9.11 - 29. Chapter 29

August 20, 2001

“I need your help,” I said to Stef as I walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table reviewing some documents, and didn’t answer me right away, waiting until he finished making some notes. When he was done, he gave me his full attention.

“What do you need?”

“I have this date tonight, and I’m trying to figure out what to wear. Erik told me to wear khakis and a nice shirt,” I said.

“Let us go look in your closet and see what we can find,” he said as he stood up, and then led me back down to my room.

“I’m sorry to bother you about this, but you’re the best person to ask about stuff like that,” I said, knowing he would be flattered by that.

“It is not a problem,” he said.

“So why do you work in the kitchen? Wouldn’t it be easier to work in an office? I mean, we have the room for it.” Surprisingly enough, I’d never asked him about that before.

“Your great-grandmother, Tonto, used to work in the kitchen, something JP always found odd as well. Of course, he was less polite about it, and observed that by spending all of her time in there, it made her fat.” He was teasing, since Grand was nothing if not polite.

“Was she fat?” I asked.

“She was not fat, she was nicely round,” he said. “You will recall those paintings you saw in Rome and Paris, painted during the Renaissance?”

I remembered the types of pictures he’d been referring to, usually with a naked woman lounging while eating grapes or some shit like that. “Those chicks were pretty plump,” I said.

“You have been raised in the anorexic world of LA,” he chided.

“And you’re not worried about staying slim and trim?” I asked, giving him shit.

“In any event, I would say that Tonto was like those women, but perhaps a bit thinner,” he said.

“So you work in the kitchen because she did?” I asked, not getting the connection.

“No, but I understand why she did. I focus best, and concentrate best, when there is routine activity around me that does not necessarily involve me. So if I am in the kitchen, and people are scurrying about, doing their jobs, it provides enough distraction to occupy my brain without causing me to lose focus,” he said.

I thought about that. “I don’t work that way. I like to be in a quiet space, with no distractions.”

“I know that,” he said, smiling at me. “That is why your room is laid out this way. JP is the same as you, which is why he locks himself away in his study when he works. As you will recall, with Darius, he tends to do everything in one part of the room. He likes distractions, so he will study with the television on, or as he listens to music.”

“They do that,” I agreed. His mention of Darius brought up a whole new topic of thought. “That was really nice of Grandmaman to give him her rings.”

“It was,” he agreed, even as he glanced at the clothes in my closet.

“I guess he’s the most logical candidate, since I’m not going to marry a woman, and we don’t even know if JJ likes girls all that much.”

He nodded. “You never know,” he said. “Maybe you will find a girl to turn you straight.”

“You really think so?” I asked, surprised.

“No,” he said, cracking me up. “JJ is not in a place where he has made his preferences clear, while Darius has. And while John is another good candidate, he is not as traditional as Darius, so it would not have as much meaning for him. I also think, but am not sure, that there may be other heirlooms from the Hobart family that would suffice if John were to want a family engagement ring someday.” He distracted us from the conversation by commenting on the various clothing items in my wardrobe.

“You know, you do so much for me. You’re one of the busiest men in the world, and you never hesitate to drop everything to help me out,” I said. “I wish I could find a way to repay you.”

“It is about priorities,” he told me as he smiled at me gently. “I learned a long time ago that the people that I love are much more important to me than the next business deal. And I watched Greg all but commit suicide because he focused on his career more than his family, and his health. So when you say I am willing to drop other things for you, it makes me feel good, like I am achieving my goal.” Greg was his former partner, Greg Anders, a guy who had been really cool when I had been young, but had gotten pretty uptight the last few years he’d been alive.

“You do that very well,” I said lovingly.

“Now if you want to do a favor for me, you could start out by trying to put up with your father’s idiocy a little better,” he said. He laughed at my frown.

“It’s like he’s some sort of bug, and if I let him into my life just a little bit, I end up with him all over it, like an infestation,” I said.

He laughed at that. “What a horrible analogy.”

“Am I wrong?” I asked. He said nothing. “I have to set boundaries for him, and when he violates them, I have to explain it to him.”

“He is not easy to deal with, but he loves you very much.”

“I know that,” I snapped, getting a raised eyebrow from him. “This was so much easier when I was a little kid. Then if I wanted to thank you for being so awesome, all I had to do was paint you a really lame picture in school.”

He laughed as he looked in my closet. He grabbed a pair of khakis with a bit more grey in them than my others, and a sage colored shirt that somewhat accented my green eyes. “Wear this.”

“Alright,” I said approvingly.

“Those Bally loafers will match perfectly, as will this belt,” he said, handing me those items. “And for the record, you will find in my files all of the paintings you and your brothers made for me.”

“Someday, we’ll have to have a big bonfire,” I joked.

“Someday, you and I will have to go through them and look at them, and then you will see why I save them,” he said cryptically. He gave me a brief hug, and then left me to get ready for my date.

It was weird, because I’d never been quite so paranoid about my appearance when I went out before. I took a shower and my hair didn’t look the way I wanted it to, so I took another shower and washed it, then started all over again. The second time around I spent a little extra time on personal grooming, trimming up my pubes in case I got lucky. I chuckled to myself as I thought about that, then worked on my hair, managing to get it just the way I wanted it. I put on the clothes Stef told me to wear, and they looked really good on me, which was no surprise. He truly had amazing taste. I brushed my teeth a final time and did a bonus mouthwash rinse just to be sure of my breath. Then after I finished doing some work to try to camouflage the latest zit that decided to erupt on my forehead, I pronounced myself ready.

I’d been charging my phone, so I tracked it down, worried that I’d missed a call or something. I was most worried that Erik would suddenly decide to cancel on me, but there was no message from him. There was also no message from Noah, which was pretty disturbing. I’d called him last week when I was making plans to come home and he hadn’t returned my call. I’d called him when I got back into town, I’d called him yesterday, and I’d called him today, but I still hadn’t gotten a call back. That was weird, because it was totally unlike him to blow me off like that. I was tempted to call his mother and make sure he wasn’t lying in a ditch somewhere, but talking to her wasn’t usually all that pleasant. I’d give him a few more days.

I looked at my phone as if it were the reason Noah hadn’t called me back, and called Alex instead. He was working a lot this summer, but I’d kept in touch with him, usually through e-mail. He was one of those guys who didn’t like to talk on the phone all that much. “Hey,” he said, answering right away.

“What up?” I asked casually.

“Working. Heard you were back in town,” he said cheerfully.

“Got in a couple of days ago and had some family shit to deal with,” I told him. “You heard from Noah lately?”

“He’s busy. Got a new girlfriend,” he said.

“Noah’s got a new girlfriend?” I asked, absolutely stunned. “What the fuck? Who’s he with?”

“I don’t know if she’s his girlfriend, but he’s been going out with her a lot,” he said. “I figured you’d know.”

“He hasn’t called me back, but I’ve been out of town,” I said.

“I know you’ve been gone dumbass. That’s not what I meant. I meant I figured you’d know since he’s dating your cousin.”

“He’s dating my cousin?” I asked, trying to figure out what the fuck he was talking about.

“God, what are you, on crack? He’s going out with Marie.”

I stared at the phone in disbelief. “Are you shitting me? After the way she blew him off at that dance?”

“Dude, I don’t know what the deal is. All I know is that he’s been going out with her. I gotta run. You’re chewing up my break time.”

“Sorry,” I said. “Let’s hang sometime.”

“Can’t tonight, and you’re busy anyway. Heard about your hot date with the dude that kicked your ass.”

“Who told you that?” I demanded.

“I gotta run. I’ll call you later. If you don’t answer, I’ll check the hospital,” he said, laughing, and then the phone went dead because he ended the call.

I walked up to the front of the house, totally dazed. What the fuck was going on? I’d been early, getting ready for this date, but now it was 4:55, and I had no time to really think this through. I stood there in the Great Hall, completely stumped. Noah was going out with Marie? And how did Alex know about my date with Erik? Before I could do more than mentally acknowledge what was happening, Grand walked in. “They just buzzed Erik through the gates.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Are you alright?” he asked, which really bothered me, since that meant my inner turmoil was showing through.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with Noah and he hasn’t called me back yet. I just found out that he’s got a new girlfriend, and that kind of explains why.”

“Relationships can be time-consuming,” he said airily.

“Or toxic,” I said, trying not to sound bitter. “He’s going out with Marie.” It was refreshing to see Grand look pretty fucking shocked by that too.

“That is an interesting development,” he observed.

“I found out from Alex,” I told him. “He knew I was going out with Erik. Isn’t that just a little strange?”

“How did he find out?” Grand asked.

“He didn’t tell me. He was busy at work and had to go before he could say,” I told him.

“I would advise you to be cautious this evening,” he said.

“Good advice,” I said. “Between Dad and Marie, I’m thinking I may just go back to Hawaii.”

“There are other benefits to being here,” he said, then smiled. “I’m here.”

I smiled back. “That is definitely a benefit. I’d better go welcome Erik. Sorry to bother you with my teen drama.”

“This may be more than simple teen drama,” he said, and looked a bit worried. I nodded, and then went to the door just in time to find Erik strutting up the steps.

Erik and Kyle were both body builders, and they were both massive. I’d always thought Erik was hot, but I’d been more into Kyle, and I guess I hadn’t really studied Erik’s looks as closely as a result. Erik’s coloring was darker than Kyle’s, with black hair and facial features that reminded me a bit of Tony, only Erik’s skin was lighter, probably just a little darker than mine. His eyes were brown with a green tint, eyes that looked sultry. He saw me and smiled, flashing me his perfectly straight, white teeth. “Welcome!” I said.

“I’m kind of freaked out about being here,” he said nervously.

“It’s OK,” I told him. “I called off the dogs. For the time being,” I teased, but felt myself tense up inside. What if my date with Erik was part of some big scheme Marie and Ferris had cooked up? Erik and Marie were friends.

“Good,” he said. He seemed so sincere, but then again, Tony had seemed sincere too. Grand was right; I needed to stay on my guard.

“Um, it’s up to you, but you may want to stop in and see my grandfather and apologize for fighting in his house,” I said.

“That was actually the second thing on my agenda,” he said.

“What was the first?”

“This,” he said, and leaned in and kissed me. It was like our kiss in the gazebo, only more intense, and more meaningful. I ran my fingers through the hair on the back of his head, enjoying how crusty it felt because of the gel he’d put in it. He finally broke off the kiss and smiled at me. “I’ve been thinking about that all day.”

“Me too,” I said. I looked down and his pants were tenting again. I grabbed his dick playfully, and just as playfully he pushed my hand away. “You sure you want to go out?”

He rolled his eyes but blushed a bit. “I’m sure.”

“Come on,” I said, and led him to Grand’s study, while we both adjusted our erections so they weren’t showing. I knocked on the door and ushered Erik in. “I think you’ve met Erik Delgado a few times?” I asked Grand.

Erik strode forward with fake confidence and held out his hand to Grand. “I’m really sorry about the last time I was up here, Dr. Crampton. I guess I just got so upset I lost it. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“It seems that as Will has forgiven you, it is not my place to bear a grudge,” Grand said, but smiled to show he was sincere. “Just make sure you don’t hurt him again.”

“I won’t,” he pledged. I wondered if that included emotional pain, and if that’s what he was here to inflict on me. I reminded myself to keep my shields up. I led Erik down the steps to his car, a Mercedes convertible.

“Nice car,” I said.

“My dad likes Mercedes,” he said with a shrug. We hopped in; he put the top down, and then went down the driveway at a slower speed than even Wade did. It was like he was trying to make a good impression by not laying a patch on the pavement, I thought as I stifled a giggle. “I hope your grandfather isn’t pissed at me.”

I shook my head. “He’s not. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t lie, the kind of guy who’s straight up with you. If he would have had a problem with you, he’d have said something about it.”

“That was such a shitty thing I did,” he said. “I was just so pissed off.”

“I’m guessing you were more hurt than pissed off,” I said, and gave him an apologetic look. “Maybe you were just using the anger to hide the pain.” I said that, and got annoyed at myself for sounding like a fucking shrink.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “I can’t believe you’re even talking to me. Dude, I never would have thought I’d be able to have a conversation with you again.”

“You thought I would carry a grudge?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I might have carried a grudge if someone kicked my ass in my own house,” he said. “Besides, you’re Marie’s cousin, and she does carry a grudge.”

“Yeah, and she’s in deep shit with pretty much our entire family because of it,” I said.

“She is?” he asked.

“You did something she can’t seem to do. You fucked up, and you went in to see my grandfather and apologized for it. Marie doesn’t do that. She’s never fucking wrong.” I couldn’t hide how mad I was about that.

“Doesn’t sound like you’re very forgiving of her,” he observed, making me wonder if he was her stooge.

“She hasn’t said she was sorry yet. Kyle said you found out about us when you overheard her and John talking,” I said. He swallowed hard, but didn’t say anything. “What?” I asked.

“That’s what I told Kyle, but that’s not what happened,” he said. We were stopped at a light, so he turned to look at me. “She pulled me aside and told me. Said you guys were making me look like an idiot.” The light changed, and he drove on. So it hadn’t even been an innocent slip, she had told Erik, and it had been malicious. Assuming Erik was telling me the truth, I reminded myself.

“Well, John seemed pretty guilty, so they must have been talking about it anyway,” I said, even though I was seething inside. He shrugged. “What’s her deal? Why’s she after me? Shit, we’re family.”

“You're stealing her spotlight,” he said. “You showed up at Menlo and made a major splash, and you’re friends with pretty much all of her friends. By the end of the year, they liked you better than her. And that pissed her off.”

“I can’t believe she’d be that shallow,” I said, then mentally reminded myself that I wasn’t sure I could trust Erik completely either. “That sucks.”

“Can’t argue with that,” he said.

“Are you friends with her?” I asked him honestly.

“I was,” he said. “We’re not really friends anymore, at least not like we used to be.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not friends with Ferris, and he’s tight with Marie,” he said. “Something about that dude really bugs me.”

“Because he’s so gay?” I asked, wondering if Erik didn’t like flaming guys.

“I’m out with you, and you’re gay. I like that you are,” he said, leering at me, making me laugh.

“I’m still worried that you’re mad at me for all the shit that happened,” I said, letting my insecurities out. Why did I keep trusting him? And why was he so easy to trust?

He shook his head, because he was annoyed with me. “I told you I wasn’t pissed at you anymore, so I’m not pissed at you anymore!” he said a little loudly. I put my hand on his shoulder to steady him, and he glared at me, which was a little intimidating, but I squeezed his shoulder and he mellowed out. “I’m not mad at you. I don’t make out with guys I’m pissed off at.”

I chuckled at that, even as we pulled into this really nice French restaurant. The last time I’d eaten here was with my father. He parked the car and put up the top, and made to get out, but I stopped him. “Maybe you just got mad at me. Prove you didn’t.”

He grinned, and then gave me a kiss, and this one was even better than the one before. It dawned on me that he was opening up to me and that the more open he got, the better we connected physically. “Convinced?”

“Convinced,” I confirmed. We went in and the maître d’ greeted us in a friendly way.

“It is good to see you again, Monsieur Delgado,” he said to Erik. Erik must come here quite a bit. “And it is good to see you as well, Monsieur Schluter.”

“Thank you, Francois,” Erik said, with a mildly condescending tone. It was the first thing he’d done tonight to annoy me, so I let it pass.

“It is good to see you,” I said to Francois in French. “How have you been?”

“Very well,” he responded in that language. “It has been a busy summer.”

“That means business is booming, and that is a good thing, no?” I asked pleasantly.

“Mais oui,” he said, as he led us to our table.

“I didn’t know you speak French,” Erik said. “I speak a little Spanish.”

“I learned to speak French, Spanish, and Italian growing up. It wasn’t so hard, since they’re kind of similar,” I told him. He stared at me like I was some kind of savant.

“Dude, that’s impressive,” he said. “You’re fucking smart.”

“I am, but not because I speak four languages,” I joked. He chuckled. “What about you? What do you do in your spare time?”

“I work out,” he said, kind of glumly.

“Why is that bad? You have an amazing body, what I’ve seen of it,” I said, flirting.

He blushed. “It gives me a way to work off steam.” I got the feeling that Erik wasn’t a very happy person underneath those layers of muscle, and I wondered if I wanted to deal with another wounded puppy, even a really hot one.

“I’ll bet. So where do you work out?”

“Sometimes at home, sometimes at the club, and I used to work out at school,” he said.

“I work out at home. We have a pretty kick ass gym. I’ll show it to you later, if you want,” I offered.

“May be interesting to see how much you can lift,” he said, acting like I was a lightweight.

“I’m not trying to build my body like yours; I’m just trying to stay toned. And I haven’t worked out much because I’ve been surfing a lot this summer.”

“Some good conditioning,” he noted.

“So you’re going to Oregon,” I said, referring to college. “What are you going to major in?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe something to do with fitness. I’m actually pretty good with words.”

“You mean English? Like writing and shit?” He nodded. “Dude, I am so jealous. I’m shit at that stuff. I’m better at numbers and science.”

“I wish I was good at that. My dad’s pissed off because I don’t want to major in business,” he said glumly.

“You met Grand, my grandfather,” I said, stating the obvious. “He told me that I should major in what I liked. He says that you do best at something you enjoy.”

“English majors don’t make much money,” he said.

“So. Do you really have to make a fortune? Doesn’t your family already have one of those?” I joked.

“Yeah, but not like yours,” he said. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”

“That’s what Grand says the first two years of college are for, to figure out what you want to major in,” I said, reciting one of his many lessons to us on education.

“So I’ll check back in with you two years from now and let you know what I’m going to do,” he said.

“I have a question for you,” I said. He looked at me intently, to indicate I had his attention. “Why did you follow me out to the gazebo at Brendan’s?”

“I was trying to figure something out,” he said, and got really uncomfortable.

“What?”

“Do you mind if we talk about this later?” he asked. He could tell that answer really bothered me. “I’m really having a nice time, and if I go into it, I’ll get all upset, and I don’t want to do that right now.”

I thought about how my father could be so inquisitive it would drive me insane. I didn’t want to be like that. “As long as you promise to tell me later, I’m good with that,” I said.

“I promise,” he said. After that, we just bullshitted about people we knew, and places we’d traveled to. His family was originally from Spain, so he’d been there a few times. It sounded like a cool country. I told him about my trip to Rome, and to Hawaii.

“I heard you were with some dude over there,” he said.

“Dude, who the fuck are you talking to?” I asked, not a little annoyed. “You know that I was with some dude in Hawaii, and everyone seems to know that we’re going out tonight. What the fuck?”

“I heard about the dude you were with from this chick that’s messing around with John. She probably heard it from him,” he said. “Is it some big secret? All I heard was you bought a house over there and met some surfer dude you were all into.”

“No, it’s just kind of freaking me out that everyone knows what the fuck I’m doing,” I said.

“Dude, don’t you get it? You’re popular. People track what happens to you,” he said.

“Whatever,” I said. I didn’t think I was all that popular. Shit, I was only a sophomore now. I figured I’d have to be at least a junior for that to happen.

“Look, your family is one of the richest families in the world. And they definitely wield some major power here in the Valley. You’re smart, you’re hot, and you’re fun. People are going to want to be friends with you,” he said.

“So people like me because I have money?” I asked, annoyed.

“Did you miss the rest of what I said, dumbass?” he asked, and not all that nicely. “That’s not the only reason.”

“Most of the kids at Menlo come from families that are loaded,” I said.

“Yeah, and that’s why it’s important to them,” he said. I guess that made sense, that the people with money would appreciate it a lot.

“I was just sort of going through life, trying to enjoy it, and now you make it sound like I’m a fucking celebrity, and that I should expect paparazzi to show up everywhere I go,” I said, kind of joking.

“I’m surprised no one has explained this shit to you yet,” he said. “My dad talked to me, which for him that means he yelled at me, about how not to make an ass out of myself or everyone would talk about it.”

“So when you broke my nose, everyone knew,” I said.

“Yeah. And that’s what was so surprising about you and Kyle. I can’t believe you kept that a secret,” he said bitterly. “Shit, I figured that if you two were fucking around, I’d have known about it in about ten seconds.” I sat there and ate this excellent dinner, pretty dazed about what he was telling me. He was telling me that I was a public figure, at least when it came to my school, and my world; even if I wasn’t a public figure in the real world. “I’m sorry if I freaked you out.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, you kind of did, but it was for my own good.” He paid the bill and we left.

“I was hoping we’d have a better time,” he said morosely. “Probably just as well.”

“I had a nice time,” I said. “You just made me think about shit, but it’s good.” I smiled at him.

“Where do you want to go now?” he asked.

“Let’s go back to my house,” I said. He looked sad, like he thought I was going to end our date. As if. “You can tell me why you followed me to the gazebo.”

“Great,” he said sarcastically. But he said he would, and I got the feeling that if he said he’d do something, he’d do it. Then again, I’d gotten that feeling from Tony too. I had to quit comparing every guy I went out with to Tony. We drove back to Escorial with the top down, while I tried to cheer us both up by bullshitting about people we knew, and stupid stuff they’d done. We got back and parked the car, and then I led Erik into the house, managing to make it to my room without running into anyone.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I said. He walked over to the couch, and shocked the shit out of me by pulling down his pants, then his underwear. “Dude, you don’t waste any time,” I joked, even as I admired his cute limp dick, and his nice shaved balls.

Only he didn’t laugh, he was really upset. “Look,” he said, as he lifted his dick up. He pointed to a couple of nasty looking bumps on the bottom side of it, not too far from the head. “Don’t touch them,” he snapped as I went to do just that.

“What’s wrong?”

“Those are warts,” he said. “Genital warts.” A tear fell down his face as he said it. “I’m fucking infected. I’m ruined. This shit doesn’t go away.” Actually, it kind of did, but he was clearly not rational about this. I wondered if I would be, if it happened to me. To have some disease flowing through my body, especially a disease that gave me nasty warts on my dick, would totally fuck me up.

“Erik, it’s not the end of the world,” I said to him.

“Who’s going to want to be with a dude who has dick warts?” he asked, almost yelling.

“I would,” I said to him. “If we messed around, and you wore a condom so we were safe, I’d totally be with you.”

“You would?” he asked, surprised. I knew the deal on HPV and other STDs. HPV wasn’t good, but it wasn’t like it was HIV. But this really wasn’t about Erik and me, this was about Erik thinking that he was damaged goods, and that no one would want him. I’d seen pictures of warts before, and his looked pretty nasty compared to them, so he must have a bad case, but he could at least treat them. They weren’t a permanent fixture on his dick.

“I would. And if we were going out, like really seriously, to the point that we were partners, I’d mess around with you without a condom.” His eyes really bulged at that. “You’re more than just a wart,” I joked, but did it lovingly.

He leaned in to kiss me and stopped, but I put my hand on the back of his head like I had before and pulled him in. I broke off our kiss and smiled down at his erection. He had a nice dick, probably a little over six inches, but pretty thick. I grabbed a condom and went to put it on him, but he stopped me and did it himself, to make sure I didn’t come into contact with the warts. I made him lie back on the couch and got some lube, and started stroking his dick while I made out with him. It was totally hot, because he was moaning into my mouth as he thrust his dick into my hand. He tried to move his mouth away from mine; because he was going to blow, but I made him stay linked to me, and was rewarded as he almost shouted a guttural yell into my mouth. He pumped a huge load into the condom, and then lay there, looking so cute with his pants around his ankles and his arms spread across the back of the couch, gripping onto it tightly. “That was fun,” he said with a playful grin.

“Yep,” I said, and winked at him. “So tell me why you followed me out to the gazebo.”

“I wanted to know if I got this from you.”