Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:02:40 -0400
From: Dwedno Smith <dwednomail@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chapters 74 and 75 of Tunnel

To All:

You know who you are as well as I do...

Sure I enjoy my stories and sure I appreciate everyone who e mails me and
sure I bitch and sometimes beg for e mail about the story so i know how its
going and sure sometimes I even delay in my replies to all that take the
time to email me... but i do promise i read everyone and look forward to
seeing them light up my in box. Am i begging? i hope not but what i am
saying is i do count on everyones input so i know if the story is ok, so i
know if I am doing what is right... i just e mailed my proof reader AND
bitched to him only because he listens (LOL)

I have now completed 5 chapters in a month and even if they arent all
posted chapter 76 is done but needs to be proofed before anyone gets
it. What do i mean? AM i losing my mind? LOL no what i am saying is simple
people.... Thanks again to those who write to me and say its good... its
bad or whatever... but I need to know for piece of mind how many are out
there that are reading and not saying anything... just so i can continue to
write for you and not just because the boys are family.... they do help
keep me going at times but its you out there that keep me wanting to type
until 2am just so i know those who like it can have something to
read.... important questions like... is the story losing its edge or is it
still hot?

Either way here are two more chapters of good hard work... no pun
intended... I really do want to know how they are by the end of Chapter 77
i expect something for all the time i put into them.... and again to those
who dont care I am sorry i bitch too much but it matters to me....your
wacko writer.... Dwedno (I cant wait to see how many people write me to
tell me i need to see a doctor now) LOL....



Chapter 74.  Getting to know the boys next door some.



I went to the door and opened it knowing it had to be one of the gang next
door. As the door pushed past me there was a cute boy standing there. I
forgot his name for the moment but I knew his face. His eyes were a little
red and it was obvious to me he was crying not too long ago. He also looked
familiar but I couldn't place him right now.

"Hi, sorry but I don't remember your name but come in please, what can I do
for you, you look upset."

"Thanks. I am Todd, one of the twins."

"Oh, right." I said. "So something must be wrong for you to be at my door
the first night you are here."

"Yes Tommy I am having a really big problem and everyone keeps telling me
that you are good when it comes to problems."

"I have heard that." I said as I smiled at him.

"Do you want to talk in private or should we just go in the kitchen?"

"No, private please. I don't think I can do this without blubbering again
even though I hate crying."

"Well take off your coat and come with me. We can talk in my room."

I put his coat on the coat rack and he followed me upstairs to my room.

"This place is even bigger than ours is and I thought we had a great
place."

"Yeah I know what you mean Todd. Sit and relax. I am all yours so tell me
what has you so upset that you had to come here tonight."

"Forgive me but this isn't easy to talk about at all and I am really upset
with my brother."

"Okay I got you so far. There isn't anyone over there you can share this
with I guess."

"No, no one and I am tired of all this. I have had to deal with this
problem all the way here on the RV and my brother isn't helping me at
all. Actually he is part of the problem."

"Sorry to hear that. I would think your brother would be glad to help but
not all siblings get along."

"We usually do but since I told him..."

He stopped dead mid-sentence.

"Told him what?"

He cleared his throat.

"This isn't easy for me to say Tommy especially to a stranger but..."

"Take your time I promise I will not bite your head off or think badly of
you."

"Thanks... he cleared his throat again and then tried to form the
words. This is really hard for me to talk about but... I...I... I thought
talking to you would help but I can't get the words out."

He was pausing a long time and it was easy to see how difficult this was on
him. I wonder what could have happened that is so bad.

 "Then how about something to drink. I bet I know of something very special
I can give you that will calm you down."

"Really? What's that, booze?"

I laughed.

"No, not in this house. You are hardly correct. Come with me."

He followed me down to the kitchen and I told him to sit at the counter
with the big chairs. It was late and no one bothered us which surprised
me. I did hear them yelling in the game room and I noticed a few times that
the noise caught Todd's ear too but he didn't say anything about it so
far. I went and grabbed the milk and he watched as I poured a glass. His
eyes lit up as I brought it over to him.

"Is this fresh milk?"

"Farm fresh."

"Wow...he took a sip. This is awesome I have missed this so much. Where did
you get it?"

"We have friends who have a farm and animals."

"Wow, he said. I didn't know that so many people survived and even animals
too."

"Yes I didn't either it was a real shock to find them."

"How did you find them Tommy?"

"That is a story for another day Todd, when you are feeling better okay?"

"Sure I understand."

He drank it down the rest of the glass like it was his last moment on
earth.

"Can I have another please?"

He actually smiled now and I immediately saw the cuteness that was lacking
from the boy earlier. He wasn't a bad looking twin at all I thought... I
wonder what he is hiding under those clothes. (Yeah I know I am a
pervert!!) I handed him another full glass.

"Before you drink that would you like chocolate syrup in it?"

"Oh yeah, hell yes... please?"

I laughed and got the syrup out and squeezed some from the container into
his glass and gave him a spoon to mix it. He drank it a little slower this
time after mixing it thoroughly and downed half the glass before he set it
down on the counter and smiled at me with a chocolate milk mustache. I
laughed and he seemed to suddenly become a bit bashful.

"What?" he said as his cheeks turned a little red.

"Sorry Todd but you enjoyed that so much you have a milk mustache."

"Ohhhhh, he said as he reached up with his hand and wiped it away and onto
his clothes. Thanks."

There was little doubt he was extremely sensitive right now and the milk
was doing the job to calm him down some. He brought the glass to his lips
and polished off the rest of it, put the glass down and burped like a
typical teen.


"Excuse me. Sorry about that."

I laughed at his manners.

"Don't worry about it remember I have lots of boys here. Most of them with
no manners! You feel ready to talk now?"

"Yeah, thanks you already made me feel a lot better. I guess they were
right about you."

"Oh? I said... who is they?"

"A few of the guys... when we were back at the mall. They told me that they
got to spend some time talking to you and you were really easy and nice to
talk to."

Something was really bothering me about him and then when he said mall it
hit me...like a ton of bricks. Todd... literally the one who hit me with
the wood. I totally forgot about it with the time passing and all... the
fire and Zack and all the crap lately but now...

"Wait a minute... I totally forgot but it just hit me... you... the
mall... and the wood..."

We were alone in the kitchen still and I really wasn't mad but I did feel
like letting him squirm a bit. He looked at me like he was in trouble, he
lowered his head... he knew.

"I was hoping you wouldn't remember or bring that up but yes I really am
sorry that had to happen... a tear rolled down his face. I guess I should
go now."

He got up and headed for the front door. I grabbed him by the arm to stop
him...

"NO, Please don't hurt me!!!" he said with panic in his face.

"Relax, come on its okay. That is behind us I only said it because I forgot
and the way you said mall brought it right back to me... and you
know... it's not important. Come with me Todd lets go upstairs I forgive
you and I am pretty sure you knew that before you came here or you wouldn't
have left your house would you?"

"I don't know Tommy I was so upset that I didn't think about the mall I
just walked out..."

He grew quiet.

"Well let's go to my room, we can discuss all of it there in private. There
are way too many ears around here for any personal discussions."

He followed me up the steps and into my room I shut my door and before I
could get my bearings and turn around he was all over me. He came to me and
hugged me.


"I'm really sorry for what I did at the mall Tommy, please forgive me I
don't have anyone now and I am really upset and hurt... please..."

He began crying into my shoulder and I just held the cute boy and let him
go for a minute. I must be a magnet for this stuff I thought to
myself. Slowly he regained his composure and pulled away from me wiping his
face with his hands. I gave him a few tissues. I always kept a box by the
bed for occasions like this. Around here they seem to happen a lot.

"You okay now Todd?"


"Not really all I did was cry I need to talk to you about this really
badly."

"Okay it sounds serious."

"It is... to me at least."

"Sure. I sat on my bed and he came over and sat next to me no more than two
feet away. He was a mess. Wet tear stained face and red eyes. He really
looked like he needed a friend and he certainly was cute enough to want to
help. So talk to me big guy, what is so bad?"

"Well... I don't even know how to say it... my brother hates me for who I
am." He said quietly.

"Who are you?"

He paused again for a short while. He seemed to be trying to form the words
or something. He looked at me, went to speak and nothing came out.

"Sorry this is really hard."

I thought to myself I wish something else was to but anyway...


"That's okay take your time I am not going anywhere."

"Thanks. But anyway... my brother... I tried to tell him something really
important and hard to say and when I finally got the nerve to say it he
shut me out."

It was starting to make sense now... but I will let him say it first.

"And what did you tell him that hurt you or him?"

"It hurt me and confused him..."

"Okay and it was?"

"That I think I am... or might be gay... I'll go if you don't want to hear
anymore now Tommy just please don't laugh at me."

"I promise I won't laugh but I am going to smile."

"Why, how can you smile at a time like this?"

"It's easy because I am gay Todd."

His face brightened up like the sun suddenly came out.

"NO? Are you serious?"

"Yes I am, a lot of the guys here are... and for now I will leave it at
that."

"Wow, wholly shit!" he said.

I started to laugh now at his comment.

"I promise I am not laughing at you but at what you said."

"That's okay. He grabbed another tissue and blew his nose. I am just so
happy you said that to me."

"Yeah I bet. Feel like telling me more now?"

"Hell yeah. I am so happy I came here tonight I wasn't sure and I just
wanted to die..."

"Well you can forget about it now Toddster..."

There I go again with the cute nicknames. He laughed when I called him
that.

"I sorta like that."

"Good I am glad because I didn't think before I said it, it just came out."

He was smiling now.

"Tommy I am sooooooo glad I came over here."

"Me too Todd, me too. So... tell me more about your problem and maybe I can
help."

"Yeah? You really think so?"

"Probably. I mean haven't I already?"

"Oh yeah of course but my brother, he is a tough one..."

"One step at a time Todd, one at a time..."

"I tried talking to him a few times...he said, overnight at the motel
and... well, you know... but he just listened the first time and believe me
that was tough enough I had to force it out and at him. It was painful."

"So what did he do?"

"I think he tried to deny it like it couldn't be possible. How can your
twin be gay? I didn't know how to act towards him, he really told me he
didn't want to talk about it and I forced him to."

"By doing what?"

"Stripping... Sorta in front of him... he wouldn't look and I stood there
half naked until he finally looked at me and then he got up and walked
away. But before that when I first admitted it to him I was the one who
went into the bathroom to hide."

"It sounds like both of you do a lot of hiding from your problems."

"I know, at least I got the courage to admit what I felt. He ran away..."

"But when you were confronted the first time you told him you took off too
so when he did it why did that make it worse or different?"

"I don't know I never thought about it past the point where I just thought
he was running from me."

"Todd, you are twelve, thirteen?"

"Around there but that has nothing to do with this."

"I was just trying to make a point."

"Oh, sorry."

"Look Todd no matter what happened you put your brother in a tough spot
either by being naked in front of him or just by what you told him."

"But Tommy we... oh forget it."

"Its okay Todd you can say anything."

"I know but what I was going to say was wrong so I stopped."

"Oh then that's different."

"What do you think I can do Tommy I need my brother back he is all I have."

"Talk to him and see if he wants to talk about it if he doesn't ask him
nicely if he will talk about it with me. See how he feels when you say that
to him."

"I can almost tell you now Tommy. He has enough trouble talking to me alone
I can't see him talking in front of you about gay stuff. I think you would
have a better chance of getting him naked."

"Now there is a thought... I said jokingly and laughed. I would be up for
that."

He looked at me like I couldn't be serious.

"I was kidding you Todd don't be so uptight."

"Look Tommy I appreciate that you want to help but right now I am sorry but
I am not in a joking mood."

"Then maybe that's a little part of your problem."

"Huh?"

"Loosen up some don't be so hard... so tight that he can feel your
pressure... he is your twin you two have a special bond right?"

He shook his head yes,

"Then he knows, you know it don't you? You can sense him at times."

"How do you know so much Tommy I didn't say anything about that but you are
right."

"I know a lot at my age."

Now he smiled.

"I bet you do." He said.

"I bet I know something right now that is in your head that you are afraid
to talk about."

I waited to see if he would take the bait. He paused a while and seemed to
think about what I said.

"What do you mean Tommy?"

"I will say it but I don't want you to get all bent out of shape."

I had him going some but I could tell he wasn't totally okay with this yet.

"Okay I promise I won't."

"Okay then... you are thinking about sex, since I said I was gay too the
first thing that came into your mind was wow another gay person I wonder if
he is..."

Then I stopped. The look on his face was priceless.


"Tommy that's not fair how can you? How do you... are you a mind reader?"

I laughed. He was looking a bit stunned.

"No my friend I have just been there before. Remember I am gay and I have
had those same thoughts and feelings at one time. Years ago when I had my
first encounter with another boy. It's a special time your first time with
another guy. Its something you never forget, you are scared, excited and
lots of other things I won't embarrass you with."

I watched him now and waited for his reply he seemed to be a bit shocked or
maybe numb to what I said.

"All I can say is the more I am with you the more I like you Tommy. You
really know how to make me feel comfortable. Thanks."

"You are welcome. Is there anything else you want me to do?"

He thought for a second.

"I don't think so...I... nah its okay I am feeling better now."

"Well if you want it you have to ask I don't want to be that forward."

"I think I'd better go Tommy I appreciate everything you have done but I
feel a little weird now."

I got up and he did too. I looked down and I think he is sporting a little
wood. I looked at him down there and then up at his eyes.

"So you really are okay then?"

He turned a little red.

"Look Todd its okay man we just had a serious sex chat, well a small one
but its okay man..."

He put his hands in front of his semi-hard boner.

"I think I better get going now I feel really awkward... and..."

I walked over to him in a very low tone I spoke.

"It's totally okay to get hard Todd. You don't have to be embarrassed and
you don't have to do anything, you are free to leave or stay."

I looked him in the eyes.

"I don't know Tommy this is just weird, I am scared."

I brought him over to my bed.

"Sit." I said softly.

He sat. I sat next to him. I put my hand on his arm.

"You okay with that?"

He nodded yes. I moved it down and to his belly.

"How about that?"

He nodded again. I took his arms and moved them aside and I could see his
hardness better now.

"Okay you stop me anytime you want."

I reached out and put a finger on top of his hard spot. His eyes closed and
his cheeks got a bit redder. I ran my finger over it twice and he seemed to
shudder. I moved my hand away and he opened his eyes.

"How was that?"

He smiled...

"Good, but different."

"Have you been with another guy before Toddster?"

"No, he smiled wryly at me. I am afraid to even look at the guys when we
change in the locker room I didn't ever want them knowing..."

I moved my hand back and ran my fingers over his stiff tool, around and
around a few times.

"Want more?"

"Yes and no."

"Okay then I will stop. I am not going to do anything that would make you
feel uncomfortable."

I got up and headed to my bathroom. I went in and did nothing and came back
out quickly to give him time to think.

"You are free to go Todd I don't want you to think badly of me and I don't
want to hurt or embarrass you."

"I am okay Tommy it's just new and exciting. But what you did felt
awesome."

Now he smiled. Still timidly and with red cheeks.

"So do I go farther or what?"

"I don't know it's just hard..."

"I know it is I felt it."

That seemed to do it he started laughing. I finally broke the ice with him
some.

"Guess I got ya huh?"

He shook his head yes. I sat back down.

"Now you can stop me anytime you want and I will listen."

I moved in closer to him and he watched me as I got in his face. I was
about to give him his first boy kiss. I put one hand on his shoulder and
held him as I moved in. He didn't say anything but he took a deep breath
and exhaled as I got in close. I took my chance and brought my lips to his
and gave him a fast but firm kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes and
kissed me back. I held it for about ten seconds and then backed off. He
opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Did you like it?"

"Uh huh."

He seemed a little shocked. I reached out and put my hand back in his
crotch and felt around a bit. He got soft from the time I walked away but
now I felt him jump in his pants and start to grow again as I moved my hand
over his cock.

"That feels good." He said.

"Lay back on my pillow."

He did as I asked.

I reached up and went for his jeans button I undid it and then went for his
zipper. He let me do it without moving. I pulled the zipper down and then
pulled apart his jeans to expose his boxers. I reached down and gave them a
tug and he let me pull them off. He was as red as a beet but not stopping
me. I dropped his jeans on the floor and saw his hardness standing straight
up in his boxers. I looked into his eyes and he broke a quick smile at
me. I reached out and touched him gently and he gasped as my finger made
his hard tool jump a bit. Once again I swirled my finger around his hard
tool and his eyes closed. I went to the slit in his boxers and got my first
look at his uncut boy cock. I thought I felt that from the outside but I
wasn't sure. By now it was doing its best to poke up through the extra skin
and was standing up and out the end of his boxers a few inches. He had to
be close to five inches my best guess. I pulled it up and out of there and
pushed the boxers flush against his body. I now had him out and standing
straight up for me. He watched me vigilantly as I reached out for it and
took hold of him for the first time. As I grabbed him his whole body shook
for a brief second.

"Wow..." he said quietly.

I ran my thumb and index finger up and down the length of his hard cock and
he closed his eyes, a few more strokes and he appeared to be drooling a bit
from his lip. I stroked him up and down and he wasn't moving anymore. After
a good minute of this I felt a bit of wetness on top of his cock. I had
him. I just stroked for another minute and applied more and more pressure
to his tender spot under the head of his cock. He seemed to be getting to
the point now where he was going to lose it. After another minute he opened
his eyes and looked at me.

"I am gonna cum soon if you keep doing that."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No but it's gonna get messy I cum a lot."

I smiled at him.

"Good then you enjoy this."

I went back to stroking him off and he closed his eyes again and I could
tell he was there. His breathing was rapid and his body was moving like he
was about to explode. Another ten or twenty seconds of stroking his cock
and he took a deep breath and yelled out or moaned something and the next
thing I knew he was erupting all over. He fired two shots straight up and
they landed on his boxers. The next shot landed on his shirt and the next
one all but dribbled out as I squeezed some before letting go. His face was
red and he had sweat on his forehead from this. I just let him go and
watched him. He seemed to fall asleep but he was moving a little. His hand
found his cock and he milked it a bit stroking his foreskin back and forth
over the head of his cock. He was loving it no doubt about it! I wanted to
reach out and take it again but I didn't. I wasn't going to ruin the moment
for anything. I `got' another one... I laughed inside but outside I tried
to stay focused on what I just did. All I hoped was he wasn't going to be
too upset that I took advantage of him in his vulnerable state a few
minutes ago.

"Damn that felt awesome! I thought I wasn't going to stop cumming."

He sat up.

"I am a mess!"

I laughed.

"Yes you are and you probably need a shower."

"Can I take one before I go?"

"Sure I have one in here so you can undress in there or right here and show
me the rest of your awesome body."

He got red again as I embarrassed him once more.

"I hope you don't mind but that was really nice and all but I think maybe I
need a little privacy."

"Sure Todd. I will go for a bit. There are towels on the shelf in there and
you do what you want I will be back shortly for you."

"Thanks Tommy."

I got up to leave.

"Tom?"

I turned to him.

"Yeah?"

"That was so awesome. Thanks for what you did, it really made me forget
about this stuff for a while and I needed that."

I smiled and headed to the door at the door I looked back at him,

"Todd? He looked at me. Thank you for that. It was a great present for me
too. I was very happy with it and I can't tell you what it was like for me
to be your first."

I gave him the thumbs up and he smiled. He got up and I walked out of my
room shutting the door behind me. I'll come back in a bit and see how far
along he is but right now I am going to see who is playing in the game
room. It was about 10pm now and most of the boys were either in their room,
or in the game room there wasn't much middle ground here. I thought about
checking on Zack but he needs to really have time with no one for now. I
walked into the game room and was surprised at how many were there
including another boy from next door. Austin was here from next door. I
guess he made friends right away and with him was Jeremy, Shawn, Jordan,
Billy, Joey, Kyle, Luke and Caleb--they were in there all having some form
of fun. Right now Shawn was playing Caleb. I walked in and sat in basically
the only open spot at the end of the couch and everyone acknowledged me
that saw me.

"Hey guys." I said.

That caused Shawn to turn around when he heard my voice. I don't know what
happened but when Shawn looked at me Caleb yelled and a few guys
cheered. Then Shawn looked a little mad at the game. I watched and
understood little that was happening. I was getting better at understanding
it but it still confused me some. I stayed for about five minutes and then
got up to go back up to Todd.

"Where ya going?" Jordan asked me as I got up. He was sitting next to me
and sorta leaning on me.

"Back upstairs I have something to do."

"Oh okay when you are done come back down I like leaning on you."

I smiled at him and Shawn turned around again when Jordan said that. He
must be jealous and his radar was zoned in on what Jordan said to me. I
walked out of the room and headed back upstairs. When I entered my room I
went over to the bathroom door and the shower water just cut out. He must
be getting out now. I heard him fumble for a towel and I guess he was
drying off. A few minutes later he came out with the towel wrapped around
his waist and nothing else on. I couldn't resist...

"Wow look at that body."

He smiled shyly at me again. Almost like he didn't know how to react.

"My clothes are a mess Tommy I cant put them back on they are all stained
and full of... he stopped short of saying cum. They are stained."

"So I guess you have to go home with just that towel then." I said joking.

He looked at me and wasn't sure until I smiled.

"You are really hard to read sometimes. That's not fair."

"Wait until you get to know me better it will be okay."

"Yeah but how do I get even?"

I laughed.

"Mostly you don't but sometimes someone gets me."

"Yeah well I guess you owe me a few from what happened..."

"Forget about that. I have a really good looking stud in front of me at the
moment and that is plenty of payback."

He got red again.

"Boy Toddster it's not hard to make you..." I didn't finish it.

I walked over to him and looked at him.

"You clean up really well. I leaned in and stole another quick kiss from
him on the lips. Want me to take that towel down and..."

"Ummm... he was stuttering like crazy. I...I..."

I put my hands on his shoulders.

"Relax...take a deep breath and relax. No one is going to hurt you or
embarrass you here."

"More then you already did Tommy?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I know, it's not all bad but its so new that its scary."

"Then I guess its scary good."

"Yeah, something like that."

I went over to the closet and pulled out a pair of sweats.

"They should fit you just fine."

I watched him after I handed them to him and he went to head back to the
bathroom.

"Todd?"

He stopped and turned to me.

"Come here... I waved my finger at him. Its okay Todd just come over here."

He came to me holding the sweats. I reached out slowly and grabbed for his
towel. He didn't stop me.

"You are doing great. I said as I pulled the towel away from him. He smiled
at me... put the sweats on there is nothing to be ashamed of I just made
you cum what can be more special than that. I already know what you have
down there."

He smiled somewhat and slid them on in front of me.

"All better now?"

"Yeah I guess. You sure have this way about you Tommy... you make it okay
and I don't understand how you do it."

"Charm and understanding..." I said.

He smiled again. I moved in and gave him another kiss but this one was on
top of his head.

"I am a real charmer when I want to be."


I turned and got a pair of socks and handed them to him.

"Thanks."

"You are welcome boy with the killer body."

"Will you stop that... you keep embarrassing me."

I smiled at him and this time he smiled back.

"Its not all that bad is it?"

"No it's nice to have someone care for you and pay attention to me for a
change."

He went and sat on my bed and put the socks on.

"And, I said it's nice to be appreciated from someone too."

He got up after his socks were on.

"Yeah its great to feel so much better now like the weight of the world was
kinda lifted off my shoulders some."

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Wait until I try to work my charm on your brother and then see how you
feel."

"You can try but he is tough Tommy, he can be really pig headed."

"Good, I said, I like a challenge. You want to do this now?"

"Ummm do you think we can?"

"Sure I will follow you back over to your room and we can talk now while
you are into this. I think if you sleep on it you might have second
thoughts about doing it tomorrow. I would rather do this while I have your
ego all pumped up and ready."

"Boy you sure know how to put things." He said.

"Sometimes I do, sometimes it backfires really bad. I am only human."

He laughed.

"You could have fooled me. You got to me like no one ever did before I
didn't think anyone would ever get in my pants the way I felt about
things."

"And I bet you never thought you could admit that too without turning red."
I said to him.

"Yeah! You gave me confidence too!"

"Let's take that confidence next door and work on Ryan."

I had him a little fired up now as I handed him a shirt to go with his
sweats.

"I want them back when you are done with them."

"But I like them, can't I keep them as a gift from you to remember tonight
by?"

"Sure Todd, no problem."

We headed out and down to the front door. He grabbed his coat and I took
mine too as we headed out. It was past midnight now and I hoped we weren't
locked out from his house as we walked over there.

Shawn and a few others including Austin saw Tommy leave with Todd. That
raised a bunch of questions. None that could be answered, only guessed at
by the boys. But Shawn looked at Caleb and asked him if he knew anything
about Todd.

"All I know is he was with Travis and Mike that night I was hurt badly and
he was the one who hit Tommy with the wood."

Shawn's eyes lit up.

"He hurt TJ?"

"Yup." Caleb said.

"Wow I wonder why he was here."

"Me too." Caleb added.

"He is having problems with his brother, Austin the big mouth said after
Caleb said that. They have been fighting a little lately especially on the
way here on the RV, they didn't get along at all."

"Oh... Shawn said. I bet he was here because he needed someone to talk to
then."

"You mean Tommy would still talk to him after he hit him with that wood?"
Caleb asked.

"You don't know Tommy, Kay...(Short for Caleb) like I do. TJ would help
anyone if they needed it, he is really awesome and I love him very much."

"I know that Shawn I have seen you two together. You have a special place
in his heart that was easy to see." Caleb said to him.

"What does that mean?" Austin asked.

"That means I love him more than anything."

"Ewwww you love another guy that's gross."

Shawn thought for a moment and had a fast response to Austin's comment.

"Look I don't know why you said that Austin but in this house Tommy is
king, he saved my life and a few of the other boys lives too and no one
better ever talk bad about him!"


Shawn was getting mad. Kyle walked over after listening to all this from a
distance.  He put his hands on Shawn's shoulders.

"Relax bud, I am sure Austin didn't mean anything by what he said. He
looked at Austin... did you?" he said to him.

"Well I thought it was kinda gay the way Shawn said it."

Shawn went to open his mouth and Kyle put his hand right over it and looked
at him.

"NO! Not another word." He said.

A few of the boys were watching now as they started to get a crowd. Billy,
Joey, DJ, and Jon were all standing back and taking all this in, Shawn
looked at Kyle and the respect he had for him paid off. He didn't say
another word as Kyle took his hand away.

"Austin I think its time for you to go home now. You are welcomed back
tomorrow but for tonight I think you should go besides its well after
midnight and you should head back before you get in trouble or locked out."

"Okay Kyle, thanks for having me here." He grabbed his coat and headed out
the door.

When the door was shut Kyle looked at Shawn.

"You know why I stopped you don't you?"

"Not really but I know you well enough that you had a good reason."

"Exactly...Jon said as he walked over to them interrupting Kyle and
Shawn... IF you would have said what we think you were going to say then
Austin would have gone home tonight knowing we had some gay guys here and
then all of them would have known."

"Oh I didn't think about that at all. I was just mad at what he said,"
Shawn said to him.

Kyle looked at Jon.

"Ya know sometimes I don't know where you get your smarts from." He smiled
at Jon.

The room started laughing, a good positive laugh.

"I learned a few things from your brother Kyle. I guess he rubbed off on me
some."

More laughter.

"Yeah he seems to be rubbing off on a lot of us now. Kyle added then he
looked at Shawn. I know you love my brother more than anything but if you
would have said something to Austin... we would have problems. He turned
and looked at everyone that was there. `IT' looks like Austin is a big
mouth and will say whatever is on his mind so guys lets be a little careful
about how and what we say in front of the new guys for now okay?"

He got the point across as almost everyone in the house heard him.

"Okay since that is over we are okay, Kyle said we need to get used to the
new boys slowly and even though I think Austin might be a good kid he seems
to be the type that will do anything to get brownie points."

"What are brownie points?" Shawn asked Kyle.

"When you learn something good or bad and probably personal about someone
and tell everyone about it to get on their good side and then you become a
gossip."

"Oh so you mean Austin is a big mouth."

"Exactly." Kyle answered as the others laughed again at what he called
Austin.

"Well guys it's late, Jon said I am gonna go to bed." He looked at Shawn.

"I am going in there tonight okay?"

Shawn shook his head yes.

"Good night guys." Jon said.

Everyone headed off to do whatever as the meeting broke up. Kyle waited for
everyone to scatter before he went into his room with Luke and shut his
door.

"Well that was interesting. Luke said to Kyle. I didn't know what to expect
after that Austin kid opened his mouth to Shawn like that."

"Yeah I know I was just glad I was there or Shawn would have started the
whole mess we are trying to avoid right now."

"I know, Luke said but eventually it's gonna come out and they are going to
find out next door that a lot of us are gay won't they?"

"Probably but I know Tommy and he will do damage control when he has
to. There is no one better then him when it comes to protecting all of us."

"Yeah I know what you mean Kyle I have seen it plenty not that you aren't
good either mister, you saved me."

He went over and gave Kyle a kiss after he said that and they made out a
little where they stood in Kyle's room.


Back over at the other house...

After they left the house they got a little side tracked as Tommy and Todd
walked over to the garage and they started talking about what they might
say to Ryan and a few other things came up so before they knew it, it was
even later. Finally Tommy and Todd headed over and just walked in and
immediately Kate walked over to see what was going on and why Todd was
coming in so late.

"Why were you out this late and why didn't you tell one of us?" she scolded
Todd.

"I was having a problem and needed to talk to someone."

"It's a good thing I was up for you and Austin. We locked the door before
and neither of you would have been able to get in without making noise."

"Then I guess we got lucky." Todd said to Kate with a little attitude.

Kate just gave him a look and kept talking like the typical woman and
didn't miss a beat...

"Oh well there are plenty of people here you didn't have to go bother
Tommy."

"It wasn't a bother Kate, it was sorta important and I am here to try and
resolve the rest of this."

"Oh I see. It sounds like there is a problem then."

"There is, Todd said and I am sorry but its private and if you will excuse
us I need to go to my brother now."

She looked at him and then at Tommy.

"Sure I just hope everything is all right."

"Me too. Todd said to her, I don't want to argue with Ryan anymore."

He took off and Tommy waved at Kate and she smiled at him before going back
to tend to Joel which is why she was up at this hour as it was. Tommy
followed Todd into his room and Todd shut the door.

"Ryan you remember Tommy?"

"Yes we talked at the mall he was pretty cool to talk to."

"Thanks Ryan I hope you feel the same way after we are done talking this
time."

He got this serious look on his face after Tommy said that.

"What's going on Todd?"

"I brought Tommy over because we need to talk."

"No not this again and not with a stranger here especially not with someone
from outside!"

"Look Ryan, Todd came to me tonight really upset and he asked for my
help. I understand if you don't want to talk to me but how about you do
this for him. He is really hurting big guy, how about listening a little?"

"Tommy I am sorry but this is a private thing and I really don't want to
discuss it with you or my brother right now."

"Okay then just sit and listen. I'll talk."

"No Tommy, I don't want anything to happen at all?"

Todd stepped up with his new found confidence and got in his brother
face...

"Well guess what brother like it or not you are going to listen, Tommy did
and he helped me tonight and he made me feel like we can work this out and
now its your turn so how about it? If you don't want to say anything then
just listen but we are going to work this out tonight like it or not."

Ryan was taken aback some by his brothers sudden forward attitude and said
nothing for a change. So far it was working... so far...Todd had his
attention as I stood and watched.

"So we need to discuss me being gay." Todd said.

"And Tommy doesn't have a problem with this? He looked at me. You are okay
with him being gay?" asked Ryan.

"No why should I?" I said saying no more and hoping that the truth didn't
come out about me even though I know it will shortly.

"Because it's not every day that someone admits they are gay and wants to
talk about it in front of a total stranger."

"Well I am not a total stranger am I?"

"I don't know you that well." Ryan said.

"Yeah but I know him good enough to trust him at least he listened to me
tonight when I went over there to talk to him."

"So you talked to him what did you do tell him everything about us Todd?
Geeze now what does he know... that we argue and you did tell him about
what you did in front of me that time did you?"

Todd didn't answer him and he looked at me. Then back at Todd.

"Awww man you told him that? I can't believe you did that. It was
embarrassing and private Todd how could you!!"

His voice was growing progressively louder as this continued on. He looked
at me and got up off his bed.

"How much do you know?"

"I know enough to tell you that I think you aren't being fair to your
brother and he cares a lot about you. I think..."

He cut me off.

"I really don't care what you think mister, to me you are an outsider and
as far as I am concerned you can leave now and I will deal with my
brother."

He was very loud now and there was little doubt that anyone outside the
room could hear him.

"Look Ryan what is wrong with you that you have to be so stubborn about
this?" Todd asked him.

"I just don't feel right discussing this with an outsider."

"But he isn't an outsider to me Ryan he is a friend and he knows what he is
talking about."

"How do you know Todd you act like you have spent a lot of time with him,
what is he gay too?"

I was to the point where I had enough, between his yelling and screaming I
was surprised that Bryan wasn't in here yet. I walked over to him.

"You want to keep your voice down it's almost 1am and most of this house is
asleep."

"No I am pissed off and I am not going to keep my voice down, fuck them if
they don't like it!"

Now I got in his face and as quietly as possible I said this to him.

"Now look Ryan you are really starting to piss me off with your attitude,
your brother is having a hard time dealing with this and he needs your
help. He is all the family you have and I would think you would at least
have an open mind to this."

"I don't have an open mind to being gay. I do care about him Tommy but I
don't like your attitude or you butting into our private business. I think
you should leave now!"

"And I think you should shut the hell up and listen to Todd! How do you
like that?"

He walked over to me and got in my face. He wasn't even close to my size
nor did he even come close to scaring me.

"You might want to back that attitude down some Ryan before you do
something you will regret."

"Screw you, you are in my house and in my bedroom!"

Just then Bryan stormed in. It's about time with all the yelling I thought
he would have been here a while ago.

"What the hell is going on in here? Its freakin 1 am and I have to be woke
up by screaming? Tommy why are you here?"

"Because my brother brought him into this house and I want him to leave."

"Ryan you need to calm down some boy before you say the wrong thing. If it
weren't for Tommy we would still be at the mall and you wouldn't have a
room."

"Screw him, he is trying to butt into my personal business with Todd and I
don't need that from any outsider!"

Bryan looked at me. He didn't know what to say to me.

"Sorry Tommy I don't know what to tell you he is being a total ass!"

"I am being a total ass why don't both of you get the fuck out of my room
and leave me and Todd alone!!"

I had heard enough and wasn't about to tolerate his tone or cursing
anymore. I looked at Bryan and then him he was standing a few feet from me.

"Don't look at me just leave!" he said to me.

"Ryan you might want to step down some bud you are getting seriously close
to going way overboard for the rules of this house." Bryan said to him.

I took another step towards Ryan and Todd came over.

"Please Tommy don't... I know he is being a total ass but please its okay
don't do anything."

I looked at Todd and then at Ryan.

"You have to make a decision right now boy either back your voice down some
and listen here or deal with what I am about to do to you."

"I don't have to make any decision Thomas, you however need to get the fuck
out of this room right now."

I looked at Todd.

"He was warned, I had enough."

He shrugged his shoulders like he was at a loss and didn't know what to say
anymore. I took both hands and shoved hard into his chest sending him
flying off his feet and back onto his bed. He was like putty. He hit the
bed and bounced into the wall and as soon as he got his bearings he got up
and came at me.

"You best stop now Ryan before you get hurt." I said quickly.

"Screw you ass hole!"


He came at me again and went to swing. I dodged his punch and as softly as
I could landed a shot into his stomach and he went down like a ton of
bricks falling from a truck. That should end it.

"I'm sorry I had to do that Todd but he was being totally obnoxious."

"I know Tommy." He said as he went over to him.

He knelt down in front of Ryan and tried to help him but he pushed him away
even in his condition gasping for air. Todd stood up and came over to
me. He was visibly upset.

"Just leave him be and catch his breath and then we will see what he has to
say Todd."

By now the entire house was outside the door and watching what they could
see from out there. Kate pushed her way in and went over to Ryan. She bent
over and tried to help Ryan to his feet and he allowed this. What was he
going to do play the sympathy hand now with the woman of the house? She
helped him to the bed and he sat down. He had his wind back now.

"Tommy slugged me." He said to her.

She looked at me and then at Bryan

"What happened here?"

"He was being a total ass and wouldn't listen. He just kept telling us to
get out of his room and telling Tommy to get out of his house."

She looked at him.

"This might be your room but it's not your house and you need to calm down
and respect this person Ryan. He is why we are here."

"Yeah I already heard that and I don't care."

Now she heard his tone and realized there was a problem. She looked at me.

"Can you tell me what happened in here?"

"Yes I can but I don't want to get into it right now its private and its up
to the boys to tell you."

"Okay fair enough." She said.

I looked past her to Ryan.

"Are you going to listen or do I have to come back over there?"

"No fuck you!"

"RYAN! Kate yelled out at him. I will not listen to or tolerate any of that
language in this house.

"Look I can't take anymore of this tonight I want everyone out of my room
now!" Ryan said.

"We aren't going anywhere until you talk to us!" I said.

"I am not talking anymore tonight this is over!" he screamed back at me.

"Please Ryan we need to get past this and if we don't tonight then I don't
know if we ever will."

"I told you I am done talking now if everyone doesn't clear out of here I
am going to leave myself!"

I looked at Ryan and then Kate and Bryan.

"Maybe we should let him go if he wants to leave, after all there aren't
too many places for a smart ass thirteen year old to go around here and
stay warm."

"Fuck you Tommy!"

"Ryan if you say that once more then maybe you should leave. I am beginning
to think I made a mistake when I asked you to come with us. I always
thought you were a good kid and you never gave us any problems at the
mall." Kate said to him.

"That's because I didn't have any problems like this at the mall. We lived
fine and maybe it would have been better to stay there!"

"What problems? Kate asked what can be so bad that you are acting this way
in front of all of us?"

"Yeah Ryan what is so bad that you let this get so far out of hand?" Bryan
asked him.

"Come on Ryan give me a chance I don't want you leaving me." Todd said.

Everyone was barking something at him and then finally it got quiet and I
looked at him.

"Ryan this can all be resolved right now if you just talk to your brother
and me about this."

"No, no, NO! I am not talking to anyone about my fucking gay brother!"

Todd looked at Ryan. He had tears in his eyes.

"No Ryan no...he whined...why did you have to say that."

The entire place was silent. Everyone looked at Todd and he turned as red
as a beet and stormed out of the room. I went after him but there were too
many people in the way and he was out the front door before I could catch
him. I went back inside and looked at Ryan.

"I hope you are proud of yourself after that because I swear if I can't
find him I am gonna hang you from the nearest tree by your underwear!"

I turned and left the house as everyone including Kate and Bryan was
clamoring over the bombshell that Ryan just let fly. One by one they left
his room and left him alone in it. Kate looked at him, shook her head and
pulled his door shut.

"I don't know what we are going to do now! was all she said as she walked
away.

He was alone in his room and at the moment didn't have a friend in this
world. I turned and grabbed my coat off the chair in the hall and left
their house to go look for Todd. I couldn't imagine how he felt right now
after his brother let him down like that. Even I felt embarrassed for him
right now. I walked around quietly for a bit strolling and searching for
him but so far he wasn't anywhere to be seen. I started calling out his
name without screaming and I walked for another five minutes without seeing
him. I went up and down past my house and then back up to his and I was
about ready to give up. I yelled out his name once more at loud as I could
no longer caring if anyone heard me. I stopped and listened but all I heard
was the wind whipping through the few leaves that were left on the trees. I
wanted to kill Ryan for what he did but mostly I wanted to find the lonely
cute boy who probably thinks his life is over. I didn't know what else to
do so I headed back towards my house. I got up to the front door and it
opened and Kyle came out.

"What's wrong bro? I heard you yelling out Todd's name. What happened?"

I told him quickly what happened back at their house, the real short
version and that Todd stormed out afterwards and he looked like he wanted
to be sick.

"Wow that's tough TJ. So you have been looking and you can't find him?"

"No I looked as far as I could in the dark and called for him but he is no
where to be found."

"Do you want my help?"

"You know I might take another look but... I stopped talking because I
heard a noise. Hold on Kyle I heard something."

"Yeah I did too."

I walked down the driveway and looked around and out of no where almost
scaring the shit out of me Todd came to me. Kyle was a few feet away and I
waved him away. He understood and headed back up the driveway. I took Todd
into my arms and held him. He just cried. He calmed some after a minute and
was freezing cold. He ran out without a coat and was shivering now. I
wasn't sure if it was because he was so cold or because he was so scared
and hurt. I took my coat off and draped it over his shoulders and we walked
back up the driveway. I had my arm around him and when Kyle saw us coming
he went back inside to give us some privacy. I went over and opened the
garage door not caring how much noise it made and we went inside. It was
probably the most secluded spot at this hour with heat. As the door shut
the overhead lights took over and I looked into Todd's eyes.

"You are going to be okay you know. Even if you don't realize it right now
you came to me and I will make sure you are okay now."

He hugged me without saying a word and sobbed once again. I just held him
tightly and let him be. It was way past 2am now and I was pretty sure he
was going to stay here tonight so I walked him into the basement and up the
steps to the first floor after he finally calmed down enough to be quiet.

"You want something to drink before we go upstairs?"

"No thanks." He mumbled.

"Okay then lets go to my room."

Without anyone bothering us even though I know someone had their eyes on us
I walked him up the steps and went into my room. The only question was
would there be anyone in my bed. I opened the door and flipped on the light
and thankfully the room was empty. I shut the door and we were back to
where we started a few hours ago. I took my coat off of him and put it on
the chair by the door.

"You can stay here tonight and sleep here and tomorrow we will try to work
this out after we get some sleep."

"Thanks Tommy." He said quietly.

I locked my door so we would have privacy.


"I am going to undress for bed. My bed is quite big as you know so you are
welcome to sleep with me or sleep on the sofa over there. It's totally up
to you."

To give him a break I wore my boxers tonight since I didn't want to further
embarrass him now. He went over to the sofa and got on it. I handed him an
extra pillow and a blanket before I turned out the lights and got into
bed. When things finally settled down and the room was quiet I heard him
sob again and I wanted to go to him but I decided to give him space. I lay
there for a bit listening to him and eventually he stopped but he was
squirming around a lot. I finally started to doze off to sleep and I felt
the bed move.

"Tommy, I am sorry to bother you but I can't sleep can I come into bed with
you?"

"Sure pal be my guest I promise I won't touch or bother you at all."

"Thanks but I think I would feel better if you would do that. I could
really use someone right now. I don't have anyone else anymore."

He sniffed back the tears and climbed in next to me and put his pillow
down. He got comfortable and I scooted over a little and was a few feet
from him.

"Is it okay if I get closer?"

"Sure, as close as you want." I said.

He moved in right next to me and got close enough that I could touch him.

"Thanks for everything Tommy." He whispered to me.

"You are welcome big guy."

He turned facing the other way and slowly slid closer to me and before I
knew it he was backing into me enough so that we touched. His butt into my
crotch. It felt nice but weird too. I put my arm out onto his side and he
reached up and took hold of it for a second and gave it a squeeze before
letting go and then he finally fell asleep. So did I. The night seemed to
fly by and the room was lit up with the morning sun before I knew it. Todd
was on the other side of the bed now a few feet away from me as I opened my
eyes to check on him. At least he slept through the night. I thought to
myself. He was facing me as he slept and I watched him for a while. He
didn't wake but he really looked cute and innocent as he lay there. I
thought about last night and all the shit that went down and then I thought
about how happy I made him in this bed earlier before all the shit happened
and I smiled. I dozed back off to sleep for a bit and woke back up when he
started to move across from me. I opened my eyes and looked at him once
again and this time he was awake.

"Morning sport? How did you sleep?"

"Really good considering how scared and worried I was when I got here."

"I told you I would take care of you somehow."

He smiled at me.

"Yeah I know. I am glad I believed in you. I wish I were with my brother
right now and all this was a dream Tommy but I can't bring myself to think
anything good about him now. All I keep thinking is how he outted me last
night and how horrible I felt when everyone looked at me and I ran out of
there crying. Tommy I don't think I can ever face them again."

"You can stay here for a while and think about what you want to do. No one
is going to rush you out of here or back to your house next door. I will go
over later and see how bad things are and come back and let you know okay?"

"Yeah, thanks I appreciate that."

We didn't say anymore for a while I just looked at the cute teenager in my
bed and he looked at me and tried to smile.

"You will be fine Todd just relax and don't think about it too much."

He didn't reply he just laid there and listened to me. A few minutes later
there was a knock on my door and I got up to see who it was. It was Shawn
and I invited him in so I could explain all this to him. Todd sat up and
they looked at each other for a second.

"Why is he in your bed TJ?"

"It's a long story cutie, I will tell you about it in a little bit okay?"

"Sure TJ. He looked at Todd. Are you okay?" he asked.

"Not really Shawn but thanks for asking."

He sat up and put his feet on the floor. Then he got up and walked to the
bathroom in his boxers. Shawn looked at me.

"I don't know why he is here TJ but he looks so sad."

"He is cutie he had a very bad night and his brother told the whole house
he was gay and he left crying." I said to him in a very low voice.

"Wow that sucks big time! At least I know why he is here now."

"Yeah sorry I couldn't tell you last night but we didn't get back here
until after 2am."

"Wow, Jon was supposed to be in here last night was he when you got home?"

"No cutie my room was empty."

"I guess that's a good thing right now huh?"

"Yeah for once an empty room was a good thing."

I took hold of him and gave him a tight hug and he returned it.

"I love you TJ, you are really great to all of us and now to Todd too."

"I love you too cutie."

As I said that Todd came back out and saw us hugging.

"At least you have love here Tommy. I have nothing now."

Shawn looked at him and then looked at me. He got up and walked over to
Todd and out of no where just gave him a hug. Todd looked perplexed at
first and then he looked at me and I nodded it was okay to him and he
returned Shawn's hug. It was so cute. Shawn really is a love. They broke
their hug and Shawn looked at him.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you last night Todd. I am glad you are
here with us."

Todd looked at me and then back at him like he was confused.

"Its okay Todd, I told him a little, I trust Shawn like no one in this
house but my brother. He won't say anything to anyone until you are ready
or even if you aren't ready he will keep your secret."

He looked relieved.

"Don't worry Todd I won't say anything I promise."

"Thanks Shawn."

He looked at me.

"Shawn gives great hugs."

We both laughed.

"That's not all he is good at." I said

Shawn looked at me and then Todd and he giggled. Todd was totally confused
but Shawn knew what I meant.

"So where do we go from here?" he asked me.

"How about breakfast a nice cold glass of milk and then I will go next door
after that and talk to Kate and Bryan and see how everyone is. Then we will
talk and take it from there."

"That sounds good, I am in the mood for a nice bowl of cereal with cold
milk in it. It's been so long..."

"That sounds good!" Shawn said.

"Okay let me get dressed and that might be a good idea for you too
Todd. Put something on and we can go down and have some cereal."

We got dressed as Shawn waited and the three of us went downstairs
together. Jon, Kyle, Caleb and a few others were in there already getting
something to eat so we had company and a lot of surprised faces when we
walked in. Most surprised was Caleb.

"Hey Todd. He said. Then he looked at me. Why is he here?"

"It's a long story Caleb and maybe one day you will know but right now it's
private."

"Oh well sorry but I am glad he is here I always got along with Todd until
he hit you with the wood..."

I cut him off.

"Its okay Caleb we don't need to relive that night do we?"

"No not really my butt still hurts from it."

And that ended that for now. We ate in relative peace and a little small
talk and then I was done and I got up.

"Its time to go next door." I said.

I got up looked at Todd and smiled.

"Its gonna be okay just relax and I will see you in a bit."

"I sure hope so Tommy because the looks on their faces last night makes me
think I am not ever gonna be able to go back there.

"It will be fine... they are good people."

I headed for the door and opened it. It was a cold day outside and it felt
like it. 9am strong sunshine and still a cold shot of air hit me as I
opened the door.

"TJ"... someone yelled as I went to go out.

 I turned it was Jon.

"I wanna come with you."

"Why Jon?"

"Because I don't like what happened over there at all and I want to be
there when I hear what they say so I know what we have to deal with from
now on."

"Okay Jon that seems to work for me."

We walked over together and I told him a little more about last night then
he already knew. As we walked up their driveway he seemed to be a little
upset. Mostly at Ryan.

"Wow TJ I just wish I was there. I feel so bad for Todd and I just wish
there was something I could do for him, ya know to make him feel better."

I put my arm around him.

"Ya know Jon there is hope for you yet..."

He looked at me.

"Ya think?"

"I know it love. You are still my favorite and when I see you act this way
I know you have a big heart and it's great to see it from you."

He smiled.

"Thanks TJ."

 We approached the door and this time I knocked and waited for them to
answer it. Bryan opened it and immediately invited us in.

"Come on in Tommy, its freezing out there... look before we get started I
want to be the first to apologize for last night and all the crap that
happened. I talked to Kate about it for a good hour after you left and
first, we hope you found Todd quickly and second we agree that what
happened last night won't change how we feel about him. He was a good kid
and that is why we brought him with us here and we will stand by him and
support him no matter what."

"That's great to hear Bry, thanks but I think Todd is the one who needs to
hear that. He was so hurt last night I was just happy to find him."

"We are too. Come on in and we can talk about the rest."

"What about Ryan?"

"We don't know, he hasn't come out of his room since last night and frankly
I don't want to confront him right now because I am afraid I might throw
him out of the house if I had to."

"I can understand that!" Jon said to him.

I followed Bryan into the kitchen and Kate was in there. She saw us and
immediately came over and gave both of us a hug and then she too apologized
for how things went last night.

"Please sit guys. Want something to drink?" she asked.

"No thanks. Just want to try and figure this out so we can all get past
this."

"Yeah I know Tommy, I know. Last night had to be the worst I have felt
since the comet hit. It was horrible, I hardly slept thinking about Todd
and I almost called you to see that he was found and okay."

"I don't want to take up too much of your time but I told Todd I would come
over and see what was going on. We are going to go and tell him now and
then when he decides how he feels about all this I am sure he will let you
know if he is coming back."

"Okay Tommy thanks for coming over so we could clear the air and I am sure
when things calm down here he will want to come back and if necessary he
can have the spare room all for himself."

"I'll be sure to let him know."

We got up from the table and I shook Bryan's hand.

"Thanks for everything." I said to them.

"No thank you for once again being there for us. We aren't sure how we
would have handled that last night and you must have made a huge impact in
Todd's life by now."

"He is doing okay but I am sure he would rather have all this behind him."

"Yup I bet." Bryan said.

We headed to the door and waved good bye before we left. Then I walked back
with Jon. We got to the driveway and before we could get to the top Todd
was walking down the driveway to meet us.

"So what did they say Tommy?"

"They told us you are welcomed back and they are sorry about last
night. When you are ready you can talk to them and they even said if you
aren't sure about your brother you can have the spare room for yourself."

He smiled.

"That's awesome, thanks Tommy I knew you could do it."

"Actually this time I didn't do anything except mostly listen. They were
very upset and wanted you to know that when you are ready their door is
open."

I got a hug from him and another big smile. He was satisfied and he turned
and jogged back up the driveway and into the house. Jon and I followed as
he waited for us at the door. Just then out of no where...

BAM!... BAM!... BAM! Three shots fired at them as they approached the front
door.




Chapter 75 follows next....




dwednomail@hotmail.com




Next up: Chapter 75... answers to questions about who is shot... take a
guess before you go on and see if i did it right or not.....









KEEP SCROLLING DOWN ITS THERE I PROMISE........





























Chapter 75.  WHO IS SHOT?














Three shots fired out of no where! Two found their mark striking Tommy and
he fell to the ground. The third hit the house along the door line. Jon
also fell to the ground as he was wounded by one of the bullets too as it
passed through Tommy's arm. The worst part was as Tommy fell his head hit
the concrete step hard and immediately started bleeding. Todd screamed out
as the bullets began to fly and he hit the ground. Out of no where Kyle
came running holding a gun and ran out to see what happened. He looked at
Tommy and Jon and ran past them to see if he could find who shot them. DJ
came running immediately after that and saw the carnage on the front step
and immediately screamed for help. Kyle ran half way down the driveway and
saw nothing. He turned to look in the other direction. Then he heard
laughter coming from behind him.

"HA, HA, HA I got the bastard!!!"

He turned and looked and it was Travis holding a gun at the bottom of the
driveway on the grass. He was lifting his arm again and getting ready to
fire this time at Kyle.

"Your turn now Kyle... he said. I got your brother and I am not leaving any
of your family behind."

He aimed at Kyle and Kyle lifted his weapon and took aim back.

BAM, BAM, BAM...

Kyle pumped out three shots. They sailed the thirty yards down towards the
street at Travis... two immediately hit the mark, one in his shoulder and
the other in his chest. The third sailed past him as he began to fall from
the first shot. He was down on the ground in the grass at the bottom of the
driveway. Kyle slowly walked towards him both arms extended and finger on
the trigger as he approached the wounded Travis slowly.

Back up the hill on the doorstep:

"I need help here Tommy has been shot and he is bleeding!"

DJ screamed into the house. Shawn came running out and saw Tommy lying
there in a pool of blood and started screaming and crying
hysterically. Jeremy came out and looked at DJ.

"Get me some rags I need to control this bleeding."

Jon slowly sat up helping himself up without anyone's help. He turned over
and looked at the shot and bleeding Tommy as he lay there on the ground.

"Are you okay?" DJ asked Jon

"Yeah I think so. I think I was just scrapped by the bullet and it made my
arm bleed."

By now a number of boys were down and helping. Benny came running and
immediately took hold of Shawn and brought him into the next room.

"Luke stay with Shawn and try to calm him down, Tommy has been shot."

Ben turned around and ran back over meeting Jeremy who was on his way back
with some rags and a few towels. Ben took them and his instincts as a
lifeguard kicked in. He moved DJ out of the way and took a rag and
immediately applied pressure to Tommy's head trying to stop the bleeding.

"DJ take a rag and see where else he is bleeding from."

DJ searched and found a through and through bullet wound on Tommy's arm and
applied pressure.

"I found a hole in his arm Ben. I have it covered now with the rag."

"Okay apply pressure on it from both sides."

Just about every kid in the house was standing in the doorway now watching
all this unfold in front of their eyes.

"Good DJ... see if he is wounded any where else."

DJ's hands were full of blood as he checked Tommy out for more wounds.


Down the driveway:

Kyle cautiously approached the mortally wounded Travis who was lying on his
back bleeding from his chest and shoulder wounds. He held the gun on him as
Travis opened his eyes and looked at Kyle.

"I got him didn't I... he tried to laugh and coughed up blood. I got him
good that bastard. He thought he would get away with marching my naked ass
through the mall and as I watched... he coughed again spitting up more
blood as Kyle listened to him and held the gun pointed at his
head. HE... He thought he would get away with that Kyle but I got the last
laugh I killed him!!"

"You are wrong you son of a bitch he is still alive but you won't be much
longer!"

 He coughed again and smiled at Kyle. Kyle couldn't take it any longer and
he squeezed off one more shot into the forehead of Travis immediately
killing him. He went and kicked the gun out of his hand and then fell to
his knees on the grass grief stricken. He stayed there for a few seconds to
regain his composure some. When he was sure Travis was dead he got up and
ran back up the driveway to check on his brother. The last gunshot brought
everyone except DJ and Ben to their feet to see what happened and they all
watched as Kyle came running back up the driveway towards them.

"Are you okay Kyle?" Jon screamed at him.

"Yes I am fine are you okay?"

"I am hit."

Kyle grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Jon's bleeding arm as Bryan
arrived from up the block.

"What happened here?" he screamed out.

Kyle looked at him.

"Look down there... somehow Travis found his way here and he shot TJ and
Jon before I killed him."

"Wholly shit! Bryan said. Ben let me help you there I have first aid
training too."

He got down on the ground next to Ben and started to check Tommy out. The
bleeding from his arm was somewhat under control now but there was still
lots of blood on the steps.

"Ben steady his head we need to turn him over and see where else he is
shot."

As Ben held Tommy's head as steady as possible DJ and Bryan rotated Tommy's
lifeless body half way over and saw his blood soaked shirt.

"He must be shot in the back too!" Bryan yelled out.

The boys in the doorway were grief stricken and mostly in shock as they saw
the massive amount of blood that soaked Tommy's shirt. Bryan immediately
lifted the shirt and looked for the wound. It was in Tommy's shoulder blade
and the bullet was still lodged in there.

"I need a rag immediately!" he screamed.

Jeremy reached out and handed him one and he put pressure on the back wound
trying to slow the bleeding there. Tommy had lost a decent amount of blood
already and was unconscious on the steps. Kyle helped Jon walk back inside
and sat him on the couch next to Shawn and Luke. Then he went back outside
to check his brother.

"Are you okay Jon?" A now somewhat calmer Shawn said with tears running
down his cheeks?"

"Yeah I think so." Jon replied.

"How is Tommy?" he asked.

"I don't know Shawn but its not looking good."

Jon, not thinking too clearly answered honestly and Shawn didn't hear what
he wanted and he turned and buried his head into Luke's chest and once
again started whaling. Jon fell back onto the cushions and tried to relax
as the pain grew worse in his arm. Back out on the front stoop the boys
worked their asses off trying to keep Tommy alive or at least stop the
blood from flowing out of him. So far they were succeeding. They finally
had the bleeding stopped now but his head was swollen and he needed
immediate attention to get the swelling down.

"Jeremy go get ice, get as much as you can and bring it here now!" Ben
yelled to him.

He ran off and flew into the kitchen and grabbed a bucket and started
dumping ice into it and as quickly as he could he ran back to them.

"Now I need water!" Bryan screamed out.

Jeremy once again took off for the kitchen. He was back quickly with a
bottle of water.

"I hope this is enough I didn't know how much you wanted."

"Yes its plenty." Bryan said as he took it from him.

He wet the rag and then packed it with ice loosely and put it on Tommy's
head. He held it firmly there for a while as everyone watched. Kyle got
close to his brother and grabbed his hand as tears rolled down his face.

"I got him for you bro, he won't ever hurt you again. I promise. I killed
that bastard for you and he will never hurt you or anyone else again."

He lowered his head and wept while he held Tommy's hand. Just about
everyone of the boys was now crying as they watched Tommy's lifeless body
tended to by Bryan and Ben. Jon came back outside and around and knelt down
next to Kyle.

"Come on KY he will be okay come with me and let them do what they can. You
need to give them some space."

He pulled gently on Kyle's arm and he looked at Jon.

"No Jon I can't leave his side, he is all I have, he can't die!"

That brought tears to Jon's eyes now as he held the rag up on his wounded
arm. The whole place was like a disaster area right now if you were an
outsider looking in. A good ten minutes later Bryan needed to get up.

"Here Kyle hold this on your brothers head with a little pressure."

He quickly took the ice from Bryan and placed it tightly against Tommy's
head and with his other hand he cupped the other side of his face and held
it before brushing his hair back to try and comfort him as best as he
could. At least someone put a towel or rag under is head so it wasn't on
the hard ground. Bryan looked things over as the feeling began to come back
into his almost frozen hand from handling the ice so long.

"Ben as soon as that swelling goes down some we have to get the bullet out
of his back. We can't risk infection from it, there aren't any doctors here
to help us if he gets worse."

Both of them were now standing and trying to figure out what to do. They
talked for a little bit away from the others and finally Bryan came back
with an idea.

"Let's get him inside shortly and on the couch. DJ can you get a few
blankets and put them down on the couch for me?"

"Sure Bryan, I'll be back as soon as I am done."

He went over and knelt by Kyle.

"As soon as he is ready we are going to carry Tommy inside and put him down
on his belly on the couch and then I am going to cut that bullet out of him
before anything happens."

"But will you be able to do it without making him bleed anymore then he
has?"

"I can only try Kyle but we have to get it out before it gets infected and
that could kill Tommy."

"I understand Bryan lets get this over with as soon as we can."

He looked at everyone.

"Okay I need your attention... we are going to work on Tommy inside on the
couch and I can't have an audience so I need everyone to go some place
other then in the living room for a little while okay?"

They all agreed without a problem and shortly there after they were ready
to move Tommy. They brought out a few blankets and placed them on the
ground next to him and DJ, Ben, Bryan and Jeremy slowly lifted Tommy onto
the blankets and then slowly lifted the blankets up and carried him
cautiously into the house. Once inside they put the ice back on his head
and it appeared to be doing something to help get the swelling down. Todd
was now with Shawn in the other room trying to keep him as calm as possible
while they started to work on Tommy.

"Okay now I hate to be rude but I need everyone out of here unless you are
helping us work on Tommy."

Slowly the very upset group of boys many who still didn't leave when he
asked last time started to file out of the living room leaving only Kyle,
DJ, Bryan, Jeremy and Ben behind to help out.

 "Kyle I know you want to be here but I am about to cut your brothers back
open why don't you go inside for a little bit and as soon as I am done I
will come get you okay?"

"No Bryan I don't want to leave him."

Bryan walked over to Jon who was out of the room but standing in a doorway
a few feet away and looked at him waving him over to a private spot.

"Do you have any influence on him?"

"No, not really."

"Does anyone in here?"

He thought for a moment...

"Yes. One second."

"Also Jon... I need some alcohol and bandages do you know where they are?"

"Yes as soon as I get you Shawn I will get them and bring them down to you.

"Thanks." Bryan said.

Jon went and got Shawn and brought him back in. Bryan talked to him for a
few seconds and he understood what he had to do. He walked over to Kyle and
shook him to get his attention away from Tommy.

"Kyle... he said. Kyle looked at him... come on man let them do this please
come with me."

"I can't leave him Shawn." He looked back at Tommy.

"KYLE...he said a little louder. He looked at him again and grabbed him by
the arm. You have to come with me now!"

Kyle looked at his best friend and got up. Shawn pulled him slowly away
from his brother and they went into his room to be alone. They both needed
each other right now and some privacy so this was probably best. Bryan told
them what he was about to do and then he cut Tommy's shirt and slowly took
it off of him.

"Okay guys lets turn him."

The four boys began turning Tommy onto his belly and then Bryan got up and
took the bottle of alcohol and handed it to DJ. He brought his hands over
the bucket they had next to them and he looked at DJ.

"Pour this over both of my hand slowly okay?"

"Sure."

He did as told and Bryan washed his hands cleansing them of the blood and
somewhat sterilizing them.

"Okay I need the sharp knife now."

He took it from one of the boys and poured more alcohol on it to clean it
too.

"Okay this might get messy, I am going to cut as close to his wound as I
can but it might bleed a lot so have some rags or something close if we
need them."

He got down on his knees and slowly made an incision next to the lump where
the bullet was. It bled some but wasn't too bad. He went as deep as he had
to and it bled a little more. Everyone was so focused on their jobs that no
one even got sick from the blood as it ran out of Tommy's body. He searched
a little inside the cut.

"Okay I got it."

 With some help from the knife he dug it out and threw it into the bucket
then he tried to fix the skin around the wound as best as he could. Finally
he grabbed a rag and soaked it in alcohol and put it on Tommy's back and
applied pressure to stop the bleeding. He held the rag there for about
three minutes before pulling it away to see if the bleeding stopped. It
almost did.

"Okay I need gauze and some tape."

A few minutes after he said that he was handed those things by Jon. He
placed a good amount of salve on the gauze and the place it over the cut
and cover it with another good amount of gauze on top of the original
piece. Then he taped it down and began to look at Tommy's arm he cleaned it
with more alcohol and then wrapped it with gauze and salve as best as he
could and wrapped around and around his arm to try and seal off anything
from getting to it. He went back up and checked Tommy's head and a lot of
the swelling was gone but he still had a large lump.

"Okay he said as he rinsed his hands off into the bucket. I have done all I
can now it's up to him. Someone get Kyle please."

DJ walked over and knocked on his door and within a blink it was opened and
he and Shawn came out.

"How is he?" Kyle said,

"Bandaged up and now all we can do is pray and watch his wounds for
infection. I will go down to the pharmacy a little later and look around
for anything that might help get him better but its going to be a long and
tough recovery from the bullets and head wound."

"Do you know how long?"

"No Kyle and to be honest with you I can't say if he will ever be totally
okay or not. I am not a doctor I just know some first aid and I did what I
could."

"Thanks so much Bryan for everything."

"You are welcome Kyle. Your brother did a lot for me too including keeping
my brother safe and finding us so that is the least I can do for him. For
now I would make sure someone is with him all the time."

"Don't worry I will be!" Shawn yelled out.

"Good. I am sure he will have plenty of love and care now." Bryan said.

He looked at Jon.

"How about I check your wound now?"

"Thanks that would be great."

He sat Jon down at the table and checked it.

"How bad is it?"

"Not bad at all. Just mostly a flesh wound and not deep. The bullet that
went through Tommy's arm must have grazed you after it came out."

"Yeah probably."

Jon sat there while Bryan cleaned his cut up and then bandaged him.

"I'll send you my bill tomorrow."

Jon broke a smile when he said that.

"Thanks for everything and for trying to save Tommy's life."

Bryan smiled at Jon and rustled his hair as he got up.

"You are welcome."

"Okay let's get him up to his bed and then give him plenty of rest."

The four boys carried him up the steps slowly on a blanket and into his
room, then put him on top of his bed blanket and all. Kyle put a pillow
under Tommy's head.

"Kyle you and the others can take care of undressing him and getting him
settled in right?"

"Yes of course we will, thank you for everything."

Kyle went to him and gave him a big hug.

"I can't promise you anything Kyle he has a real nasty bump on his head and
he lost a lot of blood he might be okay and he might be out for a long
time."

"Yeah I know but I will be here as much as I can for him."

"I am sure you will. I am gonna go, you know how to reach me and where I
will be if anything happens. Good luck with him."

Bryan headed out and downstairs he left the house and shut the door behind
him.


Back upstairs Kyle grabbed a chair and sat down right next to Tommy.

"You have to be okay TJ, please be okay... I need you more than anything
and so do the guys."

Shawn walked over to Kyle and stood next to him. On the other side of the
bed Jon looked on. The three of them sobbed as they looked at Tommy's body
as it lay there all bandaged up and still. The minutes turned to hours and
hours passed by quickly as the day came to an end. It was now close to
midnight and Kyle was still in the same chair he was before only now he
fell asleep, his head on the bed inches from Tommy's body. Shawn was on the
bed next to Tommy and also sleeping and Jon was in the chair at the end of
the bed sleeping too. DJ poked his head in to see all three of them asleep
and he walked over to look at Tommy. At least he looked like he wasn't
getting worse so far. He was far from even close to being out of danger
yet. DJ looked closer and saw sweat on Tommy's head he reached out and felt
it. Tommy had a fever. He gently woke Kyle.

"Kyle wake up man..."

"Huh? What? What's wrong?"

"Sorry to bother you but I think Tommy has a fever."

Kyle got himself together and felt Tommy's forehead.

"He's really warm. I am gonna go get some ice and a rag for his head."

"Okay Kyle I'll wait right here for you to get back."

Jon moved and then opened his eyes as Kyle left the room.

"What's wrong?" he said to DJ.

"Tommy has a fever and Kyle went to get ice and a cold rag."

"Damn it that's not good."

Shawn started to move a little but he didn't wake.

"I guess I should keep my voice down some we don't need everyone awake."
Jon added.

A minute or so later Kyle was back with ice in a wash cloth and he put it
on his brothers head.

"I'm gonna go now guys I just wanted to check on him before I went to bed."

"Thanks DJ."

"Sure Kyle no problem. I am gonna go check on Zack before I turn in."

He left the room shutting the door and Kyle began to take Tommy's pants off
to get him more comfortable. He pulled them off with Jon helping with his
good arm. They threw them on the floor and now Tommy was in just his boxers
and bandages.

"He looks so innocent Kyle. Look at him."

"Yeah I know. My brother... he has a great body doesn't he?"

"Kyle... he is out cold and hurt badly and you are talking about his body?"

"I am proud of him Jon it's not that bad. Why can't I Jon... I mean think
about it. You know as well as I do TJ has his ways and he wouldn't change a
thing no matter what happens."

He wasn't making total sense but Jon sorta understood what he meant.

"Yeah I guess you are right."

Kyle got a light blanket and covered his brother some and went back to the
cold wash cloth on his forehead to check it further.


Down the hall DJ knocked on Zack's door.

"Come in."

He walked in and Zack was lying in bed and Jordan was playing some game on
TV.  They both looked at him.

"How is he doing DJ?"

"He has a slight fever but he is hanging in there like a trooper."

"That's as good as it gets for now huh?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah till morning I guess all we can do is pray and hope he is okay."

"Thanks for letting us know DJ. I promised Tommy I would be good and now I
will keep that promise and pray for him all night. He really is a good guy
and I want to prove stuff to him more now then ever!"

"I am sure he would appreciate that Zack, make sure you tell him when he
wakes up."

"You know I will!"

"Night guys." DJ said and he turned and left their room shutting the door
behind himself.

It was very late now and the house quieted down. Todd was asleep downstairs
on the couch that Tommy was operated on earlier and unsure about what to do
now since his only real friend and contact was wounded upstairs in his
bed. He was off sleeping now and at least getting some rest after not
talking to his brother for more than a day now. He is still very upset with
him and thought he might not talk to him for a while. Morning came and
every boy in the house came to visit Tommy for a few minutes after Shawn
was woke up at 7am by Kyle. He was asleep at his bedside all night. They
checked him out and he was still unconscious but breathing okay and still a
little warm but not worse than last night. A good sign if any. By noon time
Bryan and Kate were over to check on him too and they saw Todd and asked
him if they could talk some after they went to see Tommy. He told them okay
and they headed upstairs. Kyle and Shawn were at his side as they knocked
on the door. Jon was in the shower trying to wash the dried blood off
himself from yesterday.

"Come in." Kyle said.

The door opened and they walked in.

"How is he?"

"Quiet but breathing and not as warm as last night."

"Well that's not bad. Bryan said. At least he isn't getting worse. That's
great news."

He went over and felt his forehead.

"That's really good. At least he is holding his own."

"I know." Kyle said.

"Look Kyle I wanted to let you know that after I left yesterday I went and
got Matt and we got rid of Travis' body for you. We took him off into the
woods up the road and dumped him where no one should ever find him."

"Thanks. I was a little worried about what to do with him but that passed
as fast as I thought about it. I was more worried about TJ."

"I bet." Kate said.

"Well like I said we wanted to talk to you and see Tommy now we are going
to talk to Todd about coming back home."

"Good luck he has been as quiet as anyone here since Tommy was shot. He
seems to be a great guy but so far other than food he hasn't asked for
much. He was in here about five times to see TJ though."

"I can understand that. Tommy did a lot for him and I can imagine he cares
a whole lot about Tommy."

"Everyone does." Shawn added.

They smiled at him.

"He'll be okay sweetie." Kate said to him.

"I know I feel it inside." he told her.

"We will see you later guys we are going to have a private talk with Todd
and then head back."

"Please use my room if you want to it's the door to the left of the house
door it won't get more private than that."

"Thank you very much Kyle." Kate said.

They waved and headed out shutting the door behind them. As they headed
downstairs Caleb came out of the kitchen and looked up and saw them coming
down the steps. He stopped in his tracks and looked at them as they
approached him. It was the first time he had seen them in well over a week.

"Hi Caleb how have you been?" Kate asked.

"Okay I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Because even if you think there was a problem back at the mall Caleb I
never, we never had any big problems with you."

"Then why did you let that happen to me?" he asked.

"We didn't let anything happen to you, Caleb you were the one who got into
trouble and we both told you that we were sorry that happened to you and
you were welcomed to stay with us and we would do our best to keep you
safe."

"That's not how I remember it." Caleb replied.

"Then you tell me what we did wrong and if you are right we will go from
there okay?" Bryan said.

"You let me get hurt."

"Caleb sweetie, we didn't tell you to go and spy on Travis and Mike did we?

 "Well no I guess not."

"Then how can you say it was our fault you got hurt?"

"I dunno."

"Then why are you mad at us if you really don't know what we did to hurt
you?" Kate asked. Her logic was starting to get to him.

"I don't really know, maybe I shouldn't be mad. I am confused now."

"Caleb its okay we really do understand that you were scared and you needed
to go someplace where you felt safe. We just didn't want you mad at us or
thinking badly of us when we didn't do anything wrong."

"I think I understand now and I am sorry." He said.

He went to Kate and gave her a hug.

"Thanks sweetie, that's nice of you. We do want to be your friend."

"Thank you." He said.

"So we are okay now?" she asked.

"Yes I think we will be."

That was about as good as it was going to get right now between them and it
was a positive step for all three of them. Next up was Todd. He probably
won't be as easy, she thought. She walked up to the first boy she saw and
asked him.

"Excuse me, I am looking for Todd. Have you seen him?"

"Yes he is in the game room."

"Where is that?"

"Around the corner in that direction."

He pointed in the direction.

"Thank you... what is your name?"

"Jeremy."

"Well thank you Jeremy."

"Sure no problem."

They walked in the direction he pointed and then just followed the noise to
the room. They both looked in and saw eight kids in there and one of them
was Todd.

"I'll get him Kate."

"Okay."

He walked in and the boys looked at him.

"Hey it's Bryan he helped to save Tommy's life."

Bryan was mobbed by the boys and thanked again. All except Todd that is. He
stood and watched as they thanked him for saving their friends life. He
looked at Todd.

"We would like to talk to you in private."

"Sure I guess so."

"Kyle said we could use his room. No one is in there now." Bryan said to
him.

"Okay that's fine with me." Todd replied.

Bryan smiled at him and the three of them walked out. By then Kyle was
downstairs and walking into the game room himself.

"What's up with them?"

"Its personal Billy they are having problems which is why Todd has been
here since the first night and they need to work it out. And I need to go
check on Tommy. See you all later."

Kyle headed out of the room and upstairs. Jon and Shawn were in there when
he walked in.

"Any changes?"

"No nothing except he isn't warm anymore."

"Well that is something Jon."

"I thought you meant did he move."

"No I figured if he would have moved someone would have come running with
the news."

"Yeah I suppose you are right. So the answer is yes I think his fever
broke. Ben came up about an hour ago and changed his bandages and said that
they were normal for what he knew about healing wounds. They didn't look to
good."

"Actually they were gross." Shawn said.

"I bet they were Shawnee kid."

"So you guys can take a break and go do whatever you want for a while I am
going to stay with him for a while."

Shawn and Jon got up and went downstairs to get a snack and something to
drink. At this point they really needed a break even though neither wanted
to leave his side. It was already way past noon and with Tommy being out of
it no one was really keeping track of much around the house including the
dirty dishes, clothes on the floor, things out of place, and other things
that were gradually getting messy after only one day. It appeared someone
was going to have to pick up the slack before the house became a total pigs
sty. But for now or at least today it wasn't going to be done. Jon noticed
all this when he came down from Tommy's room but he wasn't about to go off
on everyone now. He couldn't believe that with all that has gone wrong
around here that one little thing like them cleaning up after themselves
was not happening. Just yesterday they were all crying over Tommy being
close to death and now suddenly no one seems to care. He was working
himself up into a mini frenzy over all this. He went to the door and walked
outside where he too was shot yesterday. He thought about the pain of the
bullet as it skimmed his arm. He stood out there for a little bit reliving
the moment in his head. He and Tommy happily talking to Todd about
things. Then they walk a few feet and BAM! He shook his head. DAMN that son
of a bitch Travis! DAMN HIM! He said out loud. While he was out there
totally engrossed in his thoughts Shawn went looking for him and saw he was
outside and it was pretty cold so he put on his coat and brought Jon's coat
out to him.

"Whatcha thinking about Jon?"

"Oh Shawn you scared the piss out of me."

"Sorry you were way off somewhere Jon, I made noise coming over here."

"Yeah I was thinking about the shooting."

"Here's your coat. I figured you might want some company."

"Thanks Shawn that's nice of you to be watching out for me.

They stood out there silently for a bit and then they started sharing small
stories about Tommy as they never did before so as not to let him out of
their mind for long. Eventually they went back inside and found stuff to do
before they would head back up to Tommy's side again.


Back inside in Kyle's bedroom:

"So what did both of you want to say to me?" Todd asked.

"We just wanted to let you know we talked to Tommy and we understand how
sensitive that talk was supposed to be between you and Ryan and we are
sorry it got so far out of hand."

"Thanks Kate. Have you seen or talked to my brother yet?"

"We have seen him but only for short periods and he hasn't said a word to
us yet. Not a peep."

"I suppose you want me to come back then?"

"That is up to you Todd, you can have your own room if you do not want to
be with Ryan right now."

"At this point I am going to need to think about that. Even as
uncomfortable as it is on the couch it's still better than facing all the
guys who now know I am gay."

"We will do it with you if you want."

"Thanks but I wanted to do it with Tommy and now I can't."

He voice began to get a little broken up when he mentioned Tommy.

"You really like him don't you?" Bryan asked.

"Yes, very much. He forgave me for hitting him with the wood, took me into
his house and helped me get past that horrible night without questioning me
once about who I was or what I wanted."

"That's pretty special, I have to admit." Bryan said as he looked at Kate
and then back at Todd.

"I know and I feel horrible about how bad he is doing right now." Todd
added.

"We all do, I really don't know if your brother knows what happened yet
since he hasn't talked to anyone since the incident as far as we know." he
said.

"I would rather forget about that if you don't mind."

"Sorry." Bryan said to him.

"I appreciate both of you coming over to me like this but I just can't go
back yet. I am not ready to. I need a few things from there and maybe you
can bring them to me and meet me half way?"

"Sure Todd. You take your time and when you are ready we will welcome you
back in front of the others so there aren't any problems. Make a list of
what you need and tomorrow I will meet you in the street with them." Kate
said to him.

"Okay thanks. I will get it to you somehow. I am sure one of the boys
wouldn't mind doing me a favor and bringing it over.

"We are gonna go, Joel is being watched by Matt and I don't want to leave
him too long. We will talk tomorrow, have a good night."

"You too, thanks again."

They all headed out of Kyle's room together and Todd shut his door and went
to find something to do. He needed to get this off his mind and he wanted
to stop thinking about his brother. Nothing he could bring to mind was good
at all about him. That is pretty sad...

A few hours passed quietly and it was now close to dark on day two of Tommy
being comatose. Shawn had returned to Tommy's room and was with Kyle
now. They made small talk but so far nothing has changed any in that room
in regards to Tommy's health.

"I am going to sleep here tonight Kyle so if you want to sleep in your bed
it will be okay."

"I'm not sure Shawn I just don't think I am ready to leave his side yet."

"Well think about it Kyle because if you get sick or worn out from sleeping
in that chair again tonight you won't be able to do anyone any good."

"Yeah I guess I see your point Shawn."

Even with his suggestion a few hours later Shawn fell asleep on the bed
next to Tommy and Kyle passed out in the chair. He woke up around midnight
and figured a nights sleep in his own bed wouldn't hurt so he got up and
quietly left the room. Only a dull night light was on now and all he could
do was hope for the best for now. At 4pm this evening Zack was told by DJ
that his punishment was over and he quickly went down the hall and went to
check on Tommy he stayed for a while and seemed to be visibly upset and he
showed real concern over him being hurt. Maybe there is hope for Zack yet.

Day three came and went with no change at all other then the guys coming to
visit and Tommy's bandages being changed he was still passed out and the
boys started to wonder aloud and worry about if or when he would wake
up. Tommy's phone rang at one time and it was Cameron. Shawn answered it
and told Cameron what happened to Tommy and he was shaken with the news. He
called DJ and they talked for close to an hour about Tommy, how things are
going there and if everyone was okay without him so far. DJ told him that
everyone was hanging in there but it was really sad in the house. Cameron
asked if he could come over tomorrow with his brothers and DJ told him that
would be fine. Any support was welcomed so sometime tomorrow Cameron and
his brothers will stop over and bring eggs and milk with them. DJ gave them
directions. Night came without anything else happening and day three ended
with Kyle in his bed and Shawn falling asleep at Tommy's side once more.



To be continued.....


Dwednomail@hotmail.com



Next up:


Either chapter 76 or BT 8 depending on what gets done...


BT 8 will be the storyline catching up to the shooting or Chap 76 will be
More about how Tommy is doing and if he is going to wake up anytime
soon.... or not?