Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:27:26 -0800
From: B.E. Kelley <hailcaesar2011@hotmail.com>
Subject: A Night in Autumn 1

This story is a work of FICTION. The events described are my own invention.
Any similarities to actual events or persons are strictly coincidental. The
author retains the copyright, and any other rights, to this original story.
You may not publish it or any part of it without my explicit authorization.

This story contains depictions of consensual sexual acts between teenage
males.  It is intended for mature audiences only.  If you find this type of
material offensive or if you are under the legal age to read said material;
please proceed no further.

This story is a hybrid sequel of Snow Day and All Grown Up, stories you'll
find in the young friends or high school sections.  Comments are always
welcome at: hailcaesar2011@hotmail.com

A Night in Autumn, Chapter 1

If you'd told me I'd be this happy a year ago, I'd have called you crazy.
This time last year I was on my way to New Hampshire to live with my
Uncle's family and attend the boarding school where he served as head
master.  My father is a career naval officer and had just been promoted to
Capitan and put in command of the USS Shiloh, stationed in Yokosuka Japan.
I'd managed to avoid the regular moves that come with life in a military
family and spent my childhood in San Diego; now my family wasn't just
moving but moving to another country.  I knew I'd miss all of my friends
and to make matters worse, I wanted to go to the U.S. Naval Academy and
follow in my father's footsteps.  A key part to being accepted is securing
a nomination from your Congressman, Senator or the President.  How would I
do that while living in Japan?  After talking to my Uncle and his wife, it
was decided that I'd live with them and attend Brewster Academy.

My dad grew up in New Hampshire and though I'd visited many times, and
loved my Uncle and his family, I was apprehensive about my predicament.
How would you feel if you had to leave your home, leave your family and
start over in a new place that was night and day different from what you
were used to?  I tried my best to put on a happy face and before long I was
enjoying my new school and all of the new experiences it provided, then one
snowy day, everything changed for the better.  I found myself in a sexual
relationship with my cousins, identical twins Sean and Patrick, and our
friends Teddy and Brice.  The best part was Chad, it's a long story but my
exploits brought he and I close together and I'm proud to say he's my
loving boyfriend now.  I'm not going to go into details about how all this
happened, if you really want to know, you should read Snow Day as it
chronicles my adventures of last year, this story is about the here and
now.

After Chad and I got together the grass seemed greener, the sky seemed
bluer, I understood all those sappy love songs, he made me so happy that I
felt like I was walking on air.  Being in a committed, caring relationship
with someone I really loved made my life seem complete, I felt like I could
do anything.  Chad and I did everything together and supported each other
in all our endeavors.  He was there when I won my silver medal in the New
Hampshire Junior Olympics and I was in the front row when he played the
Phantom in our schools production of Phantom of the Opera.  We spent so
much time together that I still don't know how we managed to finish the
school year without anyone figuring out we were gay.

When summer came, Chad went home to Utah and I flew out to Japan to spend
the break with my parents, as an added plus, my dad would be in port the
entire time I was there.  Of course I missed Chad but time apart is
healthy, we emailed, chatted and talked on the phone and we knew it would
only be a matter of months until we were back together.  Unfortunately
Chad's father had a heart attack at the start of the summer, he's ok but I
knew my honey was concerned.  I, on the other hand, made the most of my
time in Japan, we traveled all over the country and I spent some quality
time with my parents.  I'd taken aikido lessons before moving to New
Hampshire and I had a lot of fun going to the dojo with my dad to show him
that I still remembered everything I'd learned.

The best part of my summer came at the end.  My father's ship was gearing
up for a 6 month deployment to the Middle East and would be rendezvousing
with the aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln, to provide anti-air defense.
It was a two week trip from Japan to Hawaii, during which time my dad's
crew would test all of their equipment and make sure everything was in
working order before meeting up with the rest of the fleet, forming at
Pearl Harbor.  The cool part was my dad arranged for me to make this trip
with him, covered as one of the many civilian technical representatives
onboard to help the crew calibrate their instruments.

I'd been on a "Tiger Cruise," with my dad when he'd been the executive
officer of the USS Reagan, but that's an aircraft carrier and it may as
well be a floating city.  This would be more of an adventure and I couldn't
wait to hit the high seas.  The only drawback was the trip meant two weeks
without my cell or my computer, in short, two weeks without Chad.  I wasn't
worried, when we arrived in Honolulu, I'd be going straight to the airport
and headed for Boston, where my Aunt and Uncle would meet me for the drive
back to the Academy.  A few days after I got home, Chad would be there and
I could finally hold him in my arms again.

I woke up early on August 1, and had my bags in the car before my mom and
dad even came out of their room.  To say I was excited would be an
understatement.  Mom drove dad and I to the base, where we said our
goodbyes.  It was really hard parting from my mother, but I didn't want my
dad to see me cry, I wanted him to know that I was a good little soldier
and could handle things, I'm not a baby after all.  I also didn't want to
cry in front of the crew, most of them are only a few years older than me
and I didn't want to be thought of as a pussy.

Once we were aboard the ship, dad gave me a few minutes alone in his cabin
to settle in.  I think he knew I needed a little time to dry my eyes, but
he didn't say anything.  My dad's not one of those macho thugs who thinks
boy's shouldn't cry, but I appreciated his gesture, as I said before, I
didn't want to do it in front of him.  When I composed myself, I followed
my dad as he made a tour of the ship, checking with all of the department
heads and making sure they were ready for sea.  I also got to join him on
the bridge as we left the dock and headed for open water.  Once that was
out of the way, I immersed myself in the running of the ship.  I
volunteered to do any little job I could and did my best to do it well.  I
think my dad was proud of me, he didn't say it at the time but every now
and then, I'd be sitting in his chair, on the bridge and I'd catch him
smiling at me out of the corner of his eye.

It was a fun but uneventful two weeks and when we arrived at Pearl Harbor
my dad barely had time to take me to the airport.  Time was not on our
side, we were running late and after a quick hug from my dad, I had to run
through security in order to make it to my gate.  I wanted to call Chad but
there was no time.  I couldn't call Chad until I landed in San Francisco, I
tried twice but both times it went to voicemail and then I boarded a
non-stop flight to Boston.  It was about 3:00pm when I arrived at Logan
International and I was pretty tired.  I trudged out to the baggage claim
area and spotted my Uncle waiting for me.

"Hey kid," smiled Uncle Derek, "how was your trip?"

"It was awesome, I've got lots of stuff to tell you guys," I replied, as I
hugged him.

"Well, let's grab your stuff and get going, we've got a long drive ahead,"
said Uncle Derek.

We didn't have to wait long and my bags started to come down the luggage
carousel.  I collected my things and we headed for my Uncles SUV.  I was
kind of surprised that my Aunt and the boys weren't with him, I'd really
missed them.

"Where are Aunt Les and the boy's?" I asked, as I buckled up.

"They're waiting for us at home, there's something I wanted to talk to you
about and I thought it would be better if we were alone," Uncle Derek
explained.

"Oh, is everyone ok?" I asked, nervously.

"Yeah, they're fine, I just have some news and I'm not sure how you're
going to take it.  Rory, I got a call from Mrs. Rumsey a couple of weeks
ago, you're friend Chad isn't coming back this term," said Uncle Derek.

"What,why?" I exclaimed.

"They didn't say and I find it a little odd, I know his family has attended
Brewster for generations, did he mention anything to you?" asked Uncle
Derek.

"N-no, he didn't say anything," I practically whispered.

"Strange," said Uncle Derek, "I know you guys were really close and I
thought it would be better if we were alone, you know, in case you got
upset."

"Yeah, I appreciate that," I replied, "but I'll be ok, we were just
friends."

But I wasn't ok, not even close.  I wanted to cry, I felt pain in my chest
and knew it was my heart breaking.  I wanted to talk to Chad more than
ever, I wanted some kind of explanation, but it was a two hour drive back
to Wolfeboro and I couldn't let on in front of my uncle.  Instead, I sat
quietly, putting on a brave face and holding back the tears that threatened
to burst from my eyes at the mere thought of Chad Rumsey.  I concentrated
on talking to Uncle Derek, I told him about the time I'd spent with mom and
dad, and about my cruise across the Pacific, it at least made the time go
faster.

When we got home, Aunt Leslie and the boys were waiting for me.  I hugged
each of them, maybe a little tighter than normal, then made my excuses to
head upstairs.  It had been a long flight and a long drive, no one seemed
upset when I said I was tired and wanted to take a nap before dinner.  As
soon as I got to my room, I called Chad again and once again it went
straight to voicemail.  I wanted to throw the phone across the room but I
knew that would be more trouble than it was worth so instead, I unpacked my
laptop and logged on to Instant Messenger.  Sure enough, Chad was logged
on.

REDRORY14: Hey

CRUMSEY152: Hi, just get back?

REDRORY14: Yeah, why aren't you coming back?

CRUMSEY152: Oh, so they told you?

REDRORY14: Why aren't you coming back?

CRUMSEY152: It's not that I don't want to, it's my dad.  Ever since his
heart attack he's been different, he's all high on family and he wants me
to be here, he says he doesn't want to miss out on anything with me like he
did with Ross.

REDRORY14: Well, yeah, I can understand that I guess.  But why didn't you
tell me?

CRUMSEY152: I wanted to but I didn't want to ruin your trip with your dad.

REDRORY14: I wish I'd known, I miss you Chad.

CRUMSEY152: I know, I miss you to Rory.

REDRORY14: Ok, so there's nothing we can do about bringing you back here
but that's ok, we can make this work.

CRUMSEY152: Rory...

REDRORY14: We can still talk all the time, we have our phones.

CRUMSEY152: Rory...

REDRORY14: And we can chat, we're chatting right now, it won't be the same
but...

CRUMSEY152: RORY! Let me talk for a second.

REDRORY14: Right, sorry, what did you want to add cutie pie :).

CRUMSEY152: I can't do this.

REDRORY14: What do you mean?

CRUMSEY152: Rory I love you more then you'll ever know.  You'll always be
my first, well, everything, but we can't do this.

REDRORY14: I don't understand.

CRUMSEY152: Rory, we're 15, we have three more years of high school, then
college, it could be years before we see each other again, it's not fair to
either of us, it just hurts too much.

REDRORY14: Chad, what are you saying?

CRUMSEY152: I think we need to break up.

REDRORY14: Don't say that, we love each other we can...

CRUMSEY152: Rory, I've thought about this a lot, we could probably make a
go of it for a while but soon the calls won't be as frequent and then we
won't be able to chat online as often, we'll just grow apart.  I know it
hurts, believe me I know, but I think it's for the best.

REDRORY14: But...

CRUMSEY152: I want both of us to be free to meet new people and have all
the great experiences we'd be missing out on if we tried the long distance
thing.  It's not fair to either of us, we'd be depriving ourselves of too
much.

REDRORY14: But Chad, I love you.

CRUMSEY152: I'm sorry sweetheart, but this is goodbye.

And with that he logged off.  I tried calling again but there was no
answer.  I sat there, dumbfounded for a moment.  I couldn't believe this
was happening.  Chad had become everything to me, I loved him more then he
would ever know and now it was just over? I couldn't focus, it was hard to
breathe, so I lie down on my bed and curled up into a little ball of
sorrow.  A wave of pain like I'd never known washed over me and the tears
began to flow in torrents.  I felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my
chest.  I wrapped myself around my body pillow and sobbed until I ran out
of tears.

About an hour later, Sean came into my room and quietly snuggled up behind
me, putting his arm around me and pulling me close.  I welcomed the
contact, it was warm and caring and I snuggled back against him, then held
his hand.

"Dad told us the other day, about Chad not coming back," said Sean, "it'll
be ok."

"No it won't," I whimpered.

"Come on Rory, don't say that, you've still got me and Patrick and Teddy
and Brice," Sean rationalized.

"I love you guys, all of you, but it's not the same," I stated.

"I know, but eventually you'll get over him.  It hurt's now but after a few
days you'll start to forget just how blue his eyes were, and then it will
be hard to remember how soft his skin was.  He'll start to get fuzzy and
you won't be able to picture him so well and then one day you'll wake up
and he'll be gone and you'll be free," said Sean, wisely.

"But I don't want to forget him," I whined.

"I know," said Sean, as he stroked my hair soothingly, "you didn't want
this to happen but you can't control it, I know it's not fair."

"It feels like my life is over," I said, as I turned over and buried my
face against Sean.

He rubbed gently up and down my back as the tears returned, flowing down my
face like an endless rain, into the bottomless pit where my heart had once
been.

While I was moping around northern New Hampshire like a lovesick zombie,
someone else was nursing his own wounded heart and preparing for what he
hoped would be his next great adventure.  Freshman year hadn't started off
to well for Bobby Sutherland either; in fact, he hadn't even been Bobby
Sutherland at the time but rather Bobby Connor.  Bobby's uber religious,
ultra conservative parents had discovered his homosexuality and after
beating him then locking him in a closet for two days, they kicked him out
of their home in suburban Texas.  Bobby made his way to Boston, on what
money he had, where he was nearly forced to blow someone just to get a
meal.

He ran into two college guys, in Boston Common, and his life improved from
there.  One of the guys was Tucker Sutherland, who quickly bonded with
Bobby.  Not only had they rescued Bobby from his would-be john, Tucker and
his boyfriend, Kevin, sought to keep Bobby off the streets and out of the
foster care system.  In the end, Tuckers parents adopted him.  Bobby made
no secret of his homosexuality at his new school, in fact, it made him
unique and quite popular.  Everything was going well until he had confessed
his love for his friend, Zach.  Zach wasn't oblivious to the world around
him, he knew Bobby was gay but had still reacted poorly when he'd learned
he was the object of Bobby's affection.

Bobby was hurt when Zach had hurled words at him like faggot and
cocksucker.  Bobby knew what he was but when Zach used those words, they
left deep wounds.  Bobby discovered Brewster Academy, online, and decided
that it would be a perfect place to start the next chapter of his life.
After discussing the matter with his parents, he was enrolled for the
coming fall semester.  As the days counted down towards the start of the
term, Bobby grew more and more excited.  He packed and repacked his bags
and couldn't wait for the day his parents would drive him up to Wolfeboro
for the traditional welcoming ceremony.

"Bobby, sweetheart, are you sure this is what you want?" his mom asked for
what seemed like the hundredth time, while she helped him re-pack.

"Yes mom, I'm sure," Bobby replied with a slight roll of the eyes.

"I just don't understand, I thought you were happy here," said
Mrs. Sutherland.

"Mom, I am happy, I love you and dad and I'm going to miss you so much,"
Bobby gushed.

"Then why this urge to leave?" asked Mrs. Sutherland.

"It's not that I want to leave, it's just that you and dad are so busy with
work and Tucker and Kevin have school, I just want to try something new
too," Bobby explained.

"So it's not that we don't pay enough attention to you?" asked
Mrs. Sutherland.

"No way," Bobby exclaimed, "You guys have more then been there for me, I
don't know what I'd do without you, it's just that everyone else has all
these exciting things going on in their lives and this could be my
opportunity to have that too."

"You're right, I'm just going to miss you," smiled Mrs. Sutherland, "this
is the second time I've lost my little boy."

"What do you mean?" asked a puzzled Bobby.

"First Tucker went off to college, now you're going off to boarding school,
it's hard for a mother to watch her babies grow up," Mrs. Sutherland
explained.

"Aww mom," sighed Bobby as he hugged his adoptive mother, "I'm only going
up to New Hampshire, I can come home all the time, and besides, you'll have
Barkley to keep you company."

"Oh, gee, thank you sweetheart," laughed Mrs. Sutherland.

"Speak of the devil," said Bobby, as Barkley, the family sheepdog came into
the room, "come here boy."

Bobby moved to pet the dog but Barkley, sensing an opportunity, grabbed a
pair of Bobby's underwear from the open suitcase and ran from the room.

"Hey, come back here," shouted Bobby, as he chased after the dog.

Mrs. Sutherland smiled and sighed, she would miss Bobby terribly. Before
Bobby came along, Tucker had been the baby of the family and she'd been
lonelier then she cared to admit when he'd left for Harvard.  Bobby had
been a welcome addition to the family and Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland loved him
dearly, but they wanted the best for him and if this experience was what he
wanted for himself, then they were happy to make it happen.  She finished
packing the bag, and then chased after her youngest son and his unruly pet.