This is a true story, however some individuals names and some names of places have been changed for reasons of privacy. The Author is Terrence Julian with additional input from Andrew van Ryan (I Love You, Andy!). As usual, all legal Disclaimers apply and if it is Illegal for you to be reading such material were you live, please leave now!
Thank you! - Terrence 'TJ' Julian
Anything to turn you on.....
by Terrence Julian
Part II
What I found when I returned from New York was a disheveled trembling boy. Andrew had been left a wreck by the devastating loss of Jesse. This boy who had intimidated others with his 'presence' was now a shattered fragment of the Andrew I knew. I moved us into the smaller back house for two reasons. One it was more secluded and secondly Andy, Jesse and myself had spent long hours together there in the past. Andy seemed to need something familiar to stabilize him. I took care of him and he began to slowly recover from his grief. Most importantly, he began to care about himself again. The dark circles under his eyes went away and his looks started to come back. He even began to show a bit of the old 'Prince' attitude. It was a good four months after I'd moved him in with me when a breakthrough occurred. I had taken him shopping for new clothes. We'd had lunch at his favorite restaurant and had returned to his car when he suddenly looked at me and asked "TJ? Jesse's not coming back is he?" I sadly shook my head and he sighed "I thought not". We drove home in silence.
Later that same week we were sitting outside on the deck gazing at the city lights below when he turned to me and said "Terrence? You do know that I love you, I hope. I have for a long time now, but I was with Jesse before. He was my first love, you see. I never thought he and I would be apart, so I didn't let my feelings for you go any farther. Jesse's gone now. I need time to get over him"
Then looking directly at me he stated "I really do love you and I want to be with you, if you'll have me". I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. As my eyes started to well up with tears I said to him "Andy, I've been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you. I've loved you every moment of the last three years and I love you now. Of course I'll have you if you want me as your boyfriend" My true feelings for Andy came rushing out as I continued "I need you to understand me right now. I'm in love with you Andrew van Ryan and I want to stay with you for the rest of my life".
He looked at me then stood, reaching for my hand. I took his and he pulled me up. Taking me in his arms he said "I love you, TJ and I will stay with you forever. I promise 'till I die". Holding me close, he leaned in slowly and the kiss I had dreamt about for so long was mine! I was overjoyed at having 'the Prince' as my own. His kiss was beyond what I had imagined. He held me in his arms and I gazed at him.
"Andrew, can you be really be in love with me?" I found myself asking. "Loving you is as natural to me as breathing, Terrence" he replied "I only wish I'd been able to tell you before". We stayed out on the deck under the late March moon kissing and holding each other for a very long while. When it got late we returned inside and for the first time since I'd brought him home he asked "TJ? Can we sleep in the same bed tonight? Before you answer, I want to say that I'm not ready to make love just yet. I need to be close to you so I can heal first".
"Andy, of course we can sleep together!" I replied. "We shared the same bed when you used to stay over last year. I loved the way you'd hold me against your chest. Making love will come in time. I just want to be held by you and to hold and heal you". He gazed at me for a time then said "I think someone's going to have you canonized someday, TJ".
Then it happened. He stood straight up, pulled his shoulders back and smiled. In his very best voice the 'Prince' said "Saint Terrence. My! How that fits you!"
I had succeeded in bringing the Prince of Main Street back from the depths of hopelessness!
That night I slept curled in his arms, my head resting against his chest. I had done this in the past when I stayed at their house or when Jesse and Andrew stayed over at mine. Tonight was different. Andy was now holding me as his boyfriend. I felt sad that Jesse was gone and missed him as well. I felt something else, too. An underlying tension which had been there when Andy held me before slipped away. He was comfortable holding me now and I knew he no longer felt guilt being with me.
Soon Andrew was acting his 'old' self again. The 'presence' returned and I became curious. I woke one morning to find him not in bed. I put on my robe and padded softly down the hallway. He was sitting at the breakfast table drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. "Andy?" I said. "Oh, Good morning TJ! Coffee's ready!" he greeted me. I went and started fixing a cup and asked him in an offhand manner "Andy, how did you become known as the Prince of Main Street?"
He laughed a little then said "Come sit down. It's rather simple, really. When I was a little boy my Mother and my Grandmother both worked on Main Street in our town. Main Street is only two blocks long and hasn't changed since my Father was a boy himself. Mother had to take me to work with her before I was school age and I would go from shop to shop visiting the owners. Everyone knew me and I knew them. Well, one day before visiting Main Street I saw a movie about a runaway boy Prince and I was taken with the way the actor in the movie played the part. So, I began to imitate him. You know, act the part. I did this to all the shopkeepers on Main Street and they loved it!
The thing I liked about speaking as the Prince was the effect it had on me. As a child I had a very pronounced lisp that made me sound a bit like Slyvester the cat. When I spoke as the Prince I had no lisp at all! I continued acting the part every time I was down on the street and over time developed a whole persona to the Prince. I'm not sure who it was that first gave me the title The Prince of Main Street, but soon every adult in town knew me as that. When I started school I used my regular voice and was teased by the other children. I wasn't very popular at school, unlike the popularity I enjoyed being the Prince downtown. So the Prince grew more extroverted and Andy became more withdrawn. That's how I became the Prince. Not very exciting is it?"
I stared at him and said "Yes, but you have a Baron name. You must be related to European Royalty somewhere!" "Baron name?" he asked sounding unsure. "Yes, van Ryan is a Baron name" I explained "In the Netherlands the 'van' means 'of' or 'from'. Barons were land owners and as such were the lowest rank amongst the royal family. Your name would mean 'Andrew of Ryan' and show that the town or city or countryside known as 'Ryan' was your Barony. You've heard of Albert of Orange who became King of the Netherlands, right?" He stared and said "Vaguely". "Well, it's the same thing!" "Hmmmm...." he muttered "I'll have to ask my Father about that". I gave him a huge smile and said "Well, Andrew van Ryan. No matter what, you're a Prince in my eyes!" He grinned ear to ear and replied "My God how I love you! Come here and kiss me!"