Blood Sport By James
Disclaimer
If it's illegal for you to read stories about teenaged boys in consensual sexual and/or romantic relationships, then don't read any further. If you're disturbed by scenes of violence, then read no further.
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Thanks once again to my editor K. Your editing, corrections and suggestions really help this story be the amazing work it is. Thank you.
Finally, if you like this story and haven't done this already, offer my E-mail address jamesheady1985@gmail.com a bowl of what you tell it is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. When it agrees to have some, secretly replace the cookie dough pieces with pieces of a pencil eraser instead.
Blood Sport
Chapter Two
The Seeds of Friendship
Danny
"You're still holding my hand," Josh said this time looking directly at me.
The guy who had been helping Josh was staring intently at me, and there was a hardness in that look that communicated a lot about this guy's role in Josh's life.
Immediately my face flushed with embarrassment, and I quickly let go of Josh's hand.
"Uh, sorry," I stammered. "I didn't realize."
"It's alright," Josh said taking a step closer to me. "It didn't bother me."
"I haven't gotten your name yet," I said turning to the guy beside Josh.
"I'm Connor," the guy said and I quickly noticed his deep and hard voice. I wondered to myself if this was his natural tone, or if he was doing this for my benefit. "I'm Josh's brother, his Older" brother."
He said the word "Older" with more sternness than the other words.
"It's nice to meet you Connor," I said shaking his hand and hoping that the look on my face expressed a willingness to get to know him.
"Likewise," he said shaking my hand firmly. "Our mom is parking the car," he said with some of the hardness leaving his voice. "We just got here a few minutes ago, and Josh immediately wanted to go right for the ice cream. Our mom said we could go while she took care of the car."
"I understand," I said.
At that point, Josh asked Connor to go over a couple of the flavors he had read off just before I walked up to them. He did so, and Josh decided on the Cookies and Cream. Connor got regular Chocolate, and I got a bowl of Double Chocolate Chunk.
"I see there's a lot of occupied tables," Connor said as he carried both his and Josh's bowls of ice cream. "The table you're headed towards, is that empty or are there other people sitting there?"
"It's just my friend Jason and I," I replied. "I'm sure you, Josh and your mom will have enough room if you guys would like to sit with us."
I was hoping he and Josh would agree.
"Thanks, sounds good," Connor said.
To my relief his voice was even less stern and harsh now. We went to the table, and Jason was sitting back down after getting a bowl of Cookies and Cream. He was sitting across from me, and Connor sat on Jason's right. I waited to see if Josh would sit to Connor's right. Instead, he came around to where I sat taking the seat to my left. He looked at me for a moment, then began eating his dessert.
I watched him for a moment, and that's when I noticed the messenger bag he had with him. It was sitting under his chair, and he had it between his ankles. He seemed to be making sure that both his legs were touching it as if it would either fly away, or someone might take it. I then looked over at Connor who was watching me watch Josh. He looked at me for a long moment, then continued eating his ice cream.
"You seem to know your way around here fairly well," Connor said after swallowing. "Have you been to this church before?"
"I go here regularly," I responded. "I've been attending church here since I was seven. I've always loved it here. Braden, the pastor is really nice and is deeply accepting of everybody who comes through the doors."
"I do appreciate you helping us out," Connor said.
"Yeah, that was nice of you," Josh said as he continued looking down at his bowl while he kept eating.
"I'm always happy to help," I replied.
Just then, a woman was walking towards us, and Josh greeted her. Connor did the same, then I introduced myself.
"It's really nice to meet you Danny," she said. "I'm Kate Edwards. I'm Josh and Connor's mom."
"Thanks," I answered. "It's really nice to meet you too."
Kate excused herself and went to get a bowl of ice cream, then she was back. She and Jason introduced themselves, and we all sat there eating for a few moments before Kate spoke.
"Have you been here before Danny?" she asked.
I told her what I told Josh and Connor.
"I'm really glad you've had this place to come to when you needed to be somewhere peaceful," she responded. "It looks very nice here. It really does seem extremely calming."
"It definitely is," I said.
As we continued eating, Kate told me about herself and where she worked. Josh added a few details about the fact that he had come to live with her and Connor back in August towards the end of that month of this year. As he talked, I noticed the unique quality of his voice. It sounded slightly lacking in tone, but not enough so that it could be considered monotonal. His "L" syllables were off so that you had to listen for them. Sometimes I found myself having to listen hard since his voice could be soft at certain points, then normal volume at other times.
I was also discovering that I loved the sound of his voice. It was unique as I mentioned before, and I found that I loved that about him. I continued listening as he told me about how he had come from a home where he wasn't treated very well, but he quickly moved on to other things mainly things he liked to do in his spare time. He mentioned enjoying music, as well as reading.
"What kind of music do you like to listen to?" I asked.
"Some Rock, but I can be opened to listening to almost anything except for Rap. I also love Classical Music," he replied. "What kind of music do you like listening to?"
By this time, his voice was a little louder, actually more at a usual loud volume for the large populated area in which we sat at that moment. I would notice as the evening continued his voice would get a little louder when talking about something in which he was really interested.
"Rock for starters," I answered. "I also really love Classical Music, so glad to hear that we have that in common too. I also love a lot of Metal Music."
"Metal?" he asked looking at me, and there was an almost worried tone in his voice like one gets when you tell them that you smoke. "You mean like that kind of hardcore music where drummers sound like they're trying to play while having a massive seizure, the guitarists sound like three-day-old babies just learning to strum the instrument, and the singers sound like tigers and bears being boiled alive or being tortured on the rack?"
Jason and I laughed hard at that, and while I would normally get annoyed at someone saying something like that to me about Metal, I couldn't find it within me to get mad at Josh.
"I'm sorry Danny," Kate interjected.
"No harm done," I said laughing again. "That's actually the most humorous way I've ever heard someone insult the sound of Metal Music before. I do like that kind of Metal, but I like different types like Symphonic Metal. That would be the genre that has groups like Night Wish and Therion."
"Oh, okay," he answered. "I've heard of Night Wish, but not of the other one you mentioned.
"Therion," I said again. "I'm glad to hear that you've heard of Night Wish. Don't worry though about what you said about Extreme Metal. I do know it's not for everyone."
"I'm glad we understand each other," Josh said, looking directly at me before finishing his bowl of ice cream.
"Me too," I answered totally captivated by the cuteness of Josh's face!
We continued talking, and Connor went on to tell Jason and I about how he was in college. He also said that Kate had taken him in when he was 14. He had been kicked out of his house, but said he'd tell the story as to why he was thrown out sometime later down the road. I told him I understood, then he went on to say that he was taking classes at Sangger University. He was majoring in Psychology, and he wanted to help people who had been abused by their families. He also talked about wanting to help those who faced bullying from others, be it when they were kids, or even if they were adults.
"I hope that works out for you," I said. "I'm sure you'll do really good with everything once you graduate and start working as a psychologist."
"Thanks, and I appreciate the complement," he answered.
Jason talked a little about himself, like with what he would tell me from time to time, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he became an adult. He went on to tell everyone about how he was thinking off and on about doing something with music. He told me that before as well, and I knew he could do it if he ended up setting his mind on it. Mainly though, he talked about for now, just being into hanging out with friends, with me being one of them obviously. He also mentioned wanting to date around a little, but to his credit he kept that topic G-rated as opposed to when he got around me with us just one-on-one. When that happened, he made no secret of the fact that he'd have no problem going from girl to girl, and he further made it a point to say that he was specifically talking about wishing he could fuck each one all in a row, one right after the other.
I would usually say something like how charming that sounded. He smiled and thanked me. At those points, I'd usually change the subject rather than argue, for I found nothing amusing or entertaining about his superficial views on being with girls. I knew he wasn't a bad guy or anything like that, but it was just that his and my relationship ideas were completely different. That was true even if you put aside that we both liked different sexual types.
Jason and I had known each other since we were eight years old, and so were basically best friends. His superficial views on girls came around the time he started going through puberty. That was around the time he turned 13. With that in mind, I didn't have any plans to tell him I was realizing I was gay. No one knew that back then, and I wouldn't be telling him about that any time soon. He never said anything anti-gay, nor did he make any bigoted jokes towards LGBT people, but I worried that he might have those views given his already less than kind views towards girls.
One might think that I would have broken contact with Jason if I was so disgusted with his views, but I could see early on where he came to have those positions. He lived with his mother, and rarely saw his father. When his father would come home from being out on the road every few weeks, he would constantly talk shit about women. He and Jason's mom would also fight non-stop. The fights were never ever physical, but there was a lot of yelling and profanity, and many of the fights usually saw Jason being dropped off at our house on a Friday or Saturday night. If it was Friday, he usually ended up spending the whole weekend with us.
In all other respects, he was a really good friend, and when I started going through the issues I faced at 13, he was always there for me. I would always love him for that, and I never forgot it. Adding to my willingness to keep him in my life was the fact of how he'd open up when he stayed at our house. Mainly he would open up around me, and he'd tell me about how his mom and dad were always getting drunk during the course of their fights. Sometimes he'd get lucky, and they'd both pass out. One would sometimes leave though, and the other would pass out. Either way, Jason rarely spent a weekend at his own house, and he would also tell me about how it was hard seeing what his parents were doing to themselves and to each other. The only person in his family with whom he was on good terms was his older brother Damion, but Damion was living about five hours outside of Sangger. He was also at college for the last three years.
Adding to the issue, was the fact that Damion left home when he was 18, and Jason was 12. It hadn't been on good terms between his and their parents. So he rarely came home, and unless one of us drove Jason up to see Damion, they hardly got to see each other.
Currently though, Damion was in the process of moving to Sangger, and so he and Jason were seeing each other a lot more. Damion was staying at a hotel, and had been for the last four months while he worked and saved up money. He was intent on buying a house, and I was hopeful that everything would work out for him. I also was hoping that Jason's situation between him and their parents would improve over time.
The bottom line though, was that Jason had gone through a lot, and I was just glad to have him there when everything finally fell apart between my own parents. When our dad walked out, Jason supported me as best as he could, and I was truly glad to have him by my side.
Jason and I didn't tell any of this more personal stuff to Josh and his family. We just stuck to the hobbies we both liked to do, and Jason went on to say that he was over at my house a lot. I was also glad to see how well he and Josh were doing with keeping up the conversation when it came to books they liked reading.
"I'm really glad you like Science Fiction," Jason said as I returned to the present.
"It's always been my favorite," Josh answered. "I have a lot of different Sci-Fi authors I really like. It's hard to pick a favorite."
"I know what you mean," Jason replied.
At that point, Jason scraped up the last of his ice cream, then stood.
"I'll be back in a moment," he said. "I'm just going to throw my trash away."
"Okay," I said.
Jason went over to the trash can, then tossed in his garbage. He started walking towards us again, then he looked to his right where his phone was clipped to his belt. Stepping off to the side, he put it to his ear. I watched as he talked, and he began pacing back and forth. He usually did that when he was getting impatient, or angry sometimes both. His face was now flushed with anger, then I heard the last thing he said with his voice raised in anger.
"Fuck it! Thanks for fuck all! I figured this would happen!" he yelled, then tapped the phone's screen before clipping it back onto his belt. Heading right for me, I saw that his face was even more red now.
"Excuse me," he said, face turned to Josh and his family. "I need to talk to you now!" he said, voice tight with anger, and there was also a quiver present as he turned back to face me.
"We'll be back in a moment," I said.
Josh looked after me as I headed away with Jason. We walked around to the back of the church where most people rarely ventured. Sitting down on the steps, I turned to Jason as he paced for a moment then sat down beside me eyes blazing with anger and face deeply unhappy!
"What happened?" I asked.
"You know that trip that Dad and I were supposed to go on this weekend?" he asked voice shaking.
Jason's dad told him last weekend about how they would go on a camping trip. The week before last, Jason had asked his dad if they could do that, and that he really wanted to spend some time with him. He also suggested that maybe his mom could come along too. This was on a Thursday, and his dad was relatively sobor. His dad agreed, and his mom said she'd probably come along. Everything seemed to be in order, and they all had made plans on where to go, and what all they would be doing once they arrived. That was all until just a few minutes ago.
The upshot was that Jason's dad told him that a couple of his friends invited him to go out for dinner and drinks. This would probably last for several hours as it usually did when this happened. Jason and his family were set to leave the next morning, and would be staying until Monday. He had taken off school that Monday, and now though, it wouldn't be happening. Jason went on to say that his mom was out with a few friends at a bar. He also said that his dad told him that she would be going to her sister's house for the weekend. That wasn't an improvement, for her sister was as fucked up as she was. Jason finished by telling me that his dad told him that he'd be back home probably in the early morning hours, and that the trip wouldn't be happening after all.
"So, I hope you guys don't mind company this weekend," Jason finished then leaned back against the closed doors for a moment.
I texted my mom, and everything was set. Putting away my phone, I looked for a long moment at my friend. His face wasn't flushed any longer, but he still looked really sad, more than I had seen him look probably during the course of all the years I've known him.
"This all really fucking sucks!" he said, slamming his fist into the palm of his left hand.
"I wish there was more I could do for you," I replied, and I thought about how fucking hollow and empty that sounded. "Shit, that sounds so empty."
"No, it doesn't," he said, then he hugged me hard.
He would hug me, but they were usually quick one-arm gestures, but this time he wrapped both arms around me, holding on tightly. I hugged him back, and we stayed like that for a long moment.
"I know it looks like I have everything together," he said as he held on to me. "I mean, it probably looks a lot of the time like I'm sure of myself, and that life is going so good for me. I talk a lot about wanting to be the typical ladie's man, and all that that implies. Yeah, I know you don't like when I talk like that, and honestly though between you and I..."
He stopped, and I waited.
"I won't say anything," I said. "I'll keep it between just the two of us."
"Lately I've just been feeling so fucking depressed that sometimes, I almost don't feel anything," he said. "I don't mean physical feelings when it comes to sexual things, but mainly emotional things. I'm having to really push myself to do almost everything, like getting up in the morning. I have to make myself go through the motions of every class, and almost every moment of every fucking day. Really, there's not much that I've been enjoying at all, and it's only when I go to bed at night that I can sleep and not have to deal with what I've been going through lately."
He started crying now, and I continued holding him. It was rare that he would cry in front of me, and at that point though, I could tell just how much he had clearly been hurting. I felt deeply sad for him, and was also really worried about him!
"It's alright," I said. "I'm right here, and I'll always be here for you."
"Thank you," he said through his sobs. "You're about the only one I feel like I can trust anymore. Well, you and your mom that is."
"We're always here for you," I said. "I had no idea you had been feeling this way."
"I know you didn't, and I did everything I could to not tell you," he responded, as his tears subsided. "I didn't want you to have to worry, and it's been almost a year since you went through everything you had. Well, that's when it all came to a head I should say."
"I've been doing well for months now," I said. "You don't have to worry about me. I want to be here for you, and help you through all this. You're my best friend Jason. Hell, you're basically like the brother I never had, that is if you consider you as someone around my own age."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," he answered. "Kelven has basically been like an older brother to you since you guys have known each other. He's been really good to me as well."
"He definitely has," I said. "Is there anything else that's going on?"
"I'll talk more about that later sometime, but it's not anything that's getting really bad or anything like that," he said. "I do feel a little better though."
"Okay, but I'm always here if you ever want to tell me what else is going on," I said. "Also, I don't want you trying to keep things inside like that. I want to always be here for you."
"Okay, I promise," he said. "Thanks Danny."
"You're welcome, Jason," I replied. "Always."
We stood, and I saw Josh headed towards us with Kate and Connor a few feet away, watching him.
"Hey," I said as Jason and I walked towards him closing the distance. "You probably thought we forgot about you. Jason just needed to talk to me for a few minutes."
"It's alright," Josh said looking at Jason, then at me as we returned to the table.
Once seated again, Kelven came towards us with the two guys he had been talking with for almost the last hour. I introduced them all to everyone at the table, and Kelven and Josh shook hands. After another moment of light conversation, Kelven's partners left, and he excused himself for a moment. Returning with a large bowl of Butter Pecan ice cream, Kelven sat down on my right. Josh was on my left like before.
"Oh God, not you too," I said, looking down at Kelven's bowl.
"Yeah, I know," he said laughing. "If you had it your way, you'd have every box of Butter Pecan wiped off the face of the earth."
"Yeah, that's basically how it is," I shot back, laughing myself now.
"I still can't believe you don't like it," he replied.
"You know I don't, and never have," I said, laughing again. "For that matter, I don't like any ice cream with nuts in it."
Jason laughed, then stopped as he took a quick drink of his Pepsi.
"Excuse me, is there something you wanted to add?" I said smirking at him.
"Oh nothing," he said, swallowing and smirking back. "I'm just so gloriously happy to be here among you and these truly lovely people tonight."
Josh was smiling at us as we bantered back and forth.
"I'm sure," I said, then finished the last of my own Pepsi, glad to see Jason humorous once again. He seemed to be doing better now, and I hoped that would continue, at least for a while.
I got up to throw away my trash, and after a moment, Josh, Connor and Kate joined me to throw away their own garbage. Once back at the table, Kate excused herself when she saw one of the church employees setting out stacks of brochures. They were regarding a few other events the church was going to have in the coming days, and she told us she wanted to look at a couple of the papers as well as talk to Braden about other activities we had going on here. Connor went with her, and Kelven excused himself to talk to a couple of the other attendees.
"I'll be back here soon," Jason said as his phone chimed. Standing, he looked at his phone. "It's that one girl Heather that I met a few days ago. You and Josh have fun talking a little more among yourselves. Your testosterone-soaked ladies' man will be a while."
"Glad you think so highly of yourself," I shot back.
Jason laughed as he walked off and sat down at the back of the church where we had just been a few minutes before.
I turned to look as Josh sat there looking around at everything. He looked at me, then down at the table for a moment.
"Don't pay too much attention to Jason," I said, smiling. "I know he probably sounds like a typical girl-obsessed jock kind of guy, but he really is a good person as well as a true friend."
"That's good, and I wasn't worried," Josh said.
He scooted a little closer to me, then he looked around again. I looked in the directions he was looking, and noticed that lots of people were walking by and their volume was rather loud. More people came through, and I could see Josh looking around once more. He then looked at me.
"It's getting kind of loud here now," he said voice slightly raised.
"Yeah, you're right," I said. "I know a place where we can go that's more quiet."
Standing up, I told Kelven where we would be, then had Josh walk beside me once he retrieved his bag. We walked for a few minutes, and as we did, I told him about this gazebo that was on the right side of the church in a grassy area a little further back from the building. It had steps one had to climb to get up to the top of it, and once at the top, there were three long benches. One was across from the steps, and the two were placed so that they were facing each other. The view was really lovely from up there.
Once at the structure, I climbed the steps, and Josh followed behind me. At the top, he looked around for a moment, and I watched as he took in everything. After another moment of studying the new surroundings, he sat down on the bench on the right. He motioned with his index finger, and I sat down beside him, glad to have some time where it was just the two of us!
Author's Notes
You can see that Danny really wants to get to know Josh more, and it's taking a little time, but Josh is starting to feel comfortable around Danny. Also, clearly there's something going on with Jason. You'll get to see what that's about as the story progresses further. Also in the next chapter, Danny and Josh will be spending their time together in the gazebo talking and getting to know each other further. I hope you like how all that turns out.
All that being said, I hope you're all doing well, and having a good evening. I'll see everyone in Chapter Three.