Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 09:34:30 +0100
From: Gymnopedies <gym@softhome.net>
Subject: Sexual Development - chapter 9

The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by location,
are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by explicit
descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not based on any
actual events.

Gymnopedies   October 2003
gym@softhome.net


Sexual Development - Chapter 9: The End of a Friendship
-------------------------------------------------------

It was Sunday morning. Daniel sat at the breakfast table feeling tired and
thoroughly miserable. It was 10.30 am, a bit late to be having breakfast,
but he'd been late up after having spent a sleepless night tossing and
turning as he struggled to work out how he'd gotten himself into this mess
and trying to think of way to get himself out of it. After dismissing the
more radical alternatives, at least a couple of which involved murder, he'd
narrowed his list of options down to three. None of the three were
particularly appealing:

Option one, he could do nothing. This would leave him completely in Ben's
power. Daniel had no doubt at all that the youngster would use the tape he
had made yesterday to force the teenager into further such
sessions. Daniel's mind went into overdrive as his imagination conjured up
some of the possible scenarios that were in store for him. They all
involved him being naked, almost all of them were humiliating and some of
them were downright painful.

Option two, he could catch the little shit on his own and beat the crap out
of him until he agreed to hand the tape over. This one certainly had it's
appeal. On the downside, there was a strong likelihood that if he did
something like this, Ben's parents would find out. Then the whole story
would probably come out, Jason would get to know, even Daniel's own mother
would get to know. There was no way Daniel could face that sort of
humiliation.

Option three, Daniel could go to Jason and admit that he was gay. This
would give Ben one less weapon in his armoury. Then, assuming that Jason
still wanted anything to do with him, the two of them could go after Ben
together and hopefully convince the younger boy that it was in his best
interests to hand the tape over. Unfortunately, Daniel was convinced that
once Jason found out his best friend had been keeping a secret like that
from him, it would be the end of their friendship.

What a choice to have to make. In reality it looked like no choice at all;
both options two and three involved a strong chance of him losing Jason and
the thought of this was far more painful than anything Ben might do to
him. It looked like the only thing he could do was sit back and wait to see
what Ben had planned.

"Daniel, you could at least try and eat something," said the boy's mother,
lowering the newspaper she'd been reading.

"I'm not hungry," Daniel replied, pushing away the untouched bowl of soggy
cereal that had been sitting in front of him for the past ten minutes.

Carol Marshall laid the newspaper down on the table and gave an exasperated
sigh. "You've had another falling out with Jason, haven't you?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"You sure? The only thing that's ever caused you to lose your appetite is
when the two of aren't speaking."

"I told you. It's nothing to do with Jason."

"Do you want to tell me about it, whatever it is?"

"No, there's nothing really to tell. I'm just not hungry."

Mrs. Marshall reached across the table and laid her fingers gently on the
back of her son's hand. "Look, Danny, I don't want to pry or anything, I
just want to make sure you know that you can tell me if anything is
worrying you; anything at all. I know that sometimes some things are hard
to talk about. I know that sometimes it must be hard for you not having a
dad around. But please don't be afraid to talk to me, you might be
surprised at just how understanding I can be."

Daniel looked up into his mother eyes and suddenly felt like a little boy
again. Maybe this was a fourth option. He could tell his mother all about
the mess he was in, she'd listen and give him a hug and tell him not to
worry, then she'd sort everything out for him, just like she'd done when he
was small. It was so tempting. She was his mother, she'd know exactly what
to do, mother's always did. His eyes misted up. But just as he opened his
mouth in preparation to letting it all pour out, there was a loud knock on
the front door.

Daniel leaped up from his chair, the spell broken. "I'll get it." He'd
couldn't believe that he'd been so close to telling his mother
everything. As he hurried out of the kitchen and into the hallway, the
knocking at the door came again, hard and impatient. Whoever it was, they
didn't like being kept waiting. Daniel reached the front door and pulled it
open. "Jason?"

Outside it was raining heavily. The fourteen year old was standing on the
doorstep dripping wet, his hair plastered down on his head. He stood
stiffly, his arms at his sides, his fists clenched. His face was pale and
his mouth was compressed into a thin line.

"Is something the matter?" Daniel asked. "I was coming over to your house
later. Come on in, you're soaked through." He reached out for his friend's
arm.

Jason stepped back, shaking his head. "No. I don't want to."

"Why? What's wrong? You can't stay out there, it's peeing down."

"We're you at Billy Stanton's house yesterday?"

Daniel's heart stopped beating. Somehow Jason had found out. "What's Ben
been saying?" he asked.

"We're you at Billy Stanton's house yesterday? Just answer me."

"Yeah, I was. But..." Daniel stopped, not sure what excuse he could make.

Jason nodded, his mouth had turned up into a sneer. He shook his head and
ran his hand through his hair. Daniel couldn't make out whether there were
tears in the boy's eyes or whether it was the rain.

"Tell me what Ben's been saying?" Daniel demanded, stepping out into the
rain himself.

"Oh, he hasn't said anything to me," said Jason. "But him and Billy had
plenty to talk about to each other. They were together in Ben's room this
morning, giggling about what you got up to yesterday; your sick tie-up
games. They didn't know I was listening at the door." Jason's face was like
stone and there was a tremour in his voice as he spoke. "You want to know
what else they were laughing about?"

Daniel silently shook his head and took a step closer to his friend.

Jason continued to back away. "They were laughing about me and you being
partners and touching each other and everything and how stupid I was for
not realising that you were gay." He paused and drew in a deep shuddering
breath. "Is it true? Are you gay?"

"Jason, let me explain." Daniel had started to shake. Things were running
out of his control.

"Are you gay?" Jason repeated, his voice almost a shout.

"Yeah, I think so. But you don't understand..."

"I don't understand?" Jason cut his friend off. Even with the pouring rain,
there was now no mistaking the tears in his eyes. His voice rose further,
in a crescendo of anger and hurt. "It's you who doesn't understand. All
this time I've been getting stick at school about how I MUST be gay because
of the way I look, because I'm smaller than most of the other boys, because
I have a face like a girl, because I haven't got much hair round my dick
yet, any reason they could think of. All this time you've watched this
going on, knowing that it was YOU who was gay. We're supposed to be best
friends, but you go behind my back making deals with my brother so that you
can get your hands on my dick. What sort of best friend would do that? Well
it doesn't matter any more. I don't want to be your friend anymore."

"No!" Daniel sobbed. He rushed forwards, his hands out. "Jason, please,
you've got to listen to me."

"Stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with you. Just keep away."
Jason spun around and rushed away into the rain.

Daniel stood and watched his best friend disappear around the corner. He
was trembling, his tears mixing with the rain running down his face. He
looked back towards his front door. Standing there was his mother, her
mouth open. She looked upset, angry, disappointed. She'd heard
everything. She'd heard him admit he was gay. There was no way he could
face her, not after this. With a loud sob he turned away and started to
run.

"Daniel!" His mother called to him, her voice made flat by the rain. He
ignored her. He had to get away. He didn't know where he was going or what
he was going to do when he got there, he just had to get away.


End of Chapter 9


Feedback is encouraged and always much appreciated. Let me know what you
would like to see happen in future chapters, or send me your ideas and
suggestions for new stories.  Email me at gym@softhome.net or visit my
website http://www.storiesbygymnopedies.com for more stories, polls and
previews.