Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2015 15:57:39 -0800
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Rough Edges  Chapter 24

Welcome back. Phil gets together with his old friend Andy. He
leaves Andy's house confused about his feelings and decides he
needs to make some changes in his life.

This is all fiction. Please remember to be safe. And please donate
to the Nifty archive to keep the stories coming.

CHAPTER 24
Andy and Phil

<Phil Miller>

When I got home from work I found Larry with papers strewn across his
desk. I could tell he hadn't thought about dinner. I gave him a kiss and had
no problem getting him to agree to go out for pizza. I could tell he'd had a
long day at school. Bringing a state championship trophy back meant he
had to give a lot of time to all of the well-wishers.

As the man I loved beyond belief headed off for the showers, my mind
returned to the two of us as sixth graders. Larry had talked me into going to
his first basketball practice with him. I dribbled a ball and played around a
bit on the sidelines, and the next thing I knew the coach was placing a
permission slip in my hand. He told me he liked what he saw. I had no idea
what it was he saw, but I took the slip, determined to throw it away. Instead,
Larry and the Wonkeys talked me into coming to the next practice with the
idea of turning out for the team.

I found myself in love with basketball right from my first practice. It wasn't
like I never had a basketball in my hand, I just never played organized ball.
I'd play in the pickup games at recess, or shoot around at playgrounds. I
loved dribbling a ball and making it do cool things. But right from the
moment Coach Zimmer told me that a good defensive player doesn't go
reaching for the ball in an attempt to steal it, but gets in a low stance,
moves his feet, and sticks his nose in the bellybutton of the player with the
ball, I was in love. This was my kind of game. I might be one of the shortest
players on the court, but I quickly learned how to be an intimidating
defensive player.

I also thought about Thanksgiving. Dinner at Larry's house was more fun
than I thought it would be considering Keegan was there. He actually acted
human at times. Troy was trying too hard to get on Larry's good side. I told
him when we got home that he didn't need to try to get on Larry's good side
since he had already started there. He laughed and said he'd ease off.

"I'm surprised you noticed," he said. "I didn't think I was being all that
obvious."

"It was so obvious I bet even Keegan could figure it out." Troy managed to
be more himself the next time he saw Larry and the two have gotten along
great ever since. Not that they didn't get along on Thanksgiving, it's just
that everything seemed forced.

Not for the first time, I noticed the love in Larry's family. I saw how lucky he
was to have such loving, caring parents. The way my mother was these
days, there was no way she could have prepared a big dinner like we had
that day. I often wonder if Larry's mother realized how my mother was and
invited us for that reason.

Whatever the reason, I had a good time, even as I lamented the condition
of my own family. I had a brother who was a stoner, a mother who was a
pill addict (although she'd gotten better since dad left), and an alcoholic
father who made my life better by being on another continent.

As much as I enjoyed Thanksgiving, some of my mind was on the next day
and my seeing Andy. While my friendship with Larry was building quickly, I
still missed Andy, and now that I had gotten over being mad at him for
moving I really wanted to see him again.

The plan was for Andy and his mom to pick me up at noon. We'd then go
out for lunch at Andy's favorite burger joint in Gig Harbor. I'd have dinner at
Andy's, spend a couple of nights, and come back home on Sunday
afternoon. My ride appeared in front of our house just a few minutes after
noon. I admit to having had my nose against the window while waiting for
them to show.

Andy didn't wait in the car for me. He leaped out as soon as I opened the
front door of my house.

"Behave yourself," Troy yelled as I took off down our short sidewalk. I
turned and flipped him off, forgetting Andy's mom was watching. Troy went
into the house laughing while Andy grabbed my backpack and tried to turn
me around. He gave me a hug, and I squeezed him.

"I am so happy to see you, Phil. I missed you lots," Andy gushed.

"I missed you, too."

Andy's mom popped open the trunk and I dropped my backpack into it. We
both sat in the backseat and as soon as we buckled in she drove away
from the curb. She didn't mention anything about my gesture, but from the
smile on her face I was pretty sure she saw it. Like I've said before, Andy's
mom was a cool lady.

The burger and fries at Andy's favorite place were great. Andy was pleased
that I was turning out for a basketball team. Baseball was still the only sport
for him.

"Do you think you'll like basketball as much as baseball?" he asked.

"I dunno, I've only had a couple of practices. But I've played it on the
playground and shi...stuff. I'm not very big and I'm not really quick, but
Coach Zimmer says he likes me being tough."

"I could've told him you were tough. That's how you became my hero and
my best friend."

We didn't become really serious until we were alone in his bedroom. He
had a really large house with a partial view of Puget Sound. I could see that
Andy's step-dad had lots of money. Andy had done well for himself, and for
a moment I felt a surge of jealousy.

"Have you got any new friends?" Andy asked as we peeled away the layers
of small talk.

"Yeah, I got a best friend now. His name is Larry and he's pretty nice...no,
he's really nice."

"Nicer than me?"

"Come on, Andy, you know how much I like you. I ain't gonna go comparing
you two."

"But you were mad at me after I moved."

"I get stupid a lot. I should never have been mad at you." I wanted to tell
him how everything was going wrong when he moved, but I decided not to.
That was probably the biggest sign that Andy and I were going our own
ways, because I used to tell him everything.

"I don't remember any Larry, so I guess he didn't go to our school."

"No, he lives west of Stevens Avenue."

"With the rich kids."

"Yeah, just like you," I grinned. "He's got a whole bunch of friends, and
we're all kind of like a gang. Only, we're a good gang. We call ourselves
the Wonkeys."

"That's a weird name."

"We figure nobody in the whole world has a name like it. It's like a combo of
weasel and monkey."

"I was really lonely after we moved. I didn't have you, and I didn't have my
baseball teammates, and I didn't know anybody at school."

"But you got friends now, right?"

"Yeah. I have Luke, who is in most of my classes and lives close to me. He
is my best friend. And I have Shawn and Logan. I guess we're kind of like a
gang at school, too." He gave me the big grin I loved so much. "But, we're a
good gang."

We spent the evening playing games, watching TV, eating after dinner
snacks which were mostly Thanksgiving leftovers, and having moments of
plain silliness. I didn't come expecting anything sexual to happen, but
considering our past together it shouldn't be surprising that we managed to
mess around a little.

"You're gonna sleep with me," Andy said as we prepared for bed. "We'll
sleep just like we always did—naked." I was surprised by Andy's
assertiveness. Before he would have asked me what I wanted to do.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

As soon as we got under the covers, Andy cuddled up to me. "I missed you
a lot," he whispered.

"I missed you, too. We had lots of fun together."

"Yeah, like playing games, and being on the baseball team, and camping
with rattlesnakes around...all kinds of cool stuff."

"I don't think being around the rattlesnakes was that cool."

"But we messed around outside and were all naked." Andy snuggled
tighter. "It was almost like having real sex."

"It was kinda real to me."

"Oh, me too. But I meant, sex, like you know, sex type of sex."

I could feel Andy's boner pushing against my belly. "You mean, like butt
sex?"

I waited for Andy to say something. The long pause told me all I needed to
know. Finally he spoke up. "Do you think we were boyfriends?"

"No. Being boyfriends is, like, something gay. The guys in the Wonkeys call
it being bed buddies. I think we were best friends and bed buddies."

"I think I'm gay," Andy whispered. "I really do."

Instead of being shocked or offended by what he said, I pulled him tighter
to me.

"You don't hate me do you?"

"I'll never hate you, Andy."

"But you're not gay."

I wanted to tell him that I wasn't sure. I wanted to tell him that maybe I was
gay. I wanted to tell him that friends like Daniel and Q and Ben and even
Jung were talking about "going out" with girls, but I wasn't interested. I
wanted to tell him I was more interested in Larry than I was in any girl. I
wanted to tell him that if he hadn't moved we might have ended up being
more than bed buddies—we might have ended up being boyfriends.

"Why do you think you're gay?" I asked.

"Because I wanted you and me to be boyfriends, not just bed buddies."
There was another pause. I felt what I knew were warm tears dripping on
my bare chest. "I did it, you know."

I was about to ask him what he'd done when the light bulb went on. "For
real?"

More tears. "Luke did me right after Halloween." That was about the same
time Larry made me wonder about myself. It was when messing around
was beginning to feel like what everybody said sex felt like.

"Did you like doing it?"

"Not that first time. But I do now. He does it to me, and we kiss and hold
each other and kiss more and sometimes I do him, too. I think we might be
boyfriends."

Andy was baring his soul to me. But he was also telling me that our
relationship had gone about as far as it would ever go. I knew I had to
make a confession to Andy.

"Me and Larry are getting pretty tight," I told him.

"Does that mean you guys have, you know, done it too?"

"We haven't done it. But we do all the things you and me used to do."

"Even kissing?"

"Yeah, even kissing."

"Do you think we could kiss?"

My answer was to put my lips against his and kiss him gently. His response
was to open his sweet lips so that my tongue could snake its way into his
mouth. Our tongues touched and I shivered with lust. His tears had stopped
and I licked the salty residue from his cheeks. He purred the way I
remember him doing during all of the times we messed around in his bed.

We kissed again and our rock hard preteen cocks touched. Our little boy
cocks had both grown a little since we were ten. We'd gone beyond the
three inch mark, but not by much. We rubbed our boners together and I
moaned while he purred. We rolled over on the bed so I was on my back
and Andy was on top of me.

Our dicks humped, our tongues clashed, my right hand found Andy's
smooth crack just like Troy often found mine. My middle finger penetrated
the space between his cheeks and found his warm, moist hole. I knew
where it wanted to go and I let it go there. It found its way into Andy's dark,
private space. I had a part of me inside his ass for the first time. I wondered
what it would be like to put my cock into the place where my finger resided.

As if he read my mind he broke our kiss and said, "Fucking is just for me
and Luke. No offense or anything, you're still my best friend and..."

I cut him off. "I want my first time to be with Larry, anyway."  That statement
was true. It was the first time I'd ever given anal sex serious thought, and
that thought was the perfect one. No matter which way it went, Larry would
be my first time. As far as I was concerned that thought meant we were
going to do it. I didn't know when we would do it, but it would happen.

"See, I knew Larry was your boyfriend."

I took my confession one more step. "I really want him to be."

"That means you must be gay."

"I dunno if it does or not. All I know is I want Larry to be more than a bed
buddy. I want him to be...to really and truly be...," I whispered out the last
part, "...my boyfriend."

That was the end of our talking. Andy dry humped me as we kissed and I
finger fucked him. I found the sweet spot I knew next to nothing about and
rubbed it, sending my sweet and wonderful best friend over the edge. He
was humping me so hard the bed squeaked and almost bounced.

When he finished, I pulled my finger out of him, rolled him on his side and
humped him for a couple more minutes until I had my own heavenly cum.

"I wanted you so bad for so long," Andy cooed as we snuggled. "That was
perfect."

"It was perfect," I agreed.

"You got my belly and dick a little wet. Are you making cum now?" I nodded
with a proud smile. "Cool," he said, "very cool. Luke makes a little bit, too.
I'm still dry."

"We're gonna be going our own way from now on, I think. Things are
changing and I don't just mean my shooting out a little bit of stuff."

"Yeah, things have changed. But one thing has never changed."

"What's that?"

"You and me will always be best friends." I couldn't argue with that.

Our night wasn't done. I absolutely had to taste the dick I'd become so
familiar with and had missed so much, and I had to have my dick in his
sweet mouth. The answer to what I wanted was sixty-nine and we went at it
with gusto. The sex didn't quite have the intensity our humping did, but it
was still amazing.

Andy had really learned how to use his tongue. I suspected that Luke was
an experienced boy when it came to sex. The boy teaching Andy how to
use his tongue the way he did or how to take my cock into his throat didn't
learn his techniques from outer space, or even cyberspace for that matter.
Somebody had taught him. And then there was the whole matter of him
fucking Andy's butt.

Whatever his experience was I didn't care. All I cared about was that he
treat Andy with decency and respect and keep making him happy. I know
Andy made me happy as I sucked and licked him to a dry cum. I had been
learning to use my tongue, but Andy took it to new heights. I also had to
find out how he got my cock that deep into his mouth. It seemed that Perry
and Jung hadn't told us all of their secrets yet.

I came second again, my cock twitching and jerking in Andy's mouth as he
gave me an orgasm that was even better than my first one of the night. We
adjusted ourselves so our heads were at the same end of the bed. We
cuddled and kissed and talked and kissed and kissed and talked and finally
fell asleep.

One of the things we talked about was how much better our sex (yes, we
said "sex" not "messing around") had been that night than the hurried sex in
his dusty, empty bedroom on the day that he moved.

We got off together one more time, in the shower the next morning. We
wondered if his mom and step-dad knew we were showering together. If
they did, they never let on. We'd been making out before we started the
shower, so it didn't take us long to cum. I sucked him and finger fucked
him, jerking myself off with my free hand. He came first, told me to get up
off of my knees, and then knelt down in front of me and my throbbing boy
cock. My cum was quick, albeit dry—I hadn't yet replaced what I'd shot out
the night before.

The day was sunny and in the mid-fifties; a nice day for November. Andy
and I went with Craig, his step-father, down to one of the marinas in the
town of Gig Harbor. He took us out on the Sound in his twenty- seven foot
power boat. We went under the Narrows Bridge and then back towards
Tacoma and into Commencement Bay. Craig even let me drive the boat for
a while. That was a real thrill, something I still remember vividly. The
weather was cold, but we were dressed warmly and sheltered.

I discovered that Craig was really a nice guy and found it hard to hate him
anymore. I was happy that Andy had found such a great step-father and
such a great environment to live in. I wanted to hate him for finding a better
life than I had, but that was hard to do. Andy was simply too nice a person
to dislike, let alone hate. His situation had been better than mine in so
many ways when we met, which made me envious, but happy for him as
well.

The visit was slated for two nights, which didn't seem like enough for either
one of us. The second night we made out once again. Our kisses were
passionate and deep. We grabbed and groped and touched every part of
each other that we could. Our sweaty bodies stuck together as we wrestled
each other, keeping our naked cocklets together until we came almost
simultaneously, with Andy on top, humping me like there was no tomorrow.
Nothing was said afterwards—we simply cuddled and cooed. We kept our
bodies stuck together and our arms and legs intertwined as we fell to sleep.

I never had sex with Andy again, although we I did get involved with
messing around with Andy and his middle school buddies. Andy and I got
together for a couple of visits a year through our high school years. We still
keep in touch. Andy was indeed gay, although his friend Luke wasn't. I
remember Andy being heartbroken when he and Luke broke up. I wanted
to kick the shit out of Luke when I found out about the breakup. Luckily for
both of us he lived too far away.

But Andy's other friends still liked to mess around and he found a boyfriend
for a while in high school. He came out as gay when he was a sophomore,
something his mother and Craig both accepted with love. He is married to a
man he met in college. They have an eight-year-old adopted son. Andy
was the first of my friends to text congratulations after our state tournament
win.

<Larry Sanders>

As Phil and I ate our salads and waited for our Primo Garlic Supreme pizza
at The Bear's, a noisy group entered the restaurant. I looked up and saw
George Bednarzyk, his sons Jeffrey and Sammy, and Jeffrey's boyfriend,
Nicky. As soon as Jeffrey and Nicky saw Phil and me they made a beeline
for our table.

"Hey coaches, too lazy to cook tonight?" Jeffrey asked in his own blustery
style.

"No, just too tired," I admitted.

"I thought coaches never got tired and went in perpetual motion," Nicky
said.

"We're the exception to the rule," Phil explained.

"What kind of pizza are you guys getting?" Jeffrey asked.  We told him.
"Good choice, dudes. We better order with dad and Sammy so they don't
mess things up. It's all about Meat Lovers' pizza for us."

George came by a few minutes later and invited us to sit at one of the large
tables with them. "Unless you want peace and quiet, of course—in that
case wouldn't blame you for turning down the invitation."

I looked at Phil, who nodded. "I can't think of a better group to sit with," I
told him.

"Great. Sammy was hoping you'd say yes. I confess that the invitation was
his idea, but none of us objected. Sammy worships the ground you guys
walk on, especially after Sunday."

"So, is this a guy's night out?" Phil asked.

"I try to take Jeffrey and Sammy out at least once a week. It's amazing how
Nick seems to find a way to tag along. He and Jeffrey are inseparable."

George was very active in Mayfield High School sports. He was the
president of the Booster Club and a big fund raiser for the sports programs,
especially baseball. Sammy, his younger son, was an eleven-year-old hot-
shot athlete, as talented as any in town. He also had the reputation of being
a pussy hound, although I was pretty sure he didn't turn down sex with
other boys, including his big brother, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey might be the biggest cock hound at Mayfield High, and that's saying
a lot. Yes, Nicky is his boyfriend, but it is an open relationship. Phil and I
could see that an open relationship wasn't going to work by the time we
started high school. We had our flings in middle school, but by high school
we started becoming very serious about each other. I couldn't help but
wonder if Jeffrey and Nick were going to head in that direction.

"Marty is coming home tomorrow," Jeffrey announced.

"Does that mean more pizza tomorrow night?" Phil asked with faked
innocence.

"Something like that," Jeffrey said with a bit of momentary embarrassment.
"My big bro and me will have a shitload of fun."

"Jeffrey!" his father admonished.

Jeffrey grinned, showing no remorse for his expletive. I took a glance at
Sammy who sat impassively. I long ago decided that Sammy was going to
be one hell of a poker player, if he wasn't already.

After that the conversation was routine. The adults chatted about the
championship weekend, the upcoming awards assembly honoring the
team, the state of repair of some of the county roads, and general small-
talk. The boys concentrated on their pizza, acting like they weren't paying a
lot of attention to adult talk, when in fact they were.

Just as Phil and I got ready to leave, Connor came into the pizza parlor
with his wife and their infant daughter. We exchanged greetings and a bit of
small talk. Connor had nice things to say to Nick and Jeffery about their
play on Sunday, which elicited big smiles from the two young teens. Phil
and I finally excused ourselves and returned home.

"I'd love to see Marty during his stay," Phil told me as I tried to get started
correcting my tests.

"Call him. We have his cell number. He isn't going to be in town for long
and I know how much you like your fellow bad boy."

"He's not quite so bad anymore," Phil observed.

"At least not for today."

"Yeah," Phil grinned, "at least not for today."

I finally got around to the tests. Phil was in the den watching the Mariners,
so I had the office to myself. I might have been better off watching the
game with Phil while I corrected the exams since my mind ended up
wandering off again.

It wandered back to the holidays of my sixth grade year. I thought about the
Sunday after Thanksgiving when Phil returned from his visit with Andy.
He'd promised to call me when he got home. It was soon five o'clock and
I'd received no phone call. It was dinner time, so I had to wait until after
eating to call him if he hadn't called me by then. I had all kinds of weird
thoughts coursing through my head, the weirdest one being that Phil had
fallen back in love with Andy and we would never be friends any more.

The thought that came next was me recognizing that my thinking was weird
and realizing there was nothing I could do about it. It was as if I was
thinking like the weird girls in sixth grade who kept freaking out because the
boy they were "going with" wasn't paying them the proper attention. That
led to this weird thought: Did that kind of thinking mean that Phil and I were
"going together?" No, that couldn't be true because we were both boys and
only gay boys would actually "go together."

Finally, I was finished with dinner and finished with my share of the
cleanup. I went to the living room and called Phil's number. I was
disappointed when Keegan answered the phone.

"Is Phil there?" I asked with the miserable phone etiquette kids my age
were so good at.

"Yes," he answered.

"Well, can I talk to him?"

"I don't know, can you?" Keegan was being an asshole, as usual.

"So, may I talk to him?"

"And who the fuck is asking?"

"It's me, Larry." I felt like screaming into the phone.

"Oh, it's his fucking boyfriend. You guys have fucked each other, right?"

"Is he home and if he is can I...may I fucking talk to him?" I was getting
tired of Keegan spouting the `F' word and decided to fight fire with fire.

"Yeah, he's home and I'll ask the little shit if he wants to talk you."

I heard Keegan place his hand across the mouthpiece, but still heard him
yell out Phil's name. I soon heard some voices and then Phil got on the
phone. My mood immediately improved.

"Hey, Larry," he said. "What's up?"

"I wanted to find out if you were home." Now that he was on the phone I
wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want him to think I was calling to check on
him.

"I've been home for a while."

"You said you'd call me when you got home from Andy's."

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I changed the topic. "Did you have
a good time?"

"Yeah, it was great. Well, I gotta go now. See ya in school tomorrow."

Before I could reply he hung up. I sat on the couch looking at the phone
wondering what that was all about. The only thing I could think of was that
my weirdest thought had been correct—Phil had made Andy his best friend
and was in love with him, which meant they were gay, which I knew wasn't
true. Well, it wasn't true at least as far as Phil went.

I retired to my room and undressed. I'd already finished my homework, so
there was nothing I had to do. I lay on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I
still had my white briefs on in case a parent came calling. I wondered what I
had done wrong. Phil acted like we were hardly friends, let alone best
friends who had been going crazy over each other for the past few weeks. I
had an empty feeling at the pit of my stomach, a feeling that hurt almost as
much as when my little brother Austin died. The only difference was Phil
was alive and I could try to find out what I needed to do to become his best
friend again.

Next: Home is Where Your Friends Are.