Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 08:18:08 +0000
From: hank fawkins <frank778@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: Acceptance at Last - Chapter 1

All characters in this story are completely fictitious.  Any
similarities to anyone is coincidental. This story is about
a romance between men, so if that is not your thing then you
should cease now. Also unlike other stories this is more of
a slower moving story that is not  just sex, but a slower
story about the people in it and coming into their own, so
if you are looking for something to get off too quickly this
will not be it. If you have any comments feel free to e-mail
me at frank778@hotmail.co.uk Thanks,


Acceptance At Last
Chapter 1


Falling in love and staying in love is the hardest part of
life. Maybe it is because the right person has not come
along.

Christmas was spent with my family; my parents and my
sister's family. I drove over to my sister's place on
Christmas morning. This Christmas I am in between
relationships and at last I am at peace with myself that I
am single. JK had left in July after he decided that he
wanted to take a gap year to travel. JK is 35 years old and
was a travel agent. In May he had travelled to Vietnam as an
educational for the agency. In his words, `It was the best
10 days of my life. We saw civilisation and culture in the
cities, extreme poverty yet human kindness in the rural
areas and sadness on the old battlefields' The `we' he spoke
about were the other travel agents from different agencies.
When he returned all he could speak about was Vietnam and I
encouraged him to  read about the country and the conflicts
during the early part of the 20th century with the French.
This was much less known than the USA forces in Vietnam
during the `60's and `70's

Being twelve years older than JK, I remembered the end of
the USA/Vietnam conflict and the surrender of the South
Vietnamese. The more he read the more he was determined to
go back and through his agency, he found an outreach
adventure group that needed volunteers. It all happened so
quickly, one minute he was part of my life and the next he
was gone. Our last night together was spent with friends and
it was only after 1am that we finally got into bed. JK was
so excited about his trip and I did not want to spoil the
last few hours with him.

Our bedroom had an en suite bathroom with shower and I
showered whilst JK bathed. The shower glass was clear and I
looked down at JK lying on his back in the bath. He was
athletically built. His shoulders were wide from swimming at
a county level, his chest and rest of his body were
hairless, except for his groin area. His stomach was flat
even though he did not have a six pack. The best part of his
body was his legs which were muscular and lean from his
swimming days. I looked over at his penis and found myself
getting hard. His size was normal and he was uncut yet had
very large balls. Looking over at him made me realise that I
would not be seeing him for a year.

Tears came to my eyes and I ran the water over them not to
let JK see this. He was watching me too with a smile on his
face. JK loved to bath and I enjoyed showering. Often after
my shower I would get into the bath and lie on top of him
and start kissing him all over. Tonight I did not want to do
this and switched off the taps and got out the shower
enclosure and started towel drying myself. JK turned to me
and said, `I am going to miss you' I replied and said, `I
love you so much and I am going to miss you too'

He said, `I love you too and you know I will be back. At
last I have found something that has given me focus and I
want to see it through. It will only be a year and maybe I
will be back sooner if things do not work out. Even though I
did not want to say this I said to him that `It is important
you do this because if you don't you will always regret it'
He  climbed out the bath and took off my towel which I had
tied around my waist and hugged me. He was still wet but I
did not care. JK then held my face in his hands and kissed
me tenderly on the lips. His kisses always made me want more
and I kissed him back deeply. Before we knew it we were on
the bed and then his mobile starting ringing. I said to him,
`Leave it, it must be a wrong number' It kept on ringing and
JK moved over me to pick it up. It was his brother who
informed him that his dad had been rushed to hospital with
chest pains. His mom was very concerned and wanted JK to be
there. JK placed the phone back on the receiver and turned
to me ashen faced. I asked him what was wrong and he relayed
his conversation.

He dressed immediately and rushed off to the hospital.
Thankfully he was back in the early hours of the morning to
say that his dad's tests came back negative and that all he
needed was rest from the stressful time he was having at
work. I wondered whether JK's trip had been an issue too. We
were then too tired and fell asleep in each other's arms. We
woke at 6am to the ringing of the alarm clock and JK jumped
into the shower. I put on a shirt and jeans and made him
coffee before taking him to the airport. I hate good-byes
and this time it was no better. We said our good-byes
outside the terminal with JK saying that he will connect his
email as soon as he gets to Vietnam. I walked back to the
car with tears streaming down my face and the next month was
a blur.

Every move I made I thought of him. I smelt him in our bed,
on my clothes, in my cupboard and in the car. My family
started calling me lost puppy. I could not stop talking
about him to friends; updating them on his exploits. In
September the emails back from him started to become less
frequent and then 10 days went by without an email. I was
frantic however I continued to send him a daily update. Then
the Dear Johnny email arrived.JK mentioned that he had met a
Vietnamese guy and he had fallen in love. This guy was a
guide for their adventure group and he would be returning
with JK in May when his year was finished. I was devastated
and immediately wrote back to him imploring him to
reconsider. I have not yet had a reply back from the four
further emails I sent. My friends then told me that if I
sent another email, they will confiscate my laptop!

October to December passed by in more of a blur and I hardly
ventured out of the house except to the gym in the morning
before work in the city. My sex drive had reduced to zero,
to me below zero and nothing my friends could do or say made
me snap out of my depression until early December outside
the gym.

I was running late and was rushing out of the gym. I had had
a heavy session in the weights area and had overrun my time.
I am not one of these body builder types and I use weights
to maintain muscle mass or for me, lean muscle mass. As I
stepped out on the pavement I fell over a street person who
was lying across the doorway.  My gym bag went one direction
and I went the other. As I was falling, I was thinking that
this person had not been lying here earlier and why had I
not noticed the person lying there. I did not fall heavily
and soon I was on my feet again and ready to tell the person
off.

I opened my mouth to say something when the blanket opened
and a bloody face looked up at me. I could not see whether
it was a male or female as the person's face was badly
battered. I asked, `What happened to you?' and the reply
came, `I was robbed last night and then kicked in the face'
I immediately said, `You need to go to hospital. I will take
you' As I lifted the person up, I realised that the person
was a male. He had one blanket and nothing else. He said,
`They took everything, my money, my clothes and books. I met
them yesterday in the park and I thought they were friends.'

I half carried him to my car in the car park and took him to
the nearest hospital. At the emergency entrance I realised
it was the same hospital that JK's dad had been to a few
months earlier. The reception that he received was very
different to the reception that JK's dad must have received.
Juan, I was told his name on the way to the hospital, was
told to wait in the reception area. I decided to wait with
him and phoned my office to let them know that I would be
late..

In the time that we were waiting Juan was very quiet for the
first part and after buying him an orange juice, he opened
up. He told me that he had been to university in Manchester
and had graduated with honours in Politics and History. He
then went to a law firm in London where he did his articles
and qualified as an attorney after three years. He decided
to take a break and went travelling for a year. During the
latter part of his trip he was contacted by the British
Embassy informing him that his parents had been killed. He
flew back immediately to London and flew into a media storm
and it was found that his father had been fuelling his
gambling habit and was technically bankrupt when he dies.
Juan told me that the gambling syndicate had hired a hitman
to pressurise his father and this hitman had gone too far
and killed his mom and dad.

This had happened a year ago and since their deaths he had
not worked as he had firstly had to sort out the estate and
then he had lost all interest in day to day life. He said,
`I am 29 years old and until this morning I had nothing to
live for. As these people were hitting me, I realised I did
not want to die and thought about all the things I want to
achieve.'  Juan said that he ran away from these people
until he could run no more and the next thing he knew I was
falling over him. Juan and I waited for over three hours and
only after I went over to reception on three different
occasions did they lead him to a room where he was told to
wash before the consultant was to see him

Juan came back to the reception area and said to me, `Thanks
a stack, you have done more than enough and I really
appreciate your time. I am sure that I will be helped now.'
I started to say that I wanted to stay and he stopped me and
said, `It is fine, thank you once again.' I gave him my
mobile and home number and said that he must call when he
gets out of hospital. I said that I would not take no for an
answer. Walking out to the car I realised that my problems
over the past few months were miniscule compared to Juan's
and that I was wallowing in my own self pity. There and then
I decided to take back control of my life and live it.

Juan did not call that day and on the Saturday morning, I
returned to the hospital to find out when he was discharged.
The receptionist informed me that she was unable to supply
any information unless I was next of kin. I explained that I
had helped him but this was not enough for her to relent. I
walked out dejectedly and was near the car when someone
called out my name. I turned and the receptionist came
towards me. She said, `I know that this is breaking the
rules, his name is Juan McGregor and he was discharged the
same day. He said that he was going to the St Luke's
shelter.' I thanked her for going out of her way and that
the information was most helpful.

I decided to drive over to St Luke's shelter immediately.
Walking up to the building , I noticed a few street people
walking out. Juan was not amongst them and I entered the
building. I walked into a hall where there was a hive of
activity with people boxing up items in one area, others
ironing and a number of other people painting. One person
asked, `Can I help you?'

I explained that I was looking for Juan and this person
directed me to a small office in the back of the hall. I
walked over and the person in the office looked up and I
greeted her and asked whether she knew of Juan and where he
could be. She mentioned, `He stays here every night and
every morning he leaves after breakfast. He comes back
around 6pm. If you want to see him, it is best that you come
back after 6pm. I thanked her and said I would be back after
6pm.

I decided to be there at 5.30pm as I did not want to make
Juan uncomfortable in his new surroundings. I parked the car
outside St Lukes at 5.30pm and waited. At this time of the
year it is dark and I had difficulty making out people
walking into the building, firstly because of the light and
secondly that most people had hoodies over their head or
beanies on their head. I realised too that I had seen Juan
when his face was bloodied and swollen. I then saw a person
who could be in and I opened the car door to get out. The
sound of the car opening and the interior light made the
person turn towards the car and recognition appeared on
Juan's face when he recognised the car and me.

His voice sounded accusatory when he asked, `What are you
doing here?' I said, `I came to find out how you are' Juan
then asked, `Why? Is it only because you can tell your
friends that you helped a homeless guy?'

I decided not to rise to the bait and answered that I had
been to the hospital to look for him and that they had told
me that he was at the shelter. I noticed that he was wearing
the same clothes on the day that I took him to the hospital.
I wanted to say that as we were a similar size that I had
clothes at home that could replace the ones that were stolen
but I did not know how to put it without sounding
condescending. I decided that I had nothing to lose and
said, `I know that you had your clothes stolen and I have
clothes I am throwing out and I wondered whether you would
like to see whether any would be suitable.' I was surprised
when he said, `Thanks, Nick, Have you the clothes in the
car?

I knew that I did not and my hesitation in answering made
Juan say, `If you haven't, can you bring the clothes to the
shelter and if they do not suit me, I can hand it over to
the shelter.' I was embarrassed as I realised that he did
not want to impose by coming with me to my apartment. I
said, `Juan, I would like you to come over to my apartment
and fetch the clothes if that is OK?'

He hesitated in answering and I could see the uncertainty in
his eyes and I said, `It is around 10 minutes away and we
can be back in half an hour if you have other arrangements.'
I could see the relief in his eyes and he said, `That's
great, I do not have anything else on however I need to be
at the shelter by shutout time which is 9pm'

We walked back to the car and I opened the car with my key
fob. He got in and I realised that compared to the previous
time, he did not smell. His clothes may have been old but
they were clean. He was very quiet en route to my apartment
but it did not feel uncomfortable at all. I parked in the
underground parking area and we took the lift to the
apartment. My apartment is on the 4th floor and has great
views over the Docklands area.

I said to Juan to make himself at home in the living area
and asked whether he would like a drink. He asked whether I
had orange juice and I said yes and walked over to the open
plan kitchen area. He sat down on the one sofa and I noticed
that he had picked up a book that I was currently reading.
He said, `I saw the review of this book in The Big Issue,
how are you finding it?' Coming over with the two OJ's, I
said that I did not usually read love stories however the
review that I had read mentioned a good sub-plot and this
piqued my interest. I did not want to push the gay theme
however Juan said, `I read that the gay hero is not that in
your face compared to other novels' I said, `Yes, you are
right. The gay theme is not all encompassing and that is why
I am enjoying it. The other gay novels I have read have been
the first page as introduction and the next 99 pages of sex'

Juan then said, `Are you gay?' I told him that I was. Juan
then said that he was bisexual and that he had his first guy
experience when he went on his gap year. He had met up with
an Australian, Sean in Singapore and had spent the next two
weeks with him. He became quiet and said that his parents'
murder had meant that he had left Singapore Sean and had not
heard from him even though they had swopped emails. Juan
said that he had sent numerous emails in the beginning
however did not have access since he had been on the
streets.  I said, `Do you want to use my laptop to check
your emails and I will sort out the clothes whilst you do
so?' He said great and I went to fetch my laptop.



Next chapter . Christmas and the holidays