Long Lost Lovers

Copyright for this story belongs to and remains with the author. I don't have any major objection to my work being re-distributed, but ASK FIRST!!!

This is a gay adult story with the consequent language and images. If homosexuality and/or sexually explicit themes offend you then do not continue. If these are illegal in your area, then you have my sympathy, but you proceed at your own risk.

This is a work of fiction, and as such the characters are not bound by the usual dictates of modern society. Unsafe sexual practices can be undertaken with impunity only in the world of fantasy. In reality, it is your obligation and your right to play safely, sanely and healthily.

I hope you enjoy my work, and if you have any comments, or ideas that may inspire new work, please feel free to contact me -- all emails will be answered to the best of my ability. Iainlthr@hotmail.com.

Long Lost Lovers

Iainlthr@hotmail.com

He looked fucking fabulous. I couldn't take my eyes from his body, as I tried to drink in every inch of his frame, tried to hold the vision in my mind and store it away to be cherished forever more.

At just over six feet tall, Ian dominated any group by virtue of his height alone. But he was gorgeous as well. A true hunk. His face was classically beautiful, with tousled dark brown hair, piercing deep green eyes, a straight patrician nose and square jaw. He had broad shoulders and the perfectly defined chest with pectorals you could bounce a coin off, emphasised by small but always erect nipples. Below them, a washboard stomach squeezed between the narrowest waist bore a hint of dark fuzz which led invitingly downwards, disappearing beneath a pair of running shorts. His legs were pillars of muscled strength, rippling as he walked, and from the rear his shoulder blades and back had the same toned, fluid movement of the very fit. His skin had the tanned glow of having been exposed to the sun for most of the summer.

We had been best friends at school, but had lost touch, and this was the first time I had seen him in more than 10 years. I'd always remembered him as being the most attractive guy at school, but he was more than that -- he was simply stunning. Without a thought for the consequences, I simply stared at him, my total concentration directed at the apparition before me.

"Mike ... MIKE?" The sound of my name finally broke through the daydream in my mind, and I started as I realised Ian was talking to me.

"Uh, sorry, man" I stuttered at him, "What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to go for a swim. Are you okay? You seemed to be a million miles away."

I smiled, guiltily, grateful that sitting in the lounge chair as I was, my erection was uncomfortable but not obvious. "Yeah, that'd be great. I'll get changed in my room and meet you down at the pool."

Jumping up, I made a hurried exit from his room, hoping the bulge in my jeans wasn't too noticeable. I was sure he had looked at my crotch as I stood, but maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. As I shucked off my clothes and pulled on a pair of Speedos, I reflected on how this weekend had turned out even better than I had hoped.

When I received the invitation to attend a class re-union at a resort hotel on the Gold Coast, I had been unsure, but thought it could be interesting to catch up with the guys I went to school with, and have a nice break away from home at the same time. In a way, I was kind of looking forward to the shock value from some of them when I told them I was gay. And I was curious about what all those pimply teenagers had become over time. In addition, there was the hope that Ian would be there. I had had a crush on him right through school, but never had the guts to say or do anything about it, just dreamed and worshipped from afar.

So when I arrived this morning to find that my room was right next to his, and then to have him knocking at the door to say hello, I was ecstatic. We'd sat and made small talk over a drink, trading stories about work. Nothing too personal, but I had become entranced by him, unable to take my eyes off him, and now this invitation to swim -- a perfect chance to ogle him in his briefs, and chat even more.

Like a love-sick kid, I raced down to the pool area, looking around for him on the sun-lounges near the bar. I prayed that my cock would behave itself and not swell again to give me away in the tight lycra Speedos I wore. As soon as I stepped into the sun, I saw Ian's arm waving from a quiet area on the other side of the pool, a little away from the main entrance, and just a bit more secluded than the rest of the surrounds. I could feel the telltale throb in my groin, but willed myself not to get an erection, and tried to look casual as I sauntered towards him.

As soon as I was within arm's reach, Ian jumped up, grabbed my towel and bundle of clothes and threw them onto a lounge. Gripping my arm, he called out "Last one in buys the first round of drinks tonight!" and dived for the water, pulling me along with him. With a mighty splash we both plunged into the cool but pleasant blue pool. Coming up for air, I spluttered and laughed, throwing armfuls of water at him as he surfaced close by. I had always loved the water, always felt so comfortable, so free, when it surrounded and supported me. Never a champion, I had nonetheless been quite competitive at school. I revelled in the feeling again now, taking a few strokes, then diving under to drift lazily in the silence before coming up for air.

Ian had stayed in only for a few minutes, before climbing onto one of the ledges that acted as an underwater seat, leaning back with his arms along the pool edge. I continued my drifting, floating on my back, then kicking and ducking under again to swim along the bottom of the pool, before returning to the surface and propelling myself along with small confident kicks. Finally, I looked around for him, and made my way over to the same seat ledge.

"Mike, you always look so ... so graceful, in the water." Ian said admiringly. "You make it seem like there's no effort at all to swimming. You always did. I remember watching you at school sports days, and thinking how you made it seem so natural to be in the water."

"Well, thank you. I'm flattered." I smiled at him. He grinned back almost sheepishly, and I swore there was the hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Let's dry off and have a drink." I continued, and he happily agreed, standing quickly and jumping out of the pool to grab a towel and wrap it around himself as he took up position on one of the two lounges where our clothes were.

I followed him out, drying myself and musing over the unexpected compliment. It occurred to me a little unusual that he would have remembered my swimming ability after all these years. After a quick rubdown, I stretched out on the lounge, letting the hot sun warm my body. With my eyes closed against the glare, I spread my arms and legs to make the most of the heat. Beside me I heard Ian murmur "mmm, that's nice."

"Yeah, the sun feels good after that swim." I agreed.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that too." he said, then added "I'll go get us a drink, okay?"

As I opened my eyes to look around, curious about his strange comment, he headed for the bar. From this angle I got a great view of his firm round buns wrapped in the tight nylon of his Speedos. Once again, I couldn't help but stare at the beauty of him, and my cock stirred, beginning to grow and push against the fabric of my tights. I desperately tried to will myself not to become erect, succeeding only partially. I hoped it wasn't too obvious, but didn't try to cover up since there was only the two of us in this quiet corner, and guessed that it would be less apparent if I pretended nothing was different.

When Ian returned, he placed my drink beside me and remained standing, stretching his arms and chest before leaning against a planter box with his eyes closed facing into the sun, his legs slightly apart and his arms back so that his magnificent chest was pushed forward. He was truly a hunk. As my eyes roamed over him the telltale twitch in my groin returned. The Speedos he wore were so tight, black and shiny, and did nothing to hide his assets. I could clearly see the outline of his large round balls and the full thick tube of his penis, could even make out the ridge of his cockhead. As my own prick began to throb and lengthen, I swore that his meat was growing inside the nylon pouch he wore. I looked up into his face, to find that his eyes were now open, his attention centred on me. More specifically, he seemed to be staring at my groin. At that thought, my cock jumped with an involuntary twitch and I felt a deep flush travel through me.

Ian looked into my face, then away quickly with an embarrassed grin. He straightened and moved to the adjoining lounge chair. Yes, I thought, there was a very pronounced tenting in the front of his Speedos. So inviting, so hot. As my excitement increased, I sat up straighter to conceal my growing erection.

Trying to find a diversion, to change the subject in my mind, I turned my face to him again.

"So, Ian, we talked about work, what about socially?" I asked innocently. "What have you been up to all this time?"

"Nothing special, really." He answered slowly, seeming to choose his words carefully. "You know how it is, the usual round of friends, parties, dinners, etc. I bought myself a house about 18 months ago, and it needed a bit of work, so that accounts for a large chunk of my free time."

I smiled. "I can sympathise with that. I went through the renovation phase on my own place about 3 years ago. The hassles with tradesmen and materials, and living in half finished rooms. What a nightmare." We laughed together at the memories.

"What about yourself?" he asked. "Anyone important in your life? A `significant other' as they say these days?"

I thought carefully, wondered where he was going, or how he would react to the truth. "No," I hesitated, "always on the lookout, but I'm still single."

"Just haven't found the right girl, huh?"

This was it, the moment of revelation. Fuck it' I thought, it's now or never'. Looking him directly in the face, I braced myself. "Just haven't found the right guy, actually. I'm gay, you know." I said it calmly, tried to make it sound almost offhanded. I was expecting some kind of reaction, but not the one I got.

Ian had his drink to his lips, and at my words he gave a strangled kind of gasp, spitting the alcohol onto the ground, and started laughing. I looked at him in amazement as he shook with mirth at the unexplained joke, beginning to get a little annoyed that he should find my sexuality such a source of entertainment. It took him fully 30 seconds to calm down enough to look me in the eye, with a huge smile on his face.

"I didn't think it was funny!" I said, the irritation clear in my voice.

"No, no, you don't understand," he said, more giggles escaping him. "Mike, Mike... I'm gay too!"

I sat up at that, surprised and then not surprised. I should have guessed.

"But that's not what I was laughing about. It gets better. For all those years at school, I had a huge crush on you! I wanted you, wanted to be like you and to be with you, but I could never summon up the courage to say anything. You know what it was like -- no-one ever admitted to being a poof, in case you were shunned, or even worse."

Now it was my turn to laugh, long and hard. Ian smiled with me, waiting for me to get over the burst of giggles so I could calm down enough to speak again. Finally, I could look into his bemused eyes. "You've just taken the exact words out of my mouth." I said. "I can't tell you how much I wanted you when we were at school. I thought about you all the time, but couldn't tell you. In fact, I thought about you for a long time afterward as well."

We broke up with laughter at that, more with relief and release at being able to open up to each other after so long, than any sense of hilarity. When we subsided again, we really began to talk. It turned out that we knew many of the same restaurants and clubs, often drank in the same places. It was amazing that we hadn't run into each other at one or the other over the years. The conversation was one between old friends, with no need for secrets or hidden meanings. I felt so comfortable, so at ease as we caught up on the years. I experienced a feeling of having come home, being able to tell everything to this gorgeous man from my past.

"You know, Mike," Ian said after a time, in a softer voice, "you look fantastic. I always admired your body, but you've improved with time."

"Me?" I asked in genuine surprise. "You're the one who looks great. I have to plead guilty to pure lust all morning, and more than once having to hide a hard-on since you knocked at my door!" Even as I said it, I felt the familiar urge building again. And when I looked, I could now see quite clearly that Ian was sporting a growing tumescence in his Speedos. Our eyes met and locked, and we smiled again, this time the smile of anticipation and mutual excitement.

"Should we do something about these?" he said invitingly, indicating our respective groins.

"Your place or mine?" I grinned.

We almost ran from the pool area, finding ourselves in my room simply because it was closer to the elevators than his. As soon as the door closed behind us our belongings fell to the floor and his arms were around me as he drew me to him. With my hands on his back, and our faces only inches apart, I looked into his eyes, seeing the need I felt reflected back at me.

"Ian, I've waited so long for this," I started, but he held his finger to my lips.

"Forget about what might have been, and enjoy what is." He said softly.

We edged closer to each other, wanting and needing but yet somehow holding back, for no apparent reason. Then our lips brushed against each other lightly. The feathery contact released all of our inhibitions, and we crashed against each other. His mouth closed over mine, and I felt the moistness of his tongue at my lips. Opening to accept him, I tasted him, and pressed with my own tongue as we jousted and sucked at each other, swallowing each other and locked together. My hands explored his back and shoulders, his neck and arms. I felt his fingers at my waist, then sliding down over my arse. My cock was straining in the Speedos, pressing forward and I ground myself against him, feeling the hardness of him through the double layer of fabric.

My hands fell to his butt, and I began to slide the flimsy nylon costume from him. As I did, we broke our kiss, and my mouth turned to his jaw, nibbling and licking as I slid my tongue along his cheek, and down his neck. He threw his head back and moaned softly, as my fingers found the knot of cord at the front of his Speedos, undoing it quickly and lifting the lycra out and over his erection, pushing the restraining material down his legs so it fell to the ground. He stepped out of the Speedos and kicked them away as my hand closed around his large throbbing meat. My fingers traced the length of his rod, to touch at the sticky moisture forming at his slit, while my other hand wrapped around the large orbs hanging between his legs.

Ian groaned with delight, and his hands worked over my shoulders and neck, sliding up and down my back. My skin tingled to his touch as my lips travelled down his neck and onto his chest. Moving to one side, I found his nipple, licking at it first, and then nibbling gently at the hard brown nub. I shifted my attention to his other tit, then back again, as he sighed with low "mmmmmmm's" with each bite at his aureole. Dropping to my knees in front of him, my nose rubbed its way down the muscled ridges of his abdomen, the dusting of hair soft and enticing against my skin. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the musky scent of his body until I came to face his very masculinity.

The fleshy pole before me was magnificent. Long, hard, smooth but for the veins of blood pulsing under the skin. It throbbed slightly with each beat of his heart, standing up proudly and enticingly. I noticed that there was no tan line on his skin, and thought in passing that he must sunbathe naked. I could see a droplet of clear pre-cum forming at the very tip of his prong, and my tongue licked out, scooping it up as I tasted his essence. I savoured the moment as I enjoyed what I had dreamed of for years, then slowly began to trace the length of his shaft with my tongue, licking longingly along him until my face came up against the wiry pubic hair surrounding the base of his cock. From there my mouth journeyed slowly down until I could lick at his scrotum. I sucked the skin into my mouth. Closing my lips around his encased testicles and massaging them with my tongue, as he gasped quietly. Releasing his jewels, I returned to his cock, and this time my lips opened over the large darkened head, closing around the ridge of his glans. Generating saliva and coating him, I slid slowly down, my teeth scraping gently against the sensitive skin as I swallowed him inch by inch, drowning his manliness in warm moisture and working my throat around the solid tube of flesh. I did not gag, willed myself to relax as the hot pole of male muscle entered my throat, and pressed my face forward until he was completely inside me, my nose buried once again in the hair at his groin.

I swallowed. The reflex action of my muscles massaging his entire shaft as I did. Slowly I began to lift away, then pushed back again, slurping at him, sucking him into me and releasing him momentarily to sink onto him again. I felt the twitching tremble of his excitement as my hands explored the firm skin of his buttocks, and my fingers strayed to play with the sensitive skin of his ball sac. I increased my tempo, working my way up and down on his rod, enjoying the incredible feeling of his powerful cock pressing into my throat.

As his breathing became shorter, Ian leaned down, his hands going to my face. He lifted me away from him, gently. "Easy, Mike," he hissed, "there's no need to hurry this. We've waited years already!".

I stood and smiled into his deep green eyes, and our mouths met again, re-igniting the most passionate kiss I have ever experienced. He ground his hips forward, pressing his slicked cock against the Speedos I wore. Suddenly, he reached down and cupped my aching hard-on in one hand, the other gripping my nuts, rubbing the lycra material against my skin. His face pulled away from me and he smiled again, this time a mischievous glint in his eye. Without warning he yanked at the flimsy costume, tearing it from me and flinging the remnants to one side. Backing off a little, he stood and stared at me, his eyes hungrily travelling all over my body, lingering on the trembling steel hard pole of my cock. "That's what I meant when I said `nice' at the pool!". I remembered his comment and laughed.

Ian grabbed me then, both arms around me, and turned to one side, pulling me over and throwing me onto the king size bed, before crashing on top of me himself. We rolled around, hands and arms and mouths exploring each other, legs intertwining, bodies mashing together. We could not get enough of each other, wanting to hold and touch, to possess each other with years of pent up anticipation. We writhed and twisted, sucked and licked, played and squeezed, laughing and groaning all at once in a combined frenzy of passion and joy.

Eventually we slowed even in this, coming to a more tender point, kissing long and passionately as we lay side by side. I manouevered around to roll onto my back, and to pull Ian up so he lay atop me, his legs between my own so I could lift my knees and wrap them around his beautiful body. Our still throbbing erections mashed between our bodies, touching along their respective lengths. I could feel the heat of his cock against my own, and knew he was experiencing the same sensation. As I broke our kiss yet again, I looked up into his eyes, and saw in them a need that matched my own, a mixture of happiness and excitement and ... what else?

"Ian," I whispered into his ear, "I need you, need you NOW!". As I did, my legs lifted again, and I squeezed him between my thighs, urging him in my mind to take me. He looked back at me, his own desire great.

"Are you sure?"

"I've been sure for over ten years."

He lifted himself from me, and his face searched the room. I gestured at the bedside table. "Second drawer." I whispered. "Always prepared..." and grinned at him. He quickly found the sachet of lubricant, and re-positioned himself between my legs, now on his knees. I lifted my legs higher, giving him access to the soft pink target of my anus as he ripped the top of the packet, and smeared a generous glob of the sticky gel onto his cock. Squeezing more of it over his fingers, he leaned forward, and I felt the cool lube being applied to my hole, his finger working slowly, carefully into me to coat the inner muscle of my sphincter.

Ian leaned forward again, his hands on either side of me, and I felt the solid tip of him nudging against my arse. I ached with the anticipation and the need, trembled with the excitement of my dreams come true in this one moment. I looked up at him. "Yeah, stud, I'm ready. Do it now!" I urged him.

He began to press forward, and as he did, I pushed back, willing myself to relax and to open, to allow him entry. My anus resisted, and I felt the discomfort, the momentary pain as I was stretched by his cockhead. I forced myself to accept his invasion, as he slid the rounded knob of his manliness slowly through my ring of muscle. I winced, then breathed a long sigh of relief as the head of his cock slipped inside me and my rectum closed behind the lip of his glans. Ian stopped then, waiting for me to adjust, to become used to him there. The pain quickly disappeared, replaced by a wonderful, erotic sensation of being opened, and a growing need to have more of him. I smiled into his questioning eyes, and he relaxed with my reassurance, his confidence re-emerging.

Now he began to slide into me. Slowly, but steadily, his long strong cock entered my willing body. I felt the length of his shaft sliding in, felt the rubbing as his prong caressed my prostate and continued on. The sensation of being filled, of surrendering to blissful invasion, was incredibly erotic. I was no virgin, but this was like a first time for me. Never had I wanted someone as I wanted him, and never had I experienced the total enjoyment I felt as he sank himself into me.

Finally, he filled me completely. The full length of his hard, powerful weapon was buried in my bowel. I swore I could feel the tip of his cockhead nudging the base of my stomach as he came to rest, my balls crushed against his pubic bone. "Oh, fuck, Mike," he gasped, "that feels so good!!". I nodded my agreement, basking in the flood of pleasure that was washing over me. As Ian caught his breath, still motionless as his cock was lodged completely inside me, I flexed the muscles of my arse, gripping at him, squeezing the shaft of his meat with my rectum. His eyes opened wide. "Oh, yeah, mmmmmmm", he moaned. Bending forward, which had the added effect of forcing him even deeper into me, he kissed me, and I kissed him back, my entire body tingling with joy and emotion.

Our mouths separated and my head dropped back onto the bed as he settled into a more comfortable position. Then he pulled back slightly, the grip of my arse around him tightening in response. Again he edged forward, then pulled again, this time a little further. The friction of the movement within me sent shivers through my body. Soon, Ian was sliding his steel hard pole slowly in and out, in long measured strokes which delivered indescribable pleasure with each motion. He settled into a rhythm, not too fast, but steady and thrilling, and I matched him, pushing back as he drove forward, clenching at him as he pulled back. I urged him on with whimpers and moans of delight, and he gasped and groaned with the joy of being inside me.

Gradually, and despite us both wanting this to go on for hours, his tempo increased, his thrusts became more forceful. The tide of passion rose within each of us at the prolonged pleasure of our coupling. Unable to resist our natural urges, Ian pounded into me, harder and faster, deeper and deeper, his movements becoming more urgent. I matched his need with my own, gripping at him, pulling him against me with my legs, rutting back at him faster and faster. I whispered obscenities to him, begging him to plough my body deeper and harder, and he obliged, thumping himself at me, ramming his masculinity into my hot wet accepting cavern.

Sweat poured from both of us as passion rose. The sounds of our lovemaking filled the room, grunts and groans joining with the squeaking protest of the bed springs, and the squelching of his ramrod weapon ploughing my hole. The aroma of male musk, of pure masculine sex, mixed with the sweat to leave the scent of passion on the air. Electric shocks raced through my body, emanating from the glorious invading rod within me, and radiating to every nerve as the irresistible tide of orgasm began to rise. Ian gasped and moaned, his hard fleshy sword of maleness spearing into me, taking possession of my writhing body. I arched back at him, impaling myself on the steel hard dagger of his cock. I felt that rod of iron pierce me, own me, and I surrendered totally to it, to him. With a crash, I knew I had reached the point of no return. I tried to gasp out a warning to Ian, but he continued his pounding invasion, his naked sabre buried to the hilt in my clutching wet scabbard.

Suddenly, my entire body tensed and gripped. My balls heaved and rolled, and poured their load into my shaft. Ian at that instant grabbed hold of my cock, and pumped it. A stream of white hot cum erupted from me, shooting high into the air and crashing back onto my stomach. A second and a third followed, and more, until I felt a river of jism pouring from my twitching pole and filling a lake of white goo on my stomach. Even as I came, shooting again and again, Ian gasped, and shuddered. His mighty cock swelled even further as it filled me completely. He called out, a strangled, wordless cry and his entire body spasmed as he emptied load upon load of his male essence deep within me. Still thrusting, although slower but with greater force, his manjuice poured into me, sloshing around and over his throbbing member, and dribbling from me.

After what seemed like hours -- I lost all track of time -- the heaving quaking power of orgasm subsided slowly from each of us. Ian withdrew his still rampant weapon from me slowly, and we collapsed together, arms around each other, in a euphoric haze of post coital exhaustion. Sated as never before, and happy beyond words, I lifted onto one elbow, looking down into those emerald eyes.

"You know, when I said before that I thought about you all through school, and for a long while after?" I asked tenderly.

"Uh huh" he nodded, a question in his eyes.

"Well, the truth is, I never stopped thinking about you. It was the chance to see you again that was one of the main reasons for coming to this re-union weekend." There. I had said it. I had opened up with the biggest secret of my life, to the only one who I could ever have told.

He smiled softly, a look of tenderness on his face. "I just wish I'd taken the time to track you down much earlier, Mike." He looked hard at me, and my heart beat with unexplained pounding. Neither of us had any more words for that special moment, and something happened between us just then that I didn't yet comprehend.

An hour later, Mike lifted himself into a sitting position, and I swivelled around so my head was resting against his still naked groin. "You realise that the re-union dinner is supposed to start soon. Do you still want to go, or would you rather just stay here and make love all night?"

I smiled at the thought. "Both!" I said, then added, "I did want to catch up with the others. I was planning to `come out' to all of them at dinner tonight, wanted to see the looks on faces, see who accepted and who didn't"

"Okay." He said. "I wouldn't mind seeing a shock or two as well. So we'll go. And then maybe retreat from the fray back here again."

We managed to drag ourselves upright, and Ian borrowed my robe to fetch his evening clothes from his room down the corridor while I showered quickly. He came back to my room, saying he didn't want to be separated from me any longer than necessary, and showered as well. We both dressed, and yet again, I took the time to admire him. He was the most physically beautiful man I had ever seen. I caught him staring at me and threw a questioning glance at him. He simply smiled.

"You look just perfect," he said, and I swelled with happiness.

We made our way together to the function room, and collected the obligatory name tags. Some of the faces I recognised, some had changed dramatically. Most had partners with them, although there were more than a few travelling solo as well. I got caught up in a conversation with one of the guys who had been on the swim team with me, making small talk as his wife constantly picked at invisible fluff on his coat. Ian disappeared for a time, then I spotted him in a group, looking bored. He saw me looking, and brightened noticeably, nodding and smiling at me with an enigmatic smile.

Someone announced that dinner was to be served and asked us to find our seats. The tables were already set out with names around each, so much searching quickly ensued as people looked for their spot. When I located my name, I found to my delight that Ian and I were next to each other. Leaning to him, I commented "That was lucky!"

He grinned. "Lucky I managed to change them around without anyone noticing!" he said. We both laughed quickly before covering up as others sat around us. Dinner was not too bad, and the conversation flowed relatively well considering most people had not seen each other for years, although the stilted small talk sometimes dropped into lost silence until someone came up with another topic. There was lots of Do you remember..', and I'd forgotten about...' as the night wore on. All through it, Ian and I were inseparable, and a couple of times I jumped with delighted surprise when his hand drifted to my leg under the cover of the tablecloth.

Finally, Nick Harris, our class captain in our final year, stood, and announced that they were going to pick names at random and ask the person to stand and tell the room quickly about themselves since they left school. I saw grimaces around the room, but this was what I had been hoping for. The first few were similar, and the exercise began to get boring. A lot of "I married So and So, and we have two kids and live in Such and Such..." or "I'm now working on an exciting project with XYZ Company, and getting a lot of satisfaction..." . There was one or two "I got married soon after school, then divorced and...".

My chance came. Nick stood up and said, "Now everyone, let's here from Mike Sailors". Light applause, a look of encouragement from Ian, and I stood up and looked around.

"Well," I said, "I left school and managed to get a great position with my company. I bought a house a few years back and renovated it, and I made a wonderful self-discovery that I would like to share. I'm gay!" with that I sat down again, and pulled in my chair. There was a silence around the room for a few moments. I heard someone chuckle, and another voice say "I always thought so...". Someone else made a comment about being disgusting, then a voice on the other side of the room, from Nick himself -- "Good on you, Mike. And thanks for having the courage to share that with us." And he started clapping. I was surprised and pleased by the response from him, and feeling very smug with the reaction from most of the others, as polite applause joined in with Nick's.

Ian smiled a massive grin at me, put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, drawing more than a few stares from the others nearby. Without waiting for the next name to be called, he stood up and cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the process," he said loudly, as faces turned toward him. I looked up at him, curious and a little alarmed, but he smiled and squeezed my arm in reassurance. "I'm Ian Santana, and I would like to add something to Mike's comments. Not only is he gay, but he is the most wonderful man I know, and I just want to say in front of all of you now, that ..."

He paused and looked around the room, which was completely silent, hanging on his words. He looked down to me again, his hand dropping to rest on my shoulder. He took a deep breath.

"I want to say to all of you, that I love him. More than words can express, with all my heart."

An even longer silence followed. One or two people got up and walked from the room, muttering their disapproval as they did. I ignored them, my mind whirling, my heart pounding as I looked up at the gorgeous man who had just publicly announced his love for me. My eyes filled with tears of joy and my emotions ran wild.

Ian bent down, and lifted me to my feet. He looked around the room defiantly, then deep into my eyes. "I love you." he mouthed silently.

"I love you too." I whispered back to him through my tears.

He put his arms around me, and kissed me as I hugged him tightly. Somewhere in the background of my mind I realised that the school colleagues who had stayed after Ian's announcement were cheering loudly, thunderous applause ringing out. I didn't care. I had the man of my dreams.

The End.

comments, compliments or complaints? email me at iainlthr@hotmail.com