Failure of the Heart : Chapter 4 : by Blackheart
Disclaimer: The following story is a work of pure fiction. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is pure coincidence. The story may contain graphic sexual situations including M/M M/F M/M/F if you are not old enough to legally view such content in your area or if you find it questionable please read no further.
All work contained here in remains the sole property of the author Blackheart and may not be reproduced physically or electronically with the exception of private personal use with out express written consent of the author.
**Failure of the Heart **
Chapter 4 Written by Blackheart Final Edit by Watch
“Hey there!” Matt called out “Do you need a hand?”
Jacob looked up from the scattered pile of boxes that he just couldn’t gather back into his arms.
“No, I think I got it but thanks.” Jacob smiled politely as he hunched over and gathered the boxes into a pile.
Jacob cradled the mass to his chest as he stood upright. The jumble of boxes only allowed him two small steps before the majority of them fell. Matt didn’t ask this time. Instead he crouched beside Jacob and began to gather up the fallen boxes.
“Thanks” Jacob offered as the two wrestled their piles into the large recycling container the city had placed for the empties. “I didn’t want to interrupt your date with the girl.”
“I wish she were my girl,” Matt laughed “We’re more like close friends now.”
“Oh, the way I saw you guys messin’ around earlier I figured…”
“S’ok dude, a lot of people make that mistake,” Matt laughed. “Matt Porter,” he said extending his hand.
“Jacob Keats.” He said grasping his hand. “Hey listen, thanks for the help and all but I gotta get back in there,” he nodded toward the house. “It was cool meeting ya.”
“I guess I’ll catch ya later then?” Matt asked.
“Yeah I’ll be around.”
Matt waved before he crossed the street where Valerie waited and watched. Yet as he crossed the manhole cover in the middle of the street he looked back, there was something about this new guy, something that made Matt want to get to know him better.
“Whatcha doin’ tomorrow?” he asked his stomach in a knot.
Matt watched as Jacob stopped in the shadows and turned around slowly.
“I mean maybe I could show you around town or something” Matt began, “if you want that is,” his voice dropped.
Jacob stood there for a moment, washed in shadow, thinking of all the packing that was left over.
What the hell, he figured, a smile breaking across his face.
“That’d be cool.”
“Cool” Matt echoed with a hint of enthusiasm. “I’ll catch you later then.”
“Later”
Matt stood and watched as Jacob vanished into the interior of his house before he rejoined Val who patiently waited in her car.
Jacob walked through the quiet house; his mother had called it quits about an hour ago. He flung himself onto the queen-sized bed in his room, landing on his back. A broad smile broke across his face as he found himself impatiently awaiting tomorrow.
“So?” Val asked as Matt slowly padded back up to and leaned against her car.
Matt remained silent, he had discovered a feeling he couldn’t share with Valerie, he wasn’t exactly sure why, he just knew he couldn’t. He had never felt that way around another guy before and, he wasn’t too sure he liked it now that he was torn away.
Val nudged his leg with her foot, “well?”
“He’s alright I guess.”
Val appraised him with a look, he wasn’t acting like the Matt she had always known; the cool kid next door, the honest confidant to all her secrets and the boy she had grown up with. Hell they even used to bathe together, she could tell him everything, now it felt like he was holding something from her.
“Matt are you playing kiss and not tell?” she kept a straight face for a moment before collapsing in giggles.
His groan came off as a growl.
“You’ll see” Matt said impatiently, “he’s cool”
“Well,” Val said as she pulled herself out of the car. “If he’s won the Matt Porter seal of approval, he must be cool.”
They entered her house and went straight to the den before she grabbed the remote and flipped the TV and sank into the comfortable old couch. Matt joined her on the couch just as he always had.
Val began channel surfing. “What do you want to watch?”
“I dunno there has to be something on,” Matt answered
The rapid flicker of changing channels paused and the dark room was flooded with images of the African Sahara. In the middle of the screen a male lion clenched his jaws on the nape of a lioness and mounted her from behind while a narrator with a snobby British accent gave words to the action.
Matt stared at the screen in disbelief as Val began to chuckle.
“Notice how the male subdues the female,” the narrator droned on.
“Uh- perhaps animal porn is too interesting,” he quipped.
Valerie laughed harder as she began to flip through the channels again.
The two finally settled on a cheesy B movie from the 70s. While the plot sucked on many levels, the generic special effects made up for it. Matt’s mind was far from the screen. It kept wandering back to the pair of bright amber eyes that sparkled in the shadow and light of the evening on Lily Ct.
The cult film wasn’t holding Val’s interested either. Soft sounds of steady breathing escaped as she rested her weight on Matt’s shoulder. He found himself succumbing to the power of night, his eyes growing heavy and his head rocking forward.
Just as the sounds of the credits faded he heard the door swing open and the voices of Daniel and Kitty King filled the house.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Kitty laughed loudly, and the sound of her swaggering footsteps sounded down the hall.
“I hope you two are decent!” she slurred giggling.
“Yes ma’am.”
Matt was growing less and less patient with Valerie’s mom. She was always dropping questions like those as if she were playing marry matchmaker. If he hadn’t thought so little of her he would have sworn she would have planned to have a daughter while her best friend in the world had a boy. Sure he would like to have relationship with Valerie other then the bond of friendship they shared, but the thought of this woman being involved turned his stomach.
Val stirred and sat up groggily, yawning.
“Hello mom.”
Matt rose to his feet. “I think I better get going.”
Kitty stared at him with an odd smile on her face, as if she were sizing him for a tuxedo. The odor of alcohol wafted from her as he passed on his way from the house.
“Night Matty,” She called after him. “Tell your mom ill call her in the morning.”
“Will do,” Matt called back. “Night Kitty.”
“So tell me what happened?” He heard Kitty squeal as she hobbled over to the couch with Valerie.
Matt stopped at the wall of flesh in front of him.
“Night Dan.”
“Night kiddo.”
Dan tussled Matt’s hair as he slipped out the door on his way to his own house to a similar scene. His mother was far drunker than Kitty; the message would have to wait. No longer conscious she was sprawled across the black leather couch in the living room.
Matt poked his head around the wall into the kitchen. His father stood at the sink scrubbing something under the tap. His lips parted but his father cut him off.
“Goodnight Matt.” His father said without looking at him.
He didn’t know how he did it, but his father always had a keen sense for when Matt was around.
“Night Dad.” His father stopped scrubbing and straightened. “Goodnight,” Matt quickly corrected himself. Richard nodded his head, his back still toward his son.
Matt eased into his bed that was situated underneath a canopy of glow-in-the-dark stars. He peered up at them thinking about the night. They offered no comfort in their black light induced luminescence. Yet the more he concentrated the further away they seemed until at last slipped into a comfortable sleep as he heard a car pull away from the drive and fade into the night.
The birds sang loudly from their perch just outside Matt’s window and the aroma of autumn morning’s dew curled through the open window. The cool air that wafted over his nearly nude body was a welcome relief to the heat that began just below his skin. He became painfully aware of a problem in his boxers as he shifted slightly.
He cringed as he raised his groin from the mattress and rolled onto his back. Matt rubbed his face groggily as his right hand wandered down to the fly. Satisfied his pride was still intact he gave a few quick pulls while his left hand cuddled his eyes in darkness.
The sounds of pleasure built in his throat, slowly working its way up as his hand toyed with the flared glands just inside his fly. The sound however was swallowed painfully as the door to his room was rudely flung open. Matt jumped and sat up instantly as the discarded sheet draped itself gracefully over his enraged crotch.
“Church in 45 minutes,” his father barked with a disgusted glare. “Perhaps you should shower.”
Matt could only nod as his father retreated from the room, leaving the door wide open and tossing all of Matt’s modesty out the window with the now annoying chirp of the birds.
The scene across the street was much different. Soft, rhythmic murmurs crept from under the door to Jacobs’s room. He lay sound asleep as Joanne tiptoed about collecting a few empty, half-crushed cans of Red Bull. She couldn’t believe he had settled in so quickly, only a small collection of junk boxes sat in the corner to be sorted through.
She leaned in and gave him a light peck on the temple making him stir and switch to a more comfortable position.
Her heart swelled as she reminisced on their lives together and the things his father missed. It was she who had run beside him on the day the training wheels disappeared from his bike, the joy was also hers as she stopped and let him continue on his own. She remembered the dimpled smile that spread across his face when he crashed, realizing that he had done it on his own. His father had missed so much when he decided not to be a part of their life. But she didn’t regret it, not for a second. It had made her a stronger person.
“We’re good,” she smiled to herself as she closed his door quietly.
The church service was as boring as ever this Sunday, Matt's mind swimming with the fact that his father only dragged the family here so he could remain a visible member of the community he served. It was also consumed with lingering thoughts of Jacob and what they might do later in the day.
“Let us pray,” boomed the voice of Father Thompson as it resounded through the building.
Matt’s mind was in auto pilot with what he was sure were at least a third of the congregation as he fell to his knees and clasped his hands, resting them on the pew in front of him. While the priest led the group in prayer Matt snuck a glimpse at Valerie.
He was surprised to catch her eyes. She gave him a small smile and returned to prayer. A wave of joy washed over him as seemingly every nerve in his body fired in excitement. It was nothing new for either of them to be mindful of the others presence but this time the look on her face was different, as was her embarrassment at being caught.
“Amen” he heard his mother and father say in unison next to him.
The sun stung his eyes as he ventured through the throngs of exiting parishioners. Val stood next to her car waiting for him.
“Heya cutie,” Val chimed as he grew near.
“Hey Val,” He greeted shoving his hands into his pockets.
“So what’s the plan today?” she asked as she moved to the driver door.
“I was thinkin’ we could kidnap Jacob and get to know him over lunch at the pizza place.”
Val’s brow lifted. “Kidnapping huh?”
“He’s unpacking so I figured if he couldn’t make decent escape we might have to resort to it.”
“Did you bring the fur handcuffs?”
“I would have but you never gave them back the last time you borrowed em.”
Val chuckled good-heartedly as Matt climbed in. She easily twisted the growing swath of key chains causing the motor to purr to life.
“I have to be at work at three,” she reminded Matt. “So I can only hang around until two or so.”
Joanne sat it the sunlit kitchen, her eyes poring over an article in Architectural Digest about Frank Lloyd Wright’s cement block homes in the Los Angeles Valley. One side of the magazine spread featured a full page, sepia-toned photo of one of the houses in the Pasadena area. “A Doctor can bury his mistakes, A architect can only suggest Ivy – Frank Lloyd Wright” was super-imposed over the picture in bold typeface.
She idly lifted a strawberry and directed it to her mouth as she read. Jacob snuck into the kitchen, clothed in only his boxers, his hand busy scratching at the back of his head. He made his way to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of orange juice.
Without lifting her eyes from the magazine said, “Get a cup.”
Jacob looked down at the open container and over at his mom who was still engrossed in the article. He shrugged and took a hefty gulp as he walked to the cabinet to retrieve a one. Jacob sat down at the table, the tall glass of orange juice in his hands, his eyes on the large, earthenware bowl of fresh strawberries.
Joanne chuckled as she pushed the bowl across the table.
Jacob didn’t need a second invitation and he grabbed two ripe berries.
“So how did you – WHOA!” Joanne’s eyes finally left her article.
Before her sat her nearly 16-year-old son. But that wasn’t the shocker; it was the fact that his hair was sticking up in random chunks over the top of his head.
“What?” his lips curled around a third berry.
“That’s some serious bed head you got on you, kiddo.”
Jacob’s eyes rolled skyward in a vain attempt to check out his hair. Once he was satisfied that he would need a mirror to see anything beyond the tips of his bangs, he shrugged his shoulders.
She reached for a strawberry. “Late night?”
“Yeah, I had to get settled in.”
Joanne nodded her head, understanding.
“So what are you going to do today if you’re all unpacked?”
“I dunno” Jacob said with a casual shrug. “I was sorta hoping to hang out with the guy across the street.”
“The one in the trunks?” Joanne raised a brow.
Jacob’s cheeks flushed slightly as he dodged her eyes.
“Yeah he gave me a hand last night with some boxes, then offered to show me around town today.”
She snagged the emptying bowl of berries. “That’s great! You better go get ready.”
Jacob stood, leaning briefly to give his mom a quick peck on the cheek before heading for the shower.
The Mustang cruised along the small town streets; a natural beauty wearing a pair of dark sunglasses sat behind the wheel steering its course. Her soft brown hair billowed lazily behind her, its tips lashing the seat back.
She turned the volume on the radio low. “So tell me about him.”
“Not much to tell really, I don’t know much about him.”
“Then why are you so eager to get to know him. I mean if there are no outward common interests, and only a chance meeting in the dark. What is it?”
“I dunno.” Matt’s face flushed as he fiddled with the glove box knob in front of him. “There’s just something about him that I saw last night, just makes me want to get to know him better.”
Val glanced at him sideways, not sure he was being honest about what was really drawing him to this guy.
“I guess that’s fair enough,” she conceded. “He knows were doing this right?”
“He said cool when I offered to show him round today. SO, I hope he’s expecting us.”
Valerie jabbed him in the side.
“Funny smartass.”
“Better then a dumb one.”
“Right, you’re just lucky it’s a nice looking ass or I wouldn’t be caught dead with you.”
Matt grinned wiggling his eyebrows. “It is nice isn’t it!”
“Man one simple compliment and your head swells!”
Matt busted out into laughter, his body rocking in the worn leather of the passenger seat. Val just looked at him curiously between attempts to watch the road.
“Not the one on my shoulders either,” he shouted in between gasps for air.
Valerie’s jaw dropped in surprise that she recovered into mock disgust.
“Ewww Matty! I don’t want to know about the state of your pecker!”
The line sent him into another roll of raucous laughter that caused tears to escape his eyes.
She turned down the long stretch of Oak shaded asphalt that was Lilly Ct. “Perv!”
Matt was wiping the collected tears of laughter from his eyes as Val pulled the car to a stop in front of the Keat’s residence. Matt and Val, still kidding with each other, made their way to the front door. Her slender finger depressed the lighted doorbell button.
The sound of the bell echoed on the other side of the wooden door. Matt gave Valerie a slight smile.
Jacob pulled the door open, catching both Matt and Valerie off guard, as he stood there still moist from the shower, a black t-shirt thrown over the shoulder of his otherwise bare chest. Valerie’s breath caught in her chest as she looked on at the guy before her.
At her side Matt was suffering the same fate, willing every once of control he had to stop it from showing outwardly.
“Hello Jacob.” Valerie said once she composed herself.
“Hi,” he stammered, his chest heaving from his mad dash to the door. “I’m sorry I was only expecting Matt,” e continued, reaching for his shirt.
“Oh don’t be silly and go getting dressed for me.” She laughed as she moved toward the threshold.
Jacob backed out of her way allowing her entry.
“Nice house.” she said spinning before turning to face them. Her eyes admonished Matt briefly as he stood, quietly watching her.
She rolled her eyes and presented her hand to Jacob.
“Valerie King, you’ll have to excuse Matt, sometimes he forgets manners.”
Matt stared at her wide-eyed in shock.
“Its cool Sweets.” He said before his lips touched the back of her hand lightly. “I’ll teach him some manners.”
“Oh please,” Matt sighed
Valerie giggled, giddy.
“You know Matt, you were right about him, I like him already.”
Jacob, confused, looked from one to the other.
“Oh Matt has been gushing about you at every opportunity.”
“What?”
“Really?” Jacob said over Matt’s head as he turned and smiled. “So you got all snazzy for me?”
“Church,” Matt said matter of factly, though as he was beginning to feel flustered.
“Its cool bro, c’mon in,” Jacob said easily with a smile. “Sides she’s just worried I’ll steal you away from her.” He said in a low voice loud just enough for Valerie to hear.
The three of the laughed together, it seemed that in a matter of seconds Jacob had weaseled his way into Matt and Valerie’s tightly knit friendship. So deeply that Valerie found herself unable to imagine the not so distant past when he wasn’t a friend. Matt had been correct when he said there was just something about him.
His personality was, in a word, electrifying. She didn’t know for sure yet but she was willing to bet her car that he would light up any room he walked into. It was a glow of confidence that exuded from every pore of his body. An air of playfulness surrounded Jacob, any average guy his age would have gotten pissed at the gay jokes. Such games were usually only within the realm of long-standing friendships. Jacob however, accepted the game and played right along. She couldn't have known it would not remain a game for long.