Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 02:46:34 +0100
From: Adrie van Dijk <ganymedes62@hotmail.com>
Subject: Lashes of Love Chapter 7

The following story is mostly fictional. It describes the relationship
between a man and a teenage boy. Sex will only play a minor part in the
story.

The story is copyrighted, but free distribution in any form is allowed, as
long as no changes are made.

All the usual disclaimers apply.

Thanks to all who took their time to e-mail me their comments.

Lashes of love

Chapter 7. Gradual changes.

Only three days after he got back it was time again for Nafut to pick up
his books and his class schedule. I had told him that I expected a visitor
in three weeks, an American friend I had gotten to know through Usenet, and
he seemed excited about it. Something was out of the ordinary though, and I
just couldn't seem to put my finger on it. Nafut definitely was
absentminded sometimes and not as joyous as he had always been.

My friend Ron's plane was to land at half past eleven and I made sure I was
there in time to pick him up. He had told me he always wanted to visit
Amsterdam, and when I had volunteered to let him stay with me, he had
jumped at the opportunity. He was 27 and, like me, had found out that he
liked boys.

When we came back to my apartment I showed him around, so he knew where to
find everything, and we talked about how he could get around in the city.
To my surprise he showed me a CD-case filled with games, most of which were
new to me. He told me Nafut and I might enjoy a few of them and that we
could try them out and make copies if we wanted.

When Nafut came around later that afternoon I was happy to notice that he
liked talking to Ron. Conversing only in English wasn't easy for him, but
he managed quite well, asking questions to Ron about where he lived and
every other detail on life in the US. We ended up playing some of the games
Ron had brought with him until it was time for Nafut to go home again.

"I can see why you love him," Ron said, "He's really a nice kid and quite
pretty too I might add."

"Yes, that he is."

We talked some more about Nafut and about John, Ron's little friend back in
the US. In the mean time we had some dinner and watched television. It was
still early, but I decided it was best for Ron to get some sleep as it had
been a long day for him. I got out the air mattress, linen and a sleeping
bag, and made a bed for him in the front room. We said good night and went
to sleep.

The next morning I found Pedro all curled up on the air mattress next to
Ron.

"Just remember who's feeding you," I whispered, as he slowly looked up,
then I made my way into the kitchen to make coffee and start some
breakfast. I guess Pedro had gotten the message as he followed into the
kitchen right after Dada, who had come after me from the bedroom. I fixed
them their meals and, with coffee ready, proceeded to wake up Ron.

I was happy to discover that Ron wasn't a morning person either and we
enjoyed our coffee and breakfast mostly in silence. On his first day over I
would accompany him into the city, so he could learn how to use the public
transport and would know how to make his way back to my apartment on his
own. We went to see a few sights, had some lunch and visited the Amsterdam
Historic Museum before we went back to the apartment for dinner.

When we walked into the street, the boys were in the playground and when
Nafut spotted us, he came running towards us. He insisted that Ron had to
meet the other boys and there was no way he'd let us off the hook. After
all the introductions had been made the barrage of questions began and I
admired Ron for his patience and ability to handle things. Soon it became
clear that the boys weren't going to let him go before they had a game of
soccer with him and I told them I'd go upstairs and they'd have another
half hour to play before our dinner would be ready.

Half an hour later Ron came into the apartment looking completely flushed.
When I told him he should have known better than to play around with young
teenagers he just moaned. After dinner he didn't go out again.

Over the next nine days I think both Ron and the boys enjoyed themselves,
mostly playing soccer during the late afternoon or early evening. For the
boys it was something quite special to have an American around who could
show and teach them some things. But as suddenly as it had all begun, it
was also over and it was time for Ron to get back home. He promised the
boys he would come back, and that settled them down a bit.

Nafut had been coming around regularly and we enjoyed some of the games Ron
had brought with him. We made copies of a fair number of the games before
Ron left. Then things settled again and Nafut and I got back into our
regular pattern. The exception was Thursday evening, as Nafut had joined a
street soccer team led by a single Turkish guy who also lived on our
street.  I'm not sure what the cause was, but there was something about
this guy that I didn't like, my instincts just told me this guy was
trouble.

The changes in Nafut's behaviour over the next weeks were hardly
noticeable, but they were definitely there. He didn't seem to be able to
concentrate when we went over his homework and I was also winning games I'd
never won before. I tried talking to him, asked what was wrong, but he just
shrugged. I was getting worried, even more so when his visits became less
frequent. The mind can play tricks on someone and I started wondering if
maybe there was something I had done wrong. I loved this boy and just the
thought of maybe having hurt him unknowingly was tearing me up.

I talked about my worries with a few friends and they all tried to be
positive.  Nafut wasn't dumb and he had probably figured out I wasn't your
average straight single guy. Could it be that he suspected I had feelings
for him and that it scared him? Or was it just a matter of him growing up
and wanting to spend more time with his peers? I had so many questions
raging through my mind and no answers at all.

When Christmas time grew near I knew it had to stop. I was going crazy and
I just could not take it anymore. It was Monday afternoon, the first day of
Christmas vacation and Nafut wanted to come by to download some music and
play a few games.

"Hi Nafut, can you please sit down first? I need to talk to you." He sat
down in his corner of the couch and I went to sit in the opposite corner.

"We've known each other for some time now and over the past few months
you've been acting different. It has been worrying me, probably more than
you can imagine, and I really need to know what's going on."

"Nothing is going on, I'm just real busy with things."

"I'm sorry Nafut, but that's not good enough. Have I done something that
has offended you or is scaring you in any way? You should know by now that
you can tell or ask me anything."

A strange, unfamiliar look came over his face, sadness.

"You're in love with Ron aren't you? You slept together when he was here,
weren't you?"

I was dumbfounded. Of all the questions I had imagined, this had never been
one of them.

"The answer to both your questions is no. Ron slept here in the front room
on an air mattress and besides, Ron is in love with someone else and so am
I."

I only realized what I had just said when I saw the puzzled look on his
face.

"Who are you in love with then?"

I knew there was no turning back now and I felt a tightening knot around my
stomach when I gave him my answer:

"I'm in love with you."