A Life So Hard - 5. Chapter 5

I had my alarm set for a respectable 7AM, but dad had other plans. The clock had barely creeped past five in the morning when he was feverishly slamming on my door, telling me to get up. “Santa’s been here! Santa’s been here!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, absolutely giddy with excitement.

Since I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, because “no” is not a recognized answer in this scenario, I reluctantly threw on a t-shirt and headed downstairs. I met Elizabeth as she was leaving her room and gave her an apologetic smile. She just laughed and ushered me downstairs to the living room. Dad met us at the bottom of the stairs and handed Elizabeth a cup of coffee and me a cup of tea. We both graciously accepted the gifts and went into the living room.

I sat in the armchair while my dad and Elizabeth took the couch; within five minutes Rain was sitting on my lap. It was quite the sight to behold, the tree. The tree itself was decked out in lights and ornaments. I’m surprised the tree didn’t collapse or something, under the weight of all the ornaments and decorations hanging on it. Underneath the tree, you would have never been able to guess that there was a floor. The entire bottom of the tree, and beyond, was stacked with presents.

Our rule for gift giving is a few small things and one big thing. Without exception, my small presents are clothes, which I don’t mind. You can never have enough clothes, right? Dad decided he was the “Santa” this year, so, wearing the silly hat, he divvied out all the gifts. Me and Elizabeth sat there quietly, rubbing our eyes trying to wake up as he scurried back and forth, piling up the presents in their proper piles.

After what seemed like forever, we started to open them, one at a time. As expected, I mostly got clothes, which was fine. When dad has some spare time, which sadly isn’t too often, he liked to do woodworking, so I had gotten him some magazines. Dad and I decided that we should get Elizabeth something, but didn’t know what, so we got her a gift certificate for the mall. She also had some presents from relatives that were mailed to us.

Once we had cleared through all that, dad looked at me with a small smile on his face. “I saved the best for last.” He told me.

“Oh?” I asked him, curious at what he meant.

He reached under the couch and pulled out a small wrapped box and handed it to me. I took it from him and felt the weight of the box in my hands. It was pretty light. With a shrug, I opened the box and found that it was the new iPhone.

“Oh! Wow Dad! Thank-you so much!” I yelled, excitedly. I already had a phone, a Blackberry, but it was kind of shitty. It was slow and kind of useless, but I never complained. Not everyone is lucky enough to even have a phone, let alone have their parents pay for it. I was happy with what I had before, but this was super awesome.

Obviously, the first thing I did was turn it on, and discovered that it had already been setup. There was even a text waiting for me. That kind of caught me by surprise, so I checked it.

Brian: Merry Christmas Andrew!

I smiled when I saw it was from Brian, and thought it was damn cute for him to do that. I wondered how he knew about my phone and everything. I guess my dad let him in on it, or something. I looked at dad and could not keep my smile under control. “This is so amazing Dad, thank-you so much!”

“Well, actually,” he cleared his throat. “I didn’t get that for you. Brian did.”

My jaw dropped. I was floored. I had no idea what to say.

“You have quite the friend, that Brian.” Dad said.

“Yeah, really. I do.” It’s all I could say in the current state of shock that I was in. I immediately turned my attention back to the text and replied with my own.

Andrew: Whoa, dude. What the hell? You didn’t need to do that! :) :(

I set my new phone down on the table and sipped the cup of hot chocolate that Elizabeth made while Dad was giving me the phone. I heard a buzz from it and picked it up again

Brian: That’s what friends are for! ;)

Andrew: Oh, gosh dude. This is too much.

Brian: Naw man. It’s no big deal, you deserve it.

Andrew: We’re still on for dinner?

Brian: Looking forward to it! ;)

I spent the rest of the morning engrossed in my shiny new phone. Before I knew it, Elizabeth playfully hit me in the back of the head and said, “Time to get ready, silly boy. They’ll be here in an hour.”

“Oh shit, yeah.” I replied, jumping out of the chair in excitement.

Before I could get away to get ready, Elizabeth grabbed my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “Brian will be here,” as if I didn’t know already, “so you’ll want to look extra sharp for him.”

With that motivation, I made sure to get myself extra cleaned up. I heard the doorbell ring as I was just finishing combing my hair. I had on a nice pair of thin jeans, along with a nice powder blue dress shirt.

I hurried down the stairs and saw Brian leaning over to untie his shoes. He was bent over, facing away from me, and I couldn’t help but look. It was quite the view, after all. Ms. Marshall saw me stopped on the stairs and called me out, “Andrew, dear! I’ve heard so much about you.”

Waking up out of my daze, I rushed down the stairs and greeted her. “It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am.” I welcomed her, with the utmost politeness.

“Oh, nonsense. Calling me ma’am makes me feel old. Calling me Ms. Marshall makes me feel like an old maid, which is even worse. My name is Karen, and I expect you to call me that.” She explained, mock scolding me, but with a big, warm smile on her face.

“Yes, ma- Karen. I see where Brian gets his smile from.” I observed, with the same smile on my face now, too. It was infectious.

I turned to Brian, who was standing there with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen plastered on his face. “Come here, you.” He said to me right before giving me a bear hug. I thought I felt something press into my leg, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Karen, Brian, dinner is just about ready!” Dad piped up, motioning for us to follow him into the dining room, where the fancy dinner stuff was.

We all sat down and moments later Elizabeth and Dad were bringing in the most delicious looking food I’ve ever seen. We all talked and ate merrily, each of us sharing a funny story or joke we’ve heard. It was probably one of the best and happiest meals I’ve ever had. A huge part of that came from Karen, who was the life of the table and one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

After we had cleaned our plates and were relaxing Elizabeth brought out a mouthwatering cheesecake for dessert. It was the most amazing cheesecake I’ve ever had. Brian and Karen agreed. Almost in a blink of an eye, the entire cheesecake was gone and we were sitting in the living room each with a cup of hot chocolate.

“So, Karen, tell me about yourself.” Dad said, turning to Karen.

“Well. What do you want to know?” Karen giggled, fully aware that Dustin was hitting on her.

“Just... about you.” He answered, nervous. “Your work... Your hobbies... If there’s a Mr. Marshall?” A nervous smile crept across his face.

I looked at Brian, who was focused on the exchange going on between my dad and his mom, and smiled. Imagine that, if he and I were dating and his mom and my dad were dating. Oh shit. If they got married, that would make us step-brothers. That would be awkward, if step-brothers were dating. I was contemplating that though and the dynamics of that awkward situation when I suddenly jolted back to reality and realized it probably wasn’t going to be an issue. The thought of Brian and I dating was absolutely ridiculous and I think the thought of my dad and his mom dating was right up there on the ridiculous scale.

“So, maybe do you want to go out for coffee sometime?” Dad asked Ms. Marshall. She blushed and shook her head no.

Brian looked at me, sensing the awkward situation, “So, Andrew. It’s kind of a surprise, but the plan was for me to stay over tonight, if that’s okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” I replied, caught off guard.

“Cool. I didn’t think it would be a problem. My stuff is still in the car, would you mind giving me a hand bringing it in and helping me setup?”

I nodded, telling him that I’d help and we headed out to the car. I grabbed his sleeping bag and he grabbed the bag he brought with him. We headed up to my room and he threw the bag down, and I followed suit with the sleeping bag.

“I know we won’t need this stuff for forever still, but I couldn’t handle that hell of an awkward situation down there. I didn’t expect your dad to be hitting on my mom.” Brian joked, and I laughed.

“I guess your dad’s been kind of... lonely, since your mom’s passing.” Brian said.

I turned away and my face grew solemn. “Yeah, I guess so. I’ve never thought about it.” I replied back, in a stone-like voice. I turned back to him, “I guess the same could be said about your mom.”

It was Brian’s turn to get solemn, and we both just stood there for a few minutes, not knowing what to say or what to do. I sat down on the bed and he did the same, sitting right beside me. Both of us only had short-sleeve shirts on and when our arms brushed together and our skin touched, it sent shivers running through me. I let out an involuntary gasp.

“Everything okay?” Brian asked, giving me a weird look.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Are you a little cold? Here, the covers.” I replied, desperately trying to seem calm. My palms were sweating and my heart was beating a million miles a minute. Without thinking, in my moment of panic, I got under my covers, fully clothed.

With a shrug, Brian followed suit. “So, what now?” He asked, turning to look at me.

“Uh. I was thinking, that we could talk about school and stuff?” I replied back, half asking and half telling him.

That’s exactly what happened, we talked about school and stuff. Brian told me all about the culture of the school. He told me who was cool and who was trouble and he even gave me some of the cell numbers of his friends. We talked about all the different sports teams and he explained the school’s proud football history. I looked at the clock and before I knew it, we had been talking for almost four hours.

The clock said it was only nine thirty, but I was really exhausted. I turned to Brian to ask him if he was also tired, but when I looked at him, he was in the middle of the biggest, cutest yawn I’ve ever seen. “I guess it’s settled then, let’s get ready for bed. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go and brush my teeth and such, then get the sleeping bag ready.”

With a nod from Brian, I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I mindlessly went about my nightly routine I thought about what was actually happening. Brian, the guy of my dreams, was in my room right now. We’d be sleeping in the same room all night. I put the deodorant back on the shelf and went back into my room, not even thinking to knock. I opened the door and saw Brian naked, facing away from me. My eyes instantly shot down to the two fleshy globes that were his tight butt. He wrapped a towel around his waist and I could not help but choke, half in disappointment and half in shock about the whole thing.

He whipped around and with a dark red blush bolted past me. He stopped in the hall and looked at me for a moment. Finally, after choosing his words carefully, he opened his mouth, “I’m sorry... I kind of... forgot that I’m not at home. I take my showers at night, so... is it okay...?”

“Oh, yeah. No! That’s fine.” I answered, incredibly flustered. With a smile he headed into the bathroom with his change of clothes in his arms. Just as the door was about to close shut, I saw the towel drop. With a grunt I rushed back into my room and threw myself onto my bed. Not even bothering to close the door, I unzipped my jeans. My hands started to rub my hardness over the thin fabric of my underwear. In the background I heard the water turn on from the shower and that further fueled my lust.

With my fly still open and my underwear still on, I had a moment of clarity. I realized that I had no idea how long it took Brian to have a shower. The last thing I needed was for him to walk into my room - with the door open - and see me pleasuring myself. With a terrible sigh at the thought of what I’ll be missing, I buttoned up my pants and started setting up the room for the night.

Brian’s sleeping bag was in the corner but I ignored it. Instead, I reached up to the top shelf of my closet and pulled down my own sleeping bag and unrolled it on the ground beside the bed. A good host would never let his guest sleep on the floor; and come hell or high water I was determined to be a good host. I had just finished preparing my sleeping bag and sorting out all the miscellaneous minor details as Brian - fully clothed - walked into the room. I was sitting on my sleeping bag with a coy smile on my face, because I thought I knew exactly how this conversation would play out.

“Get off my sleeping bag, you silly little boy.” He told me, in a jokingly mocking tone.

“I’m not sitting on your sleeping bag.” I replied matter of factly. With a smile I pointed to his, still wrapped up and in the corner. A smile caught the corner of my mouth as I patted my hand on the bed, “This is where you’ll be sleeping tonight.”

“Oh, no. I don’t think so. If you’re making me sleep in your bed, then you’re going to be joining me. Whether you like it or not.” He proclaimed slyly. His lips curled in a cheeky way, “Actually, now that I think about it... you were so busy being sneaky with who is sleeping where that you forgot to change into your PJs. That is, unless you like to sleep in jeans with the zipper down and a dress shirt.”

I blushed and grabbed my PJs from the dresser. Brian was still in the doorway and blocked me from leaving. “Oh, no. If you want me to sleep in your bed, you need to change here. Besides, it’s only fair that I get a peek too.”

I blushed a deep red and with a resigned sigh, I walked back into the room, closing the door behind me. Brian hopped onto the bed with a little too much glee and sat cross-legged, facing me. With my entire face a deep, crimson red, I turned around. I took my shirt off and replaced it quickly. With a lot more hesitation I slowly unbuttoned my pants. Since I had forgotten to zip myself up earlier, my jeans were a bit loose and slipped off my waist. As if I wasn’t self-conscious enough, at the first sight of my ass Brian let out an ear-piercing, high pitched whistle.

I turned my head towards him and gave him a dirty look. He winked at me and smiled. With a huff, I turned around again and tried to take off my jeans and underwear as quickly as I could. When I was completely naked from the waist down he slapped my ass, but I ignored him. Without bothering to put on underwear, just wanting this torture to be over, I threw on a comfortable pair of sweat pants as quickly as possible.

I turned around to look at him. Secretly I enjoyed putting on a show for him, but I didn’t want him to know that. With as pissed off a face as I could muster I said, “You’re such an ass.” He was sitting on my bed crossed legged smiling the biggest, cutest smile I’ve ever seen. I walked over to the light switch and flicked it off. I went back to my bed and crawled in on my side.

Before I was fully lying down and comfortable, I bumped into Brian.

“Move over!” I moaned at him, tiredly.

“I like to sleep on this side.” He whined back.

“But... come on. This is my bed.” I whined right back at him.

I heard a sigh, “Fine. But if anything happens, I am not responsible.”

With a “Fine, whatever.” I rolled over, finally having enough room, and fell asleep.

Next thing I knew I was awake. My eyes were still closed but I had this overwhelming feeling of good. I felt very refreshed and ready to tackle the day head on. In a moment of realization I remembered that Brian was in the same bed as me, within arms reach. I thought about it a bit more and realized I felt something.

I opened my eyes and turned my head. I was lying on my side, facing away from him. His arm was draped over my side and he was spooning me. This kind of surprised me and freaked me out, so I jumped a bit and the bed shook. That woke Brian up and he shifted positions. As his body moved, I thought I felt his erection rub against my butt, through the fabric.

“Good morning.” He greeted me groggily.

“Hey.” I replied softly, almost whispering. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah, pretty good and you?” He asked me in return.

I thought for a moment about how I should reply. I could lie and said I slept okay. Or, I could tell him the truth, that I had one of the best nights in memory because we were sleeping together and that his erection pressing against my ass was a massive turn-on. I figured that would make things unnecessarily awkward so I settled with saying, “Yeah, I slept pretty decently. Thanks for asking.” I hopped out of bed and turned started to walk out the room. I stopped at the door and turned to look at Brian, “I’m going to get breakfast, are you coming?”

He rubbed is eyes and looked at me. Slowly a big smile appeared on his face. “Oh, yeah. I’m coming. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Miss what?” I asked him, completely confused.

“Well, last night you were so embarrassed and flustered that you forgot to put on any underwear, because apparently showing me your ass is a horrible thing. Let’s just say... you’re hanging ‘fast and loose’ and you know what they say about morning and teenage boys...” Brian trailed off, trying and failing to contain his utter amusement at my embarrassing predicament.

I took a deep breath and looked down. Sure enough, there was a big tent in the front of my pants. I felt my face glow red as I quickly scrambled to grab a pair of underwear and bolted for the bathroom. The second I was inside, the door slammed shut and was locked. I threw my back against the door and was shaking. My breathing was heavy with panic - embarrassment - as I wondered... worried about what Brian was thinking. He seemed to be okay, but he could make fun of me at school. He could tell everyone and make my life a living hell. Oh God, that would be horrible, I don’t know what I would do if that happened.

After about five minutes of heavy breathing and panic shooting through me, I was finally able to calm down. I looked down at the pair of underwear I was holding in my hand and remembered what had just happened. My face lit up red again as I slipped off my pants to put my underwear back on. With a soft thump, my pants fell to the ground and I stepped out of them. I looked down and I saw myself, hard as a rock. I guess I never really paid much attention to my penis before. It was always just there and ready to go when it was needed. It served it’s purpose and that was that. I wasn’t circumcised, so my foreskin was half covering my head; I’ve never measured but I’d guess I was about six and a half inches. Big enough to say I’m big, but small enough that it wouldn’t cause any major discomfort. I’ve always wondered why guys with like... nine inch cocks brag about it. I mean, whether you’re gay or straight, when you penetrate someone with that, it’s going to like... tear them apart. It can’t be very pleasurable, just seems painful to me. With that current thought in my head, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of “assets” Brian was packing.

Before I lost control of myself again and made things worse, I hastily put on my underwear and pants again and went back into the room. I stopped outside the door, out of sight to prepare myself. With a deep breath I went back into my room and was surprised at what I saw. Brian was dressed and packed up, ready to go. I felt a little pang and hoped he didn’t want to be around me anymore.

“Sorry,” he told me, in a sympathetic tone. “My mom texted me while you were out of the room asking if I was awake. She left yesterday shortly after we went upstairs. She’s sending a taxi that should be here any moment. I have to go.”

“Oh, okay.” I answered, trying to hide my disappointment. He gave me a sad look and, with his belongings in hand, made his way downstairs. I watched dejected as he put his shoes on.

The taxi honked outside, letting us know it was waiting. Brian stood up and opened the door. He turned to me and said, “I did have a lot of fun. Thank-you for everything and Merry Christmas. I hope you had a good time. I sure did.”

I blushed and told him it was no big deal. He smiled and opened the door. As soon as the door closed, I rushed to open it again. Hearing the noise, Brian stopped and turned back to see what was going on. He looked a little confused when he saw me standing in the doorway.

“You called me a little boy.” I told him.

He looked at me confused, so I continued. I blushed and looked down at my feet, mumbling, when I said, “I’m not... a little boy.”

I looked up, into his face... his eyes. He smiled that award winning smile and simply said, “Oh, I know.” With that, he turned around and walked to the taxi. He got in and disappeared down the road.