Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2013 22:23:32 -0800 (PST)
From: Alan R <bayoudreamn@yahoo.com>
Subject: Quarterback: From the Inside / Chapter 5

Quarterback: From the Inside
Chapter 5

This story describes sexual relationships between young men and
women (possibly). If you find this offensive, stop now and go
visit someone else. If you continue and find this story
entertaining, let me know. Your feedback encourages and
inspires this story's development. Include positive criticisms in
your feedback when you respond to bayoudreamn@yahoo.com.


Chapter 5: DECISIONS


Late in the afternoon, Matt finally wandered to the place he'd been "going"
since hours before. He sat quietly on the front step awaiting release from
whatever haunts of his mind held him in place but refused to let him choose
to continue with his journey into the comfort of his best friends
embrace. Matt felt confident that this was the right place to be at this
time. Vicky would accept him when no one else would, no matter what fears
chased him and threatened his typical contentment. "She would understand,
wouldn't she?" he thought in quiet trepidation.

As is often the case, he didn't have to decide for himself. Some minutes
after sitting quietly in thoughtful discontent, the front door opened and
Vicky's dad stepped out. "Matt?!", he exclaimed with some measure of worry,
"are you ok? Did you knock?"

Regaining his bearings and composure, Matt answered with his usual
confident swagger "Mr. Darling, no... I didn't as a matter of fact. I was
just taking a moment to think about something that had been on my mind
earlier before I decided to see Vicky. I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to get
lost in my thoughts."

"That's no problem, Matt. I hope everything is ok. Do you need anything or
need any help with anything?"

"No, Mr Darling..." Matt continued with hesitation "....It's nothing. Is
Vicky at home?"

"Yes, I think she is. Come on in and you can go on down to her room. I'm
not sure what she's doing, she was talking to her uncle earlier. There's no
telling what those two are up to", he continued with a chuckle. "I'm so
happy they have each other. Sometimes, it seems her mother and I aren't as
atuned to her as he is so his influence is welcome and encouraged, I might
add. They've been so good for each other and she's helped him through tough
times herself. I can see how much he loves her and how doting. I dare say
that he feels indebted to her. She was the first to accept him, you know."

Mr. Darling never noticed the slight quiver in the strong jawline of the
athlete he addressed, or if he did he gave no outward sign.

"Thanks, Mr. Darling, and I think you are right....and.....well, thanks for
asking about me too," Matt answered sincerely and with respect. Mr. Darling
had always been encouraging and supportive of Matt and his relationship
with his daughter. Though he wondered what hidden feelings always lay
suppressed just under the surface of their friendly facade. Did his
daughter feel more for this handsome young athlete? Did he share those
feelings? Mr. Darling would never interfere but he wondered and hoped that
whatever feelings they shared they would be able to understand them and
sort them out amicably, protecting the supportive relationship they'd
developed over the past year. He and his wife would do everything in their
power to help them keep the wonderful friendship they had established, he'd
be sure of that. He turned again to continue out as Matt moved to the open
doorway and his friend somewhere within......

it was time??

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vicky lounged quietly on her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her solitary
abode. She'd played back her conversation with her uncle, reflected on his
kind care and concern and the quiet compassion with which he'd responded to
but avoided answering her questions and concerns. He was right, she knew,
there were no answers for him to give. This would be a dilemma only she
could unravel. Whatever feelings she had and however much of that was
shared with Matt was up to her to understand and communicate. Together,
they would talk and work this out together....just like they did everything
they ever faced in their friendship and in anything that applied to their
friendship. They were good for each other, always had been. And their
friendship had never faltered, regardless of the storms they faced. This
would be no different.......she would find a way......

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SOME HOURS EARLIER....

Diego's musings were interrupted this morning by muffled noises
nearby. This time there was no second guessing. He was sure that someone
else had entered this quiet reserve. He sat up from his rest and quietly
dusted off his T-shirt before rising to his feet and moving steathily
toward the sounds. Something was odd and he wanted to see what was going on
before he gave away his hidden presence. The area he was in was
remote. Though it wasn't heavily covered in undergrowth, it did offer some
measure of privacy. This was why he and Shawn had picked this place. They
liked the opportunity to get away. They enjoyed being able to escape the
concerns of life and come here and take advantage of the cool waters and
the escape. Here they could play in the waters, talk about where they were
in their lives and dream about their future with the umbrella of friendship
and solitude to protect them. Here Diego had no fear of his father's next
voyage into a life of crime that always threatened him, always threatened
to take his freedom and his very life away....just like it had done to his
mother. A single tear eased along his cheek as he moved quietly along in
his quest. Who had invaded his hideaway?

Diego wasn't prepared for what he saw in the clearing, just over a small
rise that separated his place of rest. Still hidden by topography and a
sparce stand of tall grasses that protected his advance, he crouched low
and observed this unexpected wonder. Before him the small clearing lay,
occupied only by two teens about his age. They were oblivious to all around
them. They were students at his school he knew. One, the black youth, was a
friend of Shawn's. Diego had spent some time around Jeremiah and had always
respected the boastful but caring comradarie he brought to the small group
of friends that Diego managed to maintain. He knew that Shawn was an
excellent judge of character and that the gentle giant selected those he
included in their group with utmost care. Jeremiah had always lived up to
that trust and their was no doubt that he was deserving of inclusion. There
was also the other part of friendship that now showed itself exposed to
Diego. The hidden pain that seemingly all of Shawn's friends carried. The
many times when Jeremiah reached out to Shawn to help him with something
Shawn kept close. The fear that he wouldn't share with Diego, that abided
in Jeremiah and completed his qualification as part of their inner
circle. Diego had not been prepared to see what he witnessed at this
moment, but he understood that this was the source of the pain that
Jeremiah hid.

Alone near the clearing, Diego witnessed Jeremiah laying facing the other
student, a white teammate Diego believed was named Grant. He was a
celebrity match for Jeremiah at the school for his athletic talent and
skills as well as his friendly socialization that netted a popular and
beautiful girlfriend and the great respect of his classmates! He was
expected to be on the homecoming court and possibly win the crown and was
well liked for student government considerations as well. Diego knew him
only casually and had not had many opportunities to talk to him. But as he
watched now, he was spellbound as the boy lay opposite Jeremiah and the two
of them enthusiastically sucked on the others cock, slurping and murmuring
lovingly as they enjoyed their supposed privacy.

Diego was not one to hold judgement, and had rarely thought of homosexual
activities or proclivities. He had always felt shamed by his own situation
and from that foundation he gained a tolerance for others. He accepted that
it was right to allow people to be themselves, to offer support like Shawn
did, and to help where he could. Though theft was required of him by his
father, he did not believe in stealing and did not believe in taking
material or immaterial things from others. And so he watched in wonder, not
disgust. He had never seen two men together like this and rarely thought of
things not relative to his current situation....but it wasn't
disgusting. Interesting?

As Diego watched, especially mindful of Grant as he slurped hungrily on the
dark cylinder of flesh that permeated his lips as his tongue washed along
its length, he was overwhelmed by the visions and sounds of their intimate
coupling. He was spellbound by the motion and attention to the others
response as the two boys continued in never ending endurance to bring joy
and ultimate euphoria to their partner. As he watched, he was unaware for
some time that he too began to respond to the visions before him. It had
been some time since Diego had allowed himself to enjoy the company of a
female and he did not currently have a girlfriend. Later, this would
explain...at least in his mind....the reaction that grew now from his place
of concealment. As it progressed, the consistent slurping, sucking, and
moaning and the accompanying visions of lips and tongues sliding along
ample endowments, the wet and slippery trails of desire that accompanied
them and the wonder of textures and accommodations for such long and thick
schlongs as they fulfilled mouths and teased the depths of eager throats
that opened hungrily to contain them as the dance to tease the juice of
life from the loins of the willing continued. All worked together to
stimulate his own response. A response he was slow to note and even slower
to admit. A response that would be excused, but would it be accepted? What
would the wonder he witnessed mean as he recounted it in later musings to
explain what he witnessed and what it meant about him?

Thoughts of this had just begun to enter his consciousness when a flicker
of light in the distance caught his attention and would soon almost make
him forget what lay before him. A sudden flicker of light, that drew his
attention to a stand of trees on the other side of the clearing. And there,
almost invisible stood someone else. Someone else who saw now what he had
been watching for sometime. He didn't recognize the teen, but the guy
standing beside him was VERY familiar. Matt had come to SWVH about a year
ago and Diego had always admired him. Immediately after entering the
school, it seemed, Matt had been "rescued" from high school social oblivion
by Diego's favored fantasy from afar, Vicky. Vicky was well liked at the
school and Diego had observed her from afar for some time before Matt came
to their school. But after Vicky met Matt, there was no opportunity to act
on his own fantasies and ask her out. Vicky was always with Matt, they were
peanut butter and jelly....always together. Diego had resolved to accept
the rumors that Matt and Vicky were off the market and completely exclusive
in their attention to each other and to the development of their own close
and probably intimate relationship.

They had just entered the threshold of the clearing, Diego realized. The
flicker of light a shaft of sunlight glinting off Matt's single hoop
earring as he'd moved along beside his friend when he stopped, spellbound
by what he saw before him. The boys came to a stop and stood unmoving and
therby virtually invisible on the edge of the small line of forest that
encircled that portion of the clearing. For some moments, they continued to
stand and watch in disbelief, clearly aware of what was happening but
unable to reconcile their perception of their friends with this new reality
so far removed from what they believed to be possible. As Diego watched,
the realization began to take hold in their expressions. The stranger first
came to realize what was displayed and Matt was not too far behind in
coming to terms with what he was seeing as well; but the involvement of his
close friend and their teammate took longer to process. Diego wondered what
thoughts raced through Matt's mind in those seconds. Wondered what he felt
about his friend. Then, however long thereafter, the thoughts blurring the
passage of time, Diego noted a movement next to Matt. He couldn't see
clearly but it appeared that the stranger had lowered his waistline and was
timidly stroking in rhythm to the action in the clearing. Then, as time
passed Matt looked over and saw what was happening. Diego caught a moment
of indecision and a multitude of flashes passed across Matt's visage as his
mind, apparently at war with conflicting emotions, raced toward a moment of
decision. Then, in matching timidity, Matt reached across and grasped his
friends member....stroking slowly, increasing in speed and intensity and
reflected in the decisiveness of thoughts long tenured and on the cusp of
realization. The shock superceded anything Diego had witnessed so far. This
was Matt! This was the guy he had watched as he took a long standing desire
from him and secured it in supposed exclusivity and timelessness.

Thoughts crashed as Diego tried to come to turns with what he saw. Were
Matt and Vicky a couple? Were they intimate? Were they exclusive? Was Matt
bisexual? Rumors and innuendos, facts and suppositions, beliefs and
observations all converging and re-emerging, clouding the confines of
consciousness and confusing what is and is only supposed to be.
Confirmation was not to surface soon....

As his thoughts warred, a new and more unimaginable reality was yet to be
observed as Matt moved once more, faintly turning his friend as he lowered
his friends waisline further and descended onto his knees before him and
then taking his cock in his hand again....leaning
forward.....hesitating......and closing eager lips softly on the hardening
member, seeking the depths of his desire. Diego noticed this was no
ordinary cock...it was longer and of sizable girth as those luscious lips
closed wantonly upon it and began to rise and fall to the fullness of
Matt's capacity. Softly seeking the essence of the stranger's
endowment. Was it seconds, minutes,...that Matt nursed hungrily upon his
friends manhood?? A decision had apparently been reached in those few
moments. Diego felt sure this was the first time anything like this had
happened to Matt, and he wondered what that masculine mouth would feel like
if he were in the strangers place!


____________________________________________________________________________________

BACK AT THE DARLING RESIDENCE, SEVERAL HOURS LATER

The sound of advancing footsteps, familiar and always welcome, broke the
reverie of Vicky's thoughtfulness. A moment had passed and new
opportunities were approaching. Vicky felt a time would never be more
appropriate than this moment and began to breath with purpose in
anticipation of the opening of a door and a life anew.

On the other side, hands sweating as he reached to knock and ask entrance,
Matt hesitated. He wasn't sure, but he'd always been decisive. He did know
that he had to talk to Vicky and it was always best to just come out and
say what was on his mind. Vicky was kind-hearted and keenly perceptive and
would not long tarry before noting any discomfort in her friend and
following up with a dogged perseverance to discover and assist in any way
in rooting the source of discontent from him. She made it a signature of
character to fearlessly fight for her friends, their happiness, and a sense
of satisfaction in their life. Whenever fear or disallusion were present,
she would quickly intervene. It was a characteristic that was loved by all
who shared that friendship with her, and only her sense of tolerance and
"doing right" by them was more beloved.

Seconds of eternity passed, and the knock finally came. Vicky arose from
her place of rest and went to the door, opening it slowly. Matt stood
before her, sunny and stunning Matt, he was nervous today....she could
sense it in his posture and she wondered if he had some sense of what she
had been thinking. She smiled and he returned her greeting in gleaming
white as she opened her arms and held him in a warm embrace, allowing him
to lift her slightly off her feet and carry her back into the room as the
door shut quietly behind them.

He was dressed in his exercise clothes and had apparently finished a long
and grueling set. This was no surprise. Matt was committed to his exercise
regimen with stark obsession, considering optimum athletic preparation and
performance to be a duty of supreme importance in his commitment to his
team and their success. She marveled at the masculine treasure before her
as he breathed deeply with fleeting exhaustion as his body transitioned to
a state of restfulness. His hair hung damp to his shoulders and framed the
lean face and pronounced musculature that descended from them in a wide "v"
from massive shoulders and arms to a narrow waist hidden under his attire
and extended to the long striated legs of a runner. She envisioned the
smooth chest and rippling abdominals that were hidden from view but framed
impressively in the rise of mountainous pectorals and the shadowed valleys
around them topping a concave midsection. As Matt lay back beside her, she
noted his waistline, the narrow frame and the bulging manhood and then,
falling into imagination again she thought of the muscular buttocks that
were currently hidden from her view but which commanded the eyes of
everyone in passing as they filled his jeans to capacity and brought eyes
to attention as he moved along unawares. There was a tension in Matt today,
and this was not the norm. It was the catalyst that broke her musings and
brought her attention back to his face. He was lying peacefully it seemed,
eyes closed, but the tell-tale pulsing in his cheeks awakened her sense of
compassion and friendship and stoked the fires of protection that defined
her.

"How are you, Matt?" It was a simple, typically carefree icebreaker for
conversation in a normal sense. But coming from Vicky, it caused a rise of
an eyebrow and a peeking eye from Matt.

"I'm fine," Matt said....almost convincingly.....it would have given pause
to anyone else. Astute, is not easily shaken....and Vicky continued her
course.

"I didn't expect you today. To what do I owe this nice surprise?!", she
asked enthusiastically.

"Well, I've been thinking about you and I decided I wanted to spend the day
with you....or the rest of the day with you, anyway. I went for a run this
morning."

"Where did you run?", she asked.

"At the park, and down by the lake", Matt replied off-handedly. He didn't
notice the flash of curiosity in Vicky's eye as he lay back with eyes
closed and breathing more slowly as he fell into restfulness.

"So what was going on at the park today," she asked. Matt was unaware of
her watchfulness, so he didn't notice that she caught the sudden catch in
his breath as she observed him knowingly.

"I met one of the guys from our game last night, one of the linebackers. He
crossed my path in the park and we decided to run around the lake. His name
is Eric. Do you know him?"

"Is he the short linebacker that talked to you at the game?"

"We didn't talk at the game," Matt corrected, "we just shook hands in
passing."

"Oh, I thought you talked to him," she opined.

"Today I did. He's a nice guy. I think we'll stay in touch." Matt noted a
tightness in his throat with this last admission.

"It wasn't awkward, the way the game ended last night?"

"It might have been," Matt allowed "but I told him I thought he played a
good game and acknowledged the play of my line keeping him away from me. He
seemed ok with that and we talked easily as we continued from there."

"So, when are you going to bring him by to meet me," Vicky asked with
curiosity.

" I don't know," Matt answered resignedly, "I had to take off quickly at
the end of our run and I don't know for sure how to contact him."

"Men," Vicky laughed "you can't even cultivate your friendship without
female assistance. It's kinda important to know how to contact somebody."

"I know," Matt answered defensively "I just had things on my mind and I'd
decided to come see you and I got lost in things and didn't get it before I
left."

Vicky was unsatisfied with the conversation so far. She felt that Matt was
troubled and wondered if anything at the park had motivated him to come to
see her. She remembered Jennifer's disclosures during the game last
night. She'd wanted to discuss Jennifer's suspicions about Jeremiah and
Grant. She was worried about them and thought that if the threat of trouble
from Alexis remained, Matt would need to be aware of what was going on so
that he could aid his friends if something came of Alexis suspicions. Matt
fell asleep as she remembered her talk earlier with her Uncle Jake. She lay
down beside Matt and turned to face him as she remembered, watching the
rise and fall of his chest and the twitch in his cheeks as his thoughts
troubled him even in sleep. She shook him softly, awakening him.

"Matt, I talked to Jennifer at the game last night?"

"emm, hmmm....you guys always talk at the games don't you? I thought that
was why she went with you, to catch you up?" He smiled...Vicky echoed the
smile.

"We do, but she said something that concerned me and I need your help with
it?" Matt raised up and looked at her, concern beginning to etch across his
features.

"ok, What do you need?

"She's worried about Grant and Alexis. They are fighting alot."

"They are always fighting," Matt stated in frustration "I've asked him why
he doesn't just move on. She has some hold on him I can't understand. She's
attractive, but to me she's completely different in character and
personality and I just can't understand why he likes her. But, I feel like
he has the right to make his own choices. I'm there for him, but I can't
decide for him. What can I do about it without overstepping that?"

"It's not that. It's what they fight about, according to Jennifer. Jennifer
thinks that Alexis thinks Grant has been cheating on her, and that's why
she fights with him. She doesn't think Alexis has told him about her
suspicions, but apparently she's talked some to Jennifer and maybe some
others. Jennifer says there have been some rumors about Grant for awhile
now."

Matt felt the color draining from his cheeks and beads of sweat coursing
over his face. "What kind of rumors?"

Vicky was fighting her own demons. Finding it hard to share what Jennifer
had so easily passed on to her. She wasn't like Jennifer, didn't like
spreading hearsay and felt guilty even now as she shared with Matt even
though her intentions were not to spread innuendoes but to enlist
support. As such, she didn't notice the slight lift in Matt's voice or the
change in his countenance.

"Well," Vicky began haltingly, "she says that it has to do with a rumor
about the park that started about a year ago." Matt blanched, Vicky
continued unawares, "apparently two young men, about our age, were caught
in a compromising situation in the park. A deal was reached with the few
witnesses to keep things quiet and keep the boys out of trouble. But
someone must not have kept the secret closely and word got out, though no
one knows who the young men were. There's been some supposition and Grant's
name came up."

Matt jumped up angrily. "You can't believe everything you hear!!" Matt
stormed.

Vicky was taken aback. Matt had always been calm and cool under pressure,
never one to blow up or lose control. It was a trait she found fascinating
and demanding respect. It was one of his more adorable qualities, Vicky
thought. She didn't feel disappointed by this uncharacteristic outburst but
she wondered about his state of mind earlier and wondered what could take
him so far out of his characteristic behavior to this point of escalation.

"Matt?!" Vicky recoiled slightly in her surprise.

Matt noticed her reaction and sat back, chagrined. "I'm sorry. I'm tired
and I wanted to talk to you today and I didn't expect that. I'm sorry, I
don't want you to be afraid....I don't usually do that."

"No, you don't.....what's wrong? Matt."

Matt sat back......slumped quietly and stared up at the ceiling.

"Are you in love with me?"