All the Ways I Love You
This story is about male/male relationships and contains graphic descriptions of sex.
You should not read this story if it is in any way illegal due to your age or residence.
This is a work of pure fiction. It mixes fictional characters and events with real people. However any real person mentioned in this work is purely an actor playing a part. This story in no way is meant to imply anything about the sexuality, personality, or behavior of the actual person.
Thanks to the many readers who have responded to this story. Thanks to mattvt for reviewing and proofing parts of this story; all errors remain my fault!
Copyright 2003 Jason Calme. This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied in whole or in part or posted on any website without the permission of the author.
Questions and commentary can be sent to "JasonCalme@yahoo.com".
Chapter 34
Now that he thought he had a commitment from me Justin was on a mission. Maybe it was because he was sick of being crowded into my apartment, or maybe it was because he was going to be leaving in a couple of days. Whatever the reason, the next day he arranged for us to see four more places. This time, just the two of us went - we decided that dragging Abby along just slowed it down, and I also got the idea that the Realtor had figured us out anyway. A couple of times she had seemed to be talking to Justin and me when she was talking about some feature of a house. I mean, how smart did she have to be?
The places were all nice, but we found ourselves picking them apart for one reason or another. The street wasn't as nice, they were out of the way, or something else was wrong.
At the end of the day we decided we wanted to go back and look at the two leading contenders from the first day. Justin said we could just go back to the third place, but I felt he really liked the second one more, so we had to go to both.
This time we did the third house first, and the second house last. After looking at them both I was maybe more confused. I still liked the third house, but it needed so much work. Justin, I thought, still liked the newer place.
We told the agent we'd think about it, and get back to her. Then we went home and talked about the places.
And talked...and talked...
Or maybe it was me that kept talking. I really wanted the place that needed work, and the damn thing was Justin agreed with me. But I was convinced either he was just being agreeable, or I was being stupid. Or both. So I kept trying to talk my way out of it. I think I explored just about every pro and con for both houses, which frustrated Justin no end. He was more interested in getting on with it.
We were lying in bed, Justin on top of me. He was hot and sweaty, his eyes closed and his breathing heavy. I was running my hands over his back and his butt, just enjoying his body, but wondering if he was going to fall asleep and whether I should roll him off me. I was starting to fall asleep myself.
"So?" he mumbled.
"What?" I said, kind of shaking myself back to consciousness. Justin usually wasn't a big talker after sex. I'd learned not to engage him in debate post orgasm. Better to let him sleep and talk about things in the morning.
Justin's head turned and he opened his eyes and he smiled.
"House?" he said.
I sighed. I thought we'd decided to not discuss that for a while.
"What about it Justin?" I said.
"I want to get the third one," Justin mumbled his chin on my chest.
I stared at him for a moment. "Okay Justin," I said. He smiled and closed his eyes and lay his head down on my chest.
"Okay Ethan," he said softly.
I leaned forward and kissed the top of his head. "I love you," I whispered.
"Love you," he mumbled.
Of course, it wasn't completely resolved. We spent ages trying to figure out how to 'buy' the house, an issue that was complicated by whether his name should be involved and also who ended up with ownership. I didn't care how he did it, I saw it as him buying the house and I'd pay him what I was currently paying as 'rent.' That would be the extent of my involvement. If we broke up, he kept the house and I just moved out.
But Justin wanted to share ownership of the house, which I wasn't willing to do.
It took weeks of arguing and negotiating to work on the convoluted arrangement whereby we shared some ownership and I was paying off part of the house.
Then came architects, contractors, interior designers and weeks and months of hassles. What was I thinking?! We should have just gotten a larger apartment!
I was standing in the airport wondering when Justin was going to arrive. He was flying in on a regular flight and the plane was already ten minutes late. The sign just said 'delayed,' which was completely unhelpful. I wandered around trying to find something to do. The shops were boring, I couldn't find a magazine I wanted to read. I debated buying a book, but couldn't be bothered. Besides, I thought, as soon as I started it the plane was sure to arrive.
Finally the sign said the plane had arrived, and ages later the passengers started coming out. Justin was the third person off. He usually got off first on commercial flights as he flew first class, and the stewardesses always took care of him.
As soon as I saw him I knew something was up. He was walking a little stiffly. Something about his body language just didn't look right. Behind him was one of Justin's minders. It was the person beside him I didn't recognize. He was a short balding guy in his fifties and he was chatting to Justin in an animated way. Justin had a look of disinterest on his face, but every now and again he seemed to acknowledge what the guy was saying.
I was standing near the gate, and I knew Justin could see me. He looked up and caught my eye briefly, but he moved his eyes in a movement that, to me, seemed to say 'stay put.' So I just stood there and watched as he headed towards the baggage claim with the man beside him, and the security guy following.
At the baggage claim the three of them stood together. Other people were noticing who Justin was. A couple of young girls came up to him nervously and asked for his autograph. He signed their papers, and chatted to them briefly. Bags started arriving and the security guy grabbed them off the carousel and placed them onto a cart. I assumed they were just Justin's bags. Though I didn't know for sure. Maybe the security guard was staying overnight and then going back.
Justin looked around now and again nervously, perhaps making sure I hadn't taken off, or perhaps worried that I was going to come up to them. I wasn't sure what to do. We had been going to take a cab back. Should I wait for Justin to ditch the guy, or should I just take a cab and meet Justin back at the apartment? Who was the guy?
Justin now had his bags, and I could tell he was trying to get rid of the guy just from the body language, but it didn't seem to be registering. They headed towards the exit, Justin turning briefly towards me and rolling his eyes skyward in supplication.
I followed them out, a long distance behind them. At the curb they stood in line and when a cab came up I got the distinct impression that the guy wanted to share a cab with Justin. I stood there watching, kind of amused as I could tell that Justin was getting really annoyed, but he was trying to hide it.
The short guy finally seemed to take the hint and shook Justin's hand and got in the cab; after first trying to get Justin to take it.
As the cab pulled away another cab pulled up and the security guy started putting the bags in the back while Justin was scanning around, trying to find me. I thought about sneaking up behind him but knew that was a bad idea with the security guy around.
Justin smiled when he saw me and I went up to him but we didn't hug or anything. I knew that since he'd been recognized doing so would be dangerous.
"You wouldn't know the way to New York would you?" I asked.
"It's that way," he said, pointing toward the city. "Do you need a ride?"
"Ah...yeah...that'd be great."
"Well hop in," he said smiling and holding the door.
"No, after you," I said.
He shrugged, turned briefly to say good-bye to the security guy, and then climbed into the car. I got in after him.
Justin gave the cab driver my address and I didn't say anything. As the cab pulled out he sat back and turned to look at me.
"So...how are things?" he said casually.
"Good. And you?" I said, leaning back in the car. I knew we had to be careful because we didn't know what the cab driver might see. Or say latter.
"Okay," I smiled. I put my hand down on the seat and Justin snaked out his hand and quickly ran it over mine, squeezing it and smiling at me briefly.
"So who was that jerk?" I asked.
"Oh man!" he groaned, "that was...this jerk interviewed me for a magazine piece when 'Justified' came out."
"Yeah?"
"It was a drag...you know, I mean hey everyone's got their own hustle. But some people..." he took a deep breath, "he just kept asking these really damn personal questions and uh...he was just a real shit!"
"Oh."
"You know how hard it is to be polite for two hours while someone keeps asking you things like 'so is it true you and Britney had oral sex' and 'did you sleep with so and so to get back at her,' and blah de blah de blah?" Justin looked at me and rolled his eyes as though it was funny, but I knew he was hurt by it all.
"So as luck would have it," he continued, "I had the good fortune to be on the same plane as he is, and he's in economy right? So right after take off he comes up and wants to sit next to me so he can chat with me on the way out. Like I'm a long lost friend or something!" Justin snarled indignantly and made another face.
"What did you do?"
"I said no!" he said angrily, then laughed. "He wanted my security guard to switch with him in economy so he could talk to me. The nerve!"
"So you just told him to piss off?" I said laughing.
"I wanted to..." Justin paused. "I told him the record company wouldn't let security sit separately from me on the plane."
"Huh!" I laughed. I couldn't blame him. He couldn't piss off the press even if he wanted to.
"So there was this empty seat in front, and he sits down and starts talking to me from there!"
"Oh God!" I laughed. "This sounds like the trip from hell!"
"Well the stewardess comes up and see's him and I give her this 'oh God, help me!' look and she goes up to him and asks him what he's doing there and he says he's a friend of mine!" he exclaimed, as though he couldn't believe it had happened.
"So what did you say?"
"Well he was looking at her and so I shook my head, and she sees and she just says either he has to pay the difference between economy and first class, or he has to go back to economy class."
"Great!" I said.
"The guy sitting beside him said he didn't want the guy sitting there. That was funny! The prick looked at me, I don't know if he thought I'd pay for the privilege of having him in my face or what. I just shrugged like it was out of my hands and she sends the guy back."
"That was nice of her!" I said.
"Yeah. I gave her a big hug and a kiss when she came back. She was great! I've got her phone number," he said, smirking.
He pulled something out of his pocket.
"Give me that!" I said, snatching it out of his hand, but I saw it was just a dinner receipt.
Justin cackled at me.
"What?" I said.
"Just checking. Wanted to see if you were still jealous."
"I'm not jealous," I whispered, "I'm territorial, and you're my territory!" and I so much wanted to hug him but I just pushed him gently on the shoulder. Squeezing his arm for a moment.
Justin smiled.
"So then," he continued, "the guy followed me out of the plane...you know...I don't know how he got out so fast," and Justin sat there shaking his head.
"Well," I said, "I've got a surprise for you," and I tapped on the partition of the taxi and told the driver to go to a different address.
Justin looked at me with a curious expression.
"The house?" he said.
I nodded, grinning, and then I couldn't keep it a secret any longer. "It's done!"
"It's done!" Justin almost screamed, a huge smile on his face. "But I thought it wouldn't be ready for another couple of months?"
"Well," I smirked, "we exaggerated some of the delays, and not all of the decorations are in...but it's in move in condition!"
Justin just grinned and leaned over and punched my arm.
The cab pulled up at the door and Justin had put on a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. We hopped out and I pulled out his bags while Justin paid the driver. He grabbed one of his bags while I took the other and we went up to the door. I pulled out a key.
"This is yours," I said handing it to him.
He took it, smiling, and put in the lock and turned it. Then we stepped in and I told him the code for the security system.
Inside I switched on the lights. I'd hung up a 'Welcome Home' banner and some streamers in the hallway and Justin stood staring at it and started to laugh. It did look a little ridiculous.
"Come on!" I said, dragging him by the hand, and we went quickly down the hallway to the kitchen. "Ta daaa!" I said waving my arms, and Justin walked around looking at everything. Then I grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs.
"Some of the furniture is here," I explained as we went up the stairs, "but some is still coming, come on," and up we went. I dragged him down the hallway to the bedroom and threw open the door and he stepped in.
The bedroom was complete. The bed and dressers we'd ordered had all arrived, as well as the night tables and things. The walk in closet was finished, but empty.
Justin walked into the closet and spun around.
"But where's our stuff?" he asked.
"Back at the apartment. You said you wanted to move it ourselves, so most of it's still there all packed up and ready to go. We have a rental truck for tomorrow morning and friends are coming and everything!"
Justin laughed, and then grabbed me and hugged me and suddenly we were spinning round and around and then he half pushed and fell on top of me as we tumbled onto the bed.
"Where we going to stay tonight?" he asked.
"Here," I said, "unless you want to spend one last night in the old place."
Justin looked thoughtful. "Gee we had some great times at the old place, it kind of seems a shame not to spend one last night..."
"Really?" I said, "Well if you want to we can do that. The beds still there...there's a few cartons around and all."
"Uh... " he looked thoughtful, "...no it's okay..." and he smiled.
"You sure...I'm sorry, I just thought this would be a great surprise. I didn't think you'd be as sentimental for the old place."
"It's okay. This is great! I'm really happy...really happy...yeah, let's stay tonight. If I feel really sentimental we can stay one last night in the old place when it's empty!"
I smiled at him and we hugged and were rolling around on the bed, but then I pushed him off me playfully.
"Come on, I want to show you the rest," I said.
I jumped up and he followed me and we toured around the rest of the house, checking out all of the rooms. Everything had been repainted. Since I hardly had enough furniture for my one room apartment, we'd ended up buying a whole lot of new stuff. I'd wanted to only decorate the rooms that we were going to use, and shop at Ikea and places like that. Justin wanted to hire a decorator and do the place top to bottom. We finally reached a middle ground by hiring a decorator to provide advice for some of the rooms, and argued about the rest.
I don't think Justin really wanted to do the whole place 'ourselves,' but he humored me.
At least I got complete control over my office!
Even with the decorator and our best efforts, some stuff was still to be delivered, and some of the extra bedrooms were still in decorator limbo. I hadn't really worried about it. The bedroom, kitchen, my office, his studio and the living room were done and so we were no worse off than in my apartment.
Actually, we were a lot better off.
"It's great!" Justin said, a huge smile on his face after we'd finished the tour. He really looked happy and I was happy too. It felt so right. We hugged. It was so good to hold him.
"What do you want to do for dinner?" Justin whispered in my ear. I had to laugh. A new home and all Justin could think about was food!
"Already taken care of!" I said laughing, and I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him down stairs. The dining room was set and I had a chicken roasting in the oven.
"So have you been staying here all the time?" Justin asked. We were in the kitchen. I was busily throwing things on plates and Justin was standing watching me and getting in the way.
"Yeah...the last three months," I said joking and putting my arms around him and taking him into a hug, "but I thought it was probably time for you to come over. Though if you're not careful I'm going to send you back to the other place."
Justin laughed and rolled his eyes.
"No...the last few days I've been here getting things set up. But I haven't spent a night...haven't christened the sheets yet," I said and I wagged my eyebrows suggestively.
"Well, okay then!" Justin laughed.
"Wake up lazy bones!" I yelled, dragging the covers off to reveal it's occupant sleeping naked underneath. He curled into a ball in a futile effort to stay cozy.
"Put those back!" Justin groaned at me, putting a pillow over his head. From where I was standing I had quite the view. His legs curled up and his butt exposed. I jumped onto the bed and put my hand between his legs. Justin jerked a little as my hand slid up grabbing hold of his balls.
"Hey!" he said, looking up at me. "Let me alone, I'm tired after last night. You should be good to me."
I let go of him and stroked my other hand over his head.
"Yeah...you worked hard last night," I said, emphasizing the word hard, then leaning down and kissing him on the cheek and on the mouth as he turned to face me.
"But," I went on, "you have to get up as there's still a lot of packing to do."
Justin rolled his eyes. "Tell me again why we didn't get movers?" he said good-naturedly.
"As I recall, it was you that thought it would be great to rent a truck and have our friends move us."
Justin stared at me blankly for a few seconds. "I'm a dumb fuck sometimes, aren't I?" He said groaning again.
"No, you're a great fuck, and I love you," I said kissing him. "Now get that butt up, asshole. We have to be down at the train station by 9:30."
"What? Why the train station?"
"Because when I told Simon we were moving ourselves he really wanted to come down and help and I didn't have the heart to say no. So he's skipping school for a day and coming down to help, then staying the weekend. That okay? The little runt won't cramp your style?"
"That's fine," he said, sitting up. "I like the kid," he said with a grin, then added, "I think I like him more than you."
"Fuck you! He's my brother. Don't think you're going to weasel your way into his affections."
"Already have," Justin laughed, and jumped up and ran off to the bathroom.
Once we were dressed and had finished breakfast we still had plenty of time to get down to the station. Mom had called earlier to let me know that Simon was on the train.
We were sitting at the island in the kitchen, drinking coffee and holding hands. He looked at me with a goofy grin and I smiled back at him.
"There's one more surprise," I said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," I said casually, "though I'm not sure you're been good enough to get it."
Justin grinned at me, got up from the stool and walked over and stood behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned down and rested his head on my shoulders. Chewing on my neck and ear he ran his hands slowly up and down my chest. Then he sat on my lap and put his arms around me.
"I know I haven't been a very good boy this year Santa," he whispered in my ear, "but next year I promise to be really," and he paused for a second. "Baaaad."
Well ho, ho, ho, I thought.
"In that case," I said tousling his hair like he was a little kid, "you get your surprise."
He got off me and I got up and took his hand and slowly dragged him over to the door to the basement. I opened the door and waved at Justin for him to follow me. We went down the stairs and came to the door that led to the garage.
"Close your eyes," I said, unlocking the door.
Justin grinned. He wasn't stupid. I mean, what would I have hidden in a garage? From his smile I could tell he had guessed what I was going to show him. But he didn't know what was actually in there. He closed his eyes as instructed and I opened the door.
"Keep them closed," I said and I walked up to him, gently touching him so he knew I was there. I stood behind him and put my hands up to his face to cover his, just to make sure he didn't sneak a peak, and we slowly walked forward, with me steering him through the door and in to position.
"Keep them closed," I repeated.
I took my hands off his and moved to the side, but in front of him so I could see his reaction.
I stood there looking at him standing there like a little kid with his hands in front of his face.
"Okay," I whispered.
He pulled away his hands and opened his eyes and blinked. And then a huge smile came to his face and he laughed. He was standing in front of a metallic blue Mini with white roof and a big red bow on top. A fake smiley face was taped on it's front. It looked like a big bug.
"You like?" I asked.
"I love," he said laughing, and then grabbing me and hugging me hard.
He kissed me and then released me. "It's in my name, but it's my present for you," I said, holding out the keys to him. "I figured we spent so much money renting them it made sense to buy one."
"Ethan, you didn't have to. I would have paid for it," he began.
"No way," I said. "You're already paying for too much. I wanted to get you something. I hope it's okay. I know we didn't talk about getting one but we always seemed to rent the same thing and like it."
It was true. I was a little nervous that we should be getting something else. Like a Mercedes or an SUV, but I just liked the Mini and thought it would be an okay 'around town' car. I'd also thought about Justin's need for security, and had even talked it over with his security people. We decided that we would want to try and keep the car as low profile as possible. If Justin was going somewhere in public, i.e. with security, then he wouldn't take the car anyway. Instead they'd use other transportation. So the car was really for me running around town and for Justin doing undercover stuff and the two of us going up to my parents or off on trips. So that had been okay. I was a little perturbed when they said to lease it so that we could change it once people knew that it was Justin's car. I couldn't bring myself to do that, so I ended up buying it anyway.
"I love it. Thanks!" he said and he hugged me again and we kissed.
"So shall we take it to pick up the runt?" he said glancing at his watch.
"Nah...parking down there will be a bitch...and we're going to get the truck right after that so it'd just get in the way."
"Ohhhh," Justin whined. "I want to take it for a drive!"
"It's just like the others," I lied. This one had all the options and was the faster S model. "Maybe later, after we're done. Come on," I said, "I want to make sure we get there in time. Don't want Simon wandering the streets of the big city alone."
We made it to the station with plenty of time to spare. Justin donned his disguise and we hung about waiting for Simon to appear. I hate waiting at big train stations. They're much more disorganized and disorienting than airport terminals. I always worry I'm not going to find the person I'm meeting.
Luckily his train was on time and after a little while I saw him ambling along with a backpack on his back. At first I was so excited to see him I didn't notice something was wrong, but then I saw it. He was glancing around and his mannerisms just screamed that he was nervous or apprehensive. Was he worried that I wouldn't be there to meet him?
Grabbing Justin I pointed at Simon and Justin nodded and we walked over. Simon saw us and smiled a big smile and I went up and grabbed him into a hug and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. I figured there was no one around that he knew.
"How's it going?" I said, laughing and tousling his hair.
"Great!" he said. He turned to Justin and held up his hand and Justin high-fixed him, but then Justin grabbed him and hugged him too. It was something I don't think Simon had expected, but he took it in stride.
"Good trip down?" I asked just for something to say.
"Yeah," said Simon, looking around and I noticed he was still nervous.
"Everything okay Simon?" I asked.
"Yeah...yeah...," he said, then he smiled and looked back at me. "Yeah everything's fine. So we're going to the apartment?" Simon asked. "Are we taking the train?"
"No," I said idly, turning towards the exit. "We're going to go rent the truck first. We'll grab a cab..."
"What!?" Simon said in a shocked squeal.
I stopped and turned back to face Simon. I noticed that Justin looked like he was also a little surprised by Simon's reaction.
"Yeah, you know. The thing we're going to put the boxes in."
"Uh...yeah," said Simon. He stood there for a moment looking confused.
"Simon?"
"I've got to use the bathroom," he said nervously. He took off his pack and handed it to me. "Can you wait here for a minute? There's one right over there," and he pointed and I looked and saw a sign for a rest room.
"Okay," I said.
Simon turned and started walking towards the sign.
I watched him walk away, glancing around as he walked. Something was up and I looked at Justin with a puzzled expression on my face. Justin looked puzzled too. He stepped up beside me.
"You want to go see what's up?" he asked me.
"Yeah," I said. "You wait here?" I asked, and handed him the pack as he nodded.
I set out after Simon, following him to the bathroom. Just at the door he looked around nervously and saw me following him and startled. He stopped and stood where he was.
"I am old enough to go to the bathroom on my own," he said sounding just like a little kid.
"I know Simon. I just want to make sure you're okay."
"I'm okay," he snapped.
"No you're not, what's up?"
"Nothing," he said. We were standing in the doorway and people were walking past us and starring at us.
I nodded to the side and Simon followed me over to a wall a little way away from the entrance.
"You going to tell me what's up or do I have to pound it out of you?" I joked, and smiled at him, letting him know I was just joking.
Simon looked as though he was stealing himself to fake it for a moment, but then his shoulders slumped and he looked down sadly.
"Come on Simon, tell me. I just want to make sure you're okay. I'd be a lousy brother if I didn't take care of you and Mom would kill me if you don't come back 100% okay."
He looked up and smiled nervously and then looked away.
"I kinda..." he started and then stopped. I stood there waiting, figuring he'd get it out eventually.
"I've got to tell you something," he began nervously. "Promise you won't be mad," he asked earnestly.
------------------------------- To be continued...
My other stories:
High School: Do What You Can
Celebrity: Boy Bands: Birthday Blues