Date: Sat, 02 Aug 2003 00:59:54 +0000 From: Adelhardt H. <adelhardth@hotmail.com> Subject: i-know-danny-1 Hello everybody, I'm back! This story is in 5 parts, and I'll post them quickly for your enjoyment. I also wrote: "A Little Bit About Me, Alex" (gay college) "Always Joey" (gay highschool) Thanks, Adelhardt @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I Know Danny April 18, 2003: The new apartment was bigger than my old one, but it didn't feel as much like home. I really didn't want to move, but I had to do so to get a job. I'm a software programmer, and in my business you take what you can get. I'd been really lucky to get this job and I wasn't complaining, but I would rather have stayed in my old place near my friends and family. Oh well. At least I didn't move that far away. "That's the last box," my brother said, putting it down. "Want us to help you unpack?" "Nah," I said. "I'll do all that later. Let's just get that pizza and have a beer." "Amen to that," he grinned. "Guys, come on up. He's finally paying up." "At last," Paul yelled up the stairs. "I'm parched!" A handful of my friends had helped me move my stuff. I knew they expected beer and pizza, and I was more than willing to provide. "You're always parched, Paul," I commented. "Never denied it," he laughed. "I'm Irish, remember?" "Here," I said, throwing them a six pack. "Don't let Paul drink it all." "All? Is this all there is?" Laughlin asked, shocked. "Yes," I said, trying to keep a straight face. "I'm a professional now. In my world you get what you deserve, and frankly, you didn't work hard enough to earn more." "But that's like one each!" "Yeah," Brian nodded, grabbing the six pack. "In fact there's seven of us. And I know who's not getting any!" He fixed me with an angry glare. "Fortunately there's a 7-Eleven round the corner," my brother said. His name's Kevin. "Run along and get some, kiddo." "No, guys," I said, biting my lip to keep from smiling. "I'm starting a new life. From now on there'll be no drinking or anything, not in this apartment. The beer you're drinking now is like a goodbye-to-alcohol beer. Enjoy it. It's the last you'll get from me. But I have plenty of orange juice." Several of my friends stared at me, slack-jawed. You'd think they'd know me well enough by then... "Yeah yeah, enough with that," Paul grinned. "This beer will be gone before you come back. Better go now, homo." "Straights," I sighed. "Always drinking. Sad, sad." "Found them!" Kevin yelled in triumph. I'd stocked plenty of beer in the fridge. "Teetotaler my ass," Brian sneered. "You were kidding!" "No really, those aren't for drinking," I grinned. "They're ballast." "Ballast? What for?" "Uh.." Before I could think of something Paul had opened new beers for everyone except me and threw a lid at me. "Pizza," he said. "Pizzapizzapizza!!" "No, guys," I protested. "Not in my new apartment and new life. I saw a place down the street with vegetable platters to go. I thought we could try the celery and.." "PIZZA!!" they all yelled, throwing whatever was in their reach at me. "OK, OK, Geez," I laughed, shielding myself with my hands. "Pepperoni for me," Laughlin informed me. "Surprise, surprise," I said drolly. "Why not try something else for a change?" "Pepperoni," he answered. "Alright," I sighed, going round to the others to take orders. Then I phoned down to a pizzeria close by - in the same building as my apartment, in fact. "20 minutes, guys," I told them. "Make it go faster," Laughlin said. "Alright, if you come over here," I threatened. He just laughed. 20 minutes later I walked down the stairs and into the pizzeria. The pizzas weren't done yet (of course), so I sat down to wait. At first I didn't notice the guy near the counter behind a big man reading a paper. I just sat back and tried to relax from the mess of moving to a new place. But then I noticed him glancing at me, discreetly, but if there's one thing I've always been good at it's telling when I'm being checked out. Almost automatically I looked his way in return. Hm. Not bad. A little younger than me, maybe 20 or 21. Slim, medium height. Then I got a feeling I'd seen him before, but I didn't know where or when. I snuck another look at his face. He wore glasses but they didn't hide his eyes. I knew those eyes, I was sure. He noticed me looking and blushed. It was cute. Then it hit me. I did know him. "Danny!" I said. His eyes opened wide. o--------------------o0o--------------------o July 24, 2000: "Awesome place, guys!" Laughlin yelled. "This is so cool!" The three of us got out the car. Laughlin and Brian had arrived before us, probably on account of Laughlin's heavy foot on the gas pedal. "Where's Brian?" Kevin asked. "Putting the beer in the fridge," Laughlin replied. "First things first." I grabbed my bag. "Good thinking," I said. "I didn't think queers drank beer," Paul said, passing me. I'd only recently come out to my friends, and Paul was still in the 'this-is-weird-I-think' faze, but I wasn't worried. He'd come around. He slapped my back lightly without looking at me. That big softie. Couldn't even insult me without feeling guilty... "Yeah, Craig, we ain't got no strawberry daiquiri," Kevin grinned. "Shut up, gay basher," I grinned. "Did you guys pick bedrooms?" "Nope, go ahead. Did you see the beach?" "Yeah, man!" "Awesome." He pointed in the direction of the dunes. We could hear the sea nearby. "Brian's folks must be loaded." "Nah," Brian said, shrugging. "This place belonged to my grandmother." I searched through the house, which was medium sized with all the conveniences you needed. I picked the bedroom on the first floor. It had a view of the sea out one window, and because the house was built into the dunes the other window was only a few feet over the ground. I loved it. I opened the window and looked down on the others unloading the cars. "This is unbelievable!" I yelled. "There's no pool?" Laughlin asked. "Pool?" I yelled. "Freak! The sea is right there!" "Yeah, but still.." Laughlin shrugged. "Would be nice." "Shut up, man," Paul grinned, shaking his head. "I'm getting in that water," Kevin said. "I just am." "We all are," Paul said. "Who needs a pool? But let's eat and relax first. It's too warm to haul everything to the beach right now." "Haul everything?" Brian laughed. "Haul what? You only need a bathing suit, buddy. And it's, like, a two step walk from here!" "You don't even really need a bathing suit," Kevin added. "If it's too heavy for you, go without. Or we could carry it for you." "Shut up, guys," Paul smiled. "Maybe he means carrying his fat ass that far is too hard," I said, leaning out the window. There was a little bit of a breeze up there which was nice. "Or maybe he thinks his dick is so big he can't walk, it's so heavy," Brian said. "Call me crazy, guys, but I was thinking it'd be nice to bring drinks or something," Paul said, laughing. "Or towels." "Well, yeah," Kevin said. "After we eat. You're always in such a hurry, Paulie." "Hey! I'm the one who suggested we eat first," Paul protested. "Whatever." Kevin shrugged. "Are we eating or what? Anyone else in favor of my idea that we eat something?" "Hey! My idea!" "And drink something," Laughlin said. "The beer isn't cold," Brian pointed out. "Too bad Kevin didn't bring his girlfriend. We could ask her to put the cans between her legs and they'd be freezing in no time!" Laughlin grinned. "Hey!" Kevin punched him on the shoulder. "She's not frigid!" "Well something's got to be wrong with her if she's going out with him," Laughlin whispered loudly to Brian. I closed the window and went downstairs, missing the rest of the conversation. We made sandwiches and ate them on the brick terrace in front of the house, drinking warm beer and talking. "A whole week! Man, this is too cool!" "Seven days of beer, swimming and relaxing," Kevin sighed. "And babes," Laughlin added. "No. Sorry," I said with a straight face. "What?" "Didn't you see the sign down the road?" "What sign?" I sighed. "Are you guys blind or something? Didn't you see that the beaches around here are one gender? This one down here is for men, and up north it's women." "What? Women can't use this beach right here?" Laughlin asked, horrified. "Well, they can, but only out of season. From May to September it's Men Only." "Shit." Laughlin fell back in his wooden chair. "At least you'll be happy then, gay dude." "Relax," I continued. "The women's beach isn't far away. If you go inland with a pair of binoculars and climb up a tree I'm sure you'll be able to see as many boobs as you want." He narrowed his eyes. I knew he was about to realize I'd been joking. "Wait a minute," he said slowly. Brian and Kevin exploded with laughter. "Man!" Kevin gasped. "How could you read all that from a sign when you were passing by in a car?!" Laughlin asked, outraged. "You're joking!" I grinned wide, nodding. "Sorry!" "Asshole!" "Why do the gays always have to lie?" Paul asked, shaking his head. "They don't have to, they just want to," I replied. "Are we going swimming or what?" "There'd better be some babes on that beach or I'll beat you up, Craig!" Laughlin growled, unbuttoning his shirt while glaring at me. "Hey!" I laughed, holding up my hands. "It's was just a joke." "But you may have jinxed it," Paul smiled. "Come on, guys, with my luck it'll be exclusively female," I said. "So, it's my bad luck against yours in a cosmic struggle," Laughlin mumbled. "I'm not betting on yours." Laughlin has just failed his last exam, and to say that it bugged him would be a gross understatement. "I swear, if I have to hear about your bad luck on that exam ONE MORE TIME..." Paul complained, pushing down his pants. "Man! The guy had SAID not to worry about chapter 4 at all, and the asshole comes up with a question like that...!" "Bla bla bla!" Kevin interrupted. "Listen, man, we all feel sorry for you, but please... let's make the next hour whine free, K?" "You saying I whine, pretty boy?" Laughlin said. "Pretty boy? I think you're confusing me with my brother," Kevin protested. "I'm HANDSOME, not pretty," I said, rolling my eyes. "We've been over this." "Whatever," Laughlin mumbled, rummaging in his bag for his speedos. I was interested to see if they'd change in front of me, now that they all knew I was gay. I hoped they would, not because I wanted to see them naked but because I wanted things to be like before I came out. Or as close as possible. Kevin just stripped completely and casually pulled on his bathing suit. I sent him a grateful thought. We hadn't discussed it but I'm sure he knew what I was thinking. Laughlin followed suit, and so did I, and I tried very hard to show Paul and Brian that I wasn't trying to get a look at their naked asses. Brian hesitated a little and glanced my way out of the corner of his eyes, but then he just pushed off his underwear and pulled on his red speedos. He was very deliberate once he did it, almost as if he was trying to prove a point. Paul fidgeted a little with his bathing suit, pretending to go through his bag. No one said anything, but no one had to. It was the kind of situation where everybody knows what's going on and everybody pretends nothing is going on... Finally he just shrugged a little and pulled down his briefs. I couldn't hold back a small smile in relief. "Last man in the water is a fag!" I yelled, sprinting over the dunes. "Hey, not fair!" someone yelled behind me, but they all raced after me. The water was wonderful, cool but not cold and with hardly any waves at all. I threw myself into it, enjoying in immensely. "So Paul, anything you want to tell us?" Brian grinned, teasing Paul who was the last of us to jump in. "Not fair! You guys had a head start," he complained. "Doesn't matter," Laughlin grinned, spraying Paul with water. "Last man was a fag. It's a fact." "Well.." Paul began. "Couldn't let you be the only one, could I, honey?" he asked, sending me a kiss. "Eww," I grinned. "The dirty man is after me." "Just so you know, you're here with nothing but dirty men," Kevin said. "Tell me about it." "We should have brought beer," Laughlin observed. "Paul, go back and get some beer," Brian said. "What? Why me?" "You lost the race to get in the water," Brian said like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. "What? You have to be kidding me!" Paul wailed. "I don't want to go back." "Let's have a vote. Who's in favor of sending Paul back? OK, plus me.. that's four. Against? One. Sorry, buddy. You lose," Kevin said. "I knew it was a mistake for your folks to let you study social science," Paul growled. Then he sighed. "OK. I'll go." "Great," Brian said. "Hurry." Paul sent him the death stare before wading back on the beach. When he was out of the water Laughlin yelled, "bring some towels too." "And sun lotion," I added. "And blankets," Brian said. "And my book," Kevin chimed in. "And my sunglasses," Laughlin grinned. "And the ball," Kevin said. "You guys suck!" Paul grinned. "I can't carry all that, you asses!" "I'll go with you," I volunteered, moving slowly through the water to get out. "Aww.." the other three guys said in unison. "Fuck you guys," Paul smiled. He and I walked up the path over the dunes and back to the house. We filled up a cooler with beer - still lukewarm, but no one cared - and put all the other stuff in a couple of plastic bags. I carried the cooler back to the beach, and he brought the bags. "Thanks, man," I said, not looking at him. "For what?" "You know.. for everything." "Uh.. no problem," he said awkwardly. He knew what I meant. Back on the beach we threw down the stuff, handed out beers and just enjoyed the water for about an hour or so. Then we got out the blankets and enjoyed the sun. The beach had been all but deserted when we arrived, but slowly other people were beginning to come. "Look at that one," Kevin said, lowering his book. "Oh yeah," Laughlin agreed. "Huh?" I said, intelligently. "Who?" "Not for you," Kevin said. "Tits." "Oh." I realized what girl he meant. "God! Is that book see through? How the hell did you see her? It's like you have a boob radar in your head!" "I do," he said, seriously. "You don't understand." "Actually I do," I said. "3 o'clock. Wow." Kevin and Laughlin looked the other way and saw the guys I meant playing beach volley. "Ugh!" Laughlin grinned. "Wrong," I laughed. "Not 'ugh' at all." "Guys, I'm bored," Brian said. "Want to play soccer or something?" "Sure," I said. "Nah," Laughlin and Kevin mumbled. "They're busy," I said, rolling my eyes. Paul grinned. "They can have her. Too slutty for me." "As if you don't like slutty," Kevin protested. "You're all over the slutty ones." "Wrong," Paul grinned. "I never tried anything with your girlfriend, did I?" "Oooh!" I laughed. "Asshole," Kevin grumbled, weakly throwing sand at Paul. "Paul? You in?" Brian asked. "Well yeah, but how can we play when we're only three people?" "We'll just kick the ball around," I said. "K." He got up and adjusted his sunglasses. "Hey! You guys want to play?" one of the beach volley guys asked. "My buddy and I against the three of you?" "You're on," I said before Brian or Paul could decline. I had no problem watching these guys run around sweaty next to me... "Figures," Brian snickered. "If you start fucking any of them I'm out." "We'd get a room!" I protested, grinning. We produced make shift goals and started playing. It was pretty warm but we had the beer to cool us down. Of course we got a little drunk that way, but hey... The three of us kicked their asses. Not that they were bad, but it was a huge advantage to be three against two. "How about your friends?" one of the tan guys asked. "Think they'll play with us?" "They're ogling some chick," Paul shrugged. "They probably have to stay on their fronts right now, if you know what I mean." "Eww," Brian grinned. "How about your friend?" I asked. The two guys looked doubtful. "We could always ask," they said, shrugging, so I jogged over to the boy on the blanket. He was a little thin but quite cute in his baggy shorts. His chest was naked. It looked nice. He looked to be a few years younger than me, I guessed 18. "Hi," I said. "I'm Craig." "Uh.. Danny." "Want to play with us, Danny? We're one short." He looked down, fidgeting with the checkered blanket. "No," he said. o--------------------o0o--------------------o April 18, 2003: "Danny!" I said. "Hi! Weren't you going to say hi to me?" He looked my way, smiling weakly. "You remember me?" "Sure," I said. "Just had to get around the glasses. When did you get those?" He got up and walked over to my table, sitting down, a little unsure. "Uh.. when I was 12. Well not this pair..! I mean.." He stuttered. "I didn't mean that pair in particular," I smiled. "No, of course not." He blushed. "I don't remember you wearing glasses though." "Uh.. contacts. I still use them sometimes." "And your hair was longer." "Yeah." He smiled a little. "I let it grow all that summer." "So, how've you been?" I asked. "You've grown." "Yeah." He smiled. "A little. Uh.. I've been good, thanks. You?" "Good, good." "And your brother and your friends?" "They're all OK. As a matter of fact they're at my place right now. They just helped me move, so I have to get them pizza.." "Yeah," he nodded with a small smile. "I understand." "I just moved here. Do you want to come back with me for some pizza and a beer?" "Uh, no thanks." He looked at his hands. "I kind of have plans." "Too bad," I said, wondering if he did have plans. "You live around here?" "Yeah, round the corner. I sometimes come here for the pita," he explained, directing his blue eyes at me. "Then let's get together sometimes." "Uh, sure." "I'll give you my cell phone number and you can just give me a call or something, K?" I asked, scribbling on a piece of paper I tore out of an old issue of the Post on the table. "Yeah, I will, thanks." He looked at the piece of paper I'd given him. "I, uh.. I don't have a phone.." "No problem," I said, sighing inwardly. I was willing to bet he did have a phone. I even imagined what would happen if it started ringing in his pocket right that minute.. But if he didn't want to have anything to do with me I couldn't make him. "Just give me a call if you want, K?" "Sure. Thanks." He smiled weakly and patted the pocket he'd put the phone number in. "Your pizzas are ready," the guy behind the counter told me, and I got up to pay him. "I have to go," I said to Danny. "Take care." "Yeah, thanks, you too. It was nice to see you again." "Yeah," I said, pocketing my credit card and grabbing the seven pizzas. I was getting a strange vibe from him, but I couldn't place it. He looked away when I looked at him. "Well, bye," he mumbled. "Bye," I said, trying to open the door with all the pizzas in my arms. "Oh, let me," Danny said, opening the door for me. "Thanks, man." "Uh.. no prob." I walked out on the street. "That was weird," I mumbled to myself. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ It doesn't end here! The story continues in I Know Danny part 2 (of 5) very soon. If you liked, or not, please tell me at: AdelhardtH@hotmail.com Thanks for reading.