LESSONS IN LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. The story contains graphic descriptions of sex between men. Anyone who is forbidden by law to read such material must stop now. This story is being posted to the Nifty Archive solely for the enjoyment of its readers.

A special thanks to my loving partner for helping me edit this story along with his love and support.

LESSONS IN LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

By Tysho

Copyright March, 2005

It was Wednesday night, approximately 9:30. Marcus Spencer was arriving home late from work. Marcus was a typical workaholic. He really didn't need to work, as he had loads of money that would keep him extremely comfortable for a long time. Marcus was a millionaire. He had come to money from an inheritance left by his parents. Marcus comes from old money, which stems from many generations back. Now you would never have believed by his actions that he came from a wealthy family. He was a 6'3" man who was built like a football player, and always wearing Levis, a button down shirt, along with hiking boots who drove an SUV, just a simple type of man. Marcus was constantly working long hours at his company, which he had started on his own without the aid of his family. He worked very hard to make it very profitable. Marcus was an investor; he would purchase properties and build condos or townhouses and then resell them, which made him a huge profit. His home was a mansion, which was left to him by his parents.

As Marcus pulled into the long driveway, he parked his car in the carport and proceeded to walk in through the front of the house. There lying in the atrium was a man, passed out, who was in his early 20's. The man was dirty, which told Marcus that he was probably living out on the streets. In spite of being covered from head to toe in dirt and wearing clothes that were old and worn, the man was attractive to say the least. It looked to Marcus that the man had been without food for a few days, as he was quite thin for his size. The man looked to be about 5'10" in height and about 145 lbs., with a 29-inch waist. Marcus shook the thin man trying to awaken him.

"Hey, wake up."

"Leave me alone," replied the man.

Marcus shook him once more. The man opened his eyes, startled. He then stood up.

"I'm really sorry for trespassing, I'll get out of here," the man responded. As he began to walk out of the atrium, he passed out. Marcus, with quick reflexes, dropped his briefcase and caught the man as he began to fall, preventing him from hitting his head on the concrete. Marcus, being a big man, picked the man up over his shoulder, unlocked the door, and proceeded to take the man into his home. Marcus then proceeded to take the man upstairs to a guest room. He lay the man down and went back downstairs to retrieve his briefcase and lose the door.

Then he went back up to the spare bedroom to check on his newfound guest. He proceeded to remove his guest's clothes and then covered him with a blanket. Marcus then took the clothes to the laundry room and tossed them into the washer. He then made a phone call to a family friend, Galen, who was not only a long time family friend, but also the family physician. Galen and Marcus had grown up together as kids. Galen had become a doctor and Marcus had become an entrepreneur.

"Hello, Galen, this is Marcus."

"Hey Marcus, what's up?"

"I am really sorry for bothering you this late in the evening, but I've got kind of a problem here at home and I was wondering if you could come by the house?"

"Why sure, Marcus, I can be at your house in about 15 minutes. What's going on?"

"It's kind of a weird story, I can explain it better when you get here. And could you bring your medical stuff with you?"

"I'm out the door now, and I will see you when I get there."

"Thanks a lot, Galen. I will see you soon. Bye."

Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang. Marcus went to get the door. Galen was punctual as usual. Marcus was kind of on edge, he had never in all of his life had to actually do something like this, especially taking a man off the street into his own home.

"Hi, Galen, I really appreciate you coming over like this on such short notice."

"Not a problem, Marcus, you know I'd do anything for you. What's wrong? You look white as a ghost."

"Well, I got home from work, late as usual, and found this man passed out in front my doorway. I tried to wake him up. He got up and proceeded to leave the premises and then blacked out. Luckily I caught him. I was wondering if you could check on him. He looks like he hasn't eaten in weeks. I could also smell liquor on him and who knows what else he might have done."

"Ok, bud, not a problem. I will take a look at him. Let's go and see him now."

The two of them proceeded to go and check on Marcus' new guest. As the two of them got to the guest room, there was the man still lying under the blanket passed out.

"Galen, I removed his clothes and put them in the wash. Maybe when he regains conscious I can get him cleaned up."

"Hey, wake up," as Galen nudged him.

The man opened his eyes and jumped up in total shock and fear. He didn't remember what had happened, and this didn't look like a familiar place.

"Where am I?" replied the man.

"You passed out on my doorway. You began to leave when all of a sudden you passed out." Marcus tried to explain.

"Let me check you out. My name is Dr. Galen Walters. I am a friend and also Marcus' physician. We are not here to harm you, but to help you out. What's your name?"

"My name is Elliott Michaels."

"Well nice to meet you, Elliott, this is Marcus, the man who found you and whose home you're in. It looks to me that you are suffering from malnutrition and also that you seem to have been drinking a lot. When was the last time you had something to eat?"

"A couple of days ago, I guess. I don't exactly remember."

"What else besides drinking have you done lately? Any drugs?"

The man became very uneasy and proceeded to get up, but realized that he hadn't any clothes on his body. Galen put his hand on the man's shoulder firmly, trying to calm him down.

"Where are my clothes?"

"Relax, we are not the inquisition. Besides that, Marcus has your clothes in the washer. So it will be a while before your clothes are clean. Now calm down. Why don't we worry about getting you on your feet first. I am sure that Marcus doesn't mind you staying here for a while until you are better. Now, will you answer the question honestly, have you been on any type of drugs?" "You're not going to call the cops on me, are you?"

"We promise. I just need to know what you've been taking so I don't give you anything that might be harmful to you," Galen replied, reassuringly. "Ok, I've been drinking and also free-basing, a lot."

Galen then took his blood pressure, listened to his heart, and took his temperature. There were a few bruises on Elliott's body but other than that things looked pretty normal in spite of his condition.

"Well, your blood pressure and heart rate seems to be coming back to normal. It must be at least a day or so since you've done any drugs or alcohol. Temperature is normal too. I think what you need is a bath, some food to eat, and to stay off the drugs and alcohol. I am going to head on out so Marcus can feed you and give you a bath. He has my number in case anything should arise. It was nice to meet you, Elliott. I hope you take better care of yourself."

"I'll see you to the door, Galen. Elliott, wait here and I will be right back," Marcus and Galen proceeded to leave the room and walk down the stairs.

"So, what should I do, Galen?"

"Well, Marcus, you have your hands full here; he might be an addict and an alcoholic or it could be just a one-time thing. Right now get him cleaned up, feed him, and let him sleep it off for a while. I will check on him in a couple of days. Also, you may want to talk to him. Find out what happened. Try to be a friend for him. You'll do just fine, Marcus."

Marcus and Galen said their goodbyes. Marcus went back upstairs to check on his guest. The spare bedroom had a connected private bathroom. He went into the spare bathroom to start the water of the huge bathtub and to get Elliott a bathrobe.

"Here, Elliott, you can put this on. The water is started in the tub and there are fresh towels in the bathroom along with a new toothbrush and toothpaste. Make yourself at home. I am going to fix some food for us while you get cleaned up. You can come down to the kitchen when you are through."

As Marcus proceeded to go downstairs to the kitchen, Elliott said, "Marcus, wait. I just wanted to thank you very much for helping me out. I really appreciate all of your help."

"Don't worry about it. Now hurry up and get ready, so we can eat."

Marcus headed downstairs. Elliott threw on the robe and went into the bathroom. The bathroom was huge. The bathtub itself was not your ordinary bathtub, it was Jacuzzi. In fact it was a Jacuzzi. Elliott could not believe his eyes. Everything from the floors, the sink, and the bathtub was in marble. The tub filled with warm water and bubbles. The bathroom was fit for a king. Elliott dropped the robe and then climbed into the tub. It had been quite a while since he had taken a bath. As Elliott soaked in the tub he began to think. Tears began pouring out his eyes as he remembered all the pain he had gone through in his life. From the death of his parents, to being put in an orphanage, then being physically and emotionally abused in the orphanages, then taking off onto the streets, where he was hustling and stealing in order to survive. That eventually led him to alcohol and drugs, just to escape the pain that he was feeling inside. Now here he was, taken in by some rich man and now soaking in a huge bathtub. It was just overwhelming.

Elliott finished cleaning off and got out of the tub, dried himself, and cleaned up after himself. Since he still didn't have his clothes he put the bathrobe back on and went downstairs to find the kitchen. As he walked down the stairs he couldn't believe his eyes. The décor of this place was beyond belief. As he was stuck in his reverie, he heard, "Elliott, is that you?" Marcus appeared from the hallway. "Feeling better?"

"Oh, yeah," Elliott replied, still in total disbelief. "Uh, Marcus, does this house really belong to you?"

"Yeah, my folks left it to me when they passed away. Make yourself at home. A little overwhelming, isn't it. I have been here for years, actually lived here most of my life, and I still can't get over it."

"Uh, Marcus, I don't mean to pry, but what exactly do you do?" inquired Elliott.

"I am an investor. I purchase property, fix it up, and then sell it. The house is a result of family money. Now come on and let's eat. We need to fatten you up a little bit."

When the two of them got to the kitchen, there on the kitchen table was everything set up. Marcus had broiled some steaks and had some baked potatoes and steamed vegetables along with two dinner salads.

"Wow, what a spread."

The two of them began to eat their meals. Elliott ate as if there was no tomorrow. Elliott had two T-bone steaks, two potatoes, his salad and vegetables. Marcus sat in total amazement. Never had he seen someone eat so fast and so much at one sitting. Marcus began to giggle; Elliott noticed and stopped eating.

"What's wrong, Marcus?" Elliott inquired.

"I can't believe that a little man like you can put away so much food in such little time. It just reminds me of when I was a kid. Galen and I used to have races as to who could eat the most and also to see who could eat the fastest."

"I can't help it, you're a great cook."

"Go ahead and finish up, there is some dessert and coffee after you finish with that. I hope you like chocolate mousse cake."

Elliott finished up his meal as Marcus brought a three layer chocolate mousse cake along with a pot of coffee. Marcus cut a huge slice of cake, and placed it on the plate, and put it down beside Elliott. After Elliott had finished his meal he practically inhaled the cake. Marcus just sat there watching Elliott, trying to hold back from giggling with no success. After Elliott had finished his dessert, he raised his head and looked up at Marcus, turning beet red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Marcus, for making a pig of my self."

"That's quite all right. I am so glad you enjoyed your meal. I was wondering if we could have a little chat, now that you are finished. I would very much like to get to know you a little better, if you don't mind."

"Sure, Marcus, I'd like that very much. But would you mind if I had a second helping of cake while we are talking?"

"Why sure, Elliott, go right ahead. Help yourself to some more."

Elliott helped himself to some more cake as Marcus poured them some more coffee.

"So, Elliott, would you mind telling me about what you were doing at my doorway?"

"Well, as you already know, I have been drinking and doing a lot of drugs. I had spotted your doorway and noticed that it would be good cover for getting some rest, mainly for shelter. I have been living on the streets for a couple of years now. My parents died when I was a teenager and I was sent to live in an orphanage. At the orphanage I use to get mistreated by some guys living there. I managed to finish high school while I was at the orphanage. I left the orphanage when I turned 18. I went off to college to live in the dorm, which was paid for by the government, and because my grades were very good, I had gotten a few scholarships. There at college I met this girl. We both fell in love with one another. We were dating for about two years. But one thing came between the two of us, her father. He had done some checking on my background and had found out where I had come from, a poor family and also from an orphanage. Well, for him that wasn't good enough for his daughter. He told me to stay away from her. He pulled her from school and sent her to a different school. I took it pretty rough. I started drinking a lot. The drinking started interfering with my studies. Eventually, the drinking led to the drugs. I found that the drugs and alcohol were more important than school, so I left school."

As Elliott continued telling his story, tears started rolling down his cheeks, tears of guilt and shame. "I had moved in with a friend who I used to party with. He had the hots for me, even if I wasn't interested. But I eventually traded sex for drugs and alcohol. He then told me that I could make a lot of money, which would pay for the drugs if I hustled. He had some connections with guys who would pay me to have sex with them. It was easy money for me. They would pay a hundred bucks to suck me off, and all I would do was jack them off. That is as far as I would go. I have been doing this for a few years now. Then I was partying a couple of days ago. I went for a walk just to get away, when I saw your doorway. I just needed to crash for a while. Marcus, I don't want you to get the wrong idea of me. I just thought that I'd crash for an hour or so. . . Listen, I'll get out of here in the morning."

Marcus couldn't believe his ears. All of his life was a piece of cake in comparison with Elliott's. He tried to hold back the tears. He really could see how this young man did everything to escape life. In a way that was a demon in Marcus' life too. Trying to hide that he was gay, trying to be something that he wasn't. Marcus had realized that his only escape was his work. Let's face it, he didn't have much of a social life; after all of these years he was still living in the closet. He had all of the money he could ever need and he still wasn't happy.

"Elliott, I'll make you a deal. If you stop the drinking and doing the drugs, you can live here rent free, no strings attached. The other part of this deal is that you can come and work for me and I will pay you a salary and also pay for you to finish your education. I don't expect anything in return, just as long as you stay away from the drugs and alcohol. Also the friendship is an added bonus. It gets awfully lonely living in a big house like this. I didn't realize how much fun having dinner with someone else really was."

Elliott couldn't believe his ears. Living in a mansion rent free, a job offer and is education paid for on top of all this. It was like hitting the jackpot. And all he had to do was stop drinking and doing drugs.

"Elliott, you sleep on it and we can discuss it tomorrow. There is one thing I also need to tell you, which I hope will not scare you away. The fact is that I am gay. I don't expect any sexual favors from you whatsoever. I just thought that maybe I could help you out, and also, the fact is that I enjoy your company. Now, why don't you get ready for bed and I will clean up here."

The whole conversation with Marcus was overwhelming. First, Elliott couldn't believe how much of himself he had exposed to Marcus. The second thing was that Marcus was willing to help him out without a price tag on it. It was kind of strange. No one had ever been so kind to him, in all of his life. All of a sudden Elliott became overwhelmed with emotion. Tears came pouring out of his eyes.

"Elliott, are you OK?" Marcus asked, concerned.

Marcus put down the dishes and sat next to Elliott. He put his arms around Elliot and just held him as Elliott continued crying.

"Elliott, don't worry, it will get better, I promise you, just give yourself a chance," Marcus said, consoling.

"Marcus, I just want to thank you for everything. You have already done so much for me. No one has ever been so kind to me. So loving and caring, I just can't believe that this is happening to me. You don't even look down on me. With all of your money, you treat me like an equal. You also show me respect, something I don't even have for myself."

Marcus could also feel the emotions coming; there were a few tears in his eyes. He tried to be strong for Elliott. There was something in Elliott that he had admired. In spite of all of Elliott's hardships he still was a warm individual. Something inside him told him this. Elliott had noticed the tears in Marcus' eyes. All of a sudden Elliott broke off in a loud and fake exaggeration of their crying. The two of them busted out in a roar of laughter as they wiped away their tears.

"You asshole!" said Marcus, nudging Elliott's shoulder. "Get to bed so I can finish up here."

Marcus grabbed the dishes and proceeded to wash them. As Marcus was putting the dishes in the dish rack, Elliott got up, grabbed a dishtowel, and began drying the dishes. As Marcus put the last dish in the rack, Elliott finished drying that last dish. Marcus grabbed a dry towel to wipe his hands dry. After Elliott finished drying the last dish, he twisted up his moist dish towel and cracked Marcus on the butt with a loud crack.

"OUCH! What did you do that for?"

"Your butt was the perfect target, I just couldn't resist."

Elliott began to fold the dishtowel and lay it on the counter. As he was doing it, Marcus twisted up the towel in his hand and reciprocated the same deed that Elliott had bestowed on him.

"OUCH!" Elliott yelped.

"One good turn deserves another. Now, let's get to bed, we have a long day ahead of us," Marcus giggled.

The two of them headed up the stairs to their respective bedrooms, Marcus' bedroom was further down the hall. As Elliott came to his bedroom, he turned around and kissed Marcus on the cheek.

"Good night, Marcus, and thanks for everything."

"You're quite welcome, Elliott. Pleasant dreams," Marcus said, blushing.

Marcus arrived in his bedroom; he proceeded to undress and wash up for bed. He couldn't stop thinking of what had just transpired between the two of them. Here was a man who he had taken into his home to help out. Someone who was "straight" yet had kissed him on the cheek. Marcus had taken a liking to Elliott. It wasn't necessarily sexual. Although he did find Elliott an attractive man, it was more of a connection. He actually cared for someone else. The reality was that there was really nothing wrong about it. It was purely genuine. There was some confusion, all of the so-called stereotypes he had heard of gay men being promiscuous. Yet there really wasn't a sexual thought in his mind, just the idea of caring for someone else. Being male had nothing to do with it. He managed to knock these thoughts out of his mind and proceeded to tuck himself into bed. He turned out the lights and fell into a deep sleep.

During the night Marcus was suddenly awakened. His eyes opened, and as he looked down he noticed that a head was lying across his chest and an arm across his abdomen. He tilted his head slightly to see who it was next to him. Half asleep and groggy, he realized that it was Elliott. Marcus then turned his head to the left to look at the time on the alarm clock. The clock read 4:30 a.m. Marcus shook Elliott's arm.

"Elliott, are you OK?" Marcus whispered.

"Yeah, Marcus, I am fine now. It's just that I am not used to sleeping in such a big place with such a big bed. Do you mind if I stay here with you?"

"No, it's fine. Go back to sleep."

Marcus couldn't believe what he had just said. He had just realized that Elliott didn't have any clothes on, either. All Marcus had on was a pair of pajama bottoms. His wheels began to turn again. Thoughts marched through his head. He had never shared his bed with anyone else, let alone a "straight man" at that. Although he kind of questioned that too, what made the thoughts subside was the fact of all the traumas Elliott had been through in life were reason enough for his strange behavior. Elliott was like a little lost boy. The closeness of another body next to his had created a stirring inside his pajama bottoms. Marcus began turning red. It was a good thing that it was still dark in the room. That way Elliott wouldn't notice the stirring in his pajama bottoms nor the flush of red in his face. Marcus managed to finally drift back to sleep.

About 9:30 in the morning the phone rang. Marcus managed to grab the phone to answer it.

"Hello, who's this? Oh, hi, Sarah, how are you? What time is it?"

"It's nine-thirty, Marcus, I was wondering if anything was wrong. You are usually here before I get to work," replied Sarah, his secretary.

"Oh, I am sorry Sarah, for not calling you sooner, it seems that I had some urgent happenings here at the house late last night and that I need to finish up here today, so it looks like I won't be in until tomorrow. Would you mind holding down the fort for me?"

"Why sure, Marcus, not a problem. I thought that maybe you had gotten hurt, so I was just checking. I had tried your cell phone but there was no answer. So I figured I'd try you at home. I am just glad that everything is OK. I will see you tomorrow morning then. Have a great day, Marcus."

"Thanks, Sarah, for being a big help to me. I will talk to you later. Bye."

During Marcus' phone conversation, he could see Elliott getting out of the bed, completely naked, as he tiptoed back to his own room. Marcus got out of the bed and went to his dresser to pull out a pair of sweats for Elliott to wear, since Elliott's clothes were pretty much tattered. He then took the sweats to Elliot's room and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Hey Elliott, why don't you put these on and after breakfast we can take a run to the mall and pick you up some clothes to wear, since the clothes you had on were pretty worn. So why don't you get ready and I will meet you downstairs."

"Marcus, you don't really have to do all of this for me, but I really appreciate it."

Marcus left the room and proceeded to go back to his bedroom to get ready. The two of them soon met downstairs. Marcus had pancakes and sausage on the table waiting for the two of them as Elliott came down to the kitchen. They proceeded to eat their breakfast in silence; not much was said, except "could you pass the butter" or "could you pass the syrup." There seemed to be some tension between the two of them after their night in bed with one another. Marcus was still slightly confused as to Elliott's actions last night, but he wasn't going to rock the boat. He figured that in time Elliott would explain. After the two had finished eating, they both cleaned up the dishes. There was total silence all through this time.

As they were getting ready to leave for the mall, Marcus blurted out, "Hey, Elliott, here's your wallet. It was in your pants pocket, and here are the car keys. You drive."

Marcus tossed Elliott the car keys after handing him the wallet. Marcus had noticed earlier before doing the laundry that Elliott had a wallet. As he removed the wallet from the young man's worn and dirty pants, prior to washing them, he had noticed that Elliott had a driver's license, so he figured that it would be OK for Elliott to drive the two of them to the mall. He had also thought that it would be a good idea to give Elliott the opportunity to let him know that he trusted him and to give him some sort of responsibility in the process. He thought that this might ease some of the tension between the two of them.

As they left the house and approached the driveway, Elliott noticed the black SUV sitting in the driveway. He couldn't believe his eyes. The SUV was spectacular, and Marcus trusted him to drive it.

"You can unlock the doors with the remote control on the key ring. Just press the button that has the lock symbol on it," Marcus explained.

Elliott pressed the button on the small remote control and all four of the doors unlocked simultaneously. The two of them hopped into the car. Elliott felt slightly nervous. The responsibility that was involved in driving this vehicle was beyond his wildest dreams. They then buckled their seatbelts. Elliott took in a deep breath to regain his composure.

"Are you sure that you want me to drive this thing?" Elliott asked with a slight nervousness in his voice.

"Sure, I want you to drive. It's just a car, no big deal. You can handle it. I trust you with it. What could happen, you get into an accident? And even if you did, it's no big deal, it's just a car."

"Gee, thanks. No big deal - yeah right. OK, here goes, you're asking for it."

Elliott then started the engine and proceeded to back up the vehicle and then turned it around so they headed onto the road. As Elliott was driving, Marcus gave him directions as to where to go. Elliott was like a teenage boy with a new toy. Never in his life he had driven such an awesome vehicle. When he had taken driving lessons, he had driven and old beat-up car with a big sign that had his high school's name on it. That didn't even come close to what he was driving now. The other thing he had realized was that no one had ever trusted him before. As he continued driving to their destination he began to feel self-confidence flowing through his body. As they pulled into the parking lot of the mall, once again Elliott couldn't believe his eyes. Never in his entire life had he been to such a huge shopping mall or even a clothing store for that matter. When he was in the orphanage he would get other kids' hand-me-downs that were donated to the orphanage, and after he left the orphanage he would purchase his clothes in thrift stores, as he couldn't afford to buy new clothes.

Elliott parked the vehicle in a spot. The two of them got out of the vehicle and Marcus instructed him how to lock the doors with the remote. After Elliott had finished locking the car doors, they walked towards the mall. As they entered the doors of the mall, Elliott once again became totally floored at what he was witnessing. Marcus finally snapped his fingers in front of Elliott's face to bring him back to reality.

"Come on, snap out of it. We have a lot of things to get for you with so little time to do it in."

The two of them went from store to store: shirts, pants, shoes, socks, pajamas, underwear and other accessories, as one thing after another was purchased. Elliott watched in total amazement as Marcus purchased all these items with his credit card. Never in his life had he witnessed anything like this. Marcus was very sure of himself on the purchases they were making. Elliott would be in the dressing trying on different forms of clothing as Marcus would bring them to the dressing room for Elliott to try on. After they finished purchasing all the necessary clothing, they came upon a jewelry store. There Marcus began looking various watches.

"So, what do you think about this one, Elliott?"

"But it's over $200 for that thing, are you nuts?" Elliott stuttered.

"We'll take this one," Marcus said, very a sure of himself.

The salesman then rang up the sale; all Elliott could hear in his head was the "kaaaaaaaaaaaching" of a cash register. The two of them then left the mall, stuffed everything into the back of the vehicle, and proceeded to get into the car and drive off. Elliott was pale as a ghost. He was just so overwhelmed by the day's events. Before the two of them headed home they stopped at the university. There they went to the office to sign up Elliott. Marcus knew that it would take some time to retrieve Elliott's records and go through all the necessary paperwork, so he figured the sooner that they started the better it would be. After they finished, they headed back home. When they arrived, they unloaded the vehicle of all of the things they had purchased and proceeded to take them into the house, upstairs to Elliott's room. There they unloaded everything onto the queen-size bed. All the purchases they had made covered the entire bed, along with a few bags of stuff on the floor. The two of them began unpacking everything, placing the clothing in the dresser and hanging some of the clothing in the closet. After they had put everything away, the two of them collapsed on Elliott's bed.

"Whew, I can't believe that we bought all of this stuff," Elliott sighed.

"Come on, Elliott, change into your robe and grab a towel from the bathroom. I'll give you a tour of the house and after that we can wind up in the swimming pool. We can have a swim and then relax in the Jacuzzi."

"But, I don't have a swimming suit."

"Who needs a swimming suit, this isn't a swimming pool in a hotel, you know. Besides, I always go skinny-dipping. It's a lot of fun. I'll be back in a few minutes to get you."

Marcus left to go and change into a robe. When he got back, Elliott was sitting on the bed waiting for him; then the two of them proceeded to take a tour of the huge mansion. As they walked down the hallway, they went past a stairway where there were three other rooms -another bedroom with a full bathroom, a study, and a den. In the den was a wide-screen television, stereo, and bar.

After checking all the rooms on the top floor, they went downstairs. Off the main entryway were the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and down the corridor was a door. Through the door was a full-size swimming pool with a sauna, and a Jacuzzi, and a waterfall coming down above the side of the Jacuzzi. The two of them took off their robes. As they took off their robes they began to size one another up. Marcus with his 6'3" frame, a broad and hairy chest, muscular legs, and round, firm buttocks. Then there was Elliott with his thin 5'10" body. He had a small patch of hair on his chest and a thin line of hair running from his navel down to his pubic area. His buttocks were small and firm with a small patch of hair running above the crack of his ass. Because of Elliott's poor eating habits from the time he was consuming alcohol and drugs, Marcus could see his ribs showing from lack of nutrition. Both men seemed fairly well endowed for their size frames. The two of them proceeded to walk alongside the pool. Elliott was in front of Marcus, and as they continued walking, Marcus grabbed Elliott and pushed him into the pool, then dived in behind him.

"What did you do that for?" said Elliott as he surfaced above the water.

"It seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, one good turn deserves another, or have you forgotten last night?" Marcus laughed.

"OK, I guess I deserve that one."

The two of them proceeded to swim a couple lengths of the pool. After they had finished their workout, they hopped out of the pool and went into the Jacuzzi. Marcus turned on the whirlpool as the two of them soaked in the tub to relax from their busy day of shopping. As the two of them relaxed in the bubbly water, Marcus decided to ask Elliott about the incident of his moving into Marcus' bed the night before, to find out if anything was wrong.

"Elliott, I don't mean to pry, but I was wondering, why did you decide to come into my bed last night?" Marcus inquired.

As Marcus finished his question, Elliott began to be totally consumed with emotion. Sadness struck his face along with tears. He turned away from Marcus and began sobbing. Then he curled up into a fetal position. Marcus realized that he had struck a nerve and moved closer to Elliott and put his hand on his shoulder to try and comfort the young man. Elliott turned around to face Marcus, and as he turned, Marcus wrapped his arm around Elliott, trying to comfort him. "I suppose I do owe you an explanation. I am really sorry about what happened last night," said Elliott as he continued sobbing.

"You don't have to explain anything right now. If it's too painful, it can wait. Only if you want to tell me, then I will be here to listen. Only when you are ready," replied Marcus comfortingly.

"No, you have been so kind to me from the get-go, the least I can do is be honest with you.

"Well, I told you that I was mistreated in the orphanage by some of the guys. Because I was so small, some of them would physically and sexually mistreat me. The first night I was there, they put me into a large room by myself. I guess for the sake of my own protection, which really didn't do any good. It was a very large dark room with a single bed in it. Well, that night three guys had gotten into the room where I was sleeping. They would start punching me. They wouldn't hit me in the face, for fear that the marks on my face would be seen by the staff members. After they had beaten me that night, then they left. The staff moved me into the room with the other guys the next day, and that night they did the same thing. During the daytime they would bump into me, or shove me, if no one was around to see. This continued for a while. By the fourth night they dragged me into the first room that I had been in. They forced me to suck each of them off and said I was to do whatever they wanted as long as I was there. After I had sucked them off they would punch me again and again, just to remind me who was in charge. They eventually got bored with this and would do it a couple times a week. A few months later, they eventually forced me to take it in the . . ."

Elliott couldn't get the words out and continued crying even more. Marcus squeezed him tighter to try and comfort him. After about five minutes, Elliott managed to wipe away his tears and tried to continue with his story.

"It still bothers me even to this day. To be alone in a large and dark room. I think that is why I started drinking and getting high. Just to escape the fear and loneliness. All of my life I've lived in constant fear. I was always being judged in one form or another. Whether it was because I was small, being an orphan, or being poor. Last night when you had taken me into your home, called your doctor friend, and fed me, for the first time in my life I felt safe. I didn't feel alone or in fear when I slept next to you. When I did it with other men it was for either money, drugs, booze or because I was forced to do sexual favors. I really find girls hot, but somehow I don't feel safe and free from fear, but with you, Marcus, it's different. this sounds kind of strange, doesn't it?"

"Well, Elliott if it's any consolation to you, the fact is that I don't feel quite secure with being gay either. I never dated anyone or even had sex, male or female. I'm still a virgin. I guess that I've always been afraid. I just drown myself in my work. So I guess you could say that I live in fear too. I'm not exactly free from fear either. Maybe it's an area that we both need to work on."

Elliott couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't believe that Marcus, with all of his money, was fearful too. That he was afraid of being himself, just like he was. The fear of living, living a life of happiness instead of running away from things in whatever form that may be. Marcus seemed to be a self-confident individual, but Elliott guessed that was not necessarily the truth either.

"Come on, Elliott, let's get dried off so we can fix ourselves some dinner."

The two of them dried off and headed for the kitchen. They decided on making stir-fry. Elliott cut the vegetables and Marcus began working on dessert. As they made their preparations, the doorbell rang.

"Elliott, would you mind getting the door for me?"

"Sure, no problem."

Elliott ran down the hallway in his robe to answer the door. There at the door was Galen. He opened the door to let Galen in.

"Hi, Elliott, how are you doing today?"

"I'm doing better today, thanks for asking."

"I just stopped by to check up on you to see how you're doing. Is Marcus home?"

"Yeah, he's in the kitchen making some kind of dessert. I was cutting vegetables for the stir-fry for our dinner this evening. Come on in and follow me."

"Thanks."

The two of them went into the kitchen, where Marcus mixing the cake batter.

"Hey Galen, how's it going?"

"Hello Marcus, I just came over to check on Elliott to see how he was progressing. He seems to be a lot better today, in spite of the amount of alcohol and drugs that were in his system."

"Yeah, it's amazing what food and rest can do for a person. He still has his moments. All this is kind of new for him and sometimes overwhelming for him. We went to the mall and bought some clothes for him. Had a swim and now are making dinner. Would you care to stay for dinner with us?"

"I'm afraid not, but maybe I could take a rain check. So, Elliott, have you decided what you're going to do?"

"Well, Marcus offered me a job and a place to stay, as long as I stay sober, along with my tuition to finish college. I haven't given him my decision yet, but I've thought about it and I think I want to give it a shot, if the offer is still good," replied Elliott.

"That sounds like a great offer. I think that you would be happy here. Marcus is a great guy."

"Well then it's settled, Elliott, you'll live here and we'll go on from there," replied Marcus.

"I guess that everything is in order here, so I'll get going. I'll see you two later."

"I'll see you out Galen," Marcus responded.

As the two of them headed for the front door, Galen and Marcus discussed the plans about Elliott. Galen, being a doctor, had some ideas of the difficulties that might be ahead of both Elliott and Marcus as a result of Elliott trying to get sober. But Galen knew that once Marcus had made up his mind, he would stick to his decision. The other side of the situation is that he could be wrong about the whole thing. To Galen, Elliott didn't seem like a typical drunk or drug addict. He probably just needed a break after a very difficult life. The other thing was that he had known Marcus since they were kids and quite possibly this could be a blessing in disguise for Marcus. He knew that Marcus was a workalcoholic and used work to escape from whatever he was having difficulty looking at in his life.

"So are you sure about this? You know that you might have a rocky road ahead with Elliott," asked Galen.

"Yes, Galen, I'm aware of the difficulties ahead of us. But Elliott has had a pretty rough life and deserves a break. I have the financial means, so I'm cool about the whole situation. I really think he's a great person. Maybe I'm using this as an excuse to escape looking at me just like I do with my work, who knows? I don't have the answers," explained Marcus.

"OK, bud. I am behind you 100 percent. Whatever you need, whether it be someone to talk to you or otherwise, I will be here for you."

"Thanks again, Galen, for being there for me. I really appreciate it."

"I'll see you later, Marcus, take care. Bye."

"Bye, Galen."

After Marcus had seen Galen out the door, he returned to the kitchen. He and Elliott finished preparing their meal, ate, and cleaned up. They then had decided to go and take showers, in their separate rooms and turn in for the night. When Marcus had finished showering and walked into his bedroom, he found Elliott fast asleep under the covers of his bed. Elliott reminded Marcus of a little child who would sneak into his parents bed. They had both had a long day, and Marcus knew he would have to go back to work in the morning. At least tomorrow was Friday and the two of them would have the weekend to take care of other things, along with getting to know one another. Marcus set his alarm clock and crawled under the covers, making sure he didn't wake up Elliott. As soon as Marcus got settled under the covers, Elliott turned over and placed his head on Marcus' chest and his right arm over Marcus' midsection. Marcus then kissed the top of Elliott's head and said good-night.

In the morning when the alarm went off, Marcus reached over with his left hand and slammed it off. Still groggy, he opened his eyes and sat up in the bed. When he turned to look on his right side, he could see that the spot next to him was empty. He got out of the bed completely nude, which was the usual way he slept every night. After he threw on a robe, he proceeded to look to see where Elliott was. As he walked out of his bedroom, he could smell the aroma of fried bacon and pancakes. He walked down the stairs to the kitchen. There was Elliott, all dressed up in dress slacks and a shirt and tie with an apron wrapped around the front of his body, cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast.

"Good morning, Sunshine, are we ready for breakfast? We must start the work day right, with a hearty breakfast. You know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day," Elliott giggled.

"Are you trying to be a smartass this early in the morning?" Marcus replied, grumbling.

"No, I'm just excited that today is my first day of work in a long time. Now come on and sit down and eat. Juice and coffee are on the table."

The two of them had their breakfast, and while Elliott was cleaning up the dishes, Marcus went upstairs to shower and dress for work. Then they drove to work. Once they arrived they were greeted by Marcus' secretary, Sarah. After introducing Sarah and Elliott, Marcus left them alone with one another as he went into his office. Sarah showed Elliott the ropes of his new position. After a few hours Elliott got the hang of the office procedures, Sarah left him on his own, checking up on him periodically. After a busy first day of work for Elliott, Marcus took Elliott out to dinner before going home for the evening. When they arrived home the two of them showered and got ready for bed. Once again when Marcus had finished his shower and went back into his bedroom, there was Elliott lying on the bed waiting for him patiently.

"Marcus, I just wanted to thank you once again for everything you've done for me," Elliott said as he kissed Marcus on the cheek and rested his head on his chest.

The two of them said their "goodnights" as they both drifted off into a deep sleep. During the middle of the night, Elliott began tossing and turning as a result of a nightmare. All of a sudden he jumped up with a loud scream. The scream startled Marcus awake as he jumped up from a deep sleep.

"Elliott, are you OK? Wake up! It's Marcus, I'm here."

"Yeah, I'm OK. It's just a flashback. I get them every now and then. No big deal."

Marcus put his arms around Elliott's naked torso, trying to comfort him. Elliott lay his head back down on Marcus' chest as Marcus kissed the top of his head. Elliott then lifted his head and turned to face Marcus. Marcus could see that the nightmare had had some impact on Elliott, as tears ran down his face.

"Uh, Marcus, can you do me a favor?"

"I'll try, what do you want, Elliott?"

"You know you have been so good to me, when no one else has in my entire life. I really don't know exactly what I'm feeling, but I think I want you to kiss me, if that's OK with you."

"But I thought that you liked girls," Marcus said with a confused look.

"I do. But there's something about you that makes me curious, True, I have had sex with men for money and drugs. But with you, it's different. Besides that, we're both in your bed naked, doesn't that account for something?" replied Elliott.

With that Marcus placed his hand on Elliott's chin, tilted his head upwards, and kissed him on the lips. Just a peck at first, then the two of them continued kissing one another. Never had Marcus kissed another man before, so patiently. All these years he had drowned his sexual desires in his work. Marcus couldn't believe what was happening. He was actually giving in to his feelings and desires. Just trying on be himself for the first time in his life. Elliott like Marcus was also starting to give in to his desires. True, Elliott had had sex with other men for money or drugs or because he was forced, but this time it was different. This time he wanted to. There was emotion that captivated this moment. For the first time in both of their lives they were becoming aware of who they were and just exactly what they wanted. They wanted each other.

Elliott, being the more experienced of the two, removed the covers off their naked bodies as they continued kissing passionately. He then began running his hand back and forth across Marcus hairy chest. As he did this, his hand would stop for a few minutes paying close attention to Marcus nipples, first the right one and then the left. Marcus began groaning through his kisses. His body experienced sensations never felt before. Marcus body began to writhe in response to Elliott's sensual caresses. Gaining a moment of clarity, Marcus pushed Elliott away and stopped him.

"Elliott, are you sure that you want to do this? I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do."

"Yes, Marcus, I am very sure. I never wanted anything more in my life. I want you."

Elliott could sense a little hesitancy from Marcus. He could really understand why Marcus was so concerned. Then it hit him. He had remembered that it was Marcus' first time.

"Marcus, let me make your first time a special one. You have made me aware of what a special person I am. Now I want to make you aware that making love to another man is special too. One good turn deserves another, right?"

"But, I never did it with a woman or a guy, for that matter," said Marcus, turning red.

"Well, that makes two of us. We're doing it because we both want to do it, with one another I should add. So this will be both of our first times. Just follow my lead and let me show you."

Elliott resumed kissing Marcus. They began exploring each other's mouths with their tongues. Elliott slowly began to move downwards. He took Marcus' left nipple between his lips and began sucking on it, alternating between licking and sucking his nipple. Marcus once again started to writhe in ecstasy. After a few moments of focusing on his left nipple, he switched to the right one and proceeded to do exactly what he had done to the left. After a few minutes of focusing on Marcus' right nipple, he began licking downwards towards his groin area.

When Elliott reached Marcus' groin, there across his stomach lay an 8" piece of perfection, hard as a rock and oozing its juices onto his stomach in response to Elliott's stimulation. Ever so slowly Elliott ran his tongue up Marcus' balls and continued upwards very slowly up the length of the shaft. Marcus groaned in sheer ecstasy. Never in his life had he felt so much pleasure. He couldn't believe that in all these years he had been denying himself this kind of pleasure. Marcus was in heaven.

Elliott stopped at the head of Marcus' cock and in one fell swoop licked up the juices coming from Marcus' cock. The taste was sweet with a tinge of saltiness. After that Elliott raised Marcus' legs above his head, exposing Marcus' pink and hairy hole. It was a beautiful sight for Elliott. Then gently he kissed Marcus' virginal entryway, Marcus began to groan as he noticed next that a tongue was licking circles around his sacred entryway. More and more Elliott licked at the rosebud, sending shivers up and down Marcus' spine. Once the hole was nice and wet, Elliott began inserting his finger into the channel, very carefully watching the expressions on Marcus' face, so as not to hurt him. Elliott did so very slowly, taking his time to allow Marcus to gets accustomed to the newfound invasion.

"Marcus, do you have any lube?" asked Elliott.

"It's inside the drawer of my night stand," replied Marcus.

With that Elliott removed his finger from Marcus' channel and lowered his legs. He reached over and opened the drawer and retrieved the tube of lubricant. He opened the container and then squeezed some out onto Marcus' hard cock, sliding it very slowly up and down, taking special care not to make Marcus cum. He then squeezed some of the slick substance onto his hand and applied some of it to his quivering opening, making sure to get some of the substance inside his own hole to accommodate Marcus' large pole.

Positioning himself above the large throbbing cock, Elliott gradually lowered his hole onto Marcus, slowly impaling himself. After sliding all the way down to the hairs of Marcus' crotch, Elliott began to feel the tickling sensation at his entryway. He stopped to get used to the size of Marcus' cock and to allow Marcus to experience the feeling of filling someone up.

The combination of the warmth and tightness of Elliott's hot tunnel was showing Marcus a new awareness of being a sexual being. The pleasures were so intensified due to the emotional bond and physical attraction each had for one another. After Elliott became accustomed to the size, he began to slide up and down Marcus' hard pillar. Gradually the tempo increased he impaled himself. Marcus couldn't believe the sensations he was feeling. Never in his life did he ever imagine that there could be so much pleasure, between the sliding in and out of his hard cock, into a warm, moist and tight hole, which sent chills up and down his spine. Each time Marcus' cock rubbed against Elliott's prostate, his cock got harder and harder.

"Oh, God, Marcus, I'm getting close!"

As the words came out of Elliott's mouth, Marcus got the signal to increase the tempo. Pumping faster and faster into Elliott, about 30 seconds later Marcus began to explode deep inside of Elliott. Shot after shot began to fill Elliott up inside, and as Elliott was being filled up he began to shoot his load all over Marcus' hairy chest in response to the many pleasures he was experiencing. As Elliott's orgasm reached the end, he collapsed on top of Marcus. The two of them were completely spent. Never had either one of them been aware that there could be so much pleasure. Awareness for both of them had reached new heights. Between the emotional bonds that the two had for one another, along with the physical bonds, their awareness of true happiness had been reached for the first time in each of their lives.

As Elliott began to recover from his orgasm, he continued lying on Marcus' chest, with Marcus's arms wrapped around him and his cock still semi-hard inside of Elliott. Tears and emotions had begun to consume the two of them.

"I guess that these have been our lessons on learning how to live," Marcus said.

As the two of them began to kiss each other passionately, never had they had any concept of what living was all about until their paths had crossed. Through each other's experiences in each of their lives they were able to combine those experiences to come up with a formula for living and enjoying life itself.