A Class By HImself - 19. Chapter 19

To say that having Chris and Tanner in the same room was an awkward experience would be the understatement of the century. And yet, if I had sent him away or left him standing on my doorstep, he would have been heartbroken beyond belief. I don't know...I just...I can't bear to see him hurting like that over me. You can see it in his eyes. You can hear it in his voice. It kinda 'stings', you know? He could be a jerk when he wanted to be, but he didn't deserve that. Nobody does.

"God, Derrick...you look awful." Were the first words out of his mouth once he stepped inside.

"You've always had a real knack for paying me compliments, Chris. You know that?" I said, and he lowered his eyes for a moment until he saw me smirk. "It's not that bad. Really."

Chris blushed slightly, and he reached up a hand to lightly brush the blond locks of my hair back to uncover yet another bruise. "Looks like it hurts." I had to back up from him, as his touch was a bit more intimate than it should have been. I could feel the gentle glide of his fingertips across my forehead, and hear the soft infatuated tone of his voice. NOT a good thing to get into right now. Especially when I glanced back at Tanner and saw him glaring in Chris' direction. It was unlike any expression I had ever seen on his face before. I mean, he knew that Chris had a 'thing' for me...but it was always just something for us to kinda joke around about. Even with all the shit Chris had put us through over the last few weeks, I don't think Tanner ever really took his feelings for me seriously until the very moment he walked in that door. He never felt any competition before. for the first time...I honestly believed that Tanner began to have his doubts.

"Sit down if you want." I said, trying to move further away from Chris without him feeling like I was rejecting him.

Chris and Tanner traded a look, and Chris slowly walked over and sat down at the very edge of the sofa. He was pressed so hard against the arm that it almost looked uncomfortable. I looked at Tanner, who slowly moved to sit in another chair across the room.

There was an extremely uncomfortable silence that followed. One where I wasn't even sure if I should sit down myself. If I sit on the sofa with Chris, will Tanner be hurt by that? If I sit all the way at the other end of the sofa, will Chris think I'm purposely trying to avoid him? If I just stand there like a dork, will they both see me wrestling with the idea? Should I even BE wrestling with the idea? It was...so weird.

Then Chris looked at the paused movie on my TV and mumbled, "'Holes', huh? I've seen that one before." It was kinda strange and out of left field, but at least it broke the silence and provided us a distraction.

"Yeah. Doesn't he look like Mitch?" I was hoping to make him smile, and he did for a second or two, but it didn't last.

"Heh...yeah, now that you mention it. Sure." He said, then he started to bashfully pick at his pants leg with his fingers. "He's not talking to me at the moment. Mitch, I mean. He's been acting...'weird' lately."

"Yeah..." I answered, wondering again just how deep Mitch's feelings for Chris might go. If maybe it was anything like the way Chris felt for me. If so...then that boy is gonna hate me the rest of his life.

Tanner was still silent. But he kept his eyes on us both. Especially Chris.

Chris looked around the room, and he asked, "So...where's your mom?"

I hesitated for a moment. "She's...um...she's at work, so..."

Chris looked down at his shoes for a moment, then at Tanner, then back down to his shoes again. "So...you guys are here all by yourselves then? All alone?"

Why is he making me do this to him? "Well, she'll be home in a few hours or so. It's not like..."

"A few hours. I see." He said sadly.

I tried to readjust his focus. "Soooo...do you guys want a...snack or something?"

Chris suddenly spoke up, apparently trying to change the subject as well. "Derrick...just tell me what you want me to do."

"Wait, what?"

"We have to fix this. Johnson and everybody involved has to fucking PAY for hurting you like this." Tanner mumbled something under his breath and rolled his eyes. "What's that?"

Tanner raised his voice a bit more, "I said...you've done enough already. We don't need your help."

"What did *I* do???"

"You know what you did, Chris. Don't play games with us. This is all your FAULT!"

Chris looked as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to his chest. He looked at me with pleading eyes. "Derrick...if I had any IDEA that they were going to do anything like this..."

"How could you NOT know that this was going to happen, Chris?" Tanner interrupted. "Weren't you the ringleader in this whole operation? With the pushing and the name-calling and the bullying...you mean to tell me that this is some kind of out of whack, unpredictable, result of all that? What did you EXPECT to happen? Where exactly did you think that path was going to lead?"

I tried to calm things down by saying, "Wait...you guys, it's nobody's fault. Ok? I just..."

Chris jumped in, "You can't blame me for what those psychos did to Derrick. I NEVER would have let anybody HURT him!" He turned to me again, "Derrick, you know me better than that. Do you really think that I would have let somebody do this to you? Ever? I'm not that heartless."

"You're heartless enough." Tanner added. "Heartless enough to make it ok for anyone and everyone at school to treat Derrick like dirt anytime they felt like it."

"Tanner....wait..." I said.

"I'm not gonna let you pin this on me. I came here to help!"

"Chris...hold on..." I said.

"Look at his FACE, Chris!" Tanner replied, pointing me out, almost yelling, before calming down and narrowing his eyes. "You know...you may not have thrown the first punch...but you're just as responsible for these bruises as anybody else. So deal with it."

Where this was normally the part where Chris starts to get nasty...instead his shoulders seemed to fall, and his eyes got watery. "You're right. You're absolutely right." He said softly. I think it caught Tanner by surprise. As frustrated as he was a moment ago, he kinda backed off when he saw Chris cross his arms in his lap and lean forward to rest them on his knees. Chris didn't deal with vulnerability very well. "I shouldn't....that is...I think...I need to go..."

"Chris, wait..." I said. "...Just...let's all talk about this. Ok?"

"Derrick?" Tanner seemed almost hurt that I didn't take his side in jumping on Chris right away. I had to ask myself if he had other motives for turning on him so fast.

"We can talk this out, you guys. Seriously." I told them, as both of them turned their eyes away from each other and pouted stubbornly at two different ends of the room. Grrr..the men in my life. "First things first? I'm not going to 'do' anything. I'm gonna lick my wounds, go back to school, and get on with the rest of my life."

That caught a seriously appalling stare from both of them. Chris said, "No. Derrick that's crazy. Johnson isn't just gonna leave this alone..."

"Baby, we can't just let them get away with this..." The moment Tanner said it, Chris frowned and seemed even more hurt and angry than before.

"You guys, in case you forgot, this whole situation is connected to a lot of things that I'm not exactly ready to have splashed all over school just yet."

"Things like what?" Chris asked.

"Things like the fact that I'm getting bullied at school at all. That it started because another BOY was heartbroken over me. That he couldn't have me because I've already got a BOYFRIEND of my own. If I start opening that box and people start asking questions about it, how long until I'm outed to the whole school? To my mom? And not just me, but you guys too. Is this really something that you want parents and teachers meddling in? Something you want every student in the hallways gossiping and giggling about? Think about it." Stubbornly, they remained silent. But from the few looks they exchanged with me and with each other, I could tell that it really wasn't something that they had considered before. The weird thing is, if I had asked them to do it...to come out of the closet just for my sake...I think they both would have done so in a heartbeat. Lucky for them, I wasn't so keen on getting interrogated myself. "Look...I'm scared. Ok? And I'll think of something. But for right now, my mom is in a state of panic over this, and the more questions she asks, the more I can't answer. Now my mom respects my privacy, but I'm pretty sure that this is a deal breaker. That shit's not gonna fly with her for too much longer. I just need things to stay quiet for a while, and once the heat is off...maybe I can come up with a decent 'Plan B'. For now....what happened happened, and it's over. So let me handle it."

Chris mumbled, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"For once, I agree with you." Tanner said to Chris. "Honey, this isn't something that you can duck and dodge five days a week. They could hurt you even worse next time." Tanner stood up and walked over to hug me around the neck. It was...um...an odd move for him all of a sudden. "I just don't want you hurt. I love you." He kissed me on the cheek, and I saw Chris cringe after rolling his eyes at the random display of affection.

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go and leave you two alone." He said.

"Bye." Tanner said, rather cold. What the heck has gotten into him all of a sudden?

I disconnected from him, but gave him a look to let him know to be nice. I think he took the hint, but he wasn't all that happy about it. "Are you sure?"

Chris looked back at me, and in a soft voice, he said, "Yeah...I'm sure. I was just...checking to see if you were ok." He started walking towards the door, and I went over to open it for him.

Chris stepped outside, but turned to stand in the doorway. Although Tanner wasn't being too obvious about it, I knew he'd be closely listening to every word. Chris shyly lowered his eyes for a moment, the toe of his shoe digging slightly into my welcome mat. "I know it doesn't count for anything...but I'm...I'm sorry."

"I told you...you didn't do this to me. It was them..."

"I'm not...just talking about Johnson and...that stuff. I'm talking about...the other stuff too. The..." Chris peeked over at Tanner, and lowered his voice even more. "You know...last weekend, when...you came over and...you know..." Okaaaay, that was a situation that I definitely didn't want to explain to my boyfriend. Ever! I mean, it was amazing that Chris was being man enough to apologize and all...but now was NOT a good time.

"Yeah...I know."

"K...good." Chris fidgeted for a moment longer and asked, "Will you...I mean, can you call me later?" Sad eyes. They break me down every time.

"Yeah. I can do that."

"Tonight?"

"Ok."

He peeked back at Tanner again, who was now doing a bit of uncomfortable fidgeting himself. "Ok....bye, Derrick." It was like he didn't want to leave. As though the idea of me being left alone to kiss and cuddle with somebody else was turning his stomach with despair. He backed away a few steps, then put his head down and walked back to the sidewalk. I don't think I had ever seen him so...alone. Damn, there's that sour feeling again. That guilt. I'm not trying to hurt him. I'm really not. Maybe being close to him is doing more damage than necessary. Who knows? Evidently, I'm not good at dealing with these things.

When I closed the door, Tanner was sort of staring at the floor in silence. His mind looked like it was elsewhere. "Tanner?"

He looked up, "Yeah?"

"You alright?"

"Sure." He said. "So...I never figured Chris for the type to...you know...come visit your house to see if you were ok." There was a tone in his voice that I didn't recognize. Something deadpan. It wasn't like him not to look me in the eye when he spoke. Those pretty hazel eyes, you miss them when you don't have access to them.

"Yeah. He's full of surprises."

"Ahh, I guess." He said. "So....does he...come over here a lot?"

"No. Baby, no. He's just being...he's trying to be cool about things. That's all." I told him.

"So, I see." Tanner seemed a bit nervous when he said, "So...he really does like you, huh? I mean, I thought he was just being angry because he couldn't have what he wanted. He gets everything he wants eventually. Always has." He added, "Heh...he really likes you. I can tell." Tanner's hair slid forward gently as he hid his expression from me, and I felt my heart stop.

"Babe, you know...Chris and I...we never, like....did anything. I mean, you know that, right?"

"Oh yeah. Of course. I know." He gave me a fake chuckle, shrugging his shoulders as though it was no big deal.

"No, I'm serious. Nothing. Not ever."

"I know." He paused for a second, and then said, "Except for, you know...the kissing thing. Because...you said he...he kissed you, right?"

"Chris attacked me, is what he did. And that doesn't count."

"It counted to him." Tanner mumbled, but when he saw the look on my face, he tried to smile as though he was just kidding about it. He brushed his hair back out of his eyes and said. "Nevermind. It's silly to even think about this. Let's just go back to watching the movie, k? I'm supposed to be making you feel good today."

He started to get up and walk back into the kitchen, but I reached out to grab a hold of his hand and turned him to face me. "Come here."

"What? Why?" I gave him a slight tug, and he stepped forward, but he was still trying to put some temporary distance between us. "Derrick, I left the soda out on the counter..." I didn't let him finish. I put my hands lightly on his slender hips, and I pulled him close for a sweet kiss on the lips. "What was that for?"

I looked into his brightly lit eyes, and said, "You know...the first time I ever kissed you...the first time I got to hold you in my arms like this...I just knew that I was gonna love you for the rest of my life. No matter what came between us, it was never gonna end. I wouldn't be able to live without it. You're the only thing in this world that makes me this happy. You're the boy of my dreams. The ONLY boy I've ever wanted."

"Derrick...you don't have to do this, ok? It's alright. Really."

"Hehehe, you're not listening to me."

"Yes, I am. I'm not worried about Chris. I was just asking 'cause..."

"Because you were jealous." I grinned. His face began to turn the sweetest shade of pink, and he giggled a bit.

"NO! That wasn't it..." But I rubbed my nose lightly against his cheek and gave him another kiss. "...Well...maybe a little bit. But nothing serious. Just...you know...it's weird. I don't like the idea of him thinking about you like that." He had the cutest little pout on his lips. I kissed him again, a bit longer this time, and he smiled. "Are you bribing a confession out of me here?"

"No. If I wanted to do that, I'd be more like this..." And I roughly nuzzled my face into the side of his neck and moved it back and forth with loud kisses and licks until the ticklish sensation got Tanner to laugh out loud. He squirmed playfully in my arms, and tried desperately to pry my head away from him.

"Hahaha! Ok! Ok! Stop, hahaha!" I moved my head back, and then kissed him tenderly on the lips. As sore as my busted lip was, Tanner's kisses could be so unbelievably soft. How such a gentle kiss could convey so much emotion was beyond me. "Awww, you cheated. That was totally unfair."

"Guilty." I said. "Don't be mad at me. K?"

"Sighhh...I'm not mad."

"You promise?"

"Promise." He smiled. "Just...don't go having him come over here when I'm not around to watch you. You're all mine."

"Deal."

"Can I get the sodas now?"

"On one condition. Let's finish watching the movie in my room." Tanner raised an eyebrow when I said it.

"You're supposed to be hurt, young man." He smiled.

"And you're supposed to be making me feel better. You said so yourself."

He sighed out loud, his eyes getting that dreamy look to them all over again. "I love you, Derrick." It caught me a little by surprise, but I loved it when he did that. There was something so adorable about such a softly spoken outburst. "You have no idea how cool it feels to be able to say that to somebody every day and really mean it with my whole heart. I love you. I love you. I really do. Mwah! God, you're awesome."

"Hehehe, I love you too. More than you'll ever know." I finally let go of his hips, and then said, "But you and Chris will have to work out a visiting schedule from now on. I can only 'do' you guys one at a time and I don't want any more overlaps in my sex life." Tanner gave me a look of shock and shoved me backwards. "Hehehe, I'm KIDDING! Kidding kidding....geez!"

"Well 'kid' yourself back to your room so we can finish the movie, ya gutter brain." He went into the kitchen to pour us a few glasses of Mountain Dew, and I took the DVD out to bring it into my room. Tanner was happy to see me sliding under the covers of my bed, and came to snuggle up beside me.

"Hold on a sec. I think you're sitting on the remote control." I said, causing him to lean over to the side and lift his leg slightly. I reached underneath him and cupped his sweet bottom with my hand and gave it a squeeze. My God...what an ass. I felt it up a bit more, and he moved over a bit more, raising his leg a bit higher, while I pretended to keep searching for it. My hand reaching under his leg to rub his balls through his pants and squeeze his ass again. I rubbed all over the insides and back of his thighs, as Tanner caught on and smiled at me.

"Hehehe, what are you doing?" He snickered.

"I can't seem to find that thing. Let me keep looking." But he slapped my hand away.

"You're so NAUGHTY! It's right there next to you."

"Are you sure? Let me feel around some more, just in case."

He rolled over, turning his cute little butt away from me to 'protect' it from my groping hands. "Quit it!"

"What?"

"You're, like...pawing me right now. Hehehe, I'm not your meat patty." He said, and stuck out his tongue. I lurched forward and kissed him before he sucked his tongue back in all the way, and we both smiled as our lips connected in this playfully passionate way. Loving tanner is soooo easy. So effortless. I can't believe that a heart as golden as his is even available to me. He opened himself up to me in a way that scared me a little bit sometimes. He was probably just as vulnerable as I was when it came to the possibility of getting his heart broken in two. But for some reason, when we were together...none of that mattered. At all. Time stood still for us. No past to be brainwashed by. No future to be afraid of. Just that one moment...and the reflection of unlimited love that I saw in the soft hazel splendor of his eyes. "I love you." He sighed. It felt so good inside to hear it, barely whispered in my ear, that I swooned and laid my head back on the pillow. Feeling tingles of joy running up and down my body as I tried to keep myself anchored to the bed, lest I float away and never come back down. The dreamy look on my face, accompanied by what must have been the goofiest smile ever, made Tanner giggle bashfully at my side. He leaned over to kiss me again to reward me for being so cute...but this time, he put his hand on my stomach to balance himself...putting pressure on one of my bigger bruises.

Involuntarily, I hissed through my teeth and winced from the pain. Tanner instantly jerked back from me in shock.

"Omigod, baby, I'm sorry!" He said. "Oh no...awww...." He didn't know whether to touch me or not to touch me. But soon, before I could do anything to stop him, he reached over and lifted up the blanket and the side of my shirt, revealing an especially painful cluster of bruises. Large, black and purple ovals, with yellow colored rings in the middle. So tender to the touch. And yet, the only thing more painful than the bruises themselves was the look on Tanner's face when he saw just how severe some of them were. He had been grinning just seconds before...

Now his bottom lip was quivering, his eyes watering up as if he were about to burst into tears any moment.

I lowered my shirt to keep him from staring at the damage, and he gave me the most heartbreaking look. "They're still a little raw. No big deal." I said, trying to deflect the emotional tidal wave that was sure to follow Tanner's discovery. "Get comfortable. I'll start the movie."

"They hurt you..." He said with a whimper.

"It doesn't...hurt. They're just sore."

"Derrick..."

"Come on, let's watch. You want some popcorn or something? I can make some in the microwave..."

"Derrick...don't. Ok? Please?" He pleaded. I didn't know how to distance myself from the pain and humiliation long enough to keep Tanner from worrying about it. So I tried to be as honest as I possibly could.

"Baby...I...I know what it looks like. And I know that I've gotta do something about all this. But don't 'push', ok?" It looked like he was gonna fight me on this, but I took a hold of his hand and said, "I know you wanna help. I do. But...I just...I don't think I'm ready yet. Now isn't the time for me to really tackle all of this. So please, hon...can we just...exist together for a little while longer. Just you and me, in a place far away from all of...'this'? I swear, if I think about this situation all at once it'll run right through me like an angry buffalo, and I don't think I can handle that. Give me some time?" I saw Tanner look away from me for a moment, conflicted on how to treat me at that point. But somewhere in him...somewhere just beneath the surface...was a boy who loved me too much to deny me anything I asked of him. And with another sigh, I saw his determination to get to the bottom of things begin to slip. "Come on, get under the covers with me for a bit. It's warm. No funny stuff, I promise. I just wanna be close to you right now. C'mon."

Tanner hesitated, then I saw him slowly lean back and swing his legs around to raise the blanket, cover up, and slide his body over to cuddle beside me. This time his touch was so timid. So frightened of touching another sore spot. Little did he know that his touch was probably the best healing salve that I could ever ask for.

Minutes passed. The only reason I was aware of it was because the movie continued to progress as it played in the background. Not that we paid it any real attention. It was just noise to break the silence. Tanner's heartbeat, and his gentle breathing in the nape of my neck as he rested his head on my chest...it would have been enough. I think even our breathing was in sync. There was no space between us. Our embrace was airtight, our bodies fitting together like two pieces of an organic puzzle. It's surreal how you can love someone so much that you can't bear to physically let them go...even for a moment. I didn't want to move, other than the few times I kissed Tanner on his forehead, pushing his light brown locks aside to stare into those pretty hazel eyes and lightly brush my thumb across his cheek. It wasn't so much an erotic connection...but an intimate one. I was so 'open' at that moment. So unguarded. And yet so incredibly confident that this was right, and natural, and oh so beautiful. I silently wished that it could be like this forever and always.

Who knows? Maybe it can....

Little by little...our clothes began to disappear. More just for comfort's sake than anything else. I craved the feel of his soft warm skin against mine. With a few kisses here and there, shirts were lifted over our heads. Soon after, our pants were undone, and we shimmied out of them one at a time, using our feet to push them all the way off and allowing them to gather under the covers at the foot of the bed in little wrinkled clumps. As soon as we were in our boxers and socks, and nothing else...Tanner scooted even closer than before, and we reconnected. Already missing our tender caress. We kissed again, and returned to silence for the last 20 minutes of the movie. I could feel his hardness against mine. A part of me wanted to ravage him right then and there, but it would have spoiled the moment. I wanted to make it last for as long as it possibly could. I couldn't help but to think to myself...as cute as Chris was, as much as he absolutely worshipped the ground I walked on and would probably give me all the sex and kisses that I could handle and more...this...this is what I would be missing out on. This moment. Shared with the boy I love.

I heard the credits beginning to roll on the movie, but I wanted to stretch out our time together a bit more. So I reached around my boyfriend and grabbed the remote, flipping the movie back a few chapters to give us another forty five minutes or so. Tanner's eyes fluttered open and he stared into my eyes. His long lashes blinked slowly, and our lips touched lightly with a delicate smooch. He sighed and snuggled in even tighter. I felt his lips on my neck, and I let my hand glide gracefully down his slender side to stop at the waistband of his boxers. I heard him moan deeply into my ear, and he sucked on my earlobe as my hand went under the waistband, pulling his underwear down as my palm traveled the sensual curve of his soft round cheeks. I gave them a squeeze or two, and his hardness ad poked through the hole in front, hooking the boxers and preventing them from going any further down his thighs.

Tanner raised himself up on one elbow and grinned at me. Our eye contact was so powerful. Love gave it strength. Subtle in its presentation, but unbreakable by any force known to man. He made me forget how terrible I must have looked to him at that moment. Bruised and beaten. Black eye and busted lip. I wasn't far away from being the Frankenstein monster. He should have been running away from me and recoiling in horror.

But he didn't.

In fact, his eyes didn't lose even a hint of the infatuation that he had always held in regards to me. No matter what I looked like, no matter what I put him through...Tanner always saw the best in me. Never anything less. Just knowing that his love transcended even a beating of this magnitude...it let me know that this was real. It's never going to end. Wow...the possibilities that come with knowing that I simply could do NO wrong in his eyes...

The feeling....there's no way to describe it. I think 'wow' covers it nicely.

Tanner gave me the sweetest kiss on my lips and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I am thinking about...this." I said, squeezing his ass again.

He blushed slightly and bit the corner of his bottom lip. "Besides that."

Gazing into his eyes, I said, "I was thinking...that I have the cutest boyfriend in the world. That I'm lucky to have him want to be around me. And that no matter what I put him through...he's still happy just being close and spending a few quiet moments with me in bed. I was thinking that I really didn't have much to offer him other than my heart, but luckily...that's all he's ever asked of me. Somehow...it's enough." I told him. "What about you? What were you thinking about?"

Tanner lay his head back down on my chest, and kissed it before his soft, smooth, voice gave me an answer. "I was thinking...that I never thought I would feel this way about another person in my lifetime. I was thinking about how alone I felt before you came along and made the whole world feel like an adventure. That I wish I could run around telling everyone I knew that you were my boyfriend, and how proud I was to actually have you choose me over everyone else." Tanner looked up into my eyes ago, his hand slowly running up and down my stomach. "I was thinking that it was...'sexy' that you're trying to be strong right now, when you should've been crushed under the weight of what's going on. And I was thinking about how much I love being wrapped up in your arms. And that...even when you're hurting...you make me feel safe. And loved. And appreciated. You're so much more than I ever could have wished for. I guess that's why fantasies don't come made to order. The surprise of something better is always so much more appealing. You know?"

I gave Tanner a smirk. "That's rather poetic, if I do say so myself."

"Why, thank you. I try."

"Indeed." I told him. "And...um...in all of that poetry, there aren't any thoughts of me pounding that sweet ass of yours? Hehehe!"

Tanner buried his face in my shoulder as he giggled to himself. "Yeah well...I was getting to that. I thought it might ruin the moment if I followed up with that too soon."

"And by 'ruin', you mean 'enhance by a thousand times', right?" I said.

He kissed me again. "You have a one track mind, you know that?"

"As long as it's the right track and it leads me back to you...then I'm glad."

"Mmmm, sweet talk will get you everywhere, cutie." He said, and with his blush darkening slightly in his cheeks, he asked, "Um...do you have...something to....you know?"

"I have some Vaseline in the bathroom cabinet." I told him, now feeling a bit sheepish myself and turning pink in the face.

"Mkay...I'll be right back." He kissed my cheek, and then moved the covers back to get out of bed. He pushed his length back through the hole in his boxers and let them fall to the floor. I watched the deliciously thick melons wobble and shake slightly as he kicked them off, and he walked naked from my room to the bathroom across the hall. Sighhh...yay. I always feel like doing a little boy-dance whenever I know I'm about to get some! Hehehe! I reached under the covers, already rock hard and pulsing with a fever...and I yanked my boxers off, kicking them off into the sheets as I anxiously awaited my lover's return. I saw Tanner return with the small jar and walking with his stiff divining rod leading the way with a healthy bounce. I tossed the covers back, and Tanner grinned. "Oh...you were just waiting for this, weren't you?"

"Gee, how can you tell."

"Mmmm, you're lucky that you're so hot, Derrick. Hehehe!"

"I'm lucky for a lot of reasons today." That's when I heard the phone ring, and with a roll of my eyes, I grunted, "And I'm UN-lucky for a lot of reasons too." I looked at the number on the phone, and it was my mom's diner. "Shit, hold on. It's my mom. She's been driving me CRAZY, checking up on me all morning. She must be on break. Shhhhh, quiet, k?" Tanner nodded, and climbed into bed with me. "Hello?"

"Hey, sweet pea. How are you feeling honey?" My mom said with a bit of a desperate whine. I saw Tanner smile and was instantly embarrassed as I realized that he could hear her voice.

"Mom...ugh! I told you, I'm fine. Ok?"

"I know, I know. I'm just worried about you. Did you eat something for lunch?"

"Yes, Mom. I ate lunch. Breakfast too."

"There's a snack in the fridge. Or you can make one of those little frozen pizzas in the freezer if you want. But be sure to keep an eye on them, they burn fast."

"I know, Mom."

"Did Mrs. Munch come over to check on you?"

"She doesn't need to check on me, Mom. I'm fine."

"Well what are you doing?"

"I'm watching TV..." I said. Then adding, "I thought I might get some sleep. So....you know..."

"Ok, honey. Well, I'm here until 8 o'clock, but I'll bring you something home to eat, ok? Maybe one of those bacon burgers you like, with the cheese fries..."

"That'll be great, Mom. Now...get back to work before the customers start looking at you funny. K?" I was hoping to get her off the phone quickly. Tanner was already fondling me and getting hungry for a good time. She was delaying something important here.

"Promise me you'll get some rest."

"I promise, Mom."

"Did you take some of the Aleve pain aspirin to help?"

"I took some, Mom. Feeling all better. I've gotta go, k?"

"Well...wait!" She said. Arrrgh! What NOW??? "Derrick...I just...if you need anything at all, you CALL me, ok? And call Mrs. Munch if it's an emergency. And..."

"I KNOW, Mom. Geez, I'll be ok."

I could tell that she was still worried, but after a brief pause, she said, "Well alright. Get in the bed. I'll be home as soon as I can. Ok, honey?"

"K.."

"I love you. Be good. Remember, we're all we've got in this world. You take care of me, I take care of you. Right?" She said.

"Right. Always." I said. "Love you too."

"Ok...be careful. Bye."

Finally, she hung up the phone, and I practically tossed the cordless to the floor, rolling over to smother Tanner with kisses.

"Hehehe, slow down there, 'sweet pea'. Your mom told you to take it easy." He giggled.

"Shut up! Come here!" We rolled around playfully for a bit, kissing while trying not to smile...but after a few moments...things became much more intense between us. Our heated passions took over, and things became much more intimate as Tanner climbed on top of me and began to kiss me with a hunger.

His weight was so gentle on me. His lithe body slid up against me with the most erotic movements. My lips hurt, my bruises burned with agony, but I held it in. Concentrating on his kiss was almost enough to block out the pain of it completely. I held it all in...just for him. Only for him.

"Mmmm, here...get me ready, ok?" He whispered. And he swiveled to the side, getting on his knees and sticking out his sweet little rump for me to grease up while he positioned himself to take me into his lush lips. I felt the warm, wet, sensation spread over my sensitive head, and lower itself slowly to the base of my shaft. Tanner's slightly longish hair sweeping over my thighs as his sultry hear enveloped every last inch that I had to offer him. It was soooo wet. I felt my hips rise slightly as he began to bob rhythmically on my shaft, curling his pink tongue around me and increasing his suction until it made audible slurping noises in the room. I could hardly concentrate on what I was doing, but I managed to open the small Vaseline jar, dip my finger in, and reach over to let my slick digits find his tight opening. Either Tanner was really excited at the moment, or his hole had tightened itself up again since the last time we had a chance to be together like this. Because it was resisting my penetration that I hadn't experienced since that first Valentine's Day that we tried it for the first time. Omigod...this is gonna be hot.

Tanner whimpered as I circled the puckered entrance, and his back arched in a way that pushed his eager hole back on my finger. He craved the penetration. It was a slightly naughty side of him that I didn't get to see as often as I wanted to. It was soooo sexy, though! His sexual expression, being so unrestricted like that...wow, it turned me on like you wouldn't believe. Seriously.

I lubed him up, occasionally getting lost in the intense blowjob that he was giving me at the same time. His fingers cradling and caressing my balls, his soft cheek brushing up against my inner thigh. And with a little more determination on both of our parts...my slick finger found a way to invade the tightened ring of his anus, and he moaned as it moved inside. Tanner tensed up slightly. I could see the muscles contract in his abdomen and his legs. The invasion was welcome, but not without the natural knee-jerk reaction of his involuntary muscles. He purred sensually as he submitted to the intrusion of his most intimate spot...and allowed me complete access as I gently massaged and stretched it open for the main event.

Tanner's lips were sooooo succulent. Despite his usually innocent and playful appeal, he had moments where his true sensuality would shine. It was like watching the time lapsed blossoming of a flower. Make no mistake, he was definitely a sexual being. One who could completely own you, mind, body, and soul...and practically make you wanna slide right out of your own skin. Wow, my baby never ceased to amaze me. I could hardly keep still. Especially when I felt his constricted hole practically 'milking' my finger, sucking at it, tightening and releasing...giving me the promise to perform just as well once my finger was replaced with something far more sensitive to the touch.

Either Tanner felt me getting close to the edge, or he simply got a craving for a more intimate connection, but he pulled his sweet lips off of me with a long, wet, suck...and with a flirtatious grin, he moved up to kiss my lips...and propped me up against the headboard as he straddled my lap. Only seconds away now. Only seconds. We mashed our lips together, and I held onto his trim waist as the globes of his pert young ass gripped my hardness in the narrow cleft in between. The emotion of having him here overpowered the ache of my body. A few times he hit a tender spot, but I held him close regardless. He was mine. I was his.

"Mmmm, I love you." I managed to whisper during a brief parting of our lips.

"I love you too..." Our kissing became more carnal, our bodies impatient, and soon I felt Tanner reaching back to take a hold of me...guiding me to my target.

A moment of silence.

A breath taken...and held.

And then...the careful, yet determined, penetration. The opening threatened to keep me out but even the tightness of the puckered entrance was no match against the desire we both felt to make it happen. Tanner concentrated a bit more, and I rubbed my palms softly up and down his thighs to relax him...until at long last his body surrendered. He gasped gently, feeling the pinch as the head found its way into his heated tunnel. I gripped the sheets as the snug passage swallowed more and more of my length, and then, the arousing contact of his round cheeks sitting fully on my lap. Their spongy softness smashed down on me as I reached around to grip them with both hands.

Tanner felt the fullness inside. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open, a subtle frown on his brow. My head fell backwards as I groaned my approval. My amazement. And Tanner leaned forward to kiss my neck as he began to grind his hips on me. Oh God, that feels good. Oh yes...he has gotten very very good at this. Very sexy indeed.

He grip was so secure...when he raised his ass he nearly pulled me up with him. Only the lubrication allowed our movements to be separate, a slippery friction tickling the ring of his hole, increasing his sensation. His inner vacuum and wet muscled walls increasing mine. A rhythm was set, and we began to make love. Our lips connecting when the squirming of our heated bodies would allow it.

We were sharing something special that afternoon. Tanner's eyes met mine as he bit his bottom lip and slowly rode me, his hands on my chest. My body was still so very sore, and occasionally I would feel myself twitch from a particularly painful touch. But the pleasure was soooo much more than the pain could erase. The pain was almost worth it...just to continue the experience. The same way Tanner submitted to the tender pain of my penetration...all for the sake of the tingles and ultimate joy that he felt every time my hardness slid past that magic spot inside of him. A moment's ache, for the thrill of sensual delights that felt as though they could last us an eternity. It was at the very heart of our passion. We trusted each other. Being 'open' made sex more than sex. He wouldn't hurt me. He knew I wouldn't hurt him. And without that fear buzzing in the back of our minds...we were free to experience the moment as it was meant to experienced. Freely. And without restriction.

I reached down to stroke Tanner's bobbing hardness as the 'itch' within began to take him over. His bounces sped up in pace, Tanner using his feather light weight to drive me deeper inside of him. I pushed my hips up on every down thrust to assist, and that caused him to whimper in a higher pitch. Our tongues tangled between us, and I wasn't going to be able to last much longer. I wanted to, God knows I wanted to make love to him non-stop all afternoon. But my passions betrayed me. My pleasure centers burning out of control. I felt like I was going to scream. I was breathing harder and harder, my heart thundering in my chest, as Tanner bounced with even more intensity. The was the constricted lips of his ass was pulling me in and out, I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold it for a moment longer. I was beyond the point of no return. And while my body almost begged for Tanner to slow down, or even stop moving altogether, while the coming explosion made its way to the surface, his body continued to wiggle and squirm all around me. And that made my orgasm almost too much for my teen body to handle.

I thrust up into my lover hard, lifting him up slightly as my body went rigid from head to toe. I felt my hardness swell and begin pulsing with the erotic 'thumps' associated with a much needed release. I held my breath. Oh God...the splashes began. Coating his insides with his reward. Can he feel that?

I felt Tanner tighten his hole even more around my shaft and he lurched forward to kiss me as I whimpered helplessly in the wake of my climax. Which only got worse once I felt Tanner's nectar squirting against my chest and stomach. He reached out to hold onto the headboard on either side of my head, panting hard as I stroked him to completion, my own hardness still emptying itself into him simultaneously. It was quite possibly one of the hottest times that we had ever spent together. It left us both too breathless to even kiss anymore. We had gone too high to come back down to Earth so quickly. Instead...we panted in each other's arms for a few moments. Tanner's hair was darkened a bit from the perspiration. It made his skin glisten. And Once I caught my breath, I lifted his chin with my fingers, and gave him an angelic kiss on the lips.

"Mmmm...wow...Jesus..." He purred between breaths.

"See? And you thought I was being 'naughty'."

"Naughty or not...I really needed that."

I smiled back at him, giving him another kiss. "Me too, baby." It was the truth. My whole body felt relaxed. Like it was almost vibrating with relief. I swear, people need to have more orgasms. They wouldn't be so damn tense if they could just surrender to this feeling once a day. If only they could bottle it and sell it over the counter.

We both settled back down to the mattress, and Tanner returned to laying his head on my chest, sighing as he pressed his ear against my heartbeat. I petted his hair softly, and we just went back to holding one another as we were before. Nice. So very nice. I could stay with him like this forever.

Then...

Forever came too soon.

Keys in the lock! I heard keys in the lock downstairs! Tanner and I looked at each other, our eyes wide, our jaws dropped open in shock. We had a 'deer in headlights' moment at first, where we were completely frozen and had NO idea what to do. Then panic set in, and we quickly threw the covers back and tried to jump to our feet!

"SHIT!!!! Omigod...shit shit shit....get dressed!!!!" I said in a shouted whisper.

"I thought your mom was at work until LATE???" Tanner said, rummaging through the bed sheets to find his clothes.

"She IS!!! I mean...she WAS!!! Well...she shouldn't have even been able to get home that fast!" The keys fumbled with the lock a bit, but it was only gonna buy us a few more seconds at best. Tanner put his shirt on, but couldn't find his pants. I found his boxers and tossed them to him.

"Where are my pants???" He said, frantically spinning in circles.

"Check under the foot of the bed. Maybe they fell on the floor." I had my underwear and pants, but no shirt. "Take the sheets off the bed! No wait...find your pants, I'll get it!" I grabbed the sheets, and crumpled them up to wipe my chest and stomach off. What the hell happened? How did she get here???

I heard the door open, and we became nearly hysterical! Tanner had just found his pants and practically jumped into them with both feet, yanking them as fast as he could without hurting himself or falling over. That's when I heard a voice from downstairs. "Hey, Derrick? You home, dude?"

Oh shit!!! It was worse than I thought! It wasn't my mom...it was JOEL! I stuffed the bed sheets into the dirty clothes hamper and dropped down to my knees to look under the bed for my shirt. Where is it? Where the hell IS it???

I heard Joel running up the stairs, taking them two by two...and Tanner didn't even know what to do with himself. I wasn't going to find my shirt in time. It never even occurred to me that this was MY room and I could have just snatched another one out of the closet. But who thinks rationally when you're overwhelmed with complete terror? It was too late to even do THAT now. And before I could even hide myself, Joel was walking into the room.

"Hey, Derrick, I...." Joel took two steps into the room, saw Tanner leaning against the dresser looking guilty as hell, and then he looked over at me...standing there with my shirt off. He stopped dead in his tracks with a jerk. "Whoah...holy shit...."

There's a nervous jitter that runs through you when the threat of having your sexuality exposed against your will. For me...in this particular case...it was more like having an earthquake in my stomach.

Joel looked back at Tanner, then back at me again. "Dude...what the...???" He said.

I could hardly speak, my lips quivering, my voice shaky. "Joel...Joel, wait...I can explain..."

"EXPLAIN??? Are you freakin' kidding me?"

"It's NOT what it looks like. Tanner...he just came over and...listen, we were just..."

"Not what it looks like???" Joel said loudly, a scowl on his face. Then he said, "Derrick...dude...what the fuck happened to your FACE???"

My....my face? OH! Omigod...my FACE! For a second I had completely forgotten that I had been somewhat 'disfigured' since the last time he saw me. Oh thank you, Jesus! I thought I had been caught red handed.

"I...was in a fight..." I said, my mind still reeling with the horrific images of being caught having sex with another boy.

"Well, duh! I kinda figured that out." He said. Then he was like, "I've gotta take a piss. But the second I come back, you'd better tell me EVERYTHING about who the hell did this to you." He grumbled. "And geez, open a window or something. It smells like sex and peanut butter in here."

He walked out of the room to use the bathroom, and Tanner and I let out a breath that we had been holding since he came around that corner. That was a REALLY close call!

Ok...note to self...

BE MORE CAREFUL from now on!!!