Date: Sun, 7 May 2017 11:11:39 -0500
From: D B <donbon@gmail.com>
Subject: The Journey of a Lonely Heart - chapter 7

The Journey of a Lonely Heart, Part 7 by DGB

This story is a product of my imagination, under my copyright, so no
reposting/publishing without my consent.  Hell has a special place for
copyright violators. If you are not of legal age or somewhere in which this
document is illegal, please stop reading and focus on getting someplace
safer.

Have you donated to Nifty? I have: http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html

If you enjoy the story, I'd appreciate comments to donbon@gmail.com.

*****************************************

Derek stepped out of the shower to see one of his favorite sights; his
boyfriend's perfect butt in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs.  "Are
you standing there just to tease me?"

"I can't decide what to wear," Trevor huffed.  "Is this party casual or a
bit more formal?  I don't want to look out of place since this is the first
time I'll be meeting your friends."

"Babe Jenn will like you don't worry, and you know I love you just as much
naked as clothed so just wear something comfortable."

Trevor turned his head just enough to give his man a smile, "I love you
to. Now, help me pick something out."

Derek threw his towel into the hamper and walked over to the closet,
wrapping his arms around the smaller man from behind.  "So sexy when you
get bossy," he said, placing a gentle kiss at the nape of his lover's neck.

"Don't start something we don't have time to finish," Trevor admonished,
even as he leaned back into the hug.

"Ok here wear these," Derek said as he pulled out a pair of jeans, "and
this shirt will highlight your eyes."

"But that's your shirt," Trevor involuntarily moaned as the lips returned
to his neck.

"So? My boyfriend, my shirt," Derek paused. "I don't see a problem, besides
no one else will know."

Trevor reluctantly broke the embrace, "Ok fine, I'll wear your shirt."
Feeling like he gave in too easy he smacked Derek's naked butt, "Now hurry
up and get ready.  You know I hate being late."

The party was in full swing by the time they arrived.  Jenn was always
looking for a reason to entertain guests, and her husband Michael just went
along with whatever made her happy.  Tonight was a mix of coworkers,
friends, and a few neighbors.  Jenn had learned years ago that few people
would complain about noise or traffic if she invited them to the party and
plied them with booze.

Jenn greeted the men at the door, giving Trevor a big hug, "It's so good to
finally meet you.  From the way Derek has been talking about you I expect
you to do the old water into wine trick later tonight if supplies run low"
Seeing the man blush profusely and Derek giving her the look she decided to
show mercy, "I'm just picking on you, but you must know you are his
favorite subject these days."

"My best friend Tiffany says the exact same thing, I get limited to 20
minutes a day now.  Actually the way Derek talks about you I think you and
Tiff would get along great; I'm just not sure we'd survive the harassment."

They three of them laughed at that and chatted for a few minutes until the
next guests arrived.  Derek started to hum "It's a small world" after
Trevor pointed out a few doctors he knew at the party, earning an elbow to
his ribs. Swearing revenge for the earworm Trevor headed off to chat with
his friends.

Jenn noticed immediately and made a beeline for her friend, "Correct me if
I'm wrong, but that looked an awful lot like your shirt."

"I wondered if you would notice," Derek grinned in response. "He couldn't
decide what to wear and I thought it would bring out the green in his
eyes."

"You two really have it bad for each other don't you?"

"I know it's kind of quick but I've fallen madly in love with him," Derek
had gotten serious.  "He asked me to move in with him and I said yes.  We
already moved my clothes and a few other things today. You know I used to
think the idea of soul mates was just sappy bullshit, but now I can't
imagine my life without him."

Jenn pulled her friend into a hug before replying, "I'm glad you finally
found someone to make you happy. You deserve it."

Their tender moment ended when the doorbell signaled another guest
arriving.  Jenn was the perfect hostess working the room, but made a point
of trying to make time to get to know her friend's new beau. She quickly
saw why Derek had fallen so hard.  The doctor was well spoken and jovial,
and it was clear the people that knew him at the party all held him in high
regard.

It was also hard to miss the way the two men looked at each other.  They
managed to somehow be in constant physical contact without being awkward,
whether just an arm resting on a shoulder, or a hand at the small of the
other's back.  And when they were apart, Derek's eyes would sparkle every
time Trevor smiled at him from across the room.

Jenn was just wrapping up a conversation with some guests when she saw
Trevor frowning out of the corner of her eye.  She immediately went to
check what was wrong. "Who's that guy over there talking to Derek? He keeps
moving back but the guy just keeps moving closer and touching his arm,"
Trevor asked as she walked up.

Jenn looked in the direction indicated before replying, "Oh that's my
neighbor Fredrick, a real pretentious asshole. He's a professor of Greek
literature or something like that, and thinks his PhD makes him better than
everyone else. I swear he thinks he owns the whole neighborhood, and shows
up at parties invited or not.  If you piss him off suddenly the homeowners
association will start sending you complaint notices about your grass being
a millimeter too high and nonsense like that.  He's been trying to get into
Derek's pants for years."

Trevor watched Derek back away from the man yet again while Jenn had been
talking. "Well, I think it's about time the professor learns that some
things are just off limits."

Not waiting for a response Trevor marched across the room and inserted
himself between the two men, "There you are sweetie, I've been looking
everywhere for you."

With that he used his hand to tilt the taller man's head down into a deep
sensual kiss that was borderline lewd, not breaking off until he felt the
familiar arms wrapped around him.  Turning around in Derek's arms he
continued, "My apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt.  I'm Derek's partner,
Trevor Smith."

The other man quickly regained his composure and shook the offered hand,
"I'm Doctor Fredrick van Zant."

"Oh really, I'm a pediatric hematologist," Trevor replied sweetly.  "What's
your specialty?"

Fredrick's face lost a bit of smugness, "Oh I'm a doctor of Russian
literature, not medicine"

"Oh sorry again, I meet so many other physicians that I forget others use
the title doctor too."

"Yes well no harm done," Fredrick was obviously faking a smile. "In any
case I'm off, early flight tomorrow and I need my rest. A good evening to
you both," he rattled off before heading for the door.

Jenn walked up dabbing at her eyes with a Kleenex, "I thought I was going
to die trying not to laugh. I've never seen Fredrick look so uncomfortable.
You have got to come to all future parties to get rid of him."

Tightening his hold Derek added, "And you can feel free to kiss me like
that anytime you want."

"Well I wanted to make sure he understood that you were unavailable."

"Oh you did that, believe me," Jenn was giggling again. "I thought you were
about to start humping his leg or piss on him to mark your territory."

Trevor feigned offense, "I would never do that, we're not into
watersports."

"And why would he hump my leg? He's so good at humping my..."

"Enough," Jenn cut him off with a shriek of laughter.  "I get the
picture. You two were made for each other.  Now, if you'll excuse me I need
to go check my make up."

Trevor leaned back against his lover, feeling a distinctive hardness
against his butt.  "Oh my, someone is excited."

"It's your fault; seeing you act jealous and get so possessive of me was a
real turn on.  Stand here with me a minute till it goes down."

"I wasn't really jealous; I know you're coming home with me."

"Babe?" Derek asked in a more serious tone.

Trevor turned to face the other man, "Hmm?"

"I, uh," Derek was searching for the right words, "I also really liked it
when you said you were my partner."

"It just sort of came out, I didn't really think about it," Trevor replied
honestly. "I think moving in together is a bit past just boyfriend though."

Derek leaned over and kissed the only man he had eyes for, "I'm ready to
head home when you are partner.  I think our bed is calling."

Of course it would be several hours before they went to sleep, satisfied
that they possessed each other entirely.

===========================================================

Combining households went pretty smoothly.  The realtor suggested they
leave most of Derek's furniture in the house for staging, so after another
weekend spent clearing out the clutter and a good cleaning it was on the
market.  The house was listed at just over market value, not because they
cared about the money, they just wanted some room for the inevitable
negotiation down.

A week later they had two offers; one was full price from a retired couple
from up North looking for a winter home somewhere warm. The other offer was
a little less money, but from a newlywed couple, college sweethearts with
their first child on the way.  The offer included a personal note that they
really loved the house, and they could already imagine playing with their
daughter in the backyard and at the neighborhood park. They wanted to make
the house a home.

Trevor only teased his partner a little when he started making a case for
selling it to the new family, complete with the whole puppy dog eyes
routine.  "You are such a softie, but that's one of the reasons I love you.
Of course we can accept the offer."

The move went quick with a hired crew.  Since Trevor had bought a Nespresso
machine for his house, Derek's machine wound up in his office at work.  It
was probably breaking some rules, but none of his coworkers complained when
he started to ply them with caffeine. Robyn had even moved one on one
meetings from her office to Derek's after that.

It was after one of those meetings when Derek was just chatting with his
boss that he began to wonder if he had made a mistake with the move.  It
had started over an innocuous comment about how Robyn occasionally missed
having a space all to herself.  Before marriage and kids, she had a home
art studio; that space was long taken over by the kids.  And the last time
she had gotten out her paint supplies it had taken under a minute for the
kids to beg her to let them try.

Derek had never been one for hobbies really, but it still struck him that
he had no where he could call his anymore.  Oh sure he still had lots of
his things, but now they were in Trevor's house.  His old bedroom furniture
in Trevor's guest bedroom, his TV mounted to Trevor's wall.  He knew he was
being foolish; this was all part of a normal relationship.

He was still distracted by his thoughts at dinner that night; Trevor knew
something was up almost immediately.  They met for Mexican food, getting
seated at their favorite booth near the back.  The owners had quickly
accepted that when one of the men showed up, the other would follow a few
minutes later.  The wait staff didn't even bother asking anymore before
showing one of them to a table and setting down two menus.

When Derek sat down the quick peck hello had none of the usual passion.
Trevor asked what was wrong twice before letting the subject drop.  He
wasn't going to make a scene in the restaurant, and he had much more
effective ways of getting information at home anyway.

They shared fajitas, mostly eating in silence before heading home.  Derek
was still in a mood, just sitting on the couch playing with his phone after
he showered.  Trevor had learned a lot about relationships from his
parents.  They had firmly believed that a couple should never go to bed mad
at each other, or with unresolved issues.  Of course neither of them would
refuse to talk about issues either.

Deciding he had given his partner long enough, Trevor made up his mind to
put an end to whatever was going on.  He put on a tight pair of boxer
briefs that accented his butt and one of Derek's t-shirts.  He made a show
of bending over so that his ass was right in front of his lover's face and
shut off the television.  Trevor was pleased to see the other man was at
least halfway smiling.

Their eyes locked onto each other as Trevor sat on the couch, straddling
his lover, and slowly moved in for a kiss.  The firm pressure on his
backside grew quickly as he slowly started to grind his ass on his favorite
plaything.  Just to prove he was in charge, Trevor went for the kill and
started to gently run his fingers through the hair at the base of Derek's
neck.

The gentle whimper of need was right on cue.  Pulling back he waited for
that moment when the most brilliant blue eyes in the world would look at
him with a mixture of questioning and need.  The sparkle was there, but no
question.  "I know exactly what you're doing," Derek grinned.

"So?  It's working isn't it?"

Derek pulled the other man in for another kiss before answering. "I
realized today I don't have a place of my own anymore.  I mean all my stuff
is here, and there isn't anywhere else I want to be or anyone else I want
to be with. But this is still your house, not mine or ours, and it just got
to me."

He quickly held a finger to his lover's lips before he could respond, "I
know this is my problem to get over.  I thought about trying to talk you
into letting me buy part of the house, but you'd find some way to spend it
back on things for us and defeat the purpose."

Any sexual tension had left the room.  "We can start looking for a new home
tomorrow. All this is just stuff; you are the only thing that matters."

Derek pulled his partner back into his and kissed him deeply. "No. You love
this house and I won't ask you to give it up for me.  I'll just have to get
over it."

The two men sat together for a few minutes in silence before Trevor had an
idea. "You know, I've always dreamed of having a rainfall shower, and the
closet seems to have gotten a lot smaller since you moved in. If you used
the money from your house to do some renovations here that would make it
part yours."

"I've always wanted a rainfall shower, but are you sure? You don't have to
do this for me."

Trevor used the trick with his fingers at the base of Derek's neck again,
"Well I was kind of thinking we could make it big enough for two."

"Mmm I like the sound of that.  And maybe we can put a pool in the
backyard."

"No cute pool boys."

The deal was sealed with a kiss before they retired to their bedroom.

===========================================

Derek was amused how quick contractors lined up to bid the project when he
mentioned he was paying cash and looking to start as soon as possible. They
went with a proposal that incorporated half the space of the office closet
into their own, and swapped the current shower and tub for one large shower
enclosure.  The shower would be decked out in a rich marble like tile with
four shower heads, complete with a small bench.  They ended up redoing the
bathroom counters and tile to match, and just over a month later the room
resembled a high end spa.

The pool took a bit longer by the time they settled on a design and got the
required permits.  Derek had insisted on going with a saltwater system and
a heater for the rare cold days.  The pool was shaped like a giant kidney
bean, with a hot tub attached to the deep end.  A submerged shelf perfect
for sitting ran along the back wall, complete with decorative waterfalls
splashing into the pool.

The two men had gotten a little carried away with the new deck, and wound
up with more of a covered patio.  Trevor argued that the new outdoor
kitchen really needed a roof to protect it from the sun and other elements
if they wanted it to stay nice long term.  Derek added a couple of ceiling
fans and an all-weather television and speaker system.

The end result was that their home had become a stunning showpiece and a
perfect blending of their lives.

Derek was floating in the pool on a Saturday afternoon watching Trevor cook
dinner when he realized this was their forever home.  Trevor looked cute
with a "kiss the cook" apron tied around his waist, his hips gently swaying
to the radio.  They had been together for almost six months, and even
without the renovations Derek knew he would do anything to be here with his
soul mate.

Robyn had said months ago after their conversation that she wouldn't give
up her family for anything.  He had never really talked about marriage with
his partner, but it was time. Derek started dreaming up plans until Trevor
called him to come eat.

*************************************************************

Author note: I hope you have continued to enjoy this tale.  Thank you to
those that have emailed me, I really appreciate the comments and try to
respond to everyone.