Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 02:13:26 -0000
From: Pete Cathcart <petros@petros-world.co.uk>
Subject: Young Love, Chapter 5

Young Love
By Petros <younglove@petros-world.co.uk>

Disclaimer

This story is a work of fiction (Although all true so far). All names of
characters and places have been changed. Any resemblance to real life
persons, living or dead, places or events is purely coincidental.

The story describes a gay releationship and sexual activity between
minors. You've been warned.

Please visit the story's homepage to register your views if you like it or
hate it.  http://www.petros-world.co.uk/


Chapter 5

I was woken by my alarm buzzing. I sleepily opened my eyes and tried to
focus on the clock. I reached out to stop the alarm as the display came
into focus. Seven thirty it read. That's odd, I set my alarm for
eight. Then I remembered; Derek was here. I looked over to where he lay in
his camping bed. He was dead to the world.  I'd set the alarm early to
allow us both time to shower. I got up out of bed and lifted my towel. I
left the room, wrapping it around my waist as I went. I stepped into the
shower and turned it on. I quickly jumped back, obviously I wasn't wide
enough awake to remember that it needs a moment to heat up first. I spent
about ten minutes under the shower, washing myself whilst being careful to
pay extra attention to the areas that deserved it. I gave myself a quick
rub down with the towel before going back to my room.

Derek was still lying peacefully, tightly wrapped in my sleeping bag. He
looked so adorable. I could hardly bring myself to wake him, but I had
to. I knelt down and leaned over him. Shaking him gently I spoke softly in
his ear, "Derek. Derek.  It's time to wake up..."

"What? Uhh." He mumbled, slowly emerging from his slumber.

"Morning," I said chirpily, pulling back from his face.

"Mmmm. Morning. What time is it?" he asked. He started to sit up, revealing
his gorgeous chest as his sleeping bag slid down.

"It's seven forty-five. I've showered already, so the bathroom is free"

"Oh, cool," he said as he climbed out of his sleeping bag. He stood up and
then looked down and turned a lovely shade of red. "Oops. No clothes," he
said, grinning.

"I'll get a towel for you," I forced my eyes away from the glorious sight
before me and left to fetch a towel. It's a pity he didn't wake up with a
morning woody.  That would have been a sight worth beholding. I thought
about what had transpired last night as I went to fetch him a towel. I
couldn't stop myself from smiling, it felt so good being so close to
him. Nothing had changed, yet. It must be the anticipation of what our
friendship could bring that excited me.

I returned with the towel and Derek left for the shower. I sat down on my
bed and waited for him to return. I wanted to use every chance I could get
to check him out. After all I had him naked and in my house, chances were
this wouldn't happen often. I knew I was clutching at straws but I wanted
to dress in front of him; just in case there was a reaction. What were the
chances that he'd be checking me out? Not great, but what've I got to lose?
The door swung open heralding Derek's return. He raised an eyebrow when he
saw me siting naked but continued into the room before squatting on the
floor opposite me. He started rubbing his hair dry. I got up and walked to
the wardrobe, making use of the full- length mirror on its door to check
for a reaction from Derek. I was disappointed when he just continued to dry
himself. I opened the wardrobe and began my hunt for some clothes. I
grabbed a couple of pairs of socks, throwing one at Derek.  Then came the
difficult bit; selecting some underwear for him. I thought carefully before
picking out a pair of white Calvin Klein boxer-briefs, for Derek, and a
similar pair (in black) for myself. I grabbed a T-shirt for myself and
returned to the bed.

"Got any deodorant?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, see it over by the window?" I said pointing towards my chest of
drawers.

"Thanks," he said as he got up to fetch the can. He didn't seem to care
that he'd left the towel on the floor. I offered him the boxers. He
accepted them and then, without putting them on, walked across the room to
get the deodorant spray. He got the can and walked back to where he'd been
sitting before he stopped and sprayed himself. I was transfixed by the
vision in front of me. This truly magnificent boy was standing only a few
feet in front of me, absolutely naked. I wanted to reach out and touch
him. I wanted so much more than friendship from him. I wanted to do so much
more than look.

We finished dressing and went downstairs for some breakfast. "Morning
Peter," my Mother greeted me, "and who's this with you?" My mum had been
busy last night so she hadn't disturbed us; thus she hadn't met Derek yet.

"Mum, this is Derek. Derek, my mother."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs C." Derek said very politely, extending his hand
towards her. My mother smiled as they shook hands. He really was a perfect
gentleman.

"Derek's working on that computing project, I told you about, with me.
Remember I told you he was coming over yesterday?" I explained.

"Oh yes, that's right."

"Well, we got carried away and it got a little late so Derek stayed the
night."

"OK. Do your parents know where you are Derek?"

"Yes, I called them last night." Derek responded.

"Good," my mother said, smiling at Derek. She turned to me and continued,
"Anyway, Peter I've got to get going. I'll see you after school. Ok?"

"Yup. See you about four."

"Bye love, and nice to meet you Derek."

"The pleasure was all mine, Mrs C." Derek said. He sure knew how to make a
good impression.

We started breakfast, chatting idly as if we'd known each other for
years. I can't explain why, but we seemed to strike a chord with each
other. It was like we were meant to be friends. Maybe we were, perhaps it
was our destiny to meet. As much as I liked to believe in myself, as an
individual: in control of my actions, I could never banish the thought that
fate had our lives planned out. It's presumptuous and somewhat
self-important to think that we are the most predominant force in the
universe. There has to be something else, and whatever it is seems to have
brought Derek to me. I could tell, no more like feel, that this was going
to grow into a strong friendship. We had much to offer each other, he had
social status and I had academic abilities. As shallow as it sounds, it's
true, those are the things a teenager craves. The future would look bright
for any normal fourteen-year-old. Since last year, however, it'd become
apparent I wasn't normal. As an abnormal teenager my perception of the
outlook was much bleaker and clouded with confusion. What I wanted was
right in front of me. I couldn't simply reach out and take it though, his
friendship now stood in my way. I didn't want to damage that; it was, after
all, all he asked for. Had we not grown to be friends, I would have nothing
to loose. We had though, and that meant that I couldn't risk proceeding, as
I would have liked. Destiny, it seemed, had intervened.

I left my house at 8:40. Ten minutes earlier than normal. I'm not sure why
I left early, I suppose just sitting around killing time is OK when you're
on your own.  Derek and I arrived in school at ten to nine. We walked
through the gates side by side into the yard. It was still quiet, it seemed
quite unnatural. The vast expanse of the playground stretched out before
us, there were a few solitary teenagers hanging around. I wasn't used to it
being so quiet. It seemed almost ghostly and unnerved me slightly. I became
a little edgy and hastened to get inside. "I'm going to head up to my
register class, Mr Murphy always leaves it unlocked so we can get in
early." I said, turning very slightly towards the entrance I would
use. Derek looked disappointed.

"Oh, alright. I was going to take you round to meet my friends. I wanted to
show off my new lover," he said, sounding a little dispirited. My jaw
dropped and my head shot round so fast it almost hurt.

"W.. What did you say?" I stuttered, astonished and unable to believe what
I'd heard. He seemed somewhat taken aback by my reaction.

"Sorry dude, I was just noising you up!" Damn, I should have caught that
one. I guess I'll have to try to be less obvious. "I didn't realise you
were such a homophobe," he joked.

"Doesn't bother me. Just didn't put you down for that type, queerboy!" I
retaliated, picking up my guard once again. He laughed, flashing his
beautiful smile at me, as he playfully jabbed my shoulder.

A minute or so later we arrived at the back of the school where, Derek
explained, he hung out. There were a several people there already, all male
and more or less the same age. I recognised a few of them, I was in classes
with them; As far as I knew they were all in the football team. More
importantly than that, they were all very attractive. That's probably an
exaggeration, but being athletes they were well built and fit
looking. Their individual appearances varied somewhat, a few were really
cute and one or two could be described as handsome. None, however, could
match the unsurpassed beauty of Derek. "Hey guys!" Derek greeted his
friends.

A chorus of "Hey Derek!"'s and such like resounded back, with one or two
"Hey Petros!"'s thrown in.

"Hey Richard, Fraser, guys!" I said. I was nervous as hell, but trying not
to show it. These guys were the 'in' crowd at school. I knew them but I'd
never really spoken to any of them, idle chatter in the class aside. This
was the first time I'd faced them as a whole and I didn't know how to
handle it.

I was getting some strange looks. I doubt I could've felt much less
comfortable. I noticed Derek was getting some inquisitive looks too. He was
their friend though, and knew what was required of him.

"Guys, you know Petros?" A few nods from the group. "Me and him do
computing together, we're doing a team project. He's cool, I invited him to
hang with us. That OK?" Wow, Derek said I was cool. I'm glad he threw that
in.  Wouldn't want all these hot studs thinking I was a geek, would I?

"Yeah, Petros is cool," Richard spoke up, "any friend of Dez is a friend of
ours."  He finished with a little laugh. I took that to show he'd made an
exaggeration of Derek's status. Before I knew it, one of the cuter boys
stepped forward and stretched his hand out to me.

"Scott," the tall blond boy offered.

"Petros. Nice to meet you," I said shaking his hand. He had a strong grip,
it matched his voice. Very manly, it looked as though he had a body to
match it under his shirt. None of the others were quite so forward (did
this guy have some ulterior motivation?) but I got waves and names from the
other four guys.

"So where were you last night Dez?" The guy who introduced himself as Scott
asked. "I thought you'd have been down the parks playing."

"Nah, I was starting the project round at Pedro's house, you should see the
fuckin' size of it!" I figured these guys must be from the council
estates. I leapt to my defence, trying hard not to seem like I though I was
better than they were.

"It's not that big, it just looks it 'cos it's old and it's a semi." They
didn't look to concerned one way or the other.

"I left a message with your brother, to call me when you got back," Scott
continued.

"Sorry mate, I've not been home yet. I crashed at Pedro's." Derek said
casually.

His response was met with a round of laughing and jeers, with cries of
"Fag," and "Homo," thrown in for good measure.

"Is he any good? Can I get a shot?" Fraser demanded, sounding almost
serious.

Oh well, boys will be boys I guess.


I got to registration and took my usual seat. Steven, Gary and Neil were
already in. I must have been a few minutes late, it's further to walk from
out at the back of the school.

"Hey, Petros. Running late again?" Steven welcomed me.

"No, I was hanging out by the hockey pitch with Derek and the guys from the
soccer team."

"Oh really? Like that is it, we're not good enough for Petros the Great
anymore?"  Gary said, grinning.

"Nah, me and Derek are on a computing project together. He stayed at mine
last night." I said offhandedly. Although he was joking I saw a worrying
truth behind his comment. I wanted to get closer to the jocks, so that I
could get closer to Derek. At the same time I didn't want to neglect my
friends. They'd always been there for me and I couldn't risk alienating and
loosing them. This could be trickier than I'd expected.

"You boning him or something?" Steven demanded. "I don't want you running
around with strange men. I worry about you Pet." This reduced Gary and Neil
to near hysterics.

What was it with this gay fixation everyone seemed to have? Didn't they
know how hard they were making it for me? No, of course they didn't. I'm
always looking for something that isn't there. I read far too deeply, I
guess. "Funny, mate. Not. We got carried away messing about on the
Internet. It got too late to walk home. Happy now, dad?" I replied, winking
at Steven.

"Internet, eh? I've heard that's full of porn. Wonder what you were messing
about at?"

Jesus, how difficult would it be to convince these guys if something was
happening? Don't get me wrong, they were just fooling around. Winding one
another up makes registration almost bearable.

The bell rang and we all left for our first period class. The next two
hours passed quicker than I expected. I didn't really concentrate on the
classes. I had stuff to figure out. By the time the interval came around
I'd decided what to do. I figured I had to spend some time getting to know
the football crowd. Once I was cool with them I'd have to share myself
out. I could make time to see my friends and hang with Derek. Although I'd
have to neglect my gang for a bit, it was going to be easier than trying to
separate Derek from the jocks and fit him into my group.

I left the maths room with Jenni at my side. We wandered down the corridor
until we reached the stairs that would take us out into the
schoolyard. Jenni turned to start down the stairs but stopped when I didn't
follow.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing, I've got a few things to do now though. I'll catch up with you
later, OK?" I lied. I'm not sure she'd have appreciated the real reason for
me neglecting her.

We headed off in our separate directions. I continued along the corridor
until the end before I descended and walked out to the back of the
school. The jocks were all there already, about twenty or so now. I
approached slowly, trying to spot Derek amongst them. It took me a moment
or two to realise he wasn't there. I'd only met a few of them this morning
so there was no way I was going to wander up to a huge crowd of them on my
own. I stopped and was just about to turn and leave again when I heard my
name being called. I didn't immediately recognise the voice but then I saw
Richard waving energetically from the midst of the group. Returning his
wave, I headed towards them. I could hardly turn back now I'd been
seen. Richard moved out towards the edge to greet me. Scott, whom I'd met
that morning, who had been talking to Richard followed him.

"Alright Petros?" Richard greeted me.

"Yeah, cool," I answered, then acknowledged Scott, "Alright Scott?"

"Yeah, good. Cheers," Scott replied cheerily. As we spoke, Richard called
out to the rest of the group, getting their attention.

"Guys, some of you know already, this is Petros. He's cool and will be
hanging out with us." I could feel myself turning bright red as Richard
spoke. I was shocked that he'd spoken out like that. I think I was more
shocked by the response from the group though. No funny looks and no
growling. They seemed quite accepting, offering smiles and a few "Hi
Petros"'s. That was fair enough this morning when there were only tow or
three guys I didn't know, but now when there were so many of them I
expected a more hostile response to my intrusion.

Once the introductions were aside, Richard and Scott went back to their
conversation. I just stood on the edge of the group feeling very
awkward. That didn't last long however. Two guys that I didn't know came
over to speak to me.  A small boy with short, light brown hair spoke, "Hey
Petros, I'm Gary. Call me Topper though, everyone does." He was short, but
quite stocky; obviously another soccer junkie.

"Nice to meet you Topper," I said offering my hand to him. He started to
shake it as his cohort spoke.

"Hey Petros, I'm Dougie." Dougie was quite different to Topper. He stood
just under 6' tall with a shock of fiery red hair and bright green eyes. He
wasn't well built at all, skinny would be a better description.

"Nice to meet you Dougie," I said releasing Topper's grip and shaking the
giant's hand.

"So Petros, Where'd you get that name? And what brings you out to these
parts?"  Topper asked.

"Umm. I'm kinda friends with Derek, we're in some classes together this
year," I said nervously; trying not to sound too enthusiastic about Derek.

"And the name?"

"Ahh, if I told you that, I'd have to do nasty things to you. Like kill you
and stuff," I said grinning. I was starting to feel more confident;
impressed by how readily they seemed to accept me.

"Well in that case, you're gonna have to keep guessing about mine too!"
Topper exclaimed, laughing.

I chatted away with them for a few minutes. I found they were both in the
football team, Dougie played up front where his size and build must've
given him some useful speed I guess. They weren't very academic, mostly
doing foundation courses. Both of them seemed like really decent guys, they
weren't totally sensitive, caring types, nor were they the stereotypical
foot-balling jock types.  They were somewhere in-between, friendly, funny
guys.

The conversation didn't seem to be going anywhere. We'd covered all the
usual small talk about classes and girlfriends when Derek arrived to save
me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked round to see him only inches
away. He looked stunning, I wanted to turn round, right then, and kiss his
luscious lips. Whether or not he'd mind, I don't think his mates would be
impressed. So I didn't.

"Hey guys!" Derek said, greeting the three of us. He was smiling broadly.

"Hey Derek, what's up wi' you?" I quizzed him.

"Oh, nothing. I just talked my way out of a detention," he replied, "Glad
you're here. I thought you might chicken out if I wasn't here to hold your
hand." I think he was joking but maybe be did know me better than I
thought.

"Cool. I was wondering where you'd got to."

"Yeah, sorry. Anyway, you seem to be doing fine without me. You've met
Topper and Lamp-post I see," Derek replied, grinning at Dougie. Obviously
none too impressed with that name, Dougie shot a few four-letter words back
at Derek.

That lunchtime, I stayed in school. I normally go home, because it's so
near but Derek invited me to join them so I couldn't refuse. Steven and
Gary were in the canteen with Jenni. They looked surprised when I arrived,
and even more so when I simply waved to them before taking a seat at the
jock's table.

Lunch went smoothly, I seemed to be fitting in well with my new friends. I
had a difficult time explaining things the next morning though. I managed
to put it down to me and Derek having project work to discuss. The same
pattern followed over the next few days; I spoke to my old group in
registration and when I had classes with them but I spent the rest of my
time getting closer to Derek and his group.

The weekend came round. My new group invited me to hang out with them on
Friday night. They didn't do much; they went to the park, kicked a ball
around for a while then, if someone's older sibling would oblige, sat and
drank. There were girls there too, they didn't hang together much at school
but after the final bell they all mixed together. The girls seemed just as
welcoming towards me, if I was good enough for the guys then I was good
enough for them, I guess. I suppose being good looking must have helped me
somewhat. I'd noticed I seemed to be getting more attention from the
females at school too. They seemed to have noticed that I'd joined the in
crowd and started taking notice; not that it would do them much good.

Steven had also invited me out tat weekend. I'd turned down his offer of a
film with Neil and Gary. My cover of having work to do was blown when Neil
passed by us in the park, on his way to meet the other tow no doubt.

I tried not to worry about it, I could patch things up later I hoped, and
concentrated on having a good time. I didn't drink; I'd never drunk much
and didn't want my parents to catch me. I spoke with Derek and Topper
mostly, and a couple of girls, Emma and Diane who seemed to be showing an
interest in all three of us.

When the time came to leave, Derek stepped aside with me. "Hey Petros, you
enjoy yourself tonight?"

"Yeah, cheers mate. I had a great time," I replied, beaming.

"Good. I was worried you'd be bored. It's not much, but we can't afford to
go out all the time. It's better than sitting home all the time," he seemed
to be justifying himself. He really didn't need to.

"It's cool. I said I had a good time, OK?" I said teasingly.

"Sound. Listen, what are you doing tomorrow? You wanna go into town,
shopping?"

"Yeah man, that'd be cool. Where, when?" I asked, hiding my excitement.
There'd be other people there of course.

Wrong. I met Derek at the train station the next morning. Alone. I spent
the whole day with him, wandering around the city, not achieving much. I
didn't care, I was with him and we seemed to be bonding really well. That
night, we went out to the cinema. Richard, Fraser, Topper, Emma and Diane
joined us though. No back-row antics for me then. We saw "Silent Fall". It
was pretty mediocre, but the company was good. After the film we headed for
Pizza Hut, there was a new restaurant in East Kilbride (the next town with
a cinema, it was closer than the city centre) and we wanted to check it
out.

Sunday afternoon, Derek came round to see me. We couldn't come up with
anything to do, so we ended up sitting around watching TV. Being a Sunday
there wasn't much on offer so after a while we gave up and went to play on
my computer. We fiddled around on the Internet for a while, looking up all
kinds of random stuff that looked funny. The web was nothing compared to
its size now, so our fun didn't last long. I made sure we avoided any
pornographic sites; I didn't think I could cope with Derek being turned on
by naked females. All too soon it seemed, Derek had to leave. I had Sunday
dinner with my parents and spent the evening doing nothing.

The next morning I slept in slightly. I arrived at registration at about
five past nine. I opened the door and walked in, apologising to Mr Murphy
on the way. I turned to walk to my seat, only to find it occupied. In my
place sat James, a definite no-body that I knew the other's didn't
like. They didn't seem too concerned by his presence, nor did they seem to
care that I was left standing. I paused for a moment and glared at him. He
turned away and started talking to Steven once more.

I was so angry. I don't know who at, it wasn't James' fault, they'd invited
him to sit there no doubt. It wasn't their fault I was ignoring them and it
wasn't my fault that my attention was focussed somewhere else. I didn't
want a scene so I walked away. I spotted Emma, who I'd been with at the
weekend, near the back of the class with some other guys I knew to speak
to. I went and joined them, passing the time of day as I sat down but not
joining in their conversation. I should have sat alone, but then they'd
think that they'd won. Won? What was I thinking, this wasn't some
competition. 'They' were supposed to be my friends.

At the morning interval I made a point of finding Jenni. I needed her help.

"Hi Jenni, how are ya?" I greeted her.

"Well, hi there stranger. Not seen you in a while." She said smiling.

"Very funny. We need to talk. Or at least I need to talk to you." I said
humbly.

"OK. I think I can guess what this is about," she replied walking with me
towards a quieter spot. We walked to the gate and sat down on the grass
outside the school.

"The guys are pissed at me aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are. What do you expect? You've been brushing them off and
ignoring them all the time," she said softly.

"I know. I didn't mean to, I've just had other things I've had to do."

"I know that, I know what you've been doing," she said.

"Yeah?" I said, sounding more surprised than I meant to.

"Yeah, I've been watching you. I understand why you're doing it, best of
luck to you, but you see why they're acting like they are?"

"Yes. You're right, I have been neglecting them."

"It's not all you though. They could be more mature about it, I'm sure
they've all got other friends too."

"What should I do?" I asked her. I was just starting to really appreciate
what harm I'd done. I could see how close I was to cutting myself off from
them forever.

"What does your heart tell you?" she asked, without a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't know. It tells me I'm in love with someone. I want him so
badly. Do you think I could patch things up with them?"

"Yeah, you probably could," she mused.

"Good. Then I'll do that. As soon as I know what's happening, one way or
the other. Thanks Jen, you're a star. See you later." With that I got up
and left. She called after me,

"It might be too late then."

I don't think I was really listening.

To be continued...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry this took such a long time. I'm back at University so I don't have as
much time to spend on this as I'd like.

Please write to me and let me know if you're reading this, whether you love
it or hate it.  I really appreciate your views.

Petros

mailto:younglove@petros-world.co.uk
http://www.petros-world.co.uk/
ICQ:525557222
IRC:Petros19 on Ircnet & Efnet