Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2015 12:34:12 +0000
From: Matt Smith <matterotica@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: Benny's House - Chapter 11

Author's Note: If you read my stories and have any opinions on it, whether
they're good, bad or indifferent I'd love to hear you on
matterotica@hotmail.co.uk. Feedback helps me improve as an author, so it
really is a massive help to hear from you. Many thanks.

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Benny's House

Chapter 11 - Forfeit

by Matt


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the diary of Benny Harrison

Saturday 14th February 2015

Valentines Day, the most romantic day of the year. Here I am with a house
full of sexy men (and a few boring ones too!) and yet I'm spending the
evening alone. Don't get me wrong, I love this house. I love it more than I
ever expected, it's everything to me, but seriously, sometimes it sucks!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Benny was actually happy to wake up early on Saturday. Much like the
previous morning, Zane was asleep on his floor. He had made the Boy sleep
in his room again the previous night. The official reason he had given for
the second night was because the Boy had come into Benny's room uninvited
on Sunday night.

Unofficially, though, Benny was simply testing him. The Boy had been
stubborn, verging on insubordinate when he first joined the house. The
first night of the punishment, Zane had been chained to the radiator to
ensure he would stay in his place. The second night, however, Benny had
simply ordered him to stay without using any kind of restraints. Zane
hadn't been happy about it, but he complied.

As Benny awoke, his first instinct was to look down at Zane to check on
him. He was definitely a lot closer to the bed than he had been last night,
but he had remained curled up on the floor. He couldn't help smiling, both
because of the subordination Zane had shown, but also because he looked so
utterly adorable.

The young Master just lay there watching him sleep. He found Alex playing
on his mind once again. The often-angry young man had lashed out at Zane
because of his frustration over what appeared to be preferential treatment
and the more Benny thought about it, the more he realised Alex was
right. He was definitely treating Zane differently from the others, the
question was... why?

'Do I like him? I mean, REALLY like him, in that way? Is that it?' Benny
wondered to himself. 'Or is it just because he's so different from the
others. Different treatment for a different Boy, that makes sense I
suppose. I do like him though, he's just so sweet. Frustrating definitely,
but sweet too. And hot too, that helps!' Benny grinned at the thought.

'Not as hot as Charlie though.' Benny continued thinking. 'Oh fuck,
Charlie, he's just so ridiculously beautiful!' Benny shifted slightly in
his bed. Watching Zane and thinking about Charlie at the same time had the
inevitable effect of revitalising the morning wood that had started to die
down. His hand reached down for it, happily stroking it.

He rolled onto his back. As adorable as the sleeping Boy was, it felt a
little creepy to be jerking off while watching him. Instead Benny closed
his eyes. His small army of Boys flooded through his mind as he pleasured
himself. Some featured more prominently than others – Zane and Charlie
at first, then Philip and Roger until his mind settled on David and
Wesley. There was something about the chemistry between the two that
intrigued Benny. He remembered the show Wesley had put on for him with
David the previous week, then the way they had spit-roasted Quentin
together.

That was all it took. With a grunt, Benny raised the covers slightly and
coated his chest with thick white goo.

"You know, I could have done that for you!" Zane said from beside him.

Benny's eyes shot open and he saw the Boy standing beside the bed,
grinning, casually playing with his own morning wood.

Benny blushed but managed to compose himself, clearing his throat before
replying, "Maybe I have other plans for you!"

"Cool, like what?" Zane asked eagerly. He jumped over Benny, landing on the
empty side of the bed, then shuffled round until he was under the covers
beside his Master.

"Did I say you could get in?" Benny asked, cleaning himself off with some
tissues from the bedside table.

"You didn't say I couldn't," Zane replied with a cheeky grin.

Once again Benny found himself torn between being amused and feeling the
need to discipline. "Well as it turns out, that's what I was about to
order, so you can stay," Benny said as nonchalantly as he could sound.

"Uh huh." Zane said, propping himself up on one arm.

Benny raised his eyebrows at the Boy and added, "I could still make you
leave, you know!"

Zane's smile faded as he pursed his lips and just flopped back down onto
the bed. "Sorry," he muttered quietly.

"It's fine," Benny replied, rolling onto his side and sliding a hand across
to rest on the Boy's stomach.

Before either of them could say any more, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Benny called out quickly, pulling his hand away from Zane as he
rolled onto his back again, staring at the door, wondering who would be
delivering his breakfast today.

The door opened and Charlie appeared in all his naked glory. "Morning Sir,"
he said cheerfully as he walked in, looking at his Master. His face quickly
dropped as he saw Benny wasn't alone.

"Morning Charlie," Benny said, frowning slightly at his sudden change and
doing his best to focus on the young man's face rather than his stunning
body.

"Your breakfast, Sir," Charlie said flatly, approaching with the tray.

"Morning." Zane smiled, seemingly oblivious to the affect his presence had
had on Charlie. He just got a polite nod in response.

Charlie stood back after placing down the tray and asked, "Anything else,
Sir?"

Benny stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on in
his head, but he was giving nothing away. "No, that's fine thanks," he said
with a curious frown.

Charlie shot one more quick glance at both occupants of the bed, then
dashed out of the room. As he closed the door behind him, he paused,
leaning back on it with his eyes closed. He had been so excited about
waking Benny, hoping to get the Master on his own again. He had not
expected to find Zane in there with him. With a sigh, he opened his eyes
and started walking down the hallway, just in time to see Wesley coming out
of his room.

The naked young man froze, staring across the top of the atrium to his twin
on the other side. "Morning," he offered cautiously.

Wesley stared for a moment, then turned and walked back into his room
without a word.

Already disheartened by his failed attempt to get Benny alone, being
ignored by his brother felt like a punch to the gut. Charlie resumed
walking, wondering what else could go wrong. Thankfully, by the time he got
down both flights of stairs into the basement nothing else had happened. He
headed into his Dorm and found both Robert and Philip were still sound
asleep in their beds.

He crept across to the ladder up to his bunk, but stopped before he started
climbing. Instead, he walked along to the next bunk beds and climbed that
ladder instead, heading up towards Philip. As he lay down on Philip's bed,
the other young man awoke, turning over to look at him.

"Charlie?" he said quietly.

"I need a hug." Charlie replied, cuddling up to his best friend.

Philip didn't say anything else. Instead he just wrapped his arms around
the clearly-upset young man, holding him as the two drifted off to sleep
for a much-needed Saturday morning lie-in.

**********

The house was unusually empty for a change. Most of the Boys were out for
the day and a couple of the Generals too. Benny had gotten into the habit
of forcing Roger to take off occasionally. The devoted young man seemed
willing to work every waking hour in Benny's service without complaint or
question, which definitely had its perks for the young Master, but he knew
it wasn't really healthy.

It really came down to a matter of pride. Roger didn't work, at least not
in the conventional sense. It had been agreed when the house was set up
that he would be fully provided for in exchange for his service to the
house. Both he and Benny seemed happy with the arrangement and it had
worked out well. Aside from his impressive skills as both a dom and a sub,
he was an exceptional organiser which was necessary for keeping things
running smoothly.

That did of course mean that he was hard to pry away from the place, but
when it came in the form of an order from his Master, he didn't really have
any choice but to comply and had reluctantly gone out for the day. Malik
had gone out as well, going with Abdul to a family gathering. As far as
Benny knew, just a handful of people remained in the house and he was quite
glad about it. Between the seemingly endless stream of personal issues that
had been cropping up lately, the prizes for the competition and having the
new Boys to break in, Benny was glad of the peace and quiet.

Sadly, as he should have come to expect by now, the peace and quiet was
doomed to be shattered. He had just left his bedroom, heading to the
kitchen when he heard raised voices coming from the main lounge. He briefly
considered just walking away, letting whoever it was deal with their own
problems, but he knew that was unlikely to end well. Instead he walked over
quickly and peered through the open door.

The raised voices belonged to the Thompson twins, arguing once again. They
stopped though when they spotted the Master at the door, suddenly looking
very sheepish.

Benny scowled, looking back and forth between the two of them. He knew they
were waiting for him to say something so he decided to let them squirm just
a little longer, remaining silent for several seconds.

"Sit. Down." Benny said sharply as he walked closer.

The two twenty-four-year-olds immediately took a seat, sitting side-by-side
on one of the sofas as Benny stood a few feet away from them, still glaring
back and forth.

"Which one of you is leaving then?" Benny asked flatly, folding his arms in
front of him.

The two brothers looked at each other in dismay before turning their
attention back to the angry teen.

"Wait... what... one of us... what?" Wesley rambled, not quite sure of what
he had just heard.

"One of you is leaving. I won't have these arguments in my house any more,"
Benny insisted.

"Please, don't," Charlie pleaded. He knew that if it was a choice between
the loyal, long-serving General or the new Boy, it was obvious who Benny
would choose.

"Yeah, we can..." Wesley started, stopping and shaking his head. "We can
get through this." He was torn on exactly how to feel. The recent
revelation of Charlie's guilt in the events of their youth had made Wesley
even more angry at him than he already had been, but at the same time, he
hated the thought of losing his brother all over again. It was difficult
both loving and hating someone at the same time and it was that confusion
that seemed to be leading to most of their arguments, but he simply
couldn't help it.

"Well this is on you then," Benny said matter-of-factly. "As I understand
it, this is all about whether or not you can forgive Charlie for what he
did. So... can you?"

Wesley opened his mouth to talk, but ended up closing it again as he
sighed. Benny was right, it was up to him, but he couldn't bring himself
just to forget it. He looked round at his twin and shook his head again. "I
want to, but... how can I?"

The three of them went silent, contemplating the question.

"Wesley, can I ask you something?" Benny requested, his expression
softening a little. When Wesley nodded his agreement, Benny continued. "Do
you like yourself? Do you like who you are?"

Wesley looked a little thrown. It wasn't exactly what he had expected. He
frowned momentarily as he thought about it, before nodding and answering
back, "Yeah, I suppose I do."

Benny nodded back and asked, "And do you like being here? Do you like the
things you get to do in this house?"

"Yes, definitely," Wesley answered emphatically.

"Okay, so think about it," Benny went on. "Everything that's happened to
you, the good, the bad, the fun, the things you'd rather forget, all of it
has led you to where you are today. So if you're happy with who and where
you are, then how can you really stay mad about the things that made it
happen?"

Wesley went to respond, but realised he couldn't actually form a cogent
argument back against the Boy's logic.

Benny smirked at the young man's momentary confusion.

Wesley frowned. "Look, that does make sense... sort of, and," he looked
round at Charlie, "I do want to forgive you, but... it's just... hard."

"Okay, I'm not gonna make one of you leave, but please, just... keep
trying. I really love having both of you here but the house comes first,"
Benny explained.

"I understand," Charlie said with a solemn nod.

"Me too. I promise I'll try," Wesley agreed, then smiled round at his twin.

An idea suddenly occurred to Benny. Right then, across the atrium in his
private lounge, Alex was having another session with Victor, the
psychotherapist. "Would it... help to talk to someone about it?" He offered
tentatively.

"What, like a shrink?" Wesley asked curiously, looking a little hesitant.

Benny frowned. "Well I don't think that's what they like to be called, but
yeah. Did you ever meet Victor?" the young Master asked.

Wesley thought for a moment before saying, "No, heard about him though. He
was one of your Boys in the early days, right?"

Benny nodded. "That's right. He's a psychotherapist and I'm sure I could
arrange some time with him if you think it'd help to talk about it."

"Are you ordering me to do it?" Wesley asked, folding his arms defensively.

"No, not at all," Benny insisted. "I care about you Wesley and I want you
to be happy. If it'll help and you want to do it, you can. If you don't
want to and you think you can handle it on your own, that's fine too."

Wesley looked contemplative as he relaxed slightly in his seat, glancing
sideward at Charlie. He let out a sigh and said, "I'll think about it."

"Good," Benny replied with a smile. "I'll give you Victor's number and I'll
let him know you might be calling. Same applies to you, Charlie. If you
need to talk to him, that'll be fine."

Wesley stood up, looking substantially more relaxed. He looked down at
Charlie and said, "We can chat later, okay?" He headed for the door,
thanking Benny on his way past.

Once Wesley was gone, Charlie stood up too, heading to the door too with
his eyes fixed on the ground.

"I don't think so," Benny said, grabbing the young man's arm and dragging
him back to the sofa. "Sit!"

Charlie dropped back down and continued to avoid looking at his Master.

"What's wrong?" Benny asked frankly.

The young man shrugged as he shook his head. "Nothing," he insisted. "Just
Wesley stuff, ya know."

"Okay, well I know that's a lie," Benny replied sharply. "What was with you
this morning? I saw that look when you realised I wasn't alone."

Charlie just shrugged again.

"Come on, talk to me." Benny urged, placing a hand tenderly on the young
man's leg, making them both blush a little.

"I dunno," Charlie said dejectedly. "I just... I know it's stupid, but when
I slept with you, I thought it meant... you liked me."

" I DO like you," Benny replied without hesitation. The comment seemed to
have the opposite of the reassuring effect Benny had hoped for, making
Charlie look even unhappier.

"No, I mean... ugh, forget it!" Charlie grumbled.

Benny guessed quickly what he was trying to say and took a deep breath
before saying, "You like me as more than just a Master, don't you?"

"Yeah, but..." Charlie started, clearly getting more and more
flustered. "I'm not saying I'm in love with you or anything stupid like
that. I mean, I pretty much only just met you. I just thought that Monday
night was..." He sighed, pursing his lips as he thought. "I guess I just
thought it was something more than just a competition prize."

Benny could feel a dull ache in his chest as he listened to the older man
try to express how he felt. "It was." Benny replied, without really
considering the implications of it, quickly attempting to backtrack. "I
mean... it's hard for me to explain." He went silent, finding it almost as
hard to convey his feelings as Charlie clearly was.

There was a lot Benny wanted to say, and even more that he wanted to do to
the awkward, beautiful man, but he found himself held back by his duty, by
his sense of propriety.

"Charlie, I'm going to be completely honest with you here. I like you. I
really like you, a lot." Benny said, taking the older man's hand.

"Really?" Charlie said with visible enthusiasm which quickly dropped away
when he realised Benny wasn't sharing in it. "But?" He asked hesitantly.

"But... I'm responsible for this entire house. Someone reminded me this
week that everyone in the house is here because of me... FOR me. I owe it
to my Boys, to everyone, to share myself equally and I can't do that if
I'm..." He stopped, sighing. "I can't be with you AND be the Master of the
house."

Charlie sighed in response. Benny words had hurt, but he could see it was
hurting him just as much. He forced himself to smile, reached out and
pulled the teen into a tight hug. "I understand," he whispered. "It totally
sucks, but I understand."

"Thanks." Benny whispered back, losing himself in the feeling of the arms
wrapped around him. He knew he should get up and leave, but he simply
couldn't bring himself to move.

**********

The preparations for the Saturday evening gathering went pretty much as
normal. After returning from his enforced time off, Roger had got straight
to work ensuring everything was running smoothly. It was a fairly simple
evening. There were no new boys, no special events, no particular equipment
required. Roger actually found it a little disappointing. He enjoyed having
things to do for Benny.

Ever since his Master had adopted more a friendship-based relationship for
them in private, his chances to serve seemed to be getting less and less,
so any chance he had to do well in his role as second-in-command was
grasped eagerly. Roger occasionally found himself missing the days where
Benny was his Master full-time, but on another level, the bond he had now
started to build with the teen was something he cherished more every day.

He had insight into Benny's private thoughts, his concerns, his problems,
things the rest of the house would never be allowed to see. More than that
though, the two really were friends. That was partly what made it so easy
for the General to immediately tell that something was bothering Benny. As
usual, he had headed to Benny's room once everyone was gathered and ready
for him.

Benny definitely seemed off. His mind was clearly elsewhere as he listened
to Roger's report of what was happening downstairs.

"Uh huh," Benny hummed non-committally as Roger continued talking. He
repeated it again before realising Roger had stopped talking and he had
just acknowledged nothing.

"What is it?" Roger demanded quite sharply.

The harsh tone shocked Benny out of his stupor. "What's what?" he asked,
confused by the sudden question.

"The thing that's bothering you. Are you gonna tell me?" Roger asked,
folding his arms impatiently.

Benny felt a slight twinge of intimidation. He had never really been on the
receiving end of Roger's dominant side before. He suddenly had a much
better understanding of why many of the Boys feared the imposing young
man. "It's nothing," Benny lied.

Roger sucked on his teeth for a moment as he looked the distracted teen up
and down. "Fine. Let's go then," he said flatly, turning to the door. If
Benny wasn't going to share what was on his mind, he wasn't going to force
the matter.

Benny followed him out of the room and joined the crowd downstairs. One
side was a little crowded, the twelve live-in Boys, while the other was
beginning to look a little sparse. There were now just five young men stood
naked with their cocks encased in chastity devices. Benny had made the
decision to stop recruiting any new residents for the house when he
realised that there would only just be enough room for the existing ones.

Benny did his best to concentrate on the task at hand, but found it
increasingly difficult. His attention was being drawn from one end of the
live-in residents to the other. Charlie was stood at the end nearest him
with the other residents of Dorm One while Zane was stood at the other with
Dorm Four. Between them, they had his mind completely boggled.

Roger cleared his throat, getting the distracted teen's attention and
bringing him out of his daze.

"Good evening... everyone." Benny said quietly. He glanced at Charlie who
was staring back at him. After their earlier conversation, they had sat
together for almost half an hour, silently holding each other. Since then,
it was one of the only two things he seemed able to think about. The other
was Zane. The newest Boy had Benny captivated, but he couldn't quite figure
out why. The attraction was nowhere near as obvious or urgent as his
feelings had been for Charlie when he arrived, but he couldn't possibly
deny that the feelings were there.

"Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for another great week and to thank
you again for your participation in last week's competition," Benny
started. "As it seemed so popular, I may be running further competitions
again in the future, so stay tuned for more on that."

The announcement triggered a ripple of conversation down the line of men,
which was quickly stamped out by a stern, "Quiet," from Roger.

Benny smiled as he realised the expressions on most of their faces seemed
to be positive. As much as he liked teasing and (playfully) abusing his
Boys, he wanted them to have fun too.

"Now, speaking of the competition, there is one matter left in relation to
it. Please step forward Abdul, Stanley, David and Alex," Benny ordered.

The four competition losers stepped forward, suddenly looking very nervous.

"Please move across to this side," Benny instructed, gesturing to the
opposite side where the five chaste men stood lined up. "This evening, you
will join them for the usual activity of prolonged edging. After that, you
will also be put in chastity devices which will stay on for a period of two
weeks."

Again Benny's comments got a round of chatter. Some of the other residents
laughed at the punishment and the expressions of the victims, while some
looked genuinely sympathetic. The chatter continued as the four of them
slowly walked over to join the other side.

As everyone slowly settled back down again, Benny handed over to Roger who
started advising everyone of their activities for the evening. While the
large General barked commands, Benny's eyes once again fell on Charlie who
smiled back at him meekly. It became immediately obvious that Charlie was
clearly as distracted as Benny when Roger had to repeat his orders for the
evening twice, something the General was clearly unhappy about having to
do. He was used to being listened to at all times.

When Roger finished up, all eyes turned back on Benny who would usually
dismiss them at that point to go about their assigned tasks. The young
Master didn't do that this time though, instead he smiled and said, "We
just a couple more matters left that I need to talk about. As you all know,
the process for becoming one of my Generals involves two weeks of living in
the house as one of my Boys. Well it has now been two weeks since Alex
moved into the position and as such..."

"Wait!" Alex called out, looking panicked. All attention turned from Benny
to the distressed young man. "Can... can I talk to you?" he requested
quietly.

Benny frowned, but nodded, prompting Alex to leave the line-up and approach
Benny who led him round to the back of the staircase and away from any
prying ears.

"What's up?" Benny asked quietly.

"You... erm... were you about to say I could move up now?" Alex asked.

Benny nodded. "Yeah, you've done your time," he replied.

Alex shook his head emphatically. "I'm not ready. I... I've got a lot of
work I still need to do and I don't want to hurt anyone and... and..."

Benny reached out and stroked his bare arm. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered
reassuringly. "If you need longer, we'll give you longer. How much more
time do you think?"

Alex shrugged. "I dunno," he said, frowning. "Maybe a month... if that's
okay."

Benny smiled back at him. "That's absolutely fine. If you need a month,
then that's what you'll have. Come on, let's go back."

They rejoined the others amid a hiss of whispers from the many hushed
conversations going on.

Benny went to speak, but quickly realised he didn't actually know what to
say. He and Alex both knew the reason for the postponement of his
promotion, but it wasn't exactly something they wanted the whole house to
know about. As he thought about, Benny couldn't help smiling at the
reassuring smile and nod Alex got from Zane who was standing opposite him.

"Sorry about that," he finally said loudly. "As I was saying, Alex has been
in his current position for two weeks, but in order to be the best General
he can be, he has requested to remain at his current level for a little
longer to gain a little more insight and experience."

Alex looked thoroughly relieved at the comments. Much like Benny, he had
been unsure of exactly what would be said and had worried briefly that his
personal issues were about to be broadcast across the room.

"The final thing I need to talk to you about is a new house rule. Now I
apologise for not addressing this earlier, but it is something that has
only recently come to my attention," Benny explained. "From this moment,
dating and relationships between residents of the house is strictly
forbidden."

Taro and Wesley shot each other a nervous glance. Their 'date' two nights
earlier had been done with permission and had not caused any problems, but
they had little doubt that it was Taro's request that had prompted the new
rule.

"The only relationship any of you should be in, is with me. As long as you
live in this house, I am your Master. Any questions, please see myself or
Roger, but for now, you're all dismissed," Benny finally concluded. He
nodded at Roger to take over, then turned to head back up the
stairs. Usually he stayed downstairs on a Saturday evening, watching the
various activities, but tonight he simply wasn't in the mood.

As the young Master got upstairs and followed the path round to his room,
he glanced down over the railing quickly and found Charlie staring up at
him. Their eyes met, lingering for a few moments before the Boy was ushered
away, leaving Benny to return to his room in solitude.

**********

Alex sat alone on a bench in one of the basement play rooms. He quickly
realised that when it wasn't being used to restrain or torture you, it
actually made quite a comfortable seat. The one main discomfort, however,
was the chastity cage now securely attached to his private parts. He had
almost allowed himself to forget that he and the rest of his former Dorm
were owed a forfeit from the competition. The thought of now going without
cumming for two weeks was not one he relished.

He had deliberately avoided the main lounge after the evening's tasks were
complete. He knew just about everyone would be there as they tended to
gather together on Saturdays, but he simply wasn't feeling up to it. It
seemed like the longer he spent on the house, the less he felt like he fit
in with everyone else.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the door suddenly opening. He
looked round and saw Zane standing there.

"So this is where you're hiding," Zane said, pulling the door closed behind
him as he approached.

"I'm not hiding," Alex insisted with a scowl.

"Yes you are," Zane replied dismissively before taking a seat next to
Alex. "But I can understand why. Thought you might want to talk."

Alex just shrugged and looked away. "About what? Everything's fine," he
insisted.

"About what? Hmm, lemme think... therapy session this morning, your
chastity forfeit... why you asked not to be promoted yet... maybe some of
that!" Zane replied sharply.

Alex shrugged again. "Therapy was.... good, the forfeit's annoying, and
Benny told you the reason," Alex insisted casually.

Zane sighed with frustration. "Let's start with the big one. We both know
what Benny said isn't the real reason. Come on, we're... friends, aren't
we?"

Alex unwillingly smiled. He was surprised just how much Zane's question
cheered him up. Despite their bickering, arguing, the ups and downs,
underneath it all it seemed the two really were becoming friends. That was
something Alex had often found himself lacking. The closest thing he had
ever had to a best friend was his cousin, Zack. Other than that, his anger
issues and the resulting behaviour had isolated him for most of his life.

"Yeah, we are," he said with a warm smile. "Well... you already kinda know
the reason why. It's because of the anger stuff and also... that!" He
pointed to the fading bruise on Zane's arm from their encounter earlier in
the week.

"Oh," Zane said, looking down at the mark.

"Yeah," Alex said quietly with a nod. "I keep thinking about how I snapped
with you over something so simple. What if I did it with someone else, but
they got more than a bruise. I don't... want to hurt people, but it seems
to be the only thing I ever do."

Zane thought for a moment, his lips pursing. "What did Victor say today?"
he asked cautiously.

Another shrug from Alex. "He says I'm doing well, but I don't see it."

Zane laughed aloud, getting a disgruntled glare from his
friend. "Seriously? You don't?"

Alex continued staring angrily for a moment, then shook his head.

"When I first got here and started hearing about everyone in the house,
d'you know what everyone said about you?" Zane asked with a grin.

Alex shifted in his seat. Part of him was intrigued, but mostly he didn't
like the sound of it. "Do I really want to hear this?" he asked nervously.

"Probably not," Zane replied, chuckling again before continuing, "He's
scary, intense and all he wants is to be in charge."

"Wow, yeah, thanks for coming to cheer me up!" Alex replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," Zane replied, "But don't you see the good part here? Everyone knew
that your sole aim here was to be the man in charge, to take control. Even
you said it was your reason for being here. But today, you turned that down
for the good of everyone around you. I know I haven't known you for that
long, but that seems like a pretty significant change to me!"

Alex's eyes widened as he realised the other teen was right. "I... hadn't
really thought of it that way."

"Of course you hadn't, you're an idiot and I'm a genius. It's why we go so
well together!" Zane replied cheekily with a grin.

"Hey, don't push it. I may not be in charge yet, but I'll remember this
when I am!" Alex warned, jokingly, making them both laugh.

**********

Benny let out a sigh as the door closed. Roger had just been to see him,
partly to say that everyone was settled into their Dorms for the night and
partly just to check up on him. The visit hadn't lasted long. Roger
continued to be annoyed by Benny's refusal to share the cause of his
melancholy. The General had guessed it was something to do with Charlie,
but Benny had refused to either confirm or deny it.

Now he was alone again, he knew he should probably be going to bed, but he
continued sitting there, moping. The worst part was, he wasn't exactly sure
why he was doing it... or rather, who it was about. His earlier
conversation with Charlie seemed to be a the forefront of his mind,
reminding him over and over that he was turning down a relationship with a
sexy, beautiful, sweet guy. However, niggling at the back of his mind were
his thoughts about the other new arrival in the house, Zane.

Every time he looked down at the makeshift bed the Boy had slept on the
last few nights, he felt the urge to march down to the Dorms and bring him
back. It wouldn't matter whether the Boy was asleep on his floor, or
cuddled in bed beside him, he had just gotten used to having him
near. Unlike with Charlie, he didn't know if his feelings for the Boy were
reciprocated so it was hard to feel sad about missing something that might
have never happened anyway, but that didn't stop the feelings.

He let out another sigh as he looked over at the bed. He didn't want to
sleep alone, but it appeared as if that would have to be the way it was for
a change. The depressed teen forced himself to stand, sauntered over to the
bed and flopped onto it. He didn't even bother to undress or turn of the
light, he just curled up and closed his eyes.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but he was awoken by his door
opening. He briefly thought it might have been his breakfast delivery, but
a quick glance at the clock showed it was not even 1 am yet. Rubbing his
eyes, he looked round at who might have had the audacity to come in,
uninvited in the middle of the night.

"Charlie!" Benny said, grinning without even realising it as he saw the
young man standing there.

"You're wrong!" Charlie said sharply. When Benny frowned back at him in
sleepy confusion, he elaborated. "About us, about what you can or can't
do."

"Why?" Benny asked, sitting up to face him.

"You CAN be with me and be the Master. You know why, because you're the
fucking Master!" Charlie snapped aggressively. "You're the one who makes
the rules, so if you're saying you can't even try and be with me, then
that's obviously YOUR choice. And if that's what you're choosing, then just
come out and tell me that, don't hide behind some stupid rule!"

Benny's eyebrows raised as he listened to the young man's angry rant. He
waited a moment after he finished, letting silence linger between
them. "Are you done?" he asked with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, I guess so," Charlie replied, suddenly a little embarrassed about
his outburst.

"Come here," Benny said, gesturing for Charlie to approach. The young man
did as invited and sat beside the young Master on his bed. "You're right,"
Benny said quietly.

Charlie frowned. "Which part?"

"Most of it. I CAN be with you and be the Master, it IS me that makes the
rules, and it IS my choice," Benny explained. "But you're wrong about me
choosing not to try. I didn't decide things can't happen with us because I
don't want to be with you, I decided it because I love this house and I
love my Boys and I've got to put them first."

Charlie shook his head. "No you don't. You said it yourself earlier,
everyone is here to serve YOU. That's what's important here... YOU! You
probably don't realise this, but the house relies on you for a lot more
than just orders. It's like everyone here is an extension of you. When
you're happy, we're happy and when you're sad, we're sad. Just look at
tonight. It was clear you weren't yourself at the gathering and it affected
everyone. It's been so quiet and downbeat, not like the usual and it was
all because everyone could tell you were down."

Benny stared at him. Was he right? Was the best way to keep everyone happy
really by just keeping himself happy first? Even if that was the case,
could he actually be with Charlie. How would that affect the other Boys?
And what about Zane?

"I... I need to think about this," Benny stuttered, completely overwhelmed.

"No you don't," Charlie said, kneeling in front of Benny and placing a hand
on the teen's cheek. "What you need is to STOP thinking about it!"

"Charlie..." Benny whispered, but whatever he was going to say was lost as
the man's lips met his own.

There it was again. That feeling he got when they kissed, the feeling that
they were suddenly alone in the Universe, that everyone and everything had
melted into insignificance. His hands found their way onto Charlie, one
reaching up to stroke fingers through silken hair, the other reaching round
to grab onto his back, to pull him closer.

Suddenly Charlie pulled away, but only enough to make their lips part. He
remained close, staring Benny straight in the eye. "Okay... Sir. If you can
look me in the eye and tell me completely honestly that you don't want to
see where this could go, then I'll walk out of this room and go back to
being just one of your Boys."

Benny's breath caught in his throat at the ultimatum. He had spent all week
thinking about his decision to ban relationships and then had spent all day
convincing himself that his decision to turn down Charlie had been the
right one. He had made lists in his mind, pros and cons, telling himself
everything he was doing was the right choice. He knew it was. He knew that
what he was doing was right for the house.

Despite all of that, despite the logic and the reason and the list of
arguments he had made, as he stared into Charlie's eyes, he could only say
one thing... "Stay!"