Camping Can Be Fun - 14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was instantly clear that this was not a chance meeting as Bryce stood in front of us with about eight other guys, a couple of whom I recognised from the karate class as they still wore their uniforms.

“Hey Steven, long time no see, some friends of mine mentioned that you and your boyfriend had started karate. You must be into some kinky shit.” Bryce then turned on me. “Does he beat you when he fucks you? Do you like it rough faggot?”

Some of the guys started laughing as he taunted us.

“Look, Bryce, we don’t want any trouble.”

“Yeah? Well, you should have thought about that before you cheated on my sister and sucker punched me.”

Bryce suddenly pulled out a knife from his back pocket. The blade glistened in the setting sun as if the steel itself was made from orange light. It looked almost like fire as he waved it around menacingly. A lump suddenly formed in my throat, and I became very, very afraid. A deathly silence fell upon the gathering of people…it seemed like even his friends didn’t think it would go this far.

Seeing the fear in our eyes, Bryce continued.

“What’s wrong faggots? I thought you liked getting things stuck in you.”

We said nothing in response to his insults and continued to stare at the knife. Steven edged in front of me a little. The idiot was trying to protect me.

“Oh look, isn’t that sweet, lover boy is trying to protect his girlfriend.”

“Shut the fuck up Bryce!” shouted Steven.

As he lunged forward with the blade, Bryce replied, “No you shut the fuck up you fucking freak.”

The blade missed Steven by inches, but Bryce kept coming at him swinging wildly with the knife. Unlike at the campsite, each swing from Bryce could be deadly, and I could see the fear in Steven as he clumsily dodged the attacks. There was no grace or control about him today. I became petrified, certain that eventually one of those swings would land a deadly blow.

Bryce slashed at the air furiously, pure evil emanating from his every pore. He was like a man possessed, and he was out to kill. He was backing Steven up against the exterior wall of the dojo and soon Steven had nowhere to go. He put his arm out to defend from the swing of the blade, but the cold steel slashed through his forearm.

“Arghhhh!” He screamed in agony.

Afraid or not I ran towards Bryce ready to beat him to a bloody pulp, but his friends grabbed me and held me there to watch the horrors that awaited Steven.

“Let me fucking go… Steven!... Let me go!” I struggled, but it was no use; I was completely outnumbered and overpowered.

I looked on in horror as Bryce pulled the knife back, ready to stab. In my peripheral vision, I vaguely noticed a flash of white, but what was happening before me was more important, and it didn’t pull my gaze. This meant I didn’t see Sean until the last second when he pulled back Bryce’s arm, twisted his wrist to release the blade and then continued to manipulate the limb until there was a distinct snapping sound.

Bryce fell to the floor in agony screaming, but Sean didn’t have time to recover. The goons that had hold of me let me go and advanced on him. I charged in soon after to help. It was still eight against two, and they were getting the best of us. For every blow that I landed two hit me in the face or the side of the head.

Another white uniform entered the fray, and they seemed to be on our side. It was our Sensei. Our opponents started to fall one by one until the Sensei had just one scared little boy trembling before him. Instead of attacking him he screamed in Japanese, and the guy ran off as fast as he could.

Our attention quickly turned to our injured friend, but Sean was the first one over. It seemed like his feet hadn’t touched the ground before he was crouched by Stevens’s side, cradling him and examining his wounds.

Blood was staining the gi that Sensei had let him borrow, a dramatic mass of red against the stark white. Sean gently pulled back the blood-soaked sleeve to reveal a nasty gash.

Steven hissed through his teeth, but he was being pretty brave about the whole thing.

“Shit man, you’re going to need stitches. Shit, we need to stop the bleeding,” said Sean.

He looked around him, patting himself down trying to think of something that could help. He suddenly got a determined look about him, picked up the knife that Bryce had dropped and began slashing at his own uniform. He cut one of his sleeves off with the blade and then he began tying the piece of material around Steven’s arm, just above the wound. He made sure that it was very tight.

“Right. That should stop the bleeding until we get you to the hospital. Has someone called an ambulance?”

The Sensei, who we hadn’t realised had disappeared, answered the question as he was coming out of the building.

“The ambulance is on its way,” he said as he re-joined us.

Once he was satisfied that Steven was taken care of, Sean’s attention quickly turned to the moaning, pathetic, little figure squirming on the ground holding his quite obviously broken arm. Sean rushed to him and kicked him full force in the stomach twice before the Sensei and I could drag him off.

“No Sean, look at me, look at me!” shouted the Sensei holding Sean’s face in his hands and pressing his forehead to his. “It’s over! Do you hear me? We do not fight from anger! Do you remember? DO YOU REMEMBER?”

“Osu Sensei, I remember.”

“You have saved your friend today; you have shown the true nature of Karate. You could have used the knife, but you remembered your training; we fight with empty hand. I am proud of you Sean san. Now take care of your friend, while I see to this coward.”

The Sensei helped Bryce to his feet and spoke to the stragglers that remained. “The police have been called, so you can stay here and admit the horrible crimes that you have committed, or you can run and hide. Either way you will pay for what you have done to these boys.”

The Sensei took Bryce inside; partly to detain him, but I think he also wanted to keep him away from Sean. The rest of the guys who attacked us picked themselves up and made their escape. I made sure to memorise them the best I could, but it didn’t really matter. Between me, Steven, Sean and the Sensei we would be able to identify them.

As we waited for the ambulance, Sean didn’t leave Steven’s side. I felt like a third wheel. He hadn’t said it yet, but tonight’s heroics definitely confirmed Sean’s feelings for Steven. They looked really good together, and it was cute the way he was still hovering over Steven, protecting him. If Steven didn’t make a move soon, he would be a complete idiot. He had his very own knight in shining armour.

“You came back,” Steven muttered. “But how did you know?”

“I don’t know, I just got a feeling, I saw those guys as I was leaving, and I thought it was weird. It played on my mind until I got to the end of the block, and I don’t know… I just had to turn back. I got a really sick feeling that something bad was going to happen. When I got close enough, I could hear shouting. He was shouting stuff about you and Dan. You told him to fuck off, then the knife came out, and he was swinging. I just started running towards you. I didn’t have time to think I just reacted. I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner; I could have saved your arm.”

“Are you crazy? You’ve just saved my life, Sean. I don’t know how I can ever thank you. What you did was just… amazing. Thank you. Jesus, I’ve just realised that’s the second time someone’s saved my life in the last couple of weeks.”

“What do you mean?” Sean asked, puzzled.

“Nothing… just forget about It,” said Steven, clamming up.”

Sean became a little awkward, and I could feel his eyes on me a little. He began to speak under his breath, but I could still hear him.

“Ste, can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can,” replied Steven, although I could tell he was nervous.

I wanted to walk away and leave them to it, but I was afraid me just leaving might make the situation even more awkward, so I pretended to be distracted and distant.

Sean continued “Well, it’s just… what that guy said, Bryce is it?”

“Yeah, it’s Bryce,” said Steven.

“Well, it’s just, what he said… you know, about you and Dan being… you know… boyfriends. Is it true? I don’t mind if it is; it wouldn’t bother me or anything I was just… you know… curious.”

Steven became very red, which was impressive considering he’d lost so much blood.

“Erm… no, it’s not true.”

“Right, I mean it doesn’t matter if you were,” Sean reiterated.

“Yeah, but we’re not so…”

“So… you’re not… you know… gay?”

Before he could answer a siren went off, and an ambulance pulled into the street closely followed by a police car. The Sensei rushed out of the dojo to speak to the police, and we helped Steven over to the ambulance.

“You should go in the ambulance with him to the hospital,” said Sean, motioning to me.

I was surprised that he wasn’t offering to go himself, and I told him, “Hey, it’s cool if you guys need to talk, I don’t mind getting a ride with my parents.”

“Don’t be stupid, he’s your best friend, it should be you.”

“Right, ok.”

One of the paramedics examined Stevens’s injuries, while the other entered the dojo, presumably to examine Bryce.

Sean was complimented on his quick thinking and first aid that apparently had saved a lot of blood, and things could have been much worse. He could have bled out. Steven and I got in the back of the ambulance, and they closed the doors on us, but not before Sean shared a concerned smile with Steven.

They took us to the hospital while Bryce, Sean and the Sensei waited with the police for the second ambulance. It looked like the police wanted to take statements from everyone involved. Knowing Bryce he would probably try to talk his way out of it.

“You ok?” I asked him in the privacy of the ambulance.

“Why can’t things just be normal? I mean Jesus Christ, Bryce tried to kill me tonight,” he blurted out in anger.

“I know bud, he’s crazy. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key. But I mean are you ok, you know up here?” I pointed to my head.

“Of course I am. I was scared, but I’ve not gone crazy or anything.”

“Good. I’m sorry I couldn’t help. I froze, I didn’t know what to do, and then when he cut you, I tried to help, but they held me back. If Sean hadn’t come back…”

“I know. I sort of wish he hadn’t though. He’s heard Bryce mouthing off about us, now he thinks I’m gay.”

“But you are gay.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want him to know that. He might get weird about it; he’s already questioning me. He might not like me anymore.”

“Are you completely insane? Can’t you see what’s right in front of you?”

“What?” he asked, becoming frustrated.

“Sean likes you. Don’t you see the way he looks at you? For God’s sake, you’re both so stupid.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“He just risked his life for you! Trust me, that boy is falling for you hard. You’re both just too shy to make a move. Why do you think he keeps digging for information?”

“So what should I do?” he asked me, genuinely concerned and clueless.

“Kiss him!”

“Yeah, ok I’m just going to walk up to him and kiss him? He’d probably finish what Bryce started.”

“Or he might kiss you back.”

Steven pondered for a moment.

“But look what happened to us. What if the same thing happens again, what if I fuck up the friendship?”

“Well for one, you did not fuck up our friendship. Two, things are a little more straightforward this time. You like him, he likes you. You’re both single. Boom, sorted, nothing to worry about. Just go for it.

He sighed heavily. “You make it sound so easy, but it’s not. I’m scared Dan. I’m not going to make any moves. If he likes me like you say, then maybe he’ll make the move and I won’t have to, but I’m not risking everything like before, I’m just too pussy.”

We arrived at the hospital and because of the severity of Steven’s cut we were taken right through for him to be treated.

His wound was cleaned, stitched and dressed; it didn’t take long, half an hour or so. He needed twelve stitches in his arm, and he didn’t yelp or flinch once. I think he was trying to act the tough guy in front of me.

The police were waiting for us straight after to ask questions and take statements. Due to the nature of Bryce’s injuries Sean had been detained for further questioning. We repeatedly asked if he had been arrested, but the cops refused to divulge any information.

We gave our statements and laid it on thick to make sure Bryce got in as much trouble as possible. Not that we had to, he had after all tried to kill someone.

They also tried to contact Stevens’s parents, but he point blank refused to speak to them.

Tired and with Steven in a little pain (although he wasn’t letting on) we went back home, but we couldn’t help but worry about Sean. What if he had been arrested and was sitting in a cold, dark cell for the night, especially after everything he had done. Jesus, he should be celebrated as a hero not interrogated like a criminal.

I called my dad and explained what had happened. He was pretty pissed off that I hadn’t called him sooner considering the circumstances. He came and picked us up at the hospital and took us home.

It was getting late now at nearly eleven o’clock, but apparently the evening hadn’t concluded as we heard a knock at the door. We were all sitting in the lounge at the time talking about what had happened when we heard the knock. We all looked at each other as if to say what now? I was going to go answer it, but my dad made me sit back down. He was obviously worried that this had something to do with what happened to Steven and didn’t want to put me in any more danger.

He left the room to answer the door, and twenty seconds later he called for Steven. Steven and I looked at each other and stood up together. We met my dad in the hall and were relieved to see Sean, looking rather sheepish and uncomfortable. I got the impression that he wanted to speak with Steven alone. My dad took the hint too and quickly thanked him before heading back to the lounge. I followed but stayed out of sight and within earshot of the conversation. Hell, my friend might be about to get lucky, of course I’m going to listen in.

It was an awkward exchange at first, instigated by Sean.

“Hey,” he said.

Steven replied with the same, “Hey.”

“How you feeling?” asked Sean.

“I’ve felt better,” he joked, going for the sympathy vote.

I assumed that he was showing Sean his arm as I heard Sean gasp.

“That’s a lot of stitches.”

“Twelve,” stated Steven proudly.

“That must hurt man.”

“It does a bit.”

He was definitely playing the sympathy card. He’d acted all cool with me before.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him.”

“Don’t be stupid, like I said, you saved my life… thank you.”

“I did what anyone would have done in my situation, plus it was you after all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? What’s so special about me?”

Sean dodged the questions “So they let me go…eventually. I thought they were going to keep me in for the night, but I guess all our stories matched up. I reckon I’m still in trouble though, they made a big deal of his broken arm, but I’ve not been arrested yet.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Don’t sweat it. If Sensei hadn’t been there, I might be up for a murder charge. I fucked his arm up good. He won’t be fighting anyone for a while.”

“You didn’t have to…”

“Steven, I’d do anything for you.”

There was more awkwardness before Sean continued, “Do you believe in taking chances?” he asked quizzically.

“What do you mean?” asked Steven confused and a bit embarrassed by Sean’s previous statement.

“Like if there was something that you really wanted, and it was just there for the taking, but there was a lot of risk involved?”

“I’m not following you.”

“Like if you had a chance to be happy, but you didn’t want to hurt or disappoint people or lose people. Would you take that risk? Could you live with not knowing, with the “what if’s”?”

“You’ve completely lost me,” replied Steven.

Either Steven was trying to play it cool or he was a total retard. I wanted to jump out and shout at him for being so slow. This was his big chance to make a move, and he was just going to let it go by.

“Well I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, trying to weigh up the risks, you know, the pros and cons? And after tonight with what happened… well, life’s too short you know? It’s unpredictable and you just never know what’s round the corner. If you get offered a chance of happiness then you’ve got to go for it, fuck the risks.” He took a deep breath. “Look, Steven, I’m scared as hell about doing this and I hope you don’t hate me but…”

Everything went quiet. I stretched my neck out trying to listen for whispers, but nothing. The curiosity was killing me, so I peeked around the corner to see what was going on and bingo, I caught them red handed, snogging the faces off each other. I fist pumped the air in jubilation. I was so happy for my buddy. He was finally getting the slice of happiness he deserved. Content with my reconnaissance mission and its success, I retired to the lounge again.

My dad asked where Steven was, and I wasted no time in telling him.

“Oh, he’s just snogging the face of Sean in the hall, no biggie.”

Their mouths dropped. Their faces were priceless.

“Oh, right…” my dad responded in astonishment.

“That is ok isn’t it?” I asked.

“Ermm… yeah, I guess so…” My dad replied, not certain what to say. He obviously didn’t want to offend the “gay community”, i.e. me.

Their faces were still a picture. It was hard not to burst out laughing.

I chuckled to myself “Right then, I think I’ll go join in.”

And I left them to their shock and embarrassment.

I gave Sean and Steven no warning that I was coming, and they were still passionately kissing when I told them.

“Right you two, upstairs, we’re watching a movie in my room.”

They both sprang apart and turned purple, let alone red.

“It’s not what it looks like,” offered Sean.

“Nooooo of course not,” I replied. “Now do you want to stay a bit longer and continue doing what it was you weren’t doing, with the person you weren’t doing it with or do you want to go home?”

He looked from me to Steven, who was now stifling a laugh due to my sarcastic quip and began to smile himself. “What movie are we watching?”

“That’s more like it,” I replied before motioning them upstairs.

I put on a horror, as I thought it would be a good excuse for those two to stay close to each other, although it was a little hilarious seeing two strong, tough guys pretending to be scared just so they could hold each other. It was however really nice to see how happy Sean was already making Steven, and he was fitting in perfectly. He quickly got on board with my humour and was completely comfortable being himself around me, even when it involved affectionate exchanges between him and Steven. Oh my God, Steven has a boyfriend. I felt so excited for him.

I didn’t get to see the end of the film, as I drifted off. I expected to see Sean and Steven next to me when I woke up, but I had the bed to myself. I was going to go downstairs and get some breakfast, but just as I reached the stairs Stevens’s bedroom door opened, and a sleepy Sean greeted me in just his boxers. He was magnificent. Like Calvin Klein model material and by God did he fill out those boxers! Sean was packing a monster down there. His six pack was right where I expected it would be, but it was more like an eight-pack. This boy worked out. He was fucking gorgeous, and anybody could be forgiven for drooling over him, especially now as he looked so cute with his yawn and his sleepy eyes and bed hair.

“Morning.” He yawned again. “Any chance I could get a shower?”

I just stood there staring.

“Dan? Do you want me to put some clothes on?”

“NO!” I blurted out. “In fact I think you should start coming to karate like this.”

“Oh my God, you’re such a pervert.”

“Well, you’re the one walking around my house naked.”

“This is true. But that shower?”

“Help yourself.” I pointed to the bathroom. “Towels are on the side.”

“Thanks.”

My eyes followed him all the way. I think my dick did too.

After he’d disappeared into the bathroom, I barged into Steven’s room without invitation. He was still in bed, but fully awake. We stared at each other in silence, but communicating more than words could say. We burst out laughing.

“You didn’t?” I exclaimed.

He giggled again, started turning red and pulled the covers over his face to hide himself.

“You are a fucking dark horse, Steven.”

“Go away,” he said in embarrassment. “Leave me to my shame.”

“Uh huh, shame, is that what they're calling it these days. I’ll see you downstairs lover boy. You can try explaining your shame to my parents. They’ll want to know who the strange boy was that stayed over last night.”

He groaned from under the covers, and I giggled as I left the room.

What a crazy twenty-four hours. What a crazy few weeks. Maybe with Bryce out of the picture for a while and with Sean and Steven together, things can finally settle down. Happiness was on the horizon, and it filled me with hope for the future.

Instead of heading downstairs for that breakfast, I went back to my room. With everything that had happened, I hadn’t been able to reply to Adam’s letter, and I’d suddenly developed an overwhelming urge to feel close to him. Maybe I was just a little jealous of the two hot boys in the room across the hall that had been indulging in all sorts of sexual acts all night. Maybe I just missed the only boy I really loved. I think it’s probably the latter. WAIT! Did I just think that? The only boy I really loved? Shit! I thought about it a moment longer and smiled. I was making progress.

Dear Adam,

I love you! Just thought I’d get that out of the way. I miss you too, but I get why we’re doing this now. At first I thought it was stupid, and I had all kinds of doubts about it all, but I get it now. I appreciate you so much more now than I could have before. I took our short time together for granted, and when I get you back, I’m never going to let you go.

My family have been great about everything. My dad made me cry. He’s been amazing. They both want to meet you, and I know that they will love you when they do.

Steven has been staying with us. Lisa’s brother, Bryce, has been causing all sorts of trouble and Steven’s family kicked him out when they found out he was gay. He’s been finding it tough, but he’s on the mend. Last night got a little crazy though; actually that’s an understatement. Bryce showed up after our karate lesson. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I do karate now, Steven got me into it. Anyway, Bryce shows up after our lesson with eight of his friends, and he corners us. He pulled a knife on Steven and cut his arm pretty bad. He was about to start stabbing him when one of our friends jumped in and saved him. He broke Bryce’s arm; then we fought off the rest of them. Like I said crazy! Steven’s alright though. He needed stitches, but Sean cheered him up by turning up at 11 pm last night and snogging the face off him. I was sneaky and listened to them talking, and I heard Sean say all kinds of nice things to him before he made a move. It was really sweet, and Steven is literally glowing. I hope it works out for them, they make a good couple.

I’ve also had a bit of a revelation too, you might like to hear. I was thinking about you before I wrote this letter and talking to myself, you know in my head, not out loud, cause that would make me bat shit, but yeah, I was thinking about you and I referred to you as the only boy I really loved. And it’s true. It’s always been true. What I had with Steven was an infatuation. He was only ever meant to be my best friend. You are the only one I’ve ever loved, and I finally understand the difference between the two. I’m yours, Adam. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not going to be unfaithful to you. I love you, I miss you, and I want you back in my life as soon as possible.

Not long now, only a couple more weeks. I can’t wait.

P.S. your last letter got me so hot at the end I had to have some instant private time.

Love you, my sexy boy. The only boy I’ve ever loved.

Dan.