Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 10:18:25 +0100
From: Drew Hunt <drew.hunt@blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: The House On The Hill 22

This work is copyright.  I have given permission for a copy of this story
to be placed on the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission
agreement.  But This work may not be copied or archived onto any other
website or newsgroup without the prior written permission of the author.

This story is fiction, it didn't happen, to the best of the author's
knowledge no one in the story exists in real life.

If you have a problem with reading stories of a homosexual nature, then
bugger off.  Also you shouldn't read on if you are below the age of
consent, or you have the misfortune to reside in an area where reading and
downloading this kind of material is against the law.

I owe a huge debt of thanks to Tom W and Lars for nipping and tucking,
generally working the below into a much more readable narrative.

Chapter 22

The final lecture of the week was drawing to a close.  Scott Blake was
trying hard to concentrate, but it wasn't easy.  He'd soon be heading back
home to his two lovers, and he couldn't wait.  As he watched the professor
talking enthusiastically about upper respiratory infections, illustrating
his words by pointing to a series of diagrams on the overhead projector,
Scott looked down at the laptop computer which he'd been given as a going
away present.

The Blake's had gone up to Robbie and Carl's house for their usual Saturday
swim the day before Scott was due to leave for his new life in higher
education.  Scott had asked Chris if they could stay at home because he
just wanted to be alone with his brothers, but Chris had put his foot down
and told him that they were going.  The youngest Blake was unaware that he
was about to be treated to a going away party.

On entering the house, Carl had ushered the three brothers into the large
dining room; Chris and Danny were in on the surprise, and Danny had had
tremendous difficulty in keeping his mouth shut for the past week.

When Scott walked into the dining room, he gasped.  The place was decked
out with coloured streamers and balloons.  A huge sign saying 'Scott's
Surprise Party' was strung across the far wall.

"But, but . . . " he was lost for words.

His mother and her husband, as well as Larry Finch and Eric Townsend, the
Blake brother's unofficial fathers, were there, as were Ralph and Ian.

"We couldn't let you go off to university without a send-off, could we?"
Penny, Scott's mother, said, advancing on her youngest son.

"Oh, mum, I didn't think, well, all this fuss just for me."

"Silly boy," she crooned.  "You are a very special person, Scott.  Barry
and I love you very much, and so does everyone else in this room."

"Now you've got to open your presents before we eat," Robbie said.  He'd
had a huge amount of fun organising the party.  Chris had asked him a
couple of weeks earlier if they could do something a little special for
Scott on the last weekend before he headed off.  Chris certainly hadn't
expected anything as lavish as this, but Robbie and Carl had really taken
to the shy and soft-spoken teenager, and they wanted to send him off in
style.

"Presents?  Oh I, I . . ."

"Scott, your mum's right, although we haven't known you for long, Carl and
I, and Ben too, have grown to love you very much.  Now here, start with
this one."  Robbie handed Scott a long thin box.  "I'm told this'll come in
useful later on, maybe not quite yet, but it'll be there when you need it."

Scott tore off the paper to reveal a black leather case, opening it up, he
saw a stethoscope.  "Oh, wow!"  He put it round his neck.  "I'll really
look the part with this, won't I?" Although he was still rather surprised
and a little uncomfortable with all the attention, Scott couldn't help
sporting a huge grin.

"Now, Cub, Danny and I have bought you this, but Robbie had a hand in
choosing it."  Chris handed Scott a large wrapped box, which he tore into.

"Oh God!"  Scott stared at the printing on the box.  Robbie had, through
his contacts, got a state of the art laptop.

"It should be powerful enough for most of the applications you'll need to
run, there's another box around here somewhere with all the CD-ROM's and
what have you, but the software has all been pre-loaded.  The thing should
be portable enough for you to take to lectures, too."

"Oh, wow, um, it's, well it's great, thank you, thank you very much."
Scott was at a loss, he knew that such things were rather expensive; he'd
used the PC at home, and had wondered how he'd manage at Uni without it.

Larry and Eric had bought Scott several large reference tomes, which they
knew were on his reading list.  Penny and Barry gave their son a whole load
of new socks and boxer shorts.  Penny could never shake herself from the
notion that 'you can never have enough underwear'.  Believing that all
doctors' handwriting was illegible, Ralph and Ian gave Scott a gold-plated
pen set.

Once all the gifts had been opened, examined and gushed over, the food was
then brought in.  Scott noted that many of his favourites were on offer.

"Our Scott's always had a sweet tooth, haven't you?" Penny observed as
Sarah wheeled in a trolley laden with all kinds of desserts.  Fortunately
Scott had left room to get through three different puddings.

* * * * *

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, that, I think, wraps up all I want to tell you
about some of the little nasties which can befall the upper respiratory
tract," the Professor said as he switched off the OHP.

Scott saved his notes, switched off his laptop, slung it over his shoulder
and made his way out of the rapidly emptying lecture theatre.  His weekend
had officially started.

Scott's Peugeot joined the steady stream of traffic that chiefly consisted
of other students who were making their way to one of the other campuses,
to their halls of residence, or, in Scott's case, home.  He was glad that
his timetable of lectures and lab sessions allowed him to leave university
fairly early on Friday afternoons.  He'd only been in classes for a couple
of weeks; despite the fact that he thought he'd not be able to cope with
being away from his two lovers, Scott had surprised himself, and he was
really enjoying university life.  He was aware that the burden of work was
still pretty light, but he found the whole thing fascinating.

Scott had decided, despite concerned reservations from his family, to study
medicine.  He could pinpoint the day, the hour and the minute that he
realised he wanted to become a doctor.  It was when his big brother and
lover, Chris, had injured his knee on the rugby pitch.  Scott who was one
of the spectators had been rather frightened because he didn't know what
was going on or how he could help.  Chris and Danny had questioned their
brother about his motivation for wanting to pursue such a career path.
Chris had also enlisted the services of Larry Finch, who was a doctor, to
further test Scott's resolve.

"You could just take a first-aid course or something," Larry had told
Scott.  "If you want to be a doctor you'll have six years of university,
and it's a full-time course, there won't be any long summer breaks which
most other students have.  After that you have one year of supervised work,
and when you've survived that, there's the joys of being an underpaid and
overworked junior doctor to look forward to.  I know the government have
made things a little better recently, but I promise you, Scott, you won't
know what tiredness is until you've been on call for several days on the
trot."

"I don't care, I want a career in medicine," Scott insisted.

"It's not like you see on the TV, you know.  Dr Kildare wasn't real."

"I know that.  I know it'll be hard, and there'll be times when I'll regret
my decision, but, oh, I don't know, I just want to help people.  You know,
have someone come to me who's in pain or whatever, and I'll have the skills
to cure them."

"You won't be able to cure everyone.  Many conditions are chronic, the best
you'll be able to do is to alleviate their symptoms a little.  Then there
are the heartrending cases where you'll watch someone as they slowly fade
away in front of you.  Death isn't a pretty thing, and you'll feel so
bloody impotent at times because despite your many years of training,
there'll be bugger all you can do to help them."

"I could help make sure that their last few days are as pain-free as I can
make them.  And anyway, I'm not sure which branch of medicine I want to go
into.  I might want to specialise in Paediatrics."

"That can be very rewarding," Larry said.  "But if it's tough to see an old
person die, just think what it would be like to try and look after a little
child, who has spent most of it's life being irradiated and having toxic
chemicals injected into it, because the poor mite was born with an
incurable cancer."

"Well, I'll just have to keep a professional distance from that kind of
thing, won't I?"

"Do you think you'll be able to do that?  You're one of the sweetest young
men I know.  I'm not sure you'll be thick-skinned enough."

"Why are you trying to put me off, Dad Larry?"

"Because, love, you have to be sure that medicine is what you really want
to do.  It's a vocation, something you have to feel passionate about.  You
can't just base it on the fact that your brother hurt his knee once and you
felt helpless."

"I know that's what started me off, but of course it's grown a lot since
then."

"Scott, I have to say that if I were to choose a career for myself now, I
wouldn't touch medicine with a barge pole.  Being a GP, a family doctor,
has got more to do with accounting, paper shuffling and politics than you
might first think.  Sure there's still the patient contact, but honestly,
it isn't the romantic patting the patient's wrist as you visit their sick
bed a la Doctor Finlay's Casebook, you know."

"There must have been a reason why you chose to do it?"

"Oh, yeah, my reasons were pretty similar to yours, love.  I know I've
painted a bleak picture for you, because I think you need to know what it's
really like, but every now and again you come across a case that you've
managed to catch in its early stages, and because of your diagnostic
skills, you're pretty certain you've helped to save someone's life.  Okay,
if you end up being a GP like me, you'll have to pass the patient on to a
specialist for treatment, but it'll have been you who first spotted it.
That kind of thing makes all the other crap you have to shovel worth it."

"So you don't mind me following in my dad's footsteps, then?"

"Scott."  Larry wiped a stray tear from his eye.  "I'm a gay man, I never
thought I'd have kids of my own, but you and your two brothers have brought
more joy into both my and Eric's lives than you'll ever know.  I'm so
goddamned proud of you that you want to follow in your father's footsteps.
Yes, Scott, if medicine is what you want to do, then I'll help you in every
way I can."

Larry had been as good as his word.  He'd called in a few favours, which
got Scott interviews at some of the local universities; however, he'd told
his son that he'd need almost perfect exam grades to get into medicine,
something which the intelligent teenager had no problem in achieving.  Much
to Larry's delight, Scott had chosen to study at his alma mater, Liverpool
University.

Scott parked his car outside his house.  He knew that his big brother Chris
would still be at work doing whatever he did in the Department Of Work And
Pensions, but Scott was equally aware that his unofficially adopted
brother, Danny, would be at home, as he was on the early shift at the
hospital that week.

"Cub, I'm home!" Scott called out as he ran up the stairs to their bedroom.
Pushing open the door, Scott saw a naked Danny lying on the bed.  "Fwore,
just what I've been wanting to see all the time I've been driving."

"You better not have speeded," Danny said, lifting up his head and seeing
his lover do a rapid undress.

"No, course I didn't."  Scott discarded the last of his clothing before
leaping onto the bed and into Danny's arms.

The pair spent a couple of minutes with lips welded together, before Danny
had to break free in order to breathe.  "Jeez, Scott have you been saving
up your passion?"

"Yeah, course I have.  Who else do you think, apart from Lion, I'd be
snogging?"

"There's that cute girl in the bedroom opposite you," Danny laughed.

When Danny and Chris had gone with Scott to see him safely installed into
the halls of residence a couple of weeks earlier, Darla, a fine arts
student, dressed in the traditional uniform of black clothing from head to
foot, had spotted Scott and made it her business to get to know him.  Her
eyes almost popped out of her head, though, when she saw Chris emerge from
the lift carrying a couple of suitcases.  She soon realised that Chris was
merely visiting, but the younger, and maybe slightly cuter Scott was the
one who was moving in.  Darla had 'simply insisted' on helping Scott
unpack.  Even a man as unused to feminine whiles as Scott couldn't fail to
notice the barely concealed desire which Darla was exhibiting.

"Cub, don't remind me of that woman.  She was knocking on my bedroom door
last night, must have been nearly eleven o'clock, she had a jar of make-up
or something and she said 'Oh, I was wondering if a big strong man like you
could help a poor defenceless girl open this jar . . . '  I wouldn't care,
but the lid on the darn thing was pretty loose anyway."

Danny laughed.  "And was my brother cub in his PJ's and preparing for bed?"

"I don't wear Pyjamas as you know," Scott said, feeling along Danny's
muscular abdomen.  "God, I can tell rugby season's started again," he said
as he moved further down to Danny's muscular thighs.

"You're not telling me she saw you in your birthday suit?"  Danny lightly
squeezed Scott's bottom, he traced a finger down the arse crack, lingering
around the opening.

Scott groaned at the pleasant feelings of having his anus played with.
"No, I put on a pair of boxers before I opened the door.  Though when I'd
finally gotten rid of the pesky woman, I noticed that the fly of the shorts
was gaping open."

Danny laughed.

"I wondered why she kept looking at my crotch.  God, she's becoming a
menace.  Though I don't like coming out to people, I'm really tempted to
with her."

"She might look upon you as a challenge, you know, turn the cute gay boy
straight?"  Danny's finger slipped inside Scott's arse and he began to
wiggle it around.

Scott groaned even louder.  "I'll tell her that my brother Danny fancies
her, and he's asked me to give her his phone number."

"You git."  Danny found Scott's joy button and began to rub it.  He then
moved down to Scott's dripping manhood and engulfed it with practiced ease.

Once they'd relieved one another of a couple of rounds of stored up semen,
the two men cuddled together and began to talk about their week.  Although
Scott had spent at least half an hour every evening on his mobile phone
discussing what had happened to him, and finding out what was going on at
home, they still found plenty to talk about.

Scott was starting to realise that his absence wasn't causing his other
lovers to grow away from him.  He was beginning to accept how much of a
valued place he held within the pride, a point that Chris had tried to make
to him long before Scott had gone off to university.

Scott knew that during his time at home he'd be reminded on numerous
occasions how much he was loved.  He gave Danny another deep soulful kiss,
then lifted up his head and stared into his lover's eyes.  "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For just being there for me, at the other end of the phone.  Knowing that
you and Lion were batting for me has made all the difference.  There's
loads of kids, cause that's what a lot of them are, who sit in the student
union celebrating that they've gotten free of their families.  I just sit
there and I know that I've got a family, okay, it's an unusual one.  But I
know that they love me, and they'll be waiting for me with open arms, and,
yeah, stiff dicks, too," Scott giggled as he rubbed the said member.

"We're so proud of you, Scott.  I've not got the brains to go to Uni, and
Lion didn't go, so we're so glad you're going."

"And I'm really liking it."

"Despite the despicable Darla?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, despite her."

The phone rang then, Danny answered it, but soon passed it to Scott.

"Hello?"

"Hi, son, I thought you'd be home as soon as you could."

"Hi, Dad Larry."

"What are you doing?"

"Well, um, me and Danny are, well, getting re-acquainted."

Larry laughed.

The pair talked for a few minutes, Scott telling his dad the things he'd
learned that week, Larry recounting how different it all sounded from his
student days.

"Listen, love, I'll have to get off now, afternoon surgery's about to
start."

"Well, if you've got any tough cases you want some advice on, just give us
a ring."

Larry laughed, "Cheeky monkey, you've only been at college for two weeks
and you're already trying to take over the profession."

The pair said goodbye, and promised one another that they'd have a more
detailed discussion during Robbie and Carl's Saturday swim the next day.
Ever since Larry and Eric had attended Scott's surprise party, they'd been
included in the Saturday get-togethers, too.

* * * * *

Morgan Smith stared at the calendar on his PC's screen.  He had less than
two days of freedom remaining before he had to go back to the hell that was
school.  To Morgan, school was an exercise in survival.  The constant games
of cat and mouse with Lenny Short and his gang were taking their toll on
him.

Loneliness was Morgan's constant companion.  He lacked the confidence to
form a bond with any of his fellow pupils, so he tended to drift along with
the tide, very much by himself.

The nightly rounds of instant messaging with Darren were one of the few
bright spots in Morgan's life.  His parents' marriage, which had never been
particularly strong, was heading rapidly towards its close.  Morgan had
lost count of the number of times he'd put a pillow over his head to block
out the accusatory voices of the two adults as their seemingly endless
arguing continued to rage.

Darren had found out that Morgan had enjoyed a tenuous friendship with Ben
Powers, when the pair had gone to middle school together.  When half term
started, Darren had advised his 'cyber son', as Morgan had asked him to
call him, to get in touch with Ben and spend some of the holiday with him.
Morgan had rung Ben's old number, but it was no longer in use.  He then
remembered that he often called for Josh, the coloured kid who lived
opposite.  Morgan gathered his courage, and went across the street to ask
if they knew what had happened to Ben.

Nancy informed Morgan that Ben now lived up at 'The big house,' but he was
away during half term with her son Josh.

With drooping shoulders, Morgan re-crossed the street, went back into his
house, and ascended the stairs back to his bedroom.  Darren wasn't online,
so Morgan sent him an email, pouring out more of his troubles to his 'cyber
dad'.

The half term holidays passed all too quickly for Morgan.  He'd resisted
his mother's seemingly constant efforts to get him 'out to play with the
other kids.'  She, Morgan thought, just didn't understand what it was like
to be an unpopular kid, one who none of the others would associate with.
So he'd spent the holiday sequestered in his room, listening to music,
reading the latest Harry Potter novel again, and Instant Messaging with
Darren.

On the last Saturday before half term ended, Morgan rang Directory
Enquiries and got Ben's new number.

"Can I speak to Ben, please?" Morgan had asked tentatively when Sarah, a
voice that Morgan didn't recognise, answered the call.

"Is that you, Josh?"

"Err, no, it's Morgan."

"Oh," the voice obviously didn't know the name.  "I'll go and get him for
you."

Morgan heard the phone receiver at the other end being placed on a table.
A moment or two later he heard, "Hi, Morgan did you have a nice break from
school?"

"Um, well, it was okay, I suppose."

"Oh, right, me and Josh went to see my mum and her husband in Hereford, it
was really great."

"Oh, I see.  I was kinda wondering if you wanted to come over today and,
um, well, do something?" Morgan asked hopefully.

"Err, no, sorry, Dad and, um, Uncle Rob have got people coming round this
afternoon and I can't really get out of it."  Ben didn't want to get out of
going to the pool party; they were always a load of fun, and he'd felt
distinctly uncomfortable when he'd last gone round to Morgan's house
anyway.

"Oh, I see.  What about tomorrow?"  Morgan crossed his fingers.

"Oh, um, I always go to my Grandma and Granddad Powers for Sunday dinner,
then Josh said he was coming over."

Morgan wanted to invite himself round, too, but if Ben had said no, he
didn't think he could have handled the rejection.  "Right, well, um, that's
it then, I suppose.  Glad you had a nice holiday, bye."  Morgan put the
phone down before his voice gave away his feelings.  Sitting on his bed and
staring out of the window, Morgan blamed the whole mess on his parents for
not letting him go to St Winifred's with his friend.  St Winifred's didn't
have the likes of Lenny Short, he'd have been okay at that school, and his
only real friend went there.  But 'oh no,' his dad had been firm on the
matter, he didn't want his son learning things Popery.  Morgan had insisted
that there wasn't much religion taught at the school, but George Smith had
been adamant.  Morgan stood up, pulled out a book from the shelf, and tried
to lose himself in it; he'd speak to his cyber dad that night when he
finished work.

* * * * *

As he watched over the gathering of his friends at the now traditional
Saturday afternoon swims, Robbie was glad that he was able to provide a
safe meeting place for like-minded people.  The most recent recruits, Eric
and Larry, fitted in well.  They already knew Chris, Scott and Danny, so
there had been no awkwardness about explaining their rather unusual
situation.  The unlikely pairing of Ian and Ralph were in attendance as
usual, too.  He could see that his son Ben was having a great time riding
on Chris Blake's back as the latter coursed along the far lane of the pool.
Robbie, of course, was most thankful for the presence of his partner,
childhood sweetheart and all round good guy, Carl Powers.

Robbie had just returned from the kitchen with a tray full of soft drinks
for his guests.  "Okay, folks, refreshment time," he called out.  Everyone
climbed out of the pool and collected their drinks.

"Great set up you've got here," Eric announced.

"Yes, don't know why dad had the thing put in though, he couldn't swim, but
I'm glad it's being put to such good use," Robbie said, wondering if he
oughtn't to consider having more changing rooms built, there had been a
little waiting around as people queued to change earlier that afternoon.

"Since the pool in town closed, Larry and I haven't managed to get in our
usual exercise."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Larry leered.

"Please forgive him, he's just a dirty old man," Eric said, slapping his
partner on the behind.  "Behave, there are children present."

"Oh, don't worry about me," Ben spoke up.

"Thanks, it's great to be able to lark about a little more freely than we
could when we went to the public pool," Eric continued.

"Yes, I agree," Larry said.

A few of the younger members of the group decided to play a game of
Frisbee, however, Robbie, Eric, Larry and Ralph opted to sit round a table
and talk.

"Scott seems to be enjoying himself at university," Robbie observed.

"Oh, yes, it all sounds so different from my university days, but I'm glad
he's settling down to it.  We worried that his, well, shy and fairly
sheltered background would make the transition too hard," Larry said.

"He's made a couple of acquaintances at Uni, but no one he feels confident
enough about coming out to," Eric added.

"No, I didn't come out to many during my university days, either," Robbie
said.

"Oh, what did you read?"

"Mathematics."

"Oh, maths was something I was never fond of.  I knew enough to pass the
exams I needed, but I could never figure out why it was necessary to learn
complex equations, I mean, do they have any practical uses?" Eric asked.

Ralph was feeling rather lost with the conversation.  He'd left school with
very few qualifications.

"Well."  Robbie didn't want to embark upon a long dialogue of how maths
played a key role in many professions.  "Yes, I admit some of the more
esoteric aspects of the subject are hard to fit into one's daily life.  But
you'd be amazed at how statistics, for example, come into play when dealing
with things like market research, the analysis of stocks and shares and,
oh, well, plenty of other trades."  Robbie was fully aware that many didn't
share his enthusiasm for the subject.

"And where did you read maths?" Larry asked.

"At Exeter College . . ."

Ralph saw his chance to contribute to the conversation and spoke up
quickly.  "Oh, I've always loved Devon.  Mum and dad used to take me there
as a kid.  I used to love getting an iced-cream with a large dollop of
clotted cream on it."

"Yes, they are nice, aren't they?" Robbie didn't want to show Ralph up.
He, as Eric and Larry knew, was actually talking about Exeter College at
Oxford University.

The four moved onto other topics, Ralph was asked how the pool maintenance
business was fairing.

Eric then told a humorous tale concerning one of his patients who was so
afraid of his dentist's drill that she "clutched a copy of the Gideon's
Bible so tightly in her hand through the whole thing, you could see the
nail marks in the book's cover once I'd finished."

Robbie then spoke of the story of the misunderstanding he'd had with Simon
Featherstone and his late mother.

The four adults enjoyed themselves very much.

"Well, I suppose we better not let the youngsters have all the fun," Larry
said, rising to his feet.

"True," Robbie replied, getting up, walking to the deep end and diving into
the water.

* * * * *

Morgan kept looking at his watch; he knew that Darren would most probably
be online after six that night.  Darren was the joint manager of a PC
repair business; Morgan liked computers, too, so they had often spent hours
mulling over the various attributes of a new piece of hardware, which had
just come onto the market.  It was almost six, so Morgan fired up his PC
hoping to get hold of Darren.

Potterfan1208: dad, need ur help, it's just so shitty at the minute.

Daz693: what's wrong son?

Potterfan1208: took ur advice about my friend, Ben.  he got back from his
holiday yesterday, rang him up, but doesn't want to see me.

Daz693: why?

Potterfan1208: dunno, just too busy with his new friend.

Daz693: u've got no other friends u can go to?

Potterfan1208: nope, no one, the olds have just started arguing again, am
sick of it.  gonna run away.

Daz693: son, don't do that.  u've nowhere else to go.  i know it's not nice
at home, no friends and all that, but don't run.

Potterfan1208: why not?  parents don't love me, Ben don't want to know, i
get picked on at school all the time.  i'm fed up with it.

Daz693: i know it isn't easy for you at the minute, son, but it'll get
better, I'll help you.

Potterfan1208: can I come and live with my cyber dad?  i need someone
who'll love me, who'll give me a cuddle when I need one, and who won't
shout at me.

Daz693: i can't do that, son.  u know you can't live with me.  u have to
live with your mum and dad, that's the law.

Potterfan1208: the law is an ass.

Daz693: yep, son, it is, but it's still the law.

Potterfan1208: well if you won't let me live with you, then I'll do myself
in then.

Daz693: NO, MORGAN, DON'T DO THAT, YOU MUST PROMISE ME YOU WON'T DO THAT!

Potterfan1208: y not, no one loves me.

Daz693: is there a teacher you can talk to, the school counsellor or
someone?  son, please, please don't do anything stupid.

Potterfan1208: no one will listen.  I told them about Lenny, he stopped
picking on me for a bit, but he's started up again, i daren't go back to
school on Monday.  crying.

Daz693: son, please don't cry.

Potterfan1208: let me come and stay with u.  ur my last hope.  god mum and
dad are really going at it now.  one of 'em will slam the door in a minute
and leave the house, they always do. i hate it, mum's got some pills in the
bathroom cabinet, i can take those, won't hear 'em arguing anymore, then.

Daz693: please, Morgan, don't do anything until tomorrow, once you've had a
sleep on it, it'll all seem a bit easier.

Potterfan1208: y, it never has before.  dad, I'm frightened, i don't like
my life anymore.

Daz693: killing yourself isn't the answer, trust me, son, it isn't.
Promise me you won't do anything until u talk to me tomorrow?

Potterfan1208: and if i still think the same tomorrow, can I come and live
with u then?

Daz693; we'll talk about it tomorrow.

Potterfan1208: thanks dad.  it's gone quiet downstairs, hope it stops like
that.

Daz693: yes, son.  speak to u tomorrow.

Morgan took himself off-line, and crept downstairs to see if he could get
something to eat.  His mother was sitting on the sofa her head in her
hands.  His dad was nowhere to be seen.

"You okay, mum?"

Sue Smith looked up; she had tears in her eyes.  "You want some tea?"

Morgan was hungry, but he also needed some physical contact with another
human, too.  He needed to be reassured, valued, loved.  He advanced towards
his mother to give her a hug, but she pushed him away.  "You go and get
yourself some food, then love."  She stood up and went upstairs.

* * * * *

"Is it alright if me and Josh play some games on my computer?" Ben asked
Carl when Josh turned up at the house on Sunday afternoon.

"Yes, but, well, behave," Carl said.  He'd talked to Ben earlier that day
when he'd learned of Josh's visit.  Carl had sat his son down and asked him
to act responsibly with Josh.

"Dad, we're not gonna start making out in the middle of the hallway, you
know."

All this was coming about far too soon for Carl's liking.  Ben was only
twelve, 'nearly thirteen,' Carl could hear Ben say in his head, but he
thought he'd be spared this onerous parental duty for a few years yet; 'and
to have him fall in love with another boy'.  He just hoped he'd be able to
cope.

Ben and Josh raced upstairs, no sooner had they got behind Ben's bedroom
door before Josh picked him up.  "Has my bear cub missed me then?"  He
treated Ben to a kiss.  Ben had prayed that Josh wouldn't somehow go back
on his feelings whilst the two had been separated after returning from
Hereford.  He was overjoyed to see that Josh felt just as strongly as he'd
done previously.

"Oh, Bear, I've missed you, I really have.  And has my big brown bear
missed his cub, too?  Oh sorry, shouldn't call you brown, it's kinda
racist."

Josh treated Ben to a wide grin, exposing his beautifully white teeth.
"Don't be silly, I am brown, and I know you don't mean it in a nasty way.
And, yeah, I've missed my little 'white bear cub' very much.  Couldn't
sleep right last night without having him snuggled up next to me."

"No, I couldn't sleep properly, either.  We'll have to see if we're allowed
to have a sleep-over, maybe next weekend?"

"Okay, I'll try and work on the olds."

Ben laughed.  "Wanna see this cool game on my computer?  It's great with
the high speed connection."

"Sure."

There was only one chair in the room; Josh didn't know where he should sit.

"You have the chair, I'll sit in your lap," Ben giggled.

"Sure, okay."

The boys sat down, though it would be fair to say that they didn't give the
game their full attention.

* * * * *

Robbie and Carl were sitting together in the Drawing room.  The weather had
turned chilly, and Robbie had set the fire earlier that day, so he and Carl
could snuggle up together in front of it.  Robbie had adopted his usual
position of laying against Carl's left side, with Carl's arm loosely draped
over him.  If he concentrated hard, he could hear the wonderfully
reassuring sound of Carl's heart beating.

"What you thinking, love?" Robbie broke the silence to ask.

The two had reached a stage in their relationship where they didn't need to
constantly fill the silences with speech; they could quite contentedly just
sit in the same room together and not feel uncomfortable about it.

"Ben, and how quickly he's growing up.  It'll be his thirteenth birthday at
the end of November."

"Does it make you feel old?"

"A bit, yeah.  As a parent you kinda get ideas for what you'd like to have
your kid do."

"I guess so."  Robbie hadn't been a parent for very long.

"He asked me a few months ago, I think it was about when we first got back
in touch, if I was disappointed with him because of his arthritis.  He told
me that he'd not be able to play sports like I did, or even become a joiner
like me."

"What did you tell him?"

"I suppose before we found out about his disability, I wanted him to be a
carbon copy of me.  Suppose that's what every dad wants for his son, but
when I realised that he couldn't be, I wasn't disappointed.  Ben's got his
own talents, he's brainy, and so he'll be able to do things with his mind,
not like his dad."

"Car, you know what my answer to that one is."

Carl leant down and kissed the top of Robbie's head.  "I know, sweetheart,
three A-levels, two at the highest grade, doesn't make me stupid."

"Exactly.  But you've always wanted to work with wood, like your dad."

"Yeah, though dad was more of a general builder, but I wanted to be like
him, yes."

"I'm glad that you're not disappointed with Ben.  I know I'm really new to
this parenting game, and I'm very biased, but Ben has a special sensitivity
which, oh, I don't know, he could use in one of the caring professions,
nursing, psychology, anything like that.  But it'll be years before he'll
have to make up his mind."

"I know."

"All we want for our son is for him to be happy, and Car, Ben's a happy
kid."

* * * * *

As Morgan listened to his parents rowing again, he determined to take
action.  He'd had enough.  He'd slept on his decision as Darren had asked
him to, but nothing had changed.  He'd tried to approach his mother the
previous evening, but she was too tied up with her own problems to want to
deal with his.  There was little point in telling a teacher, they didn't
help all that much last time when Lenny and his gang were picking on him.
'The worm is about to turn,' Morgan told himself as he packed a few of his
clothes into a holdall.  Once he'd got everything he thought he'd need, he
put the bag in the far corner of his room and threw a blanket over it.  Not
that his parents entered his room that often, anyway.

* * * * *

In his small flat above his PC repair business in the Stretford area of
Manchester, Darren Phillips sat at his computer waiting for Morgan to come
online.  He'd spent a restless night unable to get the image of the small
and frightened twelve-year-old boy out of his head.  The two had exchanged
pictures some time ago.  Darren had printed out Morgan's photograph, he'd
framed it and put it on his desk, telling everyone that it was a picture of
his nephew, it being too complicated and embarrassing to go into an
explanation of their true relationship.

As a child, Darren had been very shy, he'd fallen for Peter Gibson, one of
the bigger and most popular kids in his year.  The two had become friends;
Peter was agreeable to the friendship so long as he could pretend to
himself that what they were doing wasn't gay.  Darren was a useful
repository for Peter's stored up semen; none of the girls who Peter knew
would put out often enough for him.  When Darren had become more
comfortable in their admittedly uneven relationship, he'd asked if Peter
could give him a blowjob for a change.  That, as far as Peter was
concerned, would make him gay, and he refused.  Darren continued to press
the point; Peter saw it as Darren whining, something he couldn't stand, so
he decided to end their relationship.  Peter told everyone in school that
Darren Phillips was a queer; he'd tried to kiss him in the toilets.  The
reality was far different; Peter had never permitted Darren to kiss him,
but Peter was a member of the 'in crowd', Darren was not.  Not
surprisingly, everyone believed Peter's version of events.

The remainder of Darren's school career was spent in a seemingly endless
vortex of pain and misery.  It wasn't surprising, therefore, that Darren so
readily identified with Morgan's plight, though Morgan had never given
Darren any indication as to his sexual orientation.

Once Darren had reached the age of 16, he very gratefully left the confines
of the comprehensive school, and studied at a sixth form college across the
city, where few people knew him.  The fact that everyone who was there
wanted to be there also helped.  Darren had shown an aptitude for
computers, and his skills happened to come to the attention of William
Thompson, the manager of a small independent PC repair business.  Darren
had entered the shop one day in search of weekend employment; although
William wasn't hiring, something about the rather shy, brown-haired,
blue-eyed teenager appealed to his latent paternal instincts, so he decided
to take the lad on for a month's trial.

The years rolled by; William never regretted his earlier decision to employ
Darren, and the two formed a very tight bond.  William was gay, he had no
son to pass on his knowledge to, and as Darren's own father had died at an
early age, the two found themselves fulfilling a need within the other.

Darren remembered looking up from a shop display one day, only to be
confronted with a rather old and haggard-looking Peter Gibson.  Darren kept
his cool, even though he wanted nothing more than to punch the bastard's
lights out for causing him so much pain during his early life.  Darren was
secretly pleased by the way Peter bowed down to his gorgon of a wife as she
proceeded to belittle and undermine him in public.

The couple left after Darren had sold them an overly priced and
insufficiently powerful machine, which Darren was fairly certain would
provide them with endless hours of frustration.

* * * * *

The dinging of the instant messenger programme, indicating that Morgan had
just logged on, broke into Darren's thoughts of his past life and forced
him to confront what was happening in the here and now.  He was beginning
to realise that he'd stepped into a real minefield regarding his online
friendship with Morgan.  When the two had instant messaged one another the
day before, he had asked for a twenty-four hour breathing space.  Thinking
up a plan of action, Darren had decided to try and get Morgan's address.
Although he hated the thought of betraying his cyber son, he knew that he'd
have no choice.  When a child threatens suicide, things became serious.

Potterfan1208: dad, thought about what u said.

Daz693: that's good, son.

Potterfan1208: tried to tell mum how I feel, but she wasn't interested.

Daz693: sorry to hear that.

Potterfan1208: still want to run away, nothing's changed, still shitty
living here.

Daz693: i know it isn't nice at the minute, but it should get better.

Potterfan1208: won't.  mum & dad still argue every night, can't go back to
school cause i'll get hit, teachers don't do anything, no friends, it's
horrible.  crying.

Daz693: don't cry son, please.  i know it's not nice.

Potterfan1208: want to come and live with u dad, u understand, u love me,
no 1 else does.

Daz693: That's not easy son.  I could get into trouble, u could get into
trouble, too.  Ur not old enough to leave home.

Potterfan1208: ur my last hope.

Daz693: isn't there a friend's mum or dad u could talk to?

Potterfan1208: got no friends, nobody likes me.

Daz693: what about a teacher?

Potterfan1208: all useless, dad, if you don't want me either, got this
bottle of mums pills, took it from bathroom cabinet yesterday.

Daz693: SON, NO!

Potterfan1208: no hope, no friends, no love, no point.

Darren read the last statement on his screen and began crying, 'Oh, son, I
feel for you so much, I honestly do.  I'll have to do it.'

Daz693: give me ur address, son, u need rescuing.

(two minute pause)

Daz693: did u get my last?

Potterfan1208: Can't tell u my address.

Daz693: can't get u safe otherwise.

Potterfan1208: were u gonna tell the authorities where i live?

Darren didn't think that Morgan would have worked that out in the emotional
state he was in.  If he answered 'yes' to the question, he'd lose the
tenuous contact with Morgan, and given that he was in a very fragile state,
Darren didn't know what Morgan would do.  Trust, Darren knew, was vital.

Daz693: what if u meet me somewhere, then.

Potterfan1208: Yes, dad, thank u, u live in Manchester, don't u?

Daz693: yes, son.

At his end, Morgan maximised the window of his Internet browser, and looked
up the times of trains to Manchester.

Potterfan1208: can be at Piccadilly at ten o'clock tomorrow morning.

Daz693: u sure son?  it's a big step.

Potterfan1208: will u be there, know what u look like, if any cops or
social workers with u, i'll run away, u'll never see me again, i'll take
bottle of pills with me.

Darren realised that he didn't have any other option.  He'd hoped to remain
out of it by contacting Social Services, but Morgan had been too sharp;
Darren would have to meet him and not have anyone with him.  It was just
too risky to tell anyone and have Morgan see them.  Darren realised that
Morgan was on the edge, and he didn't want to be responsible for pushing
him over it.

Daz693: i'll be there, son, i'll be on my own too.  Dad's promise.

Potterfan1208: u've saved my life, i luv u dad.

Daz693: i love you too son, now get a good night's sleep.

Potterfan1208: till tomorrow, bye bye dad.

Darren hoped that he knew what he was doing.  He doubted that he did, but
he realised that he'd little option; his heart went out to the troubled
pre-teen, he just hoped that Morgan wouldn't take the pills he said that
he'd got.  Darren stiffened; he hoped that this wasn't some elaborate hoax,
or a means of entrapping a paedophile.  'God, what have I gotten myself
into?'  Darren decided he'd talk to Morgan in a public place; there were
plenty of seats in the railway station, maybe he could persuade the boy to
go back home again.

Darren picked up the phone and rang his business partner and father in all
but the genetic sense, William, to tell him what he'd done.  If the shit
hit the fan, maybe telling William in advance might help.

* * * * *

"Okay, boys," Robbie called out from the top of the stairs.  "I think it's
time we took you back home, Josh."

Robbie didn't want to get any closer to the bedroom, he really didn't want
to know what his son and his, well, friend, were getting up to.

In point of fact, Josh was giving Ben a massage.  They'd discovered a site
on the net that gave details of erotic massages.  As Ben's back was a
little sore, they thought they'd combine the need for the massage with
something a little more interesting.

"Okay, Dad Rob, we'll be down in a minute," Ben called out.

Robbie retraced his steps; he was joined a few minutes later by a couple of
giggling schoolboys.  "Ready to go home now, Josh?"

"Yes, thanks for letting me come over."

"That's okay, you'll have to come and have a swim next time."

"Cool, thanks."

Robbie wasn't surprised that when both boys got into the back of the car,
Lady, who had been with Ben up in his room, went with them in the car, too.

Once Robbie had parked up at Josh's, he said.  "Pick you up tomorrow as
usual, okay?"  As he was turning his head, Robbie just managed to catch
sight of the two boys letting go of one another's hands.

"Um, yeah, thanks, Robbie."  Josh got out of the vehicle.

>From his bedroom window, Morgan saw Robbie's car arrive at Josh's house,
he couldn't fail to notice Ben's smiling face.  'You never looked that
happy when you were my friend.'  He watched Josh get out, close the door
and wave his friend off.  'And even though I tried to make friends with
you, Josh Pearson, you were never interested.  I'll be much better off with
my new dad'.  Morgan let the curtain fall back into place; he got
undressed, laid out his clothes for the next day, and settled down in his
bed, hoping to dream about his new and happier life in Manchester.

To be continued.