Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 16:54:49 -0500
From: Jayson Vascardi <jaycolin25@gmail.com>
Subject: Tale of Three 9

A Tale of Three
By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Legal Disclaimer: This story is fictional, as are the characters featured
herein, which are solely the product of the author's imagination. Any
resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is entirely
coincidental. If you are under the age of eighteen, offended by male/male
material, or if such material cannot be legally viewed where you live, then
you should be leaving now. Otherwise, please enjoy the story.

Character Profiles: http://jayson.worldofslash.com/a-tale-of-three/profiles/index.htm
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesbyjayson
Writing Journal: http://jaycolin.livejournal.com

This story is ©2004-2010, 2011 by J.C. Vascardi. This story is the sole
property of its author and may not be copied, in whole or in part, posted
on any other website, or included in any form of book or media, without the
explicit written permission of the author.

-o-0-o-

Chapter Nine, Part One
Andrew's Perspective
Thursday, January 6, 2005

-o-0-o-

After Kevin and our cousins told Jay and I what had happened, I'd be lying
if I said that some part of me didn't get a perverse sense of pleasure from
knowing that their parents were forcing these four spoiled rich kids to
"slum it." I quickly banished such thoughts from my head though because Jay
and I were raised to not take pleasure in other people's misfortune. While
it is true that it would probably be the best thing that Victor, Blanche,
Adam, and Gladys had ever done for their children in the long run, I knew
that Kevin and my cousins would see it as the worst misfortune of their
lives--even worse than having to get used to wearing a kilt, which was
required dress on Sundays at the boarding school we had all attended. Jay
and I didn't really mind that because we sort of enjoyed immersing
ourselves in another culture, but I digress.

Something else that crossed my mind was the fact that I knew, beyond any
shadow of a doubt, that whatever the reason that Victor, Blanche, Adam, and
Gladys had for cutting their children off, forcing them to get jobs, and
attend college, helping their children had absolutely nothing to do with
it. Even if that is what their actions did in the long run, it was much
more likely that they were doing it to once again reaffirm who the boss
was, who held the purse strings, and also to inflict as much pain and
suffering on their children as they could; as if the cold distance and
harsh words hadn't done that enough already.

I knew that it caused them great strife to ask, but it wasn't long before
Kevin and our cousins asked Jay and me for help. Much to our surprise,
however, they did not ask us to secretly support them, as we would have
expected them to. They actually asked us to help them find jobs, figuring
that we'd probably know the Wilmington job market better than they would
because we lived here. Despite their obvious distress over their new found
state of poverty, they seemed willing to at least try to adapt to their new
circumstances, which Jay and I had to give them credit for because we would
have thought that they would have spent several days moping and complaining
about it first. I guess Jay and I underestimated Kevin and our cousins a
bit.

"Well, guys," I said, "Jay and I will, of course, do what we can to help
you, but I'm afraid we don't really know that much about the job market in
Wilmington."

"Yes, unfortunately that is one area we definitely aren't knowledgeable
in. Not to rub it in or anything, but Drew and I have been concentrating on
our degrees and hence living off our trust funds, rather than going out and
getting jobs."

"That's okay," Tiernan said after a moment. He sighed and then added, "I'm
sure we can find something."

"You know, I just thought of something," I said as an idea struck me. "Jay
and I might not be able to help you, but Dan, Matt, and Kyle might be able
to."

"That is a good idea, Drew," Jay said with an approving nod.

"Who are Dan, Matt, and Kyle?"

"Well, there are three apartments on this floor," I said. "The one you will
be staying in, this one, plus one other. The tenants there are Jordan
Miller, Matthew Lawson, and Kyle Bradley. They're all students at
UNC. We're not taking the same degrees, so we don't have many classes with
them, but we've gotten to know them pretty well from living next door to
them. They're very nice guys."

"I don't suppose they're cute and single, are they?" Tristan asked with a
hopeful look on his face.

"They're all good-looking and gay," Jay said, "but don't get any ideas,
Tech, Alex. They're together."

"Together?" Tiernan asked, as if not grasping Jay's meaning. After a
moment, a look of realization came over his face and he asked, "Oh, you
mean?"

"Yes, the three of them are together," I said. "They're totally committed
to each other. They all work though, so I'm sure they probably have a
better knowledge of the job market."

"Oh, and Jordan's older sister, Jessica," Jay added, "is an interior
designer. She's actually the one who decorated our apartment. She also
decorated their apartment though, so she is adept at decorating on a much
smaller budget then what we gave her.  She might be able to help you with
your new apartment as well."

"Well, that's a good thing," Kevin said. "I, for one, know that I don't
really know the first thing about buying furniture, let alone buying
furniture on a small budget. Hell, I don't know the first thing about
buying anything on a budget. I've never had one before."

I just nodded in response to Kevin's statement, which was in fact very
true. All four of them very likely had at least one credit card with an
unlimited holding and, until recently, they had also all been getting
monthly allowances from their trust funds which totaled together for the
year would be more than the average person made in a year.

"Helping you guys may also help them in a way," Jay said after a moment of
thought.

"How could helping us help them?" Trevor asked, obviously confused.

"Well, they're dealing with an issue with Kyle's family right now," I
said. "Kyle's brother Sean recently came back to town. They haven't seen
him in years and, from what I've heard, he's got a very bad gambling
problem. He's also an alcoholic and a drug addict, so anything that might
help get Kyle's mind off of that would probably be welcome."

Tiernan, Tristan, Trevor, and Kevin just nodded, and then Drew said, "Well,
come on guys. Our dad does own this building, so I'm sure the building
superintendent will let us in to see your new apartment. I've never
actually seen it myself, so I am kind of curious. All I know is that it's
the size of Jay's and my apartment combined with Dan, Matt, and Kyle's
apartment."

"Just don't gloat too much guys that you have a bigger apartment," I said
with a grin as the six of us headed out. "Our apartment may be smaller, but
we also had a quarter-million dollar decorating budget."

-o-0-o-

Chapter Nine, Part Two
Brian's Perspective
Thursday, January 6, 2005

-o-0-o-

After we ate the after-school snack of milk and grilled cheese sandwiches
that Aaron's mom made us, Jayden and I did as Aaron's mom asked and called
our parents to ask for permission to spend the night. Jayden called home
first, and not only did his mom give him permission, but she said that
she'd send his older brother Joshua over with an overnight bag for him. At
that time, Josh Travis lived in Chicago, but he had come down to Wilmington
over the holidays to visit his family and then stayed on for a few days
because he landed a modeling job in the area.

As it would turn out, my stepmother was at Jayden's house at the time,
having coffee with his mom. Much like Nick and Aaron, Jayden and I are next
door neighbors, so his mom and my stepmother are good friends. After
getting permission from her to spend the night, she told me that she'd take
Josh next door and pack an overnight bag for me so that he could bring it
over along with Jayden's. Once the permission was obtained, the four of us
headed into the den to start on our various homework assignments for the
day before breaking out our history books to study for tomorrow's
test. We'd all just finished our homework when Aaron's mom came in,
followed by a tall, brown-haired, and muscular young man whom I knew to be
Jayden's older brother, Joshua.

I was six years old when my mother died and eight when my dad re-married,
at which point we moved from Rhinelander, Wisconsin to Wilmington. We moved
into the house next door to Joshua and Jayden, and while I became friends
with Jayden rather quickly, I never really got to know Joshua that well at
that point. It was probably because of the fact that Jayden and I are about
a month apart in age while Josh is eight years older. So, at the time,
sixteen-year-old Josh was, while not adverse to it, not exactly keen on
spending a ton of time with his eight-year-old brother and his friends. Not
that I really minded, because I was having plenty of fun with Jayden and I
didn't really notice Josh. Of course, that all changed about a month or so
after my tenth birthday when I caught myself sneaking as many glimpses of
Josh as I could possibly get away with, without getting caught or looking
too suspicious.

I guess you could say I was an early bloomer, as I pretty much realized
then that I was gay. I suppose some part of me always knew that I was
different from many of the other boys my age, but I'd never really known
what that difference was until I began to realize just how hot my best
friend's older brother was. I had a major crush on him and, for a few years
after he'd left for college in Chicago, he was the subject of more than one
wet dream or fantasy. It wasn't until the end of my sophomore year and the
beginning of my junior year in high school that I finally managed to get
over my crush on Josh. Now, while I was past having a crush on him at that
point, I still couldn't help but think that he looked very hot. He was
wearing a pair of tight black leather pants and a short-sleeved black silk
shirt left unbuttoned to reveal a black ribbed a-shirt beneath.

"Hey Josh," Jayden said in greeting to his brother.

"Hey Jade," Josh said with a smile. "Hello Brian, Nick, Aaron."

"Hello," Nick and Aaron said in unison.

"I'll just take these upstairs," Karen said as she took the two gym bags
that Josh was carrying, "and leave you five alone to chat."

"Well, pull up a chair and sit down if you like," Nick said as he motioned
to one of the free chairs sitting around the den's table.

Josh grabbed one of the chairs, turned it, and then sat down backwards,
resting his arms on the back of the chair. "So how are you guys doing?"

"We're doing well," I said with a smile. "Did you hear the news?"

"What news is that?" Josh asked.

"Aaron's mom is pregnant," I replied.

"Oh really?" Josh said. "Well, congratulations, Aaron. Any idea what it is
yet?"

"Yeah, it's a boy," Aaron said. "Mom just found out today. Said she'd sit
down with Nick's Uncle Erik, who is the father, later tonight to discuss
baby names and such. Said she'd also email my cousins, Nat and Jon, so that
they can tell Aunt Lauren and Uncle Thomas."

"Nat and Jon?" I asked. "Aren't they the conjoined ones?"

"Yeah, they are," Nick said. "Joined from the waist down. They don't share
any vital organs, though they do share a leg."

"They decided that they didn't want to be separated," Aaron said, "despite
the unpopularity of such a decision."

"Well, it's their lives and their bodies," Josh said, and I thought I
caught a slight gleam in his eye. "What they do with them is their own
decision. How old are they anyway?"

"They'll be twenty-one in June," Aaron said. "My other cousins, Jesse and
Jason--their older brothers--have been trying to get them to move down here
from Minneapolis for a while, but they haven't done it yet. I guess they're
a bit leery about starting over in a new city. Back home, just about
everyone they come into contact with on a daily basis is used to them by
now and don't really care, but moving here would likely get them more than
a few people staring at them."

"It's really a shame that people are so close minded about such things,"
Jayden said. "They're perfectly normal human beings who just happen to be
connected. That fact alone shouldn't be the basis of all judgments that
people make in regard to them."

"I'd have to agree with that," I said. "I mean, I've never met them myself,
but from what Aaron has said, they're very nice."

Joshua shifted a bit in his chair, and if I wasn't sure earlier, now I knew
for sure that there had definitely been a gleam in his eyes listening to us
talk about Nathan and Jonathan Fox, and I don't mean just any gleam. I've
seen a similar gleam in other people's eyes enough times to know that Josh
was actually getting turned on at the thought of Nathan and Jonathan. A
quick glance at his crotch when he wasn't looking and my suspicion was
proven when I realized that his tight leather pants looked much tighter now
in that vicinity. I was too much of a gentlemen to bring something like
that up in front of everyone, so I decided to file that little tidbit of
information away for future reference.

Obviously hoping to change the subject before anyone noticed his condition,
Josh then asked, "So, what are you guys up to?"

Before anyone could answer though, Karen walked into the doorway and said,
"Josh, could you stay and keep an eye on them for a little while? I have to
go and pick Nick's Uncle Erik up. I drove him to the courthouse this
morning, so he doesn't have his car."

"Sure, Mrs. Forrester, no problem," Josh said with a smile.

"Mom!" Aaron said. "Nick, Brian, Jayden and I are sixteen. We don't need
Josh to baby-sit while you're gone."

Not being able to resist the lure of it, I grinned and said, "Correction,
Aaron. Nick, Jayden, and I are sixteen. You, on the other hand, are only
four, so I think you definitely need a babysitter."

Everyone in the room, except for Josh who didn't understand my comment and
Aaron since it was at his expense, laughed. Karen just shook her head
before leaving. Once the laughter had died down, Josh spoke up and said,
"What do you mean Aaron is only four?"

"He means that technically I've only celebrated my birthday four times,"
Aaron said. "I was born on February 29th, so my real birthday only comes
every four years and Nick, and now Brian it seems, can't help but rub that
in all the bloody time!"

"Now guys, you know that really isn't very nice," Josh said. "Aaron can't
help what day he was born any more than the rest of you. You shouldn't make
fun of him just because he was born on leap-day."

"Thank you, Josh!" Aaron said with a smile.

"So, what are you guys up to anyway?" Josh asked again.

"Just finished our homework for the day," Nick said. "We have a history
test tomorrow that we have to study for."

"Want some help?" Josh asked. "History and art were my best subjects in
school."

"Sure, that'd be great," I said. "Lessens the stress on Jayden a bit."

"I suppose you've already finished studying, right lil' bro?"

"Of course," Jayden replied. "I've been done studying for a week now."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Josh said with a grin. "No
offense Jade, but you really need to get a life."

This time everyone in the room, except for Jayden of course,
laughed. Eventually though, even Jayden came around and laughed at his
brother's comment, even if it was a bit of a dig at his expense. Once the
laughter died down, Nick, Aaron, Jayden, and I all pulled out our history
books and notes and started studying with help from Josh.

-o-0-o-

Chapter Nine, Part Three
Erik's Perspective
Thursday, January 6, 2005

-o-0-o-

"Hello Karen," I said with a smile as I put my briefcase in the backseat of
her car and got in. "Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem, Erik," Karen said. "We have some guests this evening, though
I'm not sure yet if they'll be at your house or mine."

"Oh really? Who?" I asked.

"Brian Foster and Jayden Travis," Karen said. "Aaron invited them to spend
the night tonight. I guess they all have a history test tomorrow, so they
plan on studying tonight. They were all about to start studying when I
left."

"You didn't leave them alone, did you?" I asked. "I mean, I trust that they
wouldn't get into any trouble, but still, four teenage boys alone in a
house..."

I trailed off with a grin and Karen nodded. "No, I didn't leave them
alone. Jayden's older brother Joshua came over with overnight bags for
Brian and Jayden, so I asked him to stay with them while I came to pick you
up."

"All right," I said. "So, how was your pre-natal appointment today?"

"It was fine," Karen said as we pulled out of the courthouse parking lot.

"Oh, come on," I said. "I want more details then that. It is my baby too,
after all."

Karen just smiled and said, "You fancy the idea of a son, daddy?"

"A son?" I asked with a smile. "It's a boy?"

Karen just nodded, at which point I asked, "So, I suppose we'll need to
start thinking about names."

"I've been thinking about that since finding out," Karen said, "and I was
wondering how you'd feel about Lance Aaron Jensen?"

"Hmm, that's fine by me," I replied. "As I said when we were thinking about
names last time, I don't really care if the baby is named after me or
not. I certainly don't have a problem if you want to name our son after
Lance and Aaron."

"I'm glad you don't mind," Karen said. "Most men might not care for having
their son named after the mother's late husband."

"I suppose that's true," I said. "Of course, as I'm sure you'll remember,
Lance and I were very good friends, especially considering his relationship
with Nickolas and the events that followed our finding out about Nickolas'
death."

"Yes, that's true," Karen said. "You think we should ever tell Nick and
Aaron about that?"

"Karen, I really don't think that Nick and Aaron would want to know about
that," I said as I thought back to a couple of years before Karen and Lance
were married. Lance Forrester was bisexual, so in high school, while he was
good friends with Karen, they didn't start dating until after Lance broke
up with his high school boyfriend, who happened to be my late older brother
and my nephew Nick's father, Nickolas Jensen. They broke up very amicably
and continued to be very good friends afterward. Years later after Nickolas
and his wife died, Lance and I sought comfort in each other when we found
out. We had a bit too much to drink that night and before either of us even
realized what was happening, we were in bed together.

Karen was understandably upset at first, but she eventually forgave both
Lance and I, knowing that we were both drunk and out of our minds with
grief over Nickolas' death. Of course, part of the reason that Karen
forgave Lance and I so quickly was because knowing that her husband was
bisexual, she'd always secretly harbored a fantasy about seeing her husband
with another man and possibly joining in. So, shortly after Karen forgave
Lance and I about our drunken night of passion, Lance and I had sex for a
second time, only this time with Karen in the room watching it and later
joining in and having sex with both her husband and me. It only happened
that one time, and Karen and I didn't have sex with one another again until
after Lance, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty during a bank
robbery.

"You're probably right," Karen said after a moment, having obviously
thought back to the events herself. "They might be able to handle the fact
that Lance dated Nick's father in high school, but everything else we
should probably continue to refrain from mentioning."

"Yeah," I said as Karen pulled into her driveway. "Most children really do
not want to know about their parents' sex lives."

"True," Karen said as we got out of the car and headed into her
house. "Well, I'm going to go and e-mail Jonathan and Nathan so that they
can tell Lauren and Thomas about the baby. Why don't you go into the den,
say hello to the boys, and invite Joshua to stay for dinner?"

"Good idea," I said with a smile as I set my briefcase down under the small
table near the front door and hung my suit jacket on the coat rack as Karen
headed upstairs to her bedroom to go online and e-mail her nephews.

-o-0-o-

Chapter Nine, Part Four
Jayden's Perspective
Thursday, January 6, 2005

-o-0-o-

Later that night, around nine-thirty, I followed Nick, Aaron, and Brian
upstairs to Aaron's bedroom at his mom's house. Upon reaching the bedroom,
Brian and I hung our overnight bags over the back of Aaron's desk chair as
Nick and Aaron grabbed pillows from the bed and placed them on the floor in
a circle. After we finished all of our studying and had dinner, we decided
to play Strip Truth or Dare for the rest of the evening until we had to be
in bed. Aaron's mom said that she'd let us stay up a little later than she
normally would on a school night, but that we had to be in bed no later
than eleven.

The four of us sat down on the pillows and then Aaron said, "Okay, guys,
here's the rules. Since it's my bedroom, I'll pick the first person who
plays, that person will pick truth or dare, do what's required of them, and
then they pick the next person. Questions must be answered truthfully and
all dares must be performed. If you really don't want to answer a question
or do a dare, then you can choose not do so by removing an article of
clothing chosen by the person who gave you the question or dare, but once
you get down to your underwear, you have no choice but to answer your
question or do the dare, so I suggest you use your clothes wisely. Oh, and
just to make things interesting, if you get down to your underwear, you
have to take a dare, no matter what. Everyone okay with this?"

"Fine by me," I said as Brian and Nick just nodded their agreement.

"Okay then. Brian, truth or dare?"  Aaron asked.

"Truth."

"Hmm." Aaron took a moment to think before asking, "Have you ever practiced
making out with something other than a person, and if so, what was it?"

"I've practiced making out with a picture of a person. Does that count?"

"I suppose so," Aaron said.

"Okay, well, I've practiced making out a few times with an enlarged picture
of Jayden's brother Josh. I cut it out from a magazine that he did a
fashion spread in, then scanned it into my computer, enlarged everything
from the shoulders up, and then printed it back out."

'Okay,' was my first thought upon hearing that. I always suspected that
Brian had a bit of a crush on my brother, but I was never totally
sure. That answered that question, although I couldn't help but wonder if
Brian still had a crush on Josh or if he'd gotten over it. I decided then
that I'd have to ask him that at some point during the game to see if I
could find out.

Aaron just nodded, at which point, Brian said, "Okay then. Nick, truth or
dare?"

"Truth," Nick said after a moment of thought.

"What is the oldest person you would consider dating and what is the
youngest?"

"Well, youngest I'd say no less than sixteen," Nick answered. "Oldest, I
guess about twenty-five. Okay, Aaron, truth or dare?"

"Oh, what the hell," Aaron said. "I'm feeling adventurous. Dare."

"Okay, Aaron, I dare you to kiss each person in the room on the lips for
the number of seconds equal to the number of letters in their middle name."

"Okay then Nick," Aaron said as he stood up, walked over to his desk, and
grabbed a stopwatch from one of the desk drawers before tossing it over to
Nick. "You can time it while I kiss Brian and Jayden, and then give it to
one of them before I kiss you."

Nick nodded and said, "Okay, then. Well, Brian's middle name is Scott, so
five seconds."

Aaron nodded, kneeled in front of Brian, and positioned his face so that it
was only an inch away from Brian's before Nick said, "Go!" at which point
Aaron began to kiss Brian with a fervor that made me seriously think that
Aaron wanted Brian. Both of them looked almost upset when Nick called time
to signal that it had been five seconds and it was time for Aaron to move
on to me. Moving over to me, Aaron did exactly what he did with Brian,
moving in so that our lips were only inches apart.

I could hear the soft beep from the stopwatch as Nick reset it and then
said, "Okay, Jayden. If I remember correctly, his middle name is Christian,
so you have to kiss him for nine seconds. Go."

Aaron pulled me into a kiss and I have to admit that Aaron was certainly a
pretty good kisser. I've been kissed a few times before and Aaron was
certainly one of the better kisses I've ever had, although the kiss would
have been infinitely better if it had been with my crush instead of Aaron,
but I guess you can't have everything. Nine seconds later the kiss ended
when Nick called time and I again heard the soft beeping noise emitted when
the stopwatch was reset. Aaron then crawled over to Nick, who handed the
stopwatch to Brian.

"Okay, that'll be five seconds for Blake," Brian said as Aaron nodded,
leaned in, and started to kiss Nick on the lips when Brian said, "Go."
Watching Aaron and Nick kiss, I could tell that neither of them were
particularly enjoying it. Of course, I knew that they thought of each other
as brothers, so I can imagine that it felt a bit odd to be kissing each
other. I know I certainly wouldn't want to kiss Josh, even if he was the
last man on Earth, simply because he is my brother. Five seconds later,
Aaron pulled away from Nick and resumed his spot on his pillow both Nick
and Aaron wiped their lips with their sleeves.

"Okay, Jayden, truth or dare?" Aaron asked me.

"Dare," I said, deciding to be adventurous like Aaron. 'I mean who knows?'
I thought, 'Maybe I'll get to do something interesting with my secret
crush.'

Aaron smiled and took a moment to think before he said, "Okay, I got
one. Go into my bathroom there," as he pointed to the door, "take off your
underwear, and then put your pants back on. Put your underwear on your head
and then come show everybody."

"Good one, AZ," Nick said with a grin as he gave him a high five.

"Okay," I said simply as I stood up and walked into Aaron's bathroom,
turned on the light, and closed the door. I quickly pulled off my khaki
pants and then pulled my underwear off before pulling my pants back on. I
then put my underwear on my head and took a deep breath before I turned off
the bathroom light, opened the door, and struck a pose for everyone to see
the pair of black bikini briefs on my head.

Aaron, Nick, and Brian burst out laughing, and I can't say I really blamed
them as I must have looked really stupid. I then made a mental note to get
back at Aaron on the next available opportunity. After my friends calmed
themselves down, Brian cleared his throat and said, "I didn't know you wore
bikini underwear, JC."

"I don't usually," I said as I sat back down on my pillow. "These are
Josh's. The washing machine went on the blink last night, so I didn't have
anything clean to wear this morning, so I borrowed clothes from Josh,
including a pair of brand new bikinis that he hadn't worn yet. Thankfully
Mom went to the laundromat today, because they're not really that
comfortable. It doesn't help that they're about two sizes too big for
me. Anyway, um, Brian, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Hmm, who was your first crush? How long did you like them and did anything
ever come of it?"

"Well, my first crush," Brian said with a bit of a grin, "was actually your
brother JC. I started to notice him around the time I realized that I was
gay, so when I was about ten. I got over my crush on him last fall, so
about five years. As for whether or not anything ever came of it, well, I
did have more than a few fantasies about him. Some of the best wet dreams
I've ever had were about him."

"Oh gross," I said. I could understand why Brian liked Josh, but he was my
brother so the thought of anyone having wet dreams about him was just not
something I really wanted to think about.

"I have to disagree, JC," Aaron said as Nick nodded. "Josh is hot, hot,
hot."

"Anyway, moving o..." Brian stopped mid-sentence when the bedroom door
opened and Nick's Uncle Erik walked in, followed by Brian's step-brother
Antonio, who I noticed had an overnight bag slung over his shoulder. I
suppose if Aaron's mom and Nick's uncle hadn't asked what we intended to do
for the rest of the night before bed, Erik may have asked why I was wearing
black bikini underwear on my head, but as it was, he didn't.

"Hello boys," Erik said. "Just thought I'd bring Antonio upstairs."

"Hi," Antonio said. "Is it okay if I join you guys? I got home from
studying at Carly's and Scott said you were all having a sleepover over
here."

"Sure, you're welcome to stay, Tony," Aaron said.

"Well, I'll leave you boys alone now," Erik said with a smile. "Karen told
me to tell you that you have another hour before she wants you all in
bed. She'll be coming to check on you then to make sure."

"Okay, thanks Uncle Erik," Nick said with a smile as Erik turned and left
the room, closing the door behind him.

Tony put his gym bag on the chair with Brian's and mine and asked, "So what
are you guys doing and why is JC wearing bikinis on his head?"

"We're playing Strip Truth or Dare," Brian said. "Aaron dared JC to go into
the bathroom and come out with his underwear on his head."

"Oh, okay," Tony said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure, as long as you agree to the rules," I said as I filled Tony in on
the rules that we'd all agreed to.

"That's fine with me," Tony said as he grabbed another pillow and sat down
between Brian and me. "Whose turn is it?"

"I was just about to call on the next person," Brian said, "so, since
you're here now, Tony, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Tony said.

Brain got a devilish grin as, after a moment of thought, he said, "Tony, I
dare you to pucker up and let everyone in the room kiss you for a minute
each. With your mouths closed though, so no tongues."

"Nice try, Bri," Tony said with a grin, "but I'm straight, in case you
forgot."

"Well, okay," Brian said, "but not doing the dare will cost you your
pants."

"Fine," Tony said as he stood up and, after unbuckling his belt, let his
pants drop to reveal a pair of black cotton boxers. Sitting back down he
carefully worked the pants off, which was a little hard with his shoes
still on, and then tossed them into the center of the circle.

"Okay, let's see here. Nick, truth or dare?"

"Well, I did truth last time," Nick said, "so I guess I'll do a dare this
time."

"Okay then, Nick," Tony said with a smile, "I dare you to make out with the
oldest person here for thirty seconds while the rest of us watch."

"Well, we were all born in 1988," Nick said, "so one has to go by birth
months, which would make Aaron the oldest. Seeing as how I've already had
to kiss him for five seconds tonight and I think of him as my brother, I'm
not doing it."

"Okay, then, off with one of your shoes then, Nick," Tony said.

Nick removed one of his white and blue Nike's and then said, "Okay, Jayden,
truth or dare?"

"Ah, truth this time," I replied.

"When was your first kiss and when was the first with tongues? Who was it
with and was it better than the kiss with AZ earlier?"

"Hmm," I said as I debated answering the question or not. The first person
I ever kissed, with and without tongues, was sitting right there in the
room, so I wasn't really sure whether or not I should answer the
question. Chancing a glance over in the direction of that person, they just
flashed a smile and nodded imperceptibly, so I answered, "My first kiss was
about three years ago and my first with tongue last year. As for whether it
was better than AZ's kiss, well, the first kiss without a tongue was about
the same, but the first tongue kiss was definitely better than the one with
AZ earlier. Um, Aaron, truth or dare?"

"Not so fast JC," Nick said. "You didn't answer part of your question."

"Oh, well, both kisses were with Brian," I said and I'm sure I probably
blushed a bit. "Okay, now, Aaron, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Aaron said with a smile.

"Okay," I said as I walked over to the pile of props that Nick and Aaron
had gathered and grabbed a bottle of chocolate syrup, "I dare you to
drizzle this chocolate sauce onto Brian's stomach and then lick it all
off."

"No problem," Aaron said, and from the smile on both his and Brian's faces,
I couldn't help but think that they'd both be enjoying this dare. Aaron
then took the syrup while Brian lay down on his back and lifted up his vest
and t-shirt to reveal his bare stomach. Aaron then drizzled a generous
amount of the chocolate onto it and then lay down next to Brian as he began
to lick it off. Brian moaned a bit as Aaron's tongue made contact with his
chocolate-covered skin. Once Brian's stomach was clean of the syrup, Aaron
sat back up with a big grin on his face and I knew that they both enjoyed
it. I've always suspected that Aaron kind of liked Brian and vice versa, so
I figured I'd take advantage of that.

"Tony, truth or dare?" Aaron asked.

"Truth."

"If you had to kiss any of your teachers on the lips for at least two
seconds, which one would it be?"

"Hmm, that's a tough one," Tony said. "I don't really want to kiss anyone
other than Carly, but I guess I'd have to pick my AP English teacher, Miss
Reardon." Miss Reardon was one of the youngest teachers in the school, who
probably wasn't much more than five years older than most of her students,
so I could understand why Tony picked her. She was young, and I suppose if
I liked girls, I'd have found her to be attractive too.

"Okay, Brian, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Well since Nick is already missing one of his shoes, I dare you to pull
his sock off with your teeth and then lick his foot three times."

Brian looked over at Nick for a moment before he said, "No offense, but I
think I'll pass."

"Well, all right," Tony said, "but it'll cost you that vest."

Brian just nodded and removed the grey sweater vest that he was wearing and
tossed it on top of Tony's pants in the center of the circle before he
said, "Okay, Nick, truth or dare?"

"I'll take truth this time."

"Hmm, okay. Nick, if you could have a fling with any celebrity, who would
it be and what is it about them that you like?"

"Any celebrity, huh?" Nick said as he took some time to think. "Well, I am
bi, so there's many options, but to pick one, I'd say JC Chasez from
*NSYNC. As for why, well, I always have had a thing for guys with brown
hair."

After Nick said that, he smiled in my direction and I couldn't help but
smile inwardly. 'Nick likes guys with brown hair, huh?' I thought to
myself. 'Maybe that means I do have a chance with him after all.' The game
continued on like this for about another twenty to thirty minutes, and in
that time Aaron lost his shirt and both shoes, Nick lost his shirt and
pants, Tony lost everything except his underwear, Brian lost his t-shirt,
and I lost my shirt and a shoe. Finally it was my turn to call on someone,
so since Tony was down to nothing but his underwear, I decided to have some
fun with our resident straight boy and said, "Tony, as you know, you are
down to your underwear, which means that you no longer have the right to
take truth questions..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tony said, "and I'm sure you're about to give me a
dare that I really don't want to do, so just do it and let's get it over
with."

"Hmm, let me think," I said as I took a moment to think before I started
grinning. "Tony, I dare you to write your initials on everybody's chest in
hot sauce and then lick it off."

"Well, at least I don't have to kiss anyone," Tony said with a sigh as he
stood up, walked over to the pile of props, and grabbed the bottle of hot
sauce as the rest of us all lay down and got ready for Tony to write his
initials on our chests. Tony went over to Aaron first and carefully wrote
out his initials, A M F, on his chest and then proceeded to lick it
off. "Damn, that's hot!" he said when he'd finished.

"Yes, well, what can I say?" Aaron said. "My mom loves spicy food, so she
stocks lots of hot sauce in the kitchen. That's the hottest one she had."

"Gee, thanks, AZ," Tony said with a smirk.

"You're welcome," Aaron said with a smile as Tony wrote his initials on
Nick's chest and then once again licked them off. "Can I please have a
drink of water?" he asked as he finished.

"Nope, sorry," I said. "Not until you've finished the dare. Two more to
go."

Tony sighed and then moved on to Brian and then finally me. When he was
done, he choked out, "Water! Please!" I knew that he obviously had a
five-alarm fire in his mouth because he actually had tears coming out of
the corners of his eyes, and if there was one thing I knew about Antonio
Foster it was that he never cried. Taking pity on him, I opened the small
cooler of drinks that Aaron brought up, grabbed a small bottle of milk, and
tossed it to Tony, "Here, drink this. It'll work better than water."

Tony opened the bottle and guzzled down half of it in one gulp before
sighing in relief and saying, "Just so you know Jayden, I hate you now."

"Yes, well, that grin on your face tells me otherwise," I said with a grin
of my own as everyone just laughed.

It was at that point that Aaron's bedroom door opened and Karen Forrester
walked in. She looked around at us all for a few seconds before she said,
"Well, I hope you all had fun playing strip truth or dare, but it's eleven
o'clock now and tomorrow is a school day. So, I want all of you to start
getting ready for bed. Erik is bringing up a couple of air mattresses and
some extra pillows and blankets, so you should all be comfortable."

Within fifteen minutes we were all in bed, and the last thing I remember
before falling asleep was Nick whispering in my ear, "Good night, JC." I
fell asleep with a smile that night.

-o-0-o-

Chapter Nine, Part Five
Jake's Perspective
Thursday, January 6, 2005

-o-0-o-

I wish that I could say that the next day with Sean was better than the
previous day, but it wasn't. We were all hoping that Kyle's outburst had
managed to get through to the real Sean, but unfortunately, it
didn't. Within a few hours of Kyle's outburst, Sean was back to the violent
and verbally abusive shell of his former self. Sean had fallen asleep about
an hour after Kyle's outburst, at which point Ryan got out of the
sweatpants and shirt that he'd forced Sean to wear with him to gain some
control over him and stop him from hurting anyone else. Knowing that he'd
probably go back to it as soon as he woke up and found himself free from
that trap, Matthew and Jordan got some spare bed sheets from the linen
closet and tied Sean to his bed. I know some people might think of that as
an extreme action, but at that point, we just didn't want anyone else to
get hurt.

An hour long soak in the whirlpool took care of any lingering pains I had
left over from Sean kicking me. Ryan, however, wasn't so lucky because the
pain in his side just refused to go away, and eventually Jordan volunteered
to drop him off at the hospital on his way to a piano lesson he had to
give. When Ryan got back, we found out that Sean had managed to kick him in
just the right way with enough force to break one rib and bruise two
others. The doctor said that Ryan was very lucky because the broken rib was
only a few inches away from his right lung, and that if it had gone any
further; it was very possible that Ryan's lung would have been punctured.

During the course of the day we did however manage to find out what drugs
Sean had been taking as of late. I had gone to take the trash out and it
was then that I noticed Sean's backpack lying in the grass behind the
garbage cans. I had obviously been so concerned with Sean the previous day
that I had simply overlooked it. Taking the backpack into the house, we
found Sean's supply of drugs, and it would seem that in the few years since
we'd seen him last, he had either branched out quite extensively in what he
was taking or he'd begun selling. We found several small bags of cocaine
and marijuana in his backpack, along with various other drug
paraphernalia. There were also some spare clothes in the backpack, along
with some jewelry, which we knew wasn't Sean's, a cell phone, a small black
phone book, and two bags of hundred dollar bills.

The one odd thing about the small phone book was that it was full of phone
numbers and only the first names of their owners. It struck me as being
very odd because all of the names were male, and considering that there
were probably about two-hundred plus names written in the book, it just
seemed very strange to me that a straight, homophobic guy like Sean would
have so many male friends and not a single female friend. Of course, it
wasn't long before I found out why there were so many male names in Sean's
phone book and, to be honest, the reason puzzled me even more.

About an hour after I found the backpack, Sean's cell phone rang and Kyle
answered, pretending to be Sean for a moment. After getting off the phone,
Kyle explained that the person calling was named Daniel and that it was
quite obvious he was calling to set up a time in which to meet Sean for
sex. So, it would seem that in the time since we'd last seen Sean, he'd
taken to having sex with men, presumably for money. Obviously we were all a
bit taken back by this revelation, considering that Sean has always seemed
to be very homophobic. It also disturbed us greatly because we thought
Sean's only problems were drugs, alcohol, and gambling, but then we find
out that he's also a male prostitute, and as such could very well have any
number of sexually-transmitted diseases.

By the time night had fallen, I was really very worried about Sean, because
I've always feared having to go to his funeral because he'd overdose or
drink himself to death, but now I knew there was also a very real chance
that even if we managed to take care of those problems, he might still die
from an STD. I was in the master bedroom pacing back and forth as I was
trying to think of the best way to handle the situation when Chris walked
up behind me and startled me. I think I almost jumped fifteen feet when his
arms suddenly wrapped around me.

"Jake, I know you're worried about Sean," Chris said as he rested his head
on my shoulder, "but giving yourself an ulcer isn't going to help him."

"I know," I said as I turned my head a little to look at Chris.

"How about I take your mind off your problems for a while?"

"I don't know how you plan on doing it," I said, "but you're certainly
welcome to try."

"You know I'm very resourceful," Chris said with a smile as he gave me a
quick peck on the lips. "Why don't you just sit down for a moment and I'll
get ready."

"Okay," I replied as I sat down on our bed, knowing that I'd probably enjoy
whatever Chris had in mind.

Chris proceeded to walk over to our bedroom's walk-in closet and, after a
moment, he emerged carrying the foldable massage table that we bought a few
years ago. I couldn't help but smile when I saw it, because I knew that
getting a massage from Chris would be just the thing to get my mind off of
Sean for a while Chris smiled at me before setting up the massage table a
few feet away from our bedroom fireplace. He then knelt down and flipped on
the gas, causing the flames to spark to life before heading into the
bathroom. He emerged a few moments later carrying a wire basket full of
various massage oils and a stack of the large, fluffy blue bath towels
embroidered with our initials that Jordan, Kyle, and Matthew had given us
two years ago as a Christmas gift.

"Alright you sexy man you," Chris said as he winked at me, "take your
clothes off and get on the table."

"Yes sir," I said with a grin as I stood up, disrobed, and sauntered over
to the table in my birthday suit, knowing that Chris was enjoying every
second of the show.

I lay down on the table as Chris placed a towel over my legs and midsection
to keep them warm while he concentrated on my neck, shoulders, and
back. From almost the first moment that I felt Chris' oiled hands touch my
neck, I began to relax as the tensions of the last few days began to
lessen. I moaned a little as Chris massaged my neck and shoulders, the
muscles of which were much tighter then I'd realized.

"Oh Chris, that feels so good," I moaned as Chris continued to knead my
flesh in his hands.

"I'm glad that you're enjoying it," he answered as he began to slowly move
his hands around on my back.

"How could I not enjoy it?" I asked.

"Good question," Chris laughed a bit as he began to apply gentle pressure
as he moved his hands in a circular motion across my back.

The massage went on for what seemed like hours to me, not that I cared
because they were the best and most relaxing hours I'd had in a long
time. All of the recent stresses caused by Sean's return had totally
disappeared from my body, and for the first time since his return I could
honestly say that I wasn't worrying about him. I knew it wouldn't last, but
it was still very satisfying to be able to escape from it, even if it was
only for one night.

By this time I was lying on my back and Chris was smiling down at me as he
worked on removing the oil from my body. When he finished, he leaned down
and kissed me as I reached up and ran my hand through his hair. If the
massage seemed to go on for hours, that kiss seemed like it went on for
even longer. The two of us continued to kiss, our tongues dancing in each
other's mouths. Finally, however, like all good things, it did come to an
end, at which point I smiled up at Chris and said, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, Jake," Chris said as he returned my smile.

"Well, in that case," I said with a grin, "I guess you'd rather not
continue this in bed then."

"Did I say that?" Chris asked as I just laughed and gave him a quick peck
on the nose.

I just grinned as Chris giggled a bit before the two of us made our way
over to our bed, at which point I took one look at Chris and said, "You
know you are entirely too overdressed."

"Well, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?" Chris asked with a smile
as I nodded to him and began to unbuckle his belt and undo the button and
zipper of his jeans.

Chris lifted himself up a bit from the bed as I pulled his jeans down and
off before tossing them into the pile with my clothes. Chris's muscular
body was now clad only in a light grey ribbed athletic t-shirt, a pair of
light grey boxer-briefs, and a pair of light grey socks. Kneeling between
Chris's legs, I smiled at him for a few moments before I leaned down and
began to kiss his ever-hardening member through the cotton that was
covering it. As I did this, Chris reached over to the nearby nightstand and
pressed the play button on the cd player.

Like an angel from above
Surely heaven sent your love
Everything about you is beautiful (beautiful)
Oh baby (oh yeah)
Like a perfect day in spring
To my heart the joy you bring
Everything about you is beautiful

I took a moment to smile up at Chris because this song was definitely one
that we both loved. It described how we both felt about one another so well
that we've pretty much adopted it as our song. Chris mouthed the words, "I
love you," before I returned my attention to the task at hand. Grabbing the
waistband of his underwear in my teeth, I began to slowly pull them
down. Chris's tool soon sprang up and hit his six-pack as it was freed from
the confining material. The underwear, followed shortly thereafter by
Chris's t-shirt, soon found their way to the growing pile of discarded
clothes on the floor.

Like an angel from above
Surely heaven sent your love
Cause everything about you is beautiful
Like a perfect day in spring
To my heart the joy you bring
Girl everything about you is beautiful (oh yeah)

I lay down on top of Chris and began to kiss him passionately on the lips
as I began to lightly grind my hips into his. We both moaned a little as
our hardened tools came into contact with one another. As we kissed, I
placed my arms behind Chris's back, gently rubbing it, while he placed one
hand on my back and began to run the other through my hair. This lasted for
several minutes before we finally broke the kiss to come up for air, at
which point I began to kiss my way down Chris's body. I kissed my way from
the tip of his left shoulder blade over to the right before moving down a
bit and planting a big, wet kiss on his right pec, taking a moment to swirl
my tongue around on it.

I've never felt like this before until you (until you)
You took the time to look inside me
Girl you showed me love I never knew
You know I'll give you all my love
Till the world fades into the sun
And I'll keep holdin on
Cause I know that I've found the only one (oh yeah)

Kissing my way across his chest, I placed a second kiss on Chris's left
pec, once again taking a moment to swirl my tongue around on it as Chris
let out a soft moan to let me know that he was enjoying it. After spending
a few minutes going back and forth between Chris's pecs, I began to work my
way down ever so slowly, until finally I reached his rock-hard six-pack
abs. I soon began kissing and licking each one as Chris continued to
encourage me with his moans of pleasure. I then began to kiss and lick my
way down Chris's left thigh, deciding to ignore his raging cock for the
moment.

Like an angel from above
Surely heaven sent your love
Cause everything about you is beautiful
Like a perfect day in spring
To my heart the joy you bring
Everything about you is beautiful

Continuing to kiss and lick my way down Chris's leg, I eventually reached
his still sock-covered feet. I sat up a bit and then massaged his left foot
for a moment as I kissed each covered toe, which made Chris laugh a bit. I
then took hold of his sock in my teeth, being careful not to bite his toes,
and pulled it off. I repeated the massage and kissing each covered toe with
his right foot before I again pulled the right sock off with my teeth.
Leaning down again, I then began to kiss and lick my way up Chris's right
leg all the way back to his lips, once again, ignoring his raging hard-on
for the moment.

You're beautiful to me
Girl can't you see (can't you see)
Oh yeah you're so beautiful to me
Bring it on down

The kiss lasted for several minutes as my tongue battled with Chris' in a
mini=battle of supremacy. After the kiss ended, I looked deeply into my
lover's eyes and I could tell that he wanted things to continue past the
foreplay we'd been engaging in until that point. I was, of course, more
than happy to oblige, especially after the wonderful massage that Chris
gave me. Planting a quick kiss on the tip of his nose, I began to kiss and
lick my way back down Chris' body, briefly pausing to gently bite each of
his pecs. Chris moaned as I did so and I knew that he was enjoying himself,
which made me immensely happy to know that I was the cause of his
enjoyment.

What did I do to deserve a girl like you?
You're so cool (so cool, so cool)
I love your style, the way you smile at me
Girl I know this must be destiny
You know I'll give you all of my love
Till the stars fall from the sky
And I'll keep holdin on
To this lovin' till the day I die (oh yeah)

I continued to kiss and lick my way down until finally I reached Chris'
manhood, at which point I paused to smile up at him for a moment before I
placed a kiss on the head, which caused Chris to moan and shiver a
bit. Encouraged by his obvious enjoyment, I began to slowly run my tongue
up and down his length, and I couldn't help but feel great with every
little sound Chris uttered. Thinking back to the conversation of a few days
earlier in the kitchen, I couldn't help but laugh in my head when I
remembered what Ryan had said. He had said that Kyle had probably lost his
title of the "horny Bradley" to me, but if the amount of noise that Chris
was making at this point was any indication, it was Chris and not me that
Kyle had lost his title to. True, Chris isn't a Bradley by blood, but I
considered him to be my husband and Kyle and Ryan thought of him as their
brother-in-law, so he was close enough to being family.

Like an angel from above
Surely heaven sent your love
Cause everything about you is beautiful
Like a perfect day in spring (perfect day in spring)
To my heart the joy you bring
Girl everything about you is beautiful

After a few more minutes of teasing him with my tongue, I decided to put
him out of his misery, so to speak, as I went down on him and finally took
his length into my mouth. At this point, Chris let out another loud moan
and then buried his hands in my hair, encouraging me to go down on him. As
I moved up and down Chris' length and listened to his moans of pleasure, I
couldn't help but think what Sean thought of this, assuming that he could
hear it. Since Ryan had heard Chris and I all three times the night of his
arrival, I figured it was a pretty safe bet that Sean could hear what was
going on. If it hadn't been for the realizations of the day, I'd have been
sure that Sean was getting totally grossed out, but now that I knew he'd
been having sex with men for money, I wasn't sure. I mean, to do it with as
many guys as he seemed to have done it with, I figured he had to be
enjoying himself at least a little. I mean, if he was as homophobic as he
always seemed to be, it would certainly make a lot more sense for him to be
renting himself out to women than to other men.

Girl I promise you that I'll never break your heart
And forever I will be true (will be true)
Everyday of my life (everyday of my life)
Till the end of time (end of time)
I will still love you (love you, love you)
Like an angel from above
Surely heaven sent your love
Cause everything about you is beautiful (oh yeah)

I guess in my thoughts about Sean I must have slowed down my motions as
Chris, obviously wanting to reach completion, started to push my head down
on himself while also thrusting his hips upward. I certainly wasn't about
to complain though, because I was thoroughly enjoying myself as well. Of
course, I couldn't really have complained even if I wanted to, as it's a
bit hard to vocalize a complaint when you have a rock hard cock in your
mouth. After a moment more, however, Chris surprised me by very suddenly
stopping his thrusting and pushing my head up and off of his cock. Looking
up at him with a questioning look, I saw the mischievous glint in his eyes
that I've come to know and love over the years that we've been together.
Whatever was going through Chris' mind, I knew that I was going to enjoy
it.

Like a perfect day in spring
To my heart the joy you bring
Girl everything about you is beautiful (beautiful)
Like an angel from above
Heaven sent your love
Everything about you is beautiful
Everything about you is beautiful

I soon found myself lying on my back with Chris' cock once again in my
mouth, only this time, Chris was kneeling over me in a sixty-nine position
so that he could give me the same attention that I had been giving him.
Knowing that Chris was probably a lot closer to coming then I was due to my
earlier ministrations on his tool, I went quite a bit slower than I had
been going earlier, because I knew that Chris has always enjoyed it when we
came together. From the pace Chris was going down on me, I knew he had
similar thoughts in his head, so it wasn't that long until I felt myself
beginning to cross the threshold of no return and began to speed up on
Chris once again. It wasn't long before I was drinking down the waves of
Chris' warm juices and I knew that he was doing the same.

Like a perfect day in spring
To my heart the joy you bring
Everything about you is beautiful
Everything about you is beautiful

After we stopped shooting our loads, Chris turned around and came up to my
mouth, initiating a passionate kiss. Our tongues danced in each other's
mouths as we shared some of the juices that we'd just finished putting in
each other's mouths. The kiss lasted for several minutes until we finally
broke apart and smiled at each other. Looking deeply into Chris' eyes, I
once again kissed the tip of his nose before saying, "I love you, Chris."

"I love you too, Jake," Chris said with a smile.

Within a few minutes, I was fast asleep in Chris' arms.

-o-0-o-

To be continued.

The song in this chapter is called `Beautiful'. It was written by Darren
Rust and Levi Seacer, Jr. It is performed by The Blenders. I claim no
ownership to the lyrics by using them in this chapter.