Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 11:17:58 -0500
From: Jeff Allen <jeff_allen15@hotmail.com>
Subject: Love of a Lifetime Part 25

This is a fictional story dealing with love and consensual sexual
activities between males.  If you are not of legal age, reside in an area
where viewing such material is illegal, or are offended by homosexuality
and/or homosexual themes, leave this site now.

The author retains all rights to this story.  No reproductions or links to
other sites are allowed without the permission of the author.

Note: I owe a special thanks to Robb for doing the final proofreading and
catching all those silly little errors that I missed.

LOVE OF A LIFETIME


PART 25

     Sergei and I had sex a few times after that first night, and I was
able to convince him we didn't need vodka or martinis EVERY time we got
together.  Actually, we became better friends than fuck buddies.  He was an
attractive guy, but there was something missing between us.  We just didn't
click that well sexually.  After those few sessions where we ended up in
bed, the rest of the times we got together just to hang out.  Of course I
told Andy about Sergei.  He had a good laugh with the idea of all the
toasting with vodka and martinis.

     Andy joined a gym in Evanston and got to know a few people from there,
but most of them weren't gay.  He did get a blow job in the steam room one
night from some guy he'd never seen before and hadn't seen since.  He told
me the whole story over the phone.  I was hard as a rock when he finished.
So was he.  We had our first phone sex as we both jacked off.  It was okay,
but I can't say I'd recommend it as a steady diet.

     Justin and Megan were spending even more time together than before
leaving Larsen and me with the apartment to ourselves most of the time.
  Justin and I still studied for tests together since we had the same
classes so I still saw him regularly.  I thought Megan was a wonderful
girl, and Justin seemed really happy, but I was lonely.

     Brian and Stephen came over some on the weekends.  On one of those
occasions we ended the evening in another threesome.  The other times we
just had a good time enjoying each others' company as friends.

     I ran into Jason Sherman on campus a couple of times.  Each time he
said that he wanted to talk, but he never came over or called.

     I also saw Brad Miller one time...or rather Brad saw me.  It was the
first week of March just before Spring Break.  We'd had a snow storm, but
most of the snow had melted leaving big puddles of slushy, muddy water near
the curbs.  I was walking back to the apartment after track practice
thinking about a paper I had to write for a class.  I looked up just as a
Jeep Wrangler swerved from the traffic lane in the street into the water
near the curb.  In the instant before I received the ice cold shower of
muddy water, I recognized Brad as the driver.  I wheeled around to yell an
obscenity at Brad's retreating jeep.  He stuck his arm out the window and
gave me the finger as he drove off.

     My trip to Illinois to see Andy over Spring Break was a near disaster.

     I flew up to Chicago on Friday night.  Andy met me at the airport, and
we had a great weekend.  We made love several times; we played tourist
visiting the natural history museum, the aquarium, and the art museum; we
ate in some good restaurants, and we had a wonderful time being together.
It all started down hill on Monday.  Andy left the apartment before seven
each day and wasn't home until at least seven or eight at night.  When he
did get home, all he wanted to do was eat and go to sleep.  To make matters
worse, he had an all day meeting on Saturday which was my last full day in
Chicago.  Maybe I was acting like a spoiled brat, but I'd hoped that he
would take some time off work so we could be together.  I felt like I was
more of a burden to him that week than a relief.  I tried to keep a good
attitude, but there was a chill between us by Sunday when he dropped me off
at the airport.

     I got back to my place late Sunday night.  Larsen was next door at the
Williamses.  Justin was at Megan's.  Andy wasn't home when I called to tell
him I was back safely.  I'd never felt that alone before.  It felt like my
life was unraveling.

     I cried myself to sleep.

                       **********

     I was really down in the dumps over the next two weeks.  Andy and I
weren't able to talk on the phone very much, and even when we did talk
there was a distance in our conversations that had never been there before.
I found I was more depressed after talking with him.  I have never slept
very much...four to five hours a night seemed to work for me, but now I was
having trouble getting even that much sleep.

     I got back to the apartment on Friday evening after practice.  Justin,
of course, was out with Megan.  Larsen greeted me with his usual tail
wagging abandon, but I still felt lonely.

     I looked around the empty apartment, and knew I couldn't stay there.
I notified the security company that had been keeping a watch on Andy's
cabin, threw some things in a duffle bag, and was on my way to Carterville
within ten minutes.

     The cabin would be just as empty as the apartment, but at least it was
somewhere else.

                       **********

     It was one of those incredibly mild early spring days.  Larsen and I
did a morning run, and then he explored the area around the cabin checking
out all of the new scents that had been deposited in the four months the
place had stood vacant while I worked inside getting rid of the accumulated
dust.

     A little before noon, I left Larsen at the cabin and drove to the
cemetery in Carterville.  The daffodils Andy and I had planted were
blooming on either side of my mother's grave stone.  I sat cross legged on
the new spring grass and talked to her.

     She didn't answer, but the talking helped.

     I lost track of time sitting there on the grass.  I was vaguely aware
of a vehicle stopping nearby.

     "C.Z."

     I looked up.  Justin was striding across the grass toward me.

     "Justin, what are you doing here?"

     He pulled me into a bear hug.  "Man am I glad to see you!  I got back
to the apartment this morning, and you and Larsen weren't there.  I figured
you were out running some errands.  When you didn't come back after a
while, I checked and noticed that your toothbrush and stuff were gone.  I
thought maybe you'd gone out to Doc and Matt's so I called them, but they
hadn't heard from you.  I know you've been upset about Andy.  I figured
you'd come here."

     "You drove two hours for that?"

     "Yeah, man.  I figured you wouldn't have left school if you hadn't
been hurting over the Andy situation.  If my brother's hurting, I need to
be there for him."

     That opened the flood gates on my eyes.  I hugged him and cried.  "I
don't know what's happening, Justin.  I think I'm losing him.  What can I
do?"

     "Pull it together, man.  Let's go back to your place, and then you can
cry on my shoulder all you want.  I'm here to listen."

     And that's just what we did.  We sat on the couch, and Justin held me
as I poured out my fears and concerns about losing Andy.  I don't know if I
made any sense when I was trying to talk between the sobs, but having
Justin there made it all seem okay.  I even told Justin that I was afraid
of losing him to Megan.

     He pulled away slightly to look at me before pulling me back into a
tighter hug.

     "C.Z., I think I love Megan.  She may be the girl for me.  I've never
felt this way about any other girl, but she can't take the place of my
brothers...all of them and that includes you."

     "I know I'm being real immature about this.  I know we're great
friends.  I guess with feeling like I might be losing Andy, I didn't want
to lose you too.  I'm a little jealous."

     "Megan and I had a long talk last night about a lot of things.  She's
been a little jealous of you too.  I guess knowing that you're gay and that
I have two gay brothers had her a little concerned.  I think we got that
settled.  We both need to recognize some space for the other.  I need to be
with my friends sometimes and she needs to be with her's.  I'd really like
for you and Megan to get to know one another.  You may be having to deal
with one another for a long time to come."

     "Does she know where you are?"

     "Yeah.  I told her I was coming over to try to find you.  She was
worried about you too.  I'll call her in a bit to let her know that we're
staying here tonight."

     We sat on the couch the rest of the afternoon talking.  At dusk, we
went into town for dinner because I couldn't find anything in the cupboards
except a couple of bottles of wine left over from New Years.  When we got
back to the cabin after dinner I opened one of the bottles of wine while
Justin built a fire in the fireplace.

     We sat in front of the fire sipping on the wine and leaning in to one
another.  When the wine was gone, Justin pulled me up to my feet and led
the way into the bedroom.  We shed our clothes on opposite sides of the bed
and then crawled under the covers.  Our naked bodies met in the middle of
the bed.  Justin kissed me gently on the lips before wrapping me in his
arms.  I felt his cock begin to harden against my hip.  I knew he could
feel mine growing against him.

     "I love you, C.Z."

     "I love you too, Justin.  Thanks for coming to get me."

     "All part being your brother.  Good night, man."

     "Night, Justin."

     I fell asleep with my nose pressed into the patch of hair between
Justin's pecs.  I slept better than I had for weeks.

                       **********

     We drove back to school the next day.  Justin and I studied some for
organic chemistry in the afternoon.  Megan came over for dinner that
evening.  Justin told us he was cooking dinner for both of us and insisted
that we stay out of the kitchen.

     We knew what he was trying to do...get Megan and me to spend some time
together.  Unfortunately, I also knew that Justin was a terrible cook.  His
range of culinary capability was at it's limit putting a frozen dinner in
the microwave.

     Megan and I watched nervously from the living area of the apartment.

     "Megan, has Justin ever cooked anything for you?"

     "No.  I didn't think he could cook."

     "He can't."

     We looked at each other.  The agreement passed silently between us.
We went into the kitchen area and each of us took one of Justin's arms.

     Megan kissed him on the cheek.  "Nice try, sugar, but C.Z. and I want
you to go outside and play with Larsen while we get dinner."

     "Go, man.  If I let you cook, all three of us would end up in the
hospital having our stomachs pumped."

     The little rat flashed a big grin.  "Come on Larsen.  We've been
saved!"

     Once Larsen and Justin were outside playing, Megan and I set out
making dinner.  She and I worked easily together.  Both of us knew that our
getting along was important to Justin so we tried.  It worked.  By the time
dinner was ready and we called Justin in from the backyard, I felt like
Megan and I were on our way to being friends.

                       **********

     The next weekend was Easter, and we had both Good Friday and Easter
Monday off from school.  All of Justin's family was getting together at
their beach place.  Justin insisted that Megan and I go down with him.

     I made arrangements with the Williams kids to dogsit Larsen over the
weekend.  Megan was nervous about meeting Justin's family.  He and I tried
to reassure her on the way down, but it didn't seem to work.  However,
after only a couple hours down at the beach, she seemed to fit right in
with everyone and appeared completely at ease.  The Barneses has a talent
for making people feel welcomed.

     When Justin said his whole family would be there, he meant the WHOLE
family!  There were fourteen people at the place.  Mom and Dad Barnes had
one of the front bedrooms.  Brother Jerrod and Tom, his partner, had the
other front room.  Sister Beth and her husband Joe were in one of the back
bedrooms with sister Susan, Megan, and David's new girlfriend JoEllen in
the other.  That meant Justin, David, Brian, Susan's boyfriend Adam Parks,
and I were up in the loft.

     Megan, JoEllen, and Adam were a little overwhelmed by the closeness
and amount of physical contact in the Barnes Family.  Adam also seemed
uncomfortable at first with Jerrod and Tom being an openly affectionate gay
couple and the fact that he was sharing sleeping space with Brian and me
who made no secret about our being gay.  I watched him become more
comfortable with the situation over the course of the weekend.  On Monday
morning when everyone was leaving to go back to their homes, he joined in
the round robin of hugs and kisses without hesitation.

                       **********

     When we got back to school Monday evening, Kevin Williams told us that
there had been another gay bashing incident over the weekend.  The victim
this time was Tim Walters, a friend of Brian and Stephen from the soccer
team.  Tim had stayed in the dorm over the Easter break.  He was the only
person on his hall of the dorm so no one heard or saw the attacker.  Tim
was asleep Sunday night when someone entered his room and hit him.  When he
recovered consciousness he was blindfolded, gagged, and tied face down and
spread eagle on his bed.  The attacker beat him with a rubber hose or
rubber rod before raping him, trashing the room, and leaving.  Tim's
roommate found him Monday morning when he returned to campus.  Tim had some
damage to his kidneys from the beating and some tearing around his anus
from the rape.  The attacker had worn gloves and a condom so there was no
possibility of getting DNA evidence from semen or fingerprints.  Once
again, the State Police and Campus Security were stymied in their
investigation, and this new attack brought near panic to the gay community
on campus.  The rape was a new element in the attack.  The monster was
becoming more dangerous with each attack.  If the criminal meant to
intimidate and demean his victims, it worked on Tim Walters.  He left
school.

(To be continued)