Jay & Miles - 53. Brothers And Boyfriends

POV: Linda, Finn, Jay

“Du begår en fejl, Lene,” Rosalie said with a sigh.

I hated it when my parents said things like that because it was implying my judgments were faulty—but what irked me the most was that they were often correct. No kid likes to admit his parents might be right about something, even when it’s obvious, yet in this instance I was convinced my decision about the upcoming Senior Prom was the best one.

“I just don’t think I should waste a lot of money on something I’m going to wear for one single event—and I don’t want Bobby to do that either…I mean, a tuxedo for a stupid dance? There’s nothing wrong with wearing something that looks good and that you can use more than once….” I let the frustration show in my tone; this wasn’t our first go-round on the topic of buying a formal gown. I was willing to get a new dress, or even a blouse and skirt, but a pricey gown was just too much.

I tried my last argument. “We’re a farming town, mor, not a big deal like New York…or even Columbus, as far as that goes; it’s in the school gym with a local d.j. rather than a band…so what’s the fuss?” I felt bad as I spoke my last words—it implied criticism of my parents—but in reality I was questioning the outdated concepts they had then, not their own pasts. “This is the Seventies, and kids today are more relaxed about things like fashion. They don’t even wear more than a nice shirt and tie for church, and a jacket would only get used for weddings or funerals….”

I could tell I hadn’t convinced my mom, but she agreed to a compromise: she’d go with me to pick out what I’d wear, but reserved the right to veto what I chose…and I reserved the veto on anything too fussy and prissy. I wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress that had one scrap of lace or chiffon on it. I drew an immovable line in the sand when it came to a new purse, and just barely consented to think about new shoes.

We decided to go to the mall on Wednesday after school; that would give me Tuesday to talk with Bobby at lunch so we could agree on our plans. At dinner with his parents on Saturday, his mom expressed how pleased she was we were going to the prom together, and told us stories about her own experiences back in the Fifties. I stole a quick glance at Mr. Thomas while she was carrying on, and he just shook his head and grinned. Let her have her moment, he seemed to say…and fifteen minutes later when his wife was waxing even more emotionally, I saw him put a finger to his temple like a pistol and pretend to pull the trigger. I almost laughed out loud, but stopped myself at the last minute…Bobby wasn’t so lucky. He snickered, and then let out a peal of laughter.

At least it stopped the torrent of nostalgia, but I thought her husband might be in the doghouse later that night. I’d had notions of keeping this thing simple, and hearing Bobby’s mom extol how glamourous her own prom was made my decision even more resolute. She came from Shaker Heights in Cleveland, and that had always been a ritzy neighborhood from what I heard—definitely not something that had anything in common with our little town. The highlights of ‘The Season’ here were church socials, and your Sunday-best was good enough for everything. I didn’t think my desire would be hard to accomplish…until mor had her say.

I never would have thought she’d want a traditional dance for me, but Grandma Sigrid had told her about formal Lanciers dances back in the Old Country, so she wanted my Senior Prom to be as close to that as we could get. Her own prom had been in a bigger town than the one we lived in now, but not by much…so I figured most of her nostalgia was fueled by time and her own mother’s tales. It took a lot of talking to get the compromise I finally did, and I could picture our shopping trip as one tension-filled ordeal. Far did what he could by setting a strict budget, and I was grateful for that since it had to include shoes. How extravagant could you get on $100 for everything?

A lot of my friends were going crazy planning how to get their boyfriends’ clothes to match their dresses, and how to find the perfect shoes…or purse…or jewelry…or whatever else caught their attention at the moment; Christ, it was just a stupid dance in a school gym! I even heard one of the rich girls talking about her and her best friend splitting the cost of a limousine…as if one would be able to find its way out of the big city. Well, if you bribed them with enough money, I suppose it could happen. On more than one occasion in the last week and a half before the prom, I wanted to grab some of them by the hair and slap them silly. I’m told you can’t do that with friends….

Then there was Bobby. We were barely back together after he’d decided to support his best friend Timmy Zane over my kid brother Jay. I knew why he did it, and I respected his reasoning…Bob Thomas was a man with a lot of integrity and a big heart, which wasn’t always a comfortable combination when the two warred inside him, as they did over Zane. It’d hurt when I decided to break up with him—it had hurt a lot—but I’d decided if I could make it through to Graduation, then I’d be off to OSU in Columbus in August...I’d look around before thinking about getting into another relationship. I thought I’d had it all figured out.

Two things changed that decision: Bobby asked me to the prom, which we’d thought about before…and Jay showed a level of maturity and insight I’d thought was beyond him. When he told me to get back together with Bobby and go to the dance—for him and those boys who couldn’t go with their boyfriends—I’d been surprised. Jay always had a sense of justice, I knew that…but this was a whole different level; then Mikey had said ‘do it for Love’—and I knew where my little brother’s new-found perspective came from. Not to short-change my brother in any way, but the old Jay just wasn’t a deep thinker. Mikey was more than good for my brother…he was perfect.

To think I’d tried to drive Mikey away…until after the Zane Affair—not one of my prouder moments, and one I wouldn’t repeat again. Mikey too had changed under the influence of their relationship: he was getting more confident as time passed, and also more outgoing and spontaneous. He was still quiet, and tended to be thoughtful and cautious from what I could see, but Jay was slowly drawing him out of himself, just as he was taking in some of Mikey’s forethought. It was interesting to watch how they complemented one another. My brother even wanting to study for hours every day was new—he’d done it before under some duress, but now it was something he looked forward to. And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just because it gave him the opportunity to socialize with his new circle of friends.

The six of them, Greg, Denny, Mikey, Benny, Calvin, and my besotted brother were becoming closer, but that seemed to accelerate after the day spent at Mikey’s. Something had changed because they were all more at ease with one another, not just in their pairings, and they would exchange glances or hugs nearly as much across those groups as in them. I even saw Denny give Mikey a kiss on the cheek once, and Jay didn’t have a fit…he just smiled and gave them both a hug next time he passed them to get a drink.

Since Benny was my best friend, he’d tell me what was up—I was curious, but did I really want to know?

That reminded me of something else—Jay hadn’t told me what Bobby and I would carry to represent him and Mikey at the Prom next weekend. In the Middle Ages, knights had carried something into tournaments or battles that signified their love for the person who gave it to them, and we’d agreed to do something like that for Jay and Mikey when we danced. In the fuss with mor that had almost slipped my mind, so I went to find him. Of course, now that the other guys had left—among them, some new kid named Kevin Sommers—I found my brother in his room. I tapped on his door and waited for him to say something before I went in—I didn’t want to see what the two of them got up to in bed—they were bad enough at the breakfast table.

I suppose it could have been a lot worse; they were lying side-by-side on Jay’s double bed, but one of them had clearly rolled off to one side after I knocked because Mikey’s left leg was underneath Jay’s right, and both their shirts were untucked. The swollen lips were a dead give-away—you only got that from a prolonged session of kissing. Both of them looked at me, though I think Mikey had a harder time since his glasses were on the nightstand.

“What’s up, sis,” Jay asked with a grin.

I could have teased them about the mounds in their jeans, but for Mikey’s sake I pretended not to notice. Once he got a little more self-assurance, all bets would be off, but even then, Mikey would know I approved of him as Jay’s boyfriend. “Guys, the prom’s coming up in just over a week, and you haven’t told us what we should carry for you while Bobby and I dance. Time’s running out, so did you come up with anything yet?”

“I had an idea when we were at the movies Saturday….” Jay’s voice was abruptly cut off when Mikey slapped a hand over his mouth, and all I could make out was an indistinct mumble. Mikey urgently whispered something into Jay’s ear, but all I could make out were the words ‘shut up’ and ‘ever again…’ My brother stopped struggling to speak, and nodded his head. Slowly, Mikey pulled his hand away, but kept it poised for instant reattachment. Knowing Jay, and boys in general, I was almost one-hundred percent sure I didn’t want to know his idea.

“I think it should be something personal, but the only things that Jay and I have like that are our pendants.” I smiled as both their hands went to the charms around their necks. I didn’t know for sure, but I suspected Jay wore his in the shower because he’d come out of the bathroom in a towel or his briefs, but with the silver chain still around his neck. They had pledged to wear them all the time—who could say if that included while bathing? “I can’t think of anything else that means as much to both of us….”

My brother didn’t look like he had any ideas either. I sat down on his desk chair and thought for a while. My eyes roamed the room, seeking inspiration, but all I saw was that shirtless poster of David Cassidy Jay had had for a couple years, and a recently-added one of the Bay City Rollers. This was frustrating. If they wore rings, Bobby and I could wear those, but they didn’t. My gaze settled on them after making another circuit of Jay’s room, and I had to smile again—they were always touching one another, often holding hands, but the other thing they seemed to do the most was run their fingers through each other’s hair. That could work….

“Guys, I think I have an idea…” I had an image in my head from a Christmas when I was about ten, and my grandmothers Edith and Sigrid both gave me little gold lockets. I liked the fact that they weren’t heart-shaped or too ‘girly’, but I couldn’t figure out which one to wear—if I chose one more often than the other, I thought I’d be hurting one of my grandmas, and I loved both of them too much to do that. I was almost crying when they pulled me up between them on the couch and told me it was easy to fix—wear them on alternate days. I wore them for years until one of the chains broke. I then put them both on the remaining one…until that chain broke in its’ own turn. Those lockets rested now in my jewelry box, unused but still loved.

“I’ll be right back,” I said while crossing the hall to my room. They were still right where they were supposed to be, wrapped in white tissue-paper. As I held them up, Mikey sat up behind Jay, who propped himself up on one elbow to watch what I was doing. Mikey bumped Jay’s shoulder, and he automatically handed his glasses over, pushing them up on his nose. “I got these from my grandmothers a long time ago…but I think we could use them for Prom Night.”

I let the boys examine the lockets as I explained my plan; one was rose-gold and the other was white-gold, and each had a different design on the front to suit the type of alloy it was made from, so one bore a snowflake and the other a rose. There was space inside for a picture, or some other keepsake to remind you of the giver. I had never put anything in them because I could so clearly see the two older women in my head, and that Christmas memory would be with me forever. They would be perfect for my idea—placing a lock of hair from each of them in the two charms.

“So, what do you think?” I asked, watching their faces as I presented the option. “I can carry one, and Bobby the other—it would be just like you were dancing with us!”

My brother’s hand went up to his hair, then immediately found its way into Mikey’s, messing up his mop even more than usual. I wasn’t surprised when Mikey echoed the gesture, and their eyes locked in silent communion for some time. Their next words lost me completely.

“It’s not like a full hair-cut, so we could still mess around, right?”

“Heck, yeah!” Jay answered.

“Then I think it’s a great idea.”

“Me too. Let’s do it.”

“Thanks Linda.”

“Yeah, thanks, sis!”

I laughed at how excited they were. After debating just how much hair to use, and being paranoid that the snips not show, the deed was done—with one twist at Mikey’s insistence: each locket would contain hair from both of them rather than just one. “So we’ll be together even though we’re not there,” he said while staring lovingly at my brother. I have to admit it touched me...these two really had something special.

* * * * * * * * * *

I don’t know why I do it, it just seems to happen. I love Benj a lot and when I was a kid I looked up to him like he was some sort of god…but then I get into this mood where I just have to tease him. Maybe it’s because he’s always been so serious and I think he needs a good laugh, or maybe I just have a death-wish? Maybe it’s because I miss him—until last year we shared the same room, but now we don’t. I tried not being a pesky little brother when we were kids because he could get revenge on me at night once our parents were asleep, though he never did anything too bad beyond short-sheeting my bed a few times…see, he always looked out for me at school, and he never tried to bully me like some of my friends brothers did them.

I could always ask him anything and he’d give me an answer, even if it wasn’t always right…but that would be only because he didn’t know either. Eventually, he’d find out the truth so we’d both know. When he learned about jacking off, I wasn’t able to do it yet, being two years younger, but he explained to me what boners were for, and other things that would happen to me when puberty hit. He also told me how to jack off so I’d know what to do when I got old enough. I don’t know who started the Club—Benj said it was a couple older guys when he was in elementary—but when I was able to finally shoot, and felt okay about it, he asked me if I wanted to join. I wasn’t too sure, but if Benny was doing it, then I wanted in on it too.

At least it wasn’t sports! We played catch when we were little, with Dad, and that was okay, but when it came time for Little League, I didn’t make the cut. It just seemed like too many things were happening at once, and I couldn’t fit all of them together in time to catch the baseball and throw it where it needed to be next. Benj did the coolest thing then—he gave up his spot on the team so I wouldn’t feel bad. That was when he got interested in wrestling, and he’d show me all the holds he learned, though we both just liked rolling around without getting in trouble with Mom. I thought about trying that as my sport, and I might have until one time a bunch of us were practicing on the Green.

I’d gone along with Benny to some of his practices, and to one of his meets when Dad said I could stay up that late, so I thought I knew more than my other friends who only had TV shows to go by…and maybe that was what made me feel so cocky. I didn’t even think about hard-ons being a hazard—they happened when Benj and I wrestled, and we ignored them, especially when he said the other guys got them on the mats too…but for a twelve-year-old rolling around on the grass with his less-educated friends, it was a recipe for disaster. I wasn’t the only one who got hard that day, or even the first one to take advantage of being on top of another guy to get in some serious humping. We were all just entering puberty and wanted to feel good—but it was my bad luck to get pinned by this kid who was stronger than me, and had a mean streak on top of that.

He was sliding his dick against mine while he tried to pin me, and then got this glint in his eye as he started speeding up and moving his crotch in ways that had my dick harder than it had ever been—and he didn’t stop until I flooded my denim shorts with the biggest load of cum I’d ever shot. I’d just started being able to do that, so I couldn’t always tell when it would happen…but this other kid sure could. Even then, it might have been okay if it had been somebody else, but this guy seemed to always need to prove something. It was my turn to be ridiculed, I guess. He jumped off of me before pulling me up by my arm and yelling for the other guys to ‘look what this fag did in his pants!’ It didn’t matter that he’d started it, or was as hard as I was when it happened—I was the one who got laughed at because of jizz staining my shorts.

It was a week or two before I joined my friends in wrestling again, and only because they’d sent a guy to apologize. Without me there, this kid had done the same thing to two others before they all ganged up and beat the crap out of him. I never told Benny about it because I thought he’d go after this kid, but when he asked why I didn’t want to wrestle as much anymore, I did tell him about cumming the last time I was pinned. I wondered why he turned beet red when I said that, but he told me not to worry about it—‘your dick just knows what feels good, it doesn’t matter when or where…just try to let it know you’re the boss.’

I don’t know why Benj didn’t tell me about what he and Greg had been doing for a few months by then, but he didn’t…so I gave up the idea of wrestling in school in case I’d blow a load while at practice, or worse, during a match. From tagging along with my older brother at his events, I learned I could get a boner just from watching all those guys in their uniforms flexing their muscles to warm up…I didn’t even need to touch myself. I was certain I’d cum if I was actually out there with them. That was the earliest clue I was queer rather than just ‘confused’.

Maybe that’s the biggest difference between Benj and me—he’d had doubts about whether he was queer or bi—but after those couple dates I’d gone on with girls I was friends with, I had no doubts at all—guys were ‘it’ for me. Just to confirm it, I’d had that ‘talk’ with him where I asked how he knew, and it all fit. The only thing I worried about now was what our parents would think…they were okay with Benny, but would I now be expected to have kids? Benny set me straight on that one too—our sister Kate would supply those—hell, she was lucky not to be pregnant already the way she dated—but Mom had insisted she get the Pill, and use it.

Benj—he winces every time I call him that—but I know deep down he loves it, also mentioned how his wrestling coach was eying me now that I was a freshman; that led to a longer discussion about what had happened to me three years earlier, and he told me I should now have better control over my body, and that wrestling in competition was a lot different from tussling with friends in the yard. He didn’t try to bullshit me into thinking boners disappeared—they didn’t—but he said the tension of a meet along with better control and ‘real rules’ meant the chances of cumming were a lot less. The uniform also helped: a sleeveless shirt, baggy shorts with tights underneath, and either a jock or cup to protect and restrain the ‘toolbox’ meant no one could tell even if I did cum. He turned red again when he told me he knew that from experience.

The wrestling season was over for this year, but after this second talk, I thought I’d maybe try out as a sophomore. It helped that Benj would probably be the team captain as a senior. That would be so cool! Even with all the stuff he does for me, I still can’t resist the urge to tease him when it possesses me…does that make me a bad little brother, or just normal? The fact he was taking me and Lee to the movies on Friday, even after how I’d acted when I met Calvin, just reinforced my opinion of him as the best brother a guy could have. Rather than wait to see what he’d do when we got home, as soon as I walked in the door I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around him in a big hug. “Sorry for acting like a dick this morning…I really like Calvin.”

When he turned around, I saw he had a knife in his hand which he’d been using to slice some roast beef for a sandwich, and he gave me a grin and made a move to wave the blade near my crotch. “Well, if that’s true, then I guess you can keep your balls—for now….” He returned my hug, then let go. “You mean that, Finn? If you didn’t like him it would make me feel bad, because I really like him a lot.”

Behind his back, I put the slice of Swiss cheese on his sandwich and put the top slice of bread on before picking it up. “Come on—you love him—admit it. And speaking of that, why aren’t you at Jay’s?”

He smiled and the twinkle in his eyes was all the confirmation I needed, but he said it any way. “Yes, I do…and I’m here because I left some of my books here this morning and had to pick them up first.” He growled when I brandished his snack in front of his face and took a huge bite.

“You better haul ass then, or he’ll pine away!” I bolted up the stairs to the sound of frustrated laughter, soon followed by the slamming of the front door. Benny made a mean sandwich, I had to admit. I finished it while savoring what I’d gotten away with, and then began my own homework. When my clock showed it was time for Lee to get home, I dialed his number and asked his brother Jeff if I could talk to him. “Wanna come over to study? Maybe you can stay for dinner?”

Ten minutes later, he was ringing our doorbell. I learned a couple things about Lee that afternoon at my desk; he really didn’t need me to study with him at all, and second, he was just as cute with or without his glasses, which he only needed to read or write. Neither of us cared about the first one since we just wanted to spend time together, and I only cared about the second because I’d almost knocked them off his face when we banged our heads together for our first kiss. It was really awkward thanks to that, and then the giggling afterwards…but it felt a heck of a lot better than the one time I’d kissed my ‘date’ last semester. We were too shy to do much else, but that was okay—it would leave us lots of time to do ‘research’ as Lee so adorably put it.

Four days until our trip to the drive-in. How much research could we do by then?

As it turned out, not as much as we thought. You’d have thought being in a group of other boys who were all jacking off together would make things easier, but it didn’t. I think it made us getting more intimate harder because there wasn’t any peer pressure to egg you on, or sense of bravado that comes with being daring. At the meetings, you really didn’t get more than a quick look before the guys’ tools were covered by a hand or fist, and you might get a view of their cock heads just as they shot off, but you were probably too close yourself to pay much attention to anybody else—at least I was. When things were all over, everybody would wipe up with a hanky or tissues, then head for home as soon as they could, even me and Lee, who were becoming fast friends as the days passed.

On Thursday, with the pressure of our movie date the next day getting me more agitated, I complained to Benny. “I thought the meetings would make this whole thing easier—we like each other and all—but this has got me more nervous than those dates I had last fall. Why is it so tough to get things going? I mean, we’re both guys and know what we want....”

I could tell from the look on his face that Benny wanted to laugh at what I said, but he held back and put his arm around my shoulders instead. “Dear brother, you’ve just discovered the joys and terrors of being a teenager…old enough for ‘play time’ to have a whole new meaning, but still young enough and inexperienced enough to not know how to handle this new part of your life.”

“But what do I do about it,” I wailed miserably. “All we’ve done is some kissing and feeling each other up…I saw more of him at the Club than I do now.”

Benny didn’t snicker, but it was close. He still understood what I was feeling, and I hoped he’d have some magical answer for me like always, but not this time. He leaned his forehead against mine for a minute in commiseration, then gave me a squeeze. “If you want to take the easy—and stupid way out, like I did with Calvin, then be all macho and keep things inside—and waste a lot of time…or you take the more difficult course which might get you what you both want, or it might not.”

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear, not by a long shot, but the Rosses didn’t raise any fools, so I knew what he meant. I’d watched him for almost half a year being miserable because he hadn’t told Calvin how he felt, and I wasn’t going to do that with Lee. The only choice that made sense was to talk things over with him and see if we were both on the same page about what we wanted, and if so, plan the way we’d get to that point. I was pretty sure Lee and I did want the same thing, so the big question was how we’d accomplish it? Closely followed by when?

“You’re pretty good when it comes to serious talking, Finn. Go with that.”

I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall, and realized that it was almost time for Lee to go to bed, and I wanted to get this sorted out right away, before our date tomorrow evening. Benny had just gotten back from studying at Jay’s, and he usually spent the next hour or so on the phone with Calvin…but I was hoping he’d let me have part of his phone time just this once.

He saw me glancing at the phone after checking the time, and he laughed. “Go on, Casanova, give your guy a call!” We could both hear our parents watching television in the living room, so he nudged my shoulder with his fist. “Use the one in my room…just don’t get jizz all over my bed….”

I was up the stairs and slamming his attic door before he could finish his taunt. I could only speak to Lee for about fifteen minutes, which wasn’t nearly enough time for what we needed to talk about, so all we managed to arrange was for him to come over for dinner about an hour before we needed to leave for the movies. I was hard while we talked, and I’m pretty sure Lee was too, but it was way too awkward and rushed for us to do more than some heavy breathing. I went down to my bedroom still excited, but too keyed up with thoughts of what Lee and I would do together on our date to even attempt getting off. Besides, if I did that now, I might use up some of the energy I’d need for tomorrow night…hey, I was fifteen, and allowed some really stupid thoughts, wasn’t I?

School was always hell on Fridays, mostly because it would be seven hours before the weekend would start, but this time it was worse…on top of the usual, I was anxious to see Death Race 2000 with Lee, and also worried about what we’d do during the second movie. I wasn’t a fan of Japanese monsters—the very first Godzilla with Ray Milland was okay, but all the rest just got sillier with each new installment. From what Benny had told me, I didn’t think Lee would like that one either, which would leave us with a whole two hours to do something else…and while my brain was trying to explode from anxiety, my dick was trying to tear a hole through my jeans at the thought of being near Lee for so long. Maybe I should have jacked off last night after all?

The only thing I knew for sure, as I was riding the bus home, was that it was too late now…and a new worry began to gnaw at my nerves: what if I blew too soon? I’d look like a little kid rather than the young man I wanted to seem to the other guys. I was making myself crazy, and although Benny tried to get me to relax, it wasn’t working. As a last resort, my brother eyed me up and down while grinning. “So that’s what you’re wearing on your first date?”

By the time Lee knocked on the door at 5:30 I had almost every piece of clothing I owned scattered on my bed...jeans, shirts and even underwear. I had tried all sorts of combinations in front of my mirror, and was frustrated as hell. Benny poked his head around the door to see what I was doing, and gave me a twisted smirk. I was standing there in a pair of grey dress socks, looking between a pair of red jockeys and a pair of more stylish grey bikini briefs.

“If it helps, the bikinis will be more comfortable….” I gave him the finger, and he laughed. “Are you still nervous?” Then I got it—he’d distracted me by getting my mind on something other than what would happen when Lee and I were alone. I let out a sigh, and shook my head ‘no’, letting him know that I’d figured out his ploy and was grateful for it. “That’s what brothers are for, dude. Want to know what he’s wearing? It might help you decide—and by the way—dinner’s in twenty minutes.”

When Benny said Lee was wearing a medium-grey dress shirt and black jeans, I let my eyes roam over my supply of better clothes. With his strawberry-blond hair, he’d look amazing in grey and black, and I wanted to try to make the same impression.

The same colors Lee had on would look good on me too, but I didn’t want to copy what he chose; reds and greens worked with my black hair and green eyes, blues only worked if they had some green mixed in, and yellows were almost impossible unless they were more dark gold. I’d look like an advertisement for the high school if I chose black and gold, so those were definitely out.

I could feel the minutes ticking away, so I grabbed a pair of khaki-colored cords and a pale green dress shirt a couple shades lighter than my eyes. Rather than sneakers, I slid on my brown loafers and was about ready to head downstairs when Benny put out his hand to stop me.

He’d gone up to his room as I dressed, and now held out his hand. “I think you should try this….” It was a medium-weight gold chain that would hang just below the hollow of my throat. He hooked it around my neck, then stood back to examine the effect. He adjusted my shirt, then undid the top two buttons so that the chain was visible, but not enough to show off my chest.

He gave me the thumbs-up, then pulled out his bottle of Aramis cologne. He poured just a tiny amount in his palm, then ran it over and through my hair, then put a dab behind each of my ears. “Go get ‘em, tiger,” he said with a grin, pushing me toward the stairs before he went to wash his hands.

“Sorry I….” The words died as I entered the living room and saw Lee. This wasn’t the kid I hung out with on the Green, or saw every week at our meetings…this was a man—young, but looking for all the world like he could handle whatever came his way.

I swallowed hard as our eyes met…and he giggled. I relaxed right away because that told me he was also trying to project an image of self-confidence and bravado that didn’t yet fit. In time it would, but right this instant we both had some growing to do. “You look nice,” I finished lamely.

“You too,” he responded softly, and then it was a race to see which of us could blush more…and see whose freckles stood out the most. He won in my opinion, but I think it was because he had more than I did. We headed toward the dining room, but were stopped by the doorbell ringing. Benny waved us on in and went to answer the door. A few minutes later, he walked into the room followed by Calvin.

“Mom, Dad…this is my boyfriend Cal Schuyler….” Hands were shaken before Benny added, “You’ve met my brother Finn, and this gentleman is Lee, Greg’s younger brother.” There were more shaken hands, and Calvin gave me a broad wink which had me blushing again. Mercifully, Mom had us sit down before the food got cold.

I’d like to say the drive-in was all I expected, and more…but that’d be a lie. It was both more, and less. We went in Calvin’s Buick to avoid Benny’s bucket seats, and they even let me and Lee sit up front for the movies; that was really nice of them, but both of us were really into the first movie, so mostly we just held hands while sipping our sodas and giving out an occasional ‘Cool!’ or ‘Neat!’ when things blew up or some guy got skewered by one of the racers. During the intermission, we walked to the snack bar for more sodas and got rid of the ones we’d drunk earlier.

Calvin and my brother had disappeared early on, just after the first movie started, saying something about watching Rollerball instead, so we had the car all to ourselves. Mechagodzilla was worse than I’d feared, and soon Lee and I were starting to yawn.

I thought we’d better get in back for the ride home, and was planning to get a little more action in than just holding hands…so we stretched out on the back seat next to each other and began a leisurely round of petting and kissing. Our hands slipped inside each other’s shirts, and we adjusted our positions to bring our bodies into even closer contact, but that also increased the warmth we felt, and even Godzilla’s bellows couldn’t stave off what happened next….

I felt a hand shake my shoulder. “Wakey, wakey guys—we’re home.” Hands helped me and Lee out of the car and up to my bedroom. Somebody—maybe Benj—pulled off my shoes and loosened my belt before laying me back on my bed. I could hear amused whispering and felt the bed dip beside me as Lee also had his shoes removed so he could snuggle up next to me.

“Night, little dudes…pleasant dreams.” I felt arms wrap around me, and could smell Lee’s cologne as I drifted off for the night.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was Tuesday evening and I was in a panic. Not because Kevin was coming to study with us—that was working out okay, if not great—but it would get better as he felt more at ease around us…no, I was fretting because it was becoming clear I didn’t have time to set up my plans for our ‘anniversary’ Friday night. Some of it I could work on once Mikey went home, but other parts needed to be done in daylight, and I just couldn’t fit those vital things in while he was here. I needed help. As much as I hated to add to what needed to be done on the farm in spring, there was only one person I could ask.

“Far, jeg har brug for din hjælp…” He knew I wanted to do something special for Mikey, but I hadn’t told him any details yet. I saw no way to avoid it now. If I cancelled one of our study sessions, he’d get suspicious or possibly even feel hurt, thinking I didn’t want him around, and that was the last thing I wanted. We went to eat at Pizza Hut for our first week’s celebration, but I wanted this one to be extra-special by doing everything myself. Mor had agreed to supervise when I cooked our meal on Friday, so all I had to do was pick up Mikey from his house while it was in the oven.

It was the stuff I planned for later that night which was the problem—and I explained that to far once everybody was gone. He agreed I would need to get things set up at least a day early, and said he’d do it Wednesday while we were at school. I showed him where I wanted things, and he tousled my hair as we laid out my wishes just as I saw them in my head. “Don’t worry, I’ll have it all set up…and maybe another thing or two as well. What do you think about…?”

I gave him a huge hug before I went to bed Tuesday night, feeling a lot better about the success of my scheme. It couldn’t fail with my parents overseeing it. Even the weatherman said things would be perfect for Friday and Saturday…so I had to hope they were right with all that satellite info they got. Still, this was Ohio, and the weather could change in just a few hours, especially in mid-Spring. I was determined to pull this off no matter what—unless it snowed a lot—and I might go ahead with our celebration even then. How many spare quilts did mor have?

“Alt er parat, Jay,” greeted me when I got out of Mikey’s car Wednesday afternoon, along with an ‘okay’ gesture from far’s right hand. Kevin looked mystified as he got out using the front passenger’s door, and I gave him a little smile and put a finger to my lips while pointing at Mikey, who was just emerging behind him. He now knew about our private party on Friday, if not the details, so he nodded quickly. Fortunately, Mikey had missed our little exchange and I grabbed his hand as we went toward the back porch. He was sharp, and knew I was planning a surprise, so I had to be really careful about not letting the cat out of the bag before the big event. At least he’d have Rollerball to distract him on Thursday.

Classes seemed to crawl by that whole week, but I found a few minutes early Thursday morning to check out what far had done the day before. It looked good in the half-light, and it didn’t smell too musty which was good; what didn’t air out by Friday night, I could cover with some incense and scented candles. I knew they could be dangerous, but I thought the light from our Coleman lantern was too harsh, and I hated the smell of kerosene.

Mikey and I got ribbed on Thursday at lunch because we were doing the drive-in that night alone, and the ‘don’t nap this time’ comments made both of us blush, along with Benny’s ‘remember, it’s a school night…’ which had them all busting a gut over their supposed hilarity. To our surprise, they didn’t say a word about what Mikey and I would do Friday night during our evening. I think they were envious of us because none of them had reached the one month mark yet.

We did have a short study session Thursday after school, with everybody except Mikey leaving just after dinner. Mikey had a few clothes at my house by this time, in addition to some of Jerry’s old ones which would fit okay, so he didn’t need to bring something fresh with him from home. I’d thought we’d just go see the movie in our school clothes, but my kæreste put the kibosh on that. “Even if it’s not our anniversary yet, it’s still a special time because we’re going out together….”

How can you argue with logic like that? I didn’t even try.

40 East wasn’t busy, since this was a school night, so we had plenty of spaces to choose from, and I let Mikey pick one out to suit his vision…last time we’d parked in one of the rows near the middle of the lot, and I was surprised when he chose one in the next row further back. “It’s one huge screen, Jeepers; from here the angle’s a little better and we don’t have to strain to see the whole picture. I think even subtitles would work for me here…” I saw him blush when he added, “Do you remember if the Godzilla movie had any?”

Now I was blushing right along with him—that movie had sucked so badly that we’d given up on it and did some seriously hot making out instead. “Um…I don’t think so, but I was a little preoccupied at the time.” For nearly half the movie, we’d been kissing and humping, oblivious to anything beyond the front seat of Mikey’s car. A bomb could have gone off in the next row and neither of us would have noticed.

With fewer people here we didn’t see anyone from school, at least not in the snack bar when we went to get drinks. I saw a VW bus that might have fit the description of Kevin’s, from what Greg had told us about it, but since he hadn’t driven it to school, I couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t mentioned coming to the drive-in to any of us this week, other than that he’d be here on Friday when the other guys would show up, along with Bill. Mikey said it could be his aunt and uncle who were here, or even his cousins Eric and Derik. We could find out at lunch tomorrow either way.

Greg and Denny were right about Rollerball though—the sport scenes were great with the bikers adding momentum, pulling their skating team-mates around so they could ambush the opposition, and it was cool that some skaters were hanging at the upper side of the oval, ready to skate down on a biker to unseat him. By the end, when it devolved into total carnage and only Jonathan E was left standing, I so wanted to start a rollerball team. I wondered if one of the local skating rinks would go for it?

They were also right about all the social commentary; sure, it was necessary to understand how things worked in a Corporate world, but maybe it was just the way John Houseman presented it. I thought the scientist in Geneva who was in charge of transferring all the world’s books into computers was funny, especially when he admitted to Jonathan E that the entire 14^th Century had been ‘lost’. I remember he played a similarly nutty role in the Michael Caine comedy, The Wrong Box. I’d only seen it on TV, but I laughed my ass off at some of the antics these famous actors had gotten up to in that movie…especially Peter Sellers.

My elskede was as glued to the screen as he’d been for Death Race last Saturday, so other than a few comments on the action, I settled in next to him to watch the whole thing…though I did let my hands stray a little under his shirt. I wasn’t pushing it enough to distract him from the film, so he let me go on rather than stop me, but he was definitely hard while I was doing it. We decided not to stay for Breakout, so I was hoping for a little more action when we got back to my house, but the long day conspired to make us both fall asleep before we could go too far.

I made a point of reminding Mikey in Art class 7^th period to take a nap at his house before I picked him up for our celebration that night…I wanted him wide awake and ready for my surprise present, so yawning wasn’t part of the deal. When he begged for a hint, all I said was we’d ‘boldly go where no man has gone before…. ’ He was pouting when I dropped him off at 2:30, but a little kissing got him in a better mood. I was counting on him enjoying what I’d spent weeks planning.

When I pulled up in front of our barn, far showed me his final touches to my scene, and they were perfect. In the kitchen, mor asked when I wanted to eat, and I told her 8:00 would be about right. She told me the pot roast would take about three hours, so we didn’t need to start it until 4:30 or 5:00, so I took my own advice and headed up to my room for my own brief nap. She’d set up the little table complete with table-cloth and real china while I was napping, so all I’d have to do when I brought Mikey back would be to go get my night started. She got a hug all her own.

I thought we’d do the pot roast in the oven like we always did, but I saw our avocado-green crock pot on the counter all ready to go. “The roast needs to be at a lower temperature, so that would mean no chocolate cake,” she said. “Do you think Mikey would sacrifice the cake over the main course?” A loud laugh erupted from me as we both knew the answer to that one—‘heck no!’ I got instructions on rinsing off the beef, rubbing salt and pepper into it, and then cutting up the carrots, onions and potatoes into pieces that would have them done but not soggy by the time the meat was cooked through. She told me how much beef stock to put in with the other stuff, then pulled out a dark glass bottle from the refrigerator. “Special ingredient….” I put in four ‘dashes’ from the bottle and grimaced, but she assured me it would add just the right touch to the final taste. I had to trust her on that because I hadn’t known she used Worcestershire sauce, and the only time I knew it was in my food was when Mikey added it to our hamburgers at his cook-out.

I knew how to do the green beans, which could wait until the meat was almost done, and the same went for the sweet corn. With the counter clean again, she pulled out the canister of flour, a tin of cocoa powder, and all the other things I’d need for my cake. I was really nervous about this part, it all looked so complicated. I almost panicked when she pulled out two round cake tins. “I don’t know if I’m ready for a layer-cake, mor….” Once again, she gave me her best smile and a gentle hug.

“I’ll be right here, Jay…with your man’s sweet tooth, you’d better know how to satisfy all his appetites.” She walked me through mixing the batter, then greasing and flouring the pans before pouring the thick liquid into them. I was amazed that there was just enough of it to fill them to the two-thirds mark she said would allow it to rise without spilling over while it baked. I then got a course on making chocolate frosting using melted chocolate squares rather than cocoa this time. “I’ll go easy on you and we’ll make the easy one out of confectioner’s sugar rather than sugar syrup and butter for boiled frosting…that’s pretty advanced for a first time, but it does taste a lot better.”

By the time the cake had been frosted, the aroma of the roast was driving me crazy, and my stomach growled noisily. I got a push toward the back stairs and an order to take a shower. “You’re a mess, and I need to clean up the kitchen.” I’d tried hard not to make things too messy as we were making dinner, but it was my first time. I didn’t know just how bad things were until I was in the bathroom staring at my reflection in the mirror…I had smears of flour, specks of cake batter, and a smudge of frosting on my right cheek, and my tee-shirt looked like it would never get clean again. If I had to, I could throw it into the rag pile, or just put it in the trash.

It was 7:15 when I got back downstairs dressed in a gold cowboy shirt and jeans. I opted for my loafers rather than boots, and got whistles from my family as I did a little turn by the back door. A large insulated cooler was sitting on the table, and several plastic containers sat next to it, ready to hold the food Mikey and I would eat at dinner. I’d take only a third of the roast, and the same for the corn and beans—the rest would be eaten by the three who were grinning at me now. I told them to keep half the cake too, but mor pointed to the single candle she’d put on top of it, with the word ‘Hjertenskær’ done in white piping. Mikey was definitely my ‘sweetheart’, as they all knew by this time. “Bring back what’s left later…if there is any,” far joked.

The trip to Mikey’s house was ingrained now, and before I knew it, I was walking through the empty garage and into the back door by their kitchen. He’d told me to do that if no one else was home, since I was practically family—and he liked me to sneak up on him with a kiss or hug. And that’s what happened, only he was still half-dressed trying to pick out a nice shirt. My kæreste pretended to be surprised when I wrapped my arms around him and began rubbing his nipples, but I knew he’d heard me even in my socks. I nuzzled his neck and let one of my hands drift lower to rub his stomach. “I like the look, but it might get a little cold later tonight…”

He melted into my chest, which also brought his butt into contact with my bulging jeans, and we both moaned. The hand I’d had on his stomach went farther down to slip inside his grey chinos, and I felt his own equally hard bulge through his underwear. “What’s the secret word for tonight,” I whispered into his ear with a kiss. Through another moan, he managed to shake his head telling me I’d find out at the right time. “Let’s find you a shirt….”

He held up a nice long-sleeved orange one, but I said it had ‘too many buttons’, which made him laugh. I said the same for all his dress shirts, and he was getting frustrated. When he pulled out a burgundy Polo shirt and I said, “Still too many…maybe you should go topless,” he turned and gave me a fierce stare.

“If I knew where we were going, it would be a lot easier—and I’m not going anywhere without a shirt; just get that notion out of your head right now.” I tried my best pouty look, but it got me nowhere. “You’re dressed pretty sharp—is it a formal or a casual place?”

Since our first real date had been to Pizza Hut, which was a casual family place, I guess he had a right to be suspicious, and more so now that he knew my love for pranks. As much as I wanted to see him naked wherever we went, I knew that would never happen, so I actually gave his question serious thought. What I planned for the night was informal, but the dinner could go either way since there were real linens, china, and candles involved. I really didn’t want to make him worry, so I leaned forward and gave him another kiss.

“Sorry; I just like seeing your body, but I’ll be good….” He laughed at my pause, or maybe it was the twinkle which implied that would only be temporary. I put the Polo shirt over his head and pulled it down his torso with a lot of extra touches to adjust the fit. “This will be great—unless you want to wear that sweater you had on the first time you came over?” No buttons compared to the three on this one, and I could have that one off him in under two seconds as we’d found out. His look said he was clearly on to me, and he reached for the orange shirt again, only to laugh when I growled ‘no’ under my breath.

We petted his long-haired, black-and-white cat for a while, and he filled her dishes before herding me toward the door. “I couldn’t use the movies as an excuse, so I just left a note saying we were going to work on your truck some more.” That was fine, and there were a few things left to do besides replacing the wooden bed in back, and our parents knew that.

I had debated how to pull off my surprise, and had to give up; Mikey’s hearing was too good to fool him once we got back to my place, so driving around a little while first would only waste gas, even if I could get him to wear a blindfold. The best I could do was get him to keep his eyes closed until we got where I had things set up. He was surprised to find himself in my kitchen, and greeted with hugs and ‘congratulations’ from my parents…even Linda. They had just begun eating, and there were only places for the three of them, so we weren’t eating here. I confirmed that when we got more hugs and I said, “See you guys tomorrow,” as we left the house.

“You trust me, right?” I asked him with a soft kiss. He nodded, so I took his left hand in mine and pulled his taller body to my side. “Then close your eyes, and don’t open them until I say.” It wasn’t quite dark yet, so I could see well enough as we passed the orchard, and Mikey smiled at the scent of apple blossoms. He got the smell of the turned earth in our little garden next, then the soft sounds of grass on the spaces between the various fields heading back to our little wood. The soft breeze carried the green odor to our nostrils along with the faint sound of leaves waving.

The leaves that had fallen on the path to the pond were now part of it and gave no sound as we went along. Soon I could hear the soft gurgling of the stream feeding our pond. I hadn’t seen the very last things that had been done while I was cooking, so I couldn’t help but let out a little gasp of surprise. Far had outdone himself. I took it in for a few seconds, then gave my elskede another kiss as I turned him so he’d get the best view.

“Jeg elsker dig,” I whispered softly in his ear. “Open your eyes….”

We used to go camping when I was a kid, and we had a cabin tent that could hold eight people; it looked like a little house with a peaked roof down the center, and two narrow mesh windows on each side which could be covered by canvas flaps if it rained. The front had a five-foot high mesh door with a zipper running down the center, and the canvas cover for it could be raised on two poles to form an awning to sit under. Inside, you could stand up in the middle, and only had to duck a little at the sides, unless you were as tall as Jerry, who had to bend his head a bit.

Under that awning, our little card table sat flanked by two folding camp stools. The table had a white cloth, two places set with china plates, and a candelabra holding three lit candles. Next to that was a vase holding a dozen yellow roses, something I hadn’t thought of, but fit my intended mood perfectly. The white chest holding our food sat on another small stand next to the table, and four torches were lit just outside the area covered by the canvas. I caught the scent of citronella, so I knew any bugs would be kept away while they lasted.

I didn’t know what had been done inside our love-nest yet, but I caught the aroma of patchouli incense from somewhere, and there was a faint flickering like candles too. I hoped our sleeping bags would provide a nice bed tonight on the grassy turf under the tent. I wanted things to be perfect for our one-month anniversary. The only thing missing was music…then I saw our portable cassette-radio next to the tent’s entrance. Thank you, far…only then did I see the bottle of æble snaps with two crystal glasses.

Mikey was awfully quiet, and I wondered if he liked what I’d arranged. I’d let go of his hand when I told him to open his eyes, making a sweeping gesture at the scene in front of us…had I got it wrong? Would he have preferred a real restaurant after all? My heart was in my throat as I took a half-step so I could see his face.

He was crying, and I heard him start to sniffle. “Kæreste, is it okay? Do you like it?” I couldn’t keep the worry out of my voice as I asked…this meant too much to me. He tried wiping his eyes, but of course his glasses got in the way. As always, he never had a handkerchief, so I pulled my ‘emergency’ one out of my pocket. I used it to wipe his glasses off, then dab at his cheeks. He still hadn’t said anything. “Mikey?”

He practically knocked me over with his lunge into my arms. “Oh, you unbelievable dickhead...just when I think I can’t love you any more than I already do….” His lips were on mine, so I guess he was happy.