego kept fidgeting, getting up and down, turning left and right.
'Hey, Diego, come on, calm down, dude," Luke finally spoke, "you are gonna make us tip over, he-he. Look, we are almost there!"
"Oh, sorry, Luke, I am just so ...," Diego replied, sitting down and hugging his shoulders.
Luke gave him another friendly grin and continued rowing.
By the time the boys reach the old willow, Diego was considerably calmer. The weather was sunny, with a light breeze. In the shade of the willow the air still felt quite cool and fresh.
Luke sat down bow-legged on the grass about ten feet from the trunk, and Diego sat in the same position a few feet further, facing Luke.
Luke got his sketchbook and a pencil out the bag and looked at Diego with an encouraging smile. Diego was taking deep long breaths, trying to keep his emotions in check.
"Okay, Diego, my man, let's get to work," Luke declared turning to a new page. "Now, Diego, first describe to me anything you remember about you mom's face. In any order. Eyes, lips, cheeks, ears, moles, anything ... Just close your eyes and think ..."
Diego closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. ... It wasn't working ... It was all a jumble ... He could not see it ... Could not see his mom's face ...
How was it possible? He felt tears welling in his eyes. And then Luke's hand, Luke's warm hand gently grabbed his.
"Relax, Diego, relax," Luke spoke gently, "breathe slowly, man. Remember, it's okay not to worry. The willow, it's watching over us."
Despite himself, Diego smiled. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried again.
"Okay, okay, I see it now ...," he said slowly. "She had a soft long oval face ... a slight dimple in her chin ... Her eyes, there were large, but not quite round ... A bit like ... almond-like ..."
"All right, good, good, you are doing good," Luke encouraged. "Now, eyebrows. Straight or arched?"
"Arched ... but only a little .., and kinda thin ..."
"Eyelashes, long or short?" Luke queried further.
"L-long ..., and kinda curled up a little ..."
"Okay, good, good. The hair, long or short?" Luke pressed.
"Long, almost to the waist. She usually wore it down."
"Good, good, Diego, you did great!" Luke complimented, working furiously fast with his pencil.
"Now, the harder part, the nose," Luke continued. "I'm gonna draw several shapes on a blank piece of paper and you'll tell me which one looks the closest."
It took them three pages of sketches to converge on the right nose.
Luke repeated the same process with the lips, and then the ears.
In about two hours or so the ground around the boys was covered with pages of paper containing sketches of eyes, ears, lips, noses, face contours, hair styles, and other face fragments.
Diego felt exhausted but Luke just kept going.
"Okay, Diego, dude, now, I think we're good!" Luke finally declared.
"You mean you have my mom's sketch?!" Diego asked in amazement.
"No, silly, not yet," Luke corrected him. "I think I can start drawing your mom's sketch now."
Luke gathered the pages from the ground, picked about a dozen and arranged them in a few rows on the ground.
He turned his sketchbook to a new page and looked at Diego with a grin.
"All right, Diego, dude, I'm about to go to work!" Luke declared. "I also wanna you to try to sit still, just where you are, as you are."
"Me, why?" Diego asked, perplexed.
"I'll be looking at you from time to time," Luke explained. "See, you have parts of your mom's face. Will help me draw."
"Oh," Diego answered with a sudden nervous shiver. But it was too late to back out.
Diego sighed. It's gonna be okay. It's okay not to worry. The old willow is watching over them. And Luke's here. Diego smiled weakly.
Luke started drawing, his pencil quickly moving along the page with a light rustling sound. His face was focused, intent, sharp, confident. Diego realized that he'd never seen Luke like this before, not even when Luke was pottering.
As Diego was watching Luke draw, he felt his own anxiety slowly lessen, melt away. Luke really knew what he was doing! And the willow was watching over them. It was okay to relax. It was going to be all right.
Diego lost track of time, mesmerized by the sound of Luke's pencil moving along the page, the sight of Luke's intent face, the rustling of the leaves of the old willow above them.
A crow flew above them, cawing loudly, startling Diego from his trance. He moved his head slightly towards Luke.
"No peaking!" Luke admonished.
"Oh, no, I wasn't ..." Diego started saying.
"He-he, relax, dude, I'm just messing with you," Luke stopped him. "Anyway, I'm almost done."
Luke continued sketching for a few more minutes.
"All right, Diego, buddy, I think I'm finished," Luke stated in a much quieter and more serious voice. He paused. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Diego nodded silently.
Luke walked up to him, holding his sketchbook.
"Okay, Diego, take a look," Luke said gently. "Here it is."
He turned the leaf and handed Diego the sketchbook opened at the next page.
Diego gingerly took the sketchbook and stared at the image in front of him.
It was the face of a woman smiling gently back at him. Almost like a Mona Lisa smile, only gentler, kinder, more tender. A familiar face. He knew that face. A live face. A beautiful, tender, loving face. His mom's face.
Diego blinked. He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. As Diego continued to stare at the picture, he felt something cold, tight, dead and heavy like a stone or a ring of iron, something that has been gripping his heart ever since that day in the car, at last loosen its grip, thaw and let go, finally releasing his chest. Something hot rushed to his throat, and Diego collapsed, sobbing.
Almost immediately, Luke was there, holding him, cradling Diego at his chest, stroking his hair.
"Ssh-h, Diego, buddy, it's okay," Luke cooed gently, "it's okay, it's okay, Diego, it's okay, I've got you, it's okay".
Diego held on to Luke, soaking Luke's short in tears. But Luke felt that this was different, very different, not like the day they met. Diego was there, with him, aware of his presence, hugging him back, breathing gratefully into his chest. This was good, this more than just relief from pain and anguish, this was healing. Yeah, this was good.
Luke continued stroking Diego's silky black hair when he realized that Diego has stopped crying.
Luke slowly separated from him and lifted Diego's chin with his finger, staring in his eyes.
Diego's eyes were still filled with tears but he was smiling.
"You okay, buddy?" Luke asked gently.
"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks, Luke," Diego sniffled. "Better than okay. I am happy, so happy! You've given me my mom back, Luke, I can't believe it! It's amazing! It's so amazing ..." Diego leaned in and hugged Luke.
"All right, all right, now you are gonna make me cry too," Luke said half-jokingly, his eyes moist, hugging Diego back.
Diego separated from him and stood up, wiping his eyes, and clutching the sketch to his chest.
"Sorry, Luke, I just ... It's just ... I'm so ... happy!" Diego smiled at Luke through still tear-filled eyes.
"And Luke," Diego continued after a pause, "I really wanna thank you ... I just donno how ... Donno if I got anything to give ... What you just done ... If you were to ask anything of me now, anything at all -- I'd do it in an instant, I swear!"
Diego looked at Luke with a happy sincere sweet smile.
Luke stared back, his green eyes blazing with a bright light for a moment. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.
"Diego, buddy," Luke spoke at last, "It's totally cool, I promise! That's what friends are for, right?!" He paused again. "And if you really wanna thank me then promise me this. That story you mentioned earlier, about you and you mom and that day ... I really wanna hear it! When you are ready. Okay?"
"Okay," Diego answered still smiling, "okay."
The boys collected Luke's sketches and headed back to the boat.
As Luke rowed the boat back towards Green Oaks, Diego was sitting across from him, still clutching his mom's sketch to his chest. Luke grinned widely as he looked at Diego's face, his sweet brown eyes shining brightly at Luke with obvious adoration and gratitude.
"Well, that certainly is more than worth a bad case of blue balls, ain't it," Luke chuckled to himself mentally. "Guess it means setting the water at extra hot for my shower tonight, he-he!"
When the boys got to their room, Diego put the picture on the wall above his bed.
He turned to Luke.
"Luke," Diego said earnestly, "'bout what I promised you. I'll tell you. Real soon. Just give me a little more time. I'm almost ready."