Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 17:09:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: fsn2u@yahoo.com
Subject: Blind as Love 1

Disclaimer:

The following story contains erotic situations between men. If it is
illegal for you to read this, please leave now. Comments are welcome at
fsn2u@yahoo.com. Constructive criticisms or comments only, please. This
work is entirely fictional and any resemblance to real people or events is
purely circumstantial and unintentional. This work is also copyrighted by
the author and any copying or redistribution without written permission
from the author is illegal.

All that having been said, I hope you enjoy it :)


Jon


I stood in the isolated hall between the library and the home-economics
classes waiting for the bell to ring.  I would be late for class, but that
suited me; I was late every day to every class I had.  This was my favorite
hiding spot; the trees were nice and a breeze blew down the hall.  I had
other places closer to some of my classes, but as soon as I could slip off
and run to this place, I would.  I was relatively sure that nobody would
find me here.  Nobody in my school ever went to home-economics or to the
library, at least not unless they were forced to.


The south had been the brunt of so many jokes about inbreeding, low
education and poverty for years and my town seemed to be the embodiment of
them all.  The nightly news was almost as entertaining as a comedy show, a
festival for opossums being the highlight of the month.  There was nothing
to do in my town for someone my age.  It wasn't very small, but it wasn't
big either.  In fact, everything about it was just average in every way.
We only had one nightclub and that was more for tourists than anything,
tourism being the only thing besides the mill that kept us going.  The mall
was more like a flea market than a real shopping center, a joke in itself
really.  Other than that, the only thing to do was hang out around the park
downtown and drink coffee from a small shop across the street whose
basement doubled as a drug manufacturing facility.


The bell rang right on time and I waited for another minute before heading
to my class.  I felt like I had to hide between classes because if I
didn't, I got picked on a lot.  People would call me names and would
sometimes even kick my ass.  They said that I was a fag and teased me about
my clothes.  I wasn't sure when or why all this had started, it had been
going on as long as I could remember.  The kids on the playground would
never play with me when I was little and I didn't have any friends.  I
didn't really mind anyway; I kind of liked being left alone.  My parents
used to think that I was autistic because I hardly ever said anything and I
pretty much stuck to myself.  I liked staying in our huge yard until well
after the sun went down, finding things to entertain myself or just laying
in the grass and looking at the sky.  The truth was that I was terrified of
my dad.  He didn't have hardly anything to do with me, but he was always
drunk and he would pick on me just like the kids at school, and sometimes
worse.  It seemed to me that I had done something to bring all this on
myself.  Maybe there was something wrong with me.  Maybe I caused it.  I
didn't know.


This day was as uneventful as any other.  My classes were okay, nothing
really interesting happening in any of them.  I always paid attention and
usually did my homework before the class was over.  Sometimes I would keep
some of my work to do at home in case it was raining.  That would give me a
reason to hide out in my room away from my dad.  Everyone complained about
school, but I actually liked it.  Not the people in it, but the classes
were interesting.  I loved learning new things and would even work ahead
because I was curious what would come next.  After school, I would wait in
my last class for a few minutes while most of the kids made their way to
the busses, then I would sneak out the back entrance of the school and take
a long walk home.  I would cut through the woods and just walk around
looking at the trees and trying not to think.  My mother thought I rode the
bus, but she didn't get home for a few hours after I did and when my dad
worked at home, he would usually be passed out drunk on the couch when I
got there.  I would take as long as I could getting home because I hated
being there.  It probably wasn't right to be so afraid of my dad, but
that's the way things were.


Things got better during Christmas when my grandparents would come for a
visit and my dad would have to stop drinking until they left, usually
around the first of January when school started up again.  So, for almost a
month, things would be okay unless I found myself alone with my dad and he
could be really bad if he was sober.  At least when he was drinking there
was a smaller chance of him hitting me.  I was walking along the side of a
dirt road on my way home when a car drove by with the windows down.  Some
kids from school were hanging out yelling obscenities at me as usual.  I
recognized a couple of them from the football team, but one of them,
sitting in the back seat wasn't yelling like the others.  He looked like he
was sorry for what was happening.  His eyes got my attention more than
anything.  They looked sad.  I forced myself not to think anything about it
and kept walking.  There wasn't any use in getting upset about it anyway,
it happened all the time and I was a little used to it.  I had come to the
realization a long time ago that things would probably be like this for a
long time, but it made me feel better to know that it couldn't last
forever.


By the time I got home I realized that I had been thinking about the car
that had driven by.  Not about the people in it or what they had been
saying about me, but about wanting a car myself.  I was sixteen and had no
car, nor a job with which to save the money to buy one.  It was a nice one,
a red sports car of some kind with shiny silver wheels and racing stripes.
I walked in the house disgusted with myself for admiring the car and walked
straight to the bathroom.  I took off my clothes and folded them neatly on
top of the toilet seat and stepped into the shower.  I turned on the cold
water and let the freezing drops pelt my skin for fifteen minutes as a
punishment.  This was nothing new.  I had been punishing myself like this
for a long time.  It was my way of training myself not to think things that
I shouldn't think.


I stepped from the shower a few minutes later and meticulously toweled
myself dry, then re-dressed in my clothes and went to my room.  I could
have went to the kitchen and made myself something to eat, but I was still
angry with myself, so I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling until
I drifted off to sleep.



****



The next day began just like any other.  I took another cold shower to
punish myself for falling asleep in my clothes, then dressed and headed off
to school.  I usually left an hour early so that I could be in the school
and hiding when the other kids started to arrive.  The teachers never
minded me being there early, they must have thought I was just very astute
and just ignored me.  I found my hiding place and stood in the shadows with
my back pressed to the rough concrete walls.  After a short while, I began
hearing loud conversations and the general ruckus of kids on their way to
their favorite social gathering spots, so I stepped a little out of my
hiding place to watch the crowds walk by.  This was the first time that I
had ever done this and I instantly regretted it.  A little away from me was
the boy that had been in the car that went by me yesterday on the way home
from school.  His eyes had changed little over the past few hours and he
laid them directly on me.  I ducked back into the shadows well out of view
and prayed that he hadn't seen me.  I had seen him quite a few times and he
had been the reason for quite a few of my icy showers.  I thought that I
had been called gay and queer so many times that it had done something to
me to make me think disgusting thoughts.  I had almost trained myself not
to think those things, but occasionally, something happened and I would
catch myself devouring someone with my eyes, undressing them with my mind,
and that meant that a cold shower was in my near future.


To my horror, the boy stepped around the corner a moment later and was
staring me in the face.  He looked me up and down very quickly and said,
"Um, hi."  I was terrified that he was going to hurt me, so I started to
turn and run like I had never run before, but he reached out and took my
arm in a gentle, but firm grasp.  "Please don't go," he said, "I don't want
to hurt you.  I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."  He must have
seen the look of sheer terror in my eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I really
didn't mean to scare you.  My name's Brent.  And you're Jon, right?"


I nodded my head and backed against the wall again.  I wanted to at least
be a little distance away from him in case this was some kind of trick.  It
seemed to be a game with some of them to try and make me think they liked
me and then embarrass me or kick my tale when I least suspected it.


"You don't talk much, do you?" Brent asked.  He looked me up and down again
and said, "Look, I just wanted to say that, about yesterday, I didn't want
anything to do with what happened.  I was embarrassed about what those guys
did.  I would appreciate it if you would let me buy you a burger or
something after school today to make up for it.  I promise, no one will
mess with you."


I was a little apprehensive to say the least, but I was also afraid that if
I said no it would piss him off and he would kick my ass anyway.  I nodded
my head and he said that he would meet me after the bell rang by the rear
entrance to the school.  That suited me, I used the rear entrance every day
and if something went wrong, like he brought some of his friends to hurt
me, I could run.  After so many years of running from bullies, I was fairly
fast and could even outrun most of the jocks that tried to chase me.


The rest of the day seemed to fly by like it does when there is something
waiting that you know you would rather not do no matter what it cost you,
but I was afraid still that if I backed out I would get my ass stomped.  I
made my way to the rear of the school and waited by the entrance.  Brent
wasn't there, so I sat down by the wall and watched all around for any
signs of people.  Fifteen minutes passed and I was beginning to think that
he was only teasing me when he stepped around the corner.  He smiled when
he looked at me and said, "Are you ready to go?"  I nodded my head and got
to my feet.  We walked a short distance to his car parked by the baseball
field and sped off in a small cloud of dust.


We went to a small greasy diner a couple of miles from the school.  It was
a popular hangout for a lot of kids, but it wasn't too crowded.  Most of
the kids that were there said hi to Brent as we entered and gave me
studious glances.  No one said anything to me and no one approached me, it
was almost as if they were ignoring me, for which I was thankful and I
began to relax.


Brent bought us burgers and fries and shakes and we took a seat at the rear
of the diner in a booth a little away from everyone else.  "Thank you," I
said quietly when we sat down and began eating.


"You do speak!" Brent laughed.  "I was beginning to think you didn't like
me!"


"I try to keep quiet so I won't get hurt," I said.  "People aren't usually
nice to me."


"Why?" Brent asked.  He seemed genuinely confused.  "You seem nice enough
to me."


"I don't know," I said.  "It's always been that way."


Brent shook his head and said, "I don't know why anyone wants to be mean to
someone else like that.  But I'll tell you one thing, you don't have to
worry about that anymore.  Anyone picks on you and you tell me, alright?"


I nodded my head and smiled.  I took the opportunity to really get a good
look at him.  He was very good looking, almost a foot taller than me and
was very well built.  His hair was a blondish brown, but his eyebrows were
jet black.  His eyes were crystal blue and perfectly accented by his nose
and his puffy red lips.  We talked until well after we had finished eating
and then Brent gave me a ride home.  We pulled up in front of my house and
Brent said that he'd enjoyed the afternoon and that he would like it if we
could hang out again.  I found myself really looking forward to seeing him
again, but at the same time I was thinking those old thoughts.  I pictured
him in my mind, his body, his muscles, his beautiful face and eyes, those
lips that I could almost feel on my skin.  I scolded myself again for the
thousandth time and knew that later I would be feeling cold water down my
backside for my mental insurgencies.  "That may not be a good idea," I
said.


"How could it not be a good idea?" Brent asked.  "Didn't you have fun?"


"Oh, yes, but it may not look good for you to be hanging around with the
lowest life form at school."  I was making excuses, but hoped he wouldn't
figure that out.


"To hell with how it looks," Brent said.  "I make my own friends and hang
out with who I please.  And I would really like to hang out with you some
more."


"Maybe," I said.  I didn't like being so noncommittal, but this was a
strange situation for me.  I looked at Brent and suddenly had the urge to
get out of there.  I got out of the car and went into the house, but
stopped at the window to watch him drive away.  I realized I was smiling
still and thinking of how he would look without his shirt on.  The smile
vanished from my face and I walked through the house to the bathroom,
sneaking by my passed-out father on the way and stripped down.  I got in
the shower and let the cold water assault me.  I leaned against the wall,
staring at the tiles, then looked down at my full erection.  I was so
disgusted with myself that I just started crying.  What was wrong with me?
I decided that I couldn't see Brent again.  The thoughts that continued to
invade my mind were wrong and the only way to stop them was to stop the
reason for having them.  And that mean avoiding my new friend.  Hell, my
only friend!


I went into my room, leaving my clothes in the bathroom and passed out
naked on my bed.



The next morning I walked out the door to make my way to school as usual.
It was Friday and I was glad to have a break coming in just a few hours.
Usually I hated the weekends, it just meant that my dad would stay home and
I had nothing to do, so our paths were guaranteed to cross.  As I stepped
off the front porch, I noticed Brent's red Mustang sitting by the mailbox.
I walked to the passenger window, which rolled down as I approached, and
Brent said, "You want a ride?"


"I can walk," I said, hoping that he would take the hint.


"I see that, but I can drive much faster than you can walk," he said
laughing.  "Hop in."  I got in the car and we left.  "I was hoping we could
go and see a movie this afternoon," he continued once we were moving.  I
couldn't think of an excuse to get out of going besides telling him that I
kept having these unnatural urges when I was around him and that would
surely get my ass kicked.  "That would be good," I said and mentally kicked
myself for agreeing so fast.


"Great, then I'll meet you by the back of the school again," he said.  I
looked over at him, his blonde hair flapping with the wind coming through
the open window, his puffy lips, the perfect architecture of his nose.  I
could tell that I would be taking yet another cold shower when I got home.


After school, I made my way to the rear entrance.  I didn't have to wait
this time as Brent was standing there when I arrived.  "You ready?" he
asked.  I nodded and we went to his car.  "The movie doesn't start for a
couple of hours," he said.  "Are you hungry?"


I said that I was and we went to the diner again.  This time, however, we
went through the drive though.  We got burgers, fries and cokes and drove a
couple of blocks to the nearby park.  We ate at a table under the trees
overlooking the water of the bay.  I tried not to look at him too much, I
didn't want the thoughts to come back, so I watched the birds waiting not
far away for us to throw them a fry or piece of bread.  "You know, you
don't have to be so shy around me," Brent said.  "I really do like hanging
with you and talking with you."


"I'm sorry," I said.  "It's just a little strange for me.  No one has ever
wanted to be around me and I'm not quite sure how to react to this."


"Look, I know people have been pretty mean to you over the years, but I'm
not one of them.  I'm me.  I won't make fun of you, I won't hit you, not
even at school in front of the `cool' crowd.  I like you because you're not
artificial like the other people I associate with.  And I only hang around
with them because I always have.  It's just familiarity.  As far as I'm
concerned, you're the only friend I have."


I didn't know what to say.  We had both stopped eating and were looking at
each other.  "What is it like not to have to worry about anything?" I asked
after a minute.


He laughed and took another bite of his burger.  "You don't think I have to
worry about anything?" he laughed.  "It's not as easy as you think, fitting
in.  If you ask me, it's you who doesn't have to worry about anything."


"Well, I guess we both have delusions of one another," I laughed.


"I was beginning to think that you never laughed," Brent said.  "You should
laugh more often, it suits you."  We finished eating and sat and talked
until it was finally time to go to the movies.  I talked more to Brent on
the way than I had to anyone in years.  I was actually a little depressed
as we pulled into the theater and walked to the ticket booth because I knew
that I would have to sit next to him for a couple of hours and not say
anything.  He bought a coke and some popcorn and asked if I minded sharing.
I said that I didn't and was surprised that we kept reaching into the bag
and for the coke at the same time.  Actually it was the lingering of the
touches that surprised me most.  It was just for a couple of seconds, but
when he touched me, his finger would brush mine from the tip to the last
knuckle.  The movie was about a little robot boy that had been given
emotions, then went on a lifelong quest to find the mother that had
abandoned him.  By the end, both of us had misty eyes and made our way out
into the early evening.


On the way back to my house, we talked as if the touching had never
happened, so I thought that maybe I was just making a big deal about
nothing.  We talked in front of my house for about ten minutes before I
went inside.  I completely forgot about my cold shower that I'd promised
myself and went straight to my room.  I lay back on the bed and started
thinking about the afternoon I'd spent with Brent.  Before I knew it, my
pants and underwear were around my ankles and I was touching myself.  A few
minutes later, with a dramatic series of full body undulations and spasms,
I climaxed, getting semen on my chest and face and hair.  I was so happy
and felt so good that I kicked off my clothes, using my shirt to wipe up
the mess and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.



****



Months went by with Brent and I spending a lot of time together.  Almost
every day we would meet after school and go to the movies or the mall.  At
school I had even started to walk in the halls during class change.  My
teachers commented, too, on how I was showing up to class on time.  I still
had the thoughts, but I'd stopped punishing myself for them.  The guilt
still plagued me sometimes, but not as bad.  It all felt too good and now I
had a friend.


I met Brent one Friday afternoon behind the school as we always did and he
seemed a little different.  It was like he was deep in thought.  I didn't
think anything of it.  It was a test day, after all, and I thought that
maybe one of his classes was bothering him.  We had planned on going
camping and had packed his car with a tent, sleeping bags and food.  We
drove out into the country talking the whole way, it seemed like we always
had something to talk about.  The car was parked on an old abandoned road
and we walked for an hour and a half into the woods until we found a small
lake.  We set up the tent, and another for the makeshift kitchen, there
were no rocks, so we dug a pit to make a fire in.  It was a hot day and the
water of the lake looked good, so we decided to go swimming.  Brent had
already taken his shirt off, as had I, so he unbuttoned his jeans and
slipped them off with his underwear.  He walked naked down to the water and
waded out to his waist, then dove in.  I was a little bit shocked to have
seen him naked, but recovered a little when he called to me.  "You getting
in?"  My mind was racing and I had started sweating profusely, but I
guessed it wasn't only because of the heat.


I faced away from him and pulled my pants and briefs down around my ankles,
I took my genitals in my cupped hands and turned around to walk in the
water.  I didn't know what to make of the situation or if there even was a
situation for me to make anything of.  All I knew was that there was a
naked man not ten feet from me that I had fantasized about on numerous
occasions.  It wasn't so much that I didn't want him to see me naked, God
knew I had dreamed about that so much, but I didn't want him to see what
his nakedness had done to me.  Or rather, to certain parts of my anatomy.
The water was cool against my burning skin and after swimming around for a
few minutes I noticed that it had done wonders to calm my raging erection.
We swam and splashed and talked for an hour or so, and all the time I was
sneaking looks at his sculpted body.  Here in front of me was a naked
Adonis.  I couldn't get over it.


We sat near the fire in our underwear, eating hotdogs and chips and
talking.  The night was something that I was familiar with from staying out
so late when I was at home so that I could avoid my father, so I wasn't
scared. Brent seemed to be a little jumpy and I guessed that this was his
first time camping out in the woods.


"Have you ever been camping before?" I asked.


"Yeah, a few times, but never like this," he said.  "My family goes to the
state park every year and sometimes I go with them.  But there, they have a
bathroom and showers, the whole works.  This is nice though.  You can't sit
at a campfire in your underwear at the state park!"  We both laughed for a
minute, then he was serious looking.  "There's something I have to tell
you, Jon, and it's not easy for me to say.  I don't want anything to change
our friendship, though.  I feel like I've known you all my life.  We talk
and have fun, more than I ever have with anyone else.  But there is
something about me that you don't know.  Something that I've been ashamed
of for years and couldn't talk to anyone about.  The thing is..." he broke
off and stared out into the trees for a minute, as if he was gathering his
courage.  "I like boys, Jon.  A lot more than I'm supposed to.  I don't
want you to think anything bad about me, though.  I've been honest with
you, I really do enjoy being around you and laughing and talking.  It's
very important to me.  I just think you needed to know about me."


I didn't know what to say.  For the longest time, I was afraid that Brent
would stop hanging out with me if he knew about the thoughts in my head,
but he was sitting here telling me that he was the same as me.  I had begun
to come to terms with the way I felt about other guys.  My mind was racing.
I was scared, and still fighting with myself on the inside, while at the
same time feeling happy that I could talk to him about all of the things in
my mind now, but he must have misinterpreted the look on my face because a
tear slid down his cheek and he got up and ran off into the woods without
even stopping for his clothes.


I sat by the fire and waited for him to come back until well after
midnight, but when he didn't, I started to get worried.  I didn't know if
he had been hurt or if an animal had attacked him.  I thought about what I
would say to him when he finally did come back, but I couldn`t come up with
anything meaningful.  I stepped into the tent and laid down on top of my
sleeping bag, but I couldn't sleep.  I was feeling a little sick to my
stomach from both the fear of not knowing if he was okay and from fearing
telling him my darkest secrets when he did come back.  After a while I
heard someone moving near the campfire.  I knew it was him, but I waited
for him to come to the tent.  A short time later, the zipper opened and he
stepped inside.  He couldn't see my eyes open and watching him, but my eyes
had adjusted to the dark and I could see every move he made.  I waited for
him to close the zipper again and get onto his sleeping bag before I spoke.


"Brent, I just wanted you to know that you being gay doesn't upset me," I
said.  I knew I had to handle this delicately so that I wouldn't hurt him
or myself.  This wasn't easy for either of us.  "For a long time I thought
that there was something wrong with me because I look at boys and feel
things that I know I'm not supposed to feel.  When you first met me, I
would think things about you that I was sure you would kick my ass for, but
I never said anything.  I thought that I wasn't supposed to think those
things, so I would go home and take freezing cold showers to punish myself
for thinking them.  I had almost trained myself not to have those thoughts,
but they kept slipping through more and more until finally I didn't want to
stop them.  They felt so good.  I even stopped punishing myself.  There's
never been anyone for me to talk to about the way I felt, so I didn't know
until now that what I feel isn't wrong.  And I didn`t know how to react
when you told me.  I guess I was just shocked that I`ve been embarrassed
about this for so long and now I finally have someone to talk to."


Brent was quiet for a minute, then said, "Do you have these thoughts about
me still?"


I could see that he was sitting up and looking at me, but I had a feeling
that he still couldn't see me all that well.  He was so beautiful I just
wanted to cry.  I thought I would be crying and shaking all over when I
told him, but for some reason I was completely relaxed.  "Yes," I said.  "I
do.  For a long time, I've been thinking about you all the time, including
at night when I'm alone."


He came closer until he was laying beside me and looking at my face.  "What
kinds of things do you think about?" he asked.  He took my hand and laid it
on his bare chest.


"Things like this," I said and slowly moved my hand over his chest and
stomach.  His muscles felt like stone under his soft skin, but I could feel
that he was shaking and his heart was racing.  "I think about what it would
be like to kiss you," I said.  He looked at me for another second, then
leaned to me and we kissed.  Just like I had imagined a million times, it
was slow and passionate.


"What else," he asked, his voice a little husky.  I could tell that he was
getting very excited and his hand was now exploring my chest and stomach,
his fingers occasionally teasing a nipple or diving into my navel.  "I
think about us being together," I said.  "All night.  Fast and slow.
Loving and needing."  The more he touched me, the braver I felt.  He kissed
me again, this time slower and more loving than before.  I had never been
kissed like this by anyone, much less by a man.  Our hands seemed to have
minds of their own as they groped and caressed.  Our lips teased and sucked
at each other`s ears, lips and skin.  After a while there were no clothes
between us, our bodies felt like they were merging.  All night we made love
and kissed and held each other, then fell asleep in each other's arms.


The remains of the weekend were spent with the two of us swimming, hiking,
and talking about things that we had never known we could talk to anyone
about.  We made love every chance we got, and it seemed to just get better
and better.  Finally Sunday came and I was a little down because I didn't
want this to end.  It rained for a while, but we went skinny dipping
anyway, then we lay in our tent and cuddled until it was time to go.  I
cheered up, though, because I realized that this really wasn't the end of
anything, but rather the beginning of something that I never knew I could
have.



****



Time seemed to fly by with Brent.  Before we knew it, he was a senior and I
was a junior.  My seventeenth birthday came and Brent promised to make it
something to remember.  My birthday had never been a very special occasion,
just another day that marked yet another year I'd survived, so I was
excited when he told me that he was taking me on a trip.


We drove five hours to Saint Augustine, a small town in Florida where the
Fountain of Youth had supposedly been discovered by Ponce de Leon.  He got
us a room in a haunted bed and breakfast, but I told him that the noises at
night scared me.  He held me and told me that as long as he was alive,
nothing would ever hurt me, and that made me feel better.  It amazed me,
the effect that just having him near had on me.  We went to a fort and a
wax museum, then he took me horseback riding.


Surprisingly, we were both good riders.  We spent half a day on the horses,
riding in fields and woods.  We stopped for snacks in the shade of a huge
oak tree with gigantic, gnarled limbs and we rolled around and giggled like
kids in the grass.  As we lay under the tree using one of its ancient
knotted up roots for a pillow, Brent ran his fingers through my hair and
stroked my cheek.  "I love you so much," he said quietly.


"I love you, too," I replied.


"Why did it take so long for us to find each other?" he asked.


"I don't know," I said, "But I'm glad we did."


"I am, too."


It had to be the most beautiful moment we had shared so far.  We had been
dating for almost a year and this was the first time we had said out loud
that we loved each other.  It was a sappy moment, but I had grown fond of
those.  We decided to return the horses to the stable and go out to dinner.
We picked a nice restaurant by the water and ate by ourselves on the deck
when we got there.


"What are you thinking about?" I asked him after he had been quiet for a
while.  "Is something wrong?"


"Oh, no," he said, snapping out of his reverie.  "Nothing's wrong.  It's
just that I'm tired of having to keep our relationship a secret.  I want to
be able to walk down the street holding your hand and have everybody that
sees us know that you're my boyfriend.  But I'm so scared of how my parents
will react.  And of all the complications it will cause for both of us at
school."


I had thought about things like that, but it had never really bothered me;
I was just content to have him, even if it meant having him secretly to
myself.  I could tell from the look on his face that he was really upset
about this.  I didn't know quite how to handle it, so I said, "I wish we
could, too.  And if you want to, we can both come out when we get back.  We
can help each other through it."


Brent's face seemed to light up.  It was almost as if he thought he was
going to have to do it alone and this was the solution he had been
searching for.  "Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked.


"Well, it can't be much worse than the way it was when you met me hiding in
that dark corridor at school," I said with a smile.  The more we talked,
the happier he looked.  I was glad; I couldn't stand to see him hurting or
upset.


He nodded and said, "Great, then we'll do it when we get back home."  He
reached across the table and took my hand in his.  We were both smiling and
a little misty-eyed.  We finished our dinner and went back to the hotel
where we lay in the bed holding each other until we fell asleep.


We started home early the next day.  It was a nice day and we were both in
good moods.  We felt like we were coming closer together because of what we
were about to do.  And that wasn't far from the truth.  We would be there
to comfort each other and help one another through something that was
probably the hardest thing that either of us would ever have to do.  The
drive wasn't bad, it wasn't too far and the traffic was sparse at best.  We
spent most of the time talking, like we always did.  It seemed like we
never ran out of things to talk about.


We were half way home when it started raining.  It wasn't a heavy rain and
traffic was moving well.  The road trip was starting to get to me and I
decided to take a short nap.  Brent woke me up at a rest stop and we got
out and walked around for a while to stretch our legs.  Five hours didn't
really seem like a long time unless you were cramped up in a car with
nothing to look at except for one seemingly endless stretch of interstate
that looked exactly like the one before and the one after it.  Finally, we
got back in the car and started on our way again.  After an hour or so, we
decided to listen to some music, so I pulled out our CD cases and started
looking for something to listen to.  I put a CD in the player and I had
just glanced at the speedometer to see that we were going a little under
the speed limit.  When I looked back up I saw that a car was crossing the
median and heading straight for us.  I shouted something inarticulate, but
Brent was already reacting.  He pulled the steering wheel hard to the right
and we avoided the oncoming car, but our car hit an embankment and went
airborne.  We were in the air for what seemed like an impossibly long time,
then we landed upside-down in a ditch and everything went black.

To be continued...

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