Copyright of this story is retained by the author and it should not be reposted to any newsgroup or website without permission. Any form of commercial use is strictly prohibited without the express permission of the author. The author can be contacted at gym@softhome.net
The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by location, are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by explicit descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not based on any actual events.
Sexual Development: Chapter 15 - Getting To Know Craig by Gymnopedies
"Hey, look out!"
Daniel felt a bump as he collided with another person, and then a hand on his chest. "Oops, sorry," he apologised. Then he saw that the other person was Dean Williams and he gave a smile. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going."
"No problem," Dean replied. "What are you in such a hurry for?" The two of them had collided in the doorway of Adam's office. Daniel was going in as Dean was coming out.
"I'm not really in a hurry, just got things on my mind," said Daniel.
"Ah, OK," said Dean. "I was just dropping in our weekly measurement sheets."
"Me too," said Daniel, indicating the sheets of paper that he was carrying which contained the results of the measurement sessions that he and Jason had done over the past week. Adam requested that the measurement sheets be brought in to him each Friday.
Dean nodded. "How many times did you do it this week?"
"Only two."
"We did three," said Dean. "Trev didn't want to do more than two, but I managed to talk him into an extra one; it keeps us on Doc Lomax's good side."
"I suppose so," said Daniel. "You still want me to come round on Sunday?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, course I do."
"What time should I come?"
Dean thought for a second. "I have kick-boxing in the morning, but I'll be done by lunch time. How about two-ish?"
"Sounds good."
"Great. You can find my house OK?"
"Yeah, I think so. You live on Albany Street, right?"
"Yeah, number 14."
"I'll be there."
Grinning happily, Dean slapped Daniel on the arm and then went on his way. Daniel watched the boy for a moment and then looked down at the paper in his hand. Better get this handed in.
Adam was working on his computer. He glanced up, as the boy stepped into the room. "Hi, Daniel. How you doing? I'll be with you in a minute. Let me just finish this off." He returned his attention to the screen.
Daniel wandered over to the desk, which contained papers in tidy piles. He recognised the familiar layout of the measuring-results sheets; it seemed that quite a few people had already dropped off their weekly statistics. The name on the top sheet caught the boy's eye: "Dean Williams." His curiosity aroused, Daniel took a step closer, trying to appear casual as his eyes scanned down the list of figures. He quickly found what he was looking for towards the bottom of the sheet. On the line headed "Penis: length", three columns had been filled in, with the figures 13.0, 13.2, and 13.1. Daniel smiled to himself; Dean's erection was fractionally smaller than his own. He leaned forwards to try to read the circumference measurements, but gave a start of surprise as a hand grasped the paper and flipped it over.
Looking up, Daniel felt himself blushing guiltily as he saw Adam looking at him.
The doctor gave a knowing smile and shook his head. "You ever hear the expression 'curiosity killed the cat'?" he asked.
"Sorry," Daniel murmured, lowering his eyes.
"Don't worry about it," said Adam. "It's a natural thing for teenaged boys to want to know how they compare with their friends." He left the paper faced down and held out his hand to accept the sheets that Daniel was holding. "Are these your weekly results?"
"Yeah," the boy nodded. "But I'm afraid we only managed two lots."
"Two is fine," said Adam, scanning down the sheets. "After last weekend, I was little surprised that you and Jason got back into it so easily."
"Yeah, well, I wanted to talk to you about that." Daniel glanced back at the open door to make sure that no one else was around.
"Is there a problem?" Adam asked, looking a little concerned.
Daniel shrugged. "Not really a problem," he said. "Or at least I don't think it is." He hesitated, not sure how to approach this. "It's Jason," he said.
"What's the matter with Jason?" Adam asked. He got up from behind his desk and moved round to the front. Sitting on the edge of the desktop, he waved his hand at a chair, indicating that Daniel should sit down.
"I don't know," said Daniel, lowering himself into the chair. "Maybe nothing's wrong with him. But he seems to be acting funny."
"In what way?"
"It's sort of strange." The boy frowned, afraid that Adam would think that he was being silly. "It's like he's trying too hard." He drew a deep breath. "Before we had that falling out, it was like he hated doing the measuring and stuff and only did what he really had to. But when we did the measuring on Tuesday, and again last night, he was acting like all the touching and everything didn't bother him at all. But it was sort of over-the-top, as though he was trying to show that he wasn't bothered, but all the time he was. It's sort of hard to explain."
Adam waited for Daniel to finish and then gave an understanding smile. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I don't think it's anything for you to worry about," he said. "Last weekend was a big upheaval for both of you. Learning that you were gay came as quite a shock for Jason, and it's going to take a while for him to properly accept it. This is just his way of dealing with it. Remember that I had quite a long talk with Jason when I went round to see him on Sunday. I can't tell you everything that we talked about, but I don't think I'm giving anything away if I tell you that the thing that he was most afraid of was the possibility that he might lose you as his best friend. If he seems to be trying too hard to accept the fact that you're gay, it's because your friendship is so important to him."
"But he doesn't need to try so hard," said Daniel.
"Have you told him that?"
"Well, no, not really."
Adam gave an amused laugh. "Have you considered the possibility that Jason might not be the only one who is trying too hard?"
Daniel thought about this. He knew he'd been making a special effort when he'd been around Jason, trying to avoid doing or saying anything that might upset his friend. Maybe Adam had a point.
"Things will settle down," said the doctor. "You just need to be patient. In the meantime, you could always consider doing the unthinkable."
"What's that?" Daniel asked, worriedly.
Adam gave another laugh. "Talk to each other," he said. "Sit down together and talk about what is worrying you, instead of tiptoeing around each other all the time. Boys are notoriously bad at that sort of thing, but life would be so much easier for both of you if you could manage to do it."
Daniel smiled sheepishly. "I'm not sure that Jason would do that, talk I mean."
"You won't know unless you give it a try." Adam gave the boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Things will settle down in time. Learn to communicate with each other and your friendship will end up stronger than ever. Trust me."
"OK, I'll give it a try." Daniel eyed the doctor sceptically, not entirely convinced that attempting to talk so frankly with Jason was the best idea.
Adam saw the look on the boy's face and gave a grin. "You boys really are hopeless," he said. "Though I suppose I wasn't so different when I was your age." He stood up and stretched as he gave a yawn. "I'd better get back on the treadmill. I'll see you and Jason tomorrow evening."
"Yeah, OK," said Daniel. "Thanks, Adam. Oh, do we need to bring anything tomorrow?"
"Only yourselves," the man smiled. "I think you should have a good time. I know Craig's looking forwards to it, which is unusual, since he normally hates these things."
"Yeah, it'll be fun," Daniel agreed.
It was almost dark when Craig arrived on Saturday evening. The nineteen-year-old pulled up outside Daniel's house and honked on the car horn. Daniel shouted to his mum that he was going and, grabbing his jacket, he hurried out. Jason was already sitting in the front seat next to Craig, having been picked up first, so Daniel jumped into the back.
Jason turned his head and nodded a greeting, and Daniel noted that his friend looked a little uncomfortable, as though he wasn't entirely happy to be there. The two boys had spent the afternoon together, and Jason had revealed that he was having second thoughts about going to Adam's house, saying that he wouldn't know anyone. It had taken quite a lot of persuading for Daniel to convince the boy to go, and it was a relief to see that he hadn't changed his mind again in the last couple of hours and decided to stay at home after all.
"Hi Daniel," Craig smiled, glancing back over his shoulder. "You look good."
"Thanks," Daniel replied. "We weren't sure what we should wear." He and Jason had discussed this earlier and decided on smart-casual.
Craig shrugged. "These things are always informal; there's no black-tie or any of that rubbish. It's just a chance for these medical people to get together and talk shop for a few hours. No one will care what you're wearing."
"So will everyone there be doctors?" Jason asked.
"Not all doctors," Craig replied. "Some are involved in research, like Adam. One's a paediatrician, a couple are psychologists, that sort of thing. Don't worry though, most of them are pretty cool. Besides, we won't be spending much time with them. After we've pigged-out on the food we'll leave them to it and the three of us can go off on our own."
It took around fifteen minutes to drive to Adam's house. There were about half-a-dozen cars parked in the large driveway when they arrived. Craig pulled the car to a stop and the boys climbed out.
"Wow!" said Jason, looking at the house, clearly impressed.
"I told you it was big," said Daniel. "Wait until you see inside."
Craig led the way in through the front door and then took Daniel's jacket and hung it up in a small closet. "Let's go find Adam." He took the boys through to the main lounge, where Daniel had been on his last visit.
There were around eight or nine men and women standing around in small groups, talking. Most of them had drinks in their hands. Adam was standing with two men and a woman. The men looked pretty old, and one of them had an untidy beard. The woman looked to be of a similar age to Adam and was tall, with shoulder-length blonde hair. She was taking animatedly, her features set in a slight frown.
Adam had noticed the boys enter, and he excused himself from the group and came over to them. He gave a tired sigh as he looked at Craig. "It's going to be a long night," he said. "Susan's already being a pain and she's only just arrived."
"You shouldn't have invited her," said Craig, giving the woman a cool look.
"I didn't. She invited herself," said Adam. "She's not exactly shy when it comes to anything like that."
"Look out, she's coming over," Craig warned, his voice low.
"Hello Craig," said the woman, as she joined them. "Still playing the catamite?"
"Susan," Adam's voice was soft, but the tone carried a hint of warning.
"Hello Susan," said Craig. "Still single?"
The woman's eyes narrowed for a moment and then she put on a wide, artificial smile as she turned her attention to the two younger boys. "The medical fraternity certainly appears to be attracting some younger members these days," she said.
"Susan, I'd like you to meet some good friends of mine," said Adam. "This is Daniel and Jason."
Daniel gave the woman a nod and a smile. Jason simply scowled at her.
"You always seem to have a lot of young friends, Adam," said Susan, raising one eyebrow.
"Actually it was me who invited them," said Craig. "So that I'd have someone to talk to and wouldn't get bored to death by you oldies."
"Oh, I see," said the woman. "You couldn't find any friends your own age? How old are you, young man," she asked Jason.
"I'm fourteen," Jason replied, glaring.
"Really? You look younger. You're very small for fourteen."
Jason's scowl deepened and Daniel hoped that his friend was not about to saying anything rude.
"Well, Adam, I'll leave you to talk with your young friends," said Susan, putting extra emphasis on the word "young". She turned away, heading back to the two men that she'd left a moment before.
"Sour-faced bat," Jason muttered.
"Jason!" Daniel hissed, nudging his friend.
"No, he's right," grinned Craig. "That's exactly what she is."
Adam sighed again. "Try and keep out of her way," he told Craig. He turned to Jason and Daniel. "Help yourselves to the food and the drinks. Stay away from the alcohol, but other than that you can have anything you like. I'm sure Craig will look after you."
"I'll try," Craig smiled.
As Adam returned to his other guests, Craig led the boys over to the side of the room where two large table had been set up full of snacks and drinks. "Come on, tuck in," he said.
Daniel picked up a plate and cast his eyes over the food. He picked up a couple of sandwiches filled with what he assumed was chicken and reached over for a handful of crisps. "Who was that woman?" he asked Craig.
"That's Susan," Craig replied, as though simply speaking her name explained everything. "She's a psychologist. Adam's known her for ages. I don't think he's very pleased that she's here tonight."
"So why doesn't he throw her out?" asked Jason, speaking around a mouthful of sausage roll.
Craig laughed. "I think he would quite like to. But it's complicated. Her family are old friends of Adam's parents. And to make things worse, he was sort of going out with her when me and him got together. That's why she's got the daggers out for me."
"She was Adam's girlfriend?" Daniel turned for another look at the woman, who was now on the far side of the room.
"Kind of," Craig explained. "She knew that he was gay, but was hoping to marry him anyway; she told him it would be much better for his medical career if he was married, but really she was only interested in his money. Then I came along and that kind of ruined her plans."
"What's a catamite?" asked Jason. "Like what she called you?"
Craig giggled at the question. "A catamite is a small boy kept by an older man for sex," he said, leaning close to the younger teens so that he could keep his voice low.
"Oh!" Jason's face coloured. "So she was talking about you and Adam?"
"You want me to draw you a diagram?" Craig laughed.
The three of them moved into a quiet corner where they chatted about various things, such as what the boys liked to do and what music they liked to listen to. They made frequent visits back to the food table, trying to time it so that they wouldn't be there at the same time as Susan, though this was fairly easy as the woman appeared to have little interest in food and only came by occasionally to top up her glass. At one point, as Craig popped out to the toilet, the two younger teens found themselves accosted by the older man with the untidy beard. He asked their names and introduced himself as Bill. Surprisingly, he was extremely easy to talk to and, even more surprisingly, he proved to be quite an authority on video-games and seemed to have experience of playing all of the latest titles. Jason, especially, was completely won-over by the man and was soon deep in conversation with him about what was currently the best gaming system. As Craig rejoined them a few minutes later, the man smiled and immediately threw an arm around the nineteen-year-old's shoulders.
"Craig, how are things with you?" the man asked, in a loud, deep voice.
"I'm fine thanks, Bill," Craig replied. "I've missed you. It's ages since you've been over for any serious gaming."
"I know," said Bill, regretfully. "I've been really busy. I'll try to get over one evening this next week. I always enjoy giving you a damned good thrashing."
"It's you who will get thrashed next time," grinned Craig.
"We'll see," the man laughed. "Anyway, I'd better circulate." He pulled a face. "Though to be honest I'd rather stay over here and chat with you youngsters than have to talk with those boring old farts. Oh well, I suppose I have a responsibility to share my great knowledge and experience. Nice meeting you boys," he told Daniel and Jason. He ruffled Jason's hair in a fatherly way and then ambled off.
Jason giggled as he straightened his hair. "He was cool."
"Yeah, Bill's great," Craig agreed. "He was Adam's tutor at medical school. Now he's a professor in charge of all training at the hospital. He comes over quite often, and when him and Adam are done chatting, me and him play on my Playstation. He beats me every time, no matter what game we play."
"Cool," said Jason.
Craig picked up his plate. "Come on, let's grab some more food and some drinks and we'll take them somewhere more comfortable. It's time we left the oldies to it."
The boys filled their plates and helped themselves to glasses of fruit-juice. Jason was speculatively eyeing the bottles of beer until Daniel poked him in the ribs, grinned and shook his head. Then they followed Craig from the lounge and back out into the hallway.
The room that Craig led them to was much smaller and cosier than the main lounge. It was almost completely in darkness, lit only by the warm glow of a real-flame gas-fire that was blazing in the hearth.
"This is much better," said Craig, picking up a large bean-bag that lay against the wall and tossing it down in front of the fire. "We'll finish eating, then we can play some games or watch a movie, or whatever you like. He lowered himself to the floor and leaned back into the bean-bag, wriggling to make himself comfortable.
Jason dropped down onto a large sheepskin rug, where he lay on his stomach, facing the fire, his knees bent and his feet casually kicking in the air. Daniel looked around and considered sitting in one of the chairs until Craig edged to one side and beckoned the boy down to join him. The bean-bag wasn't really big enough for two people to lean against, and Daniel found himself snuggled up against Craig's side, but he was comfortable, so he didn't particularly mind. Jason looked at them, his eyebrows raised, but he didn't say anything.
"What's the matter, you want to swap places," Daniel asked, mischievously.
"No thanks. I'm fine where I am," replied Jason.
"So, how long have you guys known each other?" Craig asked, as they tucked into their food.
"Ages," said Jason.
"Yeah, we first met when we both started school together," said Daniel. "We were only about four or five."
"That's a long time," said Craig. "You became friends as soon as you met?"
"Sort of," said Daniel. He grinned at Jason, who returned the grin. "It was down to a kid called Robbie something-or-other."
"Robbie Brooks," said Jason. "He used to live just up the road from me, but they moved away years ago. It was our first day at school, and I was using some coloured pencils. Robbie decided that he wanted them and because he was bigger than anyone else he thought that gave him the right to just take them. I didn't want to let him have them, so we got into a fight. Then Daniel came along and told Robbie to leave me alone. Robbie said he could beat both of us at the same time and then it turned into a real fight; Robbie against me and Daniel. We beat the crap out of him." He giggled.
"Yeah, and nearly got thrown out of school on the very first day," Daniel added.
"So that's how we became friends," Jason continued. "Daniel's always been my best friend and he's been looking out for me ever since." As he added this last part, he gave an almost shy smile.
Daniel looked at his friend in surprise. This was the first time that Jason had ever said anything like this. Usually the boy had appeared to resent any sort of interference that in any way implied that he was not able to take care of himself. Their eyes met. Jason held Daniel's gaze for a moment and then, embarrassed, he looked down at his plate.
"You guys are so lucky," said Craig. "I wish I could have had a friendship like that."
"You've got Adam," Daniel pointed out.
Craig smiled broadly. "Yeah, I've got Adam. I guess that more than makes up for anything else."
"How did you meet Adam?" Daniel asked, laying his empty plate aside and taking a drink of juice from his glass.
"I first met him when I was in hospital and he was the doctor taking care of me."
"What were you in the hospital for?" asked Jason.
Craig stared straight ahead into the fire. "I'd tried to kill to myself," he said, his tone almost casual.
A shocked silence fell as Daniel and Jason exchanged wide-eyed looks.
"You tried to kill yourself?" Jason asked the question as though he couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard.
Craig nodded. "I nearly managed it as well. Apparently they found me just in time. A bit longer and it would have been too late." He was still looking into the fire. He smiled sadly.
"Why?" asked Jason. "Why did you try to kill yourself?"
Daniel cringed inwardly as his friend asked the question. Even though he wanted to know the answer himself, it felt like they were prying into an area that was incredibly private and personal.
Craig sighed. "Because I was stupid," he said. He was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and distant. "I suppose it started when I was fifteen. I'd known that I was gay for ages, but I'd never told anyone. One day I was using the loo in our local park and a guy came up to me. He offered me twenty quid if I would let him suck my dick."
"Did you do it?" Jason asked, shocked.
"No way," said Craig, with short laugh. "I was far too shy and innocent to do anything like that. I got out of there pretty damned quick. A friend of mine, Bradley Burrows, was waiting for me outside. When we were well away from the toilets, I told Bradley what had happened. He thought it was really funny and told me that I should have asked for fifty quid. I told him that I wasn't gay, and he said that being gay had nothing to do with it; money was money. Then he said that being gay wasn't really a big deal anyway."
"Well, it's not," said Jason, sounding as though he were trying to convince himself.
"It was pretty much a big deal for me at the time," said Craig, giving Jason an indulgent smile. "Anyway, I thought about what Bradley had said. I thought that the two of us were good friends and I felt that I could trust him, and so, a couple of days later, I told him that I was gay. He thought that it was kind of funny, but he didn't seem very bothered, and I was glad that I had found someone that I could share my secret with. Or so I thought. But then, when I got to school the next day, I found that everyone knew about me being gay. Bradley had told everyone." Bitterness had crept into Craig's tone. "So much for him being a friend."
"You should have smashed his face in," said Jason, scowling.
"That was evil," said Daniel, shaking his head. He remembered his own fear that everyone at school would find out about him being gay after the upset with Jason. At least Jason hadn't told anyone, which was something that went a long way towards confirming just how strong their friendship really was.
"Things became pretty bad after that," Craig continued. "Especially when Bradley also told everyone about the guy in the toilets. Everyone was laughing at me and making jokes. Then, a couple of days later, I was in the loos at school when this older guy came in. He asked me if I was the queer who sucked dicks for money. I ignored him, but he grabbed the front of my shirt and told me that unless I sucked his dick, he was going to kick the shit out of me. He pushed me into one of the cubicles. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life." There was now a tremor in the young man's voice. "At first I tried to get away, but he punched me in the stomach a couple of times. In the end I agreed to do it; I just wanted to get out of there. He opened the front of his trousers, took his dick out, and I sucked it until he came. That was the first time I'd ever done anything with anyone, and I was almost sick. He shot in my mouth and on my face, then he laughed, put his dick away, took a fiver from his pocket and pushed it into my hand saying that I was a useless cock-sucker and a fiver was about all I was worth. He said that if I told anyone about it he would say that it was me who begged him to let me suck him, and that everyone would believe him since I was the queer. Then he left me there."
"What did you do?" asked Daniel, both angered and totally appalled by the story. Craig was one of the nicest people that he had ever met, and the thought of anyone treating him like that was too awful to even think about.
"I locked the cubicle door and sat there for a while, crying," said Craig. "Then, I flushed the fiver down the loo and, when I was sure that no one was around, I came out, washed my face, and tried to pretend that it hadn't happened."
"Didn't you report the guy?" Jason asked. He was now sitting upright, and looked almost as angry at what he was hearing as Daniel.
Craig shook his head. "No. I know I should have done, but I was so ashamed of what I'd done and didn't want anyone to know. It was bad enough being the school queer, without also being known as the school cock-sucker. I wanted to forget about the whole thing. Unfortunately, even though the guy claimed I was useless at sucking cock, he kept coming back for more. The next time it happened, him and one of his friends grabbed me in one of the corridors. They dragged me into the loos and made me suck both of them. After that it became pretty regular. At least once a week I'd be made to suck this guy and sometimes three or four of his friends. I hated them for making me do it, but more than that, I hated myself for letting them make me do it. This went on for more than two months. I kept telling myself that if I could make it to the summer holidays I'd be OK because they wouldn't be able to get to me outside of school. Then, a week before the end of school, the guy and three of his friends dragged me into the loos. As usual, they took turns barring the door while I sucked them, all except the guy himself. When I'd done all his friends, he laughed and said that he'd decided that he didn't want to be sucked this time. He said that he was going to fuck me instead. I tried to get away, but they grabbed me and started pulling my clothes off. They stripped me naked and bent me forwards over the sinks, and then the guy pushed his dick into me. It was the worst pain that I've ever felt. I tried to scream but he was holding my shorts over my mouth and I couldn't even breathe. From the pain in my arse and not being able to breathe, I really thought that I was going to die. I don't know how long the guy took. Not long, I don't think. Then, when he'd done, they all had a good laugh and left me lying there on the floor. I'll never forget that day. It was the 15th of July. It was my 16th birthday." Craig fell silent for a long moment, as though reflecting on what he had said. "Somehow I managed to get dressed, though I don't recall doing it. I walked out of school and went straight home. There was no one home. I went to the cupboard where Mum kept her pills. I didn't even know what most of them were for. I swallowed every one that I could find. Then, I went up to my room, wedged a chair behind the door, and got undressed and got into bed." He sighed. "That's the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital."
"Holy shit!" said Jason, softly. He dropped his eyes to his hands, which were clenched in his lap.
Daniel suddenly realised that Craig was holding his hand. He gave the older teen's hand a squeeze and Craig returned a grateful smile.
"I was in hospital for almost a week," said Craig. "They'd pumped my stomach, but some of the drugs had got into my system and they wanted to keep an eye me. For those first few days I really felt like shit. Adam was the doctor who had admitted me and he spent hours with me, just talking. He'd check up on me all the time when he was on duty, and then when he went off duty he'd come and sit with me. No one had ever talked to me like that before, like I was someone who really mattered. I don't think I'd have got through it if it hadn't been for Adam."
"Is that when you became his boyfriend?" Daniel heard himself ask.
"No, not then," said Craig. "That happened a bit later. When I left hospital and went home, for the first couple of days everything seemed OK, though Mum and Dad were really tense around me. Then they started dropping hints, wanting to know why I had taken the pills. I guess I can understand how they were feeling. I'd almost managed to kill myself and they needed to know why. So, I told them. I told them about me being gay, and I told them what had been going on at school. My mum took it quite well, but Dad had much more trouble with it. He couldn't get his head around having a son who had been sucking cocks; it didn't matter that I hadn't done it willingly. We tried to carry on as normal, but in the end there was an almighty row and we both said lots of stuff that we didn't mean. I walked out, and Dad shouted after me that he didn't want me back. I wandered around for a while and ended up at the hospital looking for Adam, since I felt that he was the only person who seemed to understand what I was going through. Adam said that since I had nowhere else to go, I could move in with him for a while. And that's how me and Adam got together."
A long silence followed. Daniel was still wrestling with the idea that Craig, who always seemed so bright and full of life, had actually tried to kill himself. The fourteen-year-old thought back to the previous weekend, which now felt like the distant past. He remembered sitting in the park and wishing that he was dead. Except that he hadn't really wanted to be dead. Or had he? If he hadn't found that card in his wallet and contacted Adam, would he have taken that further step and tried to take his own life. With hindsight, he didn't think so. But sitting here now in this warm, comfortable room with his friends around him, it was so difficult to remember how he had felt at the time.
Craig stretched and gave a smile. "Well, that's put a bit of a damper on things," he said brightly. "Though I think it's good that you know what happened to me." He turned serious again. "What I did was stupid. Really stupid. However bad things might seem, there will always be someone around who is willing to listen and to help; you only have to look around you. Always remember that." He was looking at Daniel as he spoke. "At least you had the sense to call Adam when you got into trouble."
"What was happening to me wasn't anything like as bad as what happened to you though," said Daniel.
"Maybe." Craig patted the boy's leg. "So, now that I've depressed everyone, what would you like to do next? Playstation? A DVD? Or maybe you'd like to go back through into the lounge and bait Susan; that's always fun." He grinned.
Daniel shrugged. He wasn't really in the mood for games. He looked enquiringly at Jason, who also shrugged.
"We need something to lift the mood," said Craig. He paused, looking from one boy to the other, and then he gave a grin. "And I know exactly what will do the trick."
Getting up, Craig collected their empty plates and glasses and headed for the door. "Come on; what are you waiting for?" he called back to the two young teens, who were still sitting on the floor looking slightly bemused.
"Where are we going?" Jason asked, climbing to his feet.
"You'll see," said Craig. "Don't worry; it's going to be fun." He dropped the plates and glasses into the kitchen, then, as he drew level with the open lounge door, he hesitated for a moment. "You want one of those beers you were looking at earlier?" he asked Jason, mischievously.
Jason looked surprised and gave a smile. "Yeah," he said.
"You want one, Daniel?" asked Craig.
"Erm, yeah, I guess. Adam said that we weren't allowed anything alcoholic though."
"One bottle won't hurt," said Craig. "And we'll just have to make sure that Adam doesn't find out." He slipped into the lounge and reappeared less than a minute later with two small, brown bottles. He handed one to each of the boys.
"What about you?" asked Daniel.
Craig gave a shrug. "One of us has to stay sober," he grinned. "Besides, unless you want to walk home later, I'd better avoid the drink." He led the boys through a door, along a short passageway, and then through another door and, flicking on the lights, into a room about the size of a large garage. Except that it clearly wasn't a garage. The floor was tiled like a bathroom, and one of the longer walls consisted of floor-to-ceiling glass panels, complete with sliding doors, that looked out over what was presumably the back garden, though, with it being dark outside, it wasn't possible to be sure. However, the most prominent feature of the room was what looked like a huge, square-shaped bathtub standing in the centre of the floor. "Our hot-tub," said Craig, proudly.
"You mean that's a bath?" asked Jason, eyeing the tub warily.
"No, it's not a bath," Craig laughed. "Not really, anyway. The bath is in the bathroom upstairs. This is a hot-tub. A spa. You sit in it to unwind after a long day. Come and have a look." He dimmed the overhead lights to a dull glow, before taking them over to the tub.
As they drew closer, Daniel could see that the tub was already full of water, and the inside of it appeared to be sculpted to form seats. It was easily big enough for four people, probably more at a slight squeeze. Craig reached out to a panel and pressed some buttons. Immediately, some underwater lights came on, colouring the water blue and green. A moment later there was a soft "whooshing" sound and then the water began to gently splash and churn around.
"Those are the underwater jets," Craig explained. "They sort of massage you as you lay in the water. They feel great." He looked at the boys for a moment, a sparkle of boyish excitement in his eyes. "So, what do you think?"
"It's OK, I guess," said Jason. "Better than our boring old bath at home."
"I meant, what do you think about giving a try?" Craig asked.
Daniel felt his eyes widen in surprise, and a glance at Jason told him that his friend was equally shocked at the suggestion.
"You mean, you want us to take bath?" Jason asked, speaking slowly and carefully as if trying to clarify something that he didn't totally understand."
"I told you, it's not a bath," said Craig, patiently. "It's fun. How about you, Daniel? You up for it?"
Daniel took a sip from the bottle in his hand, letting the slightly bitter taste of the beer wash over his tongue as he considered the idea. "We'd all be in there together?"
"Yeah, of course. It's not much fun just standing watching someone else," said Craig.
"But we'd need to take our clothes off," said Jason.
Craig laughed. "That's usually a good idea when getting into water. If you're shy you could keep your underwear on. I could find you something to change into when we're done. The water's nice and warm; have a feel." He dipped his hand into the water.
Daniel took another sip of beer and giggled nervously. "I think we should do it," he told Jason.
Jason frowned. "I guess," he said, not sounding convinced. "What about the windows though. Anyone outside would see us."
"No one's outside," said Craig. "There's a high fence all the way around the back garden. There are blinds that I could pull across, but we don't usually bother with them. In fact, in the summer we usually have the doors open."
"Suppose someone comes in," said Jason, looking at the door they had entered by.
Craig sighed. "If they come in, all they'll see will be our heads and shoulders; everything else will be under the water. Now, are you going to give it a go or are you going to stand there thinking up some more excuses?"
"I want to try it," said Daniel.
"Yeah, alright," Jason agreed.
"Great," said Craig. "Wait until you get in; you'll love it."
Along the wall by the door were a row of hooks. Craig wasted no time in unfastening the top buttons of his shirt and pulling the garment over his head, hanging it on the nearest hook. Daniel took a moment to look at the young man's body, noting Craig's slim build and his smooth, lightly-tanned torso. Then, the boy carefully put down his bottle of beer and began pulling off his own clothes.
Jason undressed rather shyly, casting frequent glances in Craig's direction. "You keeping your undies on?" He asked Daniel, in a low whisper.
"I dunno," said Daniel. He glanced at Craig. The young man had his back to them and was already down to just his shorts. With no hesitation at all, the nineteen-year-old pushed down his shorts and stepped out of them before turning around to face the younger boys.
"Hurry up," said Craig, shuffling from one foot to the other as he rubbed his hands. "I want to get in the water. It's chilly standing around here with nothing on."
Daniel's eyes were inevitably drawn to Craig's groin. The older teen's soft penis appeared bigger than Daniel's, though not significantly so, though his balls definitely hung lower than Daniel's. Surprisingly, Craig only had a small patch of very short pubes at the base of his dick.
Craig clearly saw where Daniel was looking, and he smiled. "I keep them trimmed," he said, running his fingers over the short hairs. "It's tidier, and it's better for other reasons that I'd better not mention." He gave a laugh.
Now wearing just his briefs, Daniel shot Jason an apologetic look before self-consciously pushing the briefs down and taking them off. He stood upright, trying to pretend that he wasn't bothered by his nudity. After all, Craig had already seen him naked on his previous visit to the house.
With a sigh, Jason removed his own final garment and stood with one hand strategically covering his groin. "So we going to get in the water?" he asked, clearly less than comfortable with the situation.
Craig took the lead and stepped into the tub. Taking their beer with them, the younger teens followed. Daniel gave a soft sigh as he lowered himself into the water; it did indeed feel good.
For several minutes the boys simply lay back and enjoyed the feel of the churning water as jets gently massaged their bodies. Daniel immediately decided that this was something that he could quickly get used to. In fact, the whole lifestyle shared by Adam and Craig had a huge appeal. There was certainly something to be said for having plenty of money.
"You like it?" asked Craig, breaking a long silence.
"Yeah," said Daniel.
"It's pretty good," Jason agreed. Once in the water, the blond-haired boy had quickly become more relaxed. He giggled softly. "I wish we had one of these at home."
"You'd be able to get in it with Ben," grinned Daniel.
"No way!" said Jason. "Though if I did, I'd hold his head under the water."
"Now that's not nice," said Craig.
"You wouldn't say that if you'd met his brother," said Daniel.
The younger boys finished their beer and Craig took the bottles, placing them down behind the tub where they would be out of sight if anyone did happen to come in. The three of them continued to chat, laughing and giggling about things that had happened to them.
By this stage, Daniel was feeling completely relaxed. He'd even almost forgotten that he was sitting there naked. "Thanks for inviting us," he said to Craig.
"No problem," said Craig. "Thanks for coming. These get-together things that Adam organises are usually boring as hell. He knows how much I hate them, so he suggested that I invite some friends of my own. I thought about asking a couple of the guys that I go clubbing with, but then I had a much better idea. I asked Adam if it would be OK to invite you."
"That was a much better idea," agreed Daniel, flattered that Craig had invited him and Jason in preference to his older friends.
"It wasn't really any contest," said Craig, laughing "Because you're both only fourteen, it means that I can behave like I'm fourteen, and being fourteen is much more fun then being nineteen. As well as that, you're a lot cuter than any of my older friends." He gave an exaggerated leer as he looked down towards Daniel's groin. "Especially when you're naked."
Daniel giggled and blushed at the complement and covered his dick with his hands, even though the jets disturbing the water made if nearly impossible to see anything clearly. Opposite Daniel, Jason was wearing an uncomfortable frown as though disapproving of Craig's comment.
"What's the matter with you?" Craig asked, looking at Jason. "Don't worry, I think you're cute as well." Without warning his hand shot down under the water towards Jason's legs.
Jason let out a shriek. "Argh! Gerroff!" he cried, laughing hysterically, his arms thrashing.
"Jason's ticklish!" laughed Craig.
"No, I'm not," shouted Jason. "I'm not ticklish." He cries were cut off by another shriek of hysterical laughter.
Suddenly there were arms and legs everywhere as Jason tried to escape from Craig's grip. At one point Jason's leg came up out of the water to reveal that Craig had a firm hold of the boy just above the knee. Daniel tried to move as far back out of the way as possible as water splashed in every direction. In his struggle to get away, Jason fell forwards, on top of Craig, and the two of them struggled together, both of them giggling uncontrollably. Daniel had to move his legs quickly to avoid being kicked.
"Ahem!" A loud, theatrical cough from the direction of the doorway brought the impromptu battle to a quick end. Adam was standing there watching them, the corner of his mouth twitching in barely suppressed amusement.
"Oops! We've been rumbled! It's the enemy commander," Craig whispered. "Remember, men, that we're in this together; tell 'em nothing except your name, rank and serial-number, even if they torture you." He quickly disengaged himself from Jason and sat up, putting on an innocent expression and making a show of straightening his hair and brushing droplets of water from his chest. Then he pointed at Jason. "It's all his fault," he said. "He attacked me."
Jason's mouth fell open. "I didn't," he gasped. "It was him that attacked me. I didn't do anything." He looked mortified that Craig would try to put the blame on him.
Adam sighed and shook his head. "I wondered where you'd all got to. I might have known I'd find you in here." Then he smiled. "I wish I could find an excuse to get rid of that lot and come and join you. You certainly look to be having more fun than I am."
"Not going well?" asked Craig.
"Fine except for Susan," said Adam. "She spent the first half-hour telling everyone that in her professional opinion it was inappropriate for a nineteen-year-old to be choosing to spend his time with boys who were barely into their teens, and hinting at the same time that I was to blame for letting it happen."
"She's just bitter," frowned Craig.
"I know that." Adam suddenly gave a smile. "Though we should perhaps be grateful that she can't see the three of you cavorting around together naked. If she could, you'd probably be the subject of her next academic paper."
"It was all his idea to get naked," said Craig, once more pointing at Jason.
"It wasn't!" Jason gasped, looking pleadingly at Adam.
"Jason, ignore him, he thinks he's amusing," Adam reassured the boy.
"You want me to come sort Susan out for you?" asked Craig, getting to his feet, confirming to Adam that he was indeed totally naked.
"You know, I'm half-way tempted to let you go through there just as you are," smiled Adam. "It would certainly take the wind out of her sails. Though there's no need, since Bill has already taken care of the matter."
"He has? What did he say?" Craig asked, lowering himself back into the water.
Adam puffed his chest out, and when he spoke he'd lowered his voice in a gruff imitation of the old professor. "Susan my girl, in my years in the medical profession I've known a lot of people who were extremely proficient in talking out of their arseholes, but I have to say that you manage to put all of them to shame. I think we're all now very bored with listening to this particular bowel-movement or yours, so please take pity on us and give it a rest."
"Good for old Bill," Craig chuckled.
"I suppose I'd better get back before anyone misses me," said Adam with an almost profound lack of enthusiasm. "Bill's comment stopped Susan talking about you, but when I left a few minutes ago she was holding forth on her current research project about the damaging long-term effects of physical punishment on young males. It would be an interesting area for research if she hadn't taken the approach of reaching her conclusions first and then searching for data to support them."
"That sounds like Susan," grinned Craig. "Trample all over anyone or anything that doesn't support her point of view."
Adam nodded. "That about sums her up. Oh well. I'll leave you to it. Don't keep these boys out too late, Craig." He turned to go, but just before he went through the door he stopped and looked back. "Oh, and one last thing: if I find out that you two boys have had more than one bottle of beer each, you'll discover first hand how much I disagree with Susan's ideas on corporal punishment. That warning, by the way, also applies to your supplier." He gave Craig a direct look.
Craig tried to look serious, but quickly broke into a wide grin. "Ooh, a spanking! I can't wait."
Adam shook his head, resignedly. "I give up. I'll see you boys later. Be good." He gave a casual wave as he departed.
"Is Adam mad with us?" Daniel asked, worriedly, after the doctor had gone.
"No," said Craig, with a smile. "Adam only gets mad about important stuff. Besides, he saw me sneaking the bottles out, so he could have stopped me then if he'd wanted." He playfully flicked water in Daniel's direction. "Now, where were we before we were interrupted? Oh, I remember." His hand flew out and he grabbed Jason's leg."
"No!" Jason, shrieked. A moment later it was a full scale battle again.
Eventually the boys became bored with sitting in the tub. They climbed out and Craig led them over to a shelf that held thick, white towels. The nineteen-year-old took care of his younger friends first, draping towels around the shoulders of first Daniel and then Jason, before beginning to dry himself. Jason turned away to get dried, and this clearly amused Craig, who teased the boy by offering to help him. Jason quickly refused the offer, a slight blush creeping over his face. Craig laughed and then, without asking, he began to rub the towel over Daniel's back. Daniel relaxed and let it happen, enjoying the attention. For reasons that he couldn't explain, the boy felt completely comfortable with the older teen, even though he had only known him for a week; Craig had a rare, open quality that inspired trust.
After they were all dressed, they returned to the main lounge where they helped themselves to lemonade and fruit juice. Adam and his friends were sitting at the other end of the lounge, deep in conversation, and didn't even notice the three teens.
"You can see how boring this would have been if I'd been on my own," Craig whispered to Daniel. "They'll probably be at it for hours yet." He glanced at his watch. "It's getting late; I should get you guys home."
"There's no rush," said Daniel.
"I don't want to keep you out too late and get you into trouble," said Craig. "Besides, you'll be able to come over again. That's if you want to, of course."
"Of course I want to," said Daniel. "We've had a great time. Haven't we Jason."
"What? Oh, yeah, it's been good." Jason had been watching Susan across the room, a frown on his face. He clearly didn't like her.
"Maybe we can even organise a sleepover sometime," Craig suggested. "The two of you can come over and spend the night. Then I won't have to worry about getting you home and we can get up to some real mischief."
"A sleepover would be cool," grinned Daniel.
"OK, leave it with me," said Craig. "I'll work on Adam. Though I don't think he'll mind. Now, let's get going before Susan notices us and comes over to kiss you goodbye."
"I'd sooner kiss Ben's arse," Jason muttered.
The story continues in Chapter 16: Dean
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