Jamie Lawrence

Jamie Lawrence - Chapter Eleven

Warning:

This story contains graphic description of sex acts betweens members of the same sex. If accessing material such as this is illegal in your country, province, or state, please do not continue reading. If you are offended by such material, then why are you on this website in the first place?

The characters and events contained within this story are entirely fictional and should be taken as such. Any resemblance to any person(s) living or dead is entirely coincidental.

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For the American readers amongst you; This story is set in England. The use of the word "College" refers to the institution attended by children aged 16-19.

Jamie Lawrence - Chapter Eleven

Darren sat in the waiting room of the Psychology department of North Manchester General Hospital, and listened to his heart pound in his chest. He had had the whole weekend to work himself into a tizzy over this appointment, and now that it had finally arrived, he was freaked.

"Darren Dempster?" asked a tall brunette woman from the doorway. She looked to be in her forties but didn't look bad for it. She spotted Darren and gave him a warm smile. "Would you like to come through?"

Darren's mouth was dry. This had seemed like such a good idea in principle, but now that he was faced with the prospect of baring his soul to a complete stranger, Darren was petrified. He stood up and walked to the woman. She extended her hand, which Darren shook.

"I'm Beth Lawrence." She led him into her office. "You can call me Beth."

"Shouldn't I be calling you by your surname?" It seemed odd to be being casual with a doctor.

"Would you be more comfortable with that?" She was filling a kettle with water and rinsing out two cups.

"No, I guess not." He selected the armchair nearest the door.

"Tea?" asked the doctor. Darren nodded nervously. She bustled about for a minute before sitting opposite Darren and handing him a mug of hot tea. "Now, Darren. What brings you in?"

"I thought therapists got a file on their patients?"

"We do, and I've read yours, but I want to hear from you. What brings you here?" She sipped at her tea. Darren had had ideas about what therapy was going to be like, but this was nothing like any of his imaginings. For a start, he had expected a man.

"I screwed everything up," said Darren, his voice a monotone.

Beth smiled. "It's remarkable how many people say that to me. They're almost invariably wrong." She paused. "Okay, let's start with the drugs. How did you start?"

Darren was staring into his cup. He couldn't speak. Two full minutes passed in silence, a silence that Beth seemed completely willing to allow to continue. Darren's palms were sweaty and he could feel tears stinging at his eyes. "I'm sorry. This was a bad idea." Darren almost threw his cup on the table and darted for the door. Beth didn't even move to stop him. She simply watched.

Darren wanted to go home and hide under his blanket until the Rapture, but his father wouldn't be picking him up for nearly an hour. He headed for the canteen. He ordered a coffee and found a table.

Barely a minute passed before Darren had mired himself in self pity. He wished he could have talked to Beth, but the idea of opening up had been too hard.

"That looks like it hurts," said a nearby voice. It was a little high pitched and feminine but when Darren looked at the source he saw that it was a male nurse. He had short blonde hair that was spiked up three inches away from his head. He was about five foot seven and very skinny. He looked to be about twenty. His ID badge said Nurse Kyle Summers

"I deserved it." Darren stared into his coffee.

"Wow, you must have been REAlly naughty." Kyle tutted at him a few times. He sat next to Darren. Darren quickly observed that there were four other seats around the table, and yet he chose the one right next to Darren.

"Now, sweetums. Why don't you tell me who bopped your conk, and why they felt it needed bopping."

Darren looked quizzically at him. "Sweetums?"

"Yes, darling?" A wicked smile spread across his face. Even Darren couldn't help but laugh. "So, what happened, Babz?" he asked.

Darren sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Hmm. I have fifteen minutes left of my break. Do you know how much I can bug you in fifteen minutes?"

The pair then engaged in a circular conversation in which Darren repeatedly said "No" to Kyle's incessant "Tell me, tell me, tell me." Finally, Darren gave in.

"Fine!" Kyle looked incredibly pleased with himself. Darren had never known anybody as annoying as him. "I tried to do something really bad and got punched for my trouble."

"That doesn't really tell me anything, does it?" Kyle gently poked Darren's arm. "I want details, baby doll."

Darren sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. Reluctantly, he launched into the whole sordid tale. It took less time than usual because, unlike everybody else, Kyle simply sat and listened. Every now and again he would say 'Aww, sweetie,' and gently touch Darren's hand. The first few times he did it, Darren flinched away, but as it became more frequent, he just let it go.

Darren was drawing to the close of his tale and was feeling strangely relieved to have said it all. "I tried to out a friend to his Dad so he punched me," he finished, his voice close to a whisper.

"Hmm. Sounds reasonable." He smiled, flashing brilliant white teeth. His smile was slightly crooked but it was warm and genuine, like Beth's. "So what brings you to the hospital today?"

"I'm supposed to be in a therapy session with Beth Lawrence, but I couldn't talk to her."

"Well, you've been talking to me easily enough."

"Because you were incessantly annoying," Darren jibed.

"Ooh, ouch. Someone's grumpy." Kyle pursed his lips. "Come on, chicken." Kyle grabbed Darren's hand and pulled him to his feet. He dragged him out of the canteen in the direction of the Psychology department. Kyle's hand was very petite, and very soft. Darren couldn't bring himself to resist the little man's pull. As they walked, Kyle sang 'Poker Face' under his breath.

Kyle knocked on Beth's door, and when he heard her shout "Come in" he pulled Darren into the room. "Hey Beth. I found a stray. Can you look after him?"

Beth smiled up at the pair, still hand in hand. "Of course." Beth was still sitting in the same chair and appeared to be drinking the same cup of tea.

"I guess I'd better leave you two to it." Kyle curtsied and gave Darren a wink before ducking out the door. "See you girls later," he called over his shoulder.

Darren rolled his eyes, a wry smile on his face. "That guy is all kinds of crazy."

Beth laughed warmly. "Kyle's a sweetheart. He's been wonderful with all the patients in the Geriatrics ward. They love him."

Darren chuckled. Kyle's outrageous behaviour had made him feel a little less wound up and he tumbled into the armchair.

"Well, we only have about twenty minutes left. It's not ideal, but it's a start. How about you tell me about the door that punched you in the face? Why did you tell your mother that it was a door when it was clearly a fist."

"I just felt bad. I didn't want to get the guy in trouble."

"That seems like a very logical thing to want. The boy hurt you. Why wouldn't you want to get back at him?"

Darren shifted uncomfortably. "I already did something really bad to him." Beth arched her eyebrows. "I tried to out him and his boyfriend."

Beth's eyebrows disappeared into her fringe. "Why did you want to do that?"

"I was sick of being the only one to suffer. Plus he had threatened to tell my Father about the drugs. I went to Shane's house and tried to tell his Dad that he was gay, to make sure HE suffered." Beth's brow furrowed when Darren mentioned Shane's name, but Darren thought nothing of it.

Darren smiled to himself. Looking back, he realised that Shane had probably already been suffering; lying to his father every day, having to hide how important Jamie was to him. "I guess, when I tried to apologise to him and Jamie and he punched me, I figured it was like, karmic justice or something." A funny look crossed Beth's face at the mention of Jamie's name. Darren was curious, but figured that she was here to ASK the questions. Not answer them.

They talked for a few more minutes about school and his family until Beth looked at the clock. She sighed. "Well, I would have liked to have gotten through more today, but I guess it's unavoidable. I have a cancellation on Thursday. Would you like to come in then? It's at two o'clock."

"Sounds good."

As the young man left Beth's office, she slumped into her desk chair. She reflected on the unexpected return of Darren in the capable hands of her former receptionist, Kyle. She could have sworn there was some disappointment in Darren's eyes when Kyle let go of his hand. Beth hatched a plan.

She picked up her desk phone and hit 'one' to call her new receptionist. It rang twice. "Reception."

"Helen, did you say you wanted Thursday afternoon off?"

"Yes, my daughter has an appointment."

"Great, take the afternoon. Can you get Geriatrics on the phone for me?"

Beth waited for the connection to take and heard the ancient Staff Nurse pick up the phone.

"Geriatrics?"

"Yes, this is Doctor Lawrence is Psychology. I was wondering if I could borrow Kyle Summers from you on Thursday afternoon?"

Jamie and Shane were just coming down the stairs as Beth came barrelling through the front door. Shane was clearly replacing his belt, and they both had silly grins on their faces. No need to guess what they had been up to. Beth pointed at the pair and said "Lounge, now!"

Jamie and Shane exchanged a worried glance and made their way into the lounge. Beth paced in front of them for a minute, collecting her thoughts. She had to be careful here. Darren's case was confidential, but she needed to get the boys' help if she was going to make Darren better.

"What is this I hear about you punching a boy from your school?" She stared at Shane.

Shane looked lost for words. "How did you...?"

"Never mind how I know. Did you?" She was pretending to be angrier than she really was. Shane looked pleadingly at Jamie, but he looked just as taken aback as Shane. Slowly, Shane nodded. "What on Earth possessed you to do such a thing?" Beth knew the answer already, having been told not two hours before by Darren, but she needed Jamie and Shane to feel bad enough that they would apologise to Darren.

Shane was looking at his shoes in much the same way Jamie did when he was scolded as a child. "He started it," he said sullenly.

"Did he punch you?"

Shane shook his head.

"Then you were in the wrong! And you, James Thomas Lawrence." The middle name thing always worked on Jamie. "You stood by and let it happen? And then you both just walked away?"

"But, he...wait a second. How DO you know about it?"

"I, uh..."

"Fudging hell! You're treating him!"

Beth made a quick decision. "Okay, I'll level with you boys. I AM treating him, and this whole thing with you two is really eating him up. I need you boys to help me get this boy better."

Beth watched the boys exchange a long look. Jamie's eyebrows went up, while Shane's went down. Jamie nodded vehemently and then Shane shrugged. Jamie turned back to Beth. "Okay. We'll help, but we're not happy about it."

"Thank you. But remember, he cannot know that you know. I could lose my license if he found out."

"Fine. Do you need anything else? Information?"

"Actually, if I could do with knowing more about the drugs that he's been taking. I'm really struggling to get him to talk about it."

"Well," said Shane. "He started a little over a year ago. At first it was just a line of blow every now and again. Then he started chasing it with beer." He looked sideways at Jamie. "He tried to get me to do it more than once. I always said 'no'. Anyway, he started using more and more and then drinking more and more. I wouldn't say he was ever, like, full blown addicted. He stayed at my house one weekend about three months ago and he didn't touch a thing the entire time he was there."

"That's good. Maybe this is easier to fix than I thought."

"Anyway, a couple of weeks before Prom, he tried to get Sarah to take some with him. Sarah was his girlfriend," Shane clarified quickly for the mystified Beth. "She broke up with him on the spot. She's a good Catholic girl. Then Darren, uh..." Shane hedged awkwardly.

Jamie picked up the story on his boyfriend's behalf. "He started asking Shane for sexual favours. Blowjobs mostly. They only actually did it once." Jamie took Shane's hand. It often amazed Beth at how mature Jamie and Shane's relationship was. Jamie recognised that Shane had a past and never blamed him for it. She wished that some adults would learn that same lesson.

"After that, I just stopped spending time with him. We just don't have anything in common any more," finished Shane.

Beth chuckled. "You boys may have more in common than you realise."

Darren climbed out of his father's BMW and rather than walking into the house, turned instead to the main road. His father had picked him up at the hospital and had said two words on the entire ride home. "Any problems?" When Darren answered in the negative, he simply put the car in gear, nodded and drove.

Darren had hoped that his entry into therapy would at least have made his father say something, anything to him. Obviously the wall between them had grown too great. Darren was the Huns, and his father was the Chinese Empire.

"Where are you going?" shouted his father.

'Finally, some words,' thought Darren bitterly. "I'm gonna take a walk. Clear my head a bit." His father grunted and went inside. The happy glow that had filled him after he met that Nurse had faded and the thought of sitting around, all alone in his bedroom threatened to wipe it away permanently.

He meandered through side streets and along main roads for the better part of two hours before his feet finally started to hurt, but still he walked. He thought about his mother and father. He thought about Beth, and how she had been so kind and gentle with him.

Mostly, he thought about Kyle. That silly smile and those wide, innocent blue eyes. His delicate hands, and the boundless energy that seemed to constantly effervesce from him. Darren smiled as he felt that peculiar warmth spread through him again. He hoped he could see Kyle again.

As he crossed Victoria Avenue for the sixth time, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and stared at the number for a long time before putting the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

'Darren? It's Shane. Can we meet? Me and Jamie need to talk to you.'

"Sure, I guess. How about Heaton Park in fifteen minutes?"

'Sure, we'll meet you by the statue of the Lion.' The line went dead.

Darren lightly touched his face, feeling the diminished swelling there. "I hope he isn't looking for round two."

Eighteen minutes later, Darren was watching Jamie and Shane approach, hand in hand, up the driveway of Heaton Hall. They stopped and spoke for a moment before Jamie came over on his own. As he came within earshot, he spoke.

"I just wanted to come over first and tell you that we're not here to start with you. We just want to talk."

"Cool," said Darren. Jamie turned and waved Shane over. When he joined them, they sat in a circle on the cool grass. The afternoon sun still had the air around them at a pleasant temperature, but the winds were starting to pick up, warning that it would be a cool night.

"So, what did you guys want to talk about?"

Shane looked at the grass awkwardly. Jamie eyed him and then sighed. "We wanted to apologise. We shouldn't have been such arseholes to you last week."

Shane cleared his throat. "And I shouldn't have, you know..." He punched his right fist into his left palm. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," said Jamie.

"Thanks, guys. That's all I wanted to say too. When I saw you guys in the music corridor, I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry for being such a shit. I mean, who the fuck outs his friends to their family?"

"You only wanted to apologise?" asked Shane, turning white. Darren nodded. "Fuck, now I feel like such a bastard. I punched you and you just wanted to fix it." He looked at the ground again.

"Hey, I said it was cool. I said I'm sorry for outing you, and you said sorry for punching me, so let's pretend it didn't happen."

"Yeah, but look at your face. It's kinda hard to ignore that," said Shane, obviously perturbed.

Jamie put on a cheeky grin, not unlike the one that Kyle had used on Darren earlier. "No probz darling! A bit of concealer, maybe some foundation, and a touch of mascara to even out the eyes." He threw his hands up in the campest way possible. "He'll look FABulous!"

Shane and Darren laughed at Jamie. "You know, I met this guy today who acts exactly like that! His name's Kyle and he's a nurse at NMGH. He calls me sweetums and babez. He's a riot. I like him." Jamie and Shane exchanged an odd look, but Darren just ignored it. "So, where do we go from here?"

"I guess we just take it slow," said Shane. "Things got a bit messy between us for a while."

"Sure. I'll just call you, shall I?"

Shane nodded and then checked his watch. "Oh shit. I gotta get home. My Aunt Dawn and cousin Callum are coming to stay while my Mum recovers. I'm supposed to help get them settled." All three rose.

As Jamie stood up, Darren noticed that he had grass clipping all over the seat of his jeans. "Jamie, you've got a Spanish 'thank you'." He chuckled and started to beat the grass away.

"A Spanish 'thank you'?" asked Shane, confused.

"A grassy arse!" All three started to laugh together. Darren basked in the feeling of something he hadn't experienced in a long time; friendship.

That Thursday, Darren wandered into the reception of the Psychology department of NMGH and knocked twice on the desk to alert the receptionist to his presence. What he hadn't expected to see was Nurse Kyle Summers appear in street clothes behind the desk.

"Oh my God! Hey sweetie!" Kyle bounced on his little feet and leaned over the desk to give Darren a swift kiss on the cheek. "How's life?" He double clicked on his mouse.

"What are you doing here?" asked Darren, flabbergasted.

"Oh." He giggled. "Hellish Helen needed the Afterz off. Since I used to be Bitsy's paper jockey, she borrowed me from the Biddy Box."

"Who's Bitsy? And what's the Biddy Box?"

"The Geriatrics ward. Bitsy is my name for Beth."

"You're so crazy," chuckled Darren.

Kyle struck a pose. "But that's why you love me!" he said indignantly.

Darren rolled his eyes and smiled. Right then, the door to Beth's office swung open. A man of about thirty came out, a scowl on his face. Beth shook his hand. "Okay Phil, I'll see you the same time next week." The man held Beth's hand for an unnecessarily long time before leering at Darren and leaving.

Darren watched him leave thinking how creepy he seemed. "Psst!" Darren turned to face Kyle. "When you're done here, meet me out front of the hospital. My break is coming up and we can talk some more."

"Cool." Kyle gave him a twinkly smile as Beth called out for "Darren Dempster." Darren gave Kyle a cheery wave and went in. He was faced with a cup of steaming tea and a smiling Beth.

"Get comfy." She indicated the selection of chairs. She had selected the same seat as last time. Darren chose one with a full view of the window. It just happened to be the furthest from the door. He guessed that Beth would read something into it. From his vantage point, he could see the car park below. He could 'people watch.'

Beth took a sip of her tea. "So, I noticed you talking to Kyle. Nice boy, isn't he?"

Darren swallowed a mouthful of his own tea. "Yeah, he's great. Funny as hell."

"That's nice. I see your nose is much better. How does it feel?"

"Doesn't hurt at all. Ooh, some news. The guy I punched called me. We've made up. It's gonna take some work, but I think we might be able to be friends again."

For a long time after that, they discussed Shane. They talked about how they had fallen out, only vaguely touching on the drugs part of the story. Towards the end of the session, Darren lost focus. He kept looking down into the car park, wondering when Kyle would make his way down. Finally, with seven minutes left on the clock, he spotted Kyle. Darren asked if they could end the session.

He had no idea why he was so eager to talk to Kyle again, but the moment Beth made their next appointment, he bounded out of the door and made for the car park.

He charged out of the main entrance and spotted Kyle standing with his right foot posed in front of the left.

"Should you really be smoking? You're a nurse." Darren meandered over to Kyle who had a cigarette daintily held between to fingers.

"Hey sweetums." Kyle broke out in a huge grin when he saw Darren.

"Hello? The cigarette?"

Kyle looked a little embarrassed. "I've been trying to kick the habit in it's sweet patootie for years." He batted his eyelids and fixed Darren with a puppy dog look. "I'm down to like five a day. Forgivesies?"

Darren rolled his eyes and smiled. "Forgivesies."

Kyle smiled wide. "Yay." He stood on his tiptoes and gave Darren a kiss on the cheek. Darren almost pulled away, but found that it didn't bother him all that much. "So, how's therapy going, doll?" He flicked the ashes from the end of his cigarette.

"Better. I actually, you know, talked this time."

Kyle beamed. "And I didn't even need to bully you into it!" He practically leapt into Darren's arms and squeezed.

Darren was chuckling at Kyle's exuberance when a dark haired man came over and scowled at the pair. He looked to be about Kyle's age, perhaps a little older. He was wearing a black leather jacket and snug black jeans.

"Kyle. I want to talk to you. Now." His tone was impatient and more than a little arrogant.

When Kyle released Darren from the hug and turned to face the man, he tensed up. He backed up into Darren, fear in his eyes. His cigarette fell to the floor. "John-Paul, I..."

"NOW!" shouted John-Paul. Darren stepped in front of Kyle, blocking John Paul's path to him. John-Paul eyed Darren. Though he was older than Darren, he was not as well built. Darren knew he could easily take him down if he needed to. "Oh, what are you? His new squeeze?"

"No. Just the guy who's going to pound you into the pavement if you don't back the fuck off." Darren cracked his knuckles and leered at John-Paul.

"I, er, I wanna talk to Kyle." He suddenly sounded less sure of himself. He tried to make himself look taller. Darren was distinctly unimpressed.

During the whole exchange, Kyle had been clinging gently to the tail of Darren's jacket and kept stealing quick glances over his shoulders. Darren could feel the fear pouring out of him. "Well, he doesn't want to talk to you, so you may as well leave."

John Paul spat on the ground in front of Darren. "Fuck you." He spun on his heel and stalked off.

As soon as he rounded the corner and was out of sight, Darren spun around and took Kyle in his arms. Kyle immediately started crying and clung to Darren while Darren rubbed his sides and rested his cheek against the top of Kyle's head. "Shh, I've got you," he cooed.

For a long time they just stood there, oblivious to the world. Kyle tried to explain through his tears.

The story, as far as Darren could grasp it was that John Paul had been Kyle's boyfriend for more than two years; they had even lived together. John Paul, however, had been unfaithful.

"And not just once," Kyle explained through wracking sobs. "There were six guys besides me."

Darren continued to hold Kyle close, just listening to the story. Kyle told him that when he had finally gathered the confidence to confront the issue, John-Paul turned violent. He had beaten Kyle, going so far as to break his collarbone.

"I should have left right then," continued Kyle. "But, silly bitch that I am, I let him convince me to come home with him. He swore he'd change. Swore he loved me."

"You're not a silly bitch."

Kyle sniffed and looked up at Darren. His eyes were a little red. He smiled and said "I am. Only a silly bitch falls for a straight boy."

"You're not a silly bitch!" repeated Darren with more heat than he had intended. He didn't like hearing Kyle put himself down like that.

Kyle smiled and patted Darren's chest before putting his head back against it. "You're a sweetie. Anyway, so I went back home with him. Before long, he stopped me seeing my friends. He would leave the house but lock all the doors with me still inside. He became the only person in my life, which of course is what he wanted."

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Darren.

"So one day, he goes out. I crack a window and squeeze my sweet ass out of it. Jailbreak my own house."

Kyle had stopped crying, but Darren didn't let go. He kept Kyle close, his cheek pressed to the young man's crown, breathing in the scent of his shampoo.

The pair stood there, eyes closed, holding each other. All too soon, Kyle pulled away. "Sorry, sweetie. I'm being a silly bitch again. I always go for the straighties."

Very gently, Darren pulled Kyle back into his body. "I told you," he said softly. "You're not a silly bitch." He put his hand on the back of Kyle's neck and watched Kyle's blue eyes go very wide.

He leaned down, and tentatively touched his lips to Kyle's, savouring the first contact that sent sensuous shivers through Darren's body and nearly took his feet from under him. For four glorious seconds, Darren held Kyle against himself and savoured the flavour of his cherry lip gloss.

He felt his groin begin to stir and suddenly, reality crashed in on him. He was kissing a man. Worse than that; he was being aroused by it.

'Holy shit. What the fuck am I doing?!' he screamed inside his head. He pulled away from Kyle's lips.

"I'm sorry. I have to go!" He bolted, and ran most of the way home before he stopped to catch his breath in huge, painful gasps. He desperately needed help, but his next session with Beth wasn't for another four days. He pulled out his phone and dialled the only person who he knew could help him.

As Kyle watched Darren's cute bum disappear around the corner, he started to silently berate himself.

From the first moment he had seen Darren, he had felt drawn to him. They didn't even know each other that well, and he still felt like they could have something special, if only he were gay. And then that kiss had happened.

"Stop it!" he said to himself. He was toying with a troubled young man. "He's in therapy for fuck's sake, Kyle.". He realised that he had just dumped all of his own troubles on the poor boy. Darren probably just felt sorry for him. That's where the kiss came from, and now he's probably tearing himself apart over it.

He made himself a silent vow. 'I will leave him be. He needs to heal, and I'm not going to help that if I stick around, confusing him.'

He had to admit, though; that kiss was amazing.

I hope you enjoyed the latest instalment.

Any comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome. Please feel free to email me with your thoughts at thebobbyfish@gmail.com. Your emails are all very welcome, and I will try to answer ever single one of them!

Special thanks to Bill for all his help in bringing this chapter to life.

If you haven't started already, you should have a read of Val n Tyne. It's a wonderful tale. Also, Riding Lessons is still going strong, so get on that too.

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Keep an eye out for Chapter Twelve!

Bobby C