I woke before my alarm, so I shut it off. I pulled on some basketball shorts and a tee shirt. Dad was in the shower, so I shouted, “Good morning,” and headed outside. The air was humid this morning, and I was already sweating as I did my stretches. I was about to start my playlist when my phone pinged with a text.

<running this morning? Scott btw>

<Running every morning>

<want some company?>

<Sure. Meet at yours in 5> I replied as I put my earbuds and phone in my pocket, then headed towards Scott’s house.

He was already outside. I watched as he did some stretching of his own. I was noticing how limber the slim, blond boy was. “Do you usually run? You look like a gymnast.”

“I run some, nothing regular. I’ve never done organized sports.” Scott said. “You said you wrestle? I don’t think I’m muscular enough for that.”

“I have weights at home. If you want, you can start working out with me in the mornings. We’ll have you ready to try out by fall. I bet you could win Russell’s spot. He wrestled 138 lbs., but he graduated, and the other kid that weight has no skills. I’ll teach you all I can.” I stopped, realizing I was being pushy. “I mean if you want to try it. I don’t want to push you into something you’re not interested in.”

“I’m up for trying. The worst that happens is I finally build some muscle. Did you say 138 lbs.? I’m only 125.” Scott said, with doubt in his voice.

“Muscle weighs more, so you’ll add weight by working out. Speaking of working out, let’s go.” I said as I turned and headed down the street.

I ran at a slower pace than normal, not wanting to wear Scott out. I kept an eye on him, watching for signs he was tiring, but he was keeping up and didn’t seem to be falling behind. By the time we had turned up the road to the farmhouse, my shirt was soaked. The humid morning was keeping my sweat from evaporating. When we stopped by the barn, I turned and noticed Scott’s shirt was still dry. ‘Dang, he’s in better shape than I expected,’ I thought as we both took a drink from our water bottles.

“How much further?” Scott asked, looking around.

“We rode our bikes on my running route yesterday. From here, I go up the ATV trails, through the fields, followed by a few laps around the neighborhood to cool down. Then, it’s an hour with the weights if the run hasn’t worn you out.” I said, putting a challenging tease in my voice.

Scott raised an eyebrow and grinned. “And if you don’t wear me out? You’ll pay for the movie this afternoon.” With a devilish smirk, he added, “Deal? Or no deal?”

“Deal!” I shouted as I turned and took off for the trail. I ran at my normal pace, not trying to show off, just trying to push Scott and find his limit. Scott never faltered and was right beside me as we started the cool-down laps. After two laps, we headed towards the patio door of my basement.

“So, what movie are we seeing?” Scott asked with a grin.

“Oh, is that how it is? I still might wear you out with the weights,” I said as I opened the door and reached for a towel. “And it’s your choice on the movie, you’re the guest.”

We talked about the movies for the next hour while I showed him basic bench press, curls, chest fly, reverse fly, deadlift, and a few other weight training exercises. I explained how doing the exercise wrong didn’t work the desired muscle and could lead to injuries. I made sure he understood that working with too much weight was another common mistake among those new to lifting weights. I explained how it's best to work on arms and legs on opposite days to give the muscles a day to rest and recover. He was working hard but wasn't covered in sweat like I was. Maybe he's in better overall shape than he thinks.

“You do this every morning?”

“Yup. I get up, go for my run, then spend an hour in here. In the winter, if it’s icy and I can’t run, I do five miles on the stationary bike.”

“Well, you didn’t wear me out, so now what?” Scott said with a grin.

“Well, we should shower, then I need to go grocery shopping. I can give you that driving tour, and we’ll grab lunch in town. Then the movie, and my shopping, if you don’t mind tagging along for that?”

“I don’t mind grocery shopping, but the movie might be a problem,” Scott said, laughing.

I felt stupid when I realized why he was laughing and said, “Oh yeah, it’s Tuesday. No daytime movie, huh? So, we’ll do something else. Go shower!”

“I’ll be ready in 15 minutes.”

I laughed “Now you’re forgetting something.”

“Oh yeah, it is kind of early, isn’t it? Well, we’ll find something to do. Meet me at my house around ten.”

“It’s a date.” I said, then stammered, “Er, you know what I mean. I’ll see you then.”

After my shower, I went to the kitchen and made an omelet with ham, cheese, and some of the onion I hadn’t used in the sauce last night. An apple, a glass of milk, and a bagel with blueberry cream cheese rounded out breakfast. As I was washing the dishes, I thought about offering Scott breakfast after our workout tomorrow, assuming he came back.

When I looked at the clock, I realized I only had an hour to get dressed and meet Scott. Normally I could dress and be gone in ten minutes, but I wanted to look good today. I spent almost fifteen minutes debating what to wear. Finally, I settled on khaki shorts and a navy polo shirt with brown dockers. I then spent almost half an hour frantically pulling the books and gym clothes out of my car, then spraying air freshener in it.

I backed out of the garage and, once the door had closed, pulled over to Scott’s. I got out of the car just in time to see Scott coming out wearing khaki shorts and a navy polo shirt. We both laughed at the coincidence, then Scott said, “Sweet ride! What is it?”

“It’s a 1971 Buick Riviera. I actually bought it from the man who lived here before you.”

As he walked around my car, Scott said, “He must’ve really liked you.”

“He was great! I helped him around the house a lot, and he told me all about his life as a boy in Germany during the war. The funny thing is, he’s got a grandson named Scotty.”

“No way? I bet you thought I was him when you first saw me.” Scott said with a laugh.

“Nah, I met him over Christmas, like two years ago. He was eight or nine then, so unless you’ve time traveled, you’re not him.” I said, then I looked at Scott in mock surprise “Do you have a DeLorean hidden in an old barn somewhere?”

“Nope,” he said. “I just age really fast, but I’m almost done with that now.”

I just shook my head. I was about to speak when my phone rang. I held up a finger to Scott and took the call. After a short conversation, I hung up, looked at Scott, and sighed. “I have to change our plans. One of my buddies from work needs me to swap shifts with him. I have to be at the mall at 1:00. What do you want to do? We have an hour or so to waste.”

“If you’re up for it, I’d love your help setting up my computer. It’s a pain to fish all the wires alone.”

“Greg’s wire-pulling service, at your command, sir!” I said, giving him a salute.

Scott just laughed and shook his head as we went inside. He had pulled all the components out and put them on his desk last night. The wires just needed to be run from the monitor, mouse, and keyboard to the PC.

I was looking at everything when he said, “I need to upgrade. This is just a basic one we got a few years ago.”

“Hey, if you're not gaming, it's fine, right?”

He shrugged and said, “Like I said, I just never got into gaming. It always seemed like a waste of time.”

“Yeah, I'd rather be reading a good book if I can't be outside. I just finished reading ‘The Vampire’s Heart’ by Roeder. Have you read it?”

“I just started it, so no spoilers!”

During our conversation, I was feeding the wires through the desk while he was hooking them up underneath. I fed the USB through for the keyboard “You see it?”

“I got it, babe.” and felt him freeze. I froze too. Did I hear right?

He crawled out from under the desk and stood, looking at the floor. He mumbled, “I need to be honest with you, Greg.”

I could tell he was as scared as I was, so I tried to lighten things up, “You want me to move all your books ‘cause I put them in the wrong places?”

“No, they're fine. I’m serious.” He said, looking up into my eyes.

“Ok, I'm listening. Is this bad?”

“No, look, I um... I like you, but...”

My heart stopped. But what? Was he saying he had figured out I'm gay, and he wasn't? Was he gay but had a boyfriend? Did he think I was ugly? “I like you too, Scotty. What's wrong?”

“I know what I want to say, but I don’t know how to say it. And I'm scared.”

In his face, I could see the same fears I had and felt a change deep inside me. Somehow, I knew what he was thinking, so I took a deep breath and reached out to grab his hands. “Like I said, I like you too, Scotty. You're smart, you're attractive, and I'd like to see where this goes.”

His eyes lit up, and I could see the fears melting away. He broke into a huge smile and pulled me into a quick hug. “I was terrified I was reading things wrong. We just met, and I didn't want to scare you away as a friend, but it just felt right to say it.”

I blushed, saying, “Don't freak out, but somehow, I see us together for a very long time. I don't know if that's as a couple or as friends, but I do know that, right now, I want you in my life.”

“Yeah, that's where I am too. Let's just see where it goes, but um.” He paused as his face turned bright red.

As he gazed into my eyes, I got the feeling that I knew exactly what he was thinking. I leaned down and gently kissed his lips. I'd never kissed anyone, so I'm sure it wasn't the greatest kiss in the history of kisses, but it sure felt like it. Just a quick, chaste kiss, but I felt a peace settle on me, like everything was going to be okay.

He pulled back and looked at me “Um, wow, yeah, that was...”

“Yeah, it was.” I said as I grinned, “We can't do this all day. I need to get moving. I’m off work at 5:00. Do you know what movie you want to see tonight? Or do you want to do something else?”

“What are the options? I'm the new one here, remember?”

“Yeah, and you've moved to the sticks. We can wander the mall. There's bowling if you like that, but we don't have the long list of options like city boys do. In the fall, everyone hunts, but not everyone likes that either.”

“I've hunted all my life, so that could be fun. I suck at bowling, but it can be fun.” Scott thought for a moment, then said, “I need to get a few things. Would it be OK if I go to the mall with you? I can do my shopping and explore a bit. When you’re off, we can do your grocery shopping, then come back and hang out here. We can read and talk and watch a DVD?”

“Sounds great.”

Scott turned to go downstairs, “I'll tell Mom you're coming for dinner.” Then he turned back to ask, “You are, aren't you?”

“Sure, hon, always.”

He smiled at me, “You called me hon?”

“You called me babe.”

“Oh yeah.” He grinned and ran downstairs. I followed, and when he came out of the kitchen, he handed me a Coke Zero, saying, “Mom says you’re always welcome at our table.”

I quickly went home and changed for work. We had a few minutes to spare, so I took the longer route to work and showed Scott the roller skating rink and the bowling alley. On the way, we passed a few local car dealerships. As we did, Scott mentioned that his dad was negotiating to buy one of them, though he didn’t know which. I still got to work with five minutes to spare.

I spent the entire four hours stocking shelves. Unboxing and folding clothes or refolding those that customers had picked up and put in the wrong places. After I clocked out, I found Scott waiting, holding several bags from around the mall. We put those in my car and headed to the grocery store.

As we shopped for the food on my list, the conversation turned to some of the supernatural aspects of Roeder's books. I said they were nice in stories but didn't believe in those things. Scott was shocked until I explained that I didn't disbelieve either. I'm smart enough to know that I don't know everything, and if I were given evidence of something, I'd reconsider, but it all seemed so unlikely. Angels, ghosts, witches, werewolves, and vampires couldn't have been around for thousands of years without someone having discovered them. He said many things in science had been unknown until recently, and many more were still unknown.

This debate was still going on as we sat for dinner with Scott's parents. James admired my desire for evidence before I accepted something, while Donna was upset that I had no sense of wonder. She argued that men said the earth was flat for centuries until it was proven otherwise. After what had developed between us, I was a little uncomfortable debating with his parents. I didn't know if they knew about him, and I didn't want to slip up.

After dinner, we went downstairs to watch something on TV. Scott wanted to watch a Twilight DVD, but James laughed about vampires sparkling. Donna and I won out, and we watched 'Downton Abbey'. I said it was cool to see how they lived and had no concept of the money they wasted, but James pointed out that many people depended on that money for their jobs. Scott agreed with his dad and mentioned how the rich need to spend money so that it circulates and helps people. I said I couldn't imagine having that kind of money and I am glad I'll never have to worry about it.

A text alert woke me the next morning at 4:50, <'running?'>

<'not yet'>

<'cya in 5?'>

<'OK'>

I quickly threw on my shorts and ran to meet him in front of his house. We did our stretches and took off, enjoying a much cooler morning. At some point in the night, it had rained, and while it was cool, the farm road and ATV trails were thick with mud, and soon, so were we. An hour after we started, we walked into my basement covered in mud.

Scott blushed as he said, “I brought clothes. I hoped to shower here if that's cool?”

“Sure.”

“Who’s first?”

I hesitated a minute, then said, “The shower is big enough for two.”

“Greg, I've never...”

“Neither have I, and that's not what I'm looking for. I just want to be with you, hold you. Washing each other will be nice. I promise I'll behave.”

He stood there staring at me for what felt like an hour, then he grinned “OK, but I don't know if I can make that same promise.” as he blushed.

He followed me to the shower off my workout room, and we looked at each other, unsure, then he reached out. I felt my skin tingle when his fingers brushed my sides as he slowly peeled my muddy shirt up over my head. I reached out and did the same for him. I froze and stared. This was Scott, my Scotty, and he was hotter in the flesh than the fantasies I'd had about him. I could see the insecurities in his eyes, and I had to make sure he knew how I felt. I reached out and touched his face. “You are absolutely beautiful. Are you sure about this?”

He smiled and nodded. “I've never been more sure of anything. Let's do our own shorts, though?”

I nodded and reached for the waistband of my shorts as he did the same. We both pulled shorts and underwear down at the same time, slowly and carefully. I felt a mix of fear and excitement as I exposed my most private parts to someone for the first time in my life. I hadn't looked at him down there yet, and when I stood back up, he was looking into my eyes. He smiled and said, “I want to touch you, but I want the shower more. Let's get in.”

I laughed, turned on the water, grabbed a washcloth from the shelf, and entered. He got in behind me and took the cloth as he grabbed the soap. The last time anyone had washed me was my mom, and I was 6 or 7. That felt good, but this was incredible. He started on my shoulders, slowly working the cloth down my lower back and over my butt. I felt him kneel as he started washing my leg, running the cloth over my right hip, down the outside of my leg to my foot, then switching hands and working the cloth up the inside of my leg to the top. I gasped when his hand brushed against my sack, but he didn't hesitate as he went back down the other leg and continued.

When he got back to my left hip, he stood, “Turn around.”

“But I'm...”

“I know. Me too. Turn around, please?”

I slowly turned, and he didn't glance down. Instead, he added soap to the cloth and washed my chest gently, moving from my throat to my sternum and then up over my pecs. When he brushed my nipple, I gasped. He smiled and did it again. He washed the other side and then slowly moved down over my stomach, never moving his eyes from mine. I felt the cloth brush my pubes, and he moved it to the right as he knelt and washed my legs, totally avoiding my erection. When he had finished my legs, he stood, leaned up, and kissed me as his empty hand slid down my body. I grabbed his hand before he got to his target. “If you touch me, I'll explode.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Only if you don't let me wash you next.” I grinned.

I let go of his hand, and he continued moving it down. When his fingers brushed my pubic hair, he reached up and kissed me again. I was right. When he wrapped his fingers around me, my knees buckled as I had the most incredible orgasm of my life.

When I had recovered, he smiled, saying, “Sorry it wasn't... I mean, I wish I could...”

“Hush,” I said, touching my finger to his lips. “It's my turn.” I took the cloth from his hand with a grin.

I took my time exploring his body as he had mine. When I got to that part, I happily discovered that, unlike me, he was natural. He did take after me in that I no sooner pulled the skin back than he cried out and exploded on my leg as he leaned against me for support.

The water was turning cold, so we quickly rinsed off and got out. I turned for a towel to dry him, and when I turned back around, he had one waiting to dry me. As we dried each other and got dressed, I said, “I guess we should talk?”

“Might be a good idea.”

“Upstairs?”

“Yeah, can I have a Dew?”

I went up to the kitchen and grabbed a Mt Dew for him and Coke Zero for me. When I went in the living room, he was in the chair looking at his feet, so I handed him his drink and sat on the couch and said, “I'm sorry if I pushed you to do something you...”

“No, you didn't,” he interrupted. “I... well, I was thinking about something like this last night when I...”

“Me too.” I blushed. “I just don't want you thinking this is all I want.”

He looked up and said, “I never thought that. If I did, it wouldn't have happened.”

“Good. I want something more than just a friends-with-benefits thing. What happened was great, but it would never have happened if I didn't care for you like I do. And as much as I care for you, I don't know if I'm ready for more. I mean, I want more of what we did, but I don't know if...”

“I want to go slow too, babe. I've never done anything like that with anyone, and I don't want to go rushing ahead. I just...”

I quietly asked, “You need to know that I love you?”

Scott jumped from his chair and sat beside me, leaning in as I opened my arms, “Yes, I needed to know that you love me like I love you. I needed to know that I wasn't the only insane one that had fallen in love in 48 hours.”

I kissed him and said, “You're not insane, but now what?”

“Now what, what?”

“Are we going to tell anyone or hide from everyone? My Dad won't accept it, so I can't tell him. I know we can't tell the rednecks at school this fall. Will your parents freak?”

“They've always said they support me in anything I do. I know I'll be fine no matter what anyone says as long as I have you.”

“I'm here for you, always,” I said as I pulled him into another kiss. He texted his dad and said we were hanging out here. We sat in my living room and started an 'Avengers' marathon and just enjoyed being together. As Thor was being banished from Asgard, Scott's phone beeped.

“Mom has dinner ready. Dad's home. You ready?”

“You're going to tell them?”

“Only if they ask, but I'm not going to hide anything either,” he said as he stood and reached for my hand.

“I'm good with whatever you say,” I said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. We walked to my door holding hands, but as I opened it, he dropped my hand.

He looked down as he said, “Not yet, not the entire world, at least.”

I smiled and replied, “Your call.”

He winked at me, and we walked over to his house. As we walked in, he reached for my hand and smiled “This isn't the entire world.”