Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:32:48 +1300
From: bob charles <pennywise3636@gmail.com>
Subject: Blood, Surf and Tears (Gay / Young friends) chapter 6

Blood, Surf and Tears.

Disclaimer:

Warning: this story contains sexual content, and contact between young
boys.  If the subject matter offends you, is not to your tastes, or if you
are under legal age for your area, then find something else to read. In the
following story all names and events are completely fictional.  Although I
may mention a specific location, place, or person any resemblance to said
people, location, or places is completely unintentional.

Chapter 6:

I woke up the next morning to both boys taking turns at playing with my
morning glory, and heard Caleb saying to the other boy how I could squirt,
Dave just scrunched his face up at the idea, especially when Caleb said he
got me to do it in his mouth. Deciding that it wasn't a good idea to let
them continue I told them they should get up and get themselves ready so
once we had breakfast we could go check out the surf.

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully, I took the boys for another
surf which they both seem to be improving in leaps and bounds, then we
played some PS3 till it was time for me to cook dinner. I cooked while they
went outside to play. After dinner we decided to have another surf, then it
was time for bed.

Early the next day we went back to Caleb's house and waited till Dave's
parent turned up to pick him up. I was a bit sad to see him go, but it was
going to be great being able to spend time alone with Caleb again. Of
course his parents wanted to know how he had been for me and what we had
done. I told them he was a joy to look after and more than welcome to come
back, I also told them everything we had done, of course leaving out the
obvious bit like being naked all the time, and of course you know what. I
explained how he was getting good at surfing and maybe could spend more out
here to improve, his parents where happy to hear what we had done, and said
they would try and get him over as much as possible.

Then everyone said their goodbye's, I got a big hug and thank you from
Dave, but Caleb got a bigger one and both boy's started to cry again from
happiness, but they also didn't want to get separated again. Plans were
arranged for Dave to come over in two weekend's time to stay, but things
didn't quite work out.

************

The rest of the afternoon we just snuggled together on the couch watching
movies, because the weather outside had turned sour in the afternoon with
it drizzling and a stiff breeze that had quite a chill to it. It was dark
and gloomy outside but bright and cheerful inside, so I knew where I would
rather be. For the first time since god knows when we were still fully
clothed, I had a grey woollen jersey on top and blue straight cut denim
jeans on bottom, I still wasn't wearing any shoes though as I had kicked my
Jandals off at some stage.

Caleb was wearing a blue cotton jersey with a large white stripe around the
navel, and those red tight fitting cotton jeans that fit so snugly you
could almost see the outline of his package. Dad was in the kitchen
preparing to give us another cooking lesson, and making sure he had all the
ingredients needed for what he had in mind. The whole scene was rather
relaxed and quiet, especially compared to what it had been like over the
last couple of days.

With everything ready dad asked us if we were ready for our lesson, which
was a stupid question if you ask me, we instantly leapt off the couch, but
we just couldn't get over to the kitchen fast enough we were that
excited. Once we arrived dad got us to calm down, as it was not a good idea
to be as fired up as we were, in the kitchen, because that is how people
get hurt, although I know he was appreciative at our enthusiasm, well I
suppose who wouldn't be at having two kids so ravenous to learn how to
cook.

So he taught us how to make butter chicken from scratch of course, not one
of those packet meals, or jarred meals you can get these days. It was a bit
harder than last time as we could only really do one mix as it was all
going to have to be cooked as one, not individual meals like we had made
the other day, but we still learned a lot, and it was just us two boys
doing it all, dad just stood back and instructed us what to do, if he had
to he would give us a demonstration, but he pretty much left it up to us to
follow his words. It worked real well and we ended up cooking a meal that
was so close to his standards that it would have been hard to distinguish
the difference, aside from the plating up side, us boys still had a lot to
learn about presentation, but the food was superb, and we were all aglow
with pride, there is no better feeling than creating something so
scrumptious.

We washed up after tea, and lay back down to watch a movie, of course
snuggling into each other still getting those same galvanising feelings we
experienced when we first touched. Dad was on his seat reading the paper at
the same time as watching the movie; it has always amazed me how adults can
do that, my young brain still struggles to concentrate on one thing at a
time. I let out a huge sigh at one stage when I suddenly realized that this
time next Sunday we will be thinking about going to bed in preparation for
our first day back at school for the year. I told Caleb this as he had a
questioning look on his face from my sigh, and he sort of giggled saying he
couldn't wait to go to school with me. Boy I love him I thought, it didn't
matter where we were or what the circumstances were, he was still just
happy being with me.

The movie finished and we headed upstairs, brushed our teeth then went to
Caleb's room stripped off our clothes and got under the covers, dad came in
a few minutes later and tucked us in and gave us a kiss on the forehead
saying goodnight, before he turned off the light closed the door and headed
back downstairs. Even though I'm almost 14 I love this nightly ritual
because it's been so long since I've had someone who has done it for me.

Even though the day had been uneventful we were still so tired, probably
from doing nothing, that we fell asleep within minutes of dad leaving the
room.

Opening my eyes the next morning there was only a dim grey light filtering
through the window, so I knew we were in for another cool day, I looked
over and saw Caleb still sleeping like a little angel, so I decided it was
payback time.

I slipped beneath the covers and took hold of his little 1 inch soft
appendage and slowly stroked it feeling it come to life, being under the
covers I could also smell his sweet little boy scent, which filled my
nostrils making me more aroused. Feeling his pecker had now boned up to it
full 3 inches I took him in my mouth slowly bobbing up and down on it
giving his exposed glands a quick flick with my tongue at every given
opportunity, by this stage he had started to sub consciously moan and was
starting to writhe around, although he was still asleep I knew he wouldn't
be for long. I let his pecker slip from my mouth and started to manipulate
his balls with my mouth and tongue.

Gently I moved him to a better position so that I now had access to both
his dick and his butt, and slowly started to lick towards his crack, I
spread his cheeks and buried my face down there getting a slightly musky
smell fill my nostrils it wasn't a bad smell at all unlike what I had
expected, I started licking around his hole for a while before I stuck my
tongue to his entrance and applied a little pressure till my tongue stared
to penetrate his bottom, I tongue fucked him for a bit before I pulled out
and tried the same thing with my pointing finger, slowly feeling his hole
give way and my finger enter him I repositioned myself so I could take his
little cock in my mouth at the same time.

Caleb had woken with a bit of a start when my finger penetrated his boy
rose but knew instantly what was happening and just enjoyed the feelings,
he started moaning again from the pleasure, and gasped when I took his dick
back in my mouth, the sudden feeling happening on both sensitive regions of
his body literally took his breath away. I started face fucking his prick
while still pushing my finger deeper and deeper into his ass, when I
suddenly touched something and he went rigid, arched his back, and grunted
deeply, then his cock went crazy in my mouth and I heard him scream.

"Humph, Humph, ahhh, ohhhh , ahhh, jeezeus, ohhhh fuuuuck," he screamed in
the high angelic voice of his, before coming crashing back down panting
like crazy. He lay perfectly still for a good ten minutes as he recovered
from his mind blowing orgasm before he looked down at me and mouthed thank
you, as he still couldn't talk properly, gently I pulled my finger from
him, with a bit of subconscious help from him, and wriggled back up the bed
and gave him a huge cuddle followed by a romantic kiss, both of us were in
7th heaven at that stage and our bodies were radiating that out.

"Thank you that was so awesome, and thank you for not giving up on me and
reminding me how good it is to receive pleasure compared to always trying
to give people pleasure," he croaked still not fully recovered but with the
most sincere smile on his face, this kid was too wound up trying to keep
other people happy he had forgotten about his own needs.

"That's perfectly fine, now let's get up and clean ourselves because we are
both riddled in sweat, but that was a gift and I don't want you to try and
repay me," I said sincerely and smiling, knowing if I didn't he would
probably try something in the shower.

 So we dragged ourselves out of bed, I had to help Caleb into the bathroom
his legs were still shaking like crazy, and we cleaned each other, before
drying off, putting on some clothes because it was quite chilly inside
after the heat of the moment, and went downstairs for breakfast.

Dad was surprisingly still asleep so we just decided to have cereal for
breakfast, as we were eating Caleb's dad came down stairs and gave me a, I
know what you did, and I told you so, sort of look, I knew what he meant
which also implies that he wasn't still sleeping he just didn't want to get
up, I don't blame him though as it was a rather depressing day given that
it was the middle of summer. It is one thing that does suck about this part
of the world in that we can get brilliant days during summer that are much
nicer than the rest of the country, but we also get a lot of these cold
miserable days too.

Once we had finish breakfast dad announced to Caleb that they were going
into the city today to get his school stuff, he offered to me to come with
them, but I said no coz I was expecting a brief visit from mum either today
or tomorrow, depending on when she could get free long enough. They
understood as I knew they would, but dad said that he would at least drop
me home, I accepted as I hadn't brought my jacket and didn't fancy walking
home in the rain.

I had been dropped off 10 minutes later, and seeing them drive off in a
cloud of dust suddenly made me feel lonely, as it had been about 5 days
since I meet Caleb out in the surf, and since then we hadn't really been
apart.

I decided that even though it was grey and raining at least the wind was a
light southerly, so I grabbed my jacket from inside and went down to the
beach to see if there was any swell left. Getting to the top of the dunes I
looked out and saw it was still a nice clean 2 ft. swell, although the wait
between sets was a lot longer telling me the swell was almost out of
juice. Standing there on this wet miserable day I again started to feel
lonely, but I knew that if I went with Caleb and dad to the city, then old
Murphy's law would play it's game and mum would come out today, but
standing there feeling lonely I pretty much knew that mum wouldn't come,
not today at least, but she had to come this week so I could get my stuff
for school. Trying to shrug off the loneliness I decided to head back home
and suit up.

Due to the colder conditions I decided it best to put on a hood and boots
as well as my wetsuit, having done that I grabbed my board and headed back
to the beach. The surf helped me forget my loneliness for the moment, and I
had a great surf, but it wasn't quite as much fun as it had been, feeling
tired out and a little bit cold I paddled back into the beach, and headed
back home getting to the garage I stripped off, and for the first time in a
while had wished that I had brought a towel out to dry off, still naked I
grabbed my clothes and ran inside, getting even wetter in the process, once
in I dropped my clothes in the lounge and fired up the gas fire, then went
to my bathroom and got a clean towel and dried myself off.

With the lounge now warming up nicely I stood in front of the fire to heat
myself up, feeling myself return to normal I decided to go to my room and
paint, as I knew with the house fully insulated it wouldn't take long for
the heat to start pouring into my room I decided not to put my clothes back
on.

Remembering back to that magnificent morning with Caleb and me standing on
top of the dunes checking the surf, I decided to recreate that scene in my
painting, so I took the painting that was already in progress off the
stand, and grabbed a new blank canvas and started to paint.

Now let me tell you about my painting, I started it just after my last big
accident, and my father's death to try and keep me occupied with something
safe, especially for days like today, but also when the surf had been flat
for a while, I like to occupy my time painting to stop me doing some of the
stupid shit I used to do. I mostly paint local scenes as its all I really
get to see, and all the artwork that hangs in our house is mine. As much as
people have offered, in some cases a lot of money for my paintings, at this
stage I have refused to sell because they are too personal to me. I still
have all the paintings that I have done, including the crap ones from when
I was learning, because each and every one is a reminder of the loss I have
felt. But this one I felt was a new life, and for the first time I was
looking forward to finishing it, so I could give it away.

I was trying to recreate the whole scene, even to how Caleb looked with the
sun radiating off him, I was so caught up in my painting that I never heard
a car pull up, and someone quietly enter my room, I jumped with fright and
dropped my paintbrush when I realised someone was there, thankfully I
didn't wreck my painting in the process.

"Hi, Oh shit... I'm sorry, it's just dad wanted to know if you want to
spend the night again? Caleb saying rather sheepishly when he realized that
he had scared the shit out of me.

"Wow man, what a wicked painting," he said in his usual excited voice now
seeing what I was concentrating so hard on.

"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't see this, well at least till I had
finished, as I wanted it to be a surprise gift to you and dad," I said a
bit disappointed, but also glad that he liked it.

"Sorry, I suppose I should have knocked," again he was sounding ashamed.

"It's alright, you weren't to know, I should have told you earlier that I
like to paint when I'm alone, and to knock before coming into my room,
especially when I have been by myself for a while," I said in a heartfelt
voice because even though looking back on it I still can't believe he
didn't notice the stand with a half-finished painting on it, but I suppose
we never really spent much time in here, and when he had he was otherwise
occupied.

"Do you paint a lot?" he asked taking a real interest in my hobby.

So I gave him a run down on why I painted, and showed him most of my work,
which impressed him hugely. Then we heard a car toot, and remembered dad
was still outside, so I told Caleb to get him inside, so I could finish my
painting as I was pretty close to done, and they could watch me if they
wanted. I wanted to finish it before I went with them. So Caleb ran
outside, and before long Caleb was telling his dad my story, which he
remembered word for word, he is such a good caring person, then took him
around and showed him all my pieces. By the time they had come back to my
room I was done.

"Wow Dan you are an awesome artist, but that last piece looks a little
different to all the others," his father said showing he had an expert eye
when it came to art.

"Well that is because this painting represents a change in my life," I said
then elaborated.

"It represents me having found two special people, the first and most
important is pictured in the painting, the second is his father, who I have
adopted and now fills the hole that I have been trying to fill with my
previous paintings, and that is why for the first time in my life I haven't
painted this for myself, and I'm giving it to you as a gift," I said
struggling to control my emotions, once I finished I just broke down crying
in the happiness I was getting from these two loving people.

"No Dan I just couldn't accept such a generous gift, especially one that is
a new turn in your life, it just wouldn't be right," dad said swallowing
hard as he tried to say because he would love to accept it, but is against
all his morals.

"You just don't understand," I was getting frustrated and trying to keep
hold of my emotions.

"Ever since my last big accident where I spent a lot of time in hospital,
then the subsequent loss of my father, I blamed myself, I started painting
to stop me doing stupid stuff again, but also trying to fill the void that
had been created from the loss of my father, and I horded all my paintings
thinking it was helping to fill that void. I have been offered a shit load
of money for some of my paintings but I couldn't let them go encase I
disappointed dad. But today as I stood on top of the sand dunes looking out
at the surf. I felt lonely again, but for the first time in my life I
wasn't pinning for my dad, or blaming myself anymore. I was missing you,
and especially Caleb, so when I came home I decided to paint, but I was
remembering the scene that I have painted and realized that the void in my
life had been filled, and so when I started to paint this painting I didn't
start it for myself. I was painting it for you," I was a blubbering mess by
the end of my speech, and my newly adopted dad gave me a big hug, but I
continued.

"Don't ask me to explain it but I feel like the events in my life have
happened for a reason, I mean of all places in the country why did you end
up here, in all my life of living in this town only once have I seen a
house go up for sale, and that was the house you bought, it hadn't even
been on the market that long, I just have this feeling that somehow dad has
bought you into my life with the intention of removing my guilt for him
dying. For these reasons, and the fact I love your son more than anyone I
have ever met, I am insisting that you take this gift," I was feeling
totally bushed, as I had drained all of my emotions into the speech.

"I still don't feel right about it, but I will accept your gift, what are
you going to do with the other paintings now?" dad asked trying to divert
my attention from the fact that he still wasn't happy with accepting my
gift.

"I'm thinking about having an auction for them, except for a few which I
will never get rid of for various reasons, all the rest I'm going to sell,
so if you want any you can take them no charge," I said meaning it but knew
if he did want any he would somehow pay for them.

So he went over the art work and chose three paintings, one of which I was
a little disappointed to get rid of as it was the first one someone had
offered me money for.

Mum had recognised my talent but never understood why I painted till
recently, so she set up an art gallery displaying my art to the public, and
boy she was not happy at the end after I flatly refused several generous
offers for my work, but as I said she didn't understand.

After having picked the paintings he wanted, dad said he was going to take
them to an art dealer that he knew, to get them appraised as he didn't want
to give me a cent less than it was worth; I started to protest because I
didn't think he could afford them with having no job and all. But he
wouldn't have a bar of it, and that's how I found out his story.

When he was younger he had started up a website company, I didn't pay much
attention to what it was coz it didn't really interest me, but it had been
hugely successful, but after what happened to Caleb at school he decided it
was time for a fresh start and sold the company, and made millions off the
sale. So there was no way that he wasn't going to pay me at least 10% above
what the paintings were worth, he also told me that he would organise a
time to meet with his friend the dealer so we could go over setting up a
proper gallery and auction, but he wanted his friend to see my work first,
because he felt that I would probably sell some to him too.

After that he told me to get myself ready, as if he was going to have any
time to cook tea we had better leave soon, so I rushed around, chucked on
some tight green cotton jeans, a plain white T shirt, and a light grey
woollen pullover. Then packed another change of clothes into my bag,
checked that my meds were in there and ran to the car slamming the door
behind me. Caleb and his dad had carefully covered the painting and gently
put it in the boot of the car.

We got back to Caleb's and they went through the same process in reverse to
get the painting inside, they set it down and dad took a bit of time as he
unhooked a painting that was in probably the most important spot on the
wall, then he put my gift up in its place, and Wow little did I know it
when I painted it, but where it was sitting just set the whole room off, it
was like it was made for the room, even Caleb, and his dad were staring at
it in disbelief.

"Wow it's like this painting was made for that exact spot in this room,
it's just breath-taking," dad sort of mumbled as he struggled to get the
words out of his mouth.

"Did you paint that deliberately to fit that well in our house?" Caleb
asked struggling to find the right words coz I could see he was just blown
away.

"No, as I said before I think certain things happen for a reason, some
things are just supposed to be... but wow I never expected a result like
that in my wildest imagination," I have to admit that I was extremely proud
at the result, it also made it easier for dad to accept it as a gift.

So we stood there like stunned mullets, for about 10 minutes, till dad
finally started to move, he quickly found somewhere to rehang the other
painting and then slipped into the kitchen to start tea, we were all so
stunned that no one said anything for at least half an hour.

We had dinner although even though I know it was delicious but for the life
of me I can't remember what he had cooked as everyone was in such a
contemplative mood we didn't realize the others were still in the same
room, it was as strange situation but there was still the usual feeling of
warmth and friendliness in the air, we were all trying to come to terms
with what I had said earlier, and how well the painting fit the room, and
trying to come up with our own explanations for everything.

 We finished dinner and started to clean up, we had started talking again
but it was very small mindless chatter, as the evening slowly wore on we
slowly came out of our trance and returned to normal. Pretty soon though we
were tired and went to bed, getting the usual nightly ritual, but we were
asleep before dad even made it in.

The next morning Caleb and I just snuggled together for ages enjoying each
other's company, and content enough neither of us felt that we needed to
take it any further, when we eventually got up dad had made French toast
again, and it was as awesome as the first time, I just hung around the
house for a while enjoying snuggling with Caleb, but thought I better get
home in case mum came home, so very, very slowly I released Caleb, and left
for home, about half way through the walk home I was latched onto from
behind, Caleb had decided that he couldn't bare another day without me so
had chased me down the street, as the odds of seeing anyone else on the
street was low, I decided to hold his hand while we walked back to my
house. We got there to no surprise the house was empty; mum wasn't here
yet, so we turned on a movie and snuggled together on the couch.

About halfway through the movie a heard the rumble of a V8 pull onto our
street and then into the driveway without a second thought I jumped of the
couch and ran out to great my mum, Caleb was only a step behind. It was
chaos for the first 10 minutes as we were so excited to see her and was
trying to say everything we needed to say a quick as possible, scared that
she might leave again.

After a while we settled down and mum asked if I was ready to head into the
city to get my school stuff, while I ran to my room to find some shoes and
socks Caleb was pestering mum to let him come. Of course mum couldn't
resist the angelic little boy who was just about bursting at the seams with
excitement, so agreed but told him to let his father know first. So he ran
off to make his phone call. I was ready and so was mum, we were both
waiting for Caleb to finish talking to his dad, which seemed to take
forever, at one stage he poked his head in and asked whether we would be
back by 4:00, mum said we would and he disappeared again for another 5
minutes then returned and said that he was ready, when asked why such a
long phone call he just said he would explain on the way and gave me the
most mischievous grin.

So we piled in the car of course Caleb and I took the back seat so we could
cuddle up together for the trip. Mum was a lot faster driver than Caleb's
dad had been, and I forgot how scary her driving was, but after a short
while we got used to it and Caleb told me what his dad had said.

Caleb started to tell me why he had been on the phone so long. Caleb's dad
was going to organise for his friend to come around at 4:00 to check out my
work, and we would look at hosting my first gallery on Saturday. Mum at
this stage was wondering what was going on so I told her everything that
had happened yesterday, she seemed surprised at how I had suddenly changed
my mind, but started to understand why I had changed my mind with regards
to selling my paintings . She then said how proud she was that I had
finally moved on, and although a bit disappointed that most of the artwork
would be gone she was glad that I had finally decided to sell my
artwork. She said that if she can get a few hours free on Saturday that she
would come down and support me.

For the rest of the trip we didn't really talk about anything in
particular, once in the city we didn't waste any time just went where we
needed and got everything I was going to need for the school year, and then
we headed home, stopping briefly to get some greasy fried chicken from a
drive-thru, and then we continued on our way back home. Needless to say by
the time we got home we still had the bulk of the chicken left as it was
awful, the grease was literally dripping from the chicken, the coating was
soggy and just tasted awful, especially compared to what we had been eating
from Caleb's dad. I asked mum when she was going away again, she said that
she would be leaving first thing in the morning, I whispered to Caleb that
he should talk to his dad about whether it would be alright for mum and I
to come over for tea.

As soon as we got home Caleb snuck away to call his dad, he came back
smiling and told me that his dad would be thrilled to have us. We sat
around the rest of the afternoon talking with my mum, of course me and
Caleb were also enjoying hugging each other the entire time, mum didn't
seem fazed at the way we showed our affection to each other, in fact I
think it emphasised what I had said to her the last time I had seen her.

At 4:00 sharp dad turned up with his friend and knocked at the door, none
of us moved mum just called out to them to come in. We sat talking for a
while, but Caleb and I were getting some strange looks from dad's friend
whom hadn't been told about us properly, but we didn't care in fact it
probably made us hug tighter. After a while we got up so I could show him
around my work, as we walked around he was taking a lot of notes in the
notepad that he was carrying, I don't know exactly what he was writing but
I presumed it was probably a brief description of each piece, and probably
an appraisal value, but I couldn't be sure. He was impressed with my whole
collection even my earliest work, he told me if we managed to sell the lot
we would make a lot of money, I think he said somewhere in the millions,
everyone else gasped at the amount, but to be honest I didn't pay enough
attention, because I really didn't care how much I made. I just wanted to
start afresh given my new lease in life.

The art dealer sat there for a while going through his notes making sure he
had everything that he needed. Once he had finished appraising my work we
headed back to Caleb's house, as we got inside both mum and dad's friend
stopped dead and their mouths dropped open as they saw my latest
work. Caleb and I sort of laughed at little remembering our exact reaction
yesterday; then we got comfortable on the couch together, while mum and
dad's friend took the two armchairs once they finally recovered from seeing
the artwork. Dad of course was cooking the rest of his masterpiece in the
kitchen. Dad's friend went over the details of the gallery and of course
the auction with me, making sure that I knew what I was getting into, I
explained to him that I had shown my artwork in a gallery before, but it
was nothing compared to what this one was going to be like. He suggested to
me that we take space at the public art gallery in the City for a month as
they saw a lot of potential buyers on any given day. He thought that
through word of mouth we would get a huge turnout, because he thought my
work was that good. He asked me about the piece here, but I said very
flatly that it wasn't for sale I had given it to dad as a gift for him and
Caleb to enjoy; I also said that I hoped they wouldn't sell it but it was
their choice. Mum was smiling with pride she was so thrilled to see such a
great piece created by her son, but was more proud that I had given my best
piece of art away because it emphasised how much I had changed, and
especially because it went to someone so dear to me. The dealer tried to
get me to rethink my decision on the piece, and he told me what he thought
it was worth which I took no notice of, but I heard everyone gasp. I flatly
said no because it wasn't mine to sell, and I was not going to take it
back, it was Caleb's and his fathers to keep.

He said to me to have all the paintings that I wanted to sell ready for him
to pick up on Friday, but not to pack them because there were a few that he
would consider buying. I agreed that I could have that done, and then we
just sat around talking for a while, till dad announced that dinner was
ready. We all took a seat at the dining room table and enjoyed a fabulous
meal of roast duck, with roast potatoes and pasta salad, it was so fun
watching mums expressions as I don't think she had ever had food as good as
this, everyone else knew what to expect and we all really enjoyed it, but
mum's expressions took the cake, I remember those same feelings when I
first tasted his cooking and it was great to share the experience with mum.

After everyone had finished their dinner dad's friend announced that he
should start heading home because it was getting late and he had a long
drive ahead of him, so he said goodbye to all of us, shacking everyone's
hand as he passed them, and then left. Once I had heard his car start up
and drive down the road, I kept listening till the noise of his vehicle had
completely disappeared, and the town had returned to silence, I piped up.

"I don't understand why he thinks my art will go for much. They are only
landscape paintings" I said rather befuddled by the whole thing, I knew
they were good because everyone kept telling me that but I didn't see
anything exceptional about them.

"The thing is they aren't just landscape paintings, did you paint the
picture at the scene itself? Or did you paint the scene as you remembered
it in your mind?" dad asked me not that I had any idea what he was on
about.

"I painted it from a scene stuck in my mind, but it's still a landscape
isn't it?" confusion was starting to take its toll; I was starting to feel
a little frustrated and tired.

"It is but it isn't, a true landscape is painted while actually looking at
the scene. When you go home tonight and look at them, close your eyes and
picture the one you gave us, then simplify the meaning of that painting and
open your eyes again and look at the ones in your house, and you will see,
I know you will coz you're a smart kid," dad said confusing the hell out of
me more, but I dropped the subject knowing I wouldn't understand what he
was on about and didn't want to get confused any more than I already was.

We sat around talking for a bit longer before mum said it was time for us
to go. Caleb wanted to come, but his dad whispered that it would be good
for me to spend a little time alone with my mum, which really disappointed
both of us, but we knew he was right. It was going to make it a very long
night though, as I knew I was really going to miss the boy. Once we got
home I wanted to see what everyone else could in my paintings. So I just
stood in the lounge staring at my pictures, I stared and I stared but still
couldn't make any sense of the whole thing. I felt mum come up behind me
and give me a hug and we both stood there for a while.

"I keep looking at them mum but they still look like landscape paintings to
me," eventually I said breaking the silence, but I felt mum hug me tighter.

"Close your eyes and picture the painting you gave to Caleb and his father
and tell me in three words what that picture means to you," she whispered
remembering what Caleb's dad had told me to do, and now she understood what
he had meant.

"It shows contentment, happiness and fulfilment," I said getting those warm
feelings wash over me as I envisioned that warm beautiful picture .

"Now open your eyes and you will see," she whispered in my ear, I opened my
eyes not really expecting to see any different.

My mouth just dropped open as I was finally able to see what I had painted.

"I do see it know, but it's sad I don't know why people would want it, what
I see is a lonely tortured soul that seems to have some underlying guilt,
but it seems to be masked in happiness almost like a façade," I said
seeing my creation in its true light for the first time, but still not
quite understanding the whole thing.

"You will see that each picture is slightly different in what its hiding,
but all the pictures are telling a story and that story is how you were
feeling during those times, but if you look a bit harder you will see
something else you missed," she said in a concerned, but still caring
voice. She was concerned because until know she didn't really know how the
boy was feeling during those times after her husband's death, she realized
now that she should have been there more for him during those times, but
realised it was because Dan had bottled up his feelings instead of
grieving. So it had the effect of him appearing happy when in reality he
was tearing himself apart.

"Yes I see. The happiness is a façade, I knew that I would not be able
to live my life being sad all the time so sort of forced myself to be
happy, but subconsciously the guilt I felt for dad's death was slowly
torturing me, eating away at me from the inside, making me sad even though
I was showing to everyone else that I was happy. But now I also see a void
in the pictures, but it seems to get bigger as time goes on not smaller, so
even though I was painting to fill the void, it wasn't working, it was
having the opposite effect on me," I was crying by the end of it finally
realising how I had truly been feeling all those years, but I wanted to
know more, so I got all my paintings and placed them all in order to how
they were painted.

"The main thing I notice now, is every now and then the void seems to
shrink a little, why would that be mum?" mum was crying and hugging me
tighter because she realised why they had shrunk at certain times, even
though she didn't know when each painting was created.

"That would be because you painted those either while I was at home, or
after I had just left, the void isn't just about you losing your dad it's
also about me never having been around for you. Oh I am so sorry baby I
just didn't know" she was balling her eyes out, feeling guilty for having
not been there enough for me.

"Mum it's alright, if I hadn't of masked my feelings maybe you would have
realised, but what's happened has happened, and I think I'm better off for
it," I said from the bottom of my heart.

After a while we took a seat and talked about other stuff for a while, but
after everything that has happened today was causing my to feel so tired
that I knew if I didn't go to bed then I would crash. So I stood up and
said goodnight, mum then promised me that she would be there on Saturday no
matter what, because she felt that she owed it to me, then with that said
she gave me a kiss on the forehead and said goodnight. Once in my room I
noticed my unfinished painting, so I put it the stand deciding that I was
going to finish it under my new light. It was a strange sleep that night as
I didn't have anyone to snuggle with for the first time in a while, and the
night just seemed to draw on and on, even though I was so tired that I had
fallen asleep instantly the night took forever to end.

By the time I woke up the next morning mum was gone so I set about
finishing the painting, I didn't touch anything that I felt that I had
already finished because I wanted this painting to represent a change in my
life. I finished it and took a step back to admire the results, and it came
off perfectly, and really did tell the story of the change I had just gone
through, so I took it into the lounge and hung it up at the end. I then
picked three other paintings, the first painting I ever created was one,
and the next one came from about a third of the way through my timeline,
and the last about two thirds through, so all in all I had a brief
pictorial history of my life since dad had passed away, and the four
paintings looked complete together.

Not long after I hung the last painting up Caleb burst through the door. We
hugged each other straight away, as we had both felt lonely that night
without the other one being there, Caleb noticed the new painting and said
it a great picture, it seems to show that you've had a big change in your
life. I couldn't believe what he had just said because he had read the
picture like a book, especially after he implied that the big change in my
life was him, I just had to hug him harder and nodded in agreement.

We held each other in our embrace for a long time, then I suggested we see
if there were any waves to surf as we were running out of holidays, and it
gets a lot harder to surf when school starts back up.

The cloud and drizzle had finally disappeared leaving a glorious morning in
its wake, I could tell that it still wouldn't be particularly warm as there
was still a cold stiff southerly blowing, but we still enjoyed the ambience
the weather was generating as we walked to the beach, when we finally got
to our vantage point on top of the dunes, we hugged each other as we looked
out at the darker than usual turquoise water, and saw it was as flat as a
pancake, not even a ripple. We were a bit gutted about it, but got over it
quick. With how nice the weather was and how much we had missed each other
due to not sleeping together last night we decided to walk from where we
were along the beach to the mole before heading back to Caleb's, so we set
off on a slow leisurely stroll holding hands along the golden sands of this
fantastic beach.

We finally got back to Caleb's after about half an hour, and dad was
standing at the door smiling as he saw us still holding hands whilst we
approached him.

"Good morning Dan, so do you see know what I was meaning" he said knowing
full well that I would.

"Morning dad, and yes I see know, I just don't know how I have missed it
all this time," I said honestly and little embarrassed too, at knowing
everyone else had seen my deepest feelings before I had.

"Well that's why the work is so good, because it was straight from the
heart without you realizing what you were actually doing, if you had known
you probably would have changed your style, then they wouldn't be the
same," he explained and thinking about it I knew he was right, because I
wouldn't have wanted the world to know such personal information and if it
wasn't for the fact that my feelings have changed considerably I still
wouldn't.

"You should see his new one dad it's sad but happy at the same time, it's
awesome," Caleb excitedly said beaming at being able to read the painting,
but also because he was extremely proud of me.

"You've had enough time to paint another one," dad asked impressed, but
worried that I may have rushed it.

"No, well yes, but it wasn't totally new, it was one that I had started
before I meet you guy's and I had taken it off the stand when I painted
your one, I saw it sitting around just before I went to bed, so decided to
finish it this morning, painting exactly how I usually paint, I just
pictured it in my mind, and it was the first time that I have noticed how
my mind tells my story even though all I was trying to do was paint a
landscape through memory," I said feeling my built up emotions burst out of
the now open flood gates.

Both Caleb and his father gave me a hug comforting me as I wept not so much
through loss anymore more through happiness and the realisation that I had
now finally closed that chapter of my life and was now looking forward to
the next one.

We stood in our embrace for a while before we slumped inside to have some
breakfast, which was actually a reheated dessert from last night that we
didn't get a chance to eat. He had cooked up another one of his homemade
fruit pies, apricot this time, but due to having been so busy talking and
discussing things before we had known it, it was getting pretty late. So
Caleb, his dad, and I polished the whole pie off for breakfast, with some
of his homemade vanilla ice cream off course. For a reheated pie it was
still divine tasting, it really did seem that dad could do no wrong when it
came to cooking.

The rest of the day passed like a blur, we went back to the beach at some
stage to sunbathe, and splash around in the water, we had board shorts on
at the time because there were a few of the elderly resident out and about,
usually walking their dogs at that time. Next thing I recall is just lying
there with Caleb in my arms, this was after dinner and we were watching
some movie, I don't know which one I just have no real recollection of the
day. The movie finished and we went to bed and got tucked in, at some stage
we must have taken off our clothes because I distinctly remember the skin
on skin contact, but that's about the only thing I remember as the next
thing I know I'm staring into Caleb's beautiful blue eyes, with the morning
sun that was streaming in the window making his whole body glow. We
embraced each other and kissed passionately for ages before we decided we
better get ourselves ready for breakfast.

Again the day was largely uneventful, and it was more of Caleb and me
enjoying the company and compassion of the other. We had a talk with dad
about tomorrows plans, as I had to get my art ready to go to the gallery,
he told me that the dealer had rung him, and the public art gallery was
more than happy to display my work and because of my age they said it
wouldn't cost a dime, for the first month anyway. I was happy hearing that
coz I wasn't sure as to whether I would have the money to do it otherwise,
but I was starting to feel a little sad too, I mean I was about to give
away a chunk of my history for everyone to see.

The next morning was of course Friday, I had woken up extremely early and
just lay there not feeling good at all, and my stomach was in knots from
nervousness and apprehension. Caleb had woken up and some point as he must
have sense something wrong, seeing me laying there he pulled my close to
give me a big hug, also gave me a quick peck on the lips before whispering
to me that everything was going to be all right, then started to stroke my
hair and forehead, what he was doing worked wonders as I felt the knots
untying and all the tension just melt away, he really was special to me,
and feeling better I gave him a passionate kiss before we both just lay
there enjoying the feelings generated, and drifted back off to sleep.

Dad came in at 9:00 to wake us up saying his friend would be at me place
within the hour, so we had to scramble to get ready, and ran down the
stairs getting handed a piece of toast on the way through, and out to dads
waiting car. Once at my place we quickly organised the paintings, I had
found some sticky labels and put sold on the ones that dad wanted, just as
we had got things ready the dealer turned up. He stopped dead as he entered
the room and saw my new piece, and smiled because he knew he would never
get me to part with such a wonderful piece, he chose the ones that he
wanted and I put a sold sticker on them to, the paintings got individually
wrapped and boxed and the dealer was about to set off and take them to the
art gallery, when he told us he would set it all up today, and to be there
by 8:00 tomorrow, so that I could go over it and make sure I was happy with
the set up, and just like that he was gone leaving behind a trail of dust
as he headed back towards the city.

It was another stunning summer's day, crystal clear skies, warm temperature
about 25 C (77 F), and not a breath of wind. The surf unfortunately was
still as flat as, it reminded me more of a lake than a vast expanse of
ocean, but we spent a good deal of the day at the beach anyway, just sun
bathing and going for a splash in the cool water every now and then to cool
off.  Other than that we just snuggled together on the couch until it was
time for dad to start cooking tea, which he offered us another cooking
lesson, his lessons were always so much fun, and the reward at the end
can't be beat, so we got all bubbly and excited at having another lesson,
that dad had to calm us down again before we could start.

We had a great time learning how to cook spaghetti bolognaise, I was
especially looking forward to tasting it because all the time I have had
it, it was made from a powder sachet that you mix in with the meat and
tomatoes. I wasn't disappointed the food was as exquisite as anything I had
had, what made it even more yummy was that Caleb and I were the ones that
made it, and it was by far the best thing we had ever made it seemed like
we were learning well.

Due to having such an early start in the morning we went to bed really
early. We didn't even have time in the morning for our usual cuddle
session, as soon as I was awake, dad dropped me home to wash and change,
while Caleb and he did the same at his place. He took me home for two
reasons I think, he knew I hadn't brought anything to wear for today, but I
think the main reason was to ensure we didn't waste time by playing. Once
shower I thought I better dress to the T, so I put on a fancy black suit,
with a plain white dress shirt under the jacket of the suit, and finished
off with a red tie, then put black socks and my polished black dress shoes
on my feet, did a twirl in front of the mirror and was happy with the
result.

I then collected some stuff, and grabbed a blanket when I heard dad's car
pull up, I finished collecting everything and took it out to the car,
getting dad to pop the boot so I could put everything in there.

"So what's that you put in the boot?" dad asked me questioningly.

"That would be a surprise, but it has something to do with what Caleb had
said to me at one stage last night," I said, confusing dad because he
hadn't heard the sweet little comment Caleb had passed just before we went
to sleep.

"Did you really, wow cool, I'm so happy you listened," Caleb said excitedly
because he knew, but didn't want to give it away.

On the trip to the city I sat there admiring how smart and snazzy Caleb
looked, he was wearing a similar suit to mine, he had a white striped dress
shirt on, and a dark blue tie, and it looked perfect on him, after a little
while we were hugging again but had fallen fast asleep.

The art gallery is on the octagon right in the centre of the city, it's a
relatively modern building with quite a funky design, it had a large foyer
with reception but was free to enter, we were greeted by dad's friend as
soon as we walked in the door, and he introduced me to all the important
people who run the place, they were telling me how impressed they were at
my collection and it was there honour to host my exhibition. It was at that
point that I handed the dealer the blanket, he gently put the package on
the ground and unwrapped it.

Everyone except Caleb and me, gasped in utter disbelief seeing my latest
painting on the floor.

"But why, I mean I couldn't because this is probably the single most
important piece you have, and I just couldn't," the dealer was stuttering.

"No I want to display it, I'm not planning on selling it, but it was
because of what Caleb said to me last night, that I have decided that I
want to do this, Caleb I want you to tell them what you told me," I was
surprisingly handling my emotions really well at the moment.

"I said to him that... I couldn't wait... to see his story in full because
I had only seen bits of it, and... I said that it would mean the world to
me... if he displayed that picture too to complete the story," Caleb
stammered feeling really nervous at talking to such important people.

With that everyone patted both me and Caleb on the back thanking us for
letting them add this piece, and we headed to the gallery, my artwork had
been set up around the wall in order of when they were painted except on
piece that the dealer had felt was the most important which was on a stand
in the middle of the galley, I went up and removed it so they could put the
new piece in its place, and draped a curtain over it, so that for the
moment no one was able to view it, until we felt that the time was right
for the grand reveal . We quickly put the other painting in its correct
position having to rearrange a few of the other painting to get it there,
and then we stood back and admired the result.

The gallery we had set up in had two entrances on opposing walls, one
entrance lead in from the reception foyer, while the other was only a shot
corridor leading to an emergency exit, the walls were painted white with
dim up-lights under each painting space which gave off the perfect amount
of light to showcase the painting above it, and it had a polished wooden
floor, like all art galleries it seemed to have an air of silence
surrounding it with the only really noticeable sound being the footsteps on
the wooden floor, even with a large gathering the conversation seems to get
hushed by the atmosphere of the building.

The next thing I know the gallery doors are open and there was a wave of
people entering the large foyer, nobody could believe so many people were
coming in at this time of day, usually the gallery would be lucky if this
many people came through over the course of a whole day but the gallery had
only just opened. Turned out word of mouth had already got around pretty
fast. I don't know how as all this seemed to so fast that I had no idea as
to how word of my collection could have spread so quickly. There were a lot
of people who wanted to see what was described as the most heartfelt
collection ever displayed at the gallery let alone it was painted by a
child. People also wanted to see the now 13 year old boy who was behind it;
because no one really believed that it could be so good from someone so
young. But I could see that everyone who entered the room momentarily
stopped and took in a sharp burst of air as they took in the sights and
couldn't contain their appreciation.

I was told that at 10:00 I was to unveil my most precious artwork, and they
wanted me to explain what that particular piece as well as all the other
pieces was about. The butterflies in my stomach were now tying tighter and
tighter knots as the time drew closer, I had to leave for a bit of a
breather as I couldn't cope with my nerves. Caleb followed knowing I was
not in a good way, once he had found me he hugged me and stroked my hair
again getting me to quickly calm down, I am amazed at how quick the boy was
able to settle my nerves so quickly, then I saw something that was going to
help as well, my mum had turned up and joined in the hug that Caleb was
giving me. She had been there long enough to see how quick Caleb had
managed to ease her son's nerves, and as much as she had known before this
seemed to confirm to her that we meant to each other.

We were down a little corridor that is only there as a fire escape, so we
were away from the prying eyes of everyone in the gallery who were too
absorbed in checking out my work to notice us two boys sneaking away. Mum
had just come in just in time to see us disappear, so she followed us as
she took a quick look around and seeing the covered picture in the middle
of the room started to wonder what it was as all the other pieces seemed to
be there. She said she couldn't wait till I unveil what was under the
curtain which she rightly presumed was a new painting, I had forgotten that
she hadn't seen it and was about to tell her about it when dad came in to
tell me it was time.

I took a big breath and got a bigger hug and a kiss from Caleb who said
that I would be just fine and that he was so proud of me. Mum also hugged
me but didn't say anything as Caleb had already said everything that needed
to be said. So I took in another deep breath and headed out to do the
unveiling.

After a few speeches from the director of the gallery and the art dealer
who had done so much to make this happen. Caleb's dad who was credited for
noticing my talent was also expected to give a short speech about how he
came about the talented artist, and then it was time for me. I released the
rope that was holding the curtains over the painting and revealed the
artwork behind, hearing everyone gasp as it was unveiled. Mum couldn't help
herself and ran up and gave me a huge hug in front of everyone, which left
he flushed bright red in embarrassment which no one seemed to notice as
they were all too entranced in my painting. I took a few moments to compose
myself again, and was so glad that Caleb was standing beside me radiating
the pride he was feeling towards me, but it was so hard not to hold his
hand for comfort or even give him a big hug like I desperately wanted to
do. I stuttered to start as I told the story about my work; by the end I
was feeling a lot more at ease and confident. I noticed that a lot of
people in the crowd had to wipe tears from their eyes. I made sure that I
stated, that under no circumstances was I going to sell this particular
painting, which most people seemed to agree with me on.

For most of the day things went a lot better, a lot of people told me how
much they admired me and the artwork, and how they felt about it. Some
wanted to know more about my sudden change in attitude, and I think some
even realized the significance of the boy who was always by my side, and
the part that he has played in my life.

Unfortunately there is always one, some up stuck, snobby, rich bastard that
wouldn't take no for an answer, he was determined to try to buy the
centrepiece no matter what, and I can tell you he offered me a lot of
money, I was getting very frustrated and pissed off with trying to tell him
no. Caleb had noticed my change in mood and quickly slipped away. The next
thing I knew dad, the dealer, and the director were all shuffling this guy
away from me. I could see them giving him a stern talking too, but I was
too wound up and disappeared back towards the fire exit and cried. Of
course it had been Caleb who had got the help, and he ran after me as I
disappeared, he found me huddled up on the ground crying and cursing at
myself, and just snuggled up to me and hugged me tightly, giving me a kiss
on the lips. A few other people had noticed the commotion and followed me
to make sure I was alright, but when they saw Caleb there comforting me,
and seeing him kiss me on the lips, they all passed the comment that they
were glad I had found someone so in love with me, that he was comfortable
to show his feelings despite what people might think. They continued
telling us how lucky we were at having found each other, and could tell
that regardless of what society might say we were made for each other.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I don't think Caleb could
either, here were a whole bunch of strangers giving us their blessing for
who we are. I had calmed down a lot, mainly due to Caleb but the strangers
had helped too, when mum and Caleb's dad found us and ushered the small
gathering away. They strangers were all smiling and I heard one pass the
comment that they now truly understood the change of mood depicted in the
final painting.

We just sat there for a bit, hugging each other being one big happy
family. After a while we thought we better get up and show our faces to the
public again. Before we got up to go back out, dad tried to apologise
saying that he should have known that there would be that sort of person in
the crowd, and that he should have made sure that I was better protected. I
sighed and told him it wasn't his fault and anyway I had good enough
protection, and ruffled Caleb's hair to press the point, everyone just
smiled and told Caleb he had done a really good thing, which he knew and
would have done the same in any circumstance, but the pride was still
gushing out of him for getting told it.

This time as I headed back out to the gallery I took hold of Caleb's hand,
I didn't care anymore what people may think he was important to me and that
was all there was to it. The rest of the day went incident free, I had
quite a few people tell me how much they loved the work, and that I was so
lucky to find someone so special, so many people ruffled Caleb's hair
knowing how important he was to me, that by the end of the day his hair
looked like a birds nest.

After the gallery had closed for the night the director thanked us saying
he had never had an exhibit so popular here before, and he was so pleased
to have so many here people enjoying the artwork. He also wanted to
apologise for the actions of that man and told me because of him they were
going to beef up security, and also lock the painting away securely at
night. I told him not to worry about that one person because everyone else
had been so great so I wasn't going to let one person ruin the day for
me. The director then went on to thank everyone else, giving Caleb a
special thank you for having been so influential to me, then he let us out
and then went back in to lock up the painting personally.

Dad's friend the dealer also said his thanks and told me he would keep me
informed as to how things went, he told me he had already received numerous
offers for some of my work and that he would talk to me properly about that
soon, with that he left.

It was getting late but we decided we would go to a 5 star restaurant that
was right on the harbour, it used to be the site of the old customs
building, and we had a really good meal there, I was so lost in my
happiness at having all my family around me that everything just seems to
be a blur, the only thing that I remember is as soon as we got into the
restaurant Caleb disappeared to the restrooms and tidied up his hair, I
still don't know why I remember that particular detail but it is about the
only thing I remember, oh and that it was great that mum hadn't gone
straight back to work like I had sort of expected her to.

The next thing I know is I'm staring into those wonderful blue eyes again
with the morning sun beating down on our naked torsos.  We just lay there
for ages in each other's arm enjoying the warmth felt from the other; I had
wanted to thank him properly for yesterday but was still too bushed to do
anything, so we just lay there.

Dad poked his head in after a while and smiled, he could tell that we were
still exhausted from yesterday and we must have looked real cute snuggled
together just staring into each other's eyes. We had heard him come in but
didn't have the energy to turn around and look at him. He sat down beside
Caleb and stroked his hair, then reached over to do the same to me. He
couldn't believe we were still tired as it was now 10:30 and apparently we
had fallen asleep as soon as we got back into the car after dinner, we
hadn't even stirred when he carried us to bed and taken off our suits so we
didn't wreck them, he said he was a little surprised that neither of us had
bothered to put underwear on, he said the only time we moved was after
tucking us in, and even then all we did was find each other and snuggled
together

After a while he told us we should get up because we couldn't stay in bed
all day, he also thought it best if I go home at some stage and get my
school stuff and some clothes, so I could help Caleb with catching the bus
in the morning seeing as he didn't know where to go.

So we dragged our sorry asses out of bed, and washed up, Caleb got changed
into some very short grey rugby league shorts and a light blue T shirt with
a surf design on the back; whereas I had to get back into the suit I had
worn yesterday because I hadn't bought a change of clothes.

It felt weird walking down the main street of town dressed in my number
ones, especially on this golden hot summer's day. Having Caleb walking with
me holding my hand made it a lot more pleasant trip than it would have been
otherwise. I was glad to get home to say the least and strip off the suit,
and then I put it aside to get dry-cleaned whenever mum got the
chance. Then walking to my room naked I got some clothes, I found some of
those very short league shorts in my draws but mine were black, but I
decided to put them on to match my little angel, then I pulled out a
similar top to the one he was wearing and put it on, we were almost a
matching couple, then I quickly collected my school gear and we walked back
down the road to Caleb's house, hand in hand.

The rest of the day we lay on the couch, and it was at this stage I
realised the benefits to these shorts as I could easily reach under through
the leg hole and fondle the little boy's package, which was made even
easier with the fact that Caleb wasn't wearing any underwear.

************

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