Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 00:10:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Freeman <mf900@yahoo.com>
Subject: Michael-and-Chance-4 Revised!

Author's Note:

Hey guys, welcome to MC4, the latest installment of the "Michael and
Chance" Series!  Sorry for the long delay.  Life has kept me EXTREMELY busy
lately.  So I appreciate your patience.  I got this out as soon as I could.
There are 3 chapters to MC4, and I intended originally to release it when I
have all 3 chapters written.  But because of my extremely hectic schedule,
I decided to release each chapter as I finished it instead of making you
guys wait for all three chapters to be done.  Thus, this is the first of 3
chapters for MC4.  The second chapter is 3/4 done, and I will release it in
about 2 weeks.  The third one is yet to be written.  It may be for a while
since school will start up again for me soon.  But I'll do my best to get
it out as soon as I can.  Again, I thank all of you who have waited
patiently for these chapters!

Anyway, I'm sure that most of you by now have undoubtedly noticed some of
the minor spelling and grammatical mistakes sprinkled here and there in
previous chapters.  So I want to apologize in advance for any grammatical,
spelling, and syntactical errors that I may have overlooked in this
installment.  God knows, I really try to catch all these minor,
nevertheless embarrassing, errors before sending the installments to the
Archive, but it seems like no matter how many times I check and recheck, I
will inevitably overlook something a case of Writer's Blinder Syndrome
(lol).  I guess that's what happens when one stares at a work for too long!
One of these days when I have the time, I will re-edit these chapters and
resubmit them to the Archive.  But until then, please bear with me (smile)!

Okay as I promised in the last installment, things will heat up in this
installment.  And to set up the mood, I recommend that you put together a
compilation of some of the following songs (which are mentioned in this
installment) and play them while reading this chapter: "The Way" by
Fastball; "Could I Have This Kiss Forever," a duet by Whitney Houston &
Enriqu‚ Iglesias; "My Heart Will Go On" by C‚line Dion; and "Truly,
Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden.  I hope that you'll continue to do the
same for future installments.  If you haven't figured it out by now from my
numerous references to music in the story, I love to listen to a wide,
eclectic range of music, and all the songs that I mentioned in the series
are meant to set up the mood of the story which will become increasingly
important in future installments.  Ok, enough said.  I, now, invite you to
sit back and enjoy MC4!


                      Michael and Chance 4:
                     "Truly, Madly, Deeply"
                               by
                       Michael T. Freeman


Chapter 13: Truly, Madly, Deeply

It has been about 2 months now since Chance and I began dating.  And even
though we have been spending a lot of our free time together, I can't seem
to get enough of Chance, and he seems to feel the same way about me.  He's
constantly on my mind, night and day.  It's crazy and so distracting at
times, especially when I have to focus on my studies.  But I wouldn't have
it any other way.  I guess it's safe to say that I am completely falling
head over heels in love with Chance.  It's an amazing and intoxicating
feeling to be in love with someone so much that it hurts when he is not
around.

God, it's incredible the effects that Chance has on me.  He brightens my
day with his simple, sexy smile. Lights my soul with his intense orbs of
flaming blue fire. Warms my heart with his genuine kindness and laughter.
And sends chills running down my spine with his every touch and kiss. I
sometimes find myself lost, staring into his warm, azure eyes, mesmerized
by the way he moves and speaks, and intoxicated by his manly musk and
taste.

It's one of the most intoxicating, indescribable, divine feelings in the
universe, falling in love and being in love.  I'm constantly on Cloud Nine,
and that's no exaggeration.  That's exactly how Chance makes me feel all
the time.  Just the simple thought of him warms my heart and soul.  His
genuine love and support fill me up to the core of my being, and the depth
of my heart.  It's a heavenly feeling to know that there's someone out
there who loves me unconditionally, accepts me fully, and never judges me.
He makes me feel richer than a zillionaire, fills my soul with more love
than I have ever known, and makes me happier than I have ever been.  Chance
is truly my life, my love, my soulmate!

I love being with Chance.  I love kissing him, caressing him, and making
out with him. And I bet you are wondering if we have done the "deed"
(smiling sheepishly).  Sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is no; we
haven't, not even orally!  Why?  Well for one, we just never really went
that far.  Secondly, we both decided to take the relationship nice and slow
without rushing into sex, a decision that a part of me (and I think you
know which part) sometimes regrets that I have made (smiling).  Plus, we
both have been there before, so we are in no rush.  We want to give the
relationship a chance to grow before elevating it to the next level of
intimacy.  I really love Chance, and he's worth the wait.  But a part of me
wishes that it didn't have to wait too much longer because pressure is
building, and it's about ready to explode.  Down boy, down!  (lol).

Today is Saturday, and it's a beautiful hot day.  Temperature is expected
to reach the high nineties for this weekend, which is unusual for this time
in the fall.  So Chance and I decided to go hiking and camping along the
coast for the weekend, hoping to escape the heat.  We headed out early this
morning, but by 10:00 am, I started to feel signs of what promised to be a
scorching hot day as the sun rays bathed my face.  As we cruised down the
windy highway towards the Park, Fastball's "The Way," came on the radio.
Yes, perfect timing!  I love this song!  I love the retro feel of this
awesome tune.  Chance seemed to like it too as he started to groove to the
music, bobbing his head back and forth as he tapped on the side of the car
door with his right hand.  As he turned and smiled at me, I noticed that he
looked amazingly handsome this morning, wearing a pair of knee-length, navy
blue cargo shorts, a white tee-shirt with a rolled-up, yellow bandana tied
loosely around his neck and a deep blue cap.  I'm sporting a pair of Gap's
beige 3/4 pants (also known as skateboarder's or flood-watcher pants) and a
white cotton shirt. After about a 3-hour drive, we arrived at our
destination. I pulled into the Park's parking lot and parked under the
shade of towering Redwoods.

"Here we are!" I announced excitedly as I turned and smiled at Chance.

"Wow, it's beautiful here Michael!" Chance exclaimed as he got out of the
car and tilted his head to admire the groves of giant Redwoods.

"Yes, it's one of my favorite places to hike!  I can't wait to show you my
secret hideaway spot along the beach that Eric and I discovered several
years ago," I said as I opened the trunk.

"I'm looking forward to it!" Chance smiled as he grabbed his hiking and
camping gears.

I quickly put on my canvas hat and strapped on my hiking backpack.  "All
set, Chance?"

"Yeah, let's go, love!"

It's going to be a pretty long hike.  It should take us about 4 hours to
make the trek to my hideaway spot if I remembered correctly from the last
time my brother Eric and I hiked to there.  I'm glad that we've decided to
do this.  It's a wonderful opportunity for me to spend more time with
Chance, and I relished every minute of it, especially when I slowed down my
pace a bit so that I walk slightly behind Chance to watch his nicely toned
butt sways rhythmically from side to side as he traversed the sloped
terrain.

"What are you doing walking behind me?" Chance turned and gave me a puzzled
look.

I smiled sheepishly and gave him my innocent look.

"You weren't checking my butt out, were you, Michael?" Chance sported a
grin as he quickly grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me to his side.

"Guilty as charged!" I declared proudly as I leaned in and kissed him
passionately for a minute.  Something about embracing and kissing Chance in
a secluded, forested area really turned me on.  "Ok, just wanted to make
sure!"  Chance exclaimed as we both started to laugh. "Come on, let's get
going.  I don't want to miss watching the sun sets behind the horizon."
Chance urged as he held my hand and pulled me onward.

We held each other hands as we continued to follow Viridian Fall Trail up
to Angel's Summit.  Since we have seen only a few people hiked our trail,
we figured that it would be safe to continue holding hands.  It's great
being held by Chance.  I love holding his strong, masculine hand.  It feels
so warm and reassuring.

As we turned around the bend, I saw a young couple approaching us, and
before I realized it, I let go of Chance's hand which startled him a bit as
he turned and gave me a perplexed look.  At that moment, I horrifically
realized what I just did and it was too late.  He saw the couple and his
facial expression changed to one of understanding.  The young couple smiled
at us and said their hellos which we quickly reciprocated as we passed
them.  Chance didn't say anything about the incident.  But my reaction
irritated and bothered me.  I was a bit surprised by my automatic response.
I almost can't believed that I would let go of the hand of someone I loved
so much because.......Why?....  For what?....  Because I didn't want them
to know that I'm gay!  That I love this beautiful man next to me with all
heart and soul!  Is that so bad?  So fuckin' shameful that I need to hide
it from the world.  The more I thought about it, the angrier I got at
myself as it dawned on me the insidious, societal conditioning that
triggered my response.

We didn't talk much as we continued to march up Viridian Fall Trail without
holding hands.  About an hour later, we arrived at a rest point that was
strategically designated along the trail that provided a magnificent view
of Viridian Fall.  The fall seemed to glisten in a warm tone of viridian
splendor due to the intense golden, rocky backdrop.  We decided to stop and
take a lunch break at this wonderful vantage point.

I quickly unstrapped my backpack, and dropped it to the ground.  God, it
felt so good to be relieved of the extra load.  I immediately stretched my
neck, shoulders, and upper body as I grabbed my bottled water and took a
sip of it while leaning over the protective railing, admiring the view when
Chance came and stood next to me.

"Hey, are you okay?" he turned and looked at me with concern.  "You didn't
say much on the way up?  You almost...uhm...seem distant and pensive?  Is
everything ok?" Chance asked earnestly.

I couldn't bear to look at Chance as I felt tears welling up in my eyes.  I
was too ashamed to face him, too angry at myself for unintentionally
letting go of his hand.  And hearing his genuine words of concern and
caring only made me feel worse.

But I finally mustered enough courage to face him.  "I'm so sorry, Chance!"
I blurted out as I felt the first few tears rolled down my face.

"Huh...for what Michael?" Chance retorted with a startled and concerned
expression on his face as he quickly embraced me tightly.  "What's going
on, angel?  Please tell me!"

"For being such a coward, for letting go of your hand when I saw that
couple approaching us."  I quickly composed myself as I wiped away my
tears, determined to halt them.

"Listen to me, Michael!" Chance loosened his embrace as he stared intensely
into my eyes.  "Letting go of my hand does not make you a coward, Michael.
We live in a very prejudicial world, and you were just reflexively trying
to shield us from those unpleasant, discriminatory reactions.  I completely
understand your conditioned response.  And that's what it is, Michael, a
conditioned response.  We have been so operantly conditioned by society to
hide overtly gay expressions that it's become an automatic response."

"But it's not fair to you or me!" I replied.

"No, it's not, Michael.  But I'm not bothered by it.  So I don't want you
to beat yourself up for what happened, especially if you think that your
reaction somehow has hurt me.  Because it hasn't!"

"All the same, I deeply apologize for the way I reacted," I said as I
looked into his beautiful eyes and touched his face. "I promise to do
better!"

"Michael, love means not having to say I'm sorry.  So no apology is
necessary.  I love you all the same, unconditionally, now and always, you
know that.  And please don't overcompensate for what happened by outing
yourself to the world when you are not completely ready for it, especially
because of the negative repercussions of doing so.  We still live in a very
ignorant and brutally discriminating society, and I don't want you to do
anything that would put you in any physical danger."  Chance looked at me
gravely as he continued.  "I'm not saying to never take a stance.  But do
so wisely, and on your own terms and timetable, and not on anyone else's.
I love you very much, Michael.  So please don't make me have to worry about
you.  Please promise me that you'll think it over carefully before doing
anything drastically."

His sweet, sincere plea just makes me want to cry and love him all the
more, if that's possible.  I immediately leaned in and kissed him hungrily
and passionately, wanting to inhale his beautiful essence, and letting him
know that I understood what he is saying.

I finally surfaced for air and smiled at him.  "Thanks Chance, I promise.
I loved you more than life itself!"

To be honest, I've never really believed the expression, "love means not
having to say I'm sorry" until now.  I used to think that it was some
romantic crock that I once heard in "Love Story," that you cannot possibly
love someone so much for him not to apologize when he has unintentionally
hurt you.  But it's true!  I now believe and understand what that
expression truly meant.  When you love someone so COMPLETELY and
UNCONDITIONALLY (as we do for each other), there's really no need to
apologize (for unintentional hurts and wrongs) because you know that the
other person did not mean to hurt you intentionally, that it hurts him as
much as it hurts you for the unintended wrongs.  But I must admit, hearing
those three words ("I am sorry") does have a soothing and reassuring effect
psychologically and emotionally even if they are unnecessary.

Chance flashed me his sexy smiled.  "I love you too, love!  With all my
heart and soul!"

We stood there silently for over 15 minutes, holding each other as we took
in the beautiful view.  And I thought about what Chance said as I stared
down at the forested valley below.  I promised myself that I would make a
better, more conscious effort at becoming and expressing more of who I
truly am each day, including my sexuality...that I would do so wisely at a
pace that I'm comfortable with, without feeling the need or pressure to out
myself prematurely or to burden myself with any unnecessary guilt or shame.
I owe myself and Chance at least that much.

After eating our bagged lunch, we continued on with our trek up to Angel's
Summit.  We finally reached it over an hour later, and it was worth every
step of the way.  The panoramic view was spectacular.  To the west was the
breath-taking Pacific Coast while a quick 180 degree turn revealed the
thick forested valley below.  We found a nice grassy spot to sit and take
in the splendid view.  We could see the ocean waves lapping below and hear
the cries of seagulls beyond, as they seem to suspend in the air.  The
cool, afternoon, coastal breeze felt good as it brushed against my skin.
We sat there in silence for about 20 minutes, enjoying each other's
company, and the magnificent view before deciding to switch over to Seaside
Trail to head down towards the beach to my secret location.

"Come on Chance, let's get going!  We have another hour and half of hiking
to do before we get to my secret spot!" I suggested as I grabbed Chance's
hand and pulled him up.

"Alright!"

I didn't let go of Chance's hand after he got up on his feet.  It felt so
good holding his hand again, and I didn't want to let go which prompted
Chance to smile and look at me.

"Do you mind if I continued holding your hand," I asked sincerely as I
smiled at him.

Chance grinned.  "You never have to ask, angel!  But are you sure you want
to do this?"

I smiled and nodded as I planted a soft kiss on his luscious lips.

We continued on with our trek down Seaside Trail.  On the way down, we came
across an old couple hiking up.  We greeted them with friendly smiles and
hellos, but they reciprocated with only looks of disgust and silence when
they saw that we were holding hands. Guys, it's hard to let go of ignorant
shit like this, but I did it anyway.  I didn't allow it to bother me this
time.  Nor did it seem to bother Chance who simply shook his head at the
incident and smiled radiantly at me.  I felt a sense of pride and
redemption as I continued to hold Chance's hand steadfastly.

After another hour of hiking, we reached the last stretch of the trail
where we needed to veer off the marked path to get to my secret beach
location.

"Ok, Chance, we need to get off the designated trail and hike this way." I
announced as I pointed towards the mass of shrubs and trees.

"Umh...Michael, I don't see a trail, only shrubs and trees that way!"
Chance exclaimed with doubts at my suggestion.

I simply smiled and pulled him along.  "Trust me love!  I have made this
trek many times before with Eric.  I would never lead you astray."

Chance followed me a bit reluctantly as we parted the thick bushes and tree
branches and made our way through them.  After some careful maneuvering
through the shrub and tree masses, we came upon a slight clearing as the
terrain sloped sharply downward.

Chance stopped at the top edge of the sloped terrain and looked doubtfully
at me.  "Michael, I love you, and you know that I would follow you to the
end of the world.  But this is one damn, steep slope, love!  I probably
would break my neck trying to hike down.  I don't see how we're going to be
able to trek down this."

I leaned in and kissed his adorable, frowning face.  "We're not going to
hike down.  We going to scale down with a little help from these." I
replied as I pulled out 2 pairs of mountain climbing ropes, harnesses,
clips, and gloves and grinned wickedly at Chance.  "Do you know how to use
these, Chance?  Have you mountain climbed before?"

"Been a while, but I think I remember!" Chance exclaimed excitedly as he
put on a pair of gloves and helped me secure the rope around a big Monterey
Pine tree.  After I made sure that the rope was properly secured around the
tree, I suggested that Chance take off his camping backpack and prepare to
scale down first. Chance quickly complied and put on the climbing gears and
started his descent.

"Ok, nice and easy, buddy! You're doing good!"

In a few minutes, Chance safely made his way down to the bottom.

"Ok, Michael, I made it!"  Chance shouted up.

"Ok, I'm going lower our camping gears, one by one now!" I shouted back.

"Alright, I'm ready for them!"

I quickly tied Chance's backpack to the other rope and lowered it slowly
down to Chance, and then I did the same with my camping and hiking gears.

"Ok, I'm heading down, Chance!" I shouted.

"Ok, go for it, angel!"

I coiled up the rope that I used to lower our gears and looped it
diagonally across my chest and put on my climbing gear.

"That's it buddy, nice and slow!" Chance cheered me on.  I saw a fat smirk
on his face when I turned and looked down at him.  I knew right away why he
was grinning.  "You're not checking my butt out, are you, Chance?" I
shouted.

"Guilty as charged!" he quickly replied as he laughed.

A few minutes later, I successfully descended down.  Chance greeted me with
a smile and hug.  "Can you do that again, love?  I liked the way your butt
swayed," Chance said as he grabbed my butt cheeks firmly and kissed me
hungrily.

We finally broke our kiss, and I got out of my climbing gears.  I put the
coiled rope into my backpack and left the one tied to the tree there for us
to use to climb up tomorrow.  We proceeded on with our hike.  About 20
minutes later, we came to a clearing that opened up to a secluded
beachfront.

"Wow, this is great Michael!"

"Yeah, our own private beach!" I looked at Chance as he smiled with
delight.

"We can camp over there," I said, pointing to the old leaning Monterey Pine
that was protruding through the off- white sands a few hundred yards in
front of us. Chance nodded in agreement.

We quickly unstrapped our backpacks and dropped them to the ground as we
leaned back against the tree, catching our breath from the exhausting hike.
We sat and rested for about 15 minutes before I suggested that we build
ourselves a fire pit.  Chance volunteered to gather the firewood while I
prepared a fire pit.  A half an hour later, we had a good fire going, and
we decided to have dinner since both of us were starving.  I had brought
along a few garden burgers for dinner, which we both devoured in no time.
We had roasted marshmallows for dessert as we sat back and enjoyed the
spectacular evening light show as the flaming orange sun majestically sets
behind the horizon.

The sky lit up in a mosaic of ravishing orange, yellow, pink, and blue
tones as the full, silvery moon sneaked in behind the cirrus clouds.  I
love watching the sun sets.  There's something miraculous and magical about
it.  Watching it always reminds me what life is all about...there's SO much
beauty all around us...it's just a matter of opening our eyes and hearts to
it and embracing it!

And what makes it even more special is having the love of my life here next
to me as I admired Mother Nature at work. I turned away from the beautiful
light show for a few seconds to glance at my Chance who was staring into
the distance.  He looked so beautiful as the soft, evening light outlined
his strong, masculine jaw and the cool ocean breeze gently tossed his dark,
careless, wind-blown hair.

He turned and smiled at me as I grabbed for his hand.  He leaned in and
kissed me passionately and deeply.  An electric chill ran down my spine as
our lips and tongues met in a furious embrace.  God, he tasted so manly
sweet and smelled so heavenly with a slight scent of Nautica and his own
natural musk. We finally broke our kiss.  I leaned back against the old
pine and continued to enjoy the evening light show as Chance rested the
back of his head on my lap while sprawling lazily on our beach blanket,
staring up at the heavens.  I gently stroked his dark brown hair.  About
half an hour later, the light show was over as the evening stars slowly
emerged from the darkness and illuminated the night sky.

Chance got up and dug into his backpack.  He took out a portable radio and
turned it on.  He took a few minutes to scan the radio stations for the
perfect song, and indeed he found it.  The wonderful, colorful vocal of
Whitney Houston and Enriqu‚ Iglesias came on, singing their magnificent
duet, "Could I Have This Kiss Forever."  The song immediately prompted
Chance to start dancing as he gestured a couple dance movement and looked
at me.  He looked so funny and cute, pretending to dance with an imaginary
partner.  It didn't take too long for him to walk up and bowed to me with
his left hand on his back and right hand extended forth, gesturing for me
to dance with him.  "May I have this dance?" Chance asked in an exaggerated
British accent.

"Why, certainly sir!" I replied in my best imitation British accent as I
grabbed for his hand.

Chance smiled and gave me a quick twirl before we embraced each other
tightly with one hand on the back of each other's waist and the other hand
cupped together as we started to dance to this awesome tune.  We mixed a
little Latino steps with a bit of salsa flare into our dance.  We stared
intensely into each other's soul, allowing the music to take over our
bodies as we moved harmoniously to the music.  Chance gave me a quick dip
and slowly pulled me up and kissed me passionately.  The duet was followed
by another of my favorites, C‚line Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."  The
air permeated with the incredible vocal perfection of C‚line as the
overture of crashing waves and seagull's cries blended seamlessly with this
lovely ballad.  We held each other closely as we danced slowly to this
beautiful song.  I leaned in and have another taste of his luscious lips.
The song finally finished and we retired back on the blanket, holding each
other tightly as we stared up at the heavens.  It just doesn't get any
better than this, my friends!

Chance propped up his head with his elbow bended and right hand supporting
his head as he stared intensely at me.

"What?" I turned and smiled at him.

"Nothing!  Just admiring the view.  I love how the fire flame shadows dance
across your body and face," Chance replied with a big grin.

"Come here you," I said as I pulled his face to mine and kissed him
passionately.  We finally surfaced for air.  I can't seem to get enough of
kissing and holding him.

Chance looked at me and sported a sexy smirk.  "So what do you want for
your birthday?"

"How did you know that my birthday was coming up?" I asked in astonishment.
"Who told you?"

"Oh, I have my sources!"

"Stacy must have told you!" I quickly figured it out.  Chance nodded and
smiled.  "I want you, Chance, for my birthday!" I smiled wickedly.

Chance's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Well, you can have me now!" Chance quickly replied as he lean in and
kissed me hungrily.  He gently nibbled my left earlobe and slowly moved
down my neck and showered me with kisses.  I was in Heaven as I moaned in
ecstasy.

Encouraged by my moaning, Chance kissed his way down to my chest and gently
rubbed my right nipple as he teased my left nipple with his tongue, giving
it a lingual bath before suddenly sucking it passionately.

"Agghhhh..." I moaned as I arched my back in pleasure.  Both of my nipples
are now hard as a rock, not to mention my other engorged member, waiting to
be released from its confinement.

Chance wasted no time slithering down towards my abs, following my trail of
paradise to my now very hard penis as I rested my right hand on his head.
God, I can't take any more of his kisses.  "Agghhhhhmm....Chance!"  I'm
going to explode soon if he keeps up his lingual assault and kisses.

Encouraged by my exultation, Chance forged on and started to pull down my
pants.  I squirmed with pleasure as he continued his relentless tongue bath
towards my throbbing manhood. "Ohhh...uhmmmm...."  But I knew that I
couldn't let him go any further.  That he had to stop.  There something I
need to ask of him before he goes any further.  I mustered up all the will
power that I had to ask him to stop despite of my natural urges.

"Agghh....Chance...uhhmmm....Chance, please stop.....ahhm...please!" I
pleaded in between breaths.

"What?!!" Chance looked up at me, completely dazed. "What!"

"Please stop!" I repeated my request a bit more audibly.

Chance had a look of disappointment and hurt on his face which immediately
made my heart aches with guilt.

"What...what is it, angel?  Am I doing wrong?"  Chance asked with concern
and confusion.

"No, it's...it's not you, Chance!  It's me!"  I started to try to explain.

Chance sat up and looked at me with puzzlement.

"The reason why I asked you to stop is because...I love you so much Chance.
And before we take this to the next level of intimacy.  I need to ask you
to do something for me."

"Anything Michael!  Anything my love!  What is it?"

"Since we both have sexual partners in the past, I think we should both get
tested before going any further with this.  I want to make sure that both
of us are protected.  And I love you too much to be reckless with your
health and mine."  I looked at him intensely to gauge his reaction.

Chance's confused look of concern quickly turned into a smile as he leaned
in and kissed me.  "Of course, I'll get tested!"

"Great!" I smiled.

"That's why I love you so much, Michael.  You have great common sense!"

"Oh!" I pretended to be disappointed.  "And I thought you love me for my
body!" I said jokingly.

"Come here you!" Chance instructed as he smiled and kissed me again.

After a few minutes of kissing, we held each other tightly as we lay on the
blanket, staring up at the stars.  There seemed to be a zillion stars out
tonight, sparkling like brilliant diamonds.

"Thanks, Chance!" I turned and faced him.

"No, thank you for loving me enough to stop me from going any further until
we both get tested.  And I respect and love you all the more for that!"

"God, you sure know how to stroke a guy's ego!"  I replied with much
appreciation.

"Well, I rather stroke something else of yours right now, but I guess it
will have to wait for another time!" he replied with a fat smirk on his
beautiful face.

We both laughed as we rolled over on our backs and continued with our star
gazing when Savage Garden's lovely ballad, "Truly, Madly, Deeply," came on
the radio.  I completely love this song.  It perfectly describes how I feel
about Chance at this moment.  We looked at each other and smiled as we held
each other tightly.  What a wonderful starry night.  And before I knew it,
I dozed off in the warm embrace of my love!

I woke up the following morning to the sounds of crashing waves against the
rocks and cries of distant sea gulls.  I lazily rubbed my eyes and squinted
to see the morning sun peeking over the horizon.  My angel was still
asleep.  He looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there like an angel.  I
took this opportunity to admire and study his elegant, handsome face as I
gently stroke his dark, care-free hair.

Ten minutes later, I gently wiggled out of our sleeping bag so as not to
wake up my sleeping prince.  I quickly emptied my bladder and brushed my
teeth.  It was still pretty early.  So I decided to go for a morning
jog. While jogging along the beach I came upon an intriguing rock formation
that jutted out of the water a couple of hundred yards from the beach.
"That looks like a great place to sit and meditate," I thought to myself as
I took off my pants and headed for the water.

After a brief, exhilarating swim, I climbed onto the rock and settled into
a meditative sitting position as I closed my eyes and tuned into my body.
The ocean spray felt good as it lightly misted my chest while the warm
morning sun bathed my face.  In the distance, I could hear the overture of
seagull's cries and crashing waves as the morning breeze hissed in my ears.
After about a half an hour of meditating, it was time to swim back to the
shore.  Several minutes later, I arrived at the beach completely drenched.
So I walked back to the camp spot with my pants in hand.  Chance was up
with a sketching pad in hand, apparently busy sketching something.  He
waved at me when he saw me approaching.

"Hey, morning love!" I leaned down and kissed him.  "Had a good sleep?"

"Yeah, the best!"  Chance smiled at me.  "Went for a meditation?"

"Yeah, I meditated on that magnificent boulder out there!" I said, pointing
to the rock formation south of us.

"Yeah, I know.  I saw you swim out and climb onto the rock!"

"So what are you doing there, sketching?"

"Yeah!" Chance smiled as he continued to sketch.

"Wow, that looks great Chance!  You're really good!" I exclaimed as I sat
down for a closer look.  Chance was sketching the beach scene.

"Thanks, love!"

"Did you sketch anything else?" I asked eagerly as I reached over to flip
the page to see if there was another drawing underneath it.

Chance quickly intercepted my reaching hand, kissed me deeply and retorted
with a smile, "No!"

I sat and watched Chance at work, sketching up a storm.  It's amazing
watching him sketch, how his hand moved in gracefully arcs and strokes.
He's really good at his work.  Chance finally finished his drawing of the
beachfront, and it looked incredible!

"Wow, that looks absolutely great, Chance!" I exclaimed in astonishment.
"I have never seen anyone sketch so quickly and beautifully!"

"Thanks, angel, you always know how to make me feel good!"  Chance flashed
me his sexy smile.

"Ditto!" I smiled back at him.  "Listen, thanks for being so understanding
last night when I asked you to stop...you know?"

"Listen, Michael, I'm very glad that you stopped me from going any further.
It showed how much you respect yourself and cared enough for my well-being
to request that we both get tested before taking our intimacy to the next
level," Chance exclaimed as he looked intensely into my eyes.  "And I love
and respect you all the more for that.  So don't worry your pretty head
about that!"  Chance smiled and leaned in to kiss me.

"Ok!" I smiled sheepishly after we broke our kiss.

"So what are you doing for your birthday?  Do your friends have anything
planned for you?"

"Yeah, Stacy and the gang said that they want to take me out celebrating
and clubbing next Saturday for my birthday."  I replied.  "And of course,
you are invited!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Good, because I really want to celebrate my 21st birthday with you!" I
exclaimed excitedly.

"You bet!"  Chance leaned in and embraced me tightly.

After our morning breakfast of granola bars and fruits, it was time for us
to start heading back.  The trek back was uneventful.  It took us about the
same amount of time to hike back as it did to get to our campsite.  The
ride back was pleasant as we chit-chatted and discussed where and when we
wanted to get the STD test!  We decided go to the Student Health Center on
Monday and get tested there.  It was late in the afternoon when we arrived
at Chance's apartment complex.  I parked the car and got out to help Chance
get all his stuff out of the trunk.

"Thanks for going camping with me this weekend Chance!"

"It's my pleasure.  I love spending time with you, you know that!"

"Yeah, same here." I smiled.  "Ok, I'll meet you at the Student Health
Center at around three after my class tomorrow," I reminded Chance.

"Right!" Chance agreed as he quickly glanced around before giving me a
quick kiss and a tight embrace.  "I'll see you then, love."

I was exhausted when I got home.  I quickly unloaded my hiking gear, took a
quick shower, and hopped into bed for a short nap.  "What a great weekend!"
I thought to myself as I sprawled lazily on my bed.  I had the sun, sand,
and Chance!  What more do I need!  I smiled as I quickly succumbed to
sleep.

To be continued.


Author's Note: Well, there you have it guys; the first of 3 chapters for
MC4.  The second one should be out in a couple of weeks or so, depending on
how busy I get.  Again, I appreciate your patience.  Anyway, I hope that
you guys are well informed about STDs (sexually transmitted disease).  If
you're not up to speed on the topic, it would be wise of you to read up on
it and learn how to protect yourself from these nasty critters.  It could
possibly save your life!  At the risk of sounding like a clich‚,
knowledge is truly power!  Alright, enough said!

Lastly, I want to thank James, for taking the time out of his busy schedule
to help me edit MC4.  I truly appreciate it.

As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions and constructive
criticisms.  Please let me know what you think of my story.  They can be
sent to mf900@yahoo.com .  All flames can be forwarded to: trashcan.com
(he.hee.). Take care!