Florida Shores - 8. Recovery

Makani looked over at a balled-up, sleeping Charlie as he put the car into park. He was so mad on the two-hour drive back from Tallahassee; he wanted to beat Drew so bad over what he put Charlie through. Drew was nothing but a two-faced snake that was using Charlie for who knows how long.

He turned Charlie’s car off and exited the driver’s side to get Charlie up and out of the car. “Hey, buddy. We’re home,” he said gently shaking him.

“What? Oh, OK,” Charlie answered not making any effort to move.

“Come on, I’ll put you to bed.”

“I just want to die.”

“It will get better,” Makani said as he reached over to unhook the seat belt.

Charlie pulled him into a hug, “Sleep with me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

Maka thought about it and knew that Charlie needed to have some personal contact. “Sure, I’ll hold you all night.”

He helped Charlie out of the seat and Charlie grabbed onto him, resting his head on Makani’s shoulder, “You’re the best.”

They stood that way for a few minutes and Maka said, “Come on. A shower will do you good and then to bed.”

Makani opened the door and guided Charlie inside who still held onto him. He managed to close and lock the door before leading Charlie up the stairs one at a time. They arrived slowly to the master bedroom and Maka started guiding Charlie into the bathroom.

“No, just sleep.”

“You sure?”

“Uh-huh.”

“OK. Sit on the bed and I’ll get changed.”

“No, don’t leave.”

“But I have to put my shorts and shirt on, Charlie.”

“No, want skin. Strip.”

“Charlie …”

Charlie stripped off Makani’s T-shirt and started working his belt open. Maka thought fast and tugged at the hem of Charlie’s shirt to get it off. Charlie stopped working on Maka’s belt to get the shirt off. Once it was off he went back to working Makani’s pants down.

He didn’t know what else to do other than doing the same with Charlie’s clothes. Makani got his shoes off and let Charlie push his pants down. He stepped out of them and knelt down to untie Charlie’s shoes so he could get them off also.

Makani froze as Charlie put his hands on his head. He worried that Charlie would pull him into his groin but all he did was touch his hair. “Mmm, you have nice hair.”

He helped Charlie out of his pants and guided him to the mattress on the floor. Before Charlie got down, he stripped off his bikini briefs. Charlie then laid down without further issues. Maka got in bed grateful that he managed to keep his own briefs on.

Charlie snuggled into Maka’s back and fell back asleep, his arm pulling Maka tight against Charlie’s chest. When Charlie started snoring, Makani breathed a sigh of relief and drifted off himself.

~~**~~

They had switched positions during the night and Makani found himself holding Charlie tight against him. He was glad they were laying that way so Charlie couldn’t make a grab for Maka’s morning boner.

Charlie started to move around as he woke up. “Morning. Thanks for staying with me,” he said as he turned around.

“It’s OK. I was just worried that you wanted revenge sex.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You were putting the moves on me when we got home.”

“Oh? Sorry I did that, but did you regret it?”

“I just didn’t want you using me for sex to … Um, without us talking about it.”

“I’m over that bastard. I need to bag his stuff up.”

Maka noticed Charlie didn’t respond to the last part of what he said but decided to let it go. This whole living arrangement was new to him. He had to admit, he liked sleeping with other people whether they were his cousins or Charlie. It was nice to be able to hold on to someone while he slept.

“We can do that later. Do you have school today?”

“Yeah, one class in the afternoon.”

“I’ll make breakfast while you go get cleaned up.”

“I’ll have a shower after. Let’s go take care of our needs and I’ll help you with cooking.”

They split up and then met downstairs. Charlie started coffee and got the bacon out. He’d just use the microwave today since he felt lazy. Makani started cooking the eggs. Charlie poured the juice and sat at the counter while the bacon cooked.

“You know you can just hang out naked. I won’t mind.”

“If that is going to be the norm then we need to get some shorts so we can leave them around to slip on in case DCS comes by.”

“Oh, crap. Forgot about that. I wish it was over,” Charlie sighed.

“You should send them an email letting them know I’m living here. Just to avoid problems and trigger one of their two inspections.”

“How about after we finish painting the bedroom?” he asked changing the subject.

“You need furniture also.”

“We can look tomorrow morning. I have an afternoon class also then.”

“We should pick up my rental contract from Mr. Noone then so I can get my license changed to Florida.”

The microwave dinged and they plated up their breakfast. They continued talking about what needed to be done during the week. Makani thought he would be starting orientation next week. He should know his schedule at the end of today after his time with HR.

Maka poured them both a coffee and sat back down with Charlie, “Are you OK?”

“I’m hurt that he fooled around on me. I’m angry he didn’t tell me he wanted to do that. Now I have to get tested.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“It’s just a blood test. I won’t get the results for a few days.”

Charlie got on the website and scheduled the test for tomorrow morning. They started a laundry and then went to the Master bedroom to start painting. Charlie stole glances at Makani as he helped out. They both prepped the room for paint. Maka had lost his briefs when he started to sweat.

“If I cut in the top, will you do the bottom?” he asked.

“Sounds good,” Charlie replied.

The cutting-in went pretty fast with the both of them working. Makani was a very careful painter, hardly getting any drips on himself but Charlie got paint on himself in some very interesting places.

Makani set an alarm to make sure they had plenty of time to clean up and make lunch before either of them needed to go. Makani took the painting tools outside to clean them out. They’d put the box spring and mattress back in after dinner. Charlie was waiting for Maka to get back inside. “I think I need some help getting cleaned up.”

“You certainly are a messy painter.”

“What?! I just spilled a little.”

“You got some on your butt.”

“Oh? I thought that part was dry.”

“Come on, I’ll clean you up.”

They went into the bathroom and Maka turned on the shower to get it hot. Once it was, they both stepped in and got wet. Makani soaped up the poof and started soaping up Charlie’s back. He had to get on his knees to clean the two paint spots on Charlie’s butt cheeks. It seemed Charlie had bent down and touched the wet wall.

Maka had to scrub them hard to get it all off and that required he hold onto Charlie’s hip with one hand. Every so often as Maka rubbed, Charlie’s chubby would brush against his fingers. Makani resolved to not be on his knees if Charlie turned around because he wouldn’t be able to resist a taste.

He finished getting the paint off and washed the backs of Charlie’s thighs. He lifted up each foot and washed them. Maka got off his knees and handed Charlie the poof. “Your back’s all done.”

“Thanks, you sure you don’t want to wash my front?”

Maka could see that Charlie was getting harder. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why not?” Charlie asked.

“We haven’t talked yet.”

Charlie sighed, “OK, turn around and I’ll do your back.”

Charlie behaved for the rest of the shower and was respectful of Makani by not making him uncomfortable. When they finished drying off and having a quick shave with the electric razor, they went downstairs to make lunch.

The pair sat down next to each other as they had at breakfast. Maka started the conversation, “I’ve had just a few more relationships than you have and I need to tell you that having sex doesn’t show you love someone, just like you saw this weekend. There’s nothing wrong with having sex for fun but it can lead to complications if you do that with the same person all the time.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to have sex with me or you don’t think you can love me?” Charlie asked, the hurt evident in his voice.

“No on both accounts. You are a great guy with a lot of positive traits. There’s nothing wrong with you, Charlie, in the looks department. I don’t know you well enough yet but I haven’t seen anything that another guy would hate. I guess, what I’m trying to say is, that you are definitely boyfriend material.”

“You didn’t mention sex.”

“From what I heard, you are fun in bed.”

Charlie smiled at that and before he could say anything, Makani continued, “If you want to have sex with me every day, I won’t say no at all. I just don’t want you thinking that I immediately love you because I need a deeper connection.”

“Oh, right, sorry, Maka. I forgot about what happened.”

“Yeah. I don’t think you’ll start beating me or anything, but I’m still tender, you know? He was verbally and mentally abusive also. I got out just in time. I need to be sure of the next person. My ex was so nice before we moved in together then he totally changed.”

Charlie reached over and hugged Makani, “I get it now.”

“Besides, if we are going to start having sex together and with others, I think we need to be responsible.” Maka picked up his phone, “What is that place you are going to tomorrow?”

Charlie gave him the information, “Done. I’m right after you. So, we’ll both get the information and then we can go on PrEP.”

Charlie brightened up. “That sounds great.”

“The other thing to talk about is do we want to be open? You know, have sex or date other people. We’d be more friends that had sex together until we decided not to.”

“I guess.”

“You need a broader pool to experience relationships with. I’d be your second guy but I might not be the best match for you.”

Charlie sighed, “I’m not sure about that.”

“We’ve both been socially … um, stunted. We need to meet other people and make some friendships.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“It’s Florida! There have to be a few groups are age that go out and do things. There are lots of places to kayak, we have the beach, there are clubs around here. It’s not like we’re in the mid-west on a farm.”

“I guess I was too tied up with Drew. When he went off to college this year, I just sat around.”

“How about you catch up with some of your high school friends and I’ll look for something we can do with others this weekend.”

Charlie brightened up at Makani’s suggestion, “That sounds good. Even if we don’t find anything to do, we can go kayaking.”

“We can take Joey and Peni if you want.”

“Sure, if we can’t find anything, we’ll see what they want to do.”

They went their separate ways after finishing and getting dressed. Charlie to a physical class on campus and Makani to the HR Department at the Okaloosa County building. Charlie asked around his classmates about things to do this weekend and didn’t come back with any ideas. Makani’s time was spent with paperwork and getting the information for orientation the next Monday.

“You got the room painted,” Joey said as he went upstairs after class and saw the mattress in the hallway.

“Yeah, we both knocked it out this morning,” Makani answered.

“You looking for furniture tomorrow, C?”

“Yep, we had some other errand to go on so we’ll stop by at least one place.”

“Did you two have fun with Drew?”

Both Charlie and Makani were silent as they exchanged glances. Charlie sighed and spoke, “I found out Drew was cheating on me. He did it when we were at a club.”

“That mother-fucker! I’ll kick his ass the next time he’s around!” Joey yelled.

“He won’t be around again. I’m bringing his clothes and stuff to his parents. We’ll be changing the locks so we’ll need to get new keys for everyone.”

“I guess we just added that to the list,” Maka mentioned.

“Add another thing. I should write down what we need to do.”

“So, what’s for dinner?” Joey asked

“Steaks OK?”

“Let’s get cooking,” he replied rubbing his hands together.

The night after dinner found the three of them snuggling together on the sofa as they watched TV. Charlie smiled almost the whole time as he lay against Maka.

~~**~~

Charlie was pressed against Maka’s back as they woke up in the morning. “Morning, Charlie.”

“Morning. Thanks for letting me sleep with you again.”

“Sure. We better hit the bathroom. You’re poking me.”

Charlie laughed to cover his real wish of Maka poking him but that would have to wait for another time in the future. They took care of business and headed downstairs to find Joey already up and putting the juice and cereal boxes out.

“We’re meeting everyone down the road tonight,” Charlie told Joey.

“You gonna tell them about Drew?” Joey asked.

“Yep. Don’t you think Papa K and Mama A need to know?”

“Sure. What about you two?”

“What about us?”

“You slept together last night.”

“You could have slept with us. We wouldn’t mind. Neither of us did anything,” Charlie replied.

“Maybe tonight. I like being held.”

“So do I, bro.”

“Hey! Me too,” Maka finished.

“Are you two going to be a thing?”

Charlie looked at Makani before answering, “We’re not sure yet. We may not go that far. All of us are just getting to know each other.”

“Well, I think both of you are pretty OK,” Maka answered.

Joey giggled, “I’m spoken for already.”

“Yeah, about that. We should talk to you about what Maka and I discussed yesterday. I don’t want you falling into the same trap that I did with Drew.”

“I know you and Peni are just starting out but you should at least talk about if you are going to go out with other people and what you are going to do with them,” Maka added.

“We haven’t. Neither of us have talked about it.”

“You should so you aren’t hurt,” Charlie replied.

“I guess,” Joey mumbled.

Charlie and Maka both hugged Joey, “We want you to be happy. Peni’s a great guy. I’ll talk to him about Drew tonight so he understands. If you both want to experiment with others, it’s OK as long as you are both on the same page.”

“What if he does and I don’t?”

“Then you need to decide if you want to break it off,” Charlie told him.

“But you can still be friends,” Makani added.

“If you want to experiment, friends are the best ones to do that with. You have a lot less chance of getting hurt.”

“You know how guys will bully others and manage to get away with it.”

“Right, that’s why I waited but I think people still figured it out.”

“Man, it’s so complicated. I was just enjoying the feelings,” Joey sighed.

“That’s OK also, bro.”

“I knew when I first started to think maybe guys weren’t so bad to be with and how confused I was,” Makani told Joey.

“I’m not confused. I like guys. I was thinking about maybe talking with some others I suspect are gay.”

“How about you get their numbers before the summer break? You only have a few weeks more.”

“At least a month! I need a break!”

Charlie and Makani couldn’t hold it in and laughed at Joey.

“Come on, you need to get ready for school and we need to get everything ready for our day. We have a few places to go to today before I have classes.”

~~**~~

“You, OK?” Makani asked Charlie.

“Just mad that I have to do this.”

“I had a test last year and it was negative. Most people that are positive are responsible.”

“It is the ones that don’t know that are the problem.”

“Mr. Hudson?”

“Can Maka also come in? He’s next.”

“Sure. This way.”

The tech took them back to the blood drawing station. Both had two vials taken and then were led back to an exam room. A male nurse came in after a short wait.

“Hi, I’m Taylor. You must be Charlie Hudson and Makani Kekoa?”

They both answered yes to the question and Taylor continued, “The test results will take a few days. If you want to have sex prior to them coming in make sure you use condoms. Of course, if one of you is positive, you will need to continue to do that even if you are on meds.”

“Is oral out?” Charlie asked.

“There’s little or no risk that way. The biggest risk is a tearing of your anal canal and then the disease gets absorbed into the bloodstream.”

Charlie got a little white and Taylor noticed, “Have you had any painful encounters?”

“Not for a long time.”

Taylor patted Charlie’s shoulder, “Then you should be good for that. Any other signs of illness?”

“No.”

“You should be good then.”

“Makani is a different name. Where are you from?”

“Boston,” Maka said with a straight face to pull one over on Taylor. When he saw he was successful, he chuckled and continued, “Hawaii. My Uncle and Aunt are neighbors and I’m here starting as an EMT next week.”

“Boston is no place for an Islander,” Taylor said to get him back.

“Hell, no! Way too cold for me.”

“I work at the hospital in the ER so we’ll meet again professionally at least. Once you get to meet the nurses there, maybe you’ll want to go out for a drink with us?”

“Charlie and I were just talking about that yesterday. Once you leave high school, it’s hard to make new friends.”

“That’s so true. A lot of mine are from work and I still have a few from school. First Pres Church has an LGBT group that meets twice a month. The dates are online. There are a couple of gay men’s groups in the area also. A few guys have an area of the beach we congregate at. I’ll text you the location and the next time we’re going.”

“Cool, thanks,” Maka replied.

Taylor gave them both prescriptions for PrEP and instructions to wait for the tests before filling them. He also gave them a box of condoms each.

“Maybe everything will work out OK,” Charlie said as he got behind the wheel.

“Sounds like it. We should know by Friday.”

They continued on with the errands. The final stop before grabbing lunch was a second-hand store that had a bedroom set Charlie and Maka liked. Charlie put a deposit on the set to hold it until the weekend. He’d let Mr. Noone know to transfer the amount into Charlie’s checking account from his parent’s since the will was still in probate.

All in all, the day was shaping up to be OK for Charlie. He wasn’t looking forward to dinner but he knew he needed to tell Ke and Alani what happened.