Florida Shores - 7. All Is Not Rainbows

Makani stretched out as he woke up. He looked at Drew and thought he was being very generous to share their last night together for the week with him. He started to tear up when he felt Drew pull him closer. “Hey, we’re here for you,” Drew told him.

“It’s not that. It’s just the feeling of having someone close and caring for you. I thought I had what you do and look what happened.”

“That can happen to any of us. Charlie and I grew up together. We’re practically brothers, definitely family. That’s the biggest reason why we get along.”

“Being close like that is great but what about love? Isn’t it important? Shouldn’t it have a part also?”

“Yeah, I think it should.”

“Is it there?”

“I’m not really sure.”

They turned silent as Charlie stretched, waking up, “Morning.”

“Morning, babe.”

“Morning.”

“Maka, may I have some time with Drew?” Charlie asked.

Makani gave Charlie a pat on his butt and got out of bed. Charlie moved closer to Drew and pulled him into a hug.

“You’re gonna be gone for the week and I need a reminder,” he said kissing Drew passionately.

“Sure, babe, love to.”

Drew made love to Charlie but Makani’s question nagged at the back of his mind, ‘Was there love between them or was their relationship about comfort and familiarity?’

Makani had a leisurely shower and then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He was sitting at the counter drinking coffee when the two very disheveled guys walked in.

“Mmm, bacon,” Drew said, scratching his underarm.

“Coffee is ready. I’ll start the french toast,” Makani told them getting up to turn the heat on the pan.

Both Charlie and Drew watched Makani put on the apron and start cooking.

“Something sexy about watching a guy with a naked butt cook,” Drew said.

“Knock it off, you horn dog. You already had your fill of butt this morning.”

Drew shrugged, “I can still look. I’ve seen you looking over the years.”

Charlie chuckled, “Yeah. Can’t help it.”

“I’m more of a chest guy myself,” Makani piped up from the stove as he flipped the first set of toast.

“Charlie’s sort of a size queen.”

“Drew!” he screamed hitting him on the arm.

“Come on! Admit it. You always looked at all the big guys in the locker room. Not to mention the ones in the porn videos.”

“I have to agree with Charlie, Drew. I like a larger guy. It hits my spot.”

Makani started a new set of toast on the griddle. “Have you tried many?” Drew asked.

“No, just two, but I’d be open to trying more now that I’m free.”

“At least you can go to a bar. We’re not able to drink at one,” Charlie told him.

“There’s two gay dance clubs in Tallahassee. They have an underage night during the week where eighteen to twenty can get in. Just soft drinks and such, nothing hard or beer.”

Makani liked that. He suggested they go one night before he started his shift.

“Why don’t you meet me there tonight? You can crash at my place. My roommates won’t mind,” Drew suggested.

Charlie was wondering what brought that on since Drew hadn’t asked him before. “I guess we can. Do you have anything early tomorrow, Maka?”

“Nope, as long as we’re back by noon, I’m good.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Drew replied while Maka danced their plates over. Charlie noticed some interesting movements under the apron Makani was wearing.

Drew finished breakfast quickly since he was running a slightly bit late. Charlie joined him in the shower while Makani cleaned up the kitchen. He was in the shower when Drew left to hurry back to the university. Charlie was coming up the hallway when Maka exited the bathroom, drying his hair.

“You OK going to the club tonight? I sensed you hesitated,” Maka asked.

“I was just wondering why Drew never asked me before if I wanted to spend the night with him or go out to the clubs. I could have when Mom and Dad were alive.”

“Maybe it was too soon with his roommates to have you over for the night? Do you know if he’s out with them?”

“I really don’t know. We never talked about it. Come to think of it, he doesn’t say much about school except for classes and professors. I asked him if he went out partying and he kind of avoided the question.”

“Huh. I guess we’ll see tonight unless you change your mind. I’m good either way. You can even go by yourself if you would feel better about it.”

Charlie thought about what Makani was saying, “No, we’ll go. It will be fun to go to a club.”

~~**~~

Maka and Charlie pulled up to the resident apartments where Drew was staying. “Alright! Glad you two could make it. Come on up to my place,” Drew said as he met them at the stairwell near his apartment.

They grabbed their backpacks and went up the stairs behind Drew. “I’m sorry I hadn’t asked you here before Charlie, I was just busy with school and then the accident. Time got away from me.”

“Do your roommates know we’re coming?”

“Yeah, I let them know since Maka will need to sleep on the couch.”

“No worries,” he said.

“They do know you’re gay, right?” Charlie asked.

“Of course! I didn’t hide it. They have girls and guys over so they can’t complain.”

“You have a gay roommate? You didn’t tell me.”

“Really? I could have sworn I told you Ted was gay. You can definitely tell because he’s really out there. He’s going to the club with us tonight.”

Charlie didn’t answer until they got to the door, “Oh. I guess that’s OK.”

Drew opened the door to the apartment. Makani could smell the pot once he stepped inside. Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Sorry, Hank likes to toke. I guess it smells a bit even though he does it mostly outside.”

“Drew baby! Did you bring the hunks?” Ted yelled from his bedroom.

Charlie wondered what Drew had been telling his roommates when a certified twink stepped out of his room adorned only in pink spiked hair. He rushed over to Charlie and gave him a hug and air kisses, “So you’re Drew’s main squeeze. Nice to meet you, I’m Ted.”

“That’s me.”

“So sorry about your folks. That’s really hard especially when you had someone that accepted you. I wasn’t so lucky. I’m so glad I’m away from them.”

Ted turned and spotted Makani. “Wow, tall, dark, and handsome. Are you all mine for the weekend?”

“This is Makani. He’s rooming with Charlie. That’s Ted.”

Ted rushed over and gave Ted a much more direct hug. He made sure to feel up Maka’s butt. “Such a great body. I bet the girls are all over you.”

“Um, sort of?”

“Oh? Do you like guys then? Do I have a chance to get lucky with you?”

Makani’s mouth hung open and Ted decided to stand on his tiptoes and kiss Maka. Charlie’s mouth dropped open and Drew sniggered. Hank walked out of his room at that time, “Geez, Ted! Put on some clothes and stop groping the new guy.”

Ted broke the kiss and brushed his hand over Maka’s groin. “Later stud. Dress sexy for the club.” He wiggled his tight ass at everyone as he walked into his room.

“He is too much sometimes. He loves to tease me but I just ignore him which gets him going. Makes me laugh a lot,” Hank told them, “He’s really a nice guy when you get past his flame. Ted’s helpful and very kind.”

“I never met anyone like him before, so he was an eye-opener for me,” Drew added.

“Well, it should be interesting later,” Makani said.

“I guess we should get ready,” Charlie sighed.

The three went into Drew’s room to get changed. Makani and Charlie slipped on some nice jeans and a dark T-shirt. Drew had chosen some black dress pants and a button-up shirt made of some sort of shimmery fabric.

“Um, are you going to go wearing that?” Drew asked.

“What’s wrong with this?” Charlie asked.

“Your T-shirt is loose.”

“I’m comfortable so I can dance.”

Drew opened his dresser and pulled out two other T-shirts. “Put these on.”

Charlie looked at the size, “That’s two sizes smaller than what I normally wear.”

“Exactly. It will show off your chest.”

“I’ll rip this,” Makani said.

“They stretch. Go ahead and put them on.”

They both did as they were asked. Charlie had to admit he did look better in Drew’s shirt. He tried to think if he ever wore it at home and realized he never did. This was a different Drew than he was used to.

Drew put some hair product on both of their heads and his own. He worked to give them both some more style than they normally had. They left his bedroom and went back into the common room. Hank was smoking a joint on the patio and yelled through the screen door, “You guys want a toke?”

Charlie and Maka answered, “No.” Drew opened the slider and took a hit, “Thanks, bro.”

He came back inside and looked at the two of them, “What?”

“When did you start that?” Charlie asked.

“During finals week. I couldn’t relax. I just do a little bit and not that vape stuff because it is so much stronger.”

“I’m driving,” Charlie told him.

“That’s fine. I can have another hit.”

Drew exited the room and joined Hank.

Charlie talked low with Maka as they sat down on the sofa, “I don’t know what’s happened to him.”

“People change when they leave their parents. They get away from the restrictions and start experimenting.”

“I can see that, but I’m concerned.”

“You may want to let Drew know that you can’t have him smoking at your place, even outside. You have to watch out for the wicked witch.”

“Oh, I never thought of that. That’s going to be a problem. She got all uppity because she found a dildo I had used.”

“Right. Smoking pot around Joey would trigger a removal.”

“Fuck. Yeah, I’ll tell him. He’ll be home for the summer.”

Ted came out of his room making a grand entrance. He was wearing a pink sleeveless T that was cropped pretty high up, a pair of shimmery pink booty shorts, and pink Chucks. His hair was spiked with pink tips. He came around to show off and stopped, “Why the gloomy faces? What happened?”

“Drew’s my best friend and boyfriend. He’s out there getting high which he never did before coming here to school.”

“Oh, hunny, people change at college. It’s their first chance to try new things.”

“I have a younger brother that I’m responsible for and DCS is looking for any excuse to take him from me.”

Ted sat on the sofa next to Charlie and gave him a hug, “I can see why that would bother you. He’s not irresponsible about it.”

“The smell lingers. The caseworker will take one sniff and haul Joey away,” Makani explained.

“Do you want me to say anything? He does listen to me a little.”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking about going home.”

“You’ve never been to a club. At least give it a try so you can see if it’s for you. He’ll wander off when we get there anyway.”

Ted realized what he just said and hastily added, “But maybe not tonight since you’ll be there.”

Charlie wasn’t entirely convinced by Ted’s words. He could see how Drew changed now and it worried him.

Makani saw what was going on with Charlie. He bent over and whispered, “Do you want to go home? I’ll drive.”

“No, let’s try the place out at least. Maybe we’ll just drive home instead of staying.”

“There’s no booze being served, so that won’t be a problem,” Makani whispered back.

“Should we take our backpacks?”

“Do you want me to grab them?”

Charlie thought for a bit and nodded yes.

“You can sleep with me tonight. I promise to only hug you,” Ted told Charlie.

“I may take you up on that. I’m not sure I want to be around Drew if he’s going to get high.”

“He can get a little aggressive but don’t worry, the three of us can handle him.”

Makani had both backpacks and headed out to the car. Ted yelled, “Drew! We’re going.”

He waved back and handed Hank the blunt, “Where’s Maka?”

“He went to stretch his long legs. I can just imagine them wrapped around me,” Ted went off flirting. Charlie wasn’t sure if it was an act or not.

Drew put his arm around Charlie. “Let’s take my hot boyfriend out to the club.”

Drew bent to kiss Charlie, who pushed him away. “Your breath stinks.”

“If you would have had a few puffs with me, we both would have stunk,” he replied kissing Charlie on the cheek.

Ted had a small pouch thing that was attached to his sneakers so he didn’t need to take a wallet along. The three left the apartment and headed down the stairs. Makani was waiting, resting against the car. The trip to the club took about twenty minutes. Drew didn’t shut up the whole trip which clued Charlie in that Drew was high. They had sneaked beers a few times and Drew got that way when he had too many.

Charlie and Makani’s mouth dropped when they got inside the club. The dance floor had lights that flashed underneath the tiles. There were disco balls that added glittering lights around the club. The bar was all chrome and glass.

The club was already filled with teens and guys that looked around their age. Ted grabbed Charlie’s hand and dragged him to the dance floor. Ted was a much better dancer than Charlie. He just flowed with the music.

Drew saw the two dancing and went off to find some of his other friends. There was no smoking in the club but there was a smoking area in the patio out back. Drew made his way out there to score some more pot.

Makani joined the pair on the dance floor. Ted was alternating between the two of them. The three started drawing a crowd and some of Ted’s friends joined in. Charlie started to feel claustrophobic so he begged off. Looking around, he didn’t see Drew anywhere close by so Charlie started moving around the club. He discovered a sign pointing to the smoking area so he followed that thinking Drew would be looking for another hit.

Charlie moved to the side to let his eyes adjust. In addition to guys smoking, there were some guys making out. Charlie moved around the patio looking for Drew when he spotted movement behind a row of hedges.

He went along them until he found the opening. When he entered the area, Charlie’s mouth dropped. There were guys fucking and sucking. He carefully edged around the first couple and noticed one of the next pairs had the same shirt as Drew was wearing.

He got closer and realized the guy fucking a naked twink was indeed Drew. “What the fuck, Drew?!”

“Hey, babe. Want in? He’s primed and raring to go.”

Charlie turned and ran out of the concealed area and back into the club. His heart was pounding hard and his head hurt. Charlie was on the verge of crying when he burst into the group where Makani and Ted were.

“We need to go, now!” he yelled at Makani.

Makani sensed something was wrong and grabbed Charlie’s waist, guiding him out of the club. When they reached the car, he asked, “What happened?”

“I caught Drew fucking another guy.”

Charlie was both hurt and angry. Makani pulled Charlie into his arms. Charlie let go crying and started hitting Makani’s back. Maka just stood there allowing Charlie to experience his grief at the loss of Charlie’s first relationship. Just as Charlie was winding down, Ted approached the pair and grabbed Charlie into a hug.

“I’m sorry, Charlie. I thought you had an open relationship with Drew and knew he was having sex with other guys. I’m just so sorry.”

“How long?”

“Since maybe October? That’s the first time I took him to the club.”

“How could he do that? We were each other’s first. I thought he was committed.”

“I don’t know how is at home but here he’s definitely a player.”

“Fuck him! Tell him I don’t want to see him again, Ted. Tell him to leave me alone.”

Ted started rubbing Charlie’s back. “I will when he shows back up at the apartment. I’ll get an Uber. Give me a call if you want to talk.”

All Charlie could do was nod as Makani guided him into the car. “He’s going to be a mess, Ted. I’ll keep you posted.”

“The first one is hard. I know. Charlie’s always welcome to talk to me.”

The pair hugged and then Maka went around the car and got in. Charlie was in the passenger seat, balled up as tight as he could be. Makani sighed, started the car, and headed back to the house they shared.