dkstories

“My god they’re noisy.” Cole said lightly to Dale, who was resting comfortably against his chest. He liked this, sitting between Cole’s legs, his bare back resting against Cole’s bare chest, and with Cole’s arms wrapped around him. It was nearly six in the morning, and they’d woken a half hour ago when Glen and Jer had started to go at it again. “Don’t you feel… weird sitting here and listening to them?” Dale asked. They were in Cole’s bedroom on the other side of the suite and they could h

I'd agree that it is a bad bet to underestimate Cole at anything he tries...

Thanks for the good words! This story was originally written for the premium story section and is being re-released after my return to GA. In order to keep from flooding the story alerts and blocking out all of the other great stories at GA, they are releasing the chapters two at a time twice a day - so it should all be posted soon and hopefully you'll get all the questions answered...

Oh great - now I'm contributing to the lackluster performance of the economy! (Just kidding there!) I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far.

I have to say - I really love this analysis!

“So, what’s up with you and this Blochs guy?” Glen asked as Dale tried to line up a shot on the pool table. They were in the game room at Cole’s house. Cole had gotten a call from one of his people in the YD’s, the Young Democrats and had left Dale alone here with Glen. For some reason, whenever he was alone with Cole’s friend, Dale felt nervous and this time was no exception. “Huh?” Dale asked, pushing the question out of his mind just long enough to take the shot. He was quite happy when

“Oh God, how did they get in here?” Cole murmured as he came up behind Dale, who was leaning on the railing, watching the choir below them. They stood just inside the convention center’s main doors, and were mostly young people. Half of them looked like ‘emo’ types while the other half just looked grungy. Still, they had beautiful voices and Dale found himself enjoying the tune they were singing, although he didn’t recognize it and couldn’t make out more than every other word in the buzz of t

“What was up with you and Pritchard this week?” Jeremy asked as he idly tossed the football up towards the ceiling. It didn’t quite hit the ceiling before dropping back down where he caught it while sprawled across Dale’s bed. Dale sighed at the question and tried to think of how to answer. The computer beeped as he finished scanning the last entry on the page and he flipped it over to the next one. “What do you mean?” Dale temporized. He kept on scanning, and the beep after each scan kind

“Just a few more, please.” The man on the other side of camera said and Dale let out a sigh. Cole was tense against him, but murmured compliance. “Good, good, now why don’t you two look at each other like you were about to kiss.” “I told you…” Cole started to argue, but the man cut him off. “Yeah, yeah, no kissing, no fondling each other and the clothes stay on.” The photographer grumbled. “I just want to catch the look you give each other when you are about to kiss.” “Alright, but this is

“Follow me.” Coach Miller’s voice allowed no room for argument as he stared down at Dale. It was his study period at the end of the day, and he’d been on his way to the library when he saw the football team coach standing there. Since the little match he’d participated in had been exactly a week ago, he had some idea why the coach was here now, demanding that Dale follow him. There wasn’t much choice. In school, teachers had authority, and Coach Miller had more authority than most. He’d bee

“You need to get going, Dale.” Howie McDonald said as he came around the cubicle that belonged to Dale. As much as Dale tried to keep it neat, the cubicle was overflowing with stacks of papers, flyers, and newspaper clippings. Dale looked up from the stack of precinct reports he was scanning into the computer with the barcode scanner. This was the most boring part of his job, and he could understand why the middle-aged and slightly overweight Howie McDonald shuffled it off on Dale. All he h

“Admit it, you had fun today.” Cole teased Dale who was sitting in the passenger seat of Cole’s little sports car. Since he was still smiling, it was hard for Dale to lie and say he had not had fun. “Okay, I had fun.” Dale said with a big sigh as the wind whipped through his hair. It felt good, especially since it was a very nice, warm day. Not even the freshly clean Darlow’s uniform he was wearing could have dampened his mood as Cole drove him to work. Mrs. Blochs, Jeremy’s mother had wa

Not even school could totally diminish Dale’s good mood as he walked onto the campus the next morning. When Cole suddenly appeared next to him as he walked towards his locker, Dale didn’t even flinch. Instead he nodded towards Cole with a smile on his face. “Good morning.” Dale said in a normal tone, which was barely audible over the din of people talking with friends, as well as opening and closing of lockers. “You look like you’re in a good mood.” Cole replied with a smile. “I am.” Dale

“You’d tell me if something was going on, right?” Kelley asked as she took another drag off her cigarette. Dale had to crane his neck up to look her in the eyes, which were ice-blue, and even more striking than her long, naturally blond hair. He looked up because even though he didn’t have any interest in them, looking straight ahead would put his gaze at the level of her ample bosom. “I’d tell you, Kelley.” Dale lied to her and hid his relief when she smiled at him. “Thank you so much, Dal

“You’re late.” The tall, middle-aged woman in the immaculate dark suit with its long skirt said as soon as Cole walked into the storefront that was his father’s campaign headquarters. “I had to pick up Dale.” Cole replied with a nonchalant shrug. When they’d left the hospital, Dale had no idea where they were going, and was surprised that it was the Congressman’s campaign office. “Yeah, well if you haven’t noticed, we’re three and a half months away from the biggest election of your father’

Thanks for the review! One of the advantages to having to repost the stories is that I always get suckered into re-reading them myself. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Sharon hits on an important point - they asked in both the DOMA case and the Prop 8 cases for the justification for standing (in DOMA it's the so-called BLAG approved by straight party-line vote). Like WL stated, the oral arguments will give some hint as to what they are thinking and how important THEY think it is. It will be interesting from a purely scholastic point of view to see if they will overturn their ruling in 1996 where they said proponents of an Arizone ballot measure did NOT have standing as compared to the Prop 8 case where the California Supreme Court told the 9th circuit court of appeals that the proponents DO have standing. In the DOMA case it will be interesting to see how they view whether three Republican representatives in the House of Representatives can vote to defend a law when the Justice department has declared that it agrees with a circuit court ruling that the law is unconstitutional. This is actually a very important separation of powers point and could be the sole reason for taking up the DOMA case. Notice they did not take up any other DOMA cases - just this one that is actually only related to one part of the DOMA law unlike some of the others. I would not be surprised if they uphold standing in the Prop 8 case and then focus heavily on the issues brought forward into trial with a focus on heightened scrutiny and whether sexual orientation is malleable. For the DOMA case I would be surprised if they didn't smack BLAG down and deny them standing as a violation of the separation of powers (the legislative branch stepping on the rights of the executive branch).

As always Mark, another great chapter!

He had everything a person could want in life. You could tell that just by the way he walked in through the glass doors of the fast food restaurant. His walk was filled with confidence, that self-assurance that said he could handle anything that came his way. If his walk wasn’t enough, the form-fitting designer jeans, light brown loafers, and dress shirt that looked like it was tailored just for him served to reinforce his aura of impervious confidence. His skin was nicely tanned, not too d

Dale was still in a haze the morning after his late-night discussion with Cole Pritchard. A night of tossing and turning hadn’t helped much, nor had getting up at six-thirty in the morning. It was summer vacation, but the sounds of his grandparents getting up, making coffee, and reading the newspaper as they did every morning was just too much for him to sleep through. Sure, he could have shut the door to his bedroom, but then he wouldn’t have been able to hear his mother calling for help if

Cole Pritchard is perfect—rich, charming, untouchable. Dale Andrews is… not. So why does Cole suddenly need him to play the part of his boyfriend? It’s not love, it’s politics. Cole’s father is running for reelection, and a little well-placed romance could fix his image problem. But as the fake dates pile up, so do the real feelings—and soon, Dale’s not sure where the act ends and the truth begins. A sharp, heartfelt story about secrets, trust, and the messy, beautiful risk of falling for someone who was never supposed to be yours. It started as politics—then it got personal.

Gotta love Judas pushing a cart down Wal-Mart. SOOOOO fitting.

YAY! I can't wait for the next chapter. Mean cliffhanger!

Poor Jonas - at least he could have gotten Daniel's phone number!

Thanks everyone - I just love being reminded I'm over the hill. As for where Arrogant Prick came from - Tetrefine called me that in the Soapbox and I changed it to be my title.