A Kingswood Family Christmas

Author's Note – This is a mini-series set between chapters 20 and 21 of book 4 of the Kingswood Saga – The Kingswood Complication. See my profile or the section at the end for links to earlier stories.

If you have any questions or comments, my email is always open at matterotica@hotmail.co.uk. Alternatively, I can be found on patreon where I also post my Nifty stories, along with bonus content and exclusives, at patreon.com/matterotica

Finally, Nifty is a wonderful site that has been home to my writing for over a decade. Please consider a donation to help support it - http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html

A Kingswood Family Christmas

Chapter 3

Saturday 24 December 2022

As Danny felt consciousness returning, he pushed himself up and mumbled, "Gotta go work out!" As he slowly grew more alert, he remembered he had been banned from going to the gym over Christmas. Letting out a groan, he opened his eyes and said sleepily, "I'm not allowed to work out... and you're not Chris! This day's already weird!"

"Okay, I definitely have questions," Finn chuckled as he reached up and pulled Danny back into a lying position, "But for now, come here!"

Danny happily nestled back down against Finn and was just on the verge of slipping back to sleep when his eyes shot open and he declared, "I fell asleep!" Looking up at Finn apologetically, he said, "I came to see you so we could talk but I fell asleep!"

"Yeah, pretty much the moment your head hit the pillow," Finn said with a lop-sided smile. "Don't worry, I wasn't far behind you," he added as he gave Danny a gentle squeeze. "Now whadda mean you're not allowed to work out?" he asked curiously.

Danny went to answer and nearly blurted out the truth. Something about Finn had always made him easy to speak to, not that it was hard to speak to Chris, but things with Finn had always been... different. Danny had always put it down to the things Finn had shared. He had told Danny things he had never told anyone else, and he had done things with Danny he had never done with anyone either. It took a lot of trust, and it was something Danny always returned with his own openness. Today, though, it just didn't feel right to share his issues with Finn when he hadn't even told Chris what was going on. "Oh, umm... Sports Complex is closed for the week," he said, not technically lying.

"Oof, tough break, kiddo," Finn said sympathetically. "I know you go a bit crazy without your workouts!" he sighed sympathetically.

"I'm not crazy!" Danny snapped as he sat up.

Finn didn't reply verbally, he just stared at Danny, his eyebrows slowly raising.

"Sorry," Danny apologised. He laid back down and grabbed onto Finn, letting his cheek rest on the older boy's chest. "It's just been... a tough couple of months!" he said dejectedly.

"Yeah, I'll bet," Finn said, nodding sympathetically. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked softly.

"Yes!" Danny answered truthfully, "Just... not yet." He raised his head and smiled coyly for a moment before he added, "I can think of something else we can do until then!" He leaned in try and kiss the older boy.

"Woah, no!" Finn said, pulling back as he held out a hand to stop Danny.

Danny rolled his eyes, huffed and said, "Do we really have to go through the whole `I'm straight' thing every time?"

Finn laughed at the question, then shook his head. "Firstly, I AM straight, so not kissing a boy... totally reasonable. Secondly, I'm not saying no cos I don't want to. I'm saying no because I... have a girlfriend now!"

"Oh yes. `Molly', wasn't it?" Danny said, almost sneering the name.

"Yeah, save the attitude, ya lil gobshite!" Finn said with a wry grin.

"Well after the last one..." Danny said, shaking his head, then immediately flinched and said, "Sorry, that was WAY bitchier than I meant it to sound. I know... it's not a joke!"

"S'okay," Finn said, shrugging a little as he pulled away and rolled onto his side to face Danny, who mirrored the position. "Molly's... nothing like Sarah!" he mused airily.

"D'you ever... hear from her?" Danny asked cautiously.

"Sure I do, she's my girlfriend!" Finn said with a slight smirk.

Danny rolled his eyes and started, "I meant..."

"I know what you meant and no," Finn interjected. "Well... I've seen her in person once since you... did whatever you did. She... acted nice, it was weird!"

Danny nodded as he said, "Good. I still follow her socials and she's never badmouthed you either. I musta really scared the crap outta her!"

"One day you're gonna have to tell me the whole story," Finn said, shaking his head in amusement.

Danny's eyes suddenly widened. "I gotta go! It's story time!" he said as he jumped out of bed.

"Again, I have questions, but okay," Finn said as Danny headed for the door. "Hey, Danny," he called out after the younger boy.

"Yeah?" Danny asked as he turned back.

Finn stared analytically for a moment. "We'll talk properly later, okay. About everything!" he said with a nod and smile.

"Yeah, yeah that'd be good," Danny nodded back at him. He let out a gentle sigh, then ran back across the room, jumped on the bed and clamped onto Finn again as he said, "I've really missed you!"

"Missed you too, fella," Finn said giving Danny a final squeeze before he ran back out.

As Danny got back near his dorm, he passed an open door and figured Rob and the others had already gone next door. Hoping he wasn't too late, he hurried in and was immediately greeted by raised voices.

"But I wanna stay!" Aidan demanded angrily.

"No!" Chris snapped, glancing over at the door. "And Danny's back now, so we're ready to start and you two need to leave!"

"I don't want to go either," Cian pouted, "I wanna hear your story!"

"I don't care. It's not a story for little kids!" Chris insisted.

"Whose story is it? Maybe THEY can decide!" Mark suggested, always the peacekeeper.

Chris' eyes fell on Nicky. The glance revealed who the story was for, but for Nicky the expression revealed even more.

"Is it about... who I think it's about?" Nicky asked softly. As he got a slight nod from Chris, he sighed gently and said, "Let them stay!"

Chris looked a little annoyed but didn't want to argue anymore. "Fine, okay, but... sit down and shut up!" he said to his little brothers.

"Can we sit with you?" Aidan asked, craning his neck to look up at Nicky.

"Sure," Nicky said with a nod as he sat down onto his bed, with the twins jumping on either side of him. "But there's something you need to know before we start. Something a little bit sad. Is that okay?"

Aidan and Cian both nodded as everyone else was getting comfortable to listen to Chris' latest story.

"So... I used to be like you two," Nicky explained. "I used to have an identical twin as well, but... seven years ago, he died."

"Aww, what happened?" Cian asked, clinging onto Nicky's arm.

"It was an accident," Nicky explained, "He got hit by a car!"

"That really sucks," Aidan said sadly.

"It does," Nicky nodded. "But if I know Chris, and I think I do, what we're about to hear is sad, but... in a nice way."

As the twins nodded their understanding, they each pulled one of Nicky's arms around them, just as comfortable with physical affection as their big brother. Even Cian, who could sometimes be a little more shy than his twin, seemed to have warmed very quickly to his big brother's friends.

Getting a sweet smile from Chris, Nicky took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ready," he said with a nervous smile.

Chris nodded and gulped a little. Out of all the stories he had written, this was the one he was most nervous about sharing. He looked at his tablet and said, "Well, the first two stories were set in the past, but... now we move to the present. This one is... actually set today! This is..."

A Chris-mas Carol Part 3 – One More Day

Saturday 24 December 2022

"Is it weird that someone else is looking forward to seeing my parents more than I am?" Nicky asked as he watched the car approaching down the driveway.

Danny laughed at the question, glancing ahead at Mikey who was virtually bouncing with excitement over the imminent arrival of Nicky's parents. "It's sweet," he said, smiling fondly.

"It is, but it's still weird!" Nicky smirked. Mikey and Nicky had spent almost every break from school together since they were twelve, usually at Nicky's house. To say Mikey had taken a shine to Mr and Mrs Jones was an understatement. It certainly helped that they seemed to like Mikey just as much.

"Go on then," Nicky said as the car parked and Mikey looked back at him curiously. He had told his eager best friend he couldn't mob the car, but as Mikey looked about ready to burst from holding back, Nicky figured he couldn't make him wait any longer. Laughing as he watched Mikey speed across the car park, he casually strolled along behind, accompanied by Danny. He watched as Mikey shouted an eager hello through the passenger-side window to Mrs Jones before running round the far side of the car to greet Mr Jones just as excitedly.

"Umm... Nicky!" Mikey called out suddenly, sounding a little alarmed.

Nicky and Danny exchanged brief cautious looks then sped up a little to catch up with Mikey. Moving round the corner, they found Mikey staring at a tall figure. Nicky was a little confused by the presence of an unexpected visitor with his parents. "Oh, who's..." he started, until the person turned to look at him. He stared in disbelief.

Danny looked back and forth between the new arrival. "Wait, that's... you!" Danny stated in utter confusion. The other boy was... Nicky. There were two Nickys?

"M... Matt!" Nicky exclaimed, looking his identical twin up and down in absolute shock.

"Hi Nick," Matt replied with a smile, "Surprise!"

It wasn't so much that Matt's presence was unplanned that confused Nicky, it was the fact Matt had passed away seven years earlier!

"Don't I get a hug?" Matt asked, holding his arms open towards his twin.

Nicky stared in stunned disbelief for a few moments, then staggered forward into his brother's arms, bursting into tears as they held each other for the first time in years. "How are you here?" Nicky whispered through his tears.

"I don't know. Christmas magic, I guess!" Matt replied, squeezing Nicky tightly. "I'm not sure how, but I do know... I can't stay!" As Nicky pulled away and stared at his twin, Matt smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm not going quite yet. It seems like I get... or WE get... one more day!"

"Come on, you lot," Mr Jones said casually as he started to unload the car.

Nicky glanced at his parents, then back to Matt curiously.

"Yeah, they... don't seem to notice anything's weird," Matt said with a shrug.

"That's... it's just... I don't..." Nicky stuttered, completely shaken and confused. "You guys... see him too, right?" he asked Mikey and Danny.

"Yeah, and he's hot!" Mikey said with a smirk.

"Oh, you're definitely Mikey, I could tell even without the ginger!" Matt said, reaching out to muss Mikey's hair.

"You know me?" Mikey asked curiously.

"Nicky's told me about all of you! He talks to me a lot," Matt stated with a broad grin, then leaned close to Mikey and whispered, "He talks about you the most!"

Mikey beamed happily at the quiet comment.

"And you're Danny, right?" Matt asked, looking to the other boy.

"Yeah," Danny said, seemingly as bewildered by the whole thing as Nicky.

"Okay, I don't mean to be inappropriate but, would you mind turning around?" Matt asked with a wry grin.

"Umm, sure," Danny said as he turned to face the other way.

Matt let out a gentle laugh and looked to his brother as he said, "Wow, you weren't kidding. That is one sexy lil butt!"

Danny turned back, smirking as he glanced at Nicky and asked, "You told him I have a nice butt?"

Nicky was trembling. His brother was here and just... casually chatting away to his friends. It was... too much! "I... I... have to get out of here!" Nicky said as he turned and sprinted away.

"Nicky!" Mikey shouted after him, but felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.

"Give him a minute," Matt said, rubbing Mikey's shoulder gently. "This is probably a lot to try and understand," he said with a serious nod.

"Dead brother mysteriously back for the day?" Mikey said, shrugging a little, "This is Kingswood. Weirder things have happened!" It got a hearty laugh from the new arrival.

"Ha, he was right. You're funny," Matt said, "Now come on, let's help mum and dad then you can introduce me to everyone else!"

LATER

"You have the coolest friends!"

Nicky's head shot round as he heard the comment. Hearing his brother's voice was as unnerving as it was comforting. "You're not real!" Nicky said, shaking his head as he averted his gaze, unable to even look at his twin.

"They all seem really nice," Matt stated, seemingly ignoring the comment. He approached Nicky, who was sitting in the school's gardens, shivering slightly from the cold. "It's really funny cos aside from Mikey and Danny, none of the others actually believe I'm me and they just think I'm you, acting stupid. Can't wait to see their faces when they see us both together!"

"You're a hallucination. Or a dream!" Nicky insisted as Matt took a seat beside him, shaking his head as his brow furrowed.

Matt smiled but again ignored the troubled denial. "They're all exactly like you described them," Matt chuckled, "Although you did leave the part out about how cute they all are."

"Stop it. Please!" Nicky pleaded a little tearfully.

"Nick, listen," Matt said as he slipped an arm around his brother. "Maybe I'm not real and maybe I AM a hallucination. Or maybe I'm a Christmas miracle. Or maybe I'm a story someone somewhere is telling. I don't know, I was never much of a thinker, but what I DO know is that I'm here, and so are you. Can't we just enjoy that?"

"No, because if you're only here for a day, then that makes this nothing more than a countdown to losing you again!" Nicky insisted bitterly. "I can't have you back, knowing you'll just leave again, because losing you the first time nearly killed me. I can't survive that. Not a second time!" He sniffed heavily.

"You can survive anything! You're so strong!" Matt said confidently, rubbing his brother's back supportively. A cheeky grin spread across his face as he added, "Unlike me, I can't even survive crossing the street!"

Nicky pulled away and stared at his twin in shock. "Really? You're gonna joke about THAT?" he asked, scandalised.

"That depends," Matt said with a wry smile, then nudged against the other boy gently as he asked, "Was it funny?"

Nicky stared back at the boy beside him. He had spent so long struggling to even look in a mirror because he couldn't handle seeing his brother's face staring back at him, but now here he was, literally staring back at him... and giving that same dopey grin he always had when he was being silly. "Damn you," Nicky muttered, holding back a snigger as a smile began to creep onto his face.

"I've still got it!" Matt said happily. He stood up and held out a hand as he said, "Come on then, can we just enjoy today. Please? I wanna see everything! Let me see your world!"

Nicky looked up at him. Still unsure what was going on, or what the end of the day would bring, he took his brother's hand and stood up. "Yeah, we can do that!" he said cautiously. He finally returned the cheeky grin as he said, "Now... let's go confuse the fuck out of my mates!"

LATER

"And it turned out the camera was still broadcasting and the WHOLE of year seven saw what they'd been doing!" Mikey finished regaling Matt with one of the many embarrassing tales that had dominated the conversation over dinner.

"Oh my god," Matt said, shaking his head as he looked from Chris to Danny and back, the two boys having been subject of the most recent story (and most of the others!) "I would've just died!" he stated. As the others paused for a moment, he shrugged and said, "It's okay, I'm allowed to joke about that. You know, like the way fat people can make fat jokes!"

The rest of the boys around them burst into laughter at the comment.

"Ooooooh, tell him about Halloween!" Josh said excitedly.

"Which one?" Mikey smirked.

"Take your pick, I pretty much end up embarrassed at all of them," Danny sighed, reluctantly smirking.

Nicky sat staring across the table at his brother. It had been an incredible day... an unbelievable day technically. He still couldn't figure out what was happening, but as the day went on he realised it didn't matter. It wasn't important how he was back, it didn't need to make sense that he now looked as old as Nicky when he had only been eight when he passed away. All that mattered was the time they had spent together.

Nicky had done all the things he had talked to his brother about during their time apart. He had introduced him to his friends (who had been every bit as confused as he hoped when they walked into the dorm together), he had shown Matt his life at Kingswood, given him a tour of his home and regaled him with every big life event that had happened in the time they had been apart.

The evening had concluded with dinner, a big family gathering for all the boys and their families. Toasts had been given, massive amounts of food had been consumed, multiple attempts to steal alcohol from the adults had been thwarted, but now the evening was drawing on. The younger children had all been herded off to bed, while the adults went off to do whatever adults do.

Matt, Nicky and his friends had headed back to their dorm for an evening of silliness and games and even more embarrassing stories as they all built their excitement ahead of Christmas morning. Eventually, reluctantly, they had been forced to head to bed too, with each of the boys bidding Matt a heartfelt goodbye before leaving.

"Come on," Matt said as he got up, now alone in the dorm with his twin.

"Where are we going?" Nicky asked curiously as he let his brother lead the way.

"Up!" Matt stated. "I wanna see the stars before I go!" he said with a smile.

They quietly wandered up the stairs together. With most of the school away, the building would have been quiet anyway, but nearing midnight, it was eerily silent, only the sound of footsteps echoing round as they made their way up to the roof garden.

"Ah wow," Matt said as they emerged into the rooftop Peace Garden. "It's weird seeing it. You've talked to me from up here so much, but you never really described it!" he said thoughtfully.

"So you... you could hear me?" Nicky asked curiously, "When I talk to you, I mean!"

"Of course I could," Matt said with a smile as they took a seat on a bench. "How else d'ya think I knew all your friends!"

"Oh yeah, fair point," Nicky chuckled. "Sorry, this is... just... very new ground for me!"

"Yeah, me too," Matt said as he looped his arm through Nicky's, holding it tightly as he leaned against him. "I really like it though. I like hearing about your life!"

Nicky nodded gently, thinking for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said, sniffling slightly.

"For what?" Matt asked curiously.

"For... for fighting with you," Nicky said tearfully. "The day you... went away. We fought and you ran and... and you never came back and I'm sorry!"

"Don't be!" Matt insisted, reaching over to wipe a tear from Nicky's cheek. "Look, the way I see it, only one thing matters. Are you happy?"

Nicky frowned a little at the question.

"I don't mean today. Obviously, not exactly your typical day!" Matt said with a smirk.

"This is Kingswood. Weirder things have happened," Nicky said back.

"Ha!" Matt laughed, "That's exactly what Mikey said! But yeah, let's say... yesterday, for example. Yesterday, were you happy?"

Nicky thought for a moment and nodded.

"Then the past is exactly what it needed to be to get you to the yesterday when you were happy. I'm not sorry about it, so you shouldn't be either!" Matt explained. As Nicky nodded his understanding, Matt sighed and said, "Do I wish I could be here? That every day could be like today? Obviously, yes, but... it's not! Knowing that you're happy, knowing that my best friend in the entire world is happy... I wouldn't change a thing!"

"I hate that you're gone," Nicky sniffed, "But I love that you'll always be with me!"

"Me too," Matt said softly as he looked up at the clear, starry sky. "I love you, Nick!" he whispered.

"I love you too, Matt," Nicky whispered back. As he glanced up into the sky, he asked quietly, "So how long do you have left?" As he looked round, the space beside him was empty. His brother was gone.

Nicky had managed to keep his composure at first, but halfway through the story it had gotten too much tears trickled down his cheeks even during the parts he laughed at. Chris had looked at him, silently offering to stop, but Nicky had urged him on despite his tears. The rest of the dorm had been in a fairly similar state by the end of the story.

"Fuck me," Rob muttered, shaking his head. "Are you TRYING to break us?" he asked as he wiped his cheek, getting a chuckle from some of the others.

Chris blushed a little, proud his words had been able to have such an impact, if a little guilty for the sadness he felt he had caused.

"Matt sounds like he was great!" Cian said softly, sniffing a little as he looked up at Nicky.

"Yeah, he was," Nicky said, with a gentle nod.

"I'm sorry you lost your twin," Aidan said, glancing at Cian thoughtfully for a moment. As he looked back up at Nicky he smiled and said, "You can have mine if you like. I'm not using him!"

Nicky snorted with laughter, especially when Cian visibly considered it for a moment, then shrugged and nodded.

"We can both be your twin if you like, just while we're here for Christmas!" Aidan offered.

"Wouldn't that make you triplets?" David asked curiously.

"Shh, I'm talking to my twin!" Aidan hushed the older boy.

Nicky laughed again, then nodded and said, "That is a REALLY nice offer and I'd love to have twins for Christmas!"

"You and me both!" Danny muttered playfully, getting an elbow to the ribs from Chris.

Trevor and Helen Wilson (parents to Rob and Milo) had arrived early, shortly after breakfast. With the remaining families not due to arrive until later that afternoon and the weather decidedly grim, some entertainment had been planned for the morning.

That evening, Chris, Mark, Nicky and Mikey's band, Stage Fright, had been asked to perform, taking the opportunity to let some of the parents see their sons in action live, rather than just on a recording. The band members had all disappeared off to set up for the evening and fit in a final rehearsal, leaving everyone else chatting or playing games in one of the building's Common Rooms.

Danny was finding it hard to concentrate on anything that was happening. He had missed his morning workout, at Mr Rudd's command, and he was already feeling uneasy. Usually if he missed a workout, he could make up for it during his lunch break or in the evening, but he was entirely banned from attending the school's gym. He contemplated heading out for a run, but considering it was raining heavily and barely above freezing, it didn't seem the best idea, but he needed SOMETHING to let off some steam and only one thing came to mind – sex!

He started running through his usual sexual partners. Chris, Nicky and Mikey – all busy with band stuff, along with Mark who could have been a possible option. Rob – he was busy spending time with his parents and Milo. Levi/Mr Trent and Blane/Mr Smith – annoyingly monogamous. Mr Rudd – spending the morning with Josh.

With his usual options not available, Danny began to consider the more unusual options. Edward, the Smith family assistant – he had only been with him once, and even then it had only happened because he was an on enforced day off. The rest of the time, he was too dedicated to his work to even consider such things. Finn – definitely an appealing option, but... Finn wanted to talk. That wasn't what Danny needed. There was always Dom, he had absolutely been flirting when they chatted the previous day, but something felt a bit off about openly hitting on him. Danny knew he was vulnerable right now and sex probably wasn't the right thing for him.

Beginning to lose hope, Danny heard a voice and turned to stare over at the man it belonged to – Mr Smith! Not the teacher Mr Smith, the parent Mr Smith – Chris' father! He had been embarrassed when they said hello the previous day, presumably an after-effect of the things they had done together while on holiday over the summer. Mr Smith had apologised to Danny for what they had done together, saying it should never have happened, but... it had, so maybe... it could happen again.

Danny made his way towards the man as casually as he could, chatting to a couple of people on the way. Eventually, he got close enough to say, "Hi Mr Smith!"

"Oh, hi Danny," Mr Smith replied, looking round nervously.

"Not brought Mr and Mrs Byrne with you?" Danny asked, cocking his head curiously.

Mr Smith blushed, knowing the boy was fully aware that the couple were more than just `family friends' to him and his wife. "No, no, we... umm... they're... visiting family," he said, still visibly anxious.

Deciding subtlety was just getting in the way, Danny stated, "We don't have a sauna here, but we can find other ways to get steamy if you like!"

Mr Smith's eyes almost bulged out of his head as he looked round, terrified the entire room had heard. Thankfully they had not. "Danny!" he hissed angrily. He leaned closer and whispered, "We talked about this!"

Danny frowned and pouted for a moment. "I was kinda hoping you'd changed your mind. I thought maybe with Mr Byrne not here you might... need a hand!"

"Believe it or not, Danny, I do have SOME self-control!" Mr Smith replied, shaking his head. "Look, are we going to have a problem here?" he asked sternly.

Danny shook his head as he replied, "No, guess I just... got my hopes up for nothing, but we're good. I won't mention it again!"

"Good lad," Mr Smith said, visibly relieved, "I really am sorry..."

"S'okay!" Danny cut him off. "I had fun. You had fun. We'll leave it in the Virgin Islands!"

"Ironically named," Mr Smith smirked.

"Hnnh, yeah," Danny chuckled, "Well nice to see you, but... I'm going to go have sex. See ya later!"

Mr Smith blushed and looked round nervously at the comment once again as Danny walked away.

"Fuck my life," Danny muttered, literally out of options.

Mark and Mikey stood aside, exchanging bemused looks. On the other side of the stage, Chris and Nicky were having yet another disagreement about the band. The issues had been building for a while now, but after a recent argument, the two had decided it wasn't worth falling out over. Of course, they hadn't actually resolved any of the issues either, so all they were left with now was a series of polite but persistent squabbles.

"I dunno whether they need to fuck or fight, but either way I wish they'd get on with it," Mark said with a smirk.

"I'd be happy to watch either!" Mikey replied, grinning wickedly.

"Perv!" Mark said, feigning disapproval.

"Guilty as charged," Mikey said with a casual shrug.

"Sorry to interrupt," Mr Trent suddenly called across the room from the doorway, prompting the squabble to stop as all four boys looked round. "Mark, just a quick one. I was wondering what time we should be expecting your parents. Any idea?"

"Oh, umm..." Mark said, suddenly blushing, seeming to shrink inwards a little, "Yeah, umm... kinda turns out..." he paused, glancing briefly at the others, "They won't be coming after all!"

"Cunts!" Mikey snapped instantly.

Mr Trent didn't even respond to the coarse language. He simply let out a gentle sigh and beckoned Mark over.

"Wow that sucks," Nicky sighed as he watched a clearly-unhappy Mark wander off chatting with the teacher.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure Chris'll find a way to make us properly cry about it in tomorrow's next story!" Mikey said with a cheeky grin.

"No!" Chris said defensively, then blushed a little and said, "It's... the day after tomorrow!" As Nicky and Mikey laughed at the admission, Chris grumbled, "I hate you both!"

"Are you guys done yet?" Danny suddenly called out across the room, "I need sex!"

As Chris immediately jumped to head over to Danny, Nicky grabbed his arm and called out, "Not yet, you'll have to wait!"

"But... but... Danny!" Chris stuttered, pouting as he pointed at his boyfriend. "And sex," he added, giving Nicky a sad look. "And... Danny... wanting sex!" he finished, making his eyes as big as possible as he continued to pout.

"No, bad Chris," Nicky said, tapping him on the nose, "Down, boy!"

"Come on, Mark isn't even here!" Chris whined.

"Oh yeah," Danny said with a frown as he watched the exchange, "I thought he was with you!"

"He was, but he's talking to Mr Trent cos he's all sad cos it turns out his family are almost as cunty as mine!" Mikey said casually without even looking over as he sat twirling his drumsticks.

Getting a curious look from Danny, Nicky added a little more tactfully, "His parents aren't coming!"

"Fuck," Danny said, shaking his head, "That sucks!"

"That's what I said," Nicky shrugged.

"What's what who said?" Mark asked as he walked back in.

"Oh, nothing, never mind," Nicky said dismissively. "But hurry up. Danny's horny and I'm not letting Chris leave til we run through our last song." As Mark sniggered at the frustrated looks on Danny and Chris' faces, Nicky added, "I had to fight to even DO this song. I'm not giving Chris any excuses to change his mind!"

Mikey and Mark both rolled their eyes at more passive aggressiveness between their bandmates as they took their positions.

As the band started playing, Danny stood watching. All four of them were cute and/or hot individually, but seeing the four of them together always seemed to amplify it. With Chris' eyes fixed on him, Danny decided to tease a little and peeled off his t-shirt before playfully throwing it onto the stage as he cheered.

Amused, the band continued playing, watching in amusement as Danny continued. He kicked off his trainers before pulling down his sweatpants which he span around his head for a few moments before throwing them onto the stage too. Now clad in just his underwear, which was only just containing the horny boy's straining erection inside, Danny performed a few deliberately bad dance moves to try and throw the band off their beat.

Despite a little laughter, the band managed to keep it together, even when Danny pulled down his underwear and threw them at Chris. Now naked, Danny let his erection slap around as he danced stupidly to the song. Glancing round, he moved to the back of the room where the tables and chairs were set up for the evening's performance and climbed onto a table, gyrating obscenely.

Finally the song came to an end and the band burst into laughter as Danny cheered and hollered for them, but he stopped suddenly as he saw the door opening. Unsure who was coming in, Danny leapt from the table to take cover.

"Oh, it's my twins!" Nicky said into the microphone to make sure Danny knew who had walked in as he hid.

"Come and play with us!" Aidan demanded, very clearly looking at Nicky.

"Oh, well forget me, then. I'm old news!" Chris said, pouting playfully.

"You too!" Cian added with a stern nod. "All of you!" he added as he looked to Mark and Mikey, blushing a little.

"Well I suppose we ARE finished," Nicky said with a shrug, glancing over at the tables where he could see Danny peering through a gap.

"Yeah, but we should totally clean up," Chris added as he started picking up Danny's discarded clothing.

Danny stayed hidden behind the tables, not keen to be seen naked by the twins, especially with a cock that seemed adamant about never actually going down! He glared at the band as he watched them gather up his clothes, knowing exactly their intention. As expected, a few moments later the six of them were wandering out, with Aidan and Cian happily clinging onto their new `twin'.

"Cunts!" Danny muttered as he sat naked behind the table. The Guest Building wasn't huge, so it technically wasn't THAT far to the safety of his dorm, but there were a lot of people around. This wasn't like a normal day at Kingswood. If it was, with just other students and maybe the occasional teacher around, he would have just strolled through and ignored the comments of anyone that spotted him. Today though, the building was full of mums and dads and brothers and sisters, people who were not used to seeing a naked Danny wandering around!

The others had headed out of the door that took them down towards the more communal area of the building. Danny instead headed to the door on the other side of the room, the one that led to the back stairs and up to the floors with the dormitories and guest rooms. He peeked through the long glass slit in the door and saw the coast was clear, so he opened it and started scurrying along the corridor.

Just as he was nearing the end, with the doorway to the stairs just around the corner, he ground to a halt as he heard, "And this way is the main entertainment room. It's where Mikey and his band are putting on a performance for us tonight!"

Danny recognised the voice as Mr Trent, and from what he said, he inferred it was Mikey's family being shown around. Not keen to be seen by his friend's parents, or to walk around naked in front of their young children, Danny panicked as he looked round. There was an emergency exit beside him. Figuring he could slip out while remaining hidden until they passed, he opened the door and stepped out, ducking down behind the wall as he grabbed a thick twig to put in place and keep the door open a crack to avoid getting locked out.

Danny could hear the gentle murmur of conversation as the group approached, but it went quiet for a moment. Worried he had been caught, Danny held his breath and remained completely still. Thankfully, he had not been spotted, but something else had.

"Hmm, that's not right," he heard Mr Trent say, followed a moment later by the sound of the door closing fully.

"Fuck!" Danny muttered. With the door closed, he had no way back in. Most external entrances and exits required a student or staff ID to be swiped to open, but even if he had his with him, the emergency exits were programmed not to allow entry outside of emergency situations. Looking round, Danny shuddered. It was a cold day, but on the bright side at least the rain had stopped.

Being around the back of the building, there was nothing Danny could use for cover. It was just a wide concrete path which then transitioned straight to neatly-cut grass. Nowhere to hide, and nothing he could grab to cover himself up as he tried to get back into the building. As this was far from the first time Danny had found himself in such a situation, he knew one of the worst things he could do was hesitate. Every second wasted dithering was another second he could be caught, so he started moving along the back of the building.

Stopping as he got to each window, he peered inside to see if there was anyone who could help him, or anyone he needed to avoid, but with each room empty, he was soon around the side of the building, peering round the front.

"Fuck, fuck, fuckedy-fuck," Danny whispered to himself angrily as he looked at the long stretch of path to the front entrance. After one last check to make sure the coast was clear, he made a dash for it.

Bare feet slapped against wet concrete as he ran, his hands grasped tightly over a semi-hard cock and balls and his entire body covered in a fine sheen of moisture. He reached the glass door unseen and cautiously pulled one hand away from his crotch to open it and... nothing. It didn't move! Without his ID, he couldn't get in. He had hoped it might have been left unlocked, but alas not. He was still locked out. "FUCK!" he snapped again.

Just as he was considering pressing the buzzer to get someone's attention, he saw someone inside. Covering up with both one hand, he banged on the door and yelled, "MILO!"

Milo was walking along past the door, accompanied by Bobby. Both boys stopped as they heard the yell and looked round. It took a moment for them to register what they were seeing before they both burst into hysterical laughter.

"Milo, open the door!" Danny demanded.

As the two boys approached, Bobby reached out to push the exit button, but Milo reached out and stopped him. "Not yet," Milo said with a broad grin.

"Milo, come on, it's cold out here!" Danny said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Hmmm, nah," Milo said, shaking his head.

"Hey, don't be mean," Bobby said, offering Danny a meek smile.

"Fine. I'll let you in," Milo said, then grinned wickedly as he said, "For a price!"

"Milo, this isn't funny!" Danny growled.

"Yeah, it is!" Milo disagreed. "Now d'you want in or not?"

"Ugh, fine whadda you want, and make it quick!" Danny snapped angrily.

"Kneel on the floor and jerk off!" Milo ordered, getting an immediate gasp of shock from beside him.

"Awesome!" Bobby said happily once the initial shock had passed.

"What happened to not being mean?" Danny demanded.

Bobby shrugged and said, "This sounds more fun!"

"I'm not doing that Milo, just let me in!" Danny said moodily as he glared through the door at Rob's little brother.

"Fair enough," Milo shrugged. "Come on Bobby, let's go tell everyone there's a naked Danny outside!"

"No! Stop!" Danny called out as he saw the boys turn away. "Fine. Fine. I'll do it!" he said as he moved his hands away from his crotch and started jerking off.

"Oh my god, he's hard already!" Bobby declared in shock, moving a little closer to the door.

"Hey, it's Danny. I think he's always hard!" Milo sniggered. "And I said kneel!" he added with a wicked grin.

Danny huffed and dropped to his knees, wanking half-heartedly.

"Wow, at that rate we'll be here all day," Milo said, shaking his head, "I want you to go ALL the way!"

"Fuck's sake," Danny muttered, immediately speeding up his hand.

"So cool," Bobby gasped as he watched the older boy masturbating, pawing indiscreetly at his own crotch.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas to us!" Milo chuckled, fiddling in his own pocket.

"Come on guys, it's really cold, can't I do this inside," Danny pleaded. "I'll... I'll let you do stuff to me!" he offered, feeling his cock twitch a little. Danny had never really been attracted to boys younger than himself, and looking at the two Year 7s now he still didn't feel any particular attraction, but the thought of submitting to their whims did have a certain appeal.

"Whadda you think?" Milo asked Bobby curiously. "I'm up for it, but I know you guys are pretty frigid!"

"We're not frigid, you guys are just pervs!" Bobby scowled back.

Despite the situation, Danny couldn't help smirking. The similarities between the current dorm 1.01 boys (Milo's dorm) and Danny's own experience back in his Year 7 dorm sounded amusingly similar.

"What kinda stuff?" Milo asked.

"Sex stuff. Whatever you like!" Danny blurted out, desperate to get back into the building.

Just as the two younger boys looked close to reaching a decision, Danny heard a noise that sent chills through his entire body.

"OH MY GOD!" Danny heard... in his own mother's voice.

Danny's hands suddenly clasped over his crotch again as he slowly turned his head to see his mum, dad and sister walking along beside Blane, seemingly having just arrived. He looked back inside at Milo and Bobby who presumably figured they were in trouble, or would be if they were caught, and turned to run away.

"You could at least..." Danny started as the two boys fled, then mumbled, "... open the door. Fuck you!" With a whimper, he climbed to his feet and did the only thing he could... stood and waited for the approaching group to reach him so he could be let inside.

"Hi Danny. Hell of a greeting!" Beth, his older sister, called out as she barely contained her laughter.

"I don't quite think you're dressed for the weather!" Mr Davies said, shaking his head as he smirked.

Mrs Davies, while shocked by the sight of her naked son and a little concerned about what was going on, also looked to be holding back a laugh as she said, "Danny, I know we said we were looking forward to seeing you, we just... didn't mean ALL of you!"

"Fuck my life!" Danny said, on the verge of bursting into tears from sheer embarrassment.

"Having trouble getting in?" Blane asked as he got close. "Not got your student ID on you?"

"God I hope not. Where would he be keeping it!" Beth laughed, finally triggering full-on laughter from her parents.

"Are you all finished?" Danny pouted moodily.

"Are you?" Blane asked, indiscreetly letting his gaze wander to Danny's crotch for just a moment, getting more laughs from the others who couldn't miss the unsubtle meaning.

"Why don't we... save the hello hugs until a little later," Mrs Davies said as the four of them reached the naked teen.

"Good idea," Danny pouted as he watched Blane scan his card and heard the door unlock.

As Blane pulled the door open, Danny stood back to let the others go in, just to avoid giving them the full rear view.

"Oh, no. After you," Blane said, gesturing for Danny to enter.

Danny let out a low growl and said, "I hate you all," before taking off at a mad dash into the building, giving the laughing group a few seconds to watch his pearly-white buttocks disappear around the corner.

Josh stirred and let out a big yawn as he changed positions slightly. Feeling the powerful thigh he was currently using as a pillow, he smiled at the thought of who he knew was looking down at him.

"Big smile," Mr Rudd chuckled as he saw the boy grin.

Josh opened his eyes and glanced around the room to make sure they were alone, then said, "Hi dad!"

"Hey there," Mr Rudd said, letting his hand casually stroke Josh' chest.

Josh mewed happily at the affectionate touch as he stared up at his surrogate father.

"How you feeling?" Mr Rudd asked gently.

"Bit better," Josh said with a slight nod, having felt quite ill before coming for his nap.

"Well enough to come see some new arrivals?" Mr Rudd asked with a smile.

Josh frowned at the cryptic invitation but nodded as he sat up.

"Come on then," Mr Rudd said as he climbed off the bed and offered an arm to Josh, who happily clamped onto it. They wandered along the hallway for a while until they reached a door that Mr Rudd knocked on and called out, "You've got a visitor!"

Josh stared as he walked into the room, as about a dozen men stared back at him. "Oh my god," he called out happily. All of the people inside were former `Sons of Kingswood', people who been formally adopted by Kingswood during their time at the school. While they had occasional get-togethers for special occasions, or popped by occasionally to visit Jack or meet up with their former adopted siblings, it was rare to get so many of them together in one place outside of a formal reunion.

There was a sudden cheer of greetings from the gathered men, most of whom had met Josh previously during his time as a Son of Kingswood.

"Ethan, hi. Franky, oh my god, Charlie!" Josh called out, ecstatic to see the familiar faces that made up his adopted extended family. He smiled especially broadly as he saw Ellis, the only other current Son of Kingswood at the school, but the grin suddenly stretched even wider as he saw who was sat with him – Jensen! "JEN!" Josh yelled out, rushing towards the eighteen-year-old who had left at the end of the previous year.

"Josh," Jensen said, slightly shakily as the boy grabbed him in a tight hug... or at least as tight as Josh could manage. "You... you look..." Jensen said shakily.

"Like shit!" Josh said with a nod as he pulled back and looked up at his adopted big brother.

"I was just gonna say... different," Jensen said, raising a hand to stroke Josh's head, though he stopped short of it and stroked his back instead, looking a little awkward.

Josh winced slightly as he pulled back and turned to face the rest of the delighted crowd. "What are you all doing here?" he asked, still a little shocked.

"We heard you were having a family Christmas, and we're family, right?" Ethan said with a grin. Of the returning visitors, Ethan had probably seen Josh the most, as one of Jack's most frequent visitors.

"That's so sweet," Josh said happily.

"Some of us can only stay for the day unfortunately," Francois (or `Franky', to Josh) commented, "But we wanted to come see you."

"Should we tell him?" Ethan whispered to Jack, Josh's current legal guardian. As he got a shrug and a nod back from the man, Ethan added, "We also figured that, as we're here, we may as well get tested to see if we can donate. I hear you're being weird and asking for stem cells for Christmas!"

The room hesitated a moment, then started laughing once Josh giggled at the comment. "You're all..." he started, a little choked. "That's... you don't... have to!"

"Hey, you know us lot," a man Josh didn't recognise said firmly, "We stick together! It's what family does!"

"Oh, Josh, this is Victor," Jack said, introducing the stranger, "We were actually in the same class!"

"Just Vic is fine," Vic nodded to Josh, then threw an arm around Jack and said, "But I was a Son of Kingswood before he was!"

"Oh, by about a month, big deal!" Jack said, rolling his eyes.

Josh grinned. Even at their age, it was amusing to see how easily they could revert to the relationships and behaviours from their time at school together. It made him happy to imagine still being like that with his own friends when he got older.

The group burst into casual chatter now that Josh and Mr Rudd had joined them. Josh chatted to Vic for a little while, getting to know the new guy, before being introduced to another former Son of Kingswood he hadn't met before. After that, he worked his way around the rest of the group. By the time he had spoken to everyone, he was fairly exhausted but refused to let it show, especially when he saw Jensen stood aside talking quietly to Ellis. Although he really did consider all the men to be family, it was Ellis and Jensen who had felt the most like siblings, and seeing the elder of the two back was truly wonderful.

As Josh approached the two young men, Ellis smiled and Jensen and gave a gentle nod before walking away, giving Josh a quick smile too.

"Sorry," Jensen said quietly as Josh looked up at him. "I went a bit... weird before," he mumbled awkwardly.

"It's okay, I'm used to it!" Josh said with a shrug. The smile he gave was not a particularly happy one. "The bald thing makes people uncomfortable I think!" he said pensively.

"You don't make me uncomfortable, Josh," Jensen said, stroking his little brother's arm. "It was just... a shock, to see you looking so..."

"Sick?" Josh suggested, cocking his head curiously.

Jensen nodded. "Yeah. Whenever I think of you, I always picture you like, on the football or rugby pitch, or trying one of your stupid dance moves and ending up flat on your face!" he said with a slight chuckle.

Josh sighed as he nodded and said, "I miss being me!"

"Fuck, are you TRYING to make your big bro cry?" Jensen laughed, clearly a little tearful at the wistful comment.

"Yeah, kinda," Josh laughed.

Jensen sniggered, thankful of the humour to help him avoid getting too emotional. "You, umm... you don't... cover up then?" he asked, nodding to Josh's head.

Josh frowned a little. "I mean, sometimes I wear a hat just cos I get cold really easily now, but in general... no. I guess... ugh, I dunno, I have reasons and they make sense to me. Some people in my support group wear hats or headscarves all the time, some don't, it just is what it is!"

Jensen nodded, then looked at Josh a little sadly as he said, "You didn't... tell me you were sick!"

Josh sighed. At the time he was diagnosed, he had asked Jack and Ellis not to tell Jensen about the diagnosis, and he had continued that request right through the first stages of his treatment. "You were travelling," Josh said, knowing his big brother had taken a gap year before heading off to Uni. "I know you'd have come back early if they told you!" he explained.

"Yeah, I would!" Jensen said, frowning a little, clearly annoyed at the decision.

"And what good would that have done? You can't fix it. Most days I didn't even WANT to have visitors. You'd have screwed up your plans, just to sit around here and worry. Where's the fun in that?" Josh asked.

Jensen huffed and nodded as he said, "Fine, I guess... that makes sense, but from now on, you get news, you tell me, okay?"

"Okay," Josh replied with a sheepish nod as he leaned in for a hug.

"Promise?" Jensen asked as he held the boy gently. As he got a nod in return, he smiled and said, "So come on, tell me all the gossip I've missed. Who's got naked? How badly are you fucking up being a mentor?"

"Screw you," Josh laughed as he pulled away.

Danny jumped slightly at the sound of a door slamming. He was lying on his bed, covers pulled up over his head, where he had been hiding ever since getting back into the building. As he pulled the covers down enough to peer out and see who had just come in, he saw Mikey and growled, "I don't wanna talk to you!"

"Fuck you, cuntbreath!" Mikey snapped furiously, "Not everything's about YOU, so go fuck yourself!" He jumped onto his own bed and pulled the covers up over his head.

"Mikey, come back," Nicky called out as the door opened once again.

Danny made brief eye contact with Nicky and promptly disappeared back under the covers.

Nicky let out a sigh. He had come in to deal with one moody roommate, he wasn't sure he could handle two. "Mikey," he repeated as he sat down on his best friend's bed.

"Fuck off!" Mikey snapped without appearing.

"I agree!" Danny called out.

"Ugh, god, you two!" Nicky huffed, clearly frustrated. "Just get the fuck over it!" he snapped.

At the same time, both Danny and Mikey sat up and started shouting at Nicky. Their rants drowning each other out as they competed for who could shout back at him the loudest.

Nicky huffed again as they stopped, shook his head and said, "Yeah, I didn't catch ANY of that!" As they both started up again, he raised his voice and bellowed, "I WASN'T ASKING!"

Danny and Mikey both fell silent. They could probably count on one hand the times they had heard Nicky shout before. In fact, for the first two years they knew him, he would have been long gone from the room by now, but he was gradually starting to get better at handling confrontation without immediately running away.

"Okay, Danny, you know we're sorry we took your clothes," Nicky started.

"That's it? You're sorry?" Danny scoffed furiously. "After what you guys did..."

"WE didn't do that!" Nicky cut him off, "We didn't make you go outside or wank off in front of family! Besides, it's hardly the first time they've seen you like that and the world didn't fucking end. We know you're not gonna sulk in here all Christmas, so yes... get the fuck over it!"

Danny recoiled a little, pouting sulkily.

"And Mikey," Nicky said, turning his attention to his best friend, "I don't know what the fuck THAT was about..."

"What happened?" Danny asked curiously.

"My parents are CUNTS. That's what happened!" Mikey snapped angrily, folding his arms petulantly.

Mikey's family had arrived earlier in the day and started getting settled in. Mikey and Nicky had been talking to them when Mikey flipped out at them.

As Danny looked to Nicky curiously, Nicky said softly, "Mikey, all they said was that they were looking forward to seeing you play with the band tonight!"

"Yeah, well it's HOW they said it!" Mikey snapped. "They were totally laughing at me. They're just... just waiting for me to fuck up. They want me to fuck up. They hate me!"

"That's... not what I saw," Nicky said, reaching out to touch Mikey's arm.

<<That feels nice. I want a hug!>>

<<Wait, don't hug, shout! SHOUT!!>>

"Yeah, well... that just means they got YOU fooled too!" Mikey snapped angrily, "Just like they do with EVERYONE!"

Nicky looked to Danny, silently asking for help.

Despite his annoyance, Danny could see how upset Mikey was, and how much Nicky wanted to help. With a sigh he slid off his bed and walked over to stand next to Mikey's. "Pussy!" he said bluntly.

Nicky stared at Danny wide-eyed. This was clearly not the kind of `help' he wanted.

"What did you call me?" Mikey asked angrily.

<<He called you a pussy!>>

"I called you a pussy," Danny said bluntly, "But only because you're acting like a pussy!" He shrugged dismissively.

As Mikey lunged at him, Danny moved aside and watched as Mikey tumbled from the bed and onto the floor, then immediately grabbed his arm, twisted it up behind his back and held him down.

"Jesus, Danny! Stop it!" Nicky said, standing over the other two.

"No, not til he stops acting like a pussy!" Danny insisted.

"GET OFF OF ME YOU CUNT!" Mikey screamed out furiously.

<<Stop shouting. I hate when you shout. Stop it!>>

"Yeah, no," Danny said, shaking his head. He glanced to Nicky and gave him a reassuring look. "I know you've bitched before that I force you to act the way I want you to, like back when we first got here and maybe I did, but look what it got you. Actual friends and a life you like, so squirm all you like, but I'm not letting you up til you get the fuck over whatever all this is!"

"GET OFF!" Mikey demanded, still angry but already with less expletives.

<<Stop shouting!>>

"You've got Chris and Nicky and Josh when you want a cuddle, but you ain't getting that from me. Sometimes you just need to be slapped out of it, and that's what I'm here for!" Danny said coldly. He raised his hand as Mikey craned his neck to look back up at him.

"Danny!" Nicky gasped in shock.

Danny shot Nicky a wink, then swatted his hand down... and stopped just short of Mikey's cheek before tapping it gently.

"That didn't hurt!" Mikey scoffed.

<<Good!>>

"No, I said I was gonna slap you out of it. I never said I was gonna hurt you!" Danny smirked.

"That's... so stupid!" Mikey said, frowning curiously.

Danny delivered another gentle tap to Mikey's cheek, then asked, "Got it out of your system now?"

<<No, Punch him in his stupid balls!>>

"I think so," Mikey said, nodding as much as he could.

Danny released Mikey's arm and climbed off before helping him to his feet. "Just cos I CAN kick your arse doesn't mean I will," Danny said with a shrug. "But you act like a pussy again and I will!" he threatened.

"But they're... they... they say things and... and it... it makes me so..." Mikey paused, shaking his head.

"Mikey," Nicky said softly, "They didn't say anything wrong. I know... that I don't know them like you do, but seriously. I think you... might have just over-reacted a bit!"

"A bit?" Danny scoffed, getting a glare from Nicky.

"They just... mess with my head," Mikey said, looking torn between getting upset and getting angry again.

"Then... do what we did when I came to stay at your place. Just... listen to me. Tell me when they bother you and I'll... y'know, help you figure it out," Nicky offered.

"Or tell me and I can kick your arse again!" Danny said with a shrug.

"Shut up, naked boy!" Nicky snapped.

Mikey snorted with laughter at the insult.

"Oh, you bitch!" Danny laughed, still annoyed at what had happened, but glad to see Mikey returning to his usual self.

"You know we're sorry about what happened," Nicky offered. "At least, our bit of it!" he added with a hint of a shrug.

"Why does this stuff always happen to me?" Danny pouted.

"Karma for beating up your sweet, perfect, innocent friends?" Mikey suggested.

"Oh wow, that's a whole new level of delusion," Danny scoffed. "Sweet, perfect, innocent friend? That's only a quarter true!"

"Come on. Argue about it on the way," Nicky said, glad to see the bad moods had dissipated for now, "It's nearly dinner time!"

With all expected visitors happily settled into their accommodations, the first order of business had been getting together for a big Christmas Eve meal. The Guest Building's dining room, usually filled with tables in long rows to allow visiting students to dine had now been transformed and contained six large tables instead.

One was designated the `kids table' where Clare and Fiadh Smith along with Mikey's younger siblings Gareth, Melanie and Suzie were sat. An attempt to put Cian and Aidan on the kids table had resulted in a world-class tantrum as they adamantly refused to sit anywhere other than either side of Nicky. Everyone else was seated around the five remaining tables, a mix of adults and students and siblings.

As Chris and Danny sat down, they both suddenly exchanged curious looks as they heard a strangely familiar voice. "Is that..." Danny started, looking round at a man sitting beside him with the Sons of Kingswood.

"It is!" Chris declared. "Vic!" he called out excitedly.

The burly man turned at the sound of his name and his face immediately lit up at the sight of the two teens. "Danny! Chris! Isn't this a surprise!" he said happily.

"I didn't recognise you at first," Chris said, then smirked as he added, "With clothes on, I mean!"

The men around Vic chuckled and murmured a few teasing comments.

"I'll be answering no questions on that," Vic said to them, "But get your minds out of the gutter!"

Chris and Danny both laughed at the comment before Danny said, "I was just thinking about you the other day!"

"I bet you was," Chris growled playfully, getting a laugh from Vic and eye roll from Danny.

Suddenly, Josh stood and dinged his glass for attention.

"We'll catch up later. I'm here til Boxing Day!" Vic said quietly as he saw Josh drawing attention.

"Awesome," Chris replied before going quiet to look round at Josh the same as everyone else.

Josh looked increasingly nervous as all eyes fell on him. "Umm... as... umm... as this is our first proper thing together, I... I just wanted to say a few things. Umm..." he started awkwardly.

Rob, who was sitting beside Josh, discretely reached out to rub his back supportively.

"Umm, growing up, I didn't really... I..." Josh paused, shaking his head slightly as he got a bit teary.

"Okay, sit," Rob said as he stood, gesturing for Josh to sit down. "He totally saw this coming and briefed me accordingly," Rob said, getting a chuckle from the crowd. "What Josh wanted to say was... growing up, he never really got to have a good Christmas, especially not with his family, but for the last couple, he's actually been able to enjoy them thanks to Jack and all his adopted brothers."

There was a gentle cheer from the dozen Sons of Kingswood.

"But this year really means something extra special to Josh. He..." Rob paused, looking a little choked up as he laughed, "Wow, that's almost got me going now too!" He cleared his throat slightly to compose himself as he continued, "Josh has had times over the last few months where he didn't know if he would even make it to Christmas, or whether this might be his last, but things are finally looking hopeful. So he wanted to thank you all for letting him spend this Christmas with all the people he loves, and all of the people THEY love."

There was a delighted round of applause, which came as a welcome reprieve to let Rob compose himself once again as Josh sniffed happily by his side.

"So to all of you, from Josh and from me, and all of us I suppose... thank you for being here, and a Merry Christmas to all of our Kingswood family!" Rob said, raising his glass.

"Merry Christmas," the crowd called back, raising their drinks before the sound of clinking glasses echoed around.

"How was that?" Rob asked as he sat back down next to Josh.

"Perfect," Josh said, beaming brightly.

With dinner concluded, everyone made their way through to the room where the stage had been set up for Stage Fright to perform. The band was getting ready, and only a few minutes away from performing. Danny was sat amongst the other members of his dorm and hadn't realised who had sat behind him until he heard a voice.

"Hey Danny, I know you're a fan of the band," Beth started, deliberately loud enough for the people around them to hear, "But don't go throwing your underwear at them. That is... assuming you're actually wearing any!"

Danny glared at his big sister as the other boys around him sniggered. Needless to say, everybody had heard about his embarrassing incident.

"Hey, Beth, don't tease your little brother," Mr Davies interjected.

"Thank you," Danny muttered shyly.

"That's our job!" Mr Davies added with a grin, getting a snort of laughter from Beth.

"I'm swapping seats," Danny grumbled as he got up to move away from his family. Walking along, he passed by Milo and Eoin who both started laughing as Danny glared at them. Everywhere he looked, people seemed to be laughing. Maybe it was at him, or maybe it was just a bunch of people having fun, but it felt like it was all around him. It felt like it was closing in. Just a wall of people and sound and laughter and embarrassment.

Struggling to breathe, Danny hurried out of the room. Desperate for air, he rushed outside and tried to inhale but it still felt like the world was pressing down on his chest. So distraught and distracted, he hadn't even noticed somebody else was already outside.

"Hey, sorry but I gotta go!" Finn said urgently into his phone, "Speak soon!" He hung up and rushed over as he saw Danny standing there hyperventilating. "Danny," he said as he got close, "Danny, are you okay?"

"Can't... breathe... can't..." Danny wheezed, panting heavily.

"Hey, Danny, Danny, look at me, look at me," Finn urged the younger boy, grabbing him by the shoulders. As Danny stared him in the eye, clearly gripped by panic, Finn said, "You just need to catch your breath. Come on, do it with me. Big, big deep breath in now!" He started taking a long breath in, waiting for Danny to copy, continuing as he did. "Okay, and back out," he said as he started exhaling.

Danny's eyes remained transfixed on Finn's as they breathed together. Gradually, the world stopped spinning and closing in around him and he felt the tightness in his chest melting away with each deep breath.

"Okay, great, you're doing great," Finn urged Danny, moving to slip an arm around him as he composed himself.

"Thank you," Danny said, still breathing deeply.

"Danny, what happened?" Finn asked softly.

"Nothing," Danny insisted. "It's nothing, I'm fine!"

Finn scoffed as he replied, "Yeah, clearly not fine. You just had a full-on fucking panic attack, Danny. Short of just dropping dead, that's about as big a sign of being NOT fine as there is!"

"Maybe I SHOULD," Danny muttered, shaking his head.

"Should..." Finn started, unsure what he meant until he caught on. "You think you should drop dead? Danny, what the fuck?"

"No, I didn't mean that," Danny said, shaking his head, "Not really! Just... just forget it, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm definitely fucking not forgetting it. Danny, what's going on?" Finn demanded.

"God, nothing, I'm FINE!" Danny snapped, pulling away from the arm around his shoulders. "It was just... very busy in there and I got a bit... I dunno, overwhelmed or whatever and needed some air. Just fucking leave it, okay!" he insisted before heading back in to watch the band perform, leaving Finn looking concerned.

As the evening drew on, the young kids were ushered off to bed, bouncing with excitement over the prospect of what was to follow the next day, while the adults grouped up to do... whatever boring groups of adults do, most of the boys didn't really care. Josh had said goodbye to the Sons of Kingswood who were only there for the day.

Deciding to move the party away from the prying eyes of the parents, everyone ended up congregating in Chris, Danny, Nicky and Mikey's dorm. They were joined by Rob, Mark, Josh and David, who had the dorm next door, Dominic, Bobby, Eoin and Milo from the next dorm down, Jensen and Ellis who were sharing another dorm and finally Finn, who had his own room elsewhere but happily joined the other boys closer to his age.

The noise in the room was excessive, with fifteen boys all chatting loudly over each other, mostly split into three groups gathered roughly around the beds.

After the boys had been in the room hanging out for a while, Chris suddenly called out, "Hey, hey, hey, everyone, quiet! I've got an idea!" He held up an empty bottle.

"Good idea, but at least let Danny lubricate first!" Milo called out, getting uproarious laughter from half of the dorm, while several of them frowned disapprovingly or looked at Danny with undeniable concern.

"Very funny. I meant spin the bottle!" Chris insisted.

"Yeah, no," Finn said, shaking his head before anyone else could jump in, "I'm straight!"

Danny smirked, but as everyone looked at him, he worried they might have thought he was implying something else and said quickly, "Oh, he just mentions that A LOT!"

Finn rolled his eyes, but looked a little relieved at the comment. He quickly added, "Also, I ain't playing that with my own brother in the room!"

"Same here!" Rob called out urgently, glancing a little awkwardly at Milo.

"Fuck it, I'll play!" Dominic said, smirking as he saw everyone look at him and then his little brother, Bobby. "What's the fun of Spin the Bottle without a bit of risk, unless the big brave rugby captain's scared?" he taunted Rob, then looked to Finn and added, "Or how about you, straightie?"

"Oooooooh!" most of the others chorused as the challenge was extended.

"You really think I'd fall for that so easily?" Finn scoffed.

"Exactly what someone who's scared would say," Chris joined in to torment his older brother.

"Fuck it, fine, just cos otherwise I'll never hear the fucking end of it!" Finn huffed as Chris beamed teasingly. "And if I can do it, so can you!" he said, roping Rob into it too.

"Umm, do any of the rest of us have any say in this?" Nicky asked a little sarcastically.

Chris smirked and replied, "Nicky, it's a chance to kiss people without your usual fucking excuse of, `Oh, it's your birthday' that you usually use!"

"Heyyyy," Nicky whined. "That's a very kind and sweet tradition..." he paused as Chris looked a little sheepish, then chuckled as he finished, "... that I totally made up to make out with people!"

As all of the others laughed, Dom called out, "If I tell you my birthday's tomorrow, does that mean you'll make out with me?"

"Are you... Jesus Christ?" Nicky asked, cocking his head curiously with a smirk.

"No, but I'm similar, guys have been known to scream my name in bed!" Dom replied, giving Nicky a playful wink.

"Oh, well happy birthday Dominic Christ!" Nicky grinned.

"Fuckin' hell, is this what it's like all of the time around here?" Finn asked, shaking his head at the obvious flirting.

"Oh, you have NO idea," Jensen said, shaking his head.

"Come on then," Chris called out. "This bottle ain't gonna spin itself!" he said, brandishing the bottle playfully.

Through lots of chattering and a few quick squabbles about position, all fifteen got in place in a rough circle around the room.

"Okay, let's keep it simple. Spin, then you kiss. Thirty seconds, with tongue! You get the same person a second time, you have to CHOOSE someone else and can't be someone you already snogged!" Chris explained, not really giving anyone a chance to object. "Any volunteers to go first?" he asked with a wry grin.

"Ugh, fine, okay, stop nagging me, I'll go first!" Nicky said, sniggering at his own obviousness as he grabbed the bottle and placed it on the floor. "I hope I get the straight guy. I've never had one of those!" he said jokingly, sending a few chuckles Finn's way.

"You remember when he used to be shy?" Chris asked nobody in particular, sniggering as he saw Finn looking a little uncomfortable.

Nicky span the bottle and everything in the room seemed to stop as it rotated for a few moments. When it came to a stop, he looked in the direction is was pointing and said, "Hey, it's the birthday boy!"

"Technically I said that's tomorrow, so you'll still owe me one!" Dom grinned as Nicky approached him.

To a chorus of oohs, the two boys kissed, making an over-exaggerated show of the embrace, arms grasping at each other wildly. When they stopped, though nobody was actually timing, Nicky grinned at the older (but shorter) boy and said, "Hmm, maybe we should see other people!"

"OOOOOOOH!" the other boys called out at the playful burn.

"Pfft," Dom scoffed, "I reckon you're just a bad judge of my skills. Lemme try someone else!" He playfully nudged Nicky back towards his seat then reached for the bottle and span it. It quickly came to a stop pointing at David. "Oh, hey pinky," he said, looking at David's hair.

David looked nervous and remained still as the older boy crawled closer to him then leaned in and started kissing him. Several seconds later, when Dom pulled back, David asked, "Are you sure that was thirty seconds? Maybe we should do more, just in case!"

Everyone laughed as Dom poked his tongue out at Nicky and crawled back to his seat, while David reached out to spin the bottle. When it ground to a halt, it was pointing at Danny.

David blushed a little as he looked at his friend and asked, "I don't think we've ever kissed before, have we?"

"Wow, so there IS one he missed!" Ellis sniggered.

"OY!" Nicky snapped angrily. "We're ALL playing this game. If you can't be nice, fuck off somewhere else!"

"Sorry," Ellis said, cringing a little.

"Ugh, he's hot when he takes charge," Mikey muttered as David moved in to kiss Danny.

Several seconds later, David pulled back a little, smiled at Danny and whispered, "That was nice!"

"It was," Danny said back, returning the smile. As David moved away, Danny reached out and grabbed the bottle to spin it.

There was a sudden collective gasp as it came to a stop... pointing at Finn.

"Oooh, straight boy!" "That's his boyfriend's brother!" "That'll be one quarter of the Smith siblings now!" some of the comments came from around them.

"Seriously?" Finn sighed.

"Hey, of all the people to get, be glad it's Danny. He's VERY good at it!" Mikey said firmly. As he got a quick look from Nicky, he added, "Not throwing shade, he's just a fucking good kisser!"

Danny stared at Finn who stared back. Danny glanced at Chris who just smirked. Finn gulped a little as Danny moved closer.

"Ready for this?" Danny asked, unable to resist smiling.

"No, but do it anyway," Finn insisted, flushing bright red. Danny's lips met his own. Finn let out a gentle sigh as the boy kissed him, too quiet for anyone else to pick up on, especially with all the cheering and laughter echoing around, but certainly enough for Danny to pick up on.

Several seconds later, hearing the sound of someone clearing their throat, Danny pulled away and realised they had been going a lot longer than thirty seconds. "Sorry," he said, hoping to save Finn from some embarrassment, "I got carried away!"

"Does he taste like his brother?" Dom asked with a wicked grin, getting an immediate wave of groans of disgust from the group.

"He tastes straight!" Danny said, managing to both tease Finn for his frequent comment while protecting him from any assertions otherwise.

"Well, someone else is getting a taste now. C'mon straightie, let's see your spin!" Dom joked.

"Remind me again why I came here," Finn muttered.

"Latent homosexuality?" David replied, getting laughs from around the dorm as Finn blushed even redder.

Finn span, seemingly just wanting it out of the way. "No!" he gasped as it came to a stop. The air seemed to vanish from the room as a momentary silence preceded a sudden uproar – the bottle was pointing at Chris! "Nuh-uh, no way, not happening!" he insisted, shaking his head as he stood up.

"Oh, but Finny," Dom said as he stood too, "This is Kingswood, and at Kingswood we always pay our debts!"

"No, you're thinking of Lannisters!" Finn said moodily.

"Sorry, buddy," Jensen said, standing up too, "He's right, you may not BE a Kingswood student, but you're here and home rules apply to everyone. Pay up!"

"You're not serious!" Finn said shakily, "Are you really gonna MAKE me kiss my own brother?"

"No," Jensen said, shaking his head, getting a sigh of relief from Finn. "But we might hold you in place while he does it! Get him!" Jensen and Dom both lunged at Finn, with a few of the other boys grabbing him at the same time.

"Oh my god, get off!" Finn complained as he was held in place. "Chris, don't do this!" he pleaded.

"What? You think I want to?" Chris scoffed.

"Yeah, you're not Blane!" Nicky said, getting laughs from others around the group, many of whom had joked over the years about the possibility.

"Just... close your eyes and think of Molly!" Chris suggested as he moved close to Finn. It was strange. He actually had been with Blane, many times. Even the first time hadn't felt this uncomfortable... though they didn't have an audience, which might explain it. "Let's get it over with!" Chris leaned in and pressed his lips to Finn's.

Finn winced, keeping his lips tightly pressed together as he endured it. It barely lasted ten seconds before Chris pulled away, but nobody seemed to object, they were too busy hooting and hollering at the brother-on-brother action.

"There, wasn't too bad, was it?" Jensen sniggered.

"Yeah, say that when you've kissed YOUR brother!" Finn grumbled.

Jensen smirked and said, "Hey, who says I haven't already!" He winked playfully at Ellis and blew him a kiss, making Finn's eyes almost pop out as others around them laughed.

"Yeah, very good, but can we move on. I wanna kiss someone!" Chris said, grabbing the bottle. As he span it, it came to a stop on Josh, who he quickly approached.

Josh shrank inwards a little as he blushed and said, "I... I'm not allowed to kiss people. It's an infection risk!"

Chris stood looking down at Josh and nodded for a moment as he asked, "Just on the lips, I'm guessing?" As Josh nodded, Chris grinned and said, "Okay then!" He leaned down and proceeded to kiss Josh thirty times in different spots on his head and body, avoiding his lips. He grinned as Josh giggled his way through the entire thing, the rest of the group laughing along with it too.

Wanting to spare Josh any more embarrassment, Rob volunteered to go next as the game continued. Rob kissed Mikey, who kissed Eoin, who kissed Milo (and seemed to REALLY like it). Milo kissed Ellis, who kissed Bobby. On it went, going round and round until they finally felt everyone had had enough. Not a boy in the room had gone without at least one kiss.

As the excitement of the game died down, the boys ended up splitting back into smaller groups and gradually began nodding off, tangled casually together on and around the various beds. The room slowly grew quieter and quieter, until it seemed almost everyone was asleep.

Danny was finding it hard to nod off and, in his frustration, let out a gentle sigh.

"You awake?" Danny heard from the ground beside him. He rolled onto his side and looked down to see Dom, who was lying staring up at him.

"Mmm-huh," Danny hummed. "Can't sleep?" he whispered.

Dom shook his head and replied quietly, "No, I keep thinking about... stuff!"

Danny nodded gently. In amongst Dom's playfulness in the game and general frivolity of the whole evening, it had been easy to forget the weight bearing down on him. "Any news?" he asked sympathetically.

Dom shook his head silently.

"I'm sorry," Danny sighed. He scowled a little, but it was aimed at himself. Here he was getting all worked up and upset about a few comments and minor difficulties while Dom and Bobby were facing the very real possibility of losing both of their parents. It made his own issues seem utterly inconsequential. Wanting to lighten the mood, or maybe just distract the Year 11 boy, he asked softly, "So you and Nicky, huh?"

Dom smirked and shook his head again. "Nah, he's hot but not ACTUALLY into me. I know play flirting from real flirting!"

"There's a difference?" Danny muttered thoughtfully. "Wait, so what you said yesterday when we spoke..."

"Real flirting," Dom said with a wink.

Danny grinned and reached down to place a hand on Dom's chest. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Dom raised his head to look round the dorm. With the position he and Danny were in, they were already concealed from most of the dorm, and those who might have been able to see were very obviously asleep. He reached down and pulled his dick out, then nodded to Danny's crotch.

Danny happily pulled out his cock, already chubbing up. Having been horny all day but without any outlet, he was already pretty horny, but seeing the older boy's penis swelling before his eyes was quickly adding to his excitement. Dom's dick was fairly average, a little shorter and slimmer than Danny's, though his balls looked plump while a small bush of sandy-brown pubes poked out slightly.

Silently, they reached out to take hold of each other and started stroking.

"Guess I'm just proving my reputation," Danny sighed.

"Fuck reputation!" Dom replied, shaking his head a little. "I think you're hot and really sweet and this is fun. Fuck what anyone else says!" he said firmly.

Danny smiled. It was a nice sentiment, and definitely put him at ease, but it really wasn't that simple. Either way, now wasn't the time to get into it. He nodded at Dom and continued stroking, matching the older boy's pace as he let him take the lead.

After several minutes of comfortably silent stroking, interspersed with occasional affectionate eye contact, Dom shuddered a little and whispered, "I'm gonna cum!" As he pulled up the front of his t-shirt, he revealed a flat but slightly soft stomach, divided down the middle by a light trail of hair. Danny reached down with his other hand to stroke the narrow treasure trail as he tugged the older boy to climax, making him spurt a thick load, which pooled in his belly button.

"So hot," Danny gasped as his fingers gently pulled at the trail and watched the spunk squirt. He began to shoot moments later, the first few shots flying right over Dom and onto the floor beside him. One shot managed to land right on Dom's crotch, but then the rest dribbled down onto the ground between Dom and the bed.

"No, THAT was hot!" Dom chuckled. As he saw Danny smiling down at him, he sat up and said softly, "I never got a chance during the game, so..." He didn't finish, he just leaned in to kiss Danny for a few moments before lying back down. "Night Danny, Merry Christmas," he said before he closed his eyes.

"Merry Christmas," Danny whispered back, then turned over to nuzzle against Mikey who was asleep to his other side.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. New chapters of this story will post weekly, so be back same time next week for more! The Kingswood Complication will resume with Chapter 21 right after.

If you have any questions or comments, my email is always open at matterotica@hotmail.co.uk. Alternatively, I can be found on patreon where I also post my stories, along with bonus content and exclusives, at patreon.com/matterotica

If you wish to read any of my other stories, please see below for links

The Kingswood Saga

Tales from Kingswood (Book 1)– https://new.nifty.org/stories/tales-from-kingswood-05107/

Half-Term at Kingswood (Book 1 bonus story) – https://new.nifty.org/stories/half-term-at-kingswood-02038/

The Kingswood Eight (Book 2) - https://new.nifty.org/stories/the-kingswood-eight-72284/

A Very Kingswood Easter (Book 2 bonus story) - https://new.nifty.org/stories/a-very-kingswood-easter-59761/

The Kingswood Effect (Book 3) - https://new.nifty.org/stories/the-kingswood-effect-64914/

Chris and Danny's Super Sexy Summer (Book 3 bonus story) - https://new.nifty.org/stories/chris-and-dannys-super-sexy-summer-98673/

The Kingswood Complication (Book 4, ongoing) https://new.nifty.org/stories/the-kingswood-complication-63298/

The Benny Saga (in reading order)

Benny Takes Control – https://new.nifty.org/stories/benny-takes-control-42615/

The Dangers of Desire – https://new.nifty.org/stories/the-dangers-of-desire-57149/

Benny's House – https://new.nifty.org/stories/bennys-house-65127/

Other Series

Possession – https://new.nifty.org/stories/possession-25306/

Phil's Naked Adventures – https://new.nifty.org/stories/phils-naked-adventures-02988/

The Humiliation Games - https://new.nifty.org/stories/the-humiliation-games-31885/

One-shots

The Art of Seduction – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/the-art-of-seduction

Jake's Exposure – https://new.nifty.org/stories/jakes-exposure-73714/

Becoming an Internet Master – https://new.nifty.org/stories/becoming-an-internet-master-13630/

Brian's Big Mistake – https://new.nifty.org/stories/brians-big-mistake-31378/

And Then It Got Worse – https://new.nifty.org/stories/and-then-it-got-worse-05003/

Missed Opportunity – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/missed-opportunity

There's a Naked Alfie in the Garden - https://new.nifty.org/stories/theres-a-naked-alfie-in-the-garden-35531/