Just Together

Disclaimer: This story is fiction. It makes no claims to the true personality or sexuality of anyone involved. You already know if you shouldn't be reading this.

------------------ Just Together by jm_stories ------------------

Chapter XXIX

*** [ 7/11//02 ]

"Why are you going home tomorrow?" Jonny asked Scott. "You're gonna be here the rest of the summer, aren't you?"

"Yea. I'm just going to get my brother," Scott answered.

"The 'phobe?"

"He's not that bad, and he's getting over it. The more he's around gay guys the less homophobic he'll be -- hopefully."

"So you're bringing him here for therapy," Jonny surmised.

"Not really. That's just an added benefit. He just wants to spend some time in New York. Kinda like a vacation, I guess. Same reason you're here."

"Okay. Just so you know, if he gets all bigotty with me I'm gonna kick his ass."

"You're not going to kick anyone's ass," I said. "Play nice and if he becomes too confrontational Scott will take care of it."

"I say let Jonny kick his ass. That'll shut him up," Scott said.

"You're not helping."

"Nope. I'm going to class," Scott smirked.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. Later," Scott said and left quickly.

"Why is he taking classes over the summer? Is he insane?" Jonny asked me.

"Just the opposite. He's getting core classes out of the way. You'll understand when you start university. He should take a couple, but he's only taking one each session," I said.

"Whatever. I'm still not going to put up with some 'phobe. If he gets in my face I'm not going to back down and play nice," Jonny said.

"He'd be the only one who feels that way here. He probably won't be too obnoxious if he doesn't have other 'phobes around to back him up," CJ said.

"Just don't worry about it. Scott will take care of it."

"You know that you'll be the one taking care of it."

"Only if I have to."

I was priming along the beam slot, standing on the very top plank of the scaffolding, hanging on to the ledge and stretched as far as I could reach when someone pulled my shorts down to my ankles. I looked down to see Justin laughing and trying to get down from the scaffolding as quickly as possible. Jonny & Adam were laughing. My position was kinda precarious to begin with, so I just kicked my shorts completely off rather than trip and fall trying to pull them up. Justin laughed even harder.

"If you were trying to get me to fall you could have at least blown me," I called out to Justin.

"It's just like the Sistine Chapel in here," Justin laughed.

"I'm much better hung, thank you," I said as I finally got down from the top plank. I climbed down to retrieve my shorts and put them on. Considering my options for revenge, I ran upstairs to retrieve the hanging wrist cuffs Michael bought. Justin kept as far away from me as he could.

"You two. Help me catch him and get him on stage," I said to Jonny and Adam. Justin took off running. When they finally got him pinned down, I put the cuffs on him. A quick loop with the rope and I ran over to the pin rail.

"Let him go now," I yelled and hauled him up so that his feet were just barely on the stage.

"You kinky son of a bitch," Justin yelled.

"You were the one pulling my pants down while I was at the top of the scaffolding. I'm not going to endanger your life, but I am going to embarrass you," I smiled and pulled down his shorts. He twisted around and yelled obscenities, but couldn't get away. I gave his nipple a pinch and went back to my painting.

"Fucker! How long are you going to leave me here?"

"Just until your erection goes down," I said casually.

He, apparently, hadn't noticed he was erect and blushed before twisting so he was facing the back wall.

"Hey! I'm back with..." CJ yelled as he walked in from the dock with the soda and then froze as he noticed the naked and erect Justin hanging in the center of the stage. "Uh, what did I miss? Or am I interrupting something?" He asked, confused.

"Justin pulled Jonah's shorts down while he was on the scaffolding so Jonah got him back," Jonny explained and took the bag from CJ to get a soda.

"Oh. This is definitely one moment I won't be sharing," CJ said, still looking oddly at Justin.

"Go ahead and let him down, Jonny. He'll never lose that erection and I think we've embarrassed him enough," I called out.

"Do I have to? I kinda like the view," Jonny smirked as he checked Justin out.

"He said to let me down, you pervert," Justin growled.

"You know, you really should be nicer if you want me to help you out," Jonny said.

"I'll let you down. I'm not enjoying the view," Adam said.

"Thank you."

"Though it's interesting that I'm better hung than you," Adam teased and let Justin down.

"Aren't we all," Jonny added.

"Weird," CJ said and climbed down from the stage.

"When dealing with Justin, you can always count on weird," I said.

"You say that when you're the one with bondage equipment," Justin shot back as he took off the cuffs.

"Michael likes them. We had a great time once just like I did to you."

"I wouldn't doubt it, but I didn't get anything good."

"I would have helped you out," Jonny smiled.

"No thanks."

"And you should remember that I'm the master prankster, Justin. Need I remind you of a very cold shower?"

"He could use one of those right now," CJ laughed.

"I don't know why I even bothered coming here," Justin sighed.

"Because you're hiding and you like that we don't treat you like a star?" I offered.

"Something like that," he muttered.

"Now unless everyone is going to paint naked, get back to work," I said.

"I like that idea," Jonny said.

"I don't, so you're overruled," Adam said. "All or none."

"I vote with Adam. No painting in the nude," CJ voiced his opinion.

"Too bad for you," I teased Jonny and went back to my painting.

"What are we going to do tonight? We've gotta do something fun. CJ leaves tomorrow. You don't want his last day to be spent painting, do you?" Jonny asked.

"What do you want to do, CJ?" I asked.

"Stay here the rest of the summer, if I had any choice."

"Right. You were lucky to get here at all. I think your father expects you to come back a flaming homosexual."

"Too bad for him," CJ smirked. "I still prefer girls."

"No one is perfect," Jonny said.

"As Jonny well knows. So what do you want to do?" I asked again.

"How about go hear a band? Do you think you can get us into CBGB's?"

"How old are you, Adam?" I asked.

"Sixteen."

"Do you all have some sort of ID?"

They all said they did.

"Okay. We can go."

"Killer," CJ said.

"Do you guys still want to go to MTV? We'll have to get ready and leave soon," Justin said.

"Did you already call them so we could get seats for TRL or something?" Jonny asked.

"No. It's too late, and I don't want to be on camera. We'll just take a walk through and you can talk to people," Justin said.

"Well, go if you're going. We'll go to CBGB's around ten," I said. "Be back by six if you're having dinner here."

"I've got the big shower," CJ said and ran for the elevator, closely followed by Jonny and Adam.

"Your help just deserted you," Justin smirked.

"I can work faster without distractions, anyway. Have fun playing diva guide."

"Bite me," Justin said and headed upstairs.

Scott and I were finishing dinner when the quartet burst through the door, laughing.

"Jonah. You should have come with us. It was hilarious. Justin got mobbed," Jonny laughed.

I looked at Justin and noticed he was wearing different clothes than when he left.

"Totally. They ripped off his clothes and he had to hide out naked in MTV while we went to get him some new clothes," CJ added.

"It sucked. Damn psychos," Justin grumbled. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Do you have any antiseptic? I've got scratches everywhere."

"There's some hydrogen peroxide in the medicine cabinet," I said. "You should have taken a bodyguard."

"I know. I figured I could have gotten in and out without problem. I would have been fine except there was some new girl there who went crazy. I think she sent out an instant message and there was a crowd waiting when we left. I fuckin' hate those damn instant message packs, trailing me and letting everyone they know where to attack," Justin huffed and stormed into the bathroom.

"It was crazy. You should have seen it," Adam said. "Is there anything left for dinner?"

"No. You guys weren't back on time so I figured you were eating in town."

"So what happened?" Scott asked.

"We were leaving MTV and got about a half-block away when this huge group of girls started screaming and surrounded us. Justin tried to duck between us and that sent them into a frenzy thinking he was getting away. They all started grabbing and pulling at anything they could," Jonny said and showed the rip in his shirt.

"By the time we got Justin away and back into MTV, the only thing he was wearing was the waist-band of his underwear," CJ laughed.

"And then everyone at MTV was teasing and laughing at him," Adam added.

"Security went out and got his wallet and cell phone back. We went to buy him some clothes while he tried to get a bodyguard there. It took forever and we left in a limo to a hotel, and then switched limos in the back before coming back," Jonny continued the story.

"With all those girls it would have been cool if some of them were interested in more than Justin. I tried to play up that I knew him, but they just wanted to meet him," CJ complained.

"I told you that it wouldn't work unless Justin agreed to meet them," Jonny said.

"So how was MTV, aside from Justin's attack?" I asked.

"It was cool. The attack made it more fun and we got to ride in a limo because of it," Adam said.

"Definitely," CJ agreed.

"Can we order a pizza or something? We're starving," Jonny said.

"Ask Justin if he's paying. Otherwise you can just make something here."

Jonny disappeared into the bathroom and came out a minute later. "Justin said you're a cheapskate and he'd pay for pizza."

"He's complaining about me being cheap? Order the pizza yourself. Speed dial five."

"Do you know who's playing at CBGB's tonight?" CJ asked me.

"I looked it up, but I've never heard of them."

"This is gonna be so kickin'. What's it like?"

"It's a dump. The music is hit or miss, depending on who is playing."

"You don't like CBGB's?"

"Yea. It's a good place. Why do you ask?"

"You said it was a dump."

"It is. It looks like hell. They have a lounge that's nicer, but the part you can get into and the main stage area is a dump. It doesn't matter as long as the band is good," I explained.

"Okay. How should we dress? Like going clubbing or not?"

"Not. Just dress casual. If you look too nice you'll look like a poser or a tourist. You're going to hear bands, not to be seen."

"You go only to hear bands. Other people go to get laid," Scott said.

"Like you?" I asked.

"I should only be so lucky," Scott smirked.

"Me, too. Maybe we could get lucky together," Jonny flirted.

Scott just looked at him and rolled his eyes. Adam laughed.

"You're going to have to try someone else," I said to Jonny.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he shrugged.

"Try venturing someone your own age."

"I'm just flirting. Don't get your panties in a bunch," Jonny said.

"If they are, I'm sure you'd be happy to sort them out," I shot back.

"Yep. Is that an invitation?"

"No. Sorry, but you're not man enough," I teased.

A night at CBGB's was without incident, for the most part. It was hot as hell outside and even more so inside. The first band had good songs, but poor stage presence. The second band was just the opposite. Justin got thoroughly pissed and sulked all night. The kids had fun and enjoyed trying to make Justin fall down as we went home by swaying back and forth as they walked. It worked a few times.

The next morning I took CJ to the airport. Everyone else slept in. I only worked a half-day on the theater.

*** [ Sunday, 7/14/02 ]

"What are we going to do for fun today?" Jonny asked me as he grabbed my cup of coffee I'd just poured.

"We're not going to do anything if you don't give me back my coffee," I growled.

He cringed and carefully handed it back.

"Good boy," I smiled as I took it back. "Never take someone's coffee in this house. You might lose a limb."

"Yea, okay. So what are we doing. You said we could do something fun today," Jonny said as he poured himself a cup.

"How about rappelling from the grid?" I offered.

"Do what?" Justin asked, bleary eyed.

"Rappel from the grid. It's fun."

"You've done it before?" Jonny asked.

"Not here yet, but I've done it at a few other theaters."

"Morning," Adam mumbled as he walked by to the small bathroom.

"Well I'm going shopping. You guys can join me if you want," Justin said.

"What are you going to get?" Jonny asked.

"I don't know. Maybe nothing. I'm just going shopping."

"Shouldn't you have a bodyguard with you?" I asked.

"Probably. That's why I'm inviting you guys. Diversion."

"I'm sure Jonny and Adam are really going to stand a chance against crazed fans," I smirked. "Remember what happened Friday?"

"It won't be a problem. I can get around without being recognized when I'm not walking in and out of MTV. You don't want to go?"

"No. I don't have the gay shopping gene," I shrugged.

Justin made a face. "Neither do I. I just like to look at things."

"Uh, huh."

"Whatever. So are you and Adam up for it?" Justin asked Jonny.

"Definitely. We'll have the whole spectrum: one gay, one bi, one straight. Jonah would only throw off the balance," Jonny said and gave me a 'so there' look.

"Fine with me," I said.

"You haven't told Adam that I'm..." Justin started.

"No. I told you you could trust me. If he finds out it's because you said something. He's not stupid, though, so he'll catch on if you try dropping innuendos or something -- at least ones that don't sound like you're just doing normal straight guy bullshitting."

"You have the strangest observations," Justin said and gave Jonny an odd look.

"I know," Jonny shrugged.

"What are we going to do today?" Adam asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"We're going shopping with Justin," Jonny answered.

"And when you get back we're going rappelling from the grid," I added.

"The what?"

"It's the steel floor at the top of the theater," Jonny explained.

"Oh. Why are we going rappelling from it?"

"Because it's there, and because it's fun," I said.

"Okay. I'll probably try it," Adam shrugged.

"Guess what I got?" Jonny smiled as he walked up into the living room loft after they'd gotten back from their shopping trip.

"What? Mobbed again?" I asked.

"No. No problems. Guess."

"I don't know. A thong," I shrugged.

"Dorkus," Jonny said and rolled his eyes. "Look," he said and lifted his shirt to reveal a nipple ring.

"Ah. I see. You never want to come to New York again."

"No. It's a nipple ring."

"And you don't think I'm gonna hear about letting you get a nipple ring while you were here?"

"They won't know. That's why I got a nipple ring. It's easy to hide. We all got one."

"Adam got one?"

"Yep."

"His folks are going to kill all of us. Where are the other two dead men walking?"

"Bathrooms. Don't you think it looks cool?"

"No. I don't."

"Why not?"

"It's just a piercing. I don't think any piercing looks cool."

"So? Pretty cool, huh?" Justin smiled as he came up the stairs with his shirt off, showing his matching nipple ring and standing next to Jonny.

"Yea, real cool," I said sarcastically. "You can explain it to their parents."

"It'll be fine. No one will know, and if they do find out then they can say they got them somewhere else," Justin said.

"You're a bad influence."

"It's just a nipple ring. It's not like I got them a Prince Albert or a tattoo," Justin protested.

"Thanks for small favors," I smirked. "So is everyone ready to go rappelling now?"

Adam gave me a hesitant look.

"Go on. It's cool," Jonny prodded.

He gave an apprehensive look up again, and then started to climb.

"This is a higher grid than the one I was on last summer," Jonny said as he stepped onto the loading platform.

"No. I think it's about the same," I said.

"It feels higher."

"Probably just because all the lines are gone. It looks like a huge empty space."

"Yea. That could be it. It's kinda cool, though," Jonny said as he looked out over the stage and grid from our perch. He and Adam both had a smiles on their faces.

"Dude. This rocks," Adam said softly.

While they were staring into empty space I rigged the ropes, put on the harness and rigged myself up. "Okay. Are you ready to get started?" I said, startling them from their revelry.

"Is it safe?" Adam asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," I smiled as I climbed over the railing.

"You are nuts," Jonny stated.

"Probably, but I'm not the one with a nipple ring," I smirked and checked my rigging again before leaning back and stepping to the wall. The ropes were now supporting all my weight. It's an odd feeling and very exciting.

"It works. Let's see if it goes down," I smiled and pushed away from the wall on the last word, dropping six feet or so.

"Hurry up! I want a chance," Justin yelled from the floor.

"Be right there," I yelled back and rappelled the rest of the way down.

"You make that look easy," Justin said as I touched down.

"It is. All you have to do is go down," I shrugged as I unclipped and took off the harness, adjusting myself back into a more comfortable position.

"That's always the bad part," Justin commented.

"Yea. Kinda smashes things together. Let me send the kids down and then you can go." I threw the harness over my shoulder and climbed back up.

"Okay. Who's first?" I asked as I got to the top.

"You can go," Jonny said to Adam.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Adam asked as he looked over the edge.

"As long as you follow directions."

"Okay," he said with a heavy sigh.

I helped him into the harness and cinched it up tight.

"This is really uncomfortable," Adam complained.

"Dude-man. It looks like you've got a huge package," Jonny teased.

"Doesn't just look that way," Adam smirked.

"Okay. You can measure each other later. Now. Pay attention."

"Okay," Adam said and focused on me.

"Okay. Friction is what slows you down or stops you. If you pull this end tight, then the hitch tightens and you'll stop. If you loosen up, then you'll go down. Understand?"

"Yea. What if I lose my grip?"

"Don't. But if you start going down too fast, Justin will pull from the bottom and slow you down. Just take your time, pay attention, and stay upright. You ready to step over?"

"Um, yea, okay."

"You ready, Justin?" I yelled down.

"Ready!"

"Okay. Climb over the railing and stop. Don't step off and don't let go," I said.

Adam took a deep breath and climbed over the railing. He was clutching it tightly.

"Okay. Take a breath. Remember to breath," I smiled as I tightened his slack and checked over everything again.

"I am," he said with a nervous jitter to his voice.

"When I say 'okay' I want you to grab the rope between your legs with one hand."

"Which one?"

"It doesn't matter. Which ever is most comfortable for you. Ready?"

"Yea. I think."

"Okay. Go ahead and grab the rope between your legs."

He did so.

"Okay. Now if you keep a tight grip on that it tightens the hitch and won't let you go down. Understand?"

"Yea. And if I loosen it then I go down."

"Right. You've got a tight grip on it right now?"

"You'd better believe it."

"Good," I chuckled. "Now comes the hard part. Keep your feet where they are, lean back and grab the rope in front of you with your other hand. You don't have to hold it tight -- just to keep yourself upright. You'll be leaning back, but that's okay. Just hold the brake end tight and you won't go down. Go ahead whenever you're comfortable."

A few deep breaths later Adam slowly leaned back and then quickly moved his hand to the rope.

"Now the hard part is done. Move this hand down to the carabineer now. Good. Whenever you're ready you can step over and put your feet on the wall."

"You ready, Justin?" Adam yelled without looking down.

"I won't let you drop," Justin yelled back and put some tension on the rope.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Adam muttered as he inched his feet over and slowly stood on the wall.

"You're doing great. Now this is your first time so I don't want you to rappel down. First time you're just going to walk down. Loosen up a little on the brake rope and walk it down. Don't worry about going too slowly and don't panic if you start to go too fast. Just grab the brake and stop yourself. Got it?"

"Yea," he said and loosened enough to go down an inch, then another inch, then three feet before Justin tightened the hitch.

"Fuck! That was too much," Adam said and was visibly shaking.

"Take a moment to relax and focus. You're doing fine," I comforted.

"Just let me know when you're ready to go again," Justin yelled up.

A minute or so later Adam yelled for Justin to ease up. After a few second pause he slowly made his way down. It took a while. He was almost lying on the floor before realized how close he was and stood up. His legs were shaking and he was a bit wobbly.

"So? How was it?" Jonny yelled down.

"It was cool. I'm gonna sit down," Adam kinda yelled back and then collapsed. Justin leaned down to check on him.

"He's okay. Just overwhelmed," Justin yelled up.

"Gets the blood flowing, huh?" I teased. "You doing okay?"

"Yea. I'm cool. I just need to relax a little."

"You need to take off the harness first, then you can relax."

"Oh, yea. Sorry," he apologized and stumbled up to take off the harness -- still shaky, but better.

"Tie it to the rope so I can pull it up," I yelled down to Justin.

"Is he just scared?" Jonny asked.

"Just nerves. He'll be fine in an hour. You ready?"

"Yea, I guess."

"Yes or no. Once you're past the platform you're committed."

"Yea."

I went through the same process and sent him over the edge. He was trying to act confident, but it was obviously an act. He went down a little faster than Adam and got cocky and took the last ten feet pretty quickly, falling over when he hit the ground and lying there. Justin pulled the harness off him right away and headed up. Jonny just laid there.

"I think you scared them both," Justin smirked as he reached the top.

"We'll see how you do."

"Please. I've done so much flying in shows that I don't even worry about it anymore."

"Okay," I shrugged and checked his harness before hitching him up. "Stay on the platform until I get down," I said after he was ready to go.

"I know. Safety first. Hurry up."

I got to the bottom and grabbed the rope, letting Justin know he could start. He was doing just fine until he twisted a little on a rappel and hit the wall sideways. I immediately stopped him.

"Fuck! That hurt. You got me?" Justin yelled.

"Yea."

"Hold on," he said and righted himself, brushing where his arm and leg scraped the concrete block wall. "Okay. I've got it."

I gave control back to him and he made the rest of his descent without problem, though with less bravado on the rappels. I saw that his knee and forearm were pretty scraped up when he got to the bottom.

"Next time I get cocky, just let me fall," Justin groaned as he took off the harness and adjusted himself before checking out his scrapes.

"No way. I can't afford how much I'd be sued for," I teased.

"Thanks for the concern," he groaned. "You going again?"

"I'd like to, but I don't feel like climbing the ladder again. Anyone else?"

"I'm good," Jonny said.

"Not today. Maybe again sometime before we go back to Chicago," Adam said.

"Are you serious? You were scared shitless," Jonny said.

"No I wasn't. Just nervous. I want to do it again so I can do it when I'm less nervous," Adam protested.

"Hindsight, I probably should have started you guys off from a ladder instead of four-stories up," I shrugged.

"That wouldn't have been as much fun," Justin smiled. "Conquering the fear is part of what makes it fun."

"I think they still would have been afraid when they got up that high," I countered.

"Yea. You should be a producer for 'Road Rules'," Jonny said.

"Not on your life. I couldn't handle dealing with the whiny shits they get. I think reality TV should die a horrible death."

-=-=-=-=-=- Jonny -=-=-=-=-=-=-

*** [ Monday, July 15, 2002 ]

"What time is he supposed to be here?" Jonah asked me.

"He didn't say. It was gonna depend on when he could get away from his family."

"That's kinda rude on both sides."

"Yea. I know. If he really is 17 like he says, then it makes sense. I'm here all the time anyway."

"So what's the plan today?" Justin asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Same as yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that..." I droned.

"I told you what we'd be doing all summer. You agreed," Jonah said to me.

"I know. I'm just sayin'..."

"That maybe we could actually see some of New York instead of being here all the time," Adam completed.

"I told you you two could go out during the day. You're not chained to the wall. Besides, you went out shopping with Justin yesterday," Jonah said.

"So what's the plan today?" Justin repeated.

"You and I are painting the ceiling. Those two are cleaning and stripping the grid," Jonah said.

"Stripping the grid?" Adam asked before I could.

"Remove all the old pulleys and any other garbage and vacuum the dust blankets."

"Do you have any dust masks?" I asked.

"Yep. A whole box of them."

After breakfast we headed down to the theater.

"Okay, guys. Here are your wrenches. Tie them," Jonah said as he handed us each a wrench with a rope tied to the handle.

"Tie them to what?" Adam asked.

"Your belt loop. It keeps you from dropping it and killing anyone below you."

"Oh. Okay," Adam said and we did so.

"Now... Dust masks... Shop vac... Rope..." Jonah muttered to himself as he pulled things together to take to the top. "Okay. Ready?"

"Are you sure it's safe?" Adam asked hesitantly as he looked up. "We don't need ropes to stop us from falling?"

"It's safe as long as you are, and you can't fall through the grid. Stay down here, Jonny," Jonah said and threw some rope over his shoulder before starting up the ladder.

"Why? I want to go up there. I thought I was doing it too?" I complained.

"Stop whining. I need you to tie stuff to the rope so we can pull it up," he dismissed and started climbing. "Come on, Adam."

"Heads up!" Jonah yelled a few minutes later and I jumped clear. A few seconds after that the end of the rope he'd carried up appeared.

"What do you want first?" I yelled up.

"Doesn't matter. It all has to come up," Jonah yelled back.

I tied the bucket of supplies first, and then the shop vac before I climbed up.

"Up to the grid," Jonah said and gestured for us to climb the last ladder.

Getting to the grid from the loading rail was pretty easy compared to the ladder to get to the loading rail. It was just a 7' ladder that was more like really steep stairs. It's a little freaky, though, 'cause you're looking down through nothing and in open space instead of against a wall with a guard rail around you. At least it had little hand rails along the sides about 6" high.

"Okay. Start over here," Jonah said and walked to the other side of the grid like he did it all the time. Adam and I were a lot slower.

"This is freaky," Adam said softly and was walking with his arms out like he was balancing.

"Come on, ladies. You're not going to fall through. Just watch where you're walking and walk," Jonah teased.

"Bite me," I shot back. He just laughed.

"Okay. See these pulleys? They all have to come off. Unbolt them. Put the bolts and nuts in the bucket and pile the pulleys so we can lower them to the deck after you get them all done. After that -- or before if you want, though you'll have to do it again when you're done -- run the shop vac along everything to clean up the dust," Jonah explained as we finally reached him.

"It's hot up here," I said.

"I know. I'd open the fire vent, but you'd have dust blowing in your eyes. Take breaks and drink lots of water."

We did the first one while he watched. It wasn't difficult, but it was dirty and dusty. Satisfied we weren't going to screw it up, Jonah went back down to paint.

"Jonny!" Jonah yelled.

"What?" I yelled down.

"David is here!"

"Be down in a minute!"

"Dude. You're not gonna leave me up here to do this by myself," Adam complained.

"Don't whine. Come down if you want. You want to meet him?"

"Yea, I guess. I need some more water," Adam said.

"I feel gross," I muttered as I pulled off my dust mask. It was hot up here so we were down to shorts, shoes and dust masks. I felt like a sweaty dust bunny.

Adam busted up laughing. "Dude. You've got a white ring around your face where the mask was."

"So do you. We should have brought up a towel or something," I said as I started down the ladder. I hope David doesn't think I look like this all the time. I grabbed my shirt when I got to the bottom and wiped my face so that I'd look somewhat human as I walked to the apron. There stood David Gallagher with a huge grin on his face. I froze. My first thought was, "Oh my god. It's David Gallagher." My second thought was, "What an asshole." The second thought won out.

"Hi," David smiled, and then stopped smiling when he saw I wasn't smiling.

"Hi? You asshole. With everything we've talked about and everything I've told you and all you have to say is 'hi'?" I snapped, though I wasn't yelling.

"Um, okay. You are Jonny, right?"

"Yea. I'm Jonny. The same Jonny you've been lying to for six months. The same Jonny who told you how hot I thought David Gallagher was. The same Jonny who you've made a complete fool of. Are you happy?"

"I wasn't trying to fool you or anything. I just have to be careful, you know. You said you understood that kinda stuff," David said.

"If you have to be so careful then why are you here now?"

"He's got a point," Justin said.

I looked up to see Justin and Jonah on the scaffolding watching our exchange like it was a movie.

"Shouldn't you be painting?" I said.

"Yea, but this is more interesting," Justin smiled.

"I agree," Jonah smiled, too. "So go on. I believe it was David's turn to try to defend lying to you."

"I wasn't lying. I just never said who I was. That's not lying," David protested.

"And you pretended to be someone else," I said.

"Sounds like lying to me," Justin said.

"Would you stay out of this? You have no idea..." David snapped.

"Of how it is to be famous and have people using you or stalking you? Are you sure about that?" Justin said with a slight smirk.

"You do realize that's Justin Timberlake, right?" I said to David.

He did a double-take, looked extremely frustrated and then stormed out.

"Have a nice day," I waved after him.

"You go, girl," Justin laughed.

"Sorry it worked out that way," Jonah shrugged.

"Yea, me too. Too bad. He's cute in person," I sighed.

"That was weird. You've had the hots for him for as long as I've known you," Adam said.

"Weren't you going to go get more water? Get me one, too," I snapped.

"Geesh. Bite my head off..." Adam grumbled as he walked back to the 'fridge in the back hall.

"I'm not going to excuse his lying, but he is still a kid. It takes time to learn who you can trust and who you can't, and sometimes you still get it wrong," Justin said.

"I know, but he knows I like him -- or rather, I like the idea of David Gallagher," I added before Jonah could make some comment.

"So? Did you like David before when you were just talking online?" Jonah said.

"Yea, except for the secretive stuff. I knew he was hiding something."

"So now it's out in the open."

"Hey, guys. We're back. You know there's some guy in the lobby pacing and talking to himself?" Scott said as he walked in with Jack.

"Blonde kid?" Jonah asked.

"Teenager, yea."

"That's David," Justin said.

"Oh."

"He and Jonny are going to have a talk," Jonah said and looked at me.

"What? I'll do it over email later," I protested.

"He's still here. Something's up if he's still here," Jonah suggested.

"Maybe he's just trying to work up the balls to step outside. You know, he can't be too careful," I snapped.

"Ooo. Rarrrrr. Hiss," Justin teased.

"Fuck you," I smiled sweetly at him.

"Nope. But he probably wants you to fuck him," Justin smiled back.

"In his dreams," I shot back.

"Yours, too," Jonah smiled.

"I swear to dog, this is a conspiracy," I muttered as I hopped down off the apron and headed for the lobby. I pushed open the door and it stopped with a thud, soon followed by a yell.

"Fuck!" David yelled as he held his hands over his forehead.

"Sorry. You shouldn't be standing behind doors," I said. I didn't really want to hurt him, but I wasn't ready to be nice to him.

"I wasn't. I was just about to go back in when you slammed the door in my face."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you still here? Why would you come back in?" I said as I closed the door and moved more towards the middle of the room so we wouldn't have an audience.

"'Cause I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be a big deal. I thought you'd be happy that it was me," David said.

"If you hadn't pretended to be someone else and said all the things you said, I probably would be happy. How would you like it if you'd written a story about a guy you thought was hot and then find out that same guy you've been talking to for six months is actually that guy pretending to be someone else. Violated? Stupid? You played me. That is so not cool."

"I'm sorry. I didn't see it like that. I mean, you don't know what has happened to me before. I was talking with this guy and, you know, everything was, like, totally cool. He knew who I was. We met up once. He invited, like, every one of his friends to show me off and told all of them that we were dating. I mean, fuck, we'd just met in person. After that I tried to back away, but he kept sending emails all the time and calling my house and posting messages to my guest book about how much he is in love with me and what a total asshole I am. I mean, he went, like, total psycho," David said.

"But you still came to meet me."

"I was hoping it would be different," he almost smiled. "If you didn't know I was 'David Gallagher the actor' then you wouldn't have a mob ready for me when we met."

"Well, now you know that I'm not like that. You're not even the most famous person I know. David Gallagher, the actor, is just some guy I think is hot. David, the guy I've been talking with since January, is just some guy who is a bit secretive but fun to talk with. Who are you?"

"Um, the guy you think is hot and fun to talk with...?" David tried with a soft smile.

"Maybe. Right now you're the guy I don't really trust and who knows more about me than I know about him."

"If it makes you feel any better, I think you're hot, too," he grinned as he looked me over. "In fact, I'm feeling a little excited just seeing you like that."

"You must be really hard up. I look like crap right now and I stink."

"So? You can take a shower first. You already know how hard up I am. I didn't lie about any of that."

"Take a shower first?"

"Yea, before I'd get any closer," he smiled.

"Good idea. So what were you hoping would happen today?"

"Fantasy or realistically?"

"I'm pretty sure I can guess the fantasy. How about realistically?"

"Um...I don't know. I was just gonna play it by ear. I don't have to be back to my grandparent's place 'til ten."

"I'm kinda stuck here for the rest of the day. We could probably go do something tomorrow morning -- preferably before it gets too hot outside."

"Oh. Um...well...do you need a hand or something? I mean, I don't really have anything else to do and sitting around with old people and all that isn't the way I'd prefer to spend the rest of the day," David said.

"You're gonna get really dirty and you really aren't dressed for it," I said.

"I can handle dirty, and there is this invention called a 'washing machine' that will take care of my clothes," he smirked.

"Yea, I know what a washing machine is. It's that thing you use to clean the stains out of your sheets after you've been dreaming about me," I smiled.

"Hey! How'd you know?" He laughed.

"It's a guy thing," I shrugged. "Well. Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you," I said and led the way back into the theater.

"So what's the verdict?" Justin asked as we walked back in.

"He confessed and wants to work off his sins," I said. "Where'd Scott and...uh, Jack go?"

"Upstairs. They left early so they're gonna take a nap," Jonah explained.

"I didn't see them pass."

"Elevator."

"Oh. Okay. Well. Everybody, this is David. He's volunteered to help. David, this is Jonah, Justin and Adam," I introduced.

"Hello again, David. So you want to help, huh?" Jonah said.

"Hi. Yea. It's something to do," David said.

"Good. You can work with Jonny and Adam up on the grid. All I ask is that you be careful and don't play around up there."

"Up on the grid?" David asked hesitantly.

"Yea. At the top of the stage," I said.

"Yea, I know what a grid is."

"Afraid of heights?" I smiled.

"A little."

"If you're not comfortable with being up there, I don't want you up there," Jonah said.

"No. I'll be fine," David said.

"Okay. Just don't freak out and freeze. You'll hate the way we get you down," Jonah said.

"How? Throw me down?"

"Almost. Put you in a harness, rope it to a pulley and throw you over the edge," Jonah smiled. I'm not sure if he was joking or not. Knowing him, probably not.

"Oh. Um, I think I'll use the ladder, if that's okay with you."

"I'd prefer it. All I have is old pulleys."

"We could just put a bunch of cardboard boxes under him and he could jump," Justin suggested.

"And ruin perfectly good boxes?" Jonah countered.

"It's better than getting blood all over the stage."

"Yea, but the ghost would have company if he just splattered all over the floor."

"You two can stop now," I said. "They're both insane. Just smile and nod your head when they say something weird," I said to David.

"You still think I'm kidding about the ghost, don't you?" Jonah said.

"Yep," I smiled.

"Okay. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you scream like a little girl."

"Yea, whatever. Let's go finish up the grid," I said to David and took the bottle of water Adam handed me.

"Hey, Adam," David said.

"Hey, dude. I'll warn you right now not to fuck with Jonny. He's one bad ass queen," Adam joked.

"Yea, I know," David laughed.

"Hey! At least I'm not a drama queen," I countered and looked at both of them.

"In your dreams," Adam smirked and headed up the ladder.

"You first," I said and gestured to David to head up.

"Yea, okay," he sighed as he looked up and then started the climb. "At least there's a guard around the ladder."

"It's out too far to do any good. It's just there for you to get tangled up in when you fall," I teased, remembering what Jonah had said last summer when I went up on my first grid.

"Yea, thanks. So what are we doing?"

"Pulling all of the old pulleys and then vacuuming all the dust."

"Do you have a dust mask for me?"

"Yea. We've got a box of them up there."

He was quiet the rest of the climb and seemed to get slower the higher we got. It took him a few seconds to step off the ladder onto the loading rail.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," David muttered.

"If you really are afraid of heights you should go back down. It's kinda freaky walking on the grid," I said.

"It's really freaky," Adam agreed, "but it's cool."

"No. I'm fine," David snapped. "Let's do this."

"Okay. Here," I said and handed him a dust mask. I pulled out a new one for myself and Adam.

"We don't have any more wrenches, so you can fill the bucket," Adam said.

"Do what?"

"After we unbolt the pulley we'll hand it to you and you can put the bolts in a bucket so we can lower them to the ground. Just stack the pulleys here on the rail for now," I said and pointed to the 15 or so pulleys we'd already removed.

"Oh. Okay."

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yea."

David was shaking when he finally made it up to the grid.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Adam said.

"I'll be okay as long as I don't wet myself," David tried to smile behind the mask.

"I think it's pretty fun," I said.

"Of course you would. Damn. It's hot up here."

"That's why we're in shorts and no shirts," I said as Adam walked over to where we were working before. "Maybe you should trying walking around a little bit to get comfortable while we get this one off. Okay?"

"Yea. Good idea," David said and carefully started walking across the grid. "I guess there's no way to fall through."

"Not unless you're 3" wide," I said and went over to Adam.

"No. That would be painful," David joked.

Adam and I worked on unbolting the pulleys while David stiffly walked around. After a few minutes he pulled off his shirt. Nice.

"Dude. Stop staring," Adam whispered and gave me a light slap on the head.

"I'll stare all I want," I smiled and slapped him back.

We soon finished that one and David carefully carried it over near the ladder to the loading dock, but not down to it, and put the bolts in the bucket.

"Why don't you start vacuuming while we're unbolting so you're not standing around doing nothing?" I suggested.

"Yea, okay," David said and grabbed the shop vac, carrying it over to near the ladder to start there. It had wheels, but you couldn't roll it across the grid.

"So what did your 'rents say when you told them you were going to meet some guy you met on the internet?" I asked David after he finished vacuuming a bit.

"I didn't tell them. I just said I was going to check out some record stores," David said. "I know they'd freak."

"Hey, guys! Time to get cleaned up for dinner!" Jonah yelled up to us.

"Okay!" I yelled back down.

"I'm gonna take a three hour shower," Adam said.

"No you're not. I want to take one, too. Are you eating with us, David?"

"I don't know. Am I invited?"

"Yea."

"Okay. Yea, that'd be cool. Thanks. Where are we going?"

"Upstairs," I said and gestured for David to head down the ladder after Adam.

Justin and Jonah had already gone when we got down so we just went upstairs. David wasn't as dirty as Adam and I were, but pretty close. Maybe I'll invite him to shower with me, I thought to myself and smiled.

Jonah was in the shower and Justin looked like he'd already had his shower and was in the kitchen making dinner when we got upstairs.

"What are we having for dinner?" I asked Justin.

"Tabouleh, hummus and salad," he answered.

"It's okay if David eats with us, right?"

"Sure. He helped. The least Jonah can do is feed him," Justin smiled.

I turned to see Adam run by with his clothes to the other bathroom.

"I've got the shower first," Adam said just before he slammed the door.

"Bastard. I guess we've gotta wait. What do you want to do? I can give you something to change into so you can take a shower, if you want," I said to David.

"Yea, thanks. That'd be great. I feel gross."

"Use the big shower. It'll hold two easily," Justin said casually as he was fixing the salad, though he was grinning to himself.

David gave me a hopeful look.

I can't believe I'm gonna say this. "Maybe next time, horn-dog," I joked, though the thought was making me rise. I quickly walked over to my room. "I'll get you something to change into." I did notice that David was holding his shirt in front of himself.

"Nice cover. Both of you," Justin chuckled.

I flipped through my drawers to find something for myself, and then something for David. I grabbed a pair of sweat pant shorts and a T-shirt for myself. An evil grin crossed my face and I grabbed my nylon running shorts for David. Perfect. Just to be kinda nice I grabbed a big T-shirt for him so he'd have something to hide behind. I walked back into the kitchen area and handed it to him.

"Sorry. It's all I have clean. I need to do laundry," I lied.

"That's okay," he said before seeing what I'd given him. Once he saw the shorts he gave me a quick 'I'm gonna kill you' look, and then a slight grin.

Jonah walked out of the big bathroom, naked, and headed up to his room. David noticed and I noticed him noticing.

"You can use the shower first," I said and gave him a slight shove.

"Um... Yea, okay," he choked out and held the clean clothes in front of him as he went to the bathroom.

"Clean towels are in the cabinet across from the shower," I yelled after him.

"You're enjoying teasing him, aren't you?" Justin said to me.

"Oh yea," I smiled. "Did you see what I gave him to wear?"

"Yea, I saw. You're evil," he teased.

"Thanks," I said and went over to the other bathroom as Adam was walking out. I took a quick shower, got dressed and went back out. Everyone was sitting at the counter eating.

"Thanks for waiting," I said sarcastically.

"We just started," Jonah said.

I fixed myself a plate and then sat down on a stool between David and Adam. David looked hot. My T-shirt was hanging down around him and the way he was sitting, and how short and light the shorts are, made it look like he wasn't wearing any pants. I'm so glad I prepared and chose briefs and lined myself up so I'd grow straight up instead of out or down. David just gave me a quick grin and then continued eating.

"Hey," Scott mumbled as he stumbled in with bed head and looking like he was still sleeping.

"Sorry. We would have gotten you for dinner if we'd known you'd be up," Justin said.

"That's alright," Scott dismissed as he got a glass of water. "Jack almost crapped himself earlier."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Well, apparently he recognized who David is, and then saw Justin, and then heard your talk about fucking."

"Good or bad?" Justin asked.

"I don't know. I think he was just star struck. I'm not sure the talk of fucking even registered."

"You were talking about fucking?" David asked me with a grin.

"Yea. Justin was saying he wanted to fuck you," I teased.

"Really?" David said, surprised, and turned to Justin.

"Yea, really. NOT. It's all Jonny. You won't be getting any from me," Justin said.

"Speaking of getting some... When does Michael get home?" Scott asked.

-=-=-=-=- Jonah -=-=-=-=-

"Speaking of getting some... When does Michael get home?" Scott asked.

"8:30. Needless to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, do_not_disturb. I've only got him for 16 hours."

"Hmm. I wonder what they'll be doing," Justin teased.

"Wonder all you want, but you can't watch or join in," I shot back.

"Damn. There go my plans for the evening," he joked.

"Are you gay, too?" David asked Justin.

"He wishes," Jonny snorted before Justin could say anything. "He's hopelessly in love with me, but I told him I don't do straight boys."

"Thanks for rubbing it in," Justin pouted melodramatically.

"Totally unrelated, I took the flip-n-fuck for Jack to sleep on, Justin," Scott said.

"You took my bed?"

"He's going to be here longer and I can put it in my room. I wouldn't put Jonny and Adam through having to room with him."

"Any chance you can get bunk beds for the other guest room?" Justin asked me.

"Nope."

"How about a real bed?"

"After everything is done."

"You could use one now."

"I know, but that's a thousand dollars I can't justify spending right now. You can sleep on the sofa-bed in the living room," I offered.

"And have no privacy and have to wait until everyone has gone to bed before I can go to bed," Justin protested.

"He can just sleep with you," Jonny said to me. "You've got a big bed. Michael will only be here one night. Justin can sleep on the sofa tonight and then sleep with you."

"Maybe," I said hesitantly. "You know how Justin is when he sleeps -- he tries to hump anyone near him."

"Fuck you," Justin said.

"That's what I'm trying to avoid," I smirked.

"Well, if all else fails you can sleep with me," Jonny smiled.

"And then I'll be sleeping on the sofa so I don't have to hear you guys going at it," Adam said.

"Does the 'can't watch or participate' rule apply there too?" David asked Jonny, obviously hoping for the negative.

"We'll see what happens," Jonny said coyly.

"It's getting just a bit too porny in here. Fortunately for me, it's time to go get my man," I smiled and went to grab my keys.

-=-=-=-=- Jonny -=-=-=-=-

"Hey Justin!" I yelled over the railing. Jack, David, Adam and I were watching MTV and Justin was making popcorn before we watched "L.I.E.".

"What?" He yelled back.

"Why didn't you tell us you were sleeping with half the girls in Hollywood?"

"What?"

"They just had a story on MTV News that you've been seen out with a couple different girls. What the hell are you doing here? If I was straight I'd do Alyssa Milano."

"I am straight and I would. She's hot," Adam said.

"Definitely," Jack agreed.

Justin made a face. "We just went out a couple times. Yea, she's hot, but we didn't hit it off."

"But the shot they had was a week before you showed up here. You told us you were working on your album. Are you hiding out?" I teased.

"I was working on my album. I can still go out. And I'm not hiding out. I just needed a break."

"So'd you break up with her, or did she break up with you?" Adam asked.

"Neither. It was mutual, and we weren't really together anyway. You guys need to stop believing what you see about celebrity relationships. It's all either fabricated or sensationalized by the media, and often by the celebrities themselves. Don't be surprised if you see a story in a week about the three of us being on a drunken party spree and getting nipple rings," Justin said.

"So you weren't doing Janet Jackson either?" I asked.

"It's none of your business what I was doing with Janet," Justin snapped.

"Come on. I've told you everyone I've been with."

"She's just a friend and is helping me with my new album."

"Good, 'cause she's way too old for you."

"No she's not," Justin snapped back defensively.

"Ahh. I understand now," I smiled and gave Adam and David a knowing nod.

"What is it you think you understand?" Justin asked as he climbed up to the loft with the popcorn.

"You wanted to do her, but she wouldn't because you're too young for her, or you were doing it and were getting a bunch of shit from people about the age difference. She could almost be your mom."

"You are so sick."

"Yea, but I'm not doin' my mom."

"Just drop it."

"Oh shit," David said as he looked at his ringing cell phone. He cringed and answered it. Even if I couldn't hear the yelling, I could tell it was his mother by the look on his face as she chastised him for being out late, not calling when he said he would, and everything she could think of as he apologized repeatedly and promised to head back right away.

"Gotta go?" I smirked after he hung up.

"Yea. Guess you heard. I'm in deep shit."

"Do you think you'll be able to come back tomorrow -- or at least sometime before you go back?" I asked.

"Definitely not tomorrow. Maybe sometime before I leave, but I wouldn't bet on it without an escort. Walk me out?"

"Sure," I said and lead the way.

"When are you going to continue the story with me in it?" David asked as we started down the main building stairs.

"I don't know. I know you now, so I may not continue. I try not to write stories with people I know in them."

"Guess that's why you stopped writing about 'NSYNC?"

"Yea. I've actually got an idea for a Harry Potter slash fic."

"You can't be serious?" David said, incredulously.

"Yea, I'm serious. I don't care about the movies or books, but there's a ton of pretty good Harry Potter slash on the 'net. Some really good stories. The characters are very slashable. I don't know. I may not write it. I've just had a few ideas from reading other people's work," I explained.

"Okay. Can I beta?"

"Maybe," I said and David pulled me back to face him.

"Will this help your decision?" He smiled and then kissed me deeply.

"It can't hurt," I smiled softly after we parted.

He smiled and backed me against the wall as we kissed again. His body was pressed against mine and I let my hands rub his butt through the thin material of my nylon shorts he was wearing. I could feel his hardness against my leg and I'm sure he could feel mine.

After a few minutes his phone started to ring again and he pulled back.

"Damn it," David growled and answered his phone. "What?"

He argued with his mom while I just watched. He stepped back and I noticed his erection had lifted the leg of the loose shorts and he definitely looked pornographic. I snickered and pointed so he noticed. He stuck his tongue out and then pulled back the cloth so his erection was swinging freely and wagged it at me.

"Yea, okay, Mom. I'm heading back now. I'll be there in a half-hour," He said and then hung up.

"I don't know how you could keep it up while talking with your mom," I teased.

"I wasn't paying attention to her," he said and pressed against me again to kiss. This time I wrapped my hand around his freed erection and squeezed him as we kissed. He soon shoved his hand down my shorts and did the same to me.

Then Scott came up the stairs, damn it. David and I froze.

"Don't mind me," Scott said as he walked by and continued up the stairs.

"I really should go if I ever want to be able to come back," David said after Scott disappeared up the next set of stairs.

"Yea. We need to stop, anyway. Another minute and I'll have a wet stain in my shorts."

"Both pairs. Um, I'll try to bring these back as soon as I can. It'll give me a good excuse to come back."

"That's good. We won't be able to take this further, though. You need a hotel room of your own so we can..." I hinted.

"You don't know how much I want that right now. I hope I'm down by the time I get back. Don't say anything else sexy for me to think about."

"You're really tempting me to do otherwise. It would be hilarious to see you trying to hide a hard-on in those shorts in front of your mom or grandma."

"Funny for you. Will you be online tomorrow night, or is there a number here I can call you at?"

"I don't know when I'll be online, but you can call," I said and gave him the number. He programmed it into his phone.

"How late can I call?"

"Um, probably midnight. After that I'll get bitched out by Jonah."

"Okay. I'll call you tomorrow. Later," David said and gave me a quick kiss before running down the remaining stairs and out the front door.

"Later," I called out as he disappeared. Damn. I'd really like to get with him. I am so going to have to wank tonight. I adjusted myself and headed back upstairs.

"That didn't take long," Justin teased as I flopped down on the sofa.

"We just said good-bye. How long does that take?"

"Scott said you were making out on the stairs."

"You were. It was a bit porny," Scott said.

"It was just a kiss."

"I hope you don't kiss your mom like that," Scott smirked.

"Definitely not. Did you enjoy seeing that? Wanna try it?" I flirted with Scott.

"Stop being faggy with my brother," Jack snapped.

"Shut up, Jack. I can take care of myself," Scott chided.

"All guys can, but that doesn't mean you have to," I smirked. Jack shot me a nasty look and I just smiled back.

"Both of you need to chill and watch the movie," Justin said.

"You're no fun. I was enjoying making Jack squirm," I said.

"I don't care what you say, just stay away from me and my brother," Jack said.

"You have nothing to worry about. I wouldn't fuck you with Justin's dick."

"Yea right. If he's got a pulse..." Adam teased.

"Blow me," I shot back.

"See?" Adam laughed.

"Enough. Don't make me go all Jonah on you," Justin said.

"You really don't have the same presence. It wouldn't work. Besides, I'd rather Jack get over himself sooner than later. Jonny's holding his own," Scott said.

"That's just 'cause no one will let me hold their's," I said.

"The one who would just left," Adam said.

"Yea, I know. That totally sucked. If he didn't have to go home we'd probably be doing it right now."

"You mean if I hadn't walked by and interrupted you," Scott said.

"That, and his mom called again. It was hilarious watching him be yelled at by his mom while his shorts were tented."

"I don't want to hear about it," Jack said and grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

I started to make another comment, but Justin put his hand over my mouth and whispered for me to let it go. I did, for now.

-=-=-=-=- Jonah -=-=-=-=-

I got to the airport in plenty of time to pick Michael up. His plane, surprisingly, was only a half-hour late. After waiting an hour, I tried calling him.

"What?" Michael snapped as he answered his phone.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Stuck in fuckin' customs and security. At the rate they're going it'll be at least another hour. Fuckin'..." Michael grumbled on.

"This is seriously cutting into our time. Tell them to check you first so you can go spend time with your man."

"Right. I'm sure that'll work. They'd probably lock me up. You may as well go wait at that coffee house. I'll meet you there when I get out of this shit," Michael said.

"Okay. I'll drink enough coffee to be awake all night. How was the flight?"

"Fine, until now. I should have just rented a car. At the rate this is going it would have been faster."

"Hopefully not."

"What did you do today? Anything exciting?"

"Nothing exciting for me. Jonny, of course, was the opposite. David Gallagher is here and they're flirting back and forth," I said.

"How did that happen? That's the blonde kid Jonny was porny over, right?"

"That's the one. Apparently, David read the story and has been corresponding with Jonny for the past couple months -- though Jonny didn't know exactly who he was. They had a nice little drama about it and then started flirting. You would have enjoyed it. Very entertaining."

"Sounds like it. He's still there?"

"They were still eating dinner when I left. I told them all that they would die a horrible death if they disturbed us."

"And did you tell Justin he couldn't watch or join in?"

I burst out laughing. "Yea, I did." Michael laughed as well.

"I bet he played up pouting about that," Michael said.

"Yea. Scott took the flip-n-fuck for Jack, so Justin wanted to sleep with me."

"Remember that if he blows you I get to fuck him."

"No chance there. Sorry. You'll just have to be satisfied with me tonight."

Michael sighed. "Oh, if I have to."

"At this rate, you may not even get the chance."

"We'll do it here in the bathroom if necessary, or you'll fly with me to Paris and we'll join the Mile High Club."

"Tempting, but I'd prefer our bed," I said and sat down at a table at the coffee house.

"It might happen. The line has moved forward three people since you called. I don't understand it. We all came from fuckin' Canada, not the Middle East."

"Any brown-skinned people on the plane?"

"A couple. Yea, I know. It's stupid. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Get anything done today? It was all painting still, right?"

"Yea. The ceiling is all painted and perfect and I think Jonny and Adam got most of the grid stripped of old stuff. I'm thinking about renting some paint sprayers to do the walls. This roller shit is getting old," I said.

"You still have to roll the paint out after spraying it, don't you? I thought I saw them doing that on some show."

"It depends. Definitely on the primer, but we rolled that on already. We'll see how it goes. It can't be any slower. I'm sure I can teach Scott how to do it as well."

"Just rent one and if it works we should buy two of them. We'll have tons of painting to do with the apartments. Buying them will be cheaper than renting for as long as we need them."

"Yea. How was production this morning?" I asked.

"A waste. Just promo photos. They could have done them at any time and I could have come home yesterday. Next time I try to do back-to-back jobs, remind me to leave at least two weeks between -- especially if they're both out of town."

"Don't worry. I will. I'll let Carolyn know, as well."

It was 11PM before we got out of the airport, and midnight before we got home due to an accident on the highway that had the road closed and traffic backed up for a mile. We weren't happy about the apparent conspiracy to keep us apart.

We barely said "hello" to everyone before dropping our clothes and getting into the shower. We just held each other tightly as the hot water ran over us.

"I'm torn between wanting to have sex until I leave and just holding you and sleeping," Michael said softly.

"How about we sleep first, and then make love in the morning? I'll set the alarm for early."

"That'll work. I'm sorry. It's just been a long day and I'm tired."

"Don't be sorry. I'm just happy you're home. I've had a long day, too."

We washed each other slowly and then went right to bed. It felt wonderful to have him in my arms again.

*** [ 7/16/02 ]

The alarm went off at 7AM. Michael, who was draped across my chest, reached over and shut it off.

"Mornin'," Michael mumbled as he laid back down in his previous position.

"Mornin'," I said and hugged him tightly.

"Fuck the theater and come to Paris with me," Michael said softly.

"As wonderful as that sounds, I'd never see you."

"We could still sleep together. I know, it's an impractical idea. Let's go eat breakfast," Michael said, but didn't move.

"What do you want to make? Or do you want to go out?"

"Let's... Let's get some muffins and eat naked on the roof."

"Sounds good. Let's get moving."

We got dressed and went downstairs. On the kitchen counter was a half-dozen blueberry muffins, a box of condoms, a bottle of lube, and a note from Scott letting us know that they'd all gone out and wouldn't be back until afternoon.

"If Scott was here I'd give him a big kiss right now," Michael smiled.

"You'll just have to kiss me," I said and gave him a quick kiss before starting a pot of coffee. "He must have really cracked the whip to get them out of here so early. They were still up when we went to bed."

"Especially Justin. You should give Scott a hand-job or buy him a hooker or something for this."

"Somehow, I don't think that would endear him to do it again."

"Probably not. He is more the romantic type. We need to find him a boyfriend. Do you know of anyone he's interested in?" Michael asked.

"No. He doesn't talk about it. As far as I know he hasn't been out on any dates."

"Maybe we can get Justin to hook up with him."

I gave Michael and incredulous look.

"What? Justin's obviously a bottom. I'm sure he'd love taking what Scott's got," Michael smirked.

"I still like Scott. Getting Justin to chase after him would not be a nice thing to do."

"Yea, I suppose you're right. He does have a tight ass, though I doubt Scott would want just a fuck-buddy."

"Not after Chris; and just about anyone would have a tight ass to Scott. Can you go get a blanket and a couple towels for the roof?"

"How about a couple blankets? That gravel is gonna be uncomfortable."

"No. I put a sheet of plywood down," I said.

Michael snickered. "Is it covered with cum? We've cam'ed when you've been up there."

"Not yet. Maybe in a couple hours," I teased.

"Yea, baby."

With all our supplies gathered, we went up to the roof. It was a beautiful morning and still early enough that the roof wasn't too hot to be on. Michael laid out the blanket and then dropped his shorts before stretching out naked in the sun.

"If only we had the whole day," Michael sighed.

"If only. How late do you think you can get to the airport?" I asked as I sat down beside him and handed him a muffin.

"Supposed to be two hours. That means we have...three hours? Probably two-and-a-half to have time to clean up and get there. Don't let me do this again."

"Don't worry. You won't like what will happen if you try it again."

"What's that?"

"We certainly won't be doing this -- and you'll be sleeping on the sofa for months."

"That's harsh," Michael mumbled with a mouth full of muffin.

"Don't do it, then."

After the muffins were gone we lounged in the warming sun and eventually made love slowly and passionately. We didn't have much time afterwards. Driving home after dropping him off at the airport it felt like he'd hardly been home.

I stopped by the hardware store and bought two commercial paint sprayers on the way home, diving right back into work to distract myself.

"Jonah!" Scott called out as he walked into the theater an hour or so later.

I had the paint sprayers set up and was spraying the final coat on the wall near the stage. I set down the spray head and blended the wet edge before pulling off my respirator mask.

"Hey. Everyone else upstairs?" I asked.

"No. Justin took them to see a matinee of 'The Producers'. These are great. We should have gotten them before," Scott said as he looked over the paint sprayers.

"Yea. We'll see. It's working pretty well. Thanks for the muffins and privacy this morning."

"No problem. So you have another suit and respirator? Can I paint, too?"

I pointed to the bag on the apron where the other suit was. "Have you used a sprayer before?"

"A couple times. I should be an expert by the time we finish this."

"Like everything else. Just keep it even to the wall and don't drip the ends."

"Yea, I know. Karen drilled it into everyone."

Scott suited up and then I showed him how to get everything running. He started on the opposite side of the stage. I watched him for a few minutes to make sure he was doing it okay, and then went back to my own.

We were mostly finished by the time everyone got back around seven. Just around the proscenium yet to do. I finished that up after dinner, took a shower and went to bed. Michael wouldn't be calling until tomorrow.

-=-=-=-=- Jonny -=-=-=-=-

"Where are you going?" Adam asked me as I got out of bed.

"I can't sleep. I'm just gonna walk around. Maybe see if I can see the ghost in the theater that Jonah keeps talking about."

"Come get me if you see the ghost. Otherwise, I'm gonna go to sleep."

"Okay," I said and walked out. Everyone else was in bed and all the lights were out. I didn't feel like watching TV. I wasn't hungry. Checking out the theater seemed like a good idea so I walked out and headed down the stairs. I got down to the fourth floor and heard someone else on the stairs. I looked behind me. No one. I looked down between the stairs. No one, and the sound stopped. Okay. Maybe I'll go up on the roof instead.

I turned around and climbed back up. There were no more extra footsteps that I could hear. I went up to the roof and found the door propped open. I quietly peaked out, but couldn't see anyone. As quietly as I could, I stepped out and looked around. The air felt good, but it was still pretty warm out. It'll be so nice up here when Jonah finally gets the terrace built. I saw some movement near the air conditioner. As I approached I saw Justin pulling his pud. The moon was high and about half, so I could see pretty well.

"Great minds think alike," I said softly, letting Justin know he wasn't alone.

"Fuck!" Justin almost yelled and turned away from me, hiding his erection with his hands. His boxer-briefs were off and he was standing there completely naked. "What are you doing up here?" He hissed.

"I couldn't sleep. I didn't know you were up here."

"Well I am."

"I can see that. Mind if I join you?"

Justin turned to look at me, keeping himself covered. He stared at me for a few seconds and then sighed. "You're trying to get me in trouble, aren't you?"

"Uh, no. Why would us jacking-off together get you in trouble? We did it once before and nothing happened. Even if we were gonna have sex, I wouldn't tell anyone about it. You already know you can trust me," I said.

"You're gonna keep at it until I give in, aren't you?"

Holy shit. He's interested and trying to get me to pressure him so he doesn't have to take any responsibility. Do I really want to do anything with Justin? Oh, who am I kidding. Of course I want to do something with Justin.

"Um, not keep at it until you give in. More until you let go," I smirked, hoping I was playing this right.

"Uh, huh. And just what would you do to accomplish that?"

"Ideally?"

"Sure."

"We'd 69," I said and adjusted my erection.

"You don't waste any time. Right to it."

"Well, you were going at it before I got here, and you left Jonah's bed to come up here to jack-off, so I'd guess you're pretty damn horny right now and pretty far gone. You won't last very long."

"Probably not, but you won't, either. Besides, there's no place up here to lie down to 69," Justin said hoarsely. "And you still have your boxers on."

I pushed down my boxers and took them completely off so I was equal to Justin. He was staring at my erection, but still had his covered.

"And now?" I asked and took a small step towards him.

"Um, now you don't."

"Nope. But you're still covering yourself," I said and carefully grabbed his arms and moved his hands away from his crotch. His skin felt really hot and he was shaking a little. I think I was, too.

Justin looked up at me and stepped a little closer. We were now only a couple inches apart. If we both weren't so hard, our erections would have been touching. I wanted to touch him so badly. I moved forward a little more and our erections touched, and then bounced away and towards each other from the thrill of it. We were both breathing heavily. Justin leaned forward and brought his lips very close to mine, pausing for a second before he closed the gap and slammed into me, kissing me hard and pulling our bodies together. He seemed to be lost in passion and I was lost in passion and oh-my-god-I-can't-believe-we're-doing-this. Justin started kissing my neck and his hands were all over me. I squeezed one hand between us and jacked our erections together while rubbing his butt with my other hand. He has a wonderfully muscular ass. He moaned into my neck and humped against me before kissing lower as he dropped to his knees and out of my reach. Before I could complain he practically swallowed me whole. I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself and then rubbed his head as he bobbed up and down on me. I was getting really close and wanted to do him before I came so I pulled away from him and pulled him up. He went straight for my lips and then I moved down. He was probably as close as I was so I went straight for the prize and sucked him in. He had lots of pre-cum and was hard as a rock. I'd only gone down three times or so before he pulled away and pulled me up.

"I'm so close. Let's just fire over the edge again," he said, breathlessly.

"Yea, but do each other," I agreed as we moved over near the wall.

"I'll do you first," Justin said and moved behind me and reached around. He must have done this before with Charlie or someone else. His sticky erection was pressed against my butt and the small of my back and he held me to him as he jacked me off. It hardly took anything and I was blasting away. Would it be pointless to say it was intense? He didn't slow down as I came and used my cum as lube.

"Now me. Hurry," Justin said and switched our positions, which put my woody right in his butt crack. There was lots of cum still on my dick and I know it was getting on him, but he didn't seem to care. I grabbed his erection with my right hand and held him close with my left on his great abs. He had enough pre-cum to act as a lube and I jacked him slow and purposeful. I had my release, so I wasn't in such a hurry. He, on the other hand, was practically begging for release and bucking back into me, trying to fuck my hand. This also meant that my woody was becoming more stiff as it slid around his ass crack. I don't know how he was holding out for so long with the way he was moaning. I felt my, now, erection hit his asshole and he still pushed back onto me, driving my cum-slicked head in just a little bit and causing him to moan louder. He did it again and I went in a little more. The third time he did it the feeling was so intense for me that I pushed forward, trying to get in as much as he wanted me in. My head went in past the ring. He slammed harder and I slammed harder, jacking him faster. On the fifth or sixth push, I slammed in all the way and Justin arched his back and came like the end of the world. His ass was spasming so much that, had I not just cum a few minutes ago, I would have now. I started to slow down after the first couple volleys, but he urged me not to slow down and kept humping himself back on me. He finally slumped and relaxed with a shiver, but I was ready to go again. Justin held me in him and to him as he recovered.

Now that the moment was over, Justin pulled away from me. I pulled out fairly easily, but I could tell that he wasn't totally clean and it was a bit gross to have some of his shit on my dick. He groaned as I pulled out.

"You didn't bring any Kleenex up, did you?" I asked.

"Yea," Justin said softly and went back to where he was originally standing and grabbed a box of kleenex from the ground.

"Thanks," I said and grabbed a few to wipe off my dick.

"I am such a twat," Justin muttered and started cleaning himself up.

"Why?"

"We should not have done this. No way. No how. Thinking with the small head. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You seemed to enjoy it. A lot," I smirked, trying to keep things light. "I know we're not in love with each other. It was cool, anyway."

"You're 16."

"I'm almost 17. Besides, I'm old enough, and I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Especially not Jonah," Justin said, seriously.

"Definitely not Jonah. He'd probably kill both of us."

"He'd definitely kill me. Oh fuck. Damn. Why do I do these things?"

"What things? You've done this with someone before?"

"No. Not exactly. I meant, why do I let my dick take control."

"I think it was your ass that took control. You don't have any diseases, do you?"

"Too late to ask now, but no. You?"

"Nope. Have you been tested before?"

"Yea. Have to get tested regularly. You?"

"Yea. I got tested before and after Riley and I were together. It was kinda scary the first time. Even if you know you're okay, it still makes you worry."

"Yea, I know. Do I need to state the obvious here?"

"That nothing happened? No. I agree."

"Damn. I can't believe I let it go that far," Justin continued to mutter as he pulled up his boxer-briefs.

"Don't freak out about it. It was kinda cool -- even if it was over really quickly."

"It was okay," Justin reluctantly said.

I rolled my eyes. "You loved it and you know it. It's stupid to deny it."

"If you were older...and we had more time...and a better place..."

"Then it probably wouldn't have happened. Don't you think that the forbidden part of it and doing it outside made it much more exciting? I mean, I could probably resist you being all sexy under normal conditions. You could probably resist me, too. This was just good timing," I said.

"Good timing for you. Bad for me."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Deny your sexuality. You'd think you'd be over it by now. You were having sex with Charlie all the time last summer. You two weren't in love. Just friends. That's all we did: friends who helped each other out."

"You can't understand the scrutiny I'm under. It makes me very self-conscious of everything."

"Yea, I know, but you're not out in public. This is a private moment."

"It all bleeds over. You should know that you can't totally isolate one part of your life from another," Justin said.

"Yea, I guess. If it'll make you feel any better we can clean up and do it again," I smiled.

"How the hell is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Well, we could take more time and enjoy ourselves, which would make you feel better. And it wouldn't seem like such a quickie, one-time thing. It would make it seem less sordid."

"You've got a point, but I'm thinking with my other head now. We're not going to do anything again. Please don't push on this or even hint at it around anyone else. We have to be careful not to be weird around each other, or Jonah will get suspicious."

"I won't let on. You're the one who's getting weird about this."

"It is weird."

"I know, but everything is weird. Even that we're friends or that you're friends with Jonah and Michael is weird."

"Why is it weird? Just because I'm famous?" Justin asked.

"Kinda, but not just that. It's also that they hate your music. And they're gay and you're closet bi. You live totally different lives. You're in the spotlight all the time and Michael tries to avoid the spotlight," I explained.

"Why would you want to be friends with people exactly like you? That's boring. Even with relationships. Look at Jonah and Michael. They're a lot alike, but they're also very different. I think Jonah is one of the smartest people I know."

"Definitely."

"But Michael is nowhere near as smart. I'm not, either. Jonah and I have gone to the opera together. Michael and Charlie wouldn't go and just joked about it. Those differences make being together fun and interesting."

"I guess."

"No need to guess. Look at you and Adam. He's straight and kinda shy. You're gay and not shy at all."

"Yea, but we live really close to each other and go to the same school. It makes it easier to be friends. You don't live anywhere near here."

"I will, as soon as Jonah gets my place built."

"Yea, but you'll only be here part-time. So why are you friends with Jonah and Michael? Is it just so you can have someone to be bi around instead of straight?"

"Maybe. I don't think so. They're different than anyone else I hang out with. I can do anything here. I trust Jonah completely."

"You don't trust Michael?"

"Yea, but not as much as Jonah. Michael runs his mouth too much. Jonah really isn't in the biz and doesn't want anything from me. Michael doesn't want anything from me, but he is in the biz."

"Okay. I guess it's not going to make any sense. Anyway, I need to take a shower. You got nasty stuff on my dick," I said.

"I wasn't really expecting to get fucked."

"And I wasn't expecting to fuck you. I would have worn a condom."

"Absolutely."

"Do you really like being fucked?" I asked.

"God, you're crude," Justin groaned gave me a shove.

"How else are you going to say it? So? Do you or don't you?"

"Yea, I do," Justin said, reluctantly. "I think it's because it's different and I don't do it very often. It's also forbidden. It makes it kinda exciting. How about you? Have you been fucked?"

"Yea, I've done it with Riley. It hurt at first. It was okay, but I'd rather fuck than be fucked."

"Maybe it's just 'cause Riley wasn't very good at it."

"I think he was pretty good at it. He was great in bed," I smiled.

"So why'd you guys break up?"

"'Cause he got too smothering. He wanted me to be with him, and only him, all the time, and got really jealous. He was just really insecure about us and about being out."

"He had good reason to, didn't he, if you broke up with him?"

"Self-fulfilling prophesy. If he would have been more relaxed, we'd probably still be together."

"You still like him?"

I sighed. "Yea. He's a good guy. He just has to work through some stuff before he can date someone."

"That sounds very mature of you."

I shrugged. "Voice of experience, and talking with Jonah and Uncle Joe."

"Is that what they had to say?"

"Yea. They pretty much said that I wasn't ready for a serious relationship, either. Well, Jonah said that. I think he still thinks of me as a little kid."

"You're not little, but you are still a kid," Justin said.

"I'm more mature than you are," I shot back.

"In some ways, probably, but the fact that you even said that proves that you're not as mature as you think."

"Whatever. So why were you so horny tonight? You're not sixteen anymore," I teased.

Justin gave me a withering look. "I haven't jacked-off for three days."

"Man! Three days? I can't go two days without doing it, and even then only if I don't have any time and am exhausted. Why'd you do it tonight? You're leaving in a couple days. If you lasted this long you could last a little longer."

"Yea, but I'm sleeping with Jonah. I don't want to do something in my sleep 'cause I'm so horny. I'd never hear the end of it and Michael would really kill me this time."

"This time? You've had sex with Jonah?" I asked, surprised as hell.

"No. No. That's not what I meant," Justin backpedaled.

"Bull. You and Jonah had sex. I can't believe it. How was he? I bet he was really good, wasn't he?"

"No. We didn't have sex. It was...more of a compromising position while we were sleeping. We didn't have sex."

"Then why would Michael have gotten pissed off? You guys have all slept in the same bed, so I know he's not that jealous."

"Forget it. And Michael is plenty jealous. Well, not jealous, but he is insecure about losing Jonah," Justin said.

"Why? They're totally in love with each other. Jonah isn't gonna leave Michael."

"I didn't say he was. I just said that Michael is insecure about it. Why else would he buy this place for Jonah to fix up? Why did he move in right after they started dating? He's keeping him close. Personally, I think he was worried about Jonah going out on the road to work, so he got this place so he can keep him home where he wants him."

"You really think that? Don't you think it could just be that they both love the theatre and he saw an opportunity and took it? It doesn't mean that he's trying to lock him in."

"I'm not saying it's the only reason, but the effect is still the same. Can he leave here now? Nope. Where would he live? He's also got a ton of money in this place. In fact, I think Jonah is mostly paying for the remodel, not to mention doing all the work. He's invested heavily. And what about them moving in together as soon as they started dating?"

"Why not? If I found my soul mate, I'd move in with him right away, too. Besides, they'd been friends for months before that. It's not like they met, fell in love, and moved in together on the same day," I justified.

"Like I said, I don't think it's the only reason, but it is one of them. Jonah could do so much better than Michael, and Michael knows it. It's just Michael's luck that Jonah loves him as much as he loves Jonah."

"True. I don't think Jonah could do a whole lot better, though. He doesn't try at all. He likes friends around and stuff, but doesn't even act like he thinks about anyone romantically -- except Michael."

"Mmmm. Maybe. He is too independent," Justin thought out loud and then started chuckling. "I'd bet you, if he hadn't met Michael, that Jonah would be one of those eccentric old guys with lots of young lovers that walk naked around his estate."

"Yea, right," I snorted. "Jonah with multiple lovers?"

"He'd probably just call it 'helping out a friend'," Justin smirked.

"Ah, so you're the one who's gonna end up as an old perv."

"Every old perv was once a young perv," he grinned.

"And you're perving on Jonah. You want him, don't you?" I teased.

"Nooo, but he is hot. You've gotta admit. He's even hotter 'cause he doesn't realize how hot he is," Justin said.

"Oh my god! You totally have the hots for Jonah. I can't believe it," I laughed.

"Oh, fuck you. I do not. I'm just saying that he's hot. It doesn't mean I'm in love with him," Justin protested.

"Good thing. Jonah would never go for you," I smirked.

"Yea, I know. He would go for Charlie, though. I think they would have gotten together if Michael wasn't in the picture."

"Duh. I'd go for Charlie, too. He's, like, sexy squared. You were so lucky, but you threw it away."

"I didn't throw anything away. It never would have worked out in the long run. Neither of us are gay and we both love women too much."

"Yea, that's your Achilles Heel. Women destroy every good relationship between men."

"Although that's a gay man's perspective, you're probably right. I wouldn't give them up for anything, though," Justin said.

"What about all the girls you were supposed to have been dating? You gave them up."

"There will be others. Have to find the right one."

"I know. You know, this is the first time we've had a long talk like this?"

"We've talked before."

"Yea, but you were more guarded and talked to me more like a kid."

"Well, you've matured since I've known you, and there's not much you can hide from a guy who's just had his dick up your ass," Justin smirked.

"Yea, that wasn't very nice of you."

"I told you I wasn't planning on getting fucked."

"Ew. No. Not that. I meant taking so long and getting me worked up again."

Justin looked at my crotch. "You've gotten over it. Nothing pointing up."

"I've calmed down since we've been talking; and since you're not gonna put out again, I really need to go take a shower. I feel gross," I said and gave Justin a shove before heading for the door.

"Sure you want to head back already?" Justin tried seductively and rubbed his crotch.

"If you're serious you can join me in the shower. I'm not gonna do anything until I'm clean," I said and headed down.

"Oh well, you lost your chance," Justin teased as he followed me.

"I'll live, and I'll have another chance tomorrow night. You have to sleep with Jonah tomorrow night, too."

"Think you've got me figured out, huh?"

"Wasn't very difficult."

"Unlike you," Justin snorted. "Maybe I'll just jack-off in the shower before bed tomorrow."

"Go ahead, but then you'll miss your chance to be with me again," I shot back and walked in to the apartment.

"Big bathroom or little?"

"I've got the big one. Night," I said to Justin and went into the big bathroom, closing the door behind me. I took a quick shower and resisted wanking again. I know I'm gonna have plenty of wanks in the future thinking about tonight. When I got back to the room I could smell that Adam had relieved himself in my absence and was now sound asleep. I crawled into bed and fell asleep right away.

-=-=-=-=- Jonah -=-=-=-=-

*** [ 7/17/02 ]

"Painting again today?" Justin asked as we were having breakfast.

"And cleaning up the stage. I think I'll have you and Scott working on the dressing rooms," I said.

"What's left to clean up? We got all the pulleys off on Monday," Jonny said.

"Did you get it all vacuumed?"

"Mostly."

"Well, then you'll finish that. Everything still needs to be lowered to the deck. I've got to run the new stage work lights. The old wiring needs be stripped from the walls. It's got a ways to go to be ready for the contractor to install the new fly system on the 23rd."

"That's plenty of time."

"Hopefully."

"What about me?" Jack asked.

"You'll be helping me," I said.

"Why can't I paint with Scott?"

"Because there're only two sprayers."

"You could just get another one," Jonny suggested.

"When you're paying for it you can get more. Okay?" I countered.

"Someone's grumpy," Jonny teased.

"Someone's spending millions of dollars to renovate this place and hasn't sold all of the spaces yet," I said pointedly.

"Millions?"

"Millions."

"Where'd you get millions?"

"Doesn't matter. Just accept that I'm trying to save money where I can."

"Why haven't you sold all the spaces yet? I'd think that you'd have to turn people away once they learned that Justin lived here," Jonny said.

"That's why we can't get anyone," I smirked.

"Fuck you," Justin said. "You better not be advertising that I'm living here."

"Hell no. We don't advertise at all. It's all word of mouth. Hopefully we'll get better people that way. Haven't you told anyone?"

"Hell no. This is my escape place. I don't want anyone I'm around regularly to live here, and others I wouldn't want to live here. It would be too much hassle. Can you imagine Janet Jackson or someone like that living here? If you think security for me is bad, Janet would shut the place down -- not to mention that she'd probably demand a whole floor and have her own designers come do it," Justin said.

"One diva is enough, thank you."

"Fuck you. And stop making me repeat myself."

"He never said he was talking about you," Adam said.

"Hello," Ian called out as he walked into the theater. I was on stage unboxing the work lights to install.

"Hey. How're you doing?" I said.

"Doin' all I can. Thought I'd stop by to help today."

"Great. I don't really need anyone else on stage. I guess you could start painting the stage walls."

"That'll work. Just set me up and tell me where to start."

"Okay. We'll need to get another..." I started.

"Hi. I'm Jonny," Jonny said, appearing out of nowhere in front of Ian.

"Ian."

"This is my little brother. He's here helping out this month," I explained. "Ian bought 4B."

"Cool. This is the house of hotties," Jonny smiled as he drooled over Ian.

"Did I mention Jonny's 16?" I smirked.

"I'll be 17 in a couple weeks."

Ian just laughed.

"Get back to work, kid," I said to Jonny and gave him a shove towards the stage.

"Okay. Okay. I'm going," Jonny smiled as he went back to the stage, looking back most of the way.

"He's not shy, is he?" Ian laughed.

"That's not something HE suffers from -- just the rest of us," I joked.

"You have different parents? You don't look like brothers -- no offense."

"None taken. It's an honorary title. Long story short: my family took him in after his family rejected him for being gay," I said.

"Sounds like there's a long and sordid story in there."

"Movie of the week. Okay. Let's get you some paint. How are you with heights?"

"Depends. Doing what where?"

"Painting the back wall of the stage."

"On a ladder, or do I get some scaffolding?"

"We can set you up some scaffolding."

Ian went to the edge of the pit and looked at the back wall. "How high?"

"Just within sight lines. If you can see it from there, then paint it."

"You're the boss."

"Have you used a paint sprayer before?"

"Yea. Not in years, though. I'd rather just roll it, if that's okay with you."

"You're the one doing it."

I called over the kids to help move a section of scaffolding on stage, got Ian set up and then went back to getting the new work lights up. Jonny and Jack bickered all day -- not outright fighting, but snapping at each other. Adam played both sides and none, thinking for himself and not just following Jonny when Jonny would say something just to get a reaction out of Jack. It was humorous and annoying.

By quitting time, the kids had everything off the grid, the grid cleaned, and all the old rigging parts off the walls. The back wall was all painted. The work lights were up. The dressing rooms were painted and the new lighting in the dressing rooms was complete. A productive day.

David came over that evening, but was with his cousin and could only stay a few minutes -- long enough to return Jonny's clothes. Jonny was kinda upset about it, but not for very long.

*** [ Thurs, 7/18/02 ]

"This is Jonah," I said as I answered the phone.

"Hey, Jonah. It's Nick."

"Carter?"

"Yea, of course. How are you? What are you up to?"

"In the city again, huh?" I chuckled.

"Yep. You interested in going clubbing tonight?"

"Not really. I'll be dead by then."

"Dead? If you're home during the day you can't be that busy."

"I'm working on my theater."

"When did you get a theater?"

"Michael bought it in December. It was gutted, so we've been working on it night and day," I answered.

"Cool. I wanna see it. Where's it at?"

"On Ocean Avenue, just across the street from Prospect Park. 150. Stop by. We'll be here."

"It's just you and Michael doing it?"

"Mostly. Michael's filming in Paris right now. I've got Jonny and his friend here now, as well as Scott and his brother. Oh, Justin is here, too -- at least until tomorrow."

"Justin?"

"Timberlake."

"And he's helping?"

"Yea. He's been painting."

"I've got to see that. I can't imagine Mr. Wonderful actually doing any manual labor," Nick laughed.

"He doesn't get all diva around me," I shrugged. "Anyway, you can stop by as long as you two don't fight -- or if you do, give me time to sell tickets."

"I promise not to laugh at him too loudly. Is it okay if I bring Aaron?"

"I don't know. Who's Aaron?" I asked.

"My little brother. Don't tell me you haven't heard of him, you freak."

"Yes, I read 'Tiger Beat' and 'Teen People' all the time, you know. I assume he's a Pop Princess like you?"

"It's a family thing, fuck you very much," Nick laughed.

"You're welcome. I don't care if he comes along. He'll probably be bored since I'm working all day. Maybe he can hang out with the kids."

"Oh, right. Which kids? Not the bigotty one, I hope."

"All the above, actually. Jonny's here with a friend of his and Jack is here. Jack's gotten a little better about the attitude. I'm sure they'll all be thrilled to have a reason to run away from working."

"Happy to provide a diversion; especially since I'm hoping for one, myself. When would be a good time?" Nick asked.

"A good time would be to show up at seven with several pizzas."

"That your quitting time, or just dinner and then back to work?"

"Quitting."

"Okay. I can do that. You still a vegetarian?"

"Never really was, but yea. One pizza with only veggies."

"Okay. Any suggestions on what to do for the next three hours? We've already been to MTV and to MoMA. Know of anything going on that I can keep Aaron distracted with?"

"How old is he?"

"15."

"How about one of the zoos?"

"Not that bored."

"Well, then just take him walking around and shopping."

"We'll get mobbed," Nick complained.

"Then go to a piercing parlor and get him a Prince Albert, Nick. I don't know what you can do in a couple hours without being seen."

Nick sighed. "Yea. Now you understand my frustration. Oh well. See you at seven."

"We'll be here. Later."

"Bye," Nick said and hung up.

"That was Nick Carter?" Justin asked as I set the phone down.

"Yea. He's bringing dinner at seven."

"I guess he's good for something," Justin joked.

"Whatever. Get back to work."

"Why aren't you making dinner?" Jonny asked me after he took a shower.

"It's being delivered."

"Pizza?"

"Yep. That should be it now," I said as the front buzzer went off. I checked the camera and then buzzed them in. "Come on up. Top floor."

"I don't think I'm going to be able to move tomorrow," Adam groaned and sat down at the kitchen counter.

"Me, either. Everything today was heavy as hell," Jack agreed.

"You're a bunch of out of shape pussys," Justin teased.

"Bite me," Adam shot back. "Each of those covers were 400 pounds, and then we lifted a six hundred pound piano seven feet straight up to put it on the stage. Don't even try to tell me it was easy for you."

"There's no heavy lifting tomorrow. You'll survive," I said.

"Hello?" Nick called out as he walked in the open door.

"This is the place."

"Nick! Hey man. Money problems? Second job?" Justin teased.

Nick gave a sarcastic laugh. "Yea, and I jizzed on your pizza."

"Hey, Nick. Remember me?" Jonny asked.

"Uh... Jonny, right?"

"Yep."

"And you're Jack-off," Nick said casually to Jack. Scott and Jonny laughed, but Jack didn't find it funny at all and gave him a nasty look.

"That's Adam, my best friend from home," Jonny introduced.

"And this is my little bro Aaron," Nick introduced.

"Hey," Aaron said, looking bored and like he wanted to be anywhere else.

I took the pizzas from Nick and set them out across the counter.

"You know, Jonah told me that he had a princess working for him, but I had to come see for myself," Nick smiled at Justin.

Justin just looked at him and rolled his eyes. "You'll never keep your job as a pizza delivery guy if you insult your customers."

"Really, Nick," Jonny chided with a grin. "Justin's a queen, not a princess." He got slapped on the back of the head by Justin. Everyone else laughed.

"My bad," Nick said.

"Remember. If you two are going to fight you need to give me time to sell tickets," I said and grabbed myself a beer.

"Cat fight of the century," Aaron snorted.

"Oh? Are you fighting him?" Nick shot back. "Anyway. Give me a beer, please."

-=-=-=-=- Jonny -=-=-=-=-

Nick and Aaron finally left and Jonah and Scott went to bed. Adam and Jack were asleep in front of the TV.

"Wanna go to the roof?" I whispered to Justin with a grin as we were getting more soda.

"There's nothing on the roof," Justin said.

"It's your last chance for a while. Who knows when you'll get to be with a guy again."

"Stop doing that. I told you it was a mistake before."

"Yea, but it happened. What's done is done. We've done it once, why not twice, but better prepared?" I whispered and pulled some condoms out of my pocket and a couple little packets of lube.

"Where did you get those?"

"Brought them with me from home -- just in case."

"What if I don't feel like it tonight?"

"You're going back tomorrow. I bet it would only take a minute to make you feel like it."

"I guess it wouldn't be... No. I'm not... We shouldn't."

"I know. That's what makes it so much fun. It's forbidden. Neither of us can talk about it to anyone else. It just has to happen."

"What about Adam and Jack?"

"I don't think they'd be interested," I smirked.

"Freak. I mean, they're not in bed yet. What if they wake up and come looking for us?"

"Adam would only come looking for me, 'cause you're supposed to be sleeping with Jonah. He wouldn't come looking for me, anyway. It's too late. It's almost 2AM. Jack wouldn't bother coming to look for either of us."

"You're becoming quite a sexual predator, you know that?"

"No. I'm just sixteen. You enjoyed it last time. Imagine how much more you can enjoy it this time. If you really don't want to, then that's fine. I can jack-off like normal. If you do, then great. We both get something."

"What would you want to do?" Justin asked.

"Do you really want to discuss that here? Maybe go to the roof and discuss it out of ear-shot?"

"True, but if we're gonna 69, then we can't do it on the roof."

"We could go down and do it on the stage," I offered. "That would be kinda cool."

"Yea, it would. I've always wanted to do it on a stage," Justin whispered hoarsely and adjusted himself.

"We'd have to be more careful about making sure everything was cleaned up."

"And make sure to close all the doors so we could hear if someone was coming."

"I think they'd hear you coming first," I teased. He slugged me for that.

"You go down now. I'll be down in a few minutes," Justin said and quickly went to the bathroom.

Can you say "excited"? Damn. We'll have to blow each other first so I can last longer while fucking him. This is so great. I grabbed a bunch of paper towels, for clean-up, and practically ran down to the theater. Only the ghost light was on in the theater and it was a little creepy, especially with the shadows from the scaffolding. I tried to ignore it and went up on stage and ran the broom over the floor to make sure we wouldn't lay on anything. I was just finishing up when I heard Justin walk in.

"Jonny?" He whispered loudly.

"Up on stage," I said and stepped out of the shadow.

"Damn. It's freaky in here," Justin shuddered as he slowly walked to the stage.

"Yea, I know," I agreed.

He finally climbed on stage and walked up to me. He had a box of Kleenex in his hand and was only wearing his boxer-briefs.

"All ready?" I smirked.

"Yep. So where should we start?"

"Clothes," I said and got undressed. Justin followed suite and pushed down his underwear. He was about half-erect. He set down the box of Kleenex and then sat down. I followed and we were sitting in front of each other.

I reached out and ran my hand along his thigh. Justin reached for my chest and leaned forward to kiss me. His kisses were soft at first, but got more insistent and he leaned over me and I laid back. Our lower bodies were now pressed together and he held himself up as we kissed. I ran my hands along his chest and then back to squeeze his butt as he ground into me. After a few minutes he moved down to my nipple without the ring. I may have made the first move, but nothing was holding Justin back now. He nibbled and sucked until I pushed him further down. He licked up and down my erection a couple times before taking it in his mouth completely. It felt so good. He moved around so he could blow me and use his hands, but I pulled him around.

"69. Remember?" I said softly.

"Oh yea," Justin said and moved around so we were lying on our sides in a 69. I licked the back of his erection a couple times to make it slick and then did the nibbley thing just behind the head that I knew drove Riley crazy. It worked with Justin, too, and he twitched a lot. After he was twitching and bobbing around a lot, I took mercy and slowly swallowed him. He bucked into me and started sucking me harder and faster. I lost my concentration for a few seconds from the feeling, but quickly recovered and started bobbing on his dick and using my hand. I wanted him to cum as quickly as I felt like I was about to.

It didn't happen. I felt it building and warned Justin. This just made him suck harder and faster. I stopped bobbing and just held him tightly in my mouth as I exploded in his mouth and he swallowed and deep throated me. He kept going and I had to pull away.

"That's enough. Give me a minute to recover," I said.

"Okay. You've got a minute. Then you're gonna fuck my ass so hard I'll still be feeling it tomorrow," Justin growled. Damn.

"Why don't I lube you up. I'll be ready by then," I said.

"Good. I washed before I came down," Justin said and rolled onto his back and pulled his knees up.

I dug the lube and condoms out of my pocket and ripped one of the lube packs open. I squeezed it onto my fingers and then rubbed it round his hole. That was enough for me to be right back at attention. My fingers moved inside him slightly and he gripped me tight.

"You ready yet?" Justin asked.

"Yea. Are you?"

"Yes, already. Stop teasing me," he complained.

I quickly put on the condom and smeared another packet of lube on it before wiping my hand off on a paper towel and getting into position.

"How do you want it?" I asked.

"I want it in me. Hard and fast. Now!"

Damn. Can do. I lined myself up and pushed forward a little. He was really tight. I leaned him over some more and pushed straight in all at once. Justin moaned loudly and sucked his breath.

"Okay. Okay. Hold there for a minute," he said.

His ass was spasming from the sudden intrusion. It felt so good to be in him. After a minute or so he said it was okay to start, but slowly. So much for hard and fast. I slowly pulled out and then inched back in. He pulled me down to kiss him and urged me on. I was doing this slow fuck for a few minutes when he pushed me back.

"Let's stand up or something. This floor is killing my back," he said.

I pulled out and stood up -- it was hard on my knees, too. We were now standing center stage and I entered him from behind. He leaned back against me and held my arms around him as he bucked back into me as much as I was forward into him. I kissed his neck and he leaned his head back on my shoulder and moaned for me to do it harder. I grabbed his pre-cum slick erection and jacked him off as I pounded his ass as hard as I could. Not a minute later he came and it sprayed up his chest enough to hit me in the face. I wasn't done, though, and kept going and jacking him off. His moans were almost constant now and he was clawing at my butt, pulling me into him. He got really tight and came again, which finally set me off. I slammed into him and held there, pushing further as I filled the condom. I stopped jacking him when I was done and just held him there. We were both out of breath and sweaty.

"Damn, you're good. I wish I could have fucked like that when I was sixteen," Justin sighed, not pulling away yet.

"Thanks. Having a boyfriend helped. Lots of practice. You're pretty good, yourself," I said and slowly rubbed his cum around his woody. I was still in him and not fully hard, but more than a woody.

"Again?" Justin chuckled.

"I could go again, but it's not necessary. You want to?"

"Do you have another condom?"

"Yea, but I really don't want to be fucked."

"I didn't think so. I was planning on you fucking me again."

"I can do that," I smiled and licked his neck.

"I want to watch you this time, though. Let's find something for me to lay on that's not gonna kill my back."

I slowly pulled out and got cleaned up and ready while Justin looked for something to pad his back.

"Back here," Justin called out a minute or two later from the dock area.

I walked back to see he found a moving pad blanket and spread it across an old junky work table. It was a good height and he hopped up on it and positioned himself so his ass was hanging off the edge. I put his legs over my shoulders, positioned myself and easily slid in.

"Fuck, yea," Justin sighed.

"Hey. Did you ever use that dildo you got last summer?" I asked.

"A couple times. It's not the same," Justin said and grabbed the edge of the table so he could hold himself from being pushed back away from the edge. After two times I was in no hurry and pumped in and out of him slowly. He watched me and had a look of complete bliss on his face. I'm pretty sure that I did, too.

"You enjoying this?" Justin teased.

"Yea. As much as you are."

He started chuckling.

"What?" I asked.

"Just thinking about how much we've both changed in the past year. I don't think either of us could have seen this coming... Don't even comment on my choice of words," Justin panted out.

"How would you like it if you were fucking one of your girls while I fucked you? Does the thought of that make you hot?"

"Yea, that would be kickin'. Ain't gonna happen, though."

"Never say never. We never thought this would happen."

"Yea, but I don't know who it would be with. Guy or girl."

"Well, you can count on me if you really need someone," I smiled.

"I'm sure I can," he laughed.

"But you'll have to do it when I don't have a boyfriend."

"I'll be sure to take that into considera...a...AHHHH," Justin started and then arched his back and moaned as he let go of the table and started jacking himself off.

I grabbed his legs and held him in place as I fucked him hard and fast so he'd have a great orgasm. It brought on mine just before his first spurt -- well, it was more like an ooze and hardly anything. I pulled out once we were done and pulled him up to kiss him. We didn't kiss long before Justin pulled back.

"Do you know how long we've been down here?" He asked.

"I don't know. An hour at least."

"Three times in an hour. Damn, we made a mess," Justin chuckled as he carefully climbed down from the table.

"We'd better make sure it's all cleaned up or Jonah will know."

"I know," Justin said and went to grab the Kleenex off the stage.

We cleaned up ourselves and then made sure the stage and dock were clean of any incriminating evidence. I threw all the other evidence in the dumpster so Jonah wouldn't see it in the trash can. I went upstairs first and took a quick shower. I could hear Justin in the other shower when I got out and went to bed. Adam and Jack were still in front of the TV, sound asleep. It was just after 4AM.

-=-=-=-=- Jonah -=-=-=-=-

*** [ 7/19/02 ]

"What's wrong with you?" I asked Justin as he stiffly walked into the kitchen.

"What?"

"You're walking like you've been fucked all night," I teased. "And I know it wasn't me."

He laughed -- a little too much. "I think I slept wrong or something. My back is really stiff."

I noticed Jonny stifle a snicker and looked between the two. Could they have...? No. I don't want to know and I don't want to think about it.

"Okay. You want a ride to the airport or do you have a limo coming?"

"I've got a car coming, thanks. Back to the old grind."

"Yes, I'm sure working in the studio is such hard work," I teased.

"Have you ever even been in a recording studio?"

"Yea. I've played piano for a couple people who were recording albums. It's tedious and boring, but not difficult."

"Tedious and boring is enough. Plus I have to write an album of hit songs. It's a lot of pressure," Justin said.

"Write them before you go into the studio. Then all you have to do is get the recording and production perfect. Since writing the song is the hard part, do it where you're most comfortable," I reasoned.

"Have I mentioned lately that you're the master of oversimplification?"

"My, that's an awful big word for you," I smirked.

"That's 'cause it's got 'simple' in it," Jonny added.

"You can all bite me. Get my place done so I don't have to endure the peanut gallery every time I visit."

"From what I've seen you have to endure the peanut gallery no matter where you're at."

"Unfortunately," Justin sighed and then answered his phone. "My ride is here," he said after he hung up and went to grab his bags.

"What are we doing today?" Adam asked.

"Building out the tech spaces on two," I answered.

"Finally some building instead of stupid shit," Jonny said.

"None of it is stupid shit. It all has to get done."

"Nobody rush to say good-bye or anything," Justin complained as he reappeared with his bags.

"Okay, we won't," Adam teased.

Jonny gave a squeal and melodramatically hugged Justin, sobbing on his shoulder and carrying on.

"Yea, okay. I think I preferred being ignored," Justin cringed as he pushed Jonny away.

"See you for the opening?" I asked Justin as I hugged him good-bye.

"Yea, I think. That's September, right?"

"End of September, yea."

"Unless my schedule changes, I'll be there."

-=-=-=- Jonny -=-=-=-

"Adam. Come here. You've gotta see this," I called.

"What?" Adam asked as he climbed up to the living room.

"Look at this," I said and turned the screen of his iBook so he could see the webcam picture.

"Dude. Don't look at guys jacking off on my computer. Why are you showing me that?"

"Forget that it's a guy for a minute. Watch to see if he shows his face again."

"You know him?"

"Yea. You do, too," I smiled.

"Really? Who is it? How'd you even get on this site without paying?"

"It's free at the slow speed. Just watch. If he doesn't lean back again I'll tell you. You'll think I'm making it up, otherwise."

"Just tell me so I don't have to watch this."

"It's just jacking off. You do it, too."

"We're not going to argue that again. Just tell me who it is."

"Wait. Wait. He's leaning back... There!"

"Holy shit. It's Brandon," Adam said, stunned, and then busted up laughing. I joined him.

"I know. I know. It's fuckin' hilarious. He is so gonna get teased about this when we get back to Chicago."

"Definitely. We should send his screen name to everyone so they can see for themselves."

"I'll do better than that," I smiled and took a screen shot of the window that clearly showed his face.

"What did you just do?"

"Took a screen shot. A picture is worth a thousand words."

Adam laughed. "Oh man, he's gonna be so pissed at you."

"So what? He's been pissed at me before. It's his fault for showing his face. If he didn't want to be seen then he shouldn't show his face, or shouldn't be jacking off on a web site."

"Are you going to send it too everyone?"

"No. Just a few select people. I don't want to get him in trouble, just embarrass him."

"You and Justin did it last night, didn't you?" Adam asked.

"Did what?"

"You had sex."

"We did not."

"Yea, right. He was walking funny this morning and Jonah made that comment about it looked like he'd been fucked. You two have disappeared together before. You can tell me. I'm not gonna tell anyone."

"Okay. You really want to know?"

"Yea."

I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "We've never had sex."

"So you're not gonna tell me."

"Dude. I'm 16. He's 21. He's straight. He's super famous. I'm not saying that I wouldn't love to have sex with Justin, but it'll never happen. Even if he did want to have sex with a guy, don't you think he could find someone other than me to do it with?" I said, trying to make sure Adam wouldn't know I was lying.

"When you put it like that, yea. He'd probably jack-off with sandpaper before having sex with you," Adam laughed.

"Ouch," I cringed. "I've gotta be better than that."

"Only less damaging," Adam smirked and went back downstairs.

"That means a lot coming from a virgin," I shot back.

-=-=-=-=- Jonah -=-=-=-=-

*** [ Thursday, 7/25/02 ]

"Hey, big boy," Charlie said and goosed me while I was screwing in a base cabinet in the light booth. I jumped and almost ran the bit through the back of the cabinet.

"Shit, man. Don't do that while I'm using power tools. Give me a sec. to get a screw in this," I said and did so.

"Sorry."

After the cabinet was secured I put down the screw gun and jumped on Charlie, wrapping my legs around his waist, causing him to fall.

"Hey, big boy," I smiled and gave him a quick kiss before letting him go and standing up. "What are you doing in town?"

"Just got back from filming. Thought I'd visit a couple days before heading back to LA."

"'Nicholas Nickleby'?"

"That's the one."

"How'd it go?"

Charlie shrugged. "Bit alright, I suppose. Never can tell, you know. It was fun for the most part."

"What wasn't fun?"

"Jamie Bell is a twat. Had a bit of fun pounding him while making him think it was some bonding thing. He's not very bright. I wanted to bash his face in dozens of times. He's a foul mouthed little bigot," Charlie ranted.

"Uh, that was the little dancing kid, right?" I asked.

"That's the one. Enough about that twat. Put your tools away and let's go out for a drink."

"I've got some beer upstairs."

"I figured, but I want to leave the kids behind. Jonny's all questions and I just want to relax," Charlie said.

"Ah. I take it you've already been upstairs."

"Yea. It looks bloody fantastic, by the way."

"Thanks."

"So, anyway, it was question after question before I found out where you were and escaped."

"How long are you here?"

"'Till Tuesday. That's alright, isn't it? Are there any beds left?"

"My bed," I smiled. "And Michael said I could shag you as long as I set up the cam so he can watch."

"He didn't."

"Yea, he did. Some strange thing about us being apart for months and he could trust you. I told him he could shag Justin in return."

Charlie laughed. "It would never happen."

"I know. That's why I said he could. It's not like Justin will be in Paris, anyway. So we're going whitewater rafting this weekend. You're coming."

"Brilliant! Where can you do that? Not anywhere around here?"

"No. We're renting a van and driving down to North Carolina. It's the Upper/Middle Gauley. Five hours with some pretty heavy rapids. There's one more bunk left in the cabin tent."

"Why a van? Who all is going?"

"Jonny, Adam, Scott, Jacky, Ian & Randy."

"Who's Jacky?"

"Scott's little brother. You'll probably want to smack him around, too. Sometimes he's okay, sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain. I'm sure he and Jonny are going to have it out soon."

"He a bit of a 'phobe?"

"Yea. He's getting better, but Jonny tries to set him off. Who knows how he'll react if Scott finally decides he's gay."

"So Scott's gay now?"

"Who knows," I shrugged. "He's only been with one guy that I know of, and that ended after one time. He took a guy to Iceland with him, but I don't know if they did anything. I don't think so."

"He should make up his mind and get laid. Anyway, let's go out."

"Fine. I need to be back by midnight," I said and started cleaning up.

"Why's that?"

"I'm talking to Michael at midnight, and we're leaving early tomorrow morning."

"It's nine now. Is there anywhere close?"

"Why don't we just go up on the roof? We'll spread out a blanket up there and I can get on the net," I offered.

"Why on the net?"

"Michael and I cam. Much better than a phone call."

"Cam?"

"Like video conferencing. You'll see," I said and we headed upstairs. "I'm gonna take a shower first. I'm all grungy."

"Fine. I'll take one, too," Charlie said and headed to the small bathroom.

I took a quick shower and put on a pair of shorts before grabbing a blanket, my laptop and camera. Going downstairs, I grabbed a bottle of wine for myself and a six-pack of Sam Adams for Charlie, who was just walking out of the bathroom, also wearing just a pair of shorts.

"What are we doing tonight?" Jonny asked as he joined us.

"Don't know what you're doing. Jonah and I are drinking on the roof," Charlie said.

"Why can't I join you?"

"Because we're going to drink and talk. No one else is invited," Charlie answered.

"And don't even think about sneaking up or bringing up the phone or coming up to ask a question or any other game," I added.

"Think you got me figured out, huh?" Jonny smirked.

"I know I do, and I know that I'll make anyone who disturbs us regret it."

"This is nice. When are you going to get the terrace built?" Charlie sighed as he stretched out on the blanket with a beer.

"Next year, hopefully -- after everything else is done," I said as I set up my PowerBook. "It feels like it's never going to get done."

"It'll happen. You've made good progress. The lobby looks great. You're working on it full time, now, as well. The theater parts haven't taken as long as your place took."

"Yea, I know. Just a lot to do and a long way to go. Still have places to sell, too. Oh, Ian finally signed the contract. That money helps."

"You're not hurting, are you?" Charlie asked.

"No. We're doing fine right now. It's just me worrying about the huge debit the bank makes on my account each month until we get all the spaces sold. I'm not used to dealing with such large numbers."

"Neither am I, mate. 'Course, I don't have to deal with huge numbers. No one is paying me that much -- at least not yet."

"Somehow I don't think you'll ever be able to demand the kind of numbers Tom Cruise or the like gets."

"Fuck you very much," Charlie smirked.

"Fuck yourself. You don't play the game and don't capitalize on being hot. Unless you do those things you aren't going to get ten-million for a film."

"No worries. Can't count that high, anyway."

"I thought Kate did all the counting?"

"Not bloody likely," Charlie snorted. "She's only slightly better with finances than I am. It's her mum who helps out with everything. Quite handy having an accountant in the family."

"Definitely. Wanna know something cool?"

"Know myself?" Charlie smirked.

"Highly unlikely. Initials. Mine are JM. Michael's are MP. Our first name initials together are JM. Our last name initials together are MP."

"Huh. That's just weird. How bored were you to figure that out?"

"Very, but it was while we were trying to figure out what to name the theater."

"You're not going with 'Marpitt'?"

"Yea, we are, but we were trying to come up with something better."

"Let me answer it," Charlie said as Michael's request popped up on the screen.

"Go ahead. Just click on 'Accept'."

Charlie got into position and grinned broadly at the camera as he clicked the button.

"Ah! What the hell happened to you, Jonah?! Was there a fire?" Michael yelled.

"Ha ha, you twat," Charlie groaned. "Oh wait. I suddenly feel overdressed. Are you happy to see me?" He teased at the fact Michael was naked and erect.

"I was expecting someone else. Where's my man?"

"Right here," I said and pushed Charlie aside. "Guess who showed up?"

"I see. Too bad Justin isn't here. So am I going to get a show? As you can clearly see, I'm in need of one," Michael smiled and gave his erection a tug.

"You're in Paris, right?" Charlie asked.

"Oui. I've got to be on set in an hour. Where are you guys at?"

"On the roof, drinking. Staying away from the kids," I answered.

"Sounds good. So not to be demanding, but I do have to leave soon..." Michael hinted.

"I'm an artist. I need time to prepare. I can't be expected to perform on demand," Charlie goofed.

"Yea, right. His shorts have been tented for the past half-hour," I teased.

"Can I see?" Michael asked.

Charlie got on his knees in front of the camera and squeezed his erection through his loose shorts.

"Seems smaller than I remember," Michael teased.

"Funny you should say that when yours looks tiny," Charlie said and held out his fingers the length of Michael's erection on the screen.

"Move over," I said and shoved Charlie out of the camera. I rubbed my hands down my chest and very slowly pushed down my shorts until my erection popped free.

"Oh yea. That's better," Michael said softly and started stroking himself.

Knowing what Michael liked and what would get him off faster -- since he was short on time -- I push my shorts the rest of the way down and moved back enough so my face was in the frame as well. I slowly ran my hands up and down while staring straight into the camera so it looked like I was looking directly at him. Michael put his legs up and started stroking faster.

I noticed Charlie moving a second before he leaned in and started sucking on my nipple.

Michael groaned and started rubbing his nipples.

"Go on, Charlie. Do it, man. Suck him. I want to see him shove his cock down your throat," Michael growled.

Charlie needed no further encouragement and went immediately for my erection before I could say a thing. As soon as I recovered from the initial shock, I turned us so Michael could see me in Charlie instead of the back of his head.

"Yea. That's g..g.." Michael gasped and sprayed his load all over his chest.

I stopped Charlie -- who really didn't want to stop at the moment -- and sat down in front of the camera, watching Michael come back from the land of O.

"Damn. That was great. We're gonna have to make a porno with you two. Can you record one while you're there?" Michael grinned as he wiped the cum of his chest with some tissue.

"Another time, perhaps. You'll need to be here to direct and run the camera," I smiled back.

"Oh well. I was hoping you'd send it to me here. We should have made one before I left."

"Too late now. You'd better take a shower and get ready so you're not late. I love you," I said.

"I love you, too. Thanks, Charlie. Later, guys. Have fun finishing," Michael smiled and closed the session.

"That was strange," Charlie said and took a drink of his beer.

"Yea, it is. We actually talk at other times. The morning ones are usually like that -- well, morning for him," I explained and shut my PowerBook.

"So are we going to finish?" Charlie asked casually.

"I suppose we could. What did you have in mind?" I smirked and took a drink of my wine.

"How about we blow each other and then you fuck me?" Charlie said and ran his hand across my chest.

"What about Kate?"

"She said it was okay if we did things. I think she said it just so I could satisfy my hot man sex urges in a safe way. So? You up for it?"

"I don't have any condoms with me. We'd have to fuck later."

"We're sleeping in the same bed. I'm sure that can be arranged," he said and pulled off his shorts.

I leaned in to kiss him and ran my hand along his belly to grasp his erection. After the kiss I pushed him back and kissed down his chest and the back of his erection.

"Oh yea. Move over here so I can do the same," Charlie signed and tugged at me until I was straddled over his head. He leaned up and sucked at my balls.

I held his erection up and slowly licked around the head and foreskin. He was leaking incredibly and I was sure he wouldn't last long. The way he'd just pulled himself up and swallowed me to the base didn't make me think I was going to last long, either. After only a few minutes he pushed me away.

"I'm too close. Give me a few minutes," he said between heavy breaths.

"Why don't we get some condoms and then go down to the theater? We can clean up in the showers down there without Jonny asking too many questions," I said.

"Sounds good, but I didn't bring a shirt up. I can't go walking through the apartment like this," Charlie smiled and gestured to his erection.

"Right. Well, scratch that plan. We'll just go to bed right now. You can carry the blanket up and I'll carry my PowerBook."

"Now that's a plan, though I did fancy doing it out here in the open."

"Stay here," I said and grabbed my laptop and the camera. The TV was still on and Jonny was still awake when I got to the apartment.

"You should go to bed. We're getting up early tomorrow," I said as I took my laptop to my room.

"Are you guys going to bed now?" Jonny asked.

"No. Just came down to put away my laptop and grab some shirts," I said as I walked out of my room with two T-shirts wrapped around a bottle of lube and a couple condoms. "Don't wait up."

Jonny grumbled something as I walked out the door. I grabbed a roll of paper towel from Justin's place -- which was acting as a storage room right now -- and headed back to the roof. Charlie hadn't moved, although his erection had slumped a little.

"I am a genius," I smiled and pulled the supplies out from under the T-shirts.

"Brilliant. This is probably going to hurt. I haven't done this since the last time we did it."

"Serious? I thought you'd done something with Justin?"

"Nope. Not after he left. That's not to say that he didn't want to," Charlie said and sighed as I started to lube him up.

"Yea. I wouldn't doubt it. He needs to come out or something. I think he and Jonny did something while he was here. I can't prove it and I really don't want to know, but..."

"Why do you think that? I don't think J would stoop to having sex with a kid."

I rolled my eyes. "He has very low sales resistance, and Jonny was testing the waters the whole time. Normally I wouldn't think anything happened, but the last night he was here he didn't come to bed until very late and was walking pretty stiffly the next morning while Jonny was all stupid grins."

"Why didn't you confront him?"

"Jonny or Justin?"

"J. He's the supposed adult."

"It just wasn't worth the hassle," I shrugged. "They both got what they wanted and no one was complaining or victimized. I don't know. Maybe I'll say something to Justin next time I see him just to make him sweat."

"Oh come on now, we need more than that. We need to hire an actor to be a cop and pay him a visit for questioning," Charlie grinned.

"As wonderfully evil as that sounds, that would open it up to another person. No, we'd need to take care of it ourselves. Do you think you're ready?"

"Ages ago. Come on, big boy. Ride my ass," Charlie tried to say seriously, but busted up into giggles.

"Okay. Get your hot piece of ass up, unless you want me to pound you into the roof."

"Ah, no. Standing will be fine, thank you," Charlie said and got up. He looked for the right spot while I prepared myself.

"How about over here? That way I can shoot my load over the ledge and down to the sidewalk."

"Don't be nasty. You might hit someone, and you'd have to shoot pretty hard to go over the ledge, anyway."

"Whatever. Come on. Right here," Charlie said and spread out in a police search position with his hands on the ledge on the front of the building.

I moved in behind him and slowly entered him, wrapping my arms around him and waiting for him to get used to it.

"You're wonderfully tight. I may not last long," I whispered into his ear and rubbed his half-erection with one hand while rubbing his nipples with the other.

"I don't think I will, either," he gasped out, trying to relax his breathing.

He finally started to relax and I started moving with slow, even thrusts. His erection was back to full and he pushed back to meet me with each thrust. It was only a few minutes when he started tensing and pushed away from the wall, using his own hands to hurry mine.

"Uh uh," I smiled and hooked my arms under his and then behind his head in a type of hold so he couldn't touch himself. I had every intention of driving him crazy until he exploded.

"Please?" He whined.

"Not yet," I said softly and leaned back so he was standing straight up and his erection was pointing out into the cool night. I made my thrusts shorter and faster as he moaned and struggled to bring his arms down to touch himself. As I felt my orgasm approaching I quickly moved both my hands around his erection and jacked him hard, using it like a handle to pull him back onto me. He started shooting almost immediately and I was only a few seconds behind. After the initial blast I slowed down, but didn't let him go. I stayed planted deep in his ass and slowly jacked his cum-slick half-erection until he couldn't take it anymore and stopped me. After that I just held him to me for a few minutes as we came down.

"Michael's one lucky fuck," Charlie finally said softly.

"Yea. So am I. So are we all. Come on. Let's get cleaned up and get to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a long day," I said and slowly pulled out of him.

"You're gonna have to put a fuck terrace up here. I assume you and Michael have done it up here?" Charlie said and pulled off some paper towel to wipe himself off.

"Of course. I think we've done it in most parts of the building. On the roof. In the theater. On each floor. Well, we haven't done it in the basement. It was kinda messy until recently."

"What are the chances we can do it in the theater some time?"

"Depends on who with and when. Not with me this time. It's a strange feeling, but kinda exciting. Even more so than doing it on the roof, I think."

"I'll have to get Kate to try it. What about the fuck terrace?"

"It'll happen. Michael's already stated it as a requirement," I smirked and pulled on my shorts.

"Multiple ones, right? It'll be a love shack up here between you two, me and Kate, Justin and the ditz of the moment, Ian and whoever, Randy and his randy crew..." Charlie said and pulled on his shirt.

"No. I'm not going to have a fuck terrace for each apartment. It'll probably just be a hottub area that is joined to a lounging/grilling area, and a private alcove."

"Then we'll have to have a sign-up sheet to schedule the alcove."

"If it becomes necessary. Don't worry about it yet. I have a long way to go before I can worry about it."

"You really should hire some help," Charlie said as we headed downstairs.

"When I need it, I do."

"I'm not just talking about the big stuff. You need someone to help with all the little stuff."

"I do. I've got Scott most of the time. Jonny and Adam have been helping. Ian and Justin have helped a bit, and I hired Kolya to help with the taping and mudding."

"Who?"

"Kolya. He's a student, but his family business is plaster work. I'll likely hire him again to work on the apartments when I'm ready."

"Okay. Let's clean up and go to bed."

Comments welcomed and encouraged. jm_stories@yahoo.com. Please put the story title in the subject line or my spam filter will eat it. If I don't reply within two weeks, then you've been eaten, or I'm just really slow and will get back to you when the next chapter comes out. Most likely, I'm just slow.