Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:52:32 -0500
From: Charles Hughes <the.back.door@hotmail.com>
Subject: RYAN FIGURES IT OUT - 18  (High School   (b/b  Oral  Anal)

This is a fictional "coming of age" story about a high school student and
his friends, all minors.  If you are not 18 years of age or if it is
illegal for any reason for you to read such material, you must leave now.

Copyright 2013 Charles Hughes, All rights reserved

I am always happy to hear from readers and receive their comments.  I will
try to answer all emails.  Please use the title of the story as the Subject
(emails with attachments are deleted unopened) and use this address:
the.back.door@hotmail.com

A note to readers: This story is one of the "Springfield Stories" cycle,
all taking place in the fictional town of Springfield.  The time frames of
the stories overlap, so sometimes characters in one story will also appear
in another, as they do in this story.  You need not read the previous
stories to read others.  The Springfield Stories are Tyler Becomes a Man,
Mike Gets a Job, The Springfield Jerkoffs, Just Ordinary Guys, and Tomas
and the Dick.  Except for the first in the list, they are all in Young
Friends, though they sometimes follow the characters through high school
and beyond.  There are links to these and all my stories listed under my
name on Nifty's Prolific Authors page.

And THIS IS IMPORTANT: Readers, if you enjoy reading the stories at Nifty,
please consider making a donation so their work can
continue. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html

This chapter concludes Ryan's story.  Or, at least, this part of it.  I'm
interested in your feedback.




RYAN FIGURES IT OUT - 18




Ryan was at Danny and James' house on a day they all had a Saturday off.
He'd been telling them about a strange dream he'd had a couple of nights
before.

"I was standing up in front of people.  I...  I think I was getting
married.  You guys and Cory were standing there with me.  There was a whole
bunch of people sitting and watching.  I recognized my parents and a couple
of teachers.  Kyle was there, and Rick.  And Tomas.  I told you about him,
didn't I?"

The boys nodded, anxious to hear more about such a strange dream -- for a
gay boy.

"Well," Ryan continued, "they all stood up and turned to the back, and I
saw someone coming down the asile.  It was... a man.  Formal wear and all.
Tall, broad shouldered, looked slender..."  He paused again.

"So, who?  Who?"  James was more than curious.

"I couldn't see.  I mean, the face was all blurry.  I rubbed my eyes, but
that wasn't it; nothing else was blurry.  I just couldn't see the face."

"And?"

Ryan shrugged.  "And nothing.  I woke up then.  I remembered it all really
well -- even the flowers up front!  We were all wearing white carnations!
I tried to remember more, but... it was just gone."

They were all silent for a moment.

"Thanks for putting us in the wedding party," James said, finally. He
grinned.  "I always wanted to be in a wedding."

"You think it's ever going to happen?" Ryan said.  "Guys getting married, I
mean."

"Sure," Danny said.  "Inevitable.  It'll take a while for a lot of people
to get used to the idea, but it's going to happen.  You'll see."

"And the minute it does..."  James smiled and squeezed Danny's hand.

"It just seemed... I don't know... wierd," Ryan said.  "Yeah, getting
married.  That would be great!  But, I mean...  I don't know who it could
have been.  In the dream."  He paused.  "Everybody I know
who's... gay... was in the dream, and I recognized them.  But the guy
coming down the asile..."  He became silent.

"So maybe that's yet to happen, Ryan," Danny said.  "You're... what?
Seventeen?  Damn, Ryan, you've got a lot of years ahead of you."

"But that's not why I wanted to talk to you about," Ryan said.  "The dream.
I guess it's sort of related, though.  What I wanted to know... Well, do
guys really, like, fall in love?"  He felt himself blushing -- he hated
that!  But when he had real questions, Danny and James had never made him
felt dumb and always said something that helped.

"Sure, they do," James said.  "Look at us, buddy.  We've loved each other
since we were twelve.  It wasn't just some... infatuation.  It was real,
right from the very beginning."

"How do you know?" Ryan asked.  "I mean, I've said... We said we loved each
other, me and Rick.  But it just didn't turn out to be something
that... lasted.  You know?  He went off to college, and I got really
depressed about it for a while, but I got over it.  Now, me and Cory..."
Ryan lasped into silence again.

"Is that what you're wondering, Ryan?" Danny asked.  "If you're really in
love with Cory?"

"We've said it... that we love each other.  And I do.  I mean, when we're
in bed together I feel... I don't know how to say what I feel."

"Falling in love isn't the same thing as loving somebody you have great sex
with," Danny said bluntly.  "Sure, you can love a guy you're really into,
and who's really into you.  And when the sex is great, the emotions are
real, and they're deep, too."

"Cory is so sweet.  He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met," Ryan said.
"He really...  I like him a lot..."  Ryan sighed.  "But I can't say that
I'm in love with him."  He looked back and forth between his two friends.
"I tell him that I love him, and I do!  But it's not what... I thought it
would be like."

James heard the note of frustration and pain in Ryan's voice.  "What is it
like, Ryan?"

Ryan was silent a moment.  "We're... so good together.  I mean, not just
the sex.  We get along, we understand each other...  But I know we'll
be... well, ending it.  I'll be going to college next year.  Cory will be
staying here.  We both know that.  We've talked about it.  I'll miss him
like hell."  Ryan looked forlorn.  "But it's not the kind of thing I wanted
to... last forever."

"Then it doesn't have to, Ryan," Danny said.  He moved to the couch and put
his hand on Ryan's shoulder.  "Guys like us, Ryan, we need each other... we
need guys like us.  We need to be together, support each other, and even
help each other's needs.  Cory probably knows the same thing you know.  He
knows he loves you, loves being with you, loves the sex and the friendship.
But he knows it's not the same as falling in love.  It will hurt when you
move on.  Both of you But you both have already admitted to each other that
you know that."

Danny put his other hand on Ryan's other shoulder and turned him so they
faced each other directly.  "You're wondering if it will ever happen for
you, fallling in love.  Aren't you?"  He saw the answer in the teen's eyes.
"It will, Ryan.  I don't think it's possible for a wonderful, smart,
friendly, attractive guy like you to fail to find a guy he falls in love
with -- and a guy who falls in love with him."  He gripped Ryan's shoulders
a little harder.  "You remember that, Ryan.  You'll start college in the
fall; start it knowing that somewhere, sometime in your future, you will
know without question -- you will know it so much that you feel it,
physically feel it, inside -- without question, you'll know it.  You're in
love."

Ryan fell against Danny's shoulder.  The strong arms that surrounded him
assured him that his friends knew what they were talking about, that they
supported him as no one had ever done before in his life.  He hugged Danny
back.  "Thank you," he said softly.  "It's so confusing sometimes.  I think
I have it all figured out, and then..."

"Yeah," James said.  "Then sometimes it seems like you've got nothing at
all figured out.  Like you have to go back to square one and start all over
again."  He moved to stand in front of Ryan, and Ryan stood and hugged him,
too.  "You're such a wonderful guy, Ryan," James whispered into his ear,
"it will happen.  It will."  He kissed Ryan's cheek.

Ryan turned his face and their lips met.  It was a slow kiss, a loving
kiss.  Not the kiss of guys who were in love with each other.  But the kiss
of guys who loved each other.  Danny stood next to them, and Ryan turned to
exchange the same slow, loving kiss with Danny.

"You two..."  Ryan choked up, and he felt the tears that blurred his
vision.  "Such good friends..."

With assurances from them that Danny and James were always there for him,
Ryan left feeling more confidence in his own judgement, more certainty that
his understanding of himself was, at least, on track.  Yes, he thought.  It
makes sense.  You're always figuring it out, step by step.  And I can do
that.  I can.

And he talked with Cory, too.  They had the long, slow sex they both loved,
and when they had lain there recovering for a while, Ryan nestled his head
under Cory's chin.  He moved his fingers lightly up and down the center of
Cory's stomach, brushing against the little hairs of his happy trail and
then combing his pubes with his fingers.

"I love you, Cory," he said softly.  "You know that."

Cory stroked the top of Ryan's head.  He'd always found Ryan's hair to be
so soft, and it was still fragrant with the shampoo they'd used in the
shower they'd taken together.  "Yes, I know.  And you know I love you.  You
do know that, right?"

Ryan smiled against Cory's chest.  "Yeah."  He paused.  "And, Cory, I'm
going to miss you so much when I leave..."  He stopped speaking when his
voice broke.

Cory was silent for a moment.  "Me, too.  But you have to go, Ryan.  A
talented guy like you -- you belong in college; you need it.  And you've
got so much to give.  I mean, love, Ryan.  You've got a lot of love in you.
It's the right thing to do."  He sighed.  "Me?  I don't know yet.  Maybe
community college in a while.  I'll work first for a while.  I'll have to
see."

Ryan raised his head and kissed Cory's lips.  Soon they were in an embrace
with their cocks hardened between them.  And they moved to 69.

Danny, James, and Cory were all at Ryan's graduation.  He already knew
about two scholarships he'd gotten, including a big one from the school
he'd be attending in the fall.  But he hadn't known about another one he
was awarded at graduation.  He was also recognized for his drama work and
the publishing of a short story in a national student magazine.  There were
three guys in the audience who applauded louder than anyone else.

He could work more hours at the restaurant in the summer.  He knew he'd
have to work while in college, too, but he was getting a pretty nice nest
egg to begin with.  Danny, James, and Cory had gone together to give him a
pretty hefty check as a graduation present.  They gave it to him in a card
at a gradation party they held in the boy's house.  There were lots of
kisses to go around.  James was the first to start to make out, and they
wound up sucking each other in the living room.  They laughed when the
party broke up.  They knew Danny and James were headed into their bedroom,
and Cory and Ryan were headed to Cory's apartment.

Ryan had gotten a car during his senior year, and he used it to get to
work; he picked Cory up a lot, too.  Remembering how much fun sex in the
back seat had been with Kyle and Rick, he took Cory out by the old cemetery
one warm evening.  They laughed as they pissed against the wall.  When they
got into the back seat they stripped quickly and began to suck.  Ryan loved
the way the moonlight struck Cory's dick and pubes.  He took Cory as deep
as he could and felt the hot cum Cory's cock shoot down his throat when he
had his orgasm.  Cory sucked Ryan's dick and fingerfucked him.  He wanted
Ryan to cum on his face; they'd done that a couple of times, and they both
loved it.  Ryan's jizz almost covered one cheek and trailed across Cory's
lips.  Ryan licked it off and worked it into Cory's mouth with his tongue.

For weeks they avoided talking about August 11 -- the day Ryan would be
leaving for college.  They were at Danny and James' place several times
during the summer, and that topic was avoided there, too.  But it seemed
like evenings with the boys eventually wound up with some cocksucking.
Ryan was becoming as familiar with their dicks as he was with Cory's.  One
night after they'd all had a good cum, they sat around in the living room,
still naked from the waist down, and the conversation turned to Ryan's
move.

"You know," James grinned, "there'll be lots of dick in your dorm at
school.  And a lot of hormones in those college boys."

Ryan laughed.  Actually, he'd been thinking about dorm life.  He'd never
shared a room with anyone, and he'd always lived alone.  Living with a
roommate on a dorm floor full of guys who'd be showering together...

"Hey," Cory said.  He was sitting on the floor between Ryan's legs, playing
with the light hairs on Ryan's lower leg.  "You're the writer in this
bunch.  You need to write a story about all those hot dudes."  They all
laughed.

"Actually," Danny said, "that's not a bad idea.  Not a story about that,"
he grinned.  "But a story about you, Ryan.  You've come a long way since
you were a freshman.  You write really well, and you've got things to say.
A story about you would be a good one."

"Not this boy," Ryan laughed.  "But, hey, you're the one who ought to write
a story, Danny!  You guys have been together since you were... what?
Twelve?  And look at you now.  Now, there's a story I'd like to read."

"Not much to write about here," James smiled.  "Nothing special about us.
We're just ordinary guys."

Danny looked at James for a moment.  "You know...  I've actually been
thinking...  no."  He grinned.  "But who knows?  Maybe someday I'll write
that story."

"Illustrated?" Cory asked.  They all laughed.

Ryan was excited about beginning college life.  He and his future roommate
had written each other a couple of times, deciding who would bring what.
Ryan made some purchases, especially clothes, but he'd decided to wait
until he got there to buy much.  Cory went with him to pick out some slacks
and sweaters.  And a nice new pair of light green pyjamas -- that silky
kind.  He tried to talk Ryan into buying some sexy mini-briefs, handing him
a package of several of them.  Ryan actually blushed as he looked around to
see if anyone had heard.  He put them back on the rack.  But when he
checked out, there was that package: three pairs of mini-briefs: black,
light blue, and bright red.  The cashier didn't even seem to notice.  They
laughed about it in the car, but Cory made him promise that he absolutely
would pack those.

James saw to it that Cory had the day off on August 10, Ryan's last night
in town.  Ryan's parents thought he was leaving that morning, but he wanted
one last night with Cory.

They ate a light meal at Cory's apartment late that afternoon.

"All packed?" Cory asked.

"Yeah.  Almost, anyway."  Ryan's voice was quiet.

"What you need, college boy, is a shower!"  Cory grinned.  "Nothing like a
nice hot shower to perk a guy up!"  Ryan grinned back.

They cleared the table and put things away, went into Cory's small bedroom
and stripped.  And Cory led the way into the bathroom.  Cory's shower stall
was the usual size, kind of small for two people.  But they had managed it
before, and they knew just how to fit together under the showerhead.

"First," Cory said as he hugged Ryan close, "first, we need to pee."

Ryan pulled his head back a bit and looked at him.  They'd done that once,
but Cory hadn't seemed to care for it too much, so Ryan hadn't suggested it
again.

Cory knew what Ryan was thinking.  "If you like it, then I like it."

"You're sweet," Ryan replied.

They hugged each other again, their heads resting on each other's shoulder
and their dicks hard between them.  He was almost ready to pee when he felt
Cory reach down between them and pull both their cocks up so they were
pressed between them and right against each other.  When Ryan felt the
first drops of Cory's pee, he pulled back just a bit so the pee could shoot
higher on them.  He sighed, and he released his own stream.  Cory kissed
him, and their tongues entered each other's mouth as their pee wet both of
them.  Ryan could feel it -- his piss and Cory's piss -- streaming down his
body, back over the dick it had come fron, and down onto his balls.  The
inside of his left thigh warmed gradually as the golden water continued to
flow down to their feet.

Their pissing stopped, but their kiss continued.  They began to roll
against each other, and their dicks were fully hard again.  Ryan could feel
the wet warmth of their pee as they slid back and forth against each other
and the heat of their hard cocks rubbing together.  Cory's hands caressed
Ryan's back and moved down to squeeze his ass gently.  Ryan felt Cory's
smooth ass under his own hands.  Cory turned them a bit so he could reach
the water faucets.  He'd forgotten that it took a little bit for the water
to warm up, and they squealed and giggled like little girls when the cold
water hit them.

When the water warmed they soaped up, each of them loving to slide their
soapy bodies against each other; they washed each other's back and ass.
They washed each other's dick and balls slowly and at the same time.  Both
cocks were hard as rock.  Cory turned Ryan around and washed out his
asshole, probing deeply as Ryan moved his ass around, and Ryan did the same
for Cory.  They dried quickly.  They were eager to get onto the bed.

They were locked in a tight embrace immediately.  They kissed deeply,
slowly, as their hands wandered over soft, fragrant skin.  They rolled from
one side of the bed to the other and back again, seeking to touch as much
skin as possible.  Cory kissed his way lightly to Ryan's ear.  He flicked
his tongue into it and swirled it around; then he nibbled on his earlobe.
He licked down to Ryan's shoulder and then into the warm pit, sucking
lightly on the soft hairs there.  Ryan was moaning softly as the tongue
moved over him and became louder when the tongue moved from his collarbone
to his nipple.  Cory swirled his tongue around it, flicked his tongue over
the little hard nip in the middle; then he began to suck.  He opened his
mouth wide to take as much of the nipple in, and as deeply, as possible.
At the same time his other hand found Ryan's other nipple and played with
it.

Ryan rolled away from him and let Cory lie on the bed.  He straddled Cory's
hips and leaned down to lick down the length of his spine and into his
crack, never lifting his tongue.  And then down to his asshole.  He tasted
his lover, licking, lapping, even kissing Cory's entrance.  His cock was
throbbing so hard he could hardly get himself in position fast enough.  He
grabbed the lube they's tossed onto the bed, coated his dick, and slid it
into Cory's ass as he lay fully on top of him.  The length of his body
pressed against Cory, the length of his cock was buried inside.  They
sighed in unison.

Ryan placed his feet as far down as he could and moved his hands to Cory's
sides.  He raised himself by his arms until nothing was touching Cory
except the cock now pulled up close to Cory's hole.  He repositioned his
feet and hands, and then he slowly did pushups... sinking his dick deep
into Cory as he lowered himself... pulling it up are he pushed himself up
with his arms.  Up and down.  Again and again.  Cory was moaning loudly now
as his ass was repeatedly invaded by Ryan's cock, and Ryan began to moan,
too.  He continued, up and down... in and out...  He ignored the growing
pain in his arms, hardly feeling it; his cock was all he wanted to feel.
That and the ass he was fucking...

He just couldn't go fast enough now, so he lowered himself until his knees
were on the bed, and he began to slap his body against Cory as his cock
dove in again and again.  Faster.  Deeper.  Groaning now, Ryan felt it
inside himself, deep inside, the twisting, turning, tension... the pressure
so urgent now... and his body tensed suddenly, then his cum shot deeply
into Cory's ass.  "Yaaaaaaa..."  Ryan threw his head back and abandoned
himself to the surging of cum through his dick, the hot wetness collecting
around his cockhead inside Cory's tunnel...  Firing fast and
hard... cumming again again... yessssss...

He finally lowered himself beside Cory, letting his dick pull out of Cory's
ass with a wet pop.  His arms were shaking weakly, but the pleasure of
pouring himself fully into his lover was all he could feel.  He heard
Cory's rapid breathing, almost panting, beside him.  He turned his head to
look into Cory's eyes.  They looked at each other for a long time, not
speaking a word.

Ryan finally rolled over onto his back.  They lay next to each other, still
in the sexual high of a great fuck.  Cory eventually moved over to Ryan and
kissed his shoulder.  They grinned at each other, and Cory raised himself
up on an elbow.  His fingers stroked Ryan's chest, sweaty from the effort
of those unbelievable pushups.  "You are fantastic," Cory whispered.

He reached down for Ryan's dick and fingered it lightly as he kissed his
way down to it.  Kisses from the pubes to the base of it, up the shaft, and
then little butterfly kisses all over his cockhead.  Ryan groaned in need,
and Cory sucked his dick in deeply; then he pulled up so only the cockhead
remained in his mouth.  And he sucked slowly, his tongue washing around and
around the hot bulb in his mouth.  He quickly rolled Ryan over onto his
belly, spread his legs, and pressed his face into Ryan's ass.  Ryan felt
the warm wetness of his tongue wash slowly across his pucker.  He pressed
his ass back against Cory's face.

"O god O fuck eat me out yesss..."

Cory pressed his tongue at the center of his target, and it slowly opened
for him.  The tight puckerhole spread as his tongue gradually made its way
deeper into the darkness.  He tasted the tang of the soap they used and
more; he tasted Ryan.  The point of his tongue moved slowly against the
slick sides of Ryan's fuckhole.  He moaned in appreciation, and his moans
sent chills up into Ryan's body.  Cory ate slowly, licking, his lips
pressed against his lover's pussyhole, his face turning to reach in as deep
as he could.  And then he began to tonguefuck.  Slowly, in and out, opening
that tight hole and letting it close again.  Opening it, closing.  In and
out.  He was in no rush.

Finally, Cory pulled away, and Ryan moaned at the sensations still
fluttering inside him.  Cory pulled Ryan up onto all fours and began to
finger the ass he'd been tonguefucking.  It was wet and slick, the ring
surrounding the hole relaxed enough to allow two fingers.  Cory inserted
them and moved them slowly; then he wiggled them rapidly against the sides
of Ryan's tunnel.  He slowed his fingers again, then resumed flicking them
rapidly.

"O fuck O fuck MMMmmmmm..."  Ryan had lowered his head to the mattress and
his voice was muffled.  He pressed back onto the fingers tormenting his
fuckhole and then wiggled side to side, searching for every possible
contact with those fingers teasing his fuckhole.  Cory pulled out one
finger and reached in deeper with his fuck finger, finding Ryan's nut.  It
was hard as a little round stone, the low ridge around it so sensitive Ryan
almost winced when the finger passed over it.  But Cory didn't want to
cause an orgasm.  Not yet.

He moved on his knees closer to Ryan's butt, coated his cock with the lube
they used, placed his cockhead against Ryan's hole, and slowly sank deeply
into Ryan.

"Uuuhhhhh...oooooooo...aaahhhhhhh..." Ryan felt an enormous pressure
gradually fill him, a very satisfying fullness.  The movement stopped, but
the delicious fullness remained.  Cory's pubes were pressed firmly against
Ryan's ass, his cock engulfed fully by the heat inside it.  Both boys
remained still for a moment, feeling the throbbing inside Ryan.

Cory leaned over Ryan and kissed his back.  He whispered, "Don't you ever
forget that I love you."

He began to move in and out.  So slowly that Ryan wasn't sure at first that
the cock inside him was moving at all.  But it was.  And it seemed to take
forever for the cock to pull up to just inside his hole.  And then that
hard, hot tool reversed direction and slowly moved inward again.  So slow.
In.  Out.  Ryan's slick walls slowly closed over the cockhead as it pulled
back and then slowly opened for it again as it moved in. The pleasure
surging through Ryan's body was so intense it was close to pain.  He tried
to push backward, but Cory's hands on his hips wouldn't allow it.  The slow
fucking just wouldn't stop!  Ryan was almost whimpering.

And then, when the crown of his cockhead was pulling back against Ryan's
ring, Cory suddenly shoved his cock in hard and deep.  And he spoke clearly
through clenched teeth.  "Don't.  Ever.  Forget.  That.  I.  Love.  You!"

"God yeaaaaa..."  Ryan's entire body began to shake with the power of
Cory's thrusts into him.  "O yea O yea O yea..."  The cock that was fucking
him moved faster and deeper.  He felt the pressure against him change
slightly, and then he felt Cory's fingers searching for his nipples.  They
were pinched.  "Aww fuuuuuuuck..."  Cory remained bent over Ryan's back,
his hips rapidly shoving his cock in, his sweaty groin slapping loudly
against Ryan's ass, his fingers pinching with each thrust.

"Uuuuuuuuu..."  Cory's voice began low and moved higher as his orgasm
approached.  He could no longer control his fingers on Ryan's nipples; he
just held onto them as best he could.  The rhythm of his hips became
erratic, as though they were completely independent of Cory.  His cock...
his cock was on fire...

And Ryan felt the fire inside his ass, and then the blast of hot cum filled
him.  He cried out in pleasure as the fucking continued, ass slapping, Cory
grunting, cum shooting deep inside him... again and again.  Filling him
leaking from his ass heating him loving him cummming innnn himmmm...

It was only when the fucking stopped and he had collapsed onto the bed,
Cory on top of him, that he realized there were tears on his face.
"Yesssss..." he cried out weakly. "O yessssss yesssss..."  Cory lay quietly
on top of him, his cock still buried in his ass, as he slowed his
breathing.  Ryan squeezed the muscles inside his ass, as though he were
hugging that cock that had fucked him.  Cory moaned in pleasure.  His cock
slowly slid from the wet, slick ass.  As they breathed, their wet bodies
slid against each other.  The room was hot and filled with the scent of
sex.

They drifted off to sleep but woke during the night to cuddle and kiss.
There wasn't much talking; there didn't need to be.

Ryan woke up early.  Cory was still sleeping, his naked body stretched on
his stomach, his ass round and...  Ryan took a quick shower and dressed
quietly.  He didn't want goodbys.  He wasn't sure he could control himself.
He kissed Cory's cheek.  "Don't ever forget that I love you, too," he
whispered.  He let himself out.  His car was fully packed, and he pulled
out of the driveway just as the sun was rising.

He'd called Danny and James to tell them he was stopping by for a moment.
They were still in their boxers when they answered the door; obviously,
he'd awakened them.  They stepped inside.  James started to say something.

"No," Ryan said, stopping him with a raised hand.  "Please, don't say
anything.  Not a word.  I don't know if I could stand it.  I just had to
stop by...  You've been so good to me; I could never have gotten where I am
without you.  I just had to tell you..."  He felt the tears flood his eyes,
and he didn't want that.  "I love you guys, and I always will."

He turned, got back into his car, and headed out.  To college.

College.  What a different guy he was than when he started high school!  He
remembered what Danny and James had said to him.  Sometimes it's like
you've got nothing at all figured out.  You have to go back to square one
and start again.  You figure it out as best you can, and then you take each
day as it comes.  And you figure it out as it happens.  He smiled.  He
could do that now.

Thanks to his great friends.  He could.

And he knew things were going to be fine.