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Message-ID: <57850asstr$1215094203@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Gymnopedies" <gym@SoftHome.net>
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Subject: {ASSM} Sexual Development (25/26)
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Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:10:03 -0400
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Copyright of this story is retained by the author and it should not be
reposted to any newsgroup or website without permission. Any form of
commercial use is strictly prohibited without the express permission of
the author. The author can be contacted at gym@softhome.net

The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by
location, are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by
explicit descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not
based on any actual events.


Sexual Development: Chapter 25 - Stabbed
by
Gymnopedies

Daniel hid a secret smile as he watched the two girls chatting with
Jason. Actually, they weren't so much chatting as flirting, and they
were being none-too-subtle about it. One of the girls had even put her
hand on Jason's hand as he rested it on top of the desk, much to the
boy's obvious discomfort. It was rather ironic that the day after Jason
had secretly admitted to Daniel that he might be gay, he suddenly found
himself getting more attention than he wanted from a number of girls,
some of whom had hardly looked twice at him in the past. Daniel
certainly found it amusing to watch.

The reason for Jason's sudden popularity was his fight with McBride.
News had spread of how Jason had given the older boy a bloody nose and
reduced him to tears. Some people were even claiming that Jason had put
McBride in hospital. Daniel doubted that this was true, but McBride had
not yet put in an appearance this morning, so it might be.

Daniel wasn't especially worried about McBride; even if he were in
hospital, it was no more than he deserved. However, Daniel was
definitely concerned about Dean, who had also not yet turned in. Dean
had promised to call Daniel last night and let him know how things had
gone with his with parents. But there had been no call. From the things
that Dean had said in the past, his dad didn't sound like a very nice
person, and Daniel was worried how the man might take the news that his
son was gay. Daniel decided that if Dean didn't show, he'd mention it
to Adam and maybe the doctor would go round there, or at least give the
boy's parents a call and find out what was happening.

"Hey! Gerroff!" It seemed that Jason had finally lost patience with the
two girls. One of them had poked a finger towards his tender and
slightly swollen lower lip, which he had hastily batted away.

"I was only going to touch it," said the girl, a little petulantly.
"Does it hurt?"

"Only when people can't keep their bloody fingers off it," Jason
scowled.

The second girl giggled. "Maybe he needs something to take his mind off
it," she said to her friend. "You could kiss it better for him."

"No thanks," said Jason, quickly. He held his hand protectively in
front of his mouth.

Laughing, the girls moved away.

"Looks like you've scored there," said Daniel, brightly.

"Yeah, right," Jason muttered, glaring after the girls.

Dean arrived a couple of minutes later, and Daniel gave a sigh of
relief as he saw his friend. Dean didn't exactly look to be brimming
over with happiness, but at least he didn't as look as miserable as he
had the previous day. Today there were no taunts or jibes as he entered
the classroom. In fact, most people simply ignored him, carrying on
with their own conversations. A few people noticed him and smiled or
gave a nod of acknowledgment. It was pretty much like any other day. It
hardly seemed like just yesterday that his whole world had appeared to
be crashing down around him.

"I'm glad to see you," said Daniel, allowing his relief to show. "What
happened last night? Did you tell your mum and dad?"

Dean grimaced as he sat on the desk in front of Daniel's, resting his
feet on the plastic chair. "Yeah, I told 'em."

"What did they say?" asked Jason, leaning forwards.

"Mum didn't really say anything, but dad went ballistic." Dean looked
unhappy. "You would have thought that I'd just told him that I'd
murdered someone. I don't think he believed me at first. He told me not
to be so stupid. Then when I told him that it was true he really let
go. I thought he was going to hit me."

"He didn't hit you though, did he?" Daniel asked.

Dean shook his head. "No. He just shouted a lot. He didn't call me
names or anything like that. But he kept going on about me deliberately
trying to make him disappointed with me. He wanted to know why he
couldn't have a real son." As he said this, Dean closed his eyes and
bit his lip, clearly upset.

"Bastard," Jason snarled.

Daniel looked quickly at Jason and shook his head, trying to tell the
boy the he probably wasn't helping matters.

After a moment, Dean opened his eyes and sucked in a breath. "He told
me to get out his sight," he continued. "I got sent up to my bedroom."
He looked at Daniel. "Sorry I didn't ring you. I couldn't get to the
phone and I couldn't even use my mobile because it was downstairs in my
jacket."

"Don't worry about it," said Daniel."Just as long as you're OK."

"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. This morning, Dad came into my bedroom before
he went to work - he usually leaves for work early, before I get up. He
just stood there and looked at me. He asked me if I was thinking about
giving up the karate and the kick-boxing. I told him that of course I
wasn't. He nodded and told me that he was glad that I wasn't going to
give it up, because I was good at it. He told me that he was going to
be there when I compete in the regional kick-boxing championships and
that second place wasn't good enough; this time I was going to win.
Then he sort of smiled and he went out. It was really strange. He's
never been to watch me compete before. He's never even told me that I
was good at it before."

"So he didn't say anything else about you being gay?" asked Daniel.

"Not this morning, no. He never even mentioned it."

"At least he's speaking to you. And if he's going to watch you fight,
that must be a good sign."

"Yeah, I suppose," said Dean.

They were interrupted by a jeer from a boy at the back of the room.
McBride had just entered the classroom. He wore a scowl and there was a
dark blue bruise around one of his eyes and his nose looked swollen and
sore. He kept his head down as he walked across the front of the class
towards his seat near the window.

"Boo hoo, you bwoke my nose," the boy at the back taunted. There was
laughter from all around the room. McBride angrily grabbed a pen off a
nearby desk and slung it towards the boy who had shouted out. The
laughter increased in volume. McBride stormed over to his own desk and
sat down, refusing to even look at anyone.

"Looks like he doesn't like being on the receiving end," Daniel smiled.

"He'll be on the receiving end if he comes anywhere near me," snapped
Jason, fiercely. "I'll make sure I really do break his nose next time."

"Try to give us a bit of notice and we can sell tickets," Daniel
laughed. "I'm sure most of this lot would pay to see it."

**********

The couple of hours until morning break passed more or less without
incident. The only real moment of excitement came when McBride received
a detention for not completing and handing in his homework and half the
class broke into a spontaneous cheer. The teacher, Mrs. Bell, who had a
reputation for being a real misery-guts, looked totally bemused by this
unexpected reaction to the handing out of a relatively minor
punishment, and even managed a brief, uncharacteristic smile.

When break-time arrived, Daniel told Dean that he needed to go and see
Adam and apologise for forgetting about the measuring session
yesterday. Dean pointed out that he really ought to go see the doctor
as well, since it was clear that his development-study partnership with
Trevor was at an end and if both Dean and Trevor were to carry on
taking part in the study they would need to be assigned new partners.

The three teens made their way over to Adam's room, pausing for a
moment en-route for Dean to talk to an older boy who he knew from his
kick-boxing classes.

"Sorry, I just needed to tell Graham that the time for the next
coaching session has been changed," Dean explained, as his older friend
departed. "Are you still interested in starting kick-boxing?" he asked
Jason.

"You bet I am," said Jason, eagerly. "I can't wait to get started."

"OK. The next proper class is on Saturday morning. You can come with me
then if you like."

"You can count me in," said Jason.

"Well you can count me out," added Daniel. "I don't mind coming to
watch, but there's no way I'll be joining in."

"What's the matter, scared I might be better than you?" Jason grinned.

"No I just don't like the idea of someone getting kicked," said Daniel.
"Especially when that someone is me."

They arrived at Adam's room to find the door closed. Daniel gave a
short knock and turned the handle, stepping forwards. The door didn't
move and he walked into it with a bump.

"It's locked," Jason observed.

"Yeah, I had sort of noticed," Daniel grimaced, rubbing his shoulder.

"Good job you only walked into it with your shoulder and not your face,
otherwise you'd be applying to join the 'You Bwoke My Nose' club," Dean
giggled. The other boys started laughing.

"Maybe Adam's got someone in there and he's locked the door so nobody
walks in while they're naked," Jason suggested.

"Could be." Daniel knocked again, more firmly this time. They all
listened and after a moment Daniel pressed his ear to the door but
could hear nothing. "No. It looks like he's not here." He shrugged.
"Maybe he's had to go somewhere. We can try again later."

The boys returned to their lessons, and double English with Mr.
Watkins. Daniel didn't mind this lesson, since they were reading
Golding's 'Lord of the Flies' and the mental image of a group of boys
running around naked on a remote island fuelled his imagination and
kept him interested in the story. He decided that if they could study
more books like this, English might quickly become his favourite
subject.

At lunchtime, the three friends made another visit to Adam's room, but
found the door still firmly locked with no sign of the doctor. Jason
suggested that they could try again after school, but in the meantime
they should go and get some lunch, before the canteen ran out of chips.

"You have chips every day," said Dean. "Why don't you have something a
bit healthier?"

"You mean like that rabbit food that you eat all the time?" Jason
countered. "I like chips."

They entered the dining room and joined the queue for the food hatch. A
moment later David and Carl Benson joined behind them.

"Watcha, Crusher," laughed Carl, putting an arm around Jason's throat
in a pretend choke-hold. "Broke any more noses recently?"

"I'll break yours if you don't let go!" Jason replied, wriggling free.
He gave Carl a grin.

"Any more trouble from McBride?" asked David.

"No, he's too busy sulking," said Daniel.

"Good," said David. "But watch yourselves. He's a right evil bastard,
that one. He won't like it that you've made him look stupid in front of
everybody."

"We've no need, to worry," said Daniel, making light of what he knew
could be quite a serious problem at some time in the near future. "Not
when we've got Crusher here to look after us." He gave Jason a jab with
his elbow.

"How about you?" Carl asked Dean. "How are things going now that
everybody knows that the famous Dean Williams is a gay-boy?"

Dean flinched slightly at the term 'gay-boy', even though it was clear
from Carl's tone that he meant no real offence. "It's OK," he said.
"Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Some people look at me a
bit funny, and sometimes I've seen people looking at me and whispering
to each other, but most people don't seem to care."

"If they do care, sod 'em," said Carl.

They all shuffled forwards as the queue moved.

"By the way," said Carl. "What was that guy called, the one who was
there with the Doc last week in the gym?"

"You mean Craig?" said Daniel.

Carl nodded. "Craig. That's what I thought." He turned to his brother.
"I told you that it must be the guy who was in gym." He turned back to
Daniel. "Do you know anything about him? Is he a friend of the Doc's?"

"Yeah, sort of," said Daniel, cautiously. "Why are you asking?"

"Just something Dad told us this morning," said Carl. "He's a porter
over at St. Thomas' Hospital and last night he was working the night-
shift.  He said that late last night Doc Lomax arrived at the hospital
in a right a state - he knew the Doc, what with us being in this
Development Study thing. Anyway, it turned out that he was there
because this guy Craig had been admitted, brought in by ambulance about
half an hour earlier. Somebody had stuck a knife in him. Sounds like he
was in a pretty bad way. The doc was real cut up about it."

Daniel felt his entire world wobble and he automatically grabbed a hold
of Jason's arm. He felt liked he'd been punched in the stomach and his
legs had gone so weak that they didn't want to support him. "Craig?" he
mumbled. "You sure it was Craig?"

"Dad said they called the guy Craig," said Carl. "That's why I asked
what the guy in the gym was called." He looked concerned. "Are you OK?"

"It can't be Craig," said Daniel, desperately shaking his head. It
couldn't possibly be. No one would want to stab Craig.

"Maybe it's not that Craig," said Carl. "Maybe it's just a coincidence;
someone with same name. I don't know many people called Craig though."

Daniel looked at Jason, whose face had gone white. Then he turned to
Dean. "Have you got your mobile?"

"Sure." Dean dug his phone from his pocket and handed it to Daniel.

Daniel had been fishing around in his wallet for the card that held
Adam's mobile number. He accepted the phone and, after Dean had shown
him how to turn it on, he dialled the number with trembling fingers.
After a few seconds a voice came on asking if he wanted to leave a
message. He turned off the phone and started dialling Craig's mobile
number, which was scrawled on the back of the card.

"Turn off that phone!" Mrs. Bell, the teacher on dinner-duty that day,
was striding towards the boys. "You know the rules. You are not allowed
to use phones inside school buildings. Now turn it off and give it to
me. You can collect it from the office at the end of the day."

"Give him a break," snapped David, stepping between Daniel and the
teacher. "He's just found out that a friend of his was stabbed last
night and is in serious condition in hospital. He's trying to find out
what's happening."

"Yes, well, that's beside the point," the teacher stammered. "He
shouldn't be using that phone in here."

"Fine," said David, glaring at the teacher. "Then we'll just have to go
outside, won't we?"

Daniel had ignored the exchange and continued dialling the number, only
to get the same result as he'd had when he'd tried to contact Adam:
Craig's phone was also turned off. He felt hands on his shoulders and
allowed himself to be guided from the dinning hall out into the open
air.

"I've got to go to the hospital," he said, to no one in particular.

"I'm coming with you," said Jason.

Dean put his hand on Daniel's arm. "How are you going to get there?
It's too far to walk."

"Erm. I don't know." Daniel struggled to think straight. It was no good
calling his mother, since she would be at work. Bus? "What buses go to
the hospital?"

The question was met with blank looks and shaking heads.

"Best thing is probably to get a taxi," said Carl.

"I can't," said Daniel. "I've only got two pounds. That wouldn't pay
for a taxi." He looked at Jason. "How much have you got?"

"One-fifty."

"I've got a couple of pounds," said Dean. "You can have that. But I
still don't think that will be enough."

Carl put his hand into his pocket and took out a five pound note.
"Here, take this. With the other money it should get you to the
hospital. You should be able to pick up a taxi from the office on
Winston road."

"Thanks," said Daniel, accepting the money. "Thanks. Erm, I'll call you
later," he said to Dean. Then he hurried towards the school gates,
Jason at his side.

The taxi journey to the hospital seemed to take forever. The traffic
was bad and all of the traffic lights were against them. Daniel sat
staring through the front window, willing the taxi to make better
progress. He kept telling himself that this would all turn out to be a
silly misunderstanding, since he couldn't imagine anyone ever wanting
to hurt Craig. But deep down, he knew that it was no misunderstanding.
It had really happened. Carl had said that Adam had arrived at the
hospital in a state. The doctor was always so calm and under control,
and for him to get worked up about anything it had to be something
really serious. Which could only mean that Craig really had been badly
hurt.

They finally arrived at the hospital and the taxi drew up outside of
the main door. Daniel paid the driver, and the two teens climbed out.
The journey to the hospital had cost them almost all of their money,
which meant that they didn't have enough left to get home. But that was
a problem for later.

"Where do we go now?" asked Jason, staring at the confusing plethora of
signs, pointing in every direction. Most of the signs contained words
that meant nothing at all to either of the boys.

"There," said Daniel. "We'll try that." He pointed to a sign that said
"Accident and Emergency Department". If Craig had been brought in with
a knife wound then that would certainly have been classed as an
emergency.

They followed the signs, arriving in waiting area full rows of chairs.
Many of the chairs were taken by bored-looking people, most of whom
looked as though they had probably been sitting there for some time.
There were other people milling around, including uniformed nurses and
other hospital staff. Daniel spotted a desk marked 'Reception - All new
arrivals please check in" at the far end of the room and he headed over.

A man was standing at the desk, giving some details to the
receptionist, a middle-aged woman. He stood with his right arm held
close to his chest. A rough-looking bandage was wrapped around his
right hand and blood had started to seep through. The receptionist
unhurriedly asked the man various questions and almost casually entered
up each answer on the computer in front of her.

Daniel glanced at Jason, giving his friend a helpless look. Why was
this taking so long? Even his mother, who was hopeless when it came to
computers, could type faster than this stupid receptionist.

At last the man moved away from the desk and Daniel quickly took his
place. "We're looking for someone," he said.

"Yes?" The receptionist raised a questioning eyebrow.

"His name is Craig. He was brought in last night some time."

"What's his full name?"

Daniel paused. He didn't know Craig's second name. He was sure that
Craig must have mentioned it at some stage, but the boy really couldn't
bring to mind what it might be. "Erm, I don't know," he said. "His
first name is Craig and he was brought in last night," he repeated,
almost desperately. "Someone told us he'd been stabbed."

"But you don't know his full name?" Again the raised eyebrow. The woman
frowned. She turned her attention to the computer screen and tapped on
the keys for what seemed like an age. "Are you family?" she asked,
eventually.

"No," said Daniel.

"Yes," said Jason, quickly, nudging Daniel with his elbow.

The woman's frown deepened. "You're family, but you don't know his
second name. Right." She put on a firm, no-nonsense expression. "I'm
sorry, I can't tell you anything if you aren't family."

"But you've got to," Daniel pleaded. "At least tell us if he's OK."

"I'm sorry."

"But..." Daniel tried to think of something to say that might persuade
the woman to help them. "He's a friend of Doctor Lomax. Adam Lomax.
We're friends as well. Can't you call Doctor Lomax or something, and
let him know that we're here?"

The Receptionist frowned again. "I'm not aware of a Doctor Lomax on the
staff at the hospital." She tapped at the keyboard again and then shook
her head. "No, we have no Doctor Lomax."

"Oh for fuck's sake," snarled Jason, losing what little cool he had.
"We only want to know if Craig is alright. What's so fucking difficult
about that?"

The woman glowered at him. "If the two of you don't move away from this
desk right now, I'm going to call security." She glanced meaningfully
at a uniformed security guard who stood a short distance away beside
one of the doors.

Fuming, Daniel stepped away from the desk. "What did you have to go and
swear at her for?" he muttered to Jason.

"The cow wasn't going to tell us anything anyway," Jason replied. "You
weren't exactly getting very far."

"OK, so now what are we going to do?" Daniel demanded.

"How should I know? Maybe we can ask one of the doctors or the nurses
or someone. Hang on a minute." Jason was looking intently across the
room. Suddenly he set off at a trot. "Bill!" he shouted, calling to a
figure who was disappearing through the set of double doors next to
where the security guard was standing. "Bill, hold up!"

It took Daniel a moment to place the man, and then he remembered. It
was the old professor who had been at Adam's get-together and had stood
talking to them for a while about video games. Daniel quickly hurried
after Jason.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Bill hadn't heard Jason's calls since he
continued through the doors and they swung shut behind him. Jason
reached the doors, which were clearly marked "No Admittance" and made
it half-way through before the security guard caught his arm and hauled
him back.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"Gerroff me!" Jason shouted, struggling. "Bill!" he shouted, again.

"We need to speak to the professor. It's important," Daniel told the
guard.

"Well you can't go through there," said the guard. "You'll have to go
to reception and ask them to page him."

"Fuck that!" Jason snapped, angrily. He managed to yank himself away
from the man's grasp and charged through the doors.

"Hey! Come back here!" the guard yelled, rushing through after the
fleeing teen.

Cursing under his breath, Daniel followed the pair. Jason was going to
get them thrown out of the hospital, and then they would never get to
see Craig.

The doors opened onto a bare corridor that turned a corner after a few
yards. Jason made it as far as the corner before the guard once more
had him in hand, this time holding him with a secure grip from which
there would be no easy escape.

"Bill!" Jason shouted.

The man, who had been about to enter one of the rooms that led off the
corridor, turned in their direction. He looked tired and drawn, and for
a moment there was no sign that he recognised the boys. Then he gave a
weak smile and started back towards them. "It's Jason isn't it?" he
said. "And, erm, Darren?"

"Daniel," said Daniel."

"Yes, sorry, of course. Daniel." He turned to the guard. "It's alright
Mike, I know these two. I'll take care of them."

"But..." The guard looked uncertain and then, with obvious reluctance
he let go of Jason. "If you say so professor." Shaking his head, he
turned and walked back along the corridor.

As soon as the guard started to walk away, Daniel and Jason both
started to talk at once.

"How's Craig?" Daniel asked, urgently. "Can we see him?"

"Somebody told us something had happened to Craig. Is he OK?" demanded
Jason.

Bill held up his hands in a calming gesture. "Craig is up in the ICU,"
he said. "He appears to be stable at the moment, but I'm afraid that
his condition is quite serious."

"What happened?" asked Daniel, his voice shaking. He'd been desperately
hoping that this had all been a big mix-up and that Craig would turn
out to be OK.

Bill smiled grimly and put a gentle hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Why
don't you go back and wait for me in the reception area? There's
something that I need to take care of but it should only take me a few
minutes, and then I'll come out and collect you and take you up to see
him. Adam is up there. He can probably tell you more about what
happened than I can."

True to his word, Bill collected the boys from the reception area
around ten minutes later. The lift took them up several floors and then
they followed the man along various corridors, their feet squeaking on
the hard, polished floors.

"I hate hospitals," Jason muttered, as he walked beside Daniel. "They
smell funny."

Daniel gave his friend a forced smile. "I don't like them either." The
distinctive smell and the general atmosphere that permeated the place
was doing nothing to relieve Daniel's worries. In fact, he was feeling
an increasing sense of apprehension. Bill had said that Craig's
condition was serious. What if he didn't make it? The boy tried to
swallow passed the growing lump in his throat. No, that was something
that he wasn't even going to let himself think about.

A sign hanging from the ceiling said that they had arrived at the
Intensive Care Unit. Bill took a sudden left turn and pushed through
some double doors. This new corridor had windows along the walls,
allowing the boys to see into the rooms that they were passing. The
first room was empty. In the second room they could make out a figure
laid on a bed and a nurse bending over adjusting what looked to be some
sort of plastic mask on the person's face. Bill stopped at the window
of the third room. Inside, on the bed, pale and unmoving and with his
eyes closed, was Craig. Daniel sucked in a quick sharp breath.

"Don't worry, it's not quite as scary as it looks," said Bill, gently.
"Craig is hooked up to all of those machines so that they can keep an
eye on him and make sure he doesn't have any problems. Do you want to
go in?"

"Can we?" asked Daniel.

Bill nodded. "I don't see why not. The sister in charge will no doubt
grumble, but that's part of her job description. I'll sort her out.
You're going to have to be very quiet though. Craig is very weak and
needs to rest and build up his strength. You can talk to Adam, as long
as you keep your voices down. Actually it will probably do Adam good to
have someone to talk to besides me." He held open the door for the boys
to enter.

On entering the room, Daniel's eyes went immediately to Craig. The
older teen was laid on his back, covered up to his mid-chest with a
blanket. His upper chest was bare except for a couple of pads which
were attached by wires to one of the several machines that stood beside
the bed. Craig looked to be asleep, his chest rising and falling very
slightly with each shallow breath. Daniel momentarily closed his eyes
and swallowed hard. It was heartbreaking to see his friend like this
and it was that all he could do to keep the tears back.

On a chair beside the bed sat Adam. The young doctor looked, if
anything, in a worse state than Craig. He was unshaven, his hair was an
untidy mess and his eyes were red and sunken. He looked up, clearly
surprised to see the two young teens.

"We heard about Craig at school," Daniel explained, nervously, suddenly
feeling like an intruder. "The Benson twins - their dad works at the
hospital. They said somebody had stabbed Craig, and so we had to come
to make sure that he was OK." His voice cracked as he said this last
part.

Adam nodded and gave a tired smiled. "I'm glad you came. I'm sure Craig
will be pleased to see you. Get yourselves some chairs and come and sit
down."

There was a spare chair against the wall, and Bill quickly brought in
another from somewhere outside of the room. Daniel pulled up one of the
chairs, next to Adam. Jason offered the other chair to Bill, but the
old professor shook his head and explained that he wasn't staying. He
had some things to see to but would be back in a little while.

"How is he?" Daniel asked Adam, after Bill had gone.

"He's doing OK now," said Adam. "But it was touch and go for a while.
He spent half the night in theatre getting patched up. He was in a real
mess. He's going to be very weak for a while. He's asleep most of the
time, but he's been awake a couple of times."

"What happened?" asked Jason.

Adam sighed and shook his head. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong
time." He rubbed his hand tiredly across his forehead. "He went out
last night to get a takeaway. It was my idea," he said, bitterly.
"While he was waiting for the food, a gang of teens came in. They were
rowdy and they'd been drinking. They started being abusive to Mr. Han,
the takeaway owner, and then they started throwing things around. Craig
tried reasoning with them and asked them to stop. Things escalated and
one of the gang pulled a knife. Craig was stabbed twice in the stomach."

"Oh shit!" Jason gasped.

"There were plenty of witnesses and the police have already picked up
several of the gang, including the boy who had the knife." Adam lowered
his head and looked at his hands which were clenched in his lap. Then
he looked at Craig. "The boy who knifed Craig was only fourteen years
old."

Daniel felt his mouth fall open in shock. He felt a surge of anger,
which battled with disbelief. His mind struggled to comprehend how
someone of his own age could do a thing like that. How could anyone of
any age do a thing like that? "He's going to be OK, isn't he?" he
asked. "Now that they've fixed him up he's going be alright."

Adam nodded and he smiled, though his eyes were pools of unspoken
worry. "He's tough, and he's stubborn. He won't let this beat him."

"Are you talking about me?" The voice from the bed was little more than
a hoarse whisper.

"Craig!" Daniel sat forwarded in his chair. "You're awake?"

"I am? That's a nuisance. If I'm awake it means that all this is real."
Craig gave a weak smile. "Damn I feel rough."

"You're going to be OK," said Daniel, trying to sound bright.

"So everyone keeps telling me," said Craig. "It's easy for them to say;
they're not the one full of holes. What time is it?"

"Just after 2:30," said Adam.

"You guys should be at school," said Craig, looking at Daniel and Jason.

"So should you," said Jason.

"I've got an excuse," said Craig. He gave a small cough. "I'm bored
with this. Someone else take a turn in this damned bed." He sighed and
then closed his eyes again.

As Craig appeared to drift off to sleep again, Daniel realised that he
was feeling a little happier. Just exchanging a few words with his
friend had lifted his spirits. He knew now that Craig was definitely
going to be OK. It might take a little while and plenty of rest, but he
would soon be back on his feet.

Time passed slowly. Daniel or Jason would occasionally speak to each
other or to Adam, but most of the time the three of them sat in
silence, watching Craig, lost in their own thoughts. Some time later,
Bill reappeared and told Adam that he ought to go and get some sleep,
and suggested that he could arrange for a bed to be made available here
at the hospital. Adam politely but firmly declined the invitation,
saying that he was fine where he was.

"You're just as stubborn now as you were when you were one of my
students," the old professor frowned.

"And you're just as domineering," Adam replied. "In fact, I think
getting older has made you worse." In spite of their words, it was
obvious to Daniel that the two men shared a deep friendship.

"You can at least go and get yourself cleaned up and get something to
eat," said Bill. "You won't be any good to Craig if you pass out from
hunger. I'll stay here with Craig until you get back. Take the boys
with you."

Adam looked set to refuse, but then appeared to change his mind. "Maybe
that's not such a bad idea," he admitted. "Did you two get any lunch?"
he asked the boys. They both shook their heads.

"We were in the lunch queue when we heard about Craig," Jason explained.

"In that case, come on. Let's go see what we can find." Adam got to his
feet and stretched.

"I'll have a cheeseburger," said Craig, his voice weak.

"I thought you were asleep," Adam smiled.

"No, I like laying here listening to what you have to say about me.
Funny how people only say nice things about you when you're ill."

"Well no cheeseburger for you, I'm afraid," said Adam. "Not for a
while. But when you get home we'll have a big party and you can make up
for all of the meals that you've missed."

"I'll hold you too that," said Craig. He closed his eyes again. Then he
gave a soft gasp. "Adam. I feel strange." There was a touch of fear in
his voice.

Concerned, Adam stepped closer to the bed. At almost the same moment,
an alarm started to sound from one of the machines. Adam immediately
leaped forwards and slapped his hand hard onto a red 'alarm' button
above the bed. "Craig?"

There was no response.

"Craig?" Adam said again, more urgently

A nurse rushed into the room. She ignored the occupants, moving
straight to the bed as she examined the readouts of the various
monitors. Another nurse followed and a few moments later a doctor.

"What's happening?" Daniel asked, now also on his feet.

Adam didn't reply. He was staring at the bed and shaking his head, his
face now paler than ever.

"Everybody out," the doctor ordered, as yet another nurse and doctor
arrived. "Get these people out of here."

"Come on, let's give them room to work," said Bill. His voice was calm,
but deep concern was clear on his face. "Adam?"

"I'm staying."

"No you're not. Come on, you can't stay."

"I'm staying," said Adam, more emphatically. "I'm a doctor, remember?"
He tried to push his way through the doctors and nurses who were now
down both sides of the bed, speaking quickly as they performed various
checks.

"You are coming with me," said Bill, taking Adam's arm. All traces of
the 'kindly old duffer' were gone. He glared at Adam. "These people are
better equipped and better qualified to help Craig than you are. So
stop getting in their way and let them do their job."

Adam seemed to collapse in on himself. He allowed Bill to lead him out
of the room into the corridor where the four of them watched helplessly
through one of the windows.

"I can't lose him, Bill. I can't." There were tears running down Adam's
cheeks. "Not like this."

"I know," said Bill, putting an arm around Adam's shoulders.

"This was how I first met him," said Adam. "After his overdose. He was
in ICU, just like this. And my first ever sight of him was through a
window, just like this. I can't lose him this same way."

"He pulled through that time, and he'll pull through this time," said
Bill.

Inside the room, the hospital staff had disconnected Craig from most of
the equipment and were hurriedly wheeling the bed out into the
corridor. Once clear of the doors they took off at a run. Adam and Bill
caught one of the doctors and they spoke briefly, too softly for Daniel
to catch the words.

"What's happening?" Daniel asked, tearfully as Adam leaned against the
wall, his face pressed into his arms.

"They're taking Craig back to theatre," said Bill, his face a mask of
worry. "He's bleeding internally."

"That's not good, is it?"

Bill shook his head. "No, that's not good." He turned away and hung his
head.

Daniel looked at Jason. There were tears on Jason's face. They came
together in a wordless hug, taking what comfort they could from each
other. "You're going to make it Craig. You're going to be OK," Daniel
heard himself mutter. And he wished that he were able to make himself
believe it.

**********

Following Craig's emergency return to the operating theatre, Bill
quickly took charge of the situation. He led Adam and the two boys to a
nearby room that was comfortably furnished with easy-chairs. The walls
were pastel colours and there were potted plants at various places. A
small table sat in the centre of the room complete with a variety of
magazines. The room was clearly designed for this sort of situation so
that family and friends would have somewhere comfortable and suitable
to wait out the tense period during which their loved ones were
undergoing surgery.

Adam moved as if in a trance, and Bill had to physically guide the
young doctor over to one of the chairs, where he sat with his head in
his hands, staring down at the floor.

Daniel and Jason took adjacent chairs, and each silently held onto the
other's hand, sharing their worry for their friend. Daniel looked at
Adam and wished that he could think of something to say that might
offer some sort of comfort to the man. But nothing would come. His head
felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool. His own anguish was so
intense that his chest hurt. Biting his lip, he offered up a silent
prayer to any god who might be listening that Craig would make it
through the surgery and come back to the people who loved him.

There was no clock anywhere on the walls - Daniel decided that this was
probably deliberate so that people wouldn't worry about how long the
surgery was taking. Though he also decided that if this was the reason,
then it was a silly one. After all, most people, had watches. He found
himself looking at his own watch every few minutes.

Between glances at his watch, Daniel found himself thinking about the
time that he had spent with Craig. It was strange how even though they
had only known each other for such a short time, the nineteen-year-old
had become such a big part of Daniel's life and thoughts. He'd never
before bonded with anyone as quickly and strongly as he had with Craig.
Over the past couple of weeks, Craig had become a friend and confidant
and a surrogate older brother all rolled into one. Whilst growing up,
Daniel had been pretty much starved of older male company. His father
had disappeared back when he was only four years old and there had been
no contact at all since that time. His mother had had occasional flings
over the years, but none of them had ever become serious and she had
been content to devote herself to bringing up her son. Daniel loved his
mother dearly, but that hadn't stopped him envying his friends who had
fathers and older brothers who they could do 'boy-things' with, and he
now realised that this was one of the reasons why he had taken to Craig
so quickly; Craig was the older brother that he had been missing for so
long. Craig was open and friendly and fun to be around. He had listened
to Daniel's problems and mess-ups without judging him, and responded
with helpful advice and a comforting hug. And now Craig's life was in
the balance and there was nothing that Daniel could do to help his
friend except to sit here and worry and pray.

"What's taking so long?" Daniel got to his feet and paced the length of
the room and back again. It was now over an hour since they had rushed
Craig back to theatre. The boy was feeling a growing sense of
frustration that no one had come to tell them anything. He looked at
Adam, who was still staring blankly at the floor. On impulse he walked
over and took the chair next to the young doctor and put his hand on
the man's arm. Adam responded with a bleak but grateful smile and put
his hand on top of Daniel's giving it a squeeze.

A few moments later, Bill came through the door. The old professor had
left them a short while earlier after taking the boys' telephone
numbers, suggesting that it would be a good idea to let their parents
know where they were. As he came into the room he shook his head in
response to the questioning looks that Daniel and Jason gave him.

"No news yet, I'm afraid," said Bill. "I did contact your parents
though. Your mother is on her way over, Daniel."

Daniel nodded.

"We've finally got a message back from Craig's parents," Bill told
Adam. "They're going to get the first available flight back, but it's
not likely that they will be here before some time tomorrow morning."
Daniel recalled Craig telling him that his parents were on holiday in
Egypt.

"Thanks Bill," Adam said. "I don't know what I would have done without
you here to sort things out."

"I need to be here and to help in any small way that I can," said Bill.
"You and Craig are like family to me." He walked over and took the seat
on the other side of Adam.

Daniel's mother arrived around twenty minutes later. As soon as he saw
her, Daniel felt his eyes well up with tears and he rushed forwards
into her arms. She hugged him tightly and stroked his head, telling him
that she was sure that Craig would be alright. Then she looked at Jason
who was looking lonely and miserable. "Come here," she said, holding
her arms open. Jason hesitated for just a moment and went to her and
received his own hug.

"I'm so sorry, Adam," said Daniel's mother, after releasing both of the
boys. "How are things? Has there been any news?"

"Nothing yet," Adam replied. Then he suddenly jumped to his feet as the
door opened and a man in a green surgeon's tunic came in.

The tension in the room was suddenly unbearable. It seemed as though no
one was breathing as they waited to hear what the man had to say.

"We've managed to stop the bleeding," said the surgeon, his voice
sounding calm but cautious. "However, Craig's condition is still
extremely serious."

"How serious?" asked Bill, his hand on Adam's arm.

The surgeon looked uncomfortable. "We've done everything we can for
him. Now I'm afraid that there is nothing else to be done but wait and
hope. Everything depends on how he responds in the next twelve hours or
so." It was clear from the unhappy expression on his face that he
didn't believe Craig's chances to be very good.

Adam let out a ragged, despairing sigh, almost a sob.

Daniel squeezed his mother's hand in his own, feeling like his heart
was going to break. Craig couldn't die. He just couldn't. He felt tears
running down his face.

Bill turned to face Adam and gripped the young man's shoulders. "Let's
not give up on him yet. He's made it this far. He'll pull through, just
you wait and see. Craig's not one to give in without a fight."

Adam closed his eyes for a moment as he fought to regain his composure.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at the surgeon. "I'd like to see him."

"Of course." The surgeon left with Adam close on his heels.

Daniel tried to follow, but Bill put out his hand and stopped the boy.
"Best not, son," he said. "Adam and Craig need some time alone."

"But..." Daniel looked from Bill to his mother through eyes blurred
with tears. What if Craig didn't make it? What if he didn't get the
chance to say goodbye? He turned away, sobbing. A moment later he felt
arms around him and was surprised to discover that they belonged to
Jason. The blond-haired boy also had tears on his face.

"I think it would be best to take the boys home," Bill said to Daniel's
mother. "It's going to be a long night for all of us, but they really
should try to get some sleep if they can. I'll give you a call in the
morning and let you know how things are."

"Thank you," the woman replied. "And please, give Adam our love and
tell him that we'll be thinking of him and praying for Craig."

"I will," said Bill. "Though I'm sure he already knows that."

The boys followed Daniel's mother out to the car park. Daniel moved as
though in a dream. He felt empty. This morning had started out so well.
Who would have believed that something like this could possibly happen?

"Right, let's get you two home," Mrs. Marshall said, as she held open
the rear door of the car for the boys to get in.

Daniel put one foot in the car and then stopped. "Mum, can Jason stay
over at our house tonight?" he asked. He glanced at Jason who looked
momentarily surprised but then gave a nod of agreement. Daniel knew
that waiting for news of Craig was going to be awful, but he felt that
it would at least help a little if Jason were there.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," the boy's mother replied. "It is a
school day tomorrow."

"Mum! We can't go to school until we know about Craig. Please Mum,"
Daniel begged.

The woman looked into her son's eyes and her expression softened.
"Alright, we'll see. We'll call round at Jason's house and if his
mother says it's alright then he can stay."

"Thanks Mum." Daniel gave his mother a grateful hug.

Jason's mother did finally agree to the sleepover, after a bit of
convincing from Daniel's mother, who appeared to realise how important
it was to the boys that they stay together. Jason collected a few
things that he would need and then it was on to Daniel's house.

While Daniel's mother prepared something to eat, the boys moved the
mattress from the bed in the spare room into Daniel's room. Daniel had
given Jason the option of sleeping in the spare room, but they both
agreed that they would rather be in the same room.

The meal was a meat pie with potatoes and vegetables. Daniel didn't
feel particularly hungry, but he surprised himself by eating
almost half of what was on his plate. Jason managed to clear his plate,
but then very little put Jason off his food.

After they had eaten, the two teens sat and watched TV for a while.
Though it didn't take long for them to realise that neither of them
were really watching what was on the screen. Daniel's thoughts kept
returning to Craig and all that he could see was the image of the
nineteen-year-old in the hospital bed, connected up to all the
machines, and Adam sitting beside the bed, his face etched with worry.
Jason must have been having similar thoughts since he kept looking
round at Daniel and at one point his hand sought out Daniel's.

"Craig will be OK," said Jason as the programme that they had been
pretending to watch came to a close.

"Yeah, I know," Daniel said, wanting to believing it. He sighed. "I
don't want to watch any more TV. Are you ready to go up to bed?"

"Yeah, if you want."

They said goodnight to Daniel's mother and made their way up the
stairs. Jason used the bathroom while Daniel stripped down to his
shorts, and then Daniel took his turn in the bathroom while Jason
undressed.

Daniel returned to the bedroom to find Jason sitting on the bed. He
looked tired and frightened as he sat there in his under-shorts, his
eyes were shiny with tears. Daniel sat down beside his friend and
wordlessly put his arm around Jason's shoulders.

"I keep thinking how Adam must be feeling," said Jason, his voice
unsteady. "What will Adam do if anything happens to Craig?"

"I don't know," said Daniel. "I suppose he'll manage, somehow, but I
don't know how."

They say in silence for a long time, neither boy speaking, Daniel still
with his arm around Jason. Daniel thought of how he would feel if
anything were to happen to Jason, and he automatically hugged the boy
tighter to him.

"I think we should get into bed," Daniel said, after a while.

"I guess." Jason said, sounding as though he would prefer to stay as
they were.

"Well, we can wait a while longer if you like, but we can't sit up like
this all night. We'll get cold for one thing."

"I just..." Jason started to speak but broke off.

"You just what?"

"It doesn't matter."

"No, tell me," Daniel insisted.

"I just like it when you hold me like this," Jason said. "It makes me
feel better." His body tensed as though he were embarrassed by what he
had said.

Daniel squeezed the boy to him, trying not to show his surprise at this
confession. "It makes me feel better too," he said.

Jason was quiet for a moment and then his body started to shake and it
took a moment for Daniel to realise that the boy was crying. "I... I
love you, Daniel," he said, his voice so soft that Daniel could hardly
hear it. "I don't ever want anything happen to you."

"I love you too, Jase. And nothing's going to happen to me," said
Daniel. "I promise. We'll always be together."

**********

Daniel gently nuzzled the velvety skin on the back of the boy's neck,
letting the soft, blond hair lightly tickle his face. He drew in a
deep, slow breath through his nose, sucking in the warm, subtle,
slightly musky scent that was indefinably yet quintessentially Jason.

Jason stirred in his sleep but didn't awaken, and Daniel snuggled up
closer to the boy, his bare chest pressed right up against Jason's
back, his hand on the boy's shoulder. This was the closest that the two
of them had ever been, not just in the physical sense, but also
emotionally. At this moment, Daniel felt an attachment to the young
teen that was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

It had been a difficult night; a night of worry and broken sleep.
Daniel's thoughts had constantly been with Craig, as he hoped and
prayed that the nineteen-year-old would make it through these dark
hours. Several times during the night he had woken with a start,
believing that Craig had died, and it had then taken a long time to
make himself relax and slow his pounding heart so that he could once
more try to sleep. The one source of comfort in those long hours had
been Jason. Just being close to the boy and able to hold him was a huge
help in fighting off the worry and fear that were at times almost
overwhelming in their intensity. Daniel wasn't entirely sure how the
decision for the two of them to sleep together in his single bed had
come about, but he was glad that it had. There had been no sexual
thoughts or motives in the decision. It had simply been a case of two
boys who cared deeply for each other, both emotionally exhausted, both
feeling an almost desperate need for physical comfort.

Daniel silently wondered what the time was. The darkness was starting
to lessen as dawn peeked through the closed bedroom curtains, so it
couldn't be far off time to get up. There was a clock on the bedside
cabinet, but the boy would have to roll over in order to see it, and
that would mean waking Jason. He decided to wait a little longer.

Jason sighed softly and moved in his sleep, pressing backwards into his
friend. Daniel lightly stroked the boy's upper arm until he settled.

Downstairs the telephone rang, sounding distant and almost unreal in
the darkness of the room. In his drowsy state, it took a moment for
Daniel to realise what it was. And then he froze, every muscle suddenly
going tense. Yesterday, at the hospital, Bill had promised to call this
morning to tell them what had happened in the night. The sound of the
telephone stopped after just two rings. Daniel's mother must have
answered it. The boy strained his ears to listen for the sound of her
voice as she spoke to the caller, but he could hear nothing. He wanted
to leap out of bed and rush downstairs, but he was too afraid to move.
His heart was pounding and his lungs had stopped working. With a great
effort, he forced himself to breathe. The seconds ticked by. What was
happening? Surely his mother had finished the call by now. Why hadn't
she come up to tell him what Bill had said? Craig had to be alright.
Please God, let Craig be alright.

After what felt like and eternity, there was a light tap on the bedroom
door. The door opened and the room was suddenly illuminated by light
from the landing. Daniel quickly sat up, screwing up his eyes against
the brightness as he tried to see his mother's face.

"Danny?" The woman stepped into the room and over to the bed where she
sat down on the edge.

Daniel at last managed to see her face and he almost sobbed with
relief. She was smiling.

"That was Adam on the phone," she said. "Craig woke up about an hour
ago. He's still in a serious condition, but it looks like he's going to
be OK."

"Oh God." Daniel's eyes filled with tears and he reached for his mother
and hugged her. Then he turned to Jason who was now sitting up and
sleepily rubbing his eyes and he hugged him as well. "Are they sure
that he's going to be alright?" he asked his mother.

She nodded. "As sure as they can be at the moment. Adam sounded pretty
positive."

"Can we go see him?" asked Daniel, excitedly.

"Yes of course you can." The boy's mother smiled as she gently stroked
his hair. Then her smile broadened. "I'll take you over to the hospital
as soon as you get home from school."

"But Mum..."

"After school, Daniel," she said, cutting off any argument. "Craig is
very weak and needs his rest. After school will be plenty soon enough
for you to go bothering him."

"I suppose," said Daniel, his relief at finding out that Craig was
going to be OK now tempered with disappointment that he was going to
have to wait until the evening before seeing him. He looked at his
mother and saw that she was looking at him with a questioning eyebrow
raised.

"This isn't quite what I had in mind when I agreed to Jason sleeping
over," the woman said, her eyes flicking from the boys to the empty,
unused mattress on the floor.

Daniel had been so worried about Craig that it hadn't occurred to him
what his mother must be thinking on discovering him in bed with Jason.
He suddenly realised how this must look. "We haven't been doing
anything," he said, quickly, his face heating up. "We only slept in the
same bed. We haven't been doing anything else."

"We've still got our shorts on," Jason added, looking like he wanted to
disappear under the bedclothes and never come out again.

Daniel's mother started to laugh. "Spare me the details," she said.
"There are some things that it's better for a mother not to know." She
got up from the bed. "I'll see you down at breakfast in a little while.
Don't be too long." She gave the boys a final amused look and then went
out, closing the door behind her.

"Oh shit!" Jason muttered. "She thinks we've been doing stuff. Shit!"

Daniel couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed by his mother or
amused by Jason. He decided that the embarrassment could wait until
later when he had to look his mother in the eyes, and he started to
chuckle.

"It's not funny," said Jason.

"It is kind of," Daniel laughed.

Jason gave his friend a shove, which only served to make Daniel laugh
even more.

"Besides, it doesn't matter what she thinks, since she seems cool with
it anyway," said Daniel, getting his laughter under control. "At least
Craig is going to be OK."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. His annoyed look disappeared and he gave a
relieved smile. "I'm really glad. I was so scared yesterday at the
hospital when they took him away."

"Me too. I didn't think we'd ever see him again." Daniel swallowed hard
as the memory of the events of the previous day brought a lump to his
throat. His emotions were all over the place. He didn't know whether he
wanted to laugh or cry or do both at the same time. His eyes met
Jason's and he saw his own emotions mirrored there. He tentatively took
Jason's hand in his own. "Did you mean it, what you said last night?"
he asked, in a soft voice.

"What?"

Daniel swallowed again, nervously. "When you said that you loved me?"

Jason lowered his eyes and a shy, embarrassed smile played briefly
across his lips. "I guess."

Daniel put his finger under Jason's chin and gently lifted the boy's
head. Then, his heart thumping, he leaned forwards and very lightly
kissed his friend on the lips.

Jason's eyes went wide. "Oh shit!" he muttered. He shook his head. "I'm
not sure..." He stopped.

"You're not sure what?"

"I'm not sure we should be doing stuff like that," said Jason, sounding
uncertain. He looked scared.

Daniel let go of Jason's chin and lowered his hand, letting the backs
of his fingers glide over Jason's slim, smooth chest. He continued
downwards over the boy's stomach, and when he reached the top of
Jason's undershorts, he slid his fingers down inside until he was
holding the young teen's soft cock. He held his breath, waiting for
Jason's reaction.

If it were possible, Jason's eyes widened even further. He looked to be
fighting some sort of internal battle with himself. "Oh shit, Daniel,"
he almost sobbed. "Oh fuck."

"I love you, Jase," said Daniel, allowing all of the pent up feelings
from the last few months to come out in that one simple statement. He
ran his hand slowly up and down over Jason's cock and balls. Getting no
immediate response, other than a slight frown, he again leaned forwards
and kissed the boy's lips. It was the very briefest of contacts. To his
surprise, as he pulled back, Jason followed him as though wanting to
prolong the contact, and then the boy must have realised what he was
doing and stopped himself, his frown deepening.

"I wish you'd stop doing that," Jason muttered.

"What?"

"This kissing stuff."

Daniel tried to hide a smile and failed. "You don't like it?"

"Boys don't kiss."

"Why not?"

"They just don't. They don't kiss other boys, anyway."

"OK, I won't kiss you if you don't want me to," said Daniel. He watched
Jason's face, wondering if that was a flicker of disappointment that he
saw in the boy's eyes. He continued to play with Jason's cock, feeling
it start to harden under his fingers. Jason, simply looked at him, but
didn't speak. Daniel was already fully hard, and it didn't take long
before Jason was in a similar condition.

"Maybe we should take our shorts off," Daniel suggested, nervously. He
was scared but excited at the same time. It was as though he was
leading Jason forwards into the unknown. Each small step was fraught
with possible danger, but the possible rewards were immense.

Jason swallowed and then gave a tiny nod. "OK," he said, sounding as
nervous as Daniel felt.

Trying not to appear too eager and excited, Daniel threw back the
bedclothes and quickly pulled off his shorts, revealing his aching
boner. He then helped Jason to remove his undershorts. The two boys lay
back down, face to face, their bodies almost but not quite touching in
the confined space of the single bed. Daniel let his eyes roam over
Jason's naked torso. He nervously licked his lips and then put out his
hand and caressed the boy's chest. Jason didn't move, but he did draw
in a short quick, breath. Daniel took this as a positive sign and
continued to stroke his hand over the boy's smooth chest and stomach.
After a few moments, Jason sighed and then, very hesitantly, he put his
hand on Daniel's chest. Daniel gave the boy an encouraging smile, which
Jason returned.

"You want to jerk off," ask Daniel.

"Yeah." Jason gave the slightest of nods.

Daniel lowered his hand and wrapped his fingers tightly around Jason's
solid erection. "Will you let me do it for you? You don't have to do
me. Not if you don't want to."

Jason appeared to think about this. "I guess we can do each other," he
said, with a slightly forced smile. He took hold of Daniel's cock and
gave it a gentle squeeze.

Daniel was unable to stop the happy grin that spread over his face. He
shuffled closer to the boy and put his arm around Jason's shoulders.
They were now laid side by side, their bodies touching all the way down
to their lower legs. He started to stroke Jason's cock, slowly at
first, then increasing the speed a little as Jason started to
reciprocate. This was so different to than anything that had gone
before. All of the touching and handling of each other's bodies as a
result of the measuring had been brilliant, but this was so much
better. This time they weren't touching because they had to, but
because they wanted to. This time the touching was special, because
their relationship had just moved up to a whole new level and a whole
new world of possibilities and experiences was now open for them to
explore together. Daniel giggled softly as he realised that he was
getting carried away. Perhaps they hadn't quite reached the 'whole new
world' yet, but they had certainly taken the first step.

Their mutual stroking continued, gradually increasing in pace as both
boys got more into what they were doing and lost themselves in the
pleasurable feelings that were coming from their young, teenaged
bodies. Jason's touch had been almost tentative at first, but he soon
got more into it, his grip around Daniel's hard shaft becoming much
firmer and more confident. Daniel alternated his stroking of Jason's
cock with feeling the boy's balls and brief excursions up the young
teen's chest; Jason's body was beautiful and Daniel wanted to touch
every inch of it.

Surprisingly, it was Jason who was the first to shoot. His cock started
to throb in Daniel's hand, and a moment later, spurts of cum were
shooting from the end, down onto their pressed-together bodies. Daniel
followed with his own orgasm just seconds later, most of the cum
spurting from his cock ending up on Jason. It felt wonderful. At was as
though this were the culmination of something that had been building
for so long, yet at the same time was the start of something new and
exciting.

Both boys lay back, breathing heavily from their exertions.

"That was so good," Daniel panted, when he could manage to speak.

"Yeah," Jason agreed. Then he grimaced as he looked down at himself.
"How come I got most of the stuff on me though?"

"You were just lucky, I guess," Daniel grinned. Then, without warning,
he rolled over on top of his friend, pinning Jason to the bed. Jason
tried to struggle, but Daniel caught the boy's flailing arms and held
them down on the pillow above his head.

"What're you doing?" Jason laughed, still fighting to free himself.

"You were complaining that you had more cum on you than I did, so I
thought I'd make us even," said Daniel. He began to slide up and down
on top of Jason, their bodies, all way down from their chest to their
spent cocks, rubbing together.

"Stop it!" Jason giggled. "You're a sicko!"

"Yeah, but you love me anyway," grinned Daniel. He stopped his sliding
and sat up, astride Jason's hips, still keeping a firm grip on the
boy's wrists. The fronts of both boys were now smeared with sticky cum.

"Look what you've done," said Jason, pulling a face. "We're covered in
the stuff."

"I'll help you wash it off if you like," Daniel suggested, brightly.

"You've no need to bother. I can manage," Jason replied, frowning.

"You're really cute when you're annoyed," Daniel smiled.

Jason struggled to keep his frown, but lost it and started giggling
again.

Daniel bent forwards and stopped the laughter with a kiss. It was only
a short kiss, but it was longer than either of the previous two.

"You said you wouldn't do that again," said Jason, as Daniel pulled
back.

Daniel smiled as he stroked an untidy lock of hair away from Jason's
face. "I lied."

**********

Can Daniel and Jason make it work? What's going
to happen with Dean? Will Craig make a full recovery? Are the 'terrible
twosome' Ben and Billy out of the picture? Everything will be revealed
as the story concludes in the huge final chapter - "Getting It Together"

Feedback is encouraged and always much appreciated. Email me at
gym@softhome.net or visit my discussion board at
http://www.gymnopedies.info for more stories, news and previews.

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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