Thanks for joining me for this new chapter. Let me know what you think.
Peter followed Marty up the rickety exterior stairs to the attic apartment, not taking his eyes off of him for a moment. There wasn't a lot of light so it was important to follow closely, the added benefit being the he had another good reason to stare at his amazing ass.
He almost banged into him when Marty finally reached the door. He took a moment to struggle with the stubborn latch, finally getting the door open as he glanced back at Peter.
"You OK? Sorry for all those stairs."
"No problem. I've never enjoyed stairs as much as these," he replied with an impish smile.
Marty looked at him, slightly confused, then just smiled and led the way in.
As they entered the third floor garret apartment Marty dropped his pack on a small round breakfast table, which was right inside the door.
"You can drop yours here, too," Marty said. "Just watch the vase. It's Ming." he said as he turned away, smiling.
"This Ming looks a lot like a free gas station tumbler," Peter replied as he plopped his pack alongside Marty's. Even more than the kitchen counter in his own place, he could tell that it probably served every kind of function imaginable.
Marty laughed as he reached over and to Peter's shoulders and gently stroked them. "It's not much, but would you like the Grand Tour?"
Peter smiled. "Well, the Grand Tour would be great, but what I need right now is to find the can!"
"Oh, yea, of course, it's right there, he said, pointing to a white paneled door, probably the product of a 1930s remodel, just a few feet away.
He made a beeline for the toilet, quickly unzipped and did his business. As his bladder quickly emptied, he was able to look around the room. It was indeed small, but like he expected, was well kept and tidy. The toothbrush and toothpaste were arranged on the edge of the basin, with a white towel neatly hung over the metal towel bar.
He zipped up, flushed the toilet, and started to wash his hands when he noticed his own reflection in the mirror.
He hadn't changed at all physically in the last 24 hours, of course. He was the same Peter Kovar. But when he saw himself now, finally, at Marty's place, he felt different. Changed. There was a new person inside.
He took a deep breath, looked at himself again, and just said "Oh my God..." under his breath.
Just as he opened the door he heard Marty call out to him, "Hey Pete, over here,"
Not being familiar yet with the layout and with his impaired hearing, he tentatively moved toward where he thought the voice came from. But he went in the wrong direction.
Before he knew it, Marty was right next to him. "Over here, babe," he said, realizing what had gone wrong and subtlety directing Peter in the right direction toward the kitchen
"Beer or Coke anything? I don't have a lot, but we'll make something work. You're probably thirsty."
"Just a glass of water would be fine, thanks."
"Ice?"
"Oh, yea, that'd be great!"
Marty prepared a mug for each of them and handed Peter a brown one with the seal of a professional soccer club. "Cheers," he said as he raised his glass.
Peter returned the salute, and in his enthusiasm raised his mug so quickly into Marty's that they crashed with a loud `klang' and even spilled some water onto the floor..
"Oh jeeze, sorry, I guess I just got carried away,' he said, not a little embarrassed.
"No worries! Marty replied.
There was silence as they both gulped down the water. Peter couldn't help noticing Marty's neck, how thick and rugged and sexy it looked, his Adam's Apple sticking out prominently and the skin swelling as he gulped down the water. There was slight stubble of hair that just added to the attraction.
Placing his glass down on the table Peter sidled up to Marty and gently put his arms around his tight waist
"You OK? He asked.
"Uh huh," Marty replied, looking down before looking back at Peter.
"We don't have to do anything at all. just be with each other is enough for me," he said, perfectly sincere in the intent but also excruciatingly aware of his stiff cock pushing against his jeans.
Marty smiled back. "I'm OK..and yes, I'd like to do just, um...well..."his own lust obvious from his own tented jeans, but his voice also betrayed his anxieties.
As Peter put his hand on Marty's neck to pull him for a kiss, there was an instinctual jerk back from his head. It stunned him more than Peter.
"Oh, damn, I'm sorry Peter, just...when that guy attacked me...he..."
"Hey, I'm the one who should be sorry. I thought that kind of think might happen," he said as he lowered his hands back down to Marty's waist. "We'll have to go kind of slow, and it will take some time," he said. "But we've got lots of that."
Peter remained calm on the surface, as supportive as he could possibly be, Inside, he was white-hot with rage, feeling now even more what that animal had done to Marty. But it also gave him an iron determination to help him to overcome it. That bastard wouldn't win this, not then and not now.
"Hey babe?" Peter asked as he slowly took Marty's hands in his and moved them onto his own shoulders as he slowly stroked them.
"Uh huh?"
Peter stared into the brown eyes that locked onto his. He could sense the anticipation, but also the fear, that was coming out of them. "I'm going to guide you through this OK? Just listen to me, and we'll just go step by step. And if you ever feel uncomfortable, just let me know, OK."
Marty nodded his head in the affirmative. Realizing that silence was best for the now, he continued to just stroke his hands. He wanted to get Marty as calm as possible, but at the same time discovering even further the smell and feel of his masculine presence.
"Would you unbutton my shirt?" he asked after a few minutes as he lowered his hands to his side.
Marty rubbed Peter's shoulders deeply one final time before moving his hand down to the top button of his shirt. Peter shook. It was that electric jolt that he still got when Marty touched him, but this time amplified by 1000 as he reached the first button.. And his already stiff rod gave an undeniable tug.
"Are you OK? Did I do something wrong?" Marty quickly asked, anxiety in is voice again. "That's happened before when I touched you before, I noticed it. But I was afraid to ask."
"So you did notice!" Peter replied with a smile.
"Yea, but I don't know what I did. Did I hurt you?"
"No, you didn't hurt me at all. I guess its' just electricity or something from you. I'd shake...then I'...um...sometimes get hard." They both laughed.
As Marty resumed unbuttoning the shirt, Peter gently grazed the back of his hand against Marty's arm. So much hairier than his own smooth skin, it was almost completely coated with short blond hair and was just one more thing that made Marty seem like such an incredible stud.
Peter's breathing slowly picked up with each button, until he was clearly taking deeper breaths by the time it was completely unbuttoned and just hanging from his shoulders.
"OK, now take it off of me."
Now Marty was the one whose breath was increasing. Peter raised his arms out to his sides, inviting Marty to keep going. The shirt got stuck on his right hand for a moment, but he finally got it completely off and gently draped it over the back of one of the old, white painted wooden chairs at the breakfast table..
Gazing at the shirtless Adonis before him, all Marty could do was utter a faint "damn" under his breath. Peter had the classic slim swimmers body, but with almost no body fat his muscles were very defined.
"Now you" Peter said, "but you take your own stuff, off OK?" I'll just watch.
"uh, what? Marty stammered for a moment, still staring at Peter's smooth chest, until he finally recovered his wits.
He was wearing a sweater over a white t-shirt underneath. The sweater was baggy, liked he preferred, so was easy to take off. When he had removed it, Peter took it from him and placed it carefully over the other wooden chair.
When he looked back at Marty he was stunned. Though he preferred loose sweaters, he liked his undershirts snug and was wearing a long-sleeve thermal t-shirt that clung to his body like a second skin. Peter was pretty sure that he had a nice body, but he was now getting a much better idea now about just how incredible it was.
"Should I do the thermal now?" he asked, starting to do it anyway.
Peter didn't respond. In fact, he had almost stopped breathing as Marty's chest slowly revealed itself. First, the rippling abdominals were exposed as he first pulled it up from his waist, then the broad lats and shoulders as he finally lifted the shirt completely over his head before tossing it over top of his sweater.
Peter just swallowed and stared. Marty had a body like no guy he had ever seen, at least up this close. His upper chest around his pecs and large, dark maroon nipples was furry with the same blond hair as on his hands, again in contrast with Peter's almost hairless physique.
Peter remembered that one model scout had described himself as `boyish.' But he saw Marty as anything but that. He looked like no boy, at least to Peter. He was a man. A stud.
He had to shake his head to get his concentration back.
"You OK,?" Marty asked, his raised to Peter's shoulder.
"Yea, I'm fine...um...you look great...gosh, what a body!"
"Oh, thanks..." he answered in what seemed like a confused sort of way, like he didn't understand what was happening at first, then he looked sideways for a moment.
"I started to work out in high school just to get strong to...um...protect myself, I guess. I don't have the genes to get big and all, but I kind of got pretty defined."
Peter raised the back of his hand and stroked Marty's cheek. "Well you don't have to do it to protect yourself anymore. That's all gone, you know that, right?" Peter asked.
"Yea, I do. I guess I've realized it for a while now, or at least hoped I'd never need to defend myself. But It made me feel like I was at least doing something, and it felt pretty good, too, so I just kept it up."
"You sure did!" Peter said as he lowered his hand and touched the pecs, getting a rush of air out of Marty.
He didn't want to grab him yet, only just stroke, caress him. They both had sizeable boners already jammed up against their jeans, but he wanted to keep Marty feeling like he was in control.
"What would you like to do?" Peter asked.
The shy Marty was rapidly melting away as his eyes now started to burn into Peter' and his hands reached up and rubbed his shoulders.
"You are so fucking beautiful..." he said as he planted his lips on Peters, then pulled away, staring at him again.
"Your hair is really fine, now wonder if flops around all over the place," he said as he reached up and ran his fingers through it. The feel of Marty's fingers on his head made Peter tingle all over.
"Should I take this out?" he asked, reaching down and touching Peter's hearing aid.
"No, not yet. I want to hear everything, every moan and grunt." he replied. "Every hot breath, I want to hear it."
They stood there for a few moments, neither saying nor doing anything, just taking in their partner's presence.
"Do you want to go and lie down on the bed?" Peter asked.
Marty thought for a moment. "Yea, I'd like that. I'm still a little worried and all, and kind of nervous. I've never done this before. But just lying there with you would be...would be so nice," he said, and then nodded toward the other door opposite the kitchen, "that's the bedroom."
Peter let him lead the way into the room. "Maybe I should just turn on this little desk lamp here, rather than the big ceiling light" he said as he reached down on flipped the small plastic switch on lamp.
"Should we take these off?" he asked Peter, pointing to his belt.
"Only if you want to," he replied. "Remember we don't have to do anything at all. We can just be with each other."
"It's OK, let's take them off. I don't like to lie down in the bed with my clothes on anyway, so I guess I can use that as an excuse," he said with a chuckle.
Marty unbuckled Peter's belt, then pulled the jeans down around his ankles, which he picked up and laid on the dresser. Then did the same for himself..
Now they were both naked except for their underwear. Peter made sure that he got into the bed first, lying down on his back so that Marty was not on the bottom.
To Peter's surprise, Marty was as dexterous and careful as a long-time expert when he crawled on top.. Peter hadn't slept with a whole lot of guys, but all of them seemed clumsy (or perhaps just too impatient) when they moved around, often slamming on top of him when they got in the sack. Maybe he was that way, too, he thought.. But Marty moved with skill and confidence.
"Am I hurting you? Are you OK?" he asked, not sure how his weight felt down below.
"Oh my god, are you kidding...it feels great!" he replied with a laugh.
Even though there were no complaints from down below, Marty still used his hand to partially support himself and distribute his weight.
Peter could feel their mutual hard-ons rubbing against each other, especially with their pre-cum stained underwear providing some lubricant. He did all he could do just remain calm and savor the touch and smell and skin of the stud on top of him. But when Peter glanced at the flexed chest of Marty he involuntarily bucked his hips.
"What was that?!" Marty asked, his breathing becoming more rapid.
"Oh...um, nothing..." he replied, smiling up at him.
Peter then put his hands on back of Marty's upper arms, stroking the flexed triceps He was tempted to grab and hold the muscle, but resisted the temptation, using the stroking to get Marty as calm and relaxed as possible.
."I want you to do something for me, OK?"
"Sure. what's that?"
"As we tussle and um...move around here, you know, I might grab you, or pull you and all."
"Yea, I know,. I'm a little worried about that. Gosh I hope I don't ruin..."
Peter wouldn't let him finish that thought. "If you do what I say, I think you'll enjoy yourself and you'll feel great, OK?"
"OK," he responded, not exactly sure what Peter had planned.
"First, you should always stay on top, or at least not be on the bottom at all. You shouldn't ever feel claustrophobic or pinned down."
"Uh huh, OK, thanks.. That sounds good, Peter. What do you think?"
"Well...second, I want you to look at me the whole time we're here. Always look at me, don't look at the walls, or close our eyes, or drift away, even for a moment. Keep looking at me, especially into my. face and eyes.
"I'd like to do that anyway, but why keep focusing?"
Peter reached up and brushed the back of his hand across Marty's cheek. "Because as long as you keep looking at me you'll know it's me here and you won't panic or be afraid. I'm here for you and always will be. And I know you would never hurt me."
Marty blinked his eyes hard but didn't say anything as he lowered his head and kissed Peter gently on the lips.
"Mein Schönerfürst!" Peter whispered softly as Marty raised himself back.
Marty looked down at him, his eyes focused like Peter asked. "I'll bet it was something nice you just said. At least I hope it was," he said with a laugh.
"My handsome Prince" Mike said, smiling.
"Who taught you that?" Marty asked.
"Handsome Prince? Oh that was you," Peter answered with a laugh, as Marty started back at him sternly, "Oh you mean the German? My Dad speaks it, but mostly my Grandfather. He used to speak to me in it. I don't know much, but some little stuff like that."
"Hmmm...well, what's this called in German?" He asked, reaching down through Peter's wet underewear, cupping Peters rapidly tightening balls.
"Ohhhhh..." Peter moaned, as he writhed under Marty's gently handling..."I don't know...oh god!..." he struggled to say through his writhing and squirming as his head tilted back and his whole body tensed up.
The front of Marty's underwear was now also almost saturated with precum as he watched Peter squirm underneath him. He wasn't as big and hirsute as Marty, but his almost hairless body exposed every undulation and curve of his rippled stomach and defined chest.
"Oh shit! Mart...I'm think I'm gonna cum!" Peter cried as his pelvis raised of the bed violently
Marty repositioned himself so that he could rub his cock against Peter's rising crotch, all the while keeping his eyes on him.
"Go! Do it!" Marty said, as supported his himself on one hand. He own breathing was now deep and labored. "Oh god, Im gonna...too!"
Rubbing against Marty's hard meat quickly put Peter over the top as they came together, both of them squirting blobs of cum that penetrated straight through their underwear.
With their faces contorting they each pressed hard against the other as they tried to push out the last drops of cum. Dropping back on the bed, Peter reached up to Marty's face.
"Go ahead, you can lie down on me, it won't hurt me," he said between deep breaths as he slowly recovered.
"You OK?" Marty asked, still supporting himself with his hands and already conditioned to be concerned with Peter's breathing.
"Oh, yea, no problem." he replied as he continued to stroke his face. "I think I'll recover fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I think I'll be fine. If it's too much, I'll tell you... I just want to feel you against me"
"Me too." Marty replied as he finally lowered himself onto Peter, his face rubbing against his. Unbeknownst to Peter, he still rested some of his weight on his elbows.
Peter slowly wrapped his hands around Marty's body and lightly stroked his back. They were just lying there, together, neither saying a word until Marty suddenly came to life.
"Pete!" Marty said as he rolled over next to him and propped his head up on his hand.
"Yes?" he replied, perplexed. He thought the he had misheard him.
"Pete. I've always wanted to call you Pete."
Peter just smiled back. "I don't know if I can let you do that" he replied with a laugh. "
"Gosh, I always told everyone to call me Peter. I...my brother will be all over me..."
Marty kissed him on the nose.
"Um...yes, you can, but you're the only one,' he relented, not that he could deny him anything. Even on something as important as his name.
Marty smiled back. "I like that, kind of my own name for you, he replied with a curious happiness in his voice.
"What about you? Do you have a name you want to call me?"
"hmm...I kind of like calling you babe. Not real original, but I like it. Jeeze, you know I think I almost called you that once or twice, he said with a mock wince."
"That's funny, because I know that I almost called you Pete once, but caught myself."
Marty plopped his head back down on the pillow, then reached over and pulled Peter close to him, their legs intertwining as their foreheads now touched.
The best part of this for Peter was that they didn't have to fill the space with talk. They could just be with each other, enjoy each others presence, their smell, and their bodies.
"hmmm..." Marty finally said, breaking the silence "If I didn't know better, I'd say that cock is getting hard again."
"Looks like you'll have to take care of it," Peter replied, pushing himself under Marty until he got the hint on where to go.
With the dexterity that he exhibited when they first laid down together, Marty got back on the top side of Peter with hardly a motion to the bed.
As the night went on, In fact, everything he did was gentle, smooth, light as a feather. Perhaps it was a reaction to the violence of his own initiation to sex, Peter thought at first. But then he realized that it was a lot more than that.
For a guy that Peter thought of on the outside as the paragon of tough and masculine, his touch and gestures showed the inside part of him. He didn't poke and prod to explore Peter's body – his hands gently glided over him, often just barely touching the surface as he inhaled the heat, the softness and the texture of Peter's skin.
The mutual caring and love expressed by both of them that evening was an expression of the true union of two souls.
Peter awoke in the morning as the only one in bed, though he quickly realized that he had been carefully re-covered up with the blanket tucked in all around him, including his feet. Not at all the tangle of covers after one of his typical fitful sleeps.
In his morning stupor, he aimlessly reached around, trying find Marty, but he wasn't there. But he did smell something.
Reaching over to the nightstand, he found his hearing aid had been carefully placed on a coaster at the edge of the nightstand.. He didn't even remember taking it out, but was glad that it was handy and quickly put it on.
"Hey! Anyone home!" he cried out.
There was no voice response, just footsteps going from wooden floor to rug and back to wooden floor as the smell of pancakes and sausage began to fill the room.
He looked over at the door as Marty came in. `What a fucking handsome guy I got!' he thought to himself, breaking into a slight laugh that got an inquisitive look from his blond stud.
"You OK this morning?" Marty asked as he bent down next to the bed.
Peter stretched out as he yawned. "Oh yea, gosh, I slept great," He replied. "How about you? How are you doing? Peter asked as he reached over and held that hairy muscular arm.
"I'm great. I even got up early and showered. It took a while to scrape all of your cum off of me."
"You didn't save it!" Peter protested.
Marty just reached over and tousled his hair. "Well, you can have breakfast now and shower later. Careful when you pull the sheets off, you'll probably stick to them.," he said with a laugh. "It's gotten kind of late, almost 10:00, so I thought you'd like to eat first," he said as he placed the food in his lap.
"Wow! 10:00! I can't believe it's that late. We've both got to get going and..."
"Easy, boy! We'll make it. We can study after you get cleaned up. But for now, EAT!" he ordered.
"What about you? Have you eaten yet?"
"Yup. I've been up for a while. You were sleeping really well, and since I'd taken your hearing aid out last night I was pretty sure you wouldn't hear me after I got up.
"Wow, I was really out of it." Peter said as he poured syrup onto the pancake and took his first bite.
"Hey, this is good!" he said before spearing one of the sausages.
"This is really good, too, thanks. You didn't have to do this, you know."
"Sure, that's why it's so fun. Besides, you're getting a little too thin, you need to be fattened up just a little bit.
Peter smiled. "Same thing that my Dads tell me, though I'm not sure how well I did."
"Well, I'll make sure we're successful here," Marty answered.
"Oh yeah? And what make you say that," Peter replied, sensing a challenge
"Well, three reasons. One, we have a great gym here and I know we'll have fun going over together. Two, I know your Dad is a really good cook, but I'll hold my own, at least for baking, and that will be an opportunity for some weight gain," he said before pausing.
"And number three?"
"Well, number three is, if you don't bulk up just a little bit for your health, I'll go on a sex strike."
Peter didn't reply for a moment, letting the comments sink in. "Like I said before, you are a mean one!" he said, trying to sound threatening but not being able to hide his smile.
"By the way, speaking of sex strikes, I got an email from Jeff this morning," Peter said.
"Uh oh," Marty replied. "Do you think he noticed that you were gone last night?"
"Yup. It's just four words."
"And they are..."
Peter reached over and showed Marty the screen. He looked at the message line closely, and read it. "That blond guy. Finally."
Even though it was finals week, a couple of the guys, including Wei, Jeremy, his girlfriend and a few others still found the time to get together at their usual weekly watering hole. They all knew that they probably wouldn't see each other until next semester so wanted at least a preliminary send-off. And besides, even during finals week they all needed some break time and wanted to see their friends.
Both Marty and Peter were anxious to let the other guys know what was happening with them. It wasn't something that they felt they needed to let the world know about, and that would have been true whether they were gay or straight. But these were their best friends on campus, and should really understand what was happening.
The only awkwardness was that it was during finals, when everyone had plenty of pressure without something as dramatic as this. They didn't expect any hostile reactions, but didn't want to shock anyone so much that they would be distracted during finals.
After about a half hour and a couple pitchers of beer, Peter was able to get the groups attention.
"Hey you guys," he said. "Now that most of you are sufficiently lubricated, I have...well, Marty and I, um... we have something to tell you," he said, suddenly getting nervous.
"Here! Here!" piped up Jeremy, putting a humorous spin in what Peter obviously intended to be a serious discussion.
Marty looked at him and broke a small smile, but then continued Peter's more serious tone. "There's...um...something that we wanted to tell you all about, Peter and me."
Wei looked at them, and then looked around the table in an effort to get everyone calmed down. "We're all ears!" he finally said, with a trace of Jeremy's humor but genuinely trying to move the conversation ahead.
"Thanks," Peter replied.
"Um...this is hard...well, I don't mean hard, you guys are all friends...but there's something that we wanted you to know about."
"Yes? What is it?" Jeremy asked, now trying to appear to be very serious and deep in thought, though it wasn't very convincing.
"Well, I don't know how to say this easily or perfectly, but I, or we, are just going to say it." Marty said. "I never told you guys, or really anyone, that I was gay, but I am. I wish I had told you sooner, but at least I'm telling you know. "he said.
"But the even bigger news, that I'd like to share with you, is that this guy here," he said, nudging Peter, "well, he and I are officially a, um...couple."
Marty suddenly got nervous and didn't know what else to say, so looked at Peter, who picked up the thought. "You all are our best friends here, so we wanted you to know. We hope you aren't too, um....surprised. I mean, we just got together kind of recently, but we didn't want to hide anything from you all."
There was silence across the table, interpreted only by the normal drone of speech from other patrons and low sounds from the nearby music speakers. Then Jeremy got up and spoke.
"Gentleman, I'd like to toast you," he said, raising his glass and looking up and down the table at everyone. "So here's to Peter and Marty, the last ones to know that they are a couple!"
"I second that!" Wei yelled out as he reached his glass out for boisterous toast with Jeremy.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Peter protested. "What do you mean, `last to know!'" he cried, trying to smile like everyone else but totally confused.
Jeremy looked up and down the table, making sure he had everyone's attention before he spoke.
"Well, for starters, Peter, I caught you staring at Marty the first game of the season, yes, remember?" Jeremy demanded, to laughs around the table. "You remember what I said back then, don't you?"
Peter was turning a deep shade of red, which accented the sharp features of his cheeks and jaw.. "Jer, I told you I was just watching him hit the ball...I...you..." he couldn't continue his answer in the face of Jeremy's sardonic smile.
"Liar! Liar!" they heard from all around the table amidst the roar of continuing laughter.
"I also remember that same first day, when you two co-coaches went to huddle, well, you usually don't see two straight guys standing so close, almost whispering to each other. Even then, I knew there was something going on. And it wasn't just Peter," he added.
"There was you, too, Marty, you!" he said, turning sharply toward him. "Those times when Peter, shall we say, overextended himself and we wanted someone to go home with him. Whenever I offered to take be the one to accompany him, well, you practically bit my head off!" he said, then opened his mouth wide and theatrically chomped down to pantomime taking a big bite, which put the whole table in stitches.
"I did not!" Marty protested, rather unconvincingly. "I just wanted to help, and it was always more ...um...convenient for me."
"Convenient all right!' chimed in Wei. "More convenient to stroll home all alone with this helpless boy!"
"Yes! Predator! Seducer!" came the chorus from around the table
"What about when we played shirts and skins basketball? Marty's jaw practically dropped onto the ground when Peter took off his shirt!" Wei continued. "I think I had to set off a nuclear bomb to get his attention back," he joked to more laughter all around.
"I just thought, um, that he looked...taller..." Marty stammered, then put his head in his own hands laughing as Peter wrapped his arm around him.
Because of finals, the table only had a couple more rounds, then everyone prepared to head off to the library, home or any other place that they could prepare for the last of the finals week exams. Peter and Marty had picked up a few groceries, and were planning on making dinner before studying at Peter's place.
As people were putting on their jackets and backpacks, Jeremy was able to buttonhole Marty near the bar where their coats were hanging.
"You OK, guy?" I hope we weren't too hard on you all. Then again...hmm... maybe we should have been harder," he said with a wink.
Marty smiled and laughed. "No, not at all. I just didn't think it was all so apparent."
"Well, obviously, I knew that Peter was gay. And I could tell immediately that he had, shall I say, indelicately, the hots for you. But, honestly, I really couldn't exactly figure you out. I've got decent gaydar, knowing Peter and all, but you were completely inscrutable."
"It just took a while," Jeremy continued. "a few dramatic moments, like I pointed out earlier," he said with another laugh, "but mostly kind of subtle stuff, how you talked, interacted, gave each other attention. At a certain point, it just made sense.."
Jeremy was smiling the whole time, but then became serious as he put his hand on Mart's shoulder. "Just one thing other thing I wanted to say to you, Marty."
"Sure what's that?" he asked,
Jeremy stood for a moment, shaking his head as he was trying to figure out the best way to say it. "I've know Peter since my first day here, and he's been my best friend on this campus. I think I know him well enough to realize that he needs you. Bad. Don't forget that," he said, as he pulled Marty into an embrace.
"We need each other," Marty replied as he tightly returned the hug.
The rush of cold air shocked both of them as they left the bar. The unseasonably warm weather of the past couple of days was gone and as the real winter was reasserting itself even as they were in the bar.,
"Where's your gloves?" Marty asked, noticing that Peter had waved barehanded to their friends.
"I forgot them before we came. I didn't think it would be that cold."
"Here, wear these," he said, as he pushed his gloves into Peter's side.
"What are you going to wear?" he asked, not acknowledging the offer.
"I've got nice pockets in this down jacket, you don't, so take `em!" he said. It was in the tone that Marty used on Peter when he overdid it at sports. It was his non-negotiable voice.
"OK, but then I'll carry the groceries." Peter replied. "Hand `em over,"
As they continued walking to Marty's house for the evening, Peter started looking ahead to what the world would be like after finals. He'd hardly dare imagine it even a week ago, especially with all the tension over Marty thrown in. Now, with the exams winding down, he could almost not avoid thinking about it.
"You know, I haven't asked you what you are doing over break. Do you have plans?" He wasn't sure what kind of answer he wanted to hear, but hoped that there was something that Marty wanted to do.
"Well, last year Angela was still in high school and we had Christmas at the house," he replied, his voice calm but without any enthusiasm, "but I'm not sure about this year. I think my mom and this new guy are going away, And the rest of our relatives kind of do their own thing, so Angela and I talked about her coming up here. At least that was the plan a week ago."
Peter only thought for the briefest moment. "That's great!" he said, then he caught himself. "Jeeze, I don't mean it's great to not have plans, but I thought...well, maybe you both could come to my folks place. It's like a 10 hour drive, but it could be fun. And I know my Dad's would love to have both of you!" he said, already planning things in his head.
"Are you sure of that?" he asked, knowing the reticence of his own relatives in offering hospitality, though he himself was just the opposite.
"They love to have family around...and that's what you are now. Once I tell them I know they'll be dying to meet you."
Marty was still a little hesitant, but encouraged by Peter's enthusiastic response. "Um...I'd like that. Gosh, it sounds great, but...I don't think you've told your Dad's about me yet, and I haven't told Angela and that's a lot to cover in the next couple of days. "
"Yes, you're right, it is a lot," Peter replied. "But like I said, I know my Dad's will love you, and I think that Angela will fit right in. And with Bik and Robert being out of on their own we've got plenty of room, everyone can have their own bedroom."
He noticed that Marty paused, lost in thought over something.
"What if they want to share a bedroom," he finally asked.
"Hmmm...we'll see what we can do about that," Peter replied with a sly smile.