The usual disclaimers apply - ie. no reading this if you're not of age to read it, and no peeking at this if you can't stand gay people (which would bring to mind the question of what the hell you're doing reading this anyway).
Dear Readers: I'm still getting a handle on this variety thing between the Shane/Robin chapters, so I apologize in advance if there are too many similarities.
All questions etc can be directed to dcross1@home.com
Shane sat on his bed, entranced at the sensations that crowded in upon him. Here he was, staring like a love-struck fool (how close to the truth was that?) at Robin, the guy he'd dared to come out to. He wondered idly how much ribbing he'd get from Dave when the latter found out what had happened. He looked up from Robin's hand, which had stroked his hair and touched his face, to Robin's soft brown eyes. It was still so hard to believe that he was there with another man, alive and in the flesh.
Shane remembered the question he'd asked which hadn't been answered earlier, and put his hand on Robin's shoulder. Robin was startled, but quickly relaxed, and smiled broadly as he welcomed the contact.
Shane asked, "Robin, do you remember what I asked before, about your parents helping you a lot? Um, was it about you being gay and all that?"
Robin nodded. "Yeah. I can't really go into details, but it started mostly by accident, actually. My sister should really be the one to thank for bringing it all up - she was rattling on about a discussion that her Socials class had about the news recently; you know, about the government changing the anti-discrimination laws, and my parents had a really open discussion about the whole thing."
"Well, I'll have to congratulate her for indirectly helping the man I like."
Robin blushed a beautiful shade of red. "Flatterer."
"Only for you." Shane kissed Robin on the lips, and chuckled at the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on Robin's face.
"This is all so new to me, you know..."
"Same here. I understand what you mean. Look. I want you to know something. There's a couple other people--"
"That you like?" Robin looked downcast.
"No, you silly. Let me finish! There's a couple other people in school who know that I'm gay."
Robin looked alarmed. "What?! Oh shit!"
Shane had to put his hands on Robin's shoulders to settle him down. Then he spoke. "No, LISTEN, damnit! They're two guys who have lockers next to mine, who don't care because they're too busy arguing about weird scientific theories."
"Who?"
"Don't know if you know them. They're both named Dave, but one's in grade 11 and the other's in grade 12. Heath and Conway."
"The names don't ring a bell. Sorry."
"That's all right. I've got to introduce you, for sure. Just don't tell them the sky's red or something." Shane grinned.
Robin seemed to grow abstracted, and stared at the wall. He said softly, "You know, when we kissed that first time... it felt like I was coming home."
"What do you mean, 'coming home'?"
"It's hard to explain." Robin looked at Shane, and hesitantly traced his finger down Shane's jaw, then let his hand drop. "Like I'm completely safe, secure ... like I'm not gonna get yelled at for doing something wrong."
"Yeah, I think I know what you mean. For me, it felt more like the universe was telling me everything was OK; that I wasn't just shouting into the wind, so to speak."
Shane turned sideways on the bed to more fully face Robin. He reached out to take Robin's hand, and kissed the back of it. He then looked up, and leaned in to kiss Robin on the mouth. Only this time, it was like the French kiss of earlier - tongues began to wrestle, and Shane felt a heat begin to rise within him. He reached up to run his hands through Robin's hair, and then pulled Robin into an embrace, which Robin returned. Hands roamed over his back and neck as he did the same to Robin.
Robin broke the kiss quickly, breathing heavily. Shane, confused, said, "Did I do something wrong...?"
Robin shook his head, and said, "No... it's just that I worry if we're, you know, going too fast or something." He nervously laughed.
"If you don't want to do something, tell me. I'll never force you to do something you don't want. I promise you with my heart." To Shane's amazement, he really did feel that promise emanated from his deepest core.
Robin smiled and touched his nose to Shane's in a gesture of affection. "Thanks. I really appreciate hearing that. I dunno, I've only really accepted that I was gay really recently."
Shane brought Robin into another hug, and said, "I've known I was gay for about three years now, so I guess I've had more time to get used to the thought of doing things with another guy."
Robin looked envious and said so. "I'm jealous. I can get used to kissing and hugging you, but anything else still makes me feel weird. Not that I wouldn't mind trying, but I have to get used to the idea..."
Shane nodded. He stroked Robin's arm and said, "Well, I've always wanted to take a man out for a date. Would you like to go somewhere with me?"
"Um, sure. Where, though?" Robin looked uncertain, yet excited.
Shane paused to consider. "How 'bout Cafe California? I could use some lunch."
Robin nodded his assent.
"Well then, what's stopping you? Let's get rolling, shall we? Oh, and we'll go in my car. I insist!" Shane grinned, stood up, and extended his hand to help Robin up.
1:00 PM
Robin swallowed the last of his fajita, then said, "Fajitas. Gotta love 'em."
Shane replied, "Nuh-uh. Chicken Quesadilla. Numero uno, senor." He winked.
"Like you'd know a margarita if it came up and bit you."
"When did we become the Mexican food expert?"
"Since I read the menu for this place." Robin tried to properly look down his nose at Shane and failed, precipitating a short chuckle on Shane's part. How he wished he could kiss this beautiful guy sitting across from him...
The waitress broke Shane's reverie as she inquired if either of them wanted to order anything else. Shane shook his head no, as did Robin; she left the bill on the table, then collected the dishes and cutlery and swiftly vanished. Two hands reached for the bill at the same time and engaged in a pulling contest to see who would get the check. Robin won after about 15 seconds, and pulled out enough cash to cover the lunch.
Shane pouted and Robin acquiesced. "Ok, fine, you can pay next time, since you're such a gentleman and all." He smirked and tapped Shane's foot under the table.
"We'll see who's the gentleman later." Shane suggestively raised his eyebrows and was rewarded by the fierce blush on Robin's face.
"Um... anyway, where shall we go now?"
Shane pondered that for a second and finally shrugged, admitting defeat. "No idea, man. What time is it, anyway?"
Robin grinned, then reached across and smacked Shane's head lightly. "You dumb-bell, the clock's on the wall over there!"
Shane did a double-take as he noticed the clock for the first time, and sheepishly read the time. "Ok, it's about five after one. I think we'll have to call it a day soon; my parents will be back from this big church social thing they're doing, and they'll rest easier if I'm back before they are."
They both stood up, and Robin sighed. For the first time in a few hours, his eyes showed that strange moodiness. Shane's heart went out to him as he leaned over and said, "We've got plenty of time. There's a whole school year left for us, you know." He gave Robin a friendly punch on the shoulder and was rewarded with an instant grin.
As they walked past the phone booth to the exit door, Shane made a snap decision. He said, "Robin, would you wait for me outside by the car? I've got to make a phone call." At Robin's uncertain look, he continued. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad, Ok?" Robin nodded and left the restaurant.
Shane dialled Dave C.'s number. After two rings, a voice answered. "Hello?"
"Hi. Is David there?"
"Hold on." Muffled shouts. A click as one phone was picked up and a clunk as another was hung up.
"Yo. This is Dave. Who's this?"
"Shane."
"Hey you. Wherethehellareya?"
"Cafe California. On a date."
Chuckles could be heard on the other end. "Oh-ho. Mission accomplished, and ahead of schedule! I like the way you operate."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, can I introduce him?"
"Hell yeah. You need my address, eh?"
"I saw it in the phone book, but I forgot it."
David replied didactically, "Pen and paper. The two companions of every scientist. Write this down..."
A minute later, Shane hung up the phone and clutched the hurriedly written directions he'd been given as he dashed out to the car.
Robin was leaning against the passenger door, apparently lost in thought. He looked up as Shane appeared on the driver's side, momentarily out of breath from the Speedy Gonzales impression he'd done, and said, "Hey. What took you so long, mister?"
Shane replied, "Like I said, I made a phone call." He winked, unlocked the door, and got inside before Robin could frame a reply. The click of the door being unlocked on the passenger side was his cue to get in.
1:25 PM
Shane pulled up before the house on Ash Street, and said, "Voila."
Robin had a confused expression on his face. "Uh, why are we here?"
Shane couldn't resist keeping the guy in the dark for a little longer. "C'mon. All will be revealed in a few moments." He hopped out of the car and dashed to the front door to ring the doorbell. Robin, bringing up the rear, stood beside Shane as the door opened to reveal David Conway, who grinned like the Cheshire cat once he realized who was at the door.
David said, "Hey you two, c'mon in. Just take your shoes off inside and follow me." He zipped down a flight of stairs to the left off the main walkway, and then disappeared around a corner. Shane and Robin took their shoes off and trudged down the stairs, following the route to David's bedroom. They found David reclining on his bed, and gesturing to two chairs in one corner of the room.
Shane decided actions spoke louder than words, and took Robin's hand in his own and held the joined hands for David to see. He was not disappointed, as the latter turned purple with laughter and fell off the bed, gasping for air.
Robin, obviously exasperated, said, "Look, would SOMEONE please tell me what's going on?!"
David looked at Shane, grinned again and, while reseating himself on the bed, said, "Shane, Shane, Shane. You sneaky sonofabitch. You dragged your boyfriend along and didn't even TELL HIM who you were bringing him to see! I oughtta smack you for this, and make you apologize to him, but I betcha if I did that you'd probably accomplish the feat by kissing the daylights out of the guy, and as romantic as that seems, I'd rather not have to explain to my mom why two guys she doesn't know are sucking face in my room." He let out a giggle at that last.
Shane released Robin's hand and put both his hands in the air and said, "Ok, Ok, I admit it. Anyway, I should introduce you guys, I guess. Robin, this is David Conway, one of the two Daves I was telling you about earlier. And Dave, this is Robin, as I'm sure you probably know."
Robin, finally clued in, reached over to David and extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you."
David vigorously shook Robin's hand and said, "Likewise." He released the handshake, and continued. "Ok, so as much as I like to see a cute couple, what exactly was the purpose of this interlude?"
Shane admitted that introducing Robin formally was really his only objective.
"Ah, don't worry about it. Just giving you guys a hard time. Hey, Robin. What do you think of this character here?"
Robin, blushing, replied, "Well, um... I like him a lot, even if he did put one over on me this time!" He mock-glared at Shane, and then kissed Shane on the cheek.
David snapped his fingers as he cursed. "Damn, why didn't I bring a camera for this? Next time, you guys. You gotta pose for me - no, not THAT way, you pervs. Getcher minds outta the gutter. I'll get 'em developed in Vancouver and you can have the duplicates for your collection."
He rambled on. "Oh yeah. You guys gotta come by my locker so I can watch the other Dave choke when he sees you guys together. He doesn't even know about you yet, Robin; this should be fucking hilarious. I bet this'll be better than the time I got to watch him choke indignantly when he found out nobody got the top quark yet." *
At that last, four eyes looked at David inquisitively. He cleared his throat. "Not important. I'll explain later... Anyway, you've had your date, you've presumably kissed. So when do I get to see you guys meet at the altar, so to speak?"
Robin looked upset. He spoke up. "Look, Dave. We've only been together a few hours. I don't even know where we're going to be six months from now, let alone that far down the road."
Shane, slightly calmer, got his oar in. "We're going to be taking it one day at a a time, anyway. You've got to remember in a town like this we can't be like... well, this like we are in front of you. That's going to pose its own challenges."
David said, "Oops. Shoulda realized. My bad. Well, I do wish you guys the best of luck, and I wrote down my private phone number if either one of you wants to talk about anything. Don't give it out to anybody, and if you have to, talk elliptically. I'll catch on pretty quick.
"Now I'm curious about something. How did you two end up coming out to each other anyway?" If curiosity killed the cat, David would have used up all nine lives and a few more, to boot.
Shane and Robin took turns relating what had happened earlier in the day.
David chuckled. "Geez, of all the tricks... pretending to need help on a homework assignment has to be one of the silliest things I've heard! Man, if I was a bookie I'd have cleaned up on this bet."
Shane was reminded of his feelings earlier when he thought that he'd made the worst wrong bet of his life, and said, "Yeah, but Dave, I was more scared right after I told Robin, than I ever had been before in my life. Man, I seriously thought for a moment that I was doomed."
Robin stayed conspicuously silent, and David smoothed over the resulting awkward moment by changing the subject with an effort. "Um, guys... do your parents know about any of this? Shane, we've discussed the situation with respect to yours so I suspect the answer is 'no' on your part."
Shane's reply was a nod.
Robin spoke carefully and softly. "My parents know most of it, I guess. I'll have to introduce you to them soon, Shane." He looked soulfully into Shane's eyes, and Shane couldn't help but lean in for a kiss that lingered for a second or two.
David's voice startled them both. "Shit, you guys. Do you know how beautiful that looked? I've gotta get that goddamn camera!"
- Experimental proof that the top quark existed was first found in the summer of 1994.
That ends part 9.