DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between men, teenage boys, and between men and teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it!
The Abandoned Boy
Chapter 30
"I knew this would happen!" Ethan cried, bursting through the doorway, past Tom, and into his apartment, the moment Tom opened the door. "That bastard at the pizza parlor's seduced Simon!"
"What?" Tom asked, looking incredulously at Ethan, as he shut the door. "What are you talking about? What's happened?"
Sniffing and wiping his eyes, Ethan told Tom how he'd stopped at Mario's to pick Simon up, and how he'd gone to use the men's room, and overheard Simon and Jerry's conversation.
"Are you sure you heard that correctly?" Tom asked.
"That's EXACTLY what they were saying!" Ethan cried.
"OK, OK, Calm down a minute," Tom said. "I'm sure there's some rational explana-"
"There's only one explanation! Simon's fooling around with that asshole!" Ethan exploded. "We were supposed to be together forever! Why is he doing this? I trusted him. I was so certain we'd always be together! We even started having sex again! I'm so stupid! I should've waited until he had that last HIV test!"
"Wait a minute," Tom said, looking seriously at Ethan. "Are you saying that you and Simon have been having unprotected sex again?"
With tears in his eyes, Ethan looked at Tom and nodded sadly.
"Ethan! You knew you were supposed to wait until Simon was completely cleared!" Tom said.
"I know!" Ethan whined, as tears began to flow down his cheeks.
"Well, we'll deal with that later," Tom said, realizing how miserable the boy was.
Tom stepped over to Ethan and wrapped his arms around him.
"Right now, let's see if we can't figure out what's really going on with Simon and that kid," Tom said.
As Tom was comforting Ethan, Simon walked into our apartment with tears running down his cheeks.
"What's wrong?" I asked, walking over to him.
Simon looked at me, and couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He started weeping. I wrapped my arms around him, telling him it would be OK, whatever 'it' was.
I held Simon for a couple minutes while he cried. Eventually, he calmed down and pulled away from me. He told me then what had happened.
"So, nothing has happened then between you and Jerry? I asked.
"NO! Nothing! I'd never cheat on Ethan!" Simon cried, looking miserably at me.
"OK," I said. "Listen, it was just a misunderstanding. I'm sure that once you talk to Ethan, and explain, things'll be OK."
"You think he'll believe me?" Simon asked.
"Have you ever lied to him before?" I asked
"No!" Simon said.
"Well, he shouldn't have a reason not to trust you then," I said.
"I hope you're right!" Simon said. "I'm going to try and call him!"
"Good idea!" I replied.
Simon called Ethan's house, but nobody was there, so he left a message, asking Ethan to call him.
"What you overheard at Mario's wasn't what you thought it was. I need to explain! PLEASE call me!" he ended his message with.
"I hope he gets my message soon!" Simon said, looking nervously at me.
No sooner had Simon put the phone down, when it rang.
"Ethan?" he cried hopefully into the mouthpiece as he picked up the receiver.
"Nope, it's me!" Tom said. "So... you're hoping to hear from him?"
"Yeah. He overheard something at work today and got the wrong idea. He got upset and left before I could talk to him. I just left a message on his machine, and thought maybe you were him calling back. I really need to explain and fix things!" Simon said.
"I see. So what he heard you and that guy talking about ... nothing happened between the two of you?" Tom asked.
"NO! I'd never cheat on Eth- Hey wait a minute! How do you know about that?" Simon asked.
"Ethan's here. He's in the bathroom at the moment. But he came to talk to me about what happened. He's pretty upset," Tom said.
"I swear I didn't do anything with Jerry!" Simon said. "I never would! Ethan's the only guy I want! Please! Can you tell him that and put him on the phone?"
"How about I bring him over to your place and we'll all talk it over?" Tom said.
"That'd be GREAT! Thanks Tom!" Simon said.
"OK, let me go. He's coming out now. We'll be there shortly," Tom said.
"OK. Thanks! And tell him nothing happened!" Simon said.
"OK. See you soon!" Tom said.
They hung up then.
"That was Tom! Ethan's there! He said he'd tell Ethan nothing happened, and bring him over here, so we can talk!" Simon said, smiling slightly.
"Good," I said, smiling. "You two can clear things up then!"
"Yeah!" Simon said, smiling.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Tom walked in. Ethan followed him, looking apprehensively at Simon.
"Ethan!" Simon cried. "What you overheard was nothing! I mean, well yeah, Jerry asked me to have sex with him, but I told him NO! I'd never cheat on you! You can even ask Mario! We came out of the men's room just seconds after you left!"
Ethan looked at Simon uncertainly.
"The way you two were talking, it sounded like you were having sex together all the time!" Ethan said, looking awkward.
Simon walked over to him and said, "I've never told you a lie before about anything. I'm not about to start lying now. Nothing's happened between me and Jerry since I was living in the dugout and was hustling. He's a nice guy. Really! We joke around a lot. We ended up in the men's room washing up together after we closed tonight. He was joking! He knows I'd never fool around on you! And if you'd hung around a few seconds longer, you'd've heard me tell him that!"
"He wasn't joking Simon! He wants you!" Ethan said.
"Fine! He wants me! I admit it! I can't help that! It doesn't mean I'm going to do anything with him though!" Simon said. "I'm sure you've had someone want you before, who you haven't done anything with!"
Ethan looked at Simon, and tinged a little red.
"Fuck. I'm being an idiot, and an asshole on top of it, aren't I?" he said, sheepishly.
"Yeah, but at least it shows how much you care," Simon said, softly.
Before Ethan could reply, Simon stepped closer to him and wrapped his arms around him and said "I love you Ethan. I'd never do anything to hurt you. I promise!"
Ethan's eyes watered up again, and he hugged Simon to him, and buried his face against Simon's neck.
Ever so softly I heard him whisper, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I love you too Si!"
Simon turned his face toward Ethan and gently kissed him on the cheek. Ethan lifted his face up and softly kissed Simon on the lips. Simon's lips parted and he started kissing Ethan then. The two shared a sustained French kiss, parting only to take a breath.
"Well, I guess that's fixed," I said, quietly to Tom, who'd stepped over next to me. "C'mon out to the kitchen and help me get some pie and milk for everyone."
"Mmmm, sounds good!" Tom said, as he followed me into the kitchen.
Buddy, who'd been bouncing up and down yipping on and off since Tom and Ethan arrived, followed us, knowing already that the kitchen is where his snacks came from.
As I cut big slabs of apple pie and put them on plates, then added scoops of vanilla ice cream along side, Tom fed Buddy a few puppy treats.
"There's one more thing we need to discuss with the guys," he said.
"What's that?" I asked.
Then he told me about Ethan's admission back at his apartment that he and Simon were having unprotected sex.
"Shit! I thought they were holding out until Simon had his last test," I said.
"I know," Tom said. "Too late now though."
"Yeah," I said. "Still, we should probably talk to them about it! Also, I wonder just what they might have been doing with Rob the other night! You saw the looks on their faces. I hope they didn't have unprotected sex with him too!"
"Forgot about that!" Tom said. "Guess we need to talk about it pronto though!"
"Yeah," I said, picking up the tray containing the plates of pie ala mode.
Tom picked up the tray with glasses of milk on it, and we went out into the living room.
"Still at it I see," Tom said, grinning, as he held the door to the kitchen open with his foot, so Buddy could get through.
"OK, enough you two!" I said. "Time for pie!"
"Did someone say Pie?" Simon asked, happily, breaking his and Ethan's kiss.
"Sure! Just dump me for a piece of pie!" Ethan said, smiling.
"It's apple pie ala mode," I said, chuckling.
"Oh Yeah! Pie time!" Ethan said, shoving Simon away from him.
We all laughed.
We each took a plate of pie, and a glass of milk, then we sat on the couches, and it was quiet for a few minutes, except for the tinking of our forks on the plates.
"Man!" Simon said, when he'd finished. "That was great!"
"Sure was," Tom agreed.
"Awesome!" Ethan joined in.
"Well, thanks! Guess I'll bake pies more often!" I said.
"Please do!" "Cool!" "Great!" they all responded.
"OK, I can handle that I guess," I said. "Right now though, there's something Tom and I need to talk about with you."
The boys looked expectantly at us.
"What's this Tom tells me about you two having unprotected sex? I thought you were waiting until Simon had his last HIV test!" I said.
Simon's mouth dropped open and he gaped at me with big eyes. Ethan turned red in the face.
"H-how did you find out Tom?" Simon asked.
"Um... well... I kinda told him by accident," Ethan said. "Sorry."
Simon looked at Ethan a moment.
"I'm sorry! It just popped out!" Ethan said, turning another couple shades redder.
Ethan explained then about how he'd been the one to break the promise they'd made to be safe. Tom and I both expressed our displeasure about it, but agreed that there was nothing we could do about it at that point. We talked a little more about the consequences of unsafe sex, until we were sure they both understood.
"By the way. The other night when you had sex with Rob! Was it unprotected?" I asked.
Both their mouths hung open, and they stared incredulously.
"H-how did you know?" Simon asked, finally.
"Saw it on your faces," I said.
They both turned pink.
Finally, Simon said, "Well, I didn't do anything but use my hands. That's safe, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I said. "What about you Ethan?"
"Um... well... I went further," He said, not looking directly at me or Tom.
"Did you use a condom?" I asked.
"No," Ethan said, very quietly, looking at the floor.
"We need to ask this, I'm sorry," Tom said. "Where exactly was your penis when you had sex with Rob?"
"Um, in his mouth, and... up his butt," Ethan said, still looking down.
"Rob's mouth and butt?" I asked.
"Yeah," Ethan said.
"And you didn't have a condom on?" Tom asked.
Ethan shook his head "no".
"Had you had unprotected sex with Simon at anytime before you were with Rob?" Tom asked.
Ethan nodded.
"But, Simon's the one who's the risk!" he added.
"Not necessarily," I said. "You could've caught HIV from Simon, if he has it! Then, you could've passed it to Rob!"
"Shit!" Ethan said, looking miserably at us. "I didn't mean to do that! I thought Simon was the only risk."
"Not true if you'd already had unprotected sex with him!" I said.
Ethan looked mortified.
"Look, chances are Simon is clean, and thus you are too. So let's wait to get Simon's last test results before we jump to conclusions. He gets tested later this week. But no more unprotected sex with any other people!" I said.
Still looking miserable, they both nodded.
I suggested that they let me talk to Rob and explain. They agreed.
I asked Tom and Rob if they were staying over. Neither had thought about it, but decided they might as well. I suggested that we get to bed, since it was getting late.
Simon and Ethan took Buddy out to pee, while Tom and I cleaned up the dishes.
Afterward, we took turns in the bathroom, getting ready for bed.
"Is there time for 'snuggle time' yet?" Simon asked hopefully.
Smiling, I said, "as long as we don't make it too long!"
We all headed into my room then and got naked and crawled into bed together. The boys both crawled in between us, with Ethan snuggled up to Tom, and Simon snuggled up to me.
Our time together was quieter than usual, as Ethan and Simon were still feeling bad about possibly exposing Rob to HIV. Ethan was especially feeling guilty about it. Rather than tickling and wrestling around with us, the two lay snuggled up to us, as if seeking solace from the close, naked, contact with us.
After a while I suggested they go to bed, as it was getting late. They hugged and kissed us, then quietly they got up and went down the hallway to Simon's room. Evidence of the fact they were both still feeling bad, was the fact that neither had an erection when they crawled out of our bed. Any other time, they were both stiff as boards!
When they got to Simon's room and crawled into his bed, Ethan said, "I'm sorry Si, but can we skip sex tonight? I feel awful about exposing Rob, and I'd just feel guilty about enjoying myself at the moment."
"I know. It's OK," Simon said, as he turned onto his side and snuggled up to Ethan.
The two lay quietly together for a while. Eventually they fell asleep.
In our room, Tom and I discussed all that had happened during the evening, and we ended up not having sex either, as we were both too tired. We ended up falling asleep snuggled together, like the boys did.
The next morning, while Ethan was in the bathroom, I spoke with Simon.
"I know nothing happened between you and Jerry last night. But you saw the misunderstanding that occurred. There are a lot of other places you could work. You might want to consider a career change. If for no other reason than it'd make Ethan feel better about things!" I said.
Simon looked at me, then he said, "I'll think about that."
"OK," I said.
When I got to school, I was going to try to locate Rob, so we could talk. I didn't have to put too much effort into looking for him though, as I happened to see him in the lobby. I called to him and motioned him over to me.
"Hi Greg!" he said, smiling, as he walked up to me.
"Hey Rob! Got a minute?" I asked.
"Sure," he said, his brow furrowing a little as he looked questioningly at me.
"Let's duck in here," I said, indicating the office.
I stepped into the office, and walked over to the small conference room, which was empty.
"Am I in trouble?" he asked, a little nervously.
"No," I said, smiling.
I closed the door behind us and we sat down at the table.
"What's wrong then?" he asked.
"Well, probably nothing, but just in case, I think you need to know something," I said.
Then, I told him I knew he'd had sex with Simon and Ethan. His mouth dropped open, and he went beet red, and looked away from me.
"Hey! It's OK. I really don't care that you were having sex with them, except for one little thing," I said.
Still red in the face, he looked at me again.
I told him then how because Ethan had had unprotected sex with Simon, and that he'd then had unprotected sex with him, that there was a slight possibility that he could've contracted anything that Ethan may have picked up from Simon.
Rob's eyes suddenly grew wider as the impact of what I was saying hit him.
"Wh-what is it Simon has?" he asked, without attempting to dispute the fact he'd had unprotected sex with him and Ethan.
"Well, both of them were tested for all kinds of things, and the tests all came back good. But, not everything shows up right away. Simon was at risk for possibly catching HIV. He was tested for it and so far doesn't show up as having it. However, the timeframe in which it can show up is not completely over with yet. He has one more test to have, before he's completely cleared. So he shouldn't have been having unprotected sex with someone yet," I said.
"But I didn't have sex with him!" Rob said.
"I know, but he did have unprotected sex with Ethan! And Ethan had unprotected sex with you!" I said.
Rob's eyes got huge then as the realization of what I was talking about hit him.
"You mean I might have AIDS???" he asked, as his eyes filled with tears.
"No," I said. "First of all, I doubt you caught anything. Seriously! Secondly, it wouldn't be AIDS, it'd be HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Also, you need to know that if you did get it, which I really doubt, there are all kinds of new medications out there that, while they don't cure HIV, they allow you to live your life pretty normally with it."
Rob looked miserable. His lower lip was trembling, and his eyes were watering.
I felt awful for the boy. I reached over and put and arm around him. He turned into me, and wrapped his arms around me, and I felt him shaking a little in my arms.
I let Rob cry for a minute or two, then I said, "Hey! C'mon! There's only a miniscule chance Ethan caught it! We don't think Simon really has it to give to anyone! And there's less of a chance you caught it even if he does have it. Anyway, Simon has an appointment later this week, for his final test!"
"W-will you let me know how he is?" Rob asked.
"Of course!" I said.
Rob got control of himself as best as he could. We talked a little more, then the bell rang for homeroom. I told him I'd let him know the results of Simon's tests as soon as we knew. We stood up then, and Rob looked at me miserably, and thanked me for telling him. I told him that I wouldn't keep anything like that from him.
"Besides, I needed to tell you, so that I could warn you not to have any unprotected sex with anyone, until we know that everyone's OK," I said.
"Oh yeah," Rob said. "Well, there's not much chance I'd have sex with anyone anyway. Simon and Ethan were my first time!"
"Well, I thought you should know," I said.
"Thanks. By the way, are you going to tell my parents?" Rob asked, looking worriedly at me again.
"No, not unless Simon's test results come back bad," I said. "And I'd talk to you first anyway."
"Thanks," he said.
Smiling, I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug.
"It'll turn out OK," I said.
"Thanks," Rob said, again, hugging me back.
After we broke our hug, we both said good-bye to each other and headed off to our homerooms.
After school, Ethan and Simon decided to go to the mall, since they were both off from work. As the walked through the mall, toward the Gameroom, they passed a bookstore.
"Hey, look!" Simon said, pointing to a "Help Wanted" sign on a post beside the door into the store.
"Yeah? So?" Ethan asked.
"Can we go in a minute?" Simon asked.
"Sure," Ethan said, giving Simon a surprised look.
They were just about to go into the store, when one of Ethan's co-worker's from the shop he worked at stopped them.
"Go ahead, I'll catch up," Ethan said to Simon.
Simon walked into the store, and up to the counter and asked if he could speak with the manager. The woman behind the counter said she was the manager, and asked what she could do for him.
"I might be interested in your part time job!" Simon said, smiling. "Could you tell me about it please?"
The woman smiled, and told Simon what the hours, pay, and duties of the job were.
"Do you think you'd be interested?" she asked.
"Yes, I do," Simon said.
"Well, tell me about yourself then," she said.
Simon told her about himself then. As he was finishing, Ethan walked up to them.
"Hi Lois," he said.
"Ethan! How are you?" Lois asked.
"Fine thanks!" Ethan said.
"You two know each other?" Simon asked.
"Yes," they both said, looking at Simon.
"Do you two know each other?" Lois asked, looking back and forth between them.
"Yes," Simon said.
"So do you think he'd be a good sales clerk?" Lois asked Ethan.
"What about Mario's?" Ethan asked, looking at Simon.
"I think it's time for a career change!" Simon said, grinning at him.
Ethan grinned hugely then, and his eyes glistened as he looked at Simon.
"I don't think you could get a better sales clerk than Simon!" Ethan said, looking back at Lois.
Ethan went on then to list all of Simon's good qualities, and gave him a glowing reference.
"Wow!" Lois said, when Ethan was finished. "If you're half as good as Ethan says, I think we'll have hired one of our best employees ever!"
Simon smiled and blushed a little.
Lois asked Simon a few more questions, then said, "Well, I think you'd work out fine. Would you like the job?"
"Yes Maam!" Simon said, grinning.
"When can you start?" Lois asked.
"Well," Simon said, suddenly looking a little uncertain. "I hate to just up and leave my current job. I think I'd like to give them a couple week's notice."
"Well, Tell you what. Why don't you give them notice, but over the next couple weeks, come in on your days off for a couple hours each day and we'll train you how things work here!" Lois said.
Simon smiled and said, "I think that would be great!"
"Wonderful! You're hired!" she said, smiling.
They talked a few minutes longer, figuring out a training schedule for Simon, and Lois told him what he'd have to wear to work. Then she had him fill out a few employment forms. When he was finished and handed them in, she said she'd see him in a couple days.
Simon retrieved Ethan, who'd wandered into the sci-fi book section, and the two left.
"I can't believe you're changing jobs!" Ethan said, as they wandered down the mall. "I hope you didn't do it just because of me!"
"Hmmm... you have a pretty high opinion of yourself there, don't you?" Simon said, smiling slyly.
"You know what I mean!" Ethan said, looking sideways at Simon.
"I did it for us!" Simon said. "Now you won't have to worry about Jerry, and, we'll be working close to each other too! I was able to sign up for almost the same hours you work too!"
"Cool!" Ethan said, grinning. Then he stopped walking and looked seriously at Simon and said, "And thanks! I know you liked working at Mario's. I'm sorry I was such a pain in the ass about it. I'm sorry you felt you should do this because of that."
"I said, I did it for us!" Simon said, smiling.
Evan smiled, and the two resumed walking toward the game room.
Later, on their way home from the gameroom, Simon asked Ethan to stop by Mario's. He went in and gave Mario his two-week notice. Mario was sad that he was leaving, but thanked him for the notice.
Simon's schedule was busy the next couple weeks. He still was working at Mario's. But, he was also working at the book store, learning how to sell books!
He managed to just squeeze in time to go to the doctor for his last HIV test. I took him to the doctor for it one day at the end of the week, after school. They drew some blood and told us to come back the following Tuesday for the results...
The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.