Trouble Plus Trouble. - 16. Chapter 16

Double The Trouble.

Chapter 16.

"Your place? ...I am?"

"Yes, and then we'll organise something tomorrow."

"Organise what?"

"I don't know. Like I said – something."

"Crazy."

But that was exactly why Peter liked it.

When they reached Matthew's house they had a quick drink before heading to the bedroom. Peter switched the light on but Matthew turned it off straight away. What was he doing now? The curtain runners scraped, bright moonlight streamed through the screen door which then also scraped open. Peter watched till Matthew stepped onto the balcony, then getting himself ready for the starlight, followed to the special spot.

"Look how bright it is."

The moon was the feature tonight, low in the sky and looking huge, its light shone silver on the trees in the park and cast dark shadows from the railings onto the balcony. Matthew's hand grasped Peter's neck and stayed there for the next ten minutes as they stood silently watching. Shivers running through his scalp, heat where their bodies touched, the beauty of the moonlight, all built a special moment of closeness and happiness that Matthew was his friend. A sudden strong squeeze on his neck and a soft chuckle from Matthew told Peter the moment was over.

"Come on, I think I'm getting moon-burn."

Inside, Matthew pulled his jocks off and in the spill of moonlight Peter could see he had a boner. Well that made two of them.

"We're having a practice without the lights on?"

"There's enough moonlight."

Matthew was right about the moonlight so Peter's jocks came off too.

"One hand behind your back Peter, so we're even from the start."

Even? Not really. Especially when Matthew got tricky, manoeuvering so his front was in shadow, then making a successful grab with his hand which Peter couldn't see.

"Sneaky. There wasn't enough light to see properly with."

"I know. I didn't expect it to work but it did."

One. Two. Three. Each squeeze was accompanied with a light tug as well. Peter was surprised when Matthew didn't let go.

"You don't take long to get hard Peter."

"Um. ..No."

There was one more squeeze and with one of his laughs Matthew let go.

"See, you got boned first again."

This was too good to miss.

"What do you expect when you're yanking on it like that?"

With Matthew now in the moonlight it didn't take long for Peter to get hold of him. His fingers closed and he left them unmoving with a firm pressure, waiting to see Matthew's response. It took ten or fifteen seconds.

"So? …What are you doing?"

"Seeing how long you take to get hard."

"Oh, ….right."

Peter kept hold for a while longer, half expecting Matthew to pull away. He didn't though, and just stood quietly. Matthew went extra hard and Peter suddenly felt like he was being rude so we gave three really strong tugs and let go.

"Ouch. What are you doing?"

"Yanking..... Like you said."

"You wait. You nearly yanked it off."

Peter wanted to see what Matthew would do, so he let his concentration slip, very carefully of course so as not to be obvious.

"Cheat, I can tell when you let me win. Come on. It's time for bed."

Peter got his own treatment back, with three strong tugs which surprised him with their strength and then Matthew gave him a sudden poke in the stomach before disappearing under the sheet. Peter slid into place on his side of the bed and waited.

"Hey, where's my goodnight tickle?"

There was a soft little laugh.

"I was seeing how long before you asked."

They talked quietly, Matthews fingers doing their job till they stopped and lay resting, warm against Peter's skin. Peter studied Matthew’s features, visible from the scatter of light spilling through the unclosed curtains, then eventually closed his own eyes.

***

Daylight was flooding in when Peter opened them again. Matthew was there next to him, facing the other way. Strange? He was always up when Peter woke. What was the time? There was a tiny rustling sound and Peter lifted his head. Matthew had a book.

"Hi Big-Boy, do you want some coffee or are you going back to sleep?"

"What's the time?"

"It's.... Seven minutes past nine."

"How come you aren't up?"

"I am. I'm reading ..The Grey King."

Images of the white dog racing over the mountains went through Peter’s mind and made him want to read his own book.

"Coffee thanks."

Matthew climbed out of bed, went to his cupboard and slipped on the red jocks Peter had given him.

"What are you smiling for?"

"You do like those jocks don't you?"

Matthew grinned as his answer then disappeared for five minutes before returning with coffee and toast on a tray. He'd brought the coffee making gadget and Peter watched him press the plunger thing, pour two mugs and add the sugar and cream they both liked. Matthew sat on the edge of the bed with the tray between them, took everything back to the kitchen when they'd finished, then slipped his jocks off and climbed back into bed when he returned. He poked Peter in the side a few times and stirred him for still being a Big-Boy, then settled to his book and they both read for nearly an hour and a half.

Rob roused them out and told them to get moving because the home taxi was leaving in fifteen minutes.

At Peter's house they headed up to start studying. Well it might take half an hour to get going but that didn't matter. They were both curious because Rob had come in with them and was talking with Beth again. The biggest event for the day happened when they were downstairs having the chicken and salad rolls that Beth had prepared. The doorbell rang and when Peter answered it he nearly fell over.

"Andy?"

He brought Andy in and everyone else went silent and gawped at him. No wonder. There was a band of brilliant red running right from the front of his head to the nape of his neck. Beth spoke first.

"That's..... Pretty spectacular Andy."

Andy was looking a bit sheepish.

"I know. Mum’s mad at me. She says I have to get it all cut off before I go to school tomorrow."

Peter couldn't help grinning at the thought of Andy walking round at school looking like a Mohawk Indian with luminous red hair. He'd be stirred so much.

"Wow. Why’d you do it?"

As his story of drinking too much at a party last night and being dared by a couple of girls from school to let them put color in his hair came out, the grins all round grew even more.

"It was meant to wash out but it doesn't. Mum says it's permanent dye."

Beth ran her fingers through his hair and quickly confirmed it.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll have to wait till tomorrow morning and get it cut off then. There's no places open today."

"Why don’t you just re-dye it?"

"Isn't it too strong?"

"No, but I think you'd be better to have blonde tips all over. That's in style and it would suit you."

"Blonde tips?"

He was obviously interested in Beth's suggestions and then very happy when she said she’d do it for him.

"Now?"

"Yes, you can come to the supermarket with me and we'll get what we need."

That would be too good to miss.

"What about Marty?"

Beth misunderstood him.

"We can pick him up if you want him to come with us."

"No, he’s the same. Except its green."

Fresh grins broke out and Peter raced up to get the camera. Rob left, and after Andy rang Marty to tell him what was happening they all went in the wagon to pick him up. It took most of the afternoon to get them fixed up and in the end Peter thought they looked terrific. Andy and Marty thought the same and kept saying that Beth had saved their lives. She gave them a lecture about drinking too much, but they knew very well she was stirring them. Andy took Marty home and dropped off Matthew at the same time, and Peter decided to work on his chemistry for an hour before Beth started on their meal.

"What's Rob been talking so much for Mum?"

They were washing the dishes, and when Beth said they had to finish first that made Peter’s curiosity double. Sitting down with no distractions meant it must be something fairly big.

"You were telling tales on me Peter."

Peter had no idea what his mum was talking about and she laughed at his puzzled expression.

"Not really, you told Rob about my working hours and he looked into it all. He wants me to quit."

Peter couldn't believe that. There must be more to it and he waited to see what it was.

"He thinks I’d be better off working for myself instead of a company. He says I could make more than twice as much as I do now without all the long hours. He's worked it all out so much I think I want to try it."

"But where would you work?"

"Here, at home. We’d have to set the living room up for it but that wouldn't be hard."

"What if it didn't work mum? If you leave where you are now they mightn't want you back."

"I don't think they would, but Rob thought about that. I could start with just my Fridays and see what happened. I’d have to give up my course but I'd keep working till I knew whether I could be successful on my own."

The more Beth explained, the more Peter could tell she did want to try it.

"Rob’s virtually planned it all out for me. Every time I saw a problem or had a question he'd already thought about it. He even says he has about a dozen clients he’s sure would start with me on his recommendation. He's invited me over on Tuesday evening to talk about it more, but I've mostly made up my mind already. What do you think?"

Peter didn't know why she was even asking him. It all sounded so good, and he said so.

"For a while I’ll have to work even harder than I do now, and I don't want you worrying about me."

Peter gave his mum a hug and they sat, talking it over and over for almost another hour.

***

Trials on Monday were very interesting. Brent proved to be right when coach read out his line-up for the comp on Wednesday, and Peter found he was in four of the fifty metre races, two relays and the one hundred metre side stroke. Coach reminded them that they all needed regulation speedos for the comp and in the changing room Matthew got stirred. Brent said he could have an old pair of his if he wanted them. Andy and Marty had been a big deal all day. The story of the party and their hair seemed to be known by the whole school and the blonde tips solution drew attention, which they were lapping up, from all sides. They did their coaching at Marty's place and at the end of it they informed Peter he was going to have tips in his hair.

"What if I don't want them?"

"What an insult. Are you saying they don't look good?"

Whoops! They were grinning and Peter knew he was going to end up with tips or suffer.

"Um, I wouldn't mind. But not at the moment."

The didn't say anything more which made Peter extra suspicious. The topic changed to the competition and in the car on the way home Andy was mostly talking about the river trip. Beth wanted to know all the details about his events and was disappointed to hear that she couldn't watch because the competition was held between four and six.

The next day they only trained for half an hour, all of it easy, and Brent's car was pulled up at Peter's place by 4:30. He'd been informed that he was their model to practice with the camera, and despite some stirring, sounded interested and said he was happy to do whatever they liked. The camera was set up on the tripod Matthew had brought on the weekend, Brent placed on a chair near the window and Peter became the assistant. He was surprised at how much Matthew knew. First of all he took shots of just Brent's head while Peter had to hold a large white sheet of card and reflect light onto Brent's face from different angles. It was interesting to see the different effects and Matthew said the camera would pick them up even more strongly. Then of course, Peter had to be the model, which meant Matthew couldn’t miss out either.

Matthew showed them how to use flash and long exposures to catch them with large pupils, back lighting to make their hair shine, and then side-lighting. He moved through bust shots, torsos, and finally full body shots. This was some of the complicated stuff that Peter had thought cameras were all about. After an hour they’d had enough of the serious work and started mucking around. Matthew wanted some swimming shots so they had to put their speedos on, and use the self timer gadget so they could all be in it.

"Hey Matthew. I should have given you these for training."

Matthew swapped into Brent’s old speedos and they took more photos of him. Peter liked Matthew's blue speedos better. Some muck-around photos filled the camera and then they went down for their meal. They had the kitchen to themselves as Beth was going straight to Matthew’s place from work and Peter cooked a large pan full of thin beef strips and added it to stir-fried vegetables and then for sweets they had ice cream, his old faithful.

Brent was impressed that Peter cooked the meal himself, while Matthew stirred.

"You wait till I cook something Brent. It won't be boot leather and fried grass."

"I know, it'll be cardboard and gravel instead."

They started on their Lit and had great fun. Matthew argued about everything they said, and then if they agreed with him he’d change his mind and argue a different viewpoint. They went through each of the questions on the assignment and made a rule that they each had to have a different answer. Brent was puzzled by it all.

"Why don’t you just write down the answers? It's taken ages to do it this way."

"It's more interesting, and you get better answers in the end."

"Do you talk about your own books like this?"

"Not really. It's better to get going on a new one."

"Do you like the books we use in Lit?"

"Most of them."

They finished at 10 o'clock, after three hours solid, and agreed to work on Lit assignments together whenever they came up. Brent left after some supper and Peter and Matthew had their showers.

"What did you think of him tonight Peter?"

"Dr Jekyll the whole time. He had some good ideas for someone who doesn't read much too."

"Why do you think he really made that rule about me only wearing his speedos at the comps?"

Peter grinned and changed his tune.

"Like he said. Everyone's used to you being Bluey. It's because your blue ones are sexier and he likes looking at you."

"Sexier? Do you reckon they are?"

"Of course they are. They're rude."

"They'd be ruder on you."

He jumped up and grabbed them.

"Here, put them on so I can see."

"What? So you can say I'm the rude one?"

"Well you are."

Peter put them on, and he was. They were special racing speedos, with a lower cut than the purple ones and he had to do the sideways arrangement thing to fit in. Matthew was laughing.

"They make you look like you've got a boner. Put yourself at the front."

Peter tried this but there really wasn't enough space to hold him.

"Gosh. Your dick's big. If you really had a boner they'd probably break."

"Ha, very funny. They would for you too."

Matthew was planning to wrestle him so he’d get a boner, then stir him when he didn't fit in the speedos. Somehow Peter could tell that was what he was thinking, but just as they sat on the bed they heard a car pull into the drive. Peter jumped into some shorts, pulled on a t-shirt and raced out.

"I want to find out what's happening."

He was back in a few minutes, and after pulling his shirt off, he dived on Matthew who was now under the sheet on the mattress.

"What is it?"

"Mum’s all excited. She starting in three Fridays from now. She says Rob's amazing."

Peter let go and Matthew sat up.

"You should have heard him Peter. He was really stirred up when he found out Beth wasn't getting any overtime. He says the sooner she gets out at that company the better."

Peter switched the light off and slipped under the sheet next to Matthew so he could get his goodnight tickle. They kept talking and the tingles quickly set him off. After a while Matthew's fingers tickled the edge of Peter stomach, which made the tingles stronger, and when they moved away Peter grabbed Matthew's hand and pulled it back again. Neither of them said anything but the tickles continued till Matthew fell asleep.

Tugs on his big toe, and then the smells of coffee and toast woke Peter.

"Come on Big-Boy. You can let him go while you have your coffee."

Oh my God. Peter hurriedly moved his hand and sat up against the pillow.

"Matthew, what happened to the sheet?"

"You pulled it off again. I didn't bother putting it back this morning."

Matthew laughed at the expression on Peter's face.

"You pull it off stacks of times and you're nearly always holding yourself too."

That was right but it felt funny that he was doing it with Matthew watching.

"You wait. I'll wake up first and find out things about you. Do you have boners in the morning?"

"Not telling."

He was stirring. He'd already said he did when they were talking about it one time.

"Why not?"

"Well I do sometimes. Not every morning like you though."

"How do you always wake up so early?"

"I got used to it from training."

Peter decided then that he wasn't much interested in training in the mornings.

"When did you wake up this morning?"

"About half an hour ago. But I just lazed till it was time to make the coffee."

"Did I have a boner when you woke up?"

"Yes, and it was there all the time if you want to know."

That was exactly what Peter was wondering.

"It isn't always there for that long, usually only when you're holding it."

Holding himself all the time? Peter wondered what Matthew thought. It really was embarrassing. It must have showed too because Matthew grinned.

"You're a rudey aren't you? Playing with yourself in front of me every morning. You'll be wanking yourself next."

Peter grinned back. Somehow Matthew had just reassured him that it was all okay.

"Well since you’re perving on my boner every morning you’re probably looking for a show anyway."

Matthew laughed.

"I bet you wouldn't say that to Andy. He probably make you give him one. A show I mean."

This was very close to home, so to speak, and it made it easy for Peter to talk about.

"I'm embarrassed about it Matthew. He's already got me to promise I will."

Matthew looked amazed.

"You're joking. You've promised to put on a show for Andy?"

"Not a show. To join in with him and Marty for a wank some time."

"Oh boy, how did he get you into that?"

"You know what he’s like. He can talk me into anything, but I kind of tricked myself too."

Matthew listened closely while Peter explained all the details.

"You don't have to Peter. Andy wouldn't care if you say no."

"I know, he already said that. But I don’t want to go back on my promise."

"That means you're going to do it?"

"Yes, but not yet. I told them I wasn't ready."

"You're nearly ready though aren't you?"

"I suppose so."

"Are you ready for today?"

"Swimming you mean? I'm nervous as anything about it."

"Yes, but your swimming’s all right. You're going to be great. I meant afterwards. Remember what happened after the trials? They'll be even more excited this time, especially if we win."

Peter almost wished Matthew hadn't mentioned this. Now he'd be thinking about more than just the races all day. When they walked across for their lift to school the only thing Andy could talk about was the competition. It was just like the trials only more full on. It was a first-time Peter had seen him nervous. At lunchtime Marty was in a panic that he’d come last in his butterfly event and Andy was worried he wasn’t going to swim well enough.

Matthew started agreeing with them, saying Marty would probably conk out halfway, and Andy would be lucky if he even got last place he was such a wuss. They knew he was taking the mickey out of them and made all sorts of dire threats. At ten to four the whole team welcomed the other school when their bus pulled in, then escorted them to the shower room which became a crowded rush with everyone getting changed for the four o'clock start. Gosh. They all looked so fit and strong. Well that was Peter's impression and there were so many of them too.

The end of Chapter 16.

Iarwain.