The Root Beer Boys, Part Two - 1. Chapter 1

Dan: Several months have passed since the end of Andy's story, and I've talked the boys into sharing their diaries with you as a means of filling you in on the events in their lives. I may add a bit from time to time, but for the most part I'm just going to let the kids themselves tell you what happened. Hopefully you'll get a better feel for how they felt about the events they want to talk about. And that's what this story is all about anyway, feelings, emotions, love, the stuff that should make the world go 'round.

We decided to start off with Brian's diary, and I've encouraged him to share as much of it as he can, starting with his first gay/str8t alliance meeting. Then we'll add entries from the other kids' diaries trying to keep everything in chronological order. So sit back and enjoy. Who knows how long it'll take? Sometimes the boys have had to insert their own comments between sections of their diary entries. When they do that, we'll put those comments in italics. Hopefully it won't get too confusing.

Since it's been so long since Andy's story was published it has been suggested that I provide a brief recap of the characters involved.

Andy - age 16, adopted, Wayne's brother and boyfriend.

Wayne - age 14, natural born son of Andy's Dad, showed up at the age of 9, now Andy's boyfriend.

Tommy and Matt are Wayne's age.

Joey, Aaron and Brian are Andy's age.

I also thought it might help to include the last page or two of The Root Beer Boys to sort of remind you how it ended. So here it is:

All this time, Brian had been strangely silent, quiet, kind of standing a little behind the other guys. At this point he said he just remembered some chores he had left undone at home and took off running. The rest of us joked around a little and wrestled some. The normal Sunday afternoon stuff. Then I told the group Wayne and I needed to talk to Brian. So the group broke up and we set off for Brian's house.

"How come we're going to Brian's house, Andy? What are we going to talk about?"

"I don't know for sure, sport, but he was awfully quiet today. Did you notice how he didn't ask any questions or kid around with us about what we did?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it."

"Well, it got me to thinkin' about something he said that day we came out to the guys. I don't really know what we're gonna talk about. Just stay with me on this one."

"OK."

When we got to Brian's house, his mom met us at the door. She stepped outside onto the porch before letting us in.

"Andy. Wayne. Good to see ya."

"Hi Mrs. M. Is Brian home?"

"Yes, boys, he is. He's in his room. He seems to be upset about something."

"Oh. Well we wanted to talk to him. Please?"

"Sure. I think that's probably a good idea. But before you go in, can I ask you to confirm something for me?"

"Sure. What?"

"You boys are gay, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And you're boyfriends, right? I mean in love with each other?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Thank you. I think Brian does need to talk to you. Go on into his room, guys."

We looked at each other as we walked into the house and down the hall to Brian's room. He was lying on his bed, on his back, and we could tell he had been crying. In fact, his eyes and cheeks were still wet. Wayne sat on the end of the bed as I sat down beside Brian.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"Yeah. I guess. We're gonna have to talk sooner or later, so it might as well be now."

"You were awfully quiet today."

"Yep."

"I noticed you looking at me kind of funny while we were talking about what Wayne and I did last night."

"Yep." (Sniff)

"It got me to thinkin' about what you said as you hugged me the day we came out to you guys."

The tears were really starting to well up in his eyes at this point. I even heard Wayne sniffing behind me.

"What was that? What did I say?"

"You said I envy you. Remember?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why'd you say that? Why would you envy me being gay?"

(Sniff) (Sniff) - one from in front of me, one from behind me. I turned around to see Wayne wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Was I dense? Did he know something I didn't?

"I didn't envy you being gay! I envied you having a boyfriend!"

Dense as a sled track. That's what my dad used to say about me. Dumb as a stump.

"Huh?"

"He's gay, dumbshit!"

Wayne can be mean sometimes. I mean, I know I'm slow on the uptake, but is that any reason to call me names?

"You are?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"And I was in love with you until the kid came along! And now you guys are doing what I've dreamed of doing with you for years!"

And with that he burst into tears, covering his face with his hands.

Remember how I told you Wayne could sometimes act way older than his years? Well, this was another one of those times. As I turned to look at him, to see how he was reacting to this revelation, he just nodded his head in Brian's direction, telling me what I should do.

I turned back to Brian, reached out and pulled him up off the bed, hugging him to my chest, my chin resting on his head. I rubbed his back and whispered soft hushing noises as he continued to sob. His body was wracked with pain, his emotional anguish pouring out in the tears that quickly soaked my shirt. Wayne moved up the other side of the bed and sat down spread-legged behind him, wrapping his arms around the two of us and resting his cheek on Brian's back.

The three of us sat there for what seemed like hours. In fact, I think we were there for at least an hour, just rocking back and forth, comforting Brian. Actually, after about fifteen minutes we laid down on the bed, Brian sandwiched between Wayne and me, both of us hugging him. All of us were crying at one point or another. Usually together, but sometimes separately.

As we laid there, I realized how much more difficult it was being gay and alone, with no one you could talk to or confide in or come out to. I'd always had Wayne, even before we knew about each other's feelings, but Brian didn't have anybody. His dad had died years before. He had no friends outside our small circle, and until today he hadn't been able to talk to us either.

We sat and talked for a long time. Brian really opened up and spilled his guts. By the time we were finished, Wayne knew Brian didn't hate him or even dislike him for coming between him and me. He didn't feel that way at all. He just wished he had someone special in his life. And he said he wished he could at least tell his mom.

"I think she already knows, Brian."

"Huh?"

"She asked us to confirm that we're gay and in love with each other, then she said she thought you really did need to talk to us. I think she knows, man."

"Oh, shit."

"Hey, don't worry. I think she's cool with it. It'll probably be a relief for her when you tell her. That way she can stop hiding, too."

"Will you guys go with me and tell her now?"

"Sure."

"Yep."

So we did. We got off the bed, went into the living room where Mrs. M was watching TV, and he told her.

"Mom. I'm gay."

I gotta hand it to Mrs. M. She is one cool mom. She just looked up at Brian with a shit eatin' grin and said,

"So?"

That did it. Brian started crying all over again. He ran over and knelt by her chair and laid his head in her lap and sobbed. Wayne and I cried. Mrs. M sat there and rubbed Brian's head as tears trickled down her cheek and off her chin. Like I told Wayne the day he moved in. Welcome to the land of rising waters.

We sat and talked for another hour. Mrs. M told us she had already called our folks and told them where we were and what we were doing. By the time we were all talked out, Brian knew his mom loved him no matter what, and we had agreed that he would come to the next gay/str8t alliance meeting. Maybe he'd meet someone special there. After all, not everyone was attached, and it sure beat goin' to singles bars, especially at our age.

Well, that's the end of my story. Brian's first gay/str8t alliance meeting was just last Tuesday. He didn't fall in love with anybody, but I saw him looking at Travis a lot.

If you need more than that, go back and read the story itself. One last comment - the boys use italics from time to time for emphasis.

Brian's Diary

Hi. My name is Brian. I'm a little nervous starting things off like this, 'cause I never really thought about anybody but me reading my diary. But Dad Dan talked to all us guys and convinced us it would be OK to let other people know about things, and he told us we can cut out any parts that we feel are too private. The more we talked about it, the more excited I got about the idea. I'm not ashamed of anything in my diary, and maybe some of the things I've experienced will help some other kid. So here goes. I basically keep my diary by months rather than making daily entries.

- November -

Hi diary. When I walked into my first gay/str8t alliance meeting, I felt really awkward. I'm basically a shy person to begin with, and one of the rules of this group is that everybody leaves everybody else alone. The newbies, as they're called, are allowed to just sit around or stand around and watch what's going on for the first couple of visits without feeling pressured to participate. A & W explained all the rules the night they came over to my house and I came out to my mom. Then Dad Dan talked to me in the car as he drove us to the meeting. Everybody calls him Dad Dan because he won't let us call him Dan, and he doesn't want us to call him Mr.

Before I tell you any more about the meeting though, I have to tell you how I came out to my mom. Gee, it feels funny writing to a diary like I'm talking to somebody real, but how else do I do this? But let me tell you about my mom. She is just the most wonderful mom in the whole wide world. When I told her I was gay, she just looked at me and said, "So?" I mean, isn't that so cool? I had been working really hard at keeping myself hidden from her and here she had figured it out all by herself. And she wasn't angry or anything. She loved me anyway, said it didn't make any difference to her, that I was still the boy she loved no matter what.

And I'd worked hard to stay hidden from everybody else, too, especially A & W 'cause I was in love with Andy, and all our friends thought he and Wayne were gay long before they came out to us. Then they told us they really were gay, but they were in love with each other. Shit! What a bummer.

I had dreamed of doing sex stuff with Andy for so long. He was the only person I ever thought about when I beat off. Then when they told us they made love I was devastated. I knew there was no hope after that. I mean all you had to do was look at them and you could tell they were going to be together forever. It was all I could do to say goodbye and start running for home. I was crying before I got 30 yards away, and I just prayed that they couldn't hear me.

I was still crying when I got home, and I didn't even speak to my mom as I ran in the house and straight to my room. I guess that woman's intuition thing must be real, 'cause she didn't even try to find out what was wrong. She just left me alone, which was so cool. The last thing I wanted to do right then was try to tell her why I was crying so hard.

I had calmed down a lot by the time A & W showed up, but they could tell I'd been crying. You know, for being just a kid, Wayne is really perceptive. He's the one that picked up on what the problem was, not Andy. Those guys are so cool. They stayed with me for over an hour and cried with me as I poured out all the fear and pain and disappointment that had been building up in me.

I'd been pretty sure I was gay for a couple of years, but I didn't have anybody I could talk to about it. Heck I didn't even put it in here before this. Since Dad died when I was little and I don't have any brothers or sisters or Uncles, you're the only one I can talk to, diary. But you don't talk back. And I couldn't talk to Andy, even though he was my best friend, 'cause he was the one I was in love with. At first, I couldn't risk losing him by coming on to him, then when I found out he was gay it was too late.

But they were a big help that day. Just being there with me meant a lot, 'cause they're good listeners. And then they stayed with me as I told my mom. I'm not sure I could have done it by myself, even after they told me she probably already knew.

Anyway, back to the meeting. Like I said, you know I'm not a very outgoing kind of guy. I don't do conversation well. It's hard enough to help keep one going, and I can never start one with people I don't know. It's easy enough with the guys, don't get me wrong, but I've known them for years. Anybody else though, and I just clam up. It makes it real hard to meet people, ya know?

Sorry folks, Dad Dan's been reading my diary and said I should interrupt it and tell you what I look like. He seems to think I look pretty cool, but shit, he thinks everybody looks cool. He's a neat guy. I think I'm gonna like him being at these meetings. Anyway, I'm 16, about 5' 8" tall and weigh about 125. Most of "the guys" are about the same size, actually. The younger ones are shorter and lighter weight, of course, but we all have similar body shapes. Maybe that's why we hang out together, I don't know.

My mom says I have amber eyes, and she says they're special 'cause you don't see many like 'em. I guess she's right, 'cause I haven't. But to me they just look sort of plain. They're a lighter brown than normal brown eyes and have flecks of gold in 'em. Kind of like people with hazel eyes have little flecks of green and blue in their eyes. My hair is dark brown, and I wear it kind of short. I don't like it to touch my ears. I like my body. I mean, I'm no jock, don't have the chest and arm muscles of a weight lifter, but I look ok in a bathing suit. Not much hair to speak of except a few in my shorts.

So I'm at this meeting, standing off to the side just kind of looking around the room, when I see this really cute guy that looks to be about my age. He's on the other side of the room talking to a group of guys and girls, and I just settled my gaze on him and left it there. I think he might have sensed it after a while 'cause I saw him look in my direction a couple of times. But I just tried to look away when he did that.

A & W were kind of acting like hosts all night, moving from one group to another, talking to all the kids that were there. Dad Dan and the other chaperones stayed pretty much off by themselves. They were there primarily to listen to any kid who needed to talk to an adult and to keep anything bad from happening.

A couple of the kids introduced themselves to me, but I wasn't very talkative, so they didn't stick around long. Just moved off to another group. The meetings don't last long, maybe an hour or two. As we were walking to the car afterwards, I asked Andy who that kid was. He said his name was Travis and asked if I wanted to meet him the next time.

"I don't know. Let me think about it."

The next meeting was two weeks later. As soon as we got there, A & W went off to socialize, leaving me sitting against the wall like the last time. I was looking around for Travis when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I kind of jumped 'cause I wasn't expecting it, and I turned to see who it was.

I know it's going to sound corny, but he really was a vision of loveliness. He was about my size, but he had the most gorgeous hair. Kind of dark blond with bangs down to about the middle of his forehead. It was short on the sides but long in the back, like it hung down the back of his head between his ears and laid on his shoulders. And his eyes? Blue. The most beautiful blue I think I've ever seen. I didn't think God made a blue that color. I'd sure never seen it before. If my mom thought the color of my eyes was special, she'd just have to see these.

He was wearing a short sleeve plaid sport shirt that looked a little tight on him and had frayed collar points and tan slacks with kind of shiny knees. His clothes were obviously old, but they were clean and ironed. I bet he didn't shave yet. He just had peach fuzz on his lip and this really soft looking fuzzy hair high on his cheek bones. And these really cool ears! Small, close to his head kind of ears. Ears that turned red when I stared at him.

God, I think I was drooling. I had to lick my lips and wipe my hand across my mouth before I could even think about what to say. Then he spoke, and I almost died. I don't know how to describe his voice except to say that his sounded better just talking than most professional singers sound when they're singing.

"Looking for someone?"

"Oh... uh... yeah... uh... This kid I saw last week. Travis."

Why in the world did I say that? Why didn't I say something startling, like, "yeah, you!"

He just grinned at me. Did I tell you about his grin yet? Gorgeous, beautiful. The whole room lit up when he smiled.

"Oh. Do you know him well?"

"Uh... no, just saw him last week. I haven't met him yet."

"He's one of them, ya know."

"Whaddya mean, one of them?"

"Str8t, hetero, goggle-eyed tit watcher."

He said all this with that smile plastered on his face.

"So?"

"So, you're not are you?"

"Not what?"

Was I making any sense at all? I told you I wasn't much of a conversationalist. But I sounded dumb even to me.

"Str8t."

"Oh. Uh, no. I'm not. I'm, uh, gay. How'd you know?"

"Takes one to know one, that's all. I was watching you last week while you were watching Travis. You hardly looked at anybody but him all night, so I just figured you were like me."

"You're gay?" This was a really dumb thing to say, wasn't it? But I was so afraid he wasn't, and I was going to be disappointed again. I guess I was trying to prepare myself.

"Yup. You wanna get a coke or something?"

"Uh... sure. A 7-Up would be cool. Unless they have A&W Root Beer."

He laughed so loud others turned to look in our direction.

"I already scoped out the drinks table. The only Root Beer we got here are A&W themselves, the Root Beer Boys. You know them?"

"Yeah, sure I know 'em. They brought me here. Andy's my best friend."

He paused for a minute, as though this made him uncomfortable.

"You don't mean best best friend, do you?"

"Huh?"

"You know..." and he stuck his finger in his mouth and then withdrew it like a popsickle.

At last my brain was working, and I figured out what he meant right away.

"NO! Not that kind of best friend. He's with Wayne. I'm his other kind of best friend. How do you know them?"

He actually gave a little sigh of relief. At least I think he did.

"Oh, good. Uh... actually I just know who they are. I don't really know them personally. Let's go get those drinks."

When he grabbed my hand to lead me to the refreshments table at the other end of the room, I thought I was going to faint dead away. But I was a bit embarrassed holding hands with him with all these other people around, so halfway to the drinks table I pulled my hand from his. He didn't seem to mind though.

Can you believe we spent the rest of that night just kind of standing around drinking sodas, trying to make small talk? Of course you can't. You're just a piece of paper. Anyway, not once did we introduce ourselves. When we were riding home, Andy asked me who the kid was I was talking to.

"Shit! I dunno! I forgot to ask him his name!"

"Well he must go to a different school. I've never seen him at ours."

"Don't you know him from the alliance?"

"Nope. Saw him there for the first time two weeks ago. But he left before I got a chance to meet him. Then tonight it looked like you were monopolizing him, so I figured you'd tell me who he is."

"Damn! I hope he comes back next time."

"Why? You interested ?" Andy asked me with a sly grin. I heard Wayne snicker on the other side of him.

I think I actually blushed. At least I felt my face get hot, and I found myself hesitating before I answered him.

"Maybe."

"Bull manure!" he said as he punched my arm lightly. "I think Brian's found himself somebody special!"

It sounded nice, the way Andy said it, but I wondered. I mean, neither of us had asked the other for his name, much less a phone number or any other personal information. I decided to change the subject.

"How come we don't wear name tags or pins or something at the alliance meetings?"

"We decided name tags would just hinder open conversation. Asking someone's name is a great way to start a conversation... sort of forces you to open your mouth. Well... except in your case..."

He and Wayne both giggled at that, and I heard Dad Dan chuckle from the driver's seat. I'd forgotten he was up there listening to us.

"Well how are we supposed to tell the gays from the str8ts. How come we don't wear rainbow pins or something? I spent all last week watching that Travis guy, and it turns out he's str8t."

"Pins are like labels, Brian, and none of us likes labels. Being gay or str8t is like being white or black or oriental or whatever. It's just what we are. That's one of the nice things about the alliance. Everybody knows that everybody else is guessing, too. So it's no big deal to come right out and ask someone if they're available or interested or whatever. I've even seen some of the str8t kids find mates at these meetings. This is the best idea Dad ever came up with."

"Thanks, Wayne," Dad Dan said from the front seat. "I'll see if I can come up with another one before you grow up and go off to college."

We were chuckling at what he said as the car pulled up in front of my house. Andy leaned over and kissed my cheek as I started to open the door.

"Hope things work out, Brian," he said.

"Uh... yeah... thanks."

"Come around to my side," Wayne called out to me as I shut the car door.

When I got to his side of the car, Wayne was leaning out of the open window. As I walked up, he grabbed me by the ears and pulled my face down to his. Then he kissed my cheek.

"Me too," he whispered.

Gosh those guys are so cool. I walked up to the house feeling like I was walking on soft cotton.

As soon as I came in the house, I went over to Mom and gave her a kiss.

"So? How was the meeting this week?"

"Kewl."

She had to have seen the grin I could feel spreading across my face.

"Yeah? What's his name?"

What'd I tell you about woman's intuition?

"I dunno. I forgot to ask him. How'd you know anyway?"

"Your face is an open book, Brian, you know that. So tell me about this whatsisname."

I sat on the footstool and talked about him and what we did tonight. By the time I was finished, I was breathing hard, my palms were sweaty, and I needed a drink. Mom just smiled at me and nodded her head like she knew even more than I did about what was going on. Of course, that wouldn't have been difficult, since I didn't know what was going on actually.

When I climbed into bed after showering and brushing my teeth, I was still thinking about him. Lying there on my back in my pj shorts, I pulled up a mental image of my mystery guy. Shoot, I didn't even know how old he was. But as I began building a picture, I felt myself getting hard.

The thing is, I wasn't even thinking about sex stuff. I was just thinking about his eyes, and his hair, and how he touched me when he spoke to me. I thought about the feel of his hand on mine, my hand in his, the smell of his cologne. I think it was the sound of his voice that finally made my pecker hard. He had the nicest, cutest voice. And that's what I thought about as I began stroking my hardon.

Pretty soon I knew I was going to need the towel, so I stopped and slipped off my shorts, reached under the bed for the towel I keep there and then went back to beating my meat. I never once tried to picture him naked, never thought about what his equipment might look like, never thought about touching him or being touched. I just thought about his voice and his eyes, those beautiful God-never-made-any-other-eyes-that-color blue eyes. And pretty soon I was shooting cum all over the towel that I had laid across my stomach and chest.

The last thought I can remember was something like I wonder what he's thinking about right now?