Timestopper

The next Saturday at noon the pledge class met back at the frat house. They hadn't had too many activities the previous week besides their daily workouts, and they'd been disappointed they hadn't been allowed to drink the night before for the usual Friday party. They were blindfolded and piled into an old school bus, then drove for about a half an hour, got kicked out of the bus in the middle of some woods, and were told to hike back to the house. All they got was a compass and told to go South.

The hike was actually pretty pleasant--the pledges had been getting close and even sober they had a good time dicking around and rough housing through the early Fall forest. Sean was an Eagle Scout and took the lead, and even if they weren't sure they were headed the right direction he made them think they were. Zach took up the rear, helping some of the more out of shape theater kids from falling behind. When they took a break to cool off in a pool along a creek Zach paused time and was able to scout out the highway nearby, ultimately bringing the pledge class back to the house in record time around mid afternoon.

The pledges showered quickly and changed into the clean clothes they'd left at the house that morning. Afterwards they went down to the common room and Dion passed out slips of paper, "Alright guys, time to vote for your pledge president. This is mostly to decide who you want to stick with organizing the pledge project, but more than that vote for whoever you think is a good leader, who you would be able to rely on if you needed a favor or somebody to talk to, ok?"

Zach didn't hesitate to vote for Sean, who he thought had done a great job leading the hike that morning, and it didn't take long for everybody else to vote either. Dion collected the slips and then told them to line up outside while he counted them with Jack.

When the pledges went outside they were surprised to find the rest of the frat already out there. Dion and Jack came out shortly behind them.

Jack spoke loudly to the pledge class as well as the rest of the frat, "The turds have voted for the shiniest turd, and the shiniest turd is......it wasn't even close, D's butt boy Zach."

Zach blushed as not only his pledge brothers but a good number of frat brothers clapped and cheered for him, the guys nearby slapping his back and congratulating him. Dion punched Jack's arm hard then smiled and winked at Zach.

"Now, the main event. When D calls your name step forward and you'll get assigned your big," Jack said. There was some excited murmuring from the pledge class.

Dion raised a hand to quiet them down, "I just got a few words to say before we start, because this is a pretty big deal. We're all brothers here, but your big brother is special. A big and little are a family within a family; you'll spend more time with them than any other brother this semester; you'll have your own traditions and activities; your big will be your best friend and number one advocate; and the respect you have for your big is meant to be the foundation of your respect for this brotherhood as a whole. So let's get started, and bigs when I say your name just stand by your little till we're done. First off Austin," Austin stepped forward looking nervous, "Your big is Rob." Rob walked over to Austin's side and clapped his shoulder as he stood behind him.

"Billy, your big is Matt," Dion continued and slowly worked his way down the list. As the list continued in alphabetical order Zach consigned himself to being last, wondering who he'd get assigned. He hoped it would be Dion, figuring he'd jump at the chance to spend even more time together. But that hope was soon quashed when Dion called out Sean's name and said, "You're mine, bro."

Instead, when it was down to just Zach Dion called out, "And finally, Zach, your big is Chris."

Chris walked over to Zach and gave him a quick pat on the back before standing next to him.

"So," Dion said to the crowd, "No party tonight. Rest of the day is for bigs and littles to get to know each other. You may hang out with some smaller groups later or it may just be you and your big; you may spend the night at the house or go camping or fuck off to the city the rest of the weekend, that's up to your big. Just have fun and stay safe, alright gentlemen?"

"And another thing," Jack said, "D talked about respecting your big. He put it nicely, as far as you bitches are concerned your big is an extension of my fucking godhood. Do what they say when they say it or there'll be hell to pay, understood?"

"Yes, pledge master!" The pledges shouted.

As the guys dispersed Chris turned to Zach with a smile, "We're gonna have some fun times, bud," he said as he clasped Zach's hand and pulled him into a bro hug.

"Can't wait," Zach said smiling back. Even if he'd been disappointed Dion wasn't his big Zach was excited to get to know Chris--not only cause he was Dion's best friend, but he'd had a fucking blast playing music with him the weekend before, and Chris just generally seemed like a cool guy. He was cute too, in a kinda nerdy skater dude way--his hair was nearly as long as Zach's but where Zach's was light and wavy Chris' was a mop of messy hair set over thick, expressive eyebrows; his face was long and he had a strong jawline, even with the scruffy facial hair that couldn't quite count as a beard; and he had a nice body too, not as nice as Dion's or Zach's, but he was fit enough and just shy of 6'.

"Come on," Chris said slapping Zach's arm and heading off, "We're goin for a drive."

As they were leaving the yard they passed Sean and Dion standing close together already caught up in conversation. Chris called out, "We still good for 8?" as he kept walking past them.

"Yeah we'll see you then," Dion said absentmindedly, till he caught sight of Zach and snagged his hand before Zach could follow Chris past them. Dion pulled Zach in and kissed him. Then he grinned and keeping his face close whispered, "Love you."

Zach blushed and grinned back, "Love you more," and they started kissing again. They'd been insufferably cute together since the threesome.

"Come on lovebird," Chris said sarcastically as he grabbed Zach by the arm and pulled him away, "Plenty of time for that later, now it's bro bonding time."

"Chrissy's right," Dion laughed as he put an arm around Sean, "Gotta keep our priorities in order, we'll see you guys in a bit."

"And I'll try not to steal your man," Sean said giving Zach a wink.

"You better not, I know where you live," Zach said with a grin, loving the sight of Dion and Sean arm in arm smiling at him.

Zach followed Chris out to his old beat up Jetta in the parking lot behind the house. Chris started the car and cranked the a/c and radio. Zach hopped in and they set off, vibing to weird but pleasant electronic music.

When they were out of town and driving along a beautiful country road through the woods and hills and farmland that surrounded it Chris took out a pack of cigs, passed Zach a spliff and said, "Spark us up." Zach obliged, and the scenery became even more beautiful and the wind in the open windows even cooler as they got high and cruised. Conversation was a bit strained to start, but once they started talking about music it came easily.

They drove to an even smaller town than their college town, hardly even a town, more a couple dozen houses and a convenience store that probably were there just for the old inn and tavern they parked at. Chris gave Zach some eye drops before they went inside and got a small booth in the back of the restaurant.

When the waitress came over Chris politely waved away the menus and said, "2 rib eyes, rare, please. Guinness for me, coke for him.

"I'm more of a medium rare guy myself," Chris said to Zach as the waitress walked away with their order, "But some grand big really liked it rare so that's how we're having it."

"Ever under the regime of our barbarous ancestors," Zach giggled highly, and then even more when Chris looked at him like he was crazy. "Sorry," Zach said pulling himself together, "I have too much time on my hands and I read too much. Just some Jefferson quote that came to mind."

Chris laughed at that and talked about his philosophy minor till the waitress came back with their drinks. Once she was out of sight Chris motioned to Zach's coke and said, "Chug half that real quick."

Zach was confused but did as he was told. Then Chris took the drink and quickly surveilled the room before he pulled a flask out of his pocket and poured it in Zach's coke.

Chris pushed the drink back to Zach and raised his beer, "Cheers, lil bro."

"Cheers, big bro," Zach said clinking his glass and feeling a little silly, at least until he started coughing from the cheap whiskey. When he pulled himself together he said, "So tell me about Argentina, man, that must've been awesome."

If you've ever talked with a college student who has recently studied abroad you'd know it's their favorite topic in the world, and Chris was excited to share. He'd spent a few months at a university in Buenos Aires, but the last 3 months he'd been living in a suburb and guest teaching music at a high school. He raved about the food and the music and the girls.

Zach furrowed his brow as he tried to remember the words, "Y hablas español con fluidez?" Then Zach lightly slapped the table, "No, for Argentina it'd be castellano, sí?"

Chris smiled with surprise, "Sí, y tú?"

"Un poco," Zach said, holding his thumb and forefinger close together, "I had a Mexican friend growing up, picked up a good bit." Zach had actually had a Mexican friend growing up, but he only spoke Spanish with his parents and never would've spoken it with Zach. Zach had done all of Mike's intro to Spanish reading in watch world though. And then Spanish 2 and 3. Then a random assortment of 20th century Latin American literature, plus one abortive attempt at Don Quixote. He'd been practicing pronunciation by watching Mexican soap operas.

"That's awesome," Chris said, then he continued in Spanish, "Would you want to practice? I honestly miss it already."

"Por qué no," Zach smiled, and the rest of the evening they talked in a mix of English and Spanish, Zach occasionally asking Chris to talk a little slower or explain a phrase to him, while Zach quickly got drunk from his whiskey coke on an empty stomach.

Their steaks came soon, though, and Zach devoured his, starving after the hike. Then Chris ordered them each a slice of peanut butter pie and coffee, which Chris added the last of the whiskey to.

They walked out of the tavern stuffed and stood besides Chris' car as they had a smoke.

"I'm a little surprised you haven't asked for any Dion stories," Chris said a little mischievously, "I've got some good ones."

"Ooo, let's hear 'em," Zach said, slightly swaying on his feet so he leaned against the Jetta.

"Let's see...there was the time our freshman year, we were doing My Fair Lady for the spring musical. We had a rager after the first performance, and D sang along to screamo music so hard he literally couldn't speak the next day and had to get subbed out for the next show."

"Great, something to be terrified of, thanks," Zach nervously laughed.

"If you had to listen to the Rain in Spain 100 times then I may tell you to be careful about letting out a primeval scream. I think you'll be alright in Grover's Corner," Chris said, "And speaking of, I can't wait to see your Stage Manager. I swear, I couldn't hear your name in the house without somebody butting in 'holy shit he's so good.' Dion literally texted me about it like 10 minutes after your audition. Honestly, I'm a little worried it's been so hyped I can't help but be disappointed."

Zach blushed, "Me too. It's been a lot of fun though. Davidson is a great director, and the crew are a riot. And like people have said there's usually some drama, but it's been really chill."

"Oh give it time," Chris laughed, "We're still early in the semester. My money's on it's already brewing.

"But next D story," Chris said clapping then rubbing his hands together, "Another freshman one. D and I had Logic together at 8 am Mondays. Fucking sucked, everybody was always grumpy and hungover. One morning Dion comes into class 5 minutes late and bout half his face was covered in shaving cream. The Professor stopped in the middle of a lecture to hand him a tissue box."

"Was he drunk?" Zach asked.

"Nah," Chris grinned taking a drag on his smoke, "He was distracted. Him and Kat had just started dating and she texted him in the middle of a shave. He just totally forgot about anything else."

Zach laughed, "He can get on a one track mind."

"He can't help it. It's kinda endearing though," Chris said, "But I'm sure I don't need to tell you that."

"Nope," Zach smiled and blushed again.

"Alright, last one, bit of a personal story so let's keep it between bros alright?" Chris said.

"Goes without saying," Zach said.

"Good," Chris said, "So, last fall semester D and I were roommates at the frat house right. I get out of class early one day, I go back to the room and catch D butt naked sniffing one of my dirty socks and jacking off on our futon."

"No way," Zach laughed, "What did you do?"

"I called him a pervert," Chris said, "Then I sat next to him, kicked off my shoes, and put my foot in his face till he finished while I looked at my phone. Sometimes gotta help a brother out."

"Puta madre," Zach muttered putting a hand to his head, "That's hot as fuck."

Chris cackled at that, "Figures you'd think so. I guess it didn't take too long for you to get a foot massage, huh?"

"Nope," Zach laughed. "Did you guys ever mess around otherwise?"

"We've jacked off together a couple times. Had a threesome with him and Kat but we were focused on her. Guys don't really do anything for me, like if I'm drunk or horny enough I can be up for some fun, but usually I let you gay boys keep to yourself and have more girls for me. And of course D doesn't really mess around with brothers--well, didn't anyway," Chris said with a sly grin as he took another drag.

"Yeah, he told me bout that," Zach said quietly, a little unsure how to respond.

Chris gave Zach a funny look as he crushed his cigarette butt under foot, then he said, "I'm curious how it'll work out with you guys. I think I know Dion as well as anybody, hell maybe even better than anybody. But I never thought he'd leave Kat."

"Well, he hasn't," Zach said reflexively.

"He would've. He told me so last weekend," Chris said as he lit another cigarette and smiled, "Nearly breaking up the mom

and dad of the theater department and you tell me there hasn't been any drama."

Zach grinned despite himself, "Nothing too bad, yet. It seems to be working out."

Chris smoked his cigarette for a bit, as if he were thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to say. Eventually he said, "Look Zach, I love Dion. He's closer than a brother. But I also know he can occasionally be a dick--half the time he doesn't even realize it, and usually he's so charming nobody else realizes it either. But it's still being a dick. And I'm a little worried this poly thing may've been a dick move. Now don't get me wrong, mazel tov and all that, I hope it works out for the best. Just, if you ever want to talk about relationship stuff I'm here for it, and it'll just be between us. I know the big and little thing is kinda absurd, and we've barely gotten to know each other really, but I fucking loved my big and I really do take the mentorship part seriously. If D were dating my little sister I'd be telling her the same shit."

Zach considered that for a good while before he responded, "I appreciate the offer. I'll probably take you up on it sometime. But right now--" Zach smiled drunkenly, "Right now I'm just so fucking excited. Dion is...he's incredible. He's the coolest guy I've ever known and he's sweet and fucking sexy and I can talk with him for hours. And seeing him with Kat--I'm not a jealous person, Chris. Like, maybe I used to be, but ever since I got--" he almost said the watch but caught himself, "got to college I feel like, I don't know, we got nothing but time, and there's enough time to care about more than one person. The way he looks at her, man, I could never ask him to stop. I don't think I'd even want it."

Chris smiled a little sadly, "That time goes quicker than you think."

On their drive back to campus Zach could tell Chris was making a concerted effort to get back to a lighthearted mood, and Zach was eager to go along. They blasted the music and sang along together as the sun started to set.

As they approached the town Chris turned down the music and said, "You pledges finished the hike like crazy quickly, so we've got some time before we gotta meet up with D and Sean."

"What're we doing with them?" Zach asked.

"Ice cream at Mama's. Another tradition."

"Bleh," Zach said, "I'm so stuffed."

"We got a couple hours yet. And we'll smoke some more. But in the meantime, I got a keyboard in my room and I've barely had a chance to play around with the mixing gear I got last Christmas, how bout we get stoned and make some music?"

"Fuck yeah, dude."

Zach and Chris had such a good time smoking and listening to and making music they ended up getting to Mama's Ice Cream Shack about 15 minutes late. But they still beat Dion and Sean. Zach and Chris had just got their milkshakes and were talking about what they'd do differently with one of the pieces they'd been working on when Dion plopped down next to Zach in their booth.

"Fancy seeing you guys here," Dion said, but when Zach grinned at him Dion couldn't hold back as he leaned over to lightly kiss Zach's neck and dimples and then his lips.

"Get a room," Chris said sarcastically as he flicked the paper from his straw at them.

Dion put an arm around Zach as he turned to his friend, "I plan on it. In the meantime you should just enjoy the show, like can you imagine what we'd make on onlyfans?"

"Nothing from me," Chris laughed.

"As if you wouldn't support your little bro," Dion said as he ruffled up Zach's hair. Then he kept ruffling, "You know, I do this for

another couple hours and your hair may be half as mangey as your big's."

Zach pushed Dion away laughing, but then quickly went back under his arm.

Chris leaned over the table to Zach and pointed at Dion, "Te lo dije, es un pendejo."

"Es mi pendejo," Zach said resting his head on Dion's shoulder.

Dion looked down at Zach shocked, "Wait, do you speak Spanish? I thought you were taking French?"

"I am," Zach said, "but I speak a little Spanish. Chris has been helping me practice, I haven't spoken it for awhile."

"Could've fooled me," Chris said.

Dion couldn't stop looking amazed at Zach, "What the hell can't you do?"

Zach blushed as he took a sip from his milkshake, "Well, I suck at fishing."

Dion paused for a couple seconds before he burst into laughter and covered his eyes with a hand, "Ugh, you two are just gonna talk shit about me to my face and I'll have no fucking clue what you're saying."

"Sí, cabrón," Chris said, winking at Zach.

"Wait, where's Sean?" Zach asked Dion.

"Waiting on our sundaes, should be here any sec. Sorry we're late, ended up going on a bit of an adventure," Dion said. "You guys have a good time?"

"Fucking awesome time," Zach said earnestly, "you need to hear what Chris can do with his mixing setup, sounded so professional. I'm gonna help him put up some acoustic panels later this week."

"What adventure did you guys get up to? I half expected we'd catch you back at the house, you didn't have too much planned," Chris said.

Dion smiled and gestured behind Chris, "See for yourself."

Sean was walking over to the table with sundaes in each hand and a slightly embarrassed grin on his face. It took Zach a moment to tell what was different about him--he had a thin metal bar along the top of his ear and a small silver stud in his earlobe.

Sean sat down across from Dion and passed him a sundae, then he turned his head to show off his new piercings to Zach and Chris, "So whaddya think?"

Zach had to pick his jaw off the ground before he said, "I love it!" And he did. Sean had a boyish face, and the closest thing to fashion Zach had seen him in was a collared shirt; otherwise Sean had a kind of bland all American boy look--cute but uninteresting and inoffensive. There was something almost transformative about the piercing; it made him look older, more unique, and, while Sean seemed a little bashful about showing off his new look, on the whole he seemed more confident.

"Very punk rock, dude, looks good," Chris said.

"I'm a little worried Emily's gonna hate it," Sean blushed, obviously appreciative of the compliments, "but I always thought the industrial piercings were really cool."

""It's so fucking cool," Zach said unable to look away, "Did it hurt? That's pretty intense for a first one isn't it?"

"Less intense than D's first," Sean laughed.

Zach turned to Dion, "Wait, you got a piercing too? Where?"

Dion grinned, "What, you think I'd let my little bro get stabbed all by himself? I got my nipple pierced."

Chris burst out laughing, "Of course you did."

"Lemme see," Zach said intently, putting a hand on Dion's thigh as he felt himself getting hard.

Dion subtly spread his legs at Zach's touch but he said, "You can see it later. I've still got a bandaid over it."

"Did he cry?" Chris asked Sean gleefully.

"Nah, very stoic," Sean said, "Sucked on his teeth a little. I teared up after the second one though."

"Barely," Dion said, "and they definitely got a yelp out of me. Sean was fucking silent."

Zach was loving the way Dion and Sean grinned at each other, almost conspiratorial.

"I bet Emily'll like it, Sean," Zach said taking a sip from his milkshake as his fingers drew circles along Dion's thigh, "Honestly I think it's sexy."

"That's exactly what I said," Dion said, pulling Zach close to him and putting his chin on Zach's shoulder while Sean's face turned nearly as red as his hair, "Nothin gets a girl wetter than a bad boy."

Still blushing, Sean affected a cocky grin and said, "I already know how to turn a girl on." He picked up the cherry from the top of his sundae and popped it stem and all into his mouth. Mouth closed, his jaw worked around in circles for a few seconds, then, smiling, he pulled the stem out and showed off a tight knot.

"Haha, yeah that'd do it," Dion said, his hand slipping under Zach's shirt as he held his side.

"They teach you that in Boy Scouts too?" Zach teased.

"What, you think they just hand out the gentleman badge?" Sean said.

"Careful, bro," Chris said, "You get those two any more erect and they may knock over the table."

"As if I haven't been hard since I sat down,"Dion joked, but as Zach's hand subtly went up his thigh Zach could tell it wasn't really a joke. As Zach's hand lightly passed over the tip of his boner Dion shuddered and started kissing Zach's neck.

"Para el carro, hermanito," Chris said.

"Vete al carajo, hermano mayor," Zach giggled as Dion's kisses tickled his neck.

"Wait, you fucking speak Spanish?" Sean said, "How the hell are you good at everything?!" Then he took a spoonful of whipped cream and flicked it across the table at Zach's face, nailing his nose and mouth.

Dion laughed as he wiped the whipped cream from Zach's nose and then stuck his finger in Zach's mouth, Zach sucking it clean. "That's exactly what I said," Dion said then he leaned over and gently licked off the rest from Zach's lips and they started making out.

"Ugh," Chris groaned, "We better get going before they start fucking in public."

When they left the ice cream shop the 4 guys piled into Chris' car. Zach was surprised that, instead of heading back to the frat house, they were driving out of town.

"Where we going?" Zach asked Dion and Chris from the backseat.

"Not far," Dion said, his hand resting out the window as he smoked a cig.

"Very informative," Sean laughed.

"We're going to a cabin," Chris said, turning down the music, "An alum bought this place like a decade ago. Mostly uses it for fishing in the summers, and the occasional alumni event. Lucky us, he's a brother and let's the frat use the house for some events. And super lucky us, he's Zach and my grand big: we do some maintenance stuff for him, and he'll let us have a weekend at the house a couple times a semester. Only condition is we both gotta be there, have some big and little bonding."

"Holy shit, that's awesome," Zach said.

"Right? D and I stopped by this morning and stocked the place. It won't look that impressive tonight, but in the morning we'll get the most amazing view of the valley. Got a long night ahead of us, we're staying up for the sunrise."

"Fuck yeah," Zach said.

"So is our big/little tradition mooching off their big/little tradition?" Sean asked Dion sarcastically.

Dion laughed, "Our big/little tradition for the first night is getting shitfaced, which conveniently works with theirs."

"Fuck yeah," Chris said, laughing too, as they sped through the woods.

They arrived at the cabin a little after 9pm. It was a cute house with a big porch along the front, and the nearest neighbor was probably a half mile away. They went inside and the place looked like some guy's fishing cabin. Comfortable and manly pleather couches, a barebones kitchen, a simple kitchen table, and a fully stocked fridge and liquor cabinet.

Chris grabbed some shot glasses, filled them with vodka, and passed them around. They clinked their glasses in a toast to Sigma Chi, and as soon as they downed them the freshmen coughed on the alcohol.

"Yeah, that won't fucking do at all," Chris laughed, filling the glasses again, "Take two."

They took another shot, this time to Zach's election, and Sean and Zach limited themselves to grimacing.

"So when does it start tasting good?" Sean asked, setting down his shot glass.

"Honestly, never," Dion said, "Eventually you just get over it and pretend it tastes good."

"Called becoming a man," Chris said, going to the fridge and grabbing a gallon jug with the unmistakable greenish yellow tinge of jungle juice.

"Now there's a method to a shitfaced all-nighter," Chris said as he filled solo cups for each of them, "Namely, get shitfaced, and then maintain it, but don't go beyond it, or else you'll pass out."

"So how we want to get started? Pong or Kings?" Dion asked.

"Definitely Kings, I need to be way drunker for pong," Chris said.

They sat around the kitchen table, a beer can in the middle and a deck of cards spread around it in a circle. Chris drew first and showed an ace.

"Waterfall!" He yelled raising his cup. He started drinking, then Zach, then Dion, then Sean. The idea was you could only stop drinking once the person before you stopped. Chris chugged for a few gulps before stopping, and Zach stopped right after him. But Dion kept drinking, and Sean had to too. As Dion kept going he and Sean were holding eye contact and making faces with their eyebrows, like they were trying to see who could make the other one do a spit take. Finally Dion slammed his empty cup on the table and burst out laughing. Sean quickly finished the rest of his then did the same.

"Well fucking done, bro," Dion said, clasping Sean's hand.

"Damn, we're gonna need to catch up man," Chris said to Zach as he put the ace under the tab of the beer can (whoever's card popped the seal would have to chug it).

Zach drew the next card and got a 2. Zach pointed at Chris, "In that case, 2 is you."

The game was a blast, the guys quickly getting wasted as the web of rules and mates meant that nearly all of them were drinking with every round. They were on their second middle beer can and were running low on cards when Chris flipped a Jack.

Chris raised 3 fingers and the rest followed suit.

"Never have I ever...lived in Buckner," Chris said laughing as Sean and Zach groaned. Buckner was their freshman dorm.

"Cheap shot," Sean said as he and Zach lowered a finger.

"Never have I ever...been to Canada," Zach said and only Dion lowered a finger.

Then Dion said, "Never have I ever gone to the school gym at 6am."

"So that's how it is, team up on the freshmen," Zach said as he and Sean lowered a second finger.

"Well two can play at that game," Sean said, "I'll even take an own goal for it--never have I ever fucked a girl."

Dion cracked up as Sean's eyes went wide seeing Zach slowly lower his hand to the table and pick up his drink.

"Dude, what??" Sean said disbelieving, "When did this happen?"

"Uhhh, Tuesday," Zach said blushing and trying to hold back a grin. He took the little invisible man off his cup (the current rule till the next king was drawn) and took a gulp.

Sean exaggeratedly buried his face in his hands, "The gay guy fucked a girl before me, what am I doing with my life dude."

Dion patted him on the back, still coming down from his fit of laughter, "Don't take it too hard, he had some assistance."

"D, he calls vaginas axe wounds for Christ's sake," Sean said, grinning himself now.

"Fair point, maybe reconsider your life choices," Dion said, laughing again.

Then Chris started giggling to himself.

"What?" Dion asked confused at what made him start.

"Haha, it's nothing it's just--I was thinking like Kat and Zach together, I mean talk about Hitler's wet dream."

"Oh fuck you, dude, you know I'm half Jewish," Dion said.

"Yeah, you're also a masochist so what's that prove," Chris quipped which made all the guys laugh.

Zach drew the next card--a Queen, question master.

"What's this one do again?" Zach asked Chris.

"Don't you know?"

"Should I?"

"What's the virgin think?"

"Why're you asking me?"

"Why not?"

"Why--wha--fuck, I lost it," Sean laughed taking a drink.

They were down to 2 cards. Dion flipped a king.

"Last rule," Dion said, "We've only had three never have I evers, so last card should be a jack." He flipped the last card over and it was a jack.

"So, new rule, only dirty never have I evers allowed," Dion said, putting his king deep under the beer tab till it looked ready to crack.

Zach took the jack and tried to just barely put it under the tab, but it still hissed open. The guys chanted chug as Zach threw the beer back. He slammed it empty on the table, flush and elated as he was finally properly shitfaced. Then he raised 3 fingers.

"Never have I ever eaten a girl out."

That got all 3. Then Sean was up.

"Never have I ever jerked off in public."

"What's public mean?" Chris asked, "Like are we talking indecent exposure or just like in a public place?"

"Public place," Sean said, "And that includes like bathrooms in a public place."

"Well fuck," Chris laughed as he and Zach lowered a finger. Then it was his turn.

"Never have I ever jerked off to a dude."

"Bullshit," Dion laughed, "I don't believe you for a second, there's no fucking way you didn't even like accidentally think of a dude while jacking off."

"That's different, that's like jerking off near a dude, I'm talking bout the prime object of the masturbation session," Chris said.

"Fine, I still think you're a liar," Dion said as he and Zach lowered a finger, and then they started laughing as they saw Sean blush and slowly lower a finger too. "Fucking good for you, bro, don't need to be ashamed of a little gay thoughts like this repressed asshole," Dion said shoving Chris' arm.

"Wait, who was it?" Zach asked.

"Fuck off man, I'm not tellin'," Sean said laughing.

"Come on, I won't tell anybody, just whisper it to me," Zach teased leaning over to Sean and cupping his hand around his ear.

"No fucking way," Sean said, beet red as he pushed Zach away.

[Author's note: from here on out dialogue in Spanish will be in between tildas ~like this.~]

"~I have a few guesses,~" Chris said grinning at Zach.

"Now don't start with the fucking Mexican again," Dion said, "My turn. Never have I ever...fuck, why'd I make it dirty I've done too many things. Uh, never have I ever gotten jizz in my eye."

"Fucker," Zach laughed as he lowered his last finger and took a drink, and then laughed some more as Chris did too.

"Dude you've never like edged and took some friendly fire to the face?" Chris said as he set down his drink.

"Oh I definitely have, thankfully I missed my eyeball," Dion said.

Chris stood up from the table, "Time for some green. Let's get the fire pit going."

As they started walking outside Dion grabbed Zach by the waist and pushed him against the counter. Dion grinned as he pressed his crotch against Zach, "I fucking love you."

Zach pressed back and wrapped his arms around Dion's neck, "You're lucky I love you or else that jizz in the eye question would get you a kick in the balls, that shit stung all night," Zach grinned and the boyfriends started making out.

"Jesus Christ," Chris said, "Come on Sean, help me get the fire going. ~And you fuckers got two minutes till I come back with a bucket of cold water,~" he called out as they walked out the door.

As the door closed behind them Dion said, "I'm pretty sure I understood 'putos.'"

"We got two minutes till he throws some water on us," Zach said, his hand reaching under Dion's shirt.

"Guess we better make the most of them then," Dion grinned as his hand slipped under Zach's shorts grabbing his ass and they got back to making out. They hadn't gone 30 seconds when they were interrupted by a torrent of ice cold water getting poured over their heads.

They quickly disentangled as Sean cackled.

"You little fucker!"

"Asshole!"

Dion and Zach yelled as they chased Sean out of the house and around back. When they turned the corner they were stopped in their tracks as Chris blasted them with a hose, Sean heaving he was laughing so hard behind him.

"Ah, alright, stop!" Dion yelled as he and Zach tried to deflect the water with their hands.

"You bitches cooled off?" Chris asked, grinning around the cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth, the water trickling to a stop.

"Fucking freezing," Zach said, his teeth already chattering as the cool fall air made him shiver.

"Good. Now Sean why don't you clean up the kitchen while these two get changed. I can get the fire started."

Zach and Dion went back to one of the two bedrooms, Dion grabbing some towels for them to dry off. The moment Dion stripped off his shirt Zach said, "Wait, how the fuck did I forget, let me see it."

Dion grinned as he gingerly lifted the bandaid from his nipple, revealing a small, simple silver bar running straight through his right nipple with tiny studs on each end. "You like it?"

"It's sexy as fuck," Zach said wrapping his arms around Dion's torso and admiring the piercing up close. "When can I play with it?" he asked, smiling mischievously.

"Awhile," Dion laughed, putting his arms around Zach's, "The guy said it may be mostly healed in a few weeks or months, but won't be playing with it this semester."

"Good thing you got another one," Zach grinned as he gently bit and licked Dion's unpierced nipple. Dion sucked in his breath as Zach pulled back chuckling.

"Honestly though, I think gold would look better with your skin tone."

"I wanted to get a gold ring, but he said I should go for a titanium bar at first."

"Well, you and Sean are matching for now," Zach said, "Why'd you guys decide to do it? Seems a bit random."

"A long conversation. And I love you, but the exact details are kinda big and little confidential. Sean can tell you more if he wants to. As for me, it's like I said, I wasn't bout to let my little get stabbed by himself, and I figured why not a nipple," Dion said, looking at Zach with that intense affection that still made Zach's belly flutter. Then Dion grinned and Zach felt weak in the knees, "I gotta tell you though--I'm butting you out as best friend. Gonna be using all my big powers to steal him away, he's too fun. You'll have to settle for his big bro's boyfriend."

"Like hell you are," Zach said grinning back and poking Dion in the ribs. Dion grabbed Zach's hands and pulled them behind Zach's back. Zach made a token effort to struggle, but he actually loved when Dion overpowered him like that. And the way Dion was biting his tongue and staring at him, Zach knew Dion loved it too.

Suddenly there was a knock at the window, and even muffled they could clearly hear Chris shout, "Don't make me get the hose again!"

They quickly got dressed, Zach in some sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt he'd brought to the frat house that morning, Dion in a pair of gym shorts and a zipper hoodie he left open to not have anything rub against his nipple piercing. They brought their wet clothes to lay by the fire, which Chris had roaring in the middle of a stone patio with plastic Adirondack chairs all around it.

"~Feeling nice and refreshed, bro?~" Chris said as he and Sean laughed at the sight of Zach's still wet hair.

Zach grabbed a cigarette and pointed it at them, "I will have such revenges on you both. What they are, yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth."

"Oh shit, he's getting Shakespearean," Dion chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure that's more Westworld," Sean said.

"Now there's a fucking tragedy, can't believe how bad that show's gotten," Chris said, sparking up a blunt.

They passed it around, quickly getting stoned as they talked about tv shows, and then movies, and then their favorite actors.

"Bryan Cranston going mad in the crawl space, best acting there's ever been on a screen," Sean said emphatically before he ripped a big hit on the blunt.

"I mean it's very good," Zach said, animated from the booze and his mind going a mile a minute from the sativa blunt, "It's better than very good, one of the best scenes ever. But best acting on a screen? I'm not sure it's the best in the show. Skylar crying for her baby basically makes up for every annoying Skylar plotline, or even her going crazy with the pool. And for Walter, it's almost impossible to even pick one. Letting Jane die, him getting the phone call to Jesse at the end of season 3, that first Heisenberg scene. I'll grant the crawlspace is in like, top 3, at that level where it's so good it's unfair to say something is better than it, but I mean Ozymandias for god's sake."

"My vote is The Fly," Chris said, "Just two guys talking. And they say everything the whole show has to say."

"Fucking Jesse. Aaron Paul is so good," Dion said, taking the blunt from Sean, "But best acting ever on a screen? It's gotta be Christopher and Adriana in Long Term Parking. That shit got into their souls."

"Alright, that actually I may agree with," Zach said grinning at Dion.

"Who and who in what?" Sean said.

"Wait, have you not seen The Sopranos?" Dion asked.

"Ah fuck, you too huh?" Sean laughed, "Zach keeps giving me shit for it."

Dion took his hit and as he held it in said, "Probably because it's the best show ever."

"I'm not sure I believe it," Sean said defiantly, "Buncha fat jersey gangsters the best thing on tv? Have you seen it Chris?"

"Dude, it's the best show ever. I mean the soundtrack alone," Chris said taking the blunt from Dion.

"What'd I tell you," Zach grinned.

"Alright, alright, I need to see it. I've been enjoying our movie nights though, doesn't leave much time for a new series," Sean said.

"Speaking of, Zach, uh why was the first I'm hearing bout movie nights from Sean? I'm always up for movies," Dion said, playfully kicking Zach's leg across from him.

"~Ah, it's already happening, see--he's using his little bro to spy on you. All an elaborate ruse to control you,~" Chris said sarcastically, throwing the butt of the blunt into the fire.

"~Does that make you a co-conspirator? Worked out a deal with his best friend to watch me when my best friend can't? And of course you conveniently have access to an isolated cabin in the woods.~" Zach said raising an eyebrow at him.

"Because of the implication," Chris said laughing, "~If that's what he was going for he wasted his time. I'd never snitch on my little bro, can have all the movie nights we want he'll never hear about them.~"

"Do you have any idea how weird it is to listen to a conversation you can't understand a word of, and then just in the middle of it you say, 'because of the implication'?" Dion said.

"Well, of course that's what you'd take from it," Chris said as Zach laughed.

"Sean, do you speak any German? We need a way to have our own exclusionary conversation," Dion said.

"Just some Latin," Sean said.

"Arma virumque cano," Zach said.

"Shut the fuck up dude, you're not allowed to know another language, no fucking way," Sean said.

"That's about the extent of it," Zach chuckled. It wasn't, but maybe it was best not to let them know just how much language studies he'd been doing in his spare infinite time.

"~You're such a nerd, I love it,~" Chris said as he slapped his knees and stood up, "Alright guys, time for more drinking."

They went back inside and got another solo cup each of juice. Then they extended the kitchen table and set up 10 cup beer pong pyramids on each end while Chris put on some music on the alum's surround system.

It was Zach and Chris vs Dion and Sean. Zach hadn't played since the first rush night and found he was a little rusty, but it didn't take long to get back into the swing of it and he and Sean were well matched. Dion and Chris were at another level though, making more cups than they were missing.

They were down to one cup each, everybody back to very drunk after they'd come down a bit by the fire. Dion got the last cup after Sean missed, and Chris got theirs on the response. Both sides put out a 3 cup pyramid for a sudden death match.

"Alright, let's make this interesting," Chris said, "Strip pong for the final three: shirt, pants, underwear. Losers gotta stay naked till midnight."

"I'm cool with it if the freshmen are," Dion said.

"Your call Sean," Zach said.

Sean grinned at Dion, "Fuck it, let 'em speak Spanish nude right?"

"That's what I'm fucking talking about," Dion said clasping Sean's hand.

"~Big talk,~" Chris said, winking at Zach. Dion and Sean were first up, Dion's bouncing off the rim of one cup and Sean sinking another. Zach and Chris stripped their shirts.

Zach was very, very happy with his body--he hardly had an ounce of fat on him, he had a lightly developed six pack and his arms were well muscled. He'd actually slown down on his workout regiment since he'd started going to the gym with the pledge class, happy with the results he'd already gotten and content with maintaining them. Chris did not have even a hint of a six pack, but he was fit enough, and Zach thought his lightly hairy chest was very attractive.

Zach and Chris took their shots and sank one cup after the other.

"Well shit," Sean said, blushing.

"Not so cocky now, huh?" Zach laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll still be the ones with your cocks hanging out," Dion said as he took off his hoodie then pulled down his shorts, showing off the tight, red Calvin Klein briefs Zach had gotten him after Dion had complimented one of Zach's pairs. Reluctantly Sean followed his lead, revealing a plain pair of grey Hanes boxer briefs, that still nicely showed off his package. Not quite the anaconda that snaked across Dion's waist, but still a clear bulge.

Zach and Chris both missed the last cup so Sean and Dion were up. Again Zach was struck by how similar their bodies were: nearly the exact same height, same build, same muscle definition. Maybe Sean was a little skinnier. Sean didn't seem as comfortable in his body as Dion though--if anything Dion got more relaxed the less clothes he had on, more limber as he bent his knees and practiced his throw, seemingly oblivious to being near naked. But Sean was obviously self conscious, crossing one arm across his chest to hold his forearm, his other hand almost unconsciously covering his junk. Zach tried to not be obvious about checking him out.

When they threw Dion sank the next cup and Sean missed the whole table. Zach immediately thrust down his sweatpants revealing a green pair of Calvin Klein's just like Dion's, while Chris had a pair of plaid boxers that were loose enough to not give a hint to what he was packing. Zach was already half hard seeing Sean and Dion near naked, though, and even that was enough to start tenting his briefs.

Chris and Zach both missed their next throw, and when Sean and Dion were lining up Chris said, "~Distract them.~"

Zach stood behind the cup, turned around and started twerking his butt.

"Little fucker," Dion said as he threw and missed. Sean didn't say anything but his face was turning so red even his neck and chest were flush, and his bulge seemed like it'd doubled in size, as he threw and missed too.

"Interference!" Dion yelled, laughing, his own briefs starting to tent now.

"Did he touch the ball or the cup? That's not interference, it's tactics," Chris said, high fiving Zach. "Hope you guys are ready to air those dicks out," Chris said before he threw the ball and sank it.

"God dammit," Dion said.

"You don't got shit," Sean said as Zach stood up to the table, "gonna miss it by a mile."

"Quick dude, tactics," Dion said as he grabbed his dick in his briefs and started waving it at Zach. Sean hesitated for a moment but then did the same, grinning as he blushed.

"You guys realize that's just motivation," Zach said with a smirk as he threw the ball and it plopped in the cup.

Dion and Sean groaned as Chris and Zach whooped, clasping hands.

"Alright boys, let's see 'em," Chris said.

Dion and Sean clinked their solo cups together and finished their drinks. Then, begrudgingly, they both took off their underwear, their dicks bouncing as they pulled free. Zach's fingers curled and the watch was in his hand, pausing time.

He walked over to them and knelt at their feet for a better view. They were both looking down as they were caught in the process of pulling their underwear off, Dion looking bemused while Sean's mouth was a hard line but with a slight grin at the corners. Zach could almost pretend they were looking down at him as he knelt there, their dicks in front of his face.

And their dicks were fucking beautiful. Zach felt like he knew Dion's dick almost as well as his own by now, a thick 8" monster that hung down his thigh, just on the edge of hard enough that it'd start to pull up and away from his body. His balls were shaved smooth and his pubes trimmed short. But Sean was the real surprise cause god damn, he was a grower. Even now, not even that hard, it looked like his dick had grown another 2 or 3 inches from its soft 4", the head of his dick just starting to push past the foreskin that completely covered it soft, and it'd near doubled in thickness as it hung below Sean's fiery pubes, that still looked well trimmed even if not as tightly as Dion's.

Zach was terribly tempted to take it in his hand and stroke it, see what Sean was packing fully hard, and Dion too for that matter, just cause he always liked seeing Dion hard. What he really wanted was to take them both in his mouth and feel them get hard as he sucked them, hear the sounds they'd make while his tongue explored them, maybe watch them kiss as their hard dicks rubbed together against his face.

Shouldn't make them hard right now, though, Zach thought, Besides, I'm curious how long it'll take on their own. Already on their way. Sean really is an ass man, that twerking got him going.

Chuckling to himself Zach stood up and went back to his original position. He did take a quick glance in Chris' boxers, finding a respectable cut softie, but then he hadn't been kidding that guys didn't do much for him cause he was completely soft. Zach waited for his own dick to get back to the half hard state it was in when he paused time before restarting it.

As everything came back to life Dion and Sean finished kicking off their underwear.

"Heh, heh," Chris snorted, "I guess you could call those dicks."

"Fuck you bro," Sean said, not able to help himself from grinning.

"As if you haven't jerked off to the thought of this dick a hundred times," Dion said, waving it like a helicopter at Chris.

"Maybe, just maybe, I've thought about that dick while jacking off. Thought about it plowing Katrina anyway," Chris laughed.

"So how long've we got?" Sean asked, covering his junk in both hands.

"What's the rush bud, not like you got anything to be ashamed of down there," Dion said slapping Sean's arm, "Besides, we're all bros here, and if you haven't noticed yet you won't have much modesty left by the time you're done pledging."

"It's 11:30, Sean," Zach said, sympathizing with Sean's bashfulness (even as he desperately tried not to openly ogle him).

"Time for some caffeine," Chris said, "And you know what, we'll even stick to just our underwear to make sure the losers don't feel too exposed."

Chris grabbed some Red Bulls from the fridge, and they moved to the couches in front of the tv.

"Ok little bro," Chris said to Zach as he plopped down on the couch, "Time for another tradition: you gotta be a footstool on command. So come on, hands and knees."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Zach said.

"He isn't," Dion laughed, "You better get down there too Sean."

"Oh come on guys, really?" Sean said.

"Really. Now hop to or Jack will have you guys crawling everywhere for the next week," Dion said.

They bitched and moaned but the pledges got on their hands and knees in front of their bigs, who crossed their legs and rested their feet on the pledges' backs. Chris started packing a bowl while Dion turned on the tv, finding some music videos on YouTube. Zach and Chris were face to face in front of them, trying not to laugh at the sight of each other.

"This is fucking ridiculous," Zach said.

"It builds character," Dion said.

"Like Ramsay Bolton building Reek's character," Sean said.

"If you wanted that real sadomasochist shit you should've gone SAE, this is nothin," Chris said, tamping down the bowl. He lit it up and he and Dion passed it back and forth.

"Uh, you guys gonna share that?" Zach said, turning his face up to Chris and sneaking a peak up his boxers. Then he looked over at Dion and Zach could feel his dick get hard at the sight of Dion naked and legs spread over Sean's naked back. Zach just wished he had a better view of Sean's body, he couldn't exactly get a good look with Sean basically eye to eye.

"You know you're really talkative for an inanimate object," Dion said, giving Zach a wink. He could tell Zach was enjoying the view.

"You're an inanimate fucking object," Sean said, laughing.

"You'll have your turn, upperclassmen first. For now, focus on being a footstool," Chris laughed, lightly pressing his foot against Zach's cheek to turn his face back to Sean.

Chris put his feet on Zach's back again, but then he pressed his heel against Zach's spine, "~And arch your back, give your boyfriend a nice view. You're competing with ginger's naked ass, and right now naked is winning.~"

"~I'm not competing with anybody,~" Zach said grinning at Sean, but Zach did arch his back a bit and put his ass a little more on display. He appreciated seeing Sean's gaze flicker behind him, and in his peripheral vision he saw Dion openly stare.

Sean grinned ruefully back at him, "I'm ready to fucking kill you guys, that's so annoying."

"Not our fault you two can't understand the hemisphere's majority language," Chris said, tapping out the empty bowl and packing it again. Then he said, "We're running a little low, you pledges better shotgun it, conserve."

"We better what?" Sean asked.

"Come on, D, demonstration hit," Chris said, lowering his feet from Zach's back and scooching towards Dion as Dion did the same. The pledges got off their hands but stayed on their knees in front of their bigs as they watched.

"Basic idea is you take a hit and exhale in the other person's mouth," Chris said, "Now if you wanna be pussies about it you can cup your hands around the other guy's mouth and make like a tunnel for the smoke, or you can do this." Chris took a hit on the bowl then grabbed Dion's chin and brought Dion's mouth to his, their lips locking. They couldn't see Chris breathe out the smoke, but as Chris and Dion pulled apart Dion blew smoke back in Chris' face.

"Easy peasy," Dion said, leaning back into the couch. Chris passed Sean the bowl.

"So how we want to do this?" Zach asked.

Sean gave a sly smile before he lit the bowl. As soon as he took the hit he put his hand on the back of Zach's head and pulled Zach's mouth to his.

In some ways it was hotter than a kiss. Their lips glued together but didn't move, and as Sean gently exhaled Zach breathed in the smoke and Sean's hot breadth, closing his eyes as he gave into Sean's fingers weaving through his hair while he held Zach close. They both blushed as Sean let go and Zach blew out the smoke between them.

Dion gave a single clap, "That's how it's done."

"~Better watch out, bro. Ginger may've said he was stealing your boyfriend but I don't think that's who he's got eyes on,~" Chris said grinning.

"~Fuck off, he's my best friend. You just did the same thing with D, are you trying to get with him?~" Zach said, defensively and annoyed.

"~Fair enough, my bad,~" Chris said putting up his hands.

"Yeah, yeah, taco piñata," Sean laughed passing Zach the bowl, "You're up."

Zach was a little self conscious after Chris' comment, but he still enjoyed shotgunning again, and again as he passed it back to Sean, and again till they finished the bowl. Enjoyed it so much he felt his dick straining against his briefs.

"God damn, these pledges are packing heat," Chris laughed.

Zach glanced down and his eyes went wide. Sean's dick was rock hard, it looked as long as Dion's and maybe even thicker, the head an angry red as it pointed straight up to his belly button.

"Holy shit bro, you been hiding that in your pants this whole time?" Dion asked, his own dick completely hard now too.

"Comes with a travel size," Sean joked even as he blushed, pulling his dick down and letting it slap back against his belly. "Still not competing with that thing, though," he said, gesturing to Zach's tent that was threatening to rip his underwear.

"Well who could. But come on dude, stand up," Dion said, giving Sean a hand. When he got up Dion stood in front of him and grabbed Sean's dick, lining it up next to his own, "God fucking dammit, I think you got like a quarter of an inch on me," Dion said laughing. Sean's breath caught as Dion's hand touched his cock, and Zach felt like he was ready to shoot at just the sight of their dicks together, even as Dion quickly let go and sat back down.

"So D's little has the bigger d, huh?" Chris said.

"Fraid so," Dion said, then he looked back at Sean who was just standing their awkwardly. "Sit down bro, you guys have been footrests long enough. And sorry to grab your dick like that man, it wasn't cool, I'm too drunk and stoned and was just curious."

"Totally fine dude," Sean said in an embarrassed but lighthearted way as Dion and Chris scooted to the sides of the couch for Sean and Zach to sit next to them. As they packed in Zach was desperately aware of every inch of Sean's naked sides pressing against him.

Chris started to pack the bowl again.

"Wait, I thought you said we were running low?" Zach said.

"Running low? We got enough here to get Snoop Dogg through a night, I just wanted to make you pledges kiss," Chris laughed, Dion joining in while Zach and Sean both blushed hard.

"They're pledges dude, you want them to kiss just tell them to kiss," Dion said, "Remember when Brian made Austin kiss his ass for his signature?"

"Remember when you told me you guys didn't haze?" Zach butted in sarcastically.

"No, I distinctly remember saying we don't officially haze. We're talking about team building," Dion laughed.

"Unfortunately this team building just made me realize I got the smallest dick in the room," Chris said.

"Wouldn't feel so inadequate if you weren't missing out on the boner party, dude," Dion said, gripping the base of his dick and giving it a wave, "You and the fucking weed."

"Seriously though," Chris said, lighting up the bowl again before passing it to Zach, "I get even a little high and I couldn't get hard for fucking Beyoncé."

"I think I could be on my 5th line of coke and still get hard for this one," Dion said, putting his arm across Sean's back to play with Zach's hair.

Sean smirked at Zach but turned to Dion, "You want to trade spots?"

Dion laughed and let go of Zach's hair, instead letting his hand rest on Sean's shoulder, "Nah, I'm good. Don't need another fucking bucket of water, do we?"

"Just so you know, it was Chris' idea," Sean laughed.

"Oh I'm well aware, doesn't mean you won't pay for it," Dion grinned.

"Between you and Zach maybe I should flee the state," Sean joked.

"As if that'd save you," Zach laughed then took a hit of weed.

They passed the bowl around and finished it off. By the time it was finished Zach, Sean, and Dion's hard ons had faded, and it was after midnight so everybody got dressed again (to Zach's disappointment). Then they got out the alum's old N64 and played some Beerio Kart huddled close to the tv, then some original Smash Brothers, then they tried Goldeneye and quickly gave it up as unplayable, so they decided to head back outside and stoke up the fire again, Zach assigned to bring out a case of Natty's with them. It was nearly 2 am by then and all 4 of them were sloppy drunk.

"Truth or drink," Chris said as he cracked open a beer, "Zach, what's your most embarrassing memory?"

"Definitely this time in elementary school, I had to read some paper in front of an assembly and I just couldn't stop laughing. It was in front of the whole school, I still have nightmares about it," Zach said without hesitation.

"What're the chances that happens with the play?" Sean laughed.

"Don't even fucking joke about that shit," Dion said tossing a twig at Sean.

"No, but that wasn't even the worst part," Zach went on, "So like it was a bunch of elementary school kids right, so when I start laughing everybody started laughing. If anything kinda made it less bad, like they were laughing along. But the fucking next day the school teachers made every fucking kid write me a letter apologizing for laughing at me. I've got this sack of like a hundred letters at home that all say 'sorry for laughing at your incredibly embarrassing moment'."

"Holy shit," Chris laughed, "That's fucking traumatizing."

"You're telling me," Zach laughed too, "But my turn. D, what's the weirdest place you've had sex?"

"Reptile exhibit," Dion said immediately.

"Are you serious? Like at the local zoo?" Zach asked.

"Nah, I'm just fucking with you," Dion laughed, "Was thinking of the Sopranos again. Actual weirdest place uhhh, probably the laundry room in my freshman dorm."

Then it was Dion's turn, "Sean, how many times do you jack off a week?"

Sean grinned and bit his lip before answering, "Probably around a dozen. Less since we've been doing the pledge workouts, haven't had time for my morning sesh."

"Benefits of not having a roommate around, lucky fuck," Zach laughed.

"Chris," Sean said, "What's the wildest thing you did in Argentina?"

Chris sucked on his teeth, and then took a drink.

"Hahaha, dude now I need to know," Dion said, "Was it really that bad?"

"Use your imagination cause I'm not telling," Chris said, "But my turn. Zach, what's something you'd change about D?"

Zach pondered it for a minute as Dion looked at him expectantly, "Honestly...nothing's coming to mind."

"Boo, bad answer," Chris said as Dion grinned widely, "I mean for god's sake, he snores!"

"Only if his head rolls over the back of the pillow," Zach said, "So it's basically an excuse to touch him in the middle of the night."

"Ah, so is that what those 3 am wake ups are for, I just thought you couldn't get enough of me," Dion said, playing footsie with Zach next to him.

"I can't, the snores are just a wake up call to the sexy man in bed with me," Zach said, playing footsie back, "But back to you big bro, what's the second wildest thing you did in Argentina?"

"Having a belly shot on a prostitute at a dive bar in Buenos Aires," Chris said, "She may've had something to do with the wildest thing too, but I'm taking that to the grave."

Chris lit another cigarette and turned to Sean. "So, Lil D," Chris said, "Where would you say you are on the spectrum."

"I'm not autistic," Sean said and the rest of the guys laughed.

"You know what I meant, sexuality wise," Chris said as they quieted down again, "We got a gay a bi and a straight here. But it's like that Ron White bit right, nobody wants porn with tiny limp dicks, we want 'em big and hard, so we're all a little gay aren't we. So, how gay are you?"

Sean tapped his foot and his mouth pulled into half a grin half a grimace, till he raised his cup to Chris and took a drink.

"Oh come on," Zach said loudly, "Why wouldn't you answer that?"

"He doesn't have to, he took a drink," Dion said, "It's a personal question, we don't need to interrogate him."

"Bullshit," Zach said, surprised at how angry he suddenly felt but drunk enough he couldn't let it go. He turned to face Sean, "Honestly I think it's a fucking insult. What's there to hide? Here of all places? As if any of us would care or judge you one way or the other. And especially after how you reacted when I hadn't--"

"Zach, come on, please," Dion said, reaching a hand over to Zach's arm trying to calm him down but Zach shook it off.

"I'm just saying it's not like you have to worry bout anybody here calling you a fag," Zach said bitterly.

"Zach." Dion said sharply.

"~Bro you're drunk, take a breath,~" Chris added.

But Zach ignored them and continued staring accusingly at Sean. Even by the light of the fire he could see Sean had gone pale, and it was like his face had become a mask, stony and emotionless as he stared back.

"Come on guys, let's do something el--"

"No, he's right," Sean said and his mask cracked. He furrowed his brow and sucked in his lips as he looked at his feet, no longer able to meet Zach's gaze. The circle went quiet, the only sound the crackle of firewood and the steady thrum of crickets.

Eventually, quavering, Sean broke the silence, "I'm, uh, pretty sure I'm bi." He raised his eyes to Zach's over the fire, waiting for his reaction.

Zach's anger melted and immediately he felt terrible for pressing the point. He blushed and looked away, grabbing a pack of cigarettes and lighting one.

"Aw, dude--are we the first people you've told?" Dion asked. Sean rubbed the back of his head and nodded silently.

"Good for you, man," Chris said.

"Can I have one of those?" Sean asked Zach and Zach tossed him the pack, still avoiding his eyes.

"Have you messed around with any guys?" Chris asked.

"Ha," Sean barked out then lit a cigarette before he answered, "Well I shotgunned some weed with my best friend and got a raging erection in front of two upperclassmen, does that count?"

Chris and Dion laughed at that, and even Zach smiled. Zach finally looked back across the fire at Sean to find him still staring at him. When their eyes met Sean grinned at Zach's smile.

Sean took another drag on his cigarette before continuing, "Seriously though, I haven't really come close. If my dad found out I even had an interest he'd probably kick me out."

"Well fuck him dude," Dion said, "You ever, ever need a place you can crash with me long as you need."

"I appreciate it," Sean said, looking affectionately at his big.

"Look, Sean, I'm sorry I shouldn't--" Zach started but Sean cut him off.

"Don't be. Like seriously, please don't. You were right, stupid thing to be secretive about, specially with you guys."

"Still, I--," Zach buried his face in his hands and groaned, "I feel like a drunk asshole."

Sean laughed lightly, "You're not."

Zach looked back up, pushing his long hair out of his face and back across his head. It was a frequent habit, just something to do to get his hair out of his eyes. He didn't realize it always made him look more beautiful than ever.

"But I feel like one. Can we hug it out?"

"Sure buddy," Sean smiled, and the friends walked around the fire and pulled each other into an embrace, Zach burying his face against Sean's chest while Sean's chin rested on his head. It was a long and forceful but still tender hug, and it said a lot that went unsaid. Zach couldn't see Sean's eyes watering but Dion did.

When they pulled out of the hug Zach noticed Sean wiping his eyes. Zach put a hand on his shoulder and smiled up at him, "Wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Nah," Sean said smiling back, "Honestly feels good to have it off my chest."

"You don't realize how heavy a secret is till you let it go," Dion said.

Zach's stomach dropped at the words and he almost felt faint. He usually tried not to think of the fact that maybe the most consequential thing in his life was his and his alone. That even after his best friend had shared his deepest secret, or even after the boy he loved told him he loved him too, Zach couldn't even dream of sharing his own secret with them. He was too selfish and too afraid. His hand unconsciously went to his pocket, and the watch and chain that usually felt light as rain seemed more a lead weight, pulling him far away from the people he cared about into some still, eternal loneliness.

"Are you ok?" Sean asked concerned, "You just looked really sad all of a sudden."

"No, I'm fine," Zach said, forcing himself to smile again as he took his hand from his pocket, "And I'm really proud of you."

As he and Sean sat back down Chris asked quietly, "~Some secret weighing you down?~"

"No, it's just, I think that last beer may've been one too many. Felt a little nauseous for a second," Zach said, uncomfortable from the concerned looks all around.

"I'll grab you some water," Chris said, standing up.

"No, seriously man, I feel fine now, was just for a second," Zach said, half tempted to turn back time.

"Either way, water will help. And I wanted to grab my guitar anyway," Chris said, patting Zach on the chest as he walked back to the house.

Dion was giving Zach a weird look, part concerned part curious, but he didn't say anything. Instead he tapped Sean on the shoulder and gestured for him to lean in close. With a sneaky smile Dion whispered behind his hand, "So, little bro, considering you're a fellow bisexual and all, can we discuss how fucking sexy my boyfriend is?"

Sean laughed. He and Dion looked over at Zach, making Zach blush.

"He is pretty damn cute," Sean whispered back with a half embarrassed half excited grin.

"Are you guys trying to make a point or something?" Zach laughed, not able to hear a word they were saying.

"I mean that ass though, right? You see the way he was sticking it out when you guys were kneeling earlier?" Dion kept on whispering.

"Might as well ask if I've seen the moon before, how could I miss it," Sean answered.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you too," Zach said as the guys burst into laughter after whatever Dion said last. Zach thought he heard something about Neil Armstrong but he had no idea what they could be talking about.

Chris came back pretty quickly, a cup of water in one hand, an acoustic guitar in the other, and a blunt behind his ear. He passed the water to Zach and the blunt to Sean.

"Spark us up, Lil D," Chris said as he sat down and strummed out a few chords, making some slight adjustments to the tuning pegs. Then he looked at Dion and grinned like an excited kid, "You gonna play with me, Dion?"

Dion grinned back, "I missed you so fucking much, Chrissy. Let's do it."

Chris tapped out a beat with his foot against the stone patio and started playing a soft, pleasant song. Zach knew he knew it, but he couldn't place it till Dion came in singing sweetly and clearly,

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise."

Zach and Sean occasionally passed the blunt between them as they sat back and enjoyed the voice that'd gotten Dion the lead in every musical he'd been in, and a guitar that sounded like it was made for Chris' fingers. When the duo finished Blackbird they jumped right into A Horse with No Name. Chris caught Zach's eye and gestured for the blunt, and Zach held it to his lips as he kept playing. When it got to the "la la la la la la" Dion hummed as he took his hits.

As the la's faded out and Chris stopped playing he asked the group, "Alright, taking requests."

"How bout Good Riddance, that's an acoustic one right?" Sean said.

"Who does that?" Dion asked, finishing off the blunt.

"You know it, it's the Green Day one, 'time of your life,'" Chris said, looking at the guitar like he was plotting out the chords, "But I'd do a better Billy Joe Armstrong then you anyway," Chris grinned and started playing and singing himself. He didn't have quite the range or clarity Dion had, but he was almost a voice doppelgänger for the Green Day singer. And when it got to the violin solo part Chris improvised a really cool guitar solo instead, almost like he was making it cry.

The guys clapped for Chris as he let the last few chords fade away. He plucked a few random strings and looked at Zach, "D says him and Peters have been doing some voice coaching with you."

"Yup," Zach said, "Needed to learn to project a bit better."

"Well, you're up. What do you want to sing?"

"Nah, I'm good," Zach said bashfully. He liked singing along to things and with people, but the idea of just singing on his own in front of people made his stomach turn. He'd been arguing with Dion and the musical director Peters for weeks that he wouldn't do the Spring musical.

"Come on Zach," Dion got up and stood behind Zach, then leaned over and wrapped his arms around his neck, his face against Zach's cheek and said, "You've got such a pretty voice, sing something for me."

Zach blushed and shook his head, but Chris said, "I'm playing the big card. Sing us a song or Jack'll have the paddle ready to go back at the house and we'll find out how high a note you can hit."

"Fucker," Zach grinned as Dion and Sean laughed, "Fine. Can I have the guitar? If I gotta do this I don't wanna have time to think about how awkward I feel."

"Guitar player too, huh?" Sean said.

"You learn one instrument easy enough to learn some more," Zach said.

"It's true," Chris said as he passed his guitar to Zach, who rolled up his sleeves, sat on the edge of his chair and tested out a few chords.

"I only got a couple songs memorized though," Zach said, and he started playing.

It took him awhile to get into the rhythm, and he repeated the opening riff several times before he was comfortable he had the timing down, but eventually he started singing. Reserved and quietly at first, almost more like he was speaking,

"I heard there was a secret chord

That David played and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music do ya"

But it didn't take long for the melody to take him, and he closed his eyes as he let his voice expand,

"Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah"

And Zach sang hallelujahs. He couldn't hope for the rich timbre of Jeff Buckley, his voice was too delicate for that, but he poured all of his hopes and fears and ecstasies into the word, and it trembled off his tongue.

"Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya"

Sean gripped the armrest of his chair. He'd thought his faith was strong. And more than in Jesus, though Jesus was there, in his self image, in his need to be a better man than his father, in his naive and sappy hopes for a girlfriend he always knew he wasn't really interested in, except to the extent she could bolster that self image. And he remembered seeing Zach nearly burst out of the shower that first week of school, frothy with soap and ridiculous, but fucking beautiful. And here tonight, while the moonlight kissed his hair in a silver halo.

"She tied you to her kitchen chair

She broke your throne and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah"

And what'd he just do? Tore me down, shoved my nose in it and made me say it, Sean thought, covering his mouth with his hand through hallelujahs, thank fucking Christ.

"Well there was a time when you let me know

What's really goin on below

But now you never show that to me do ya"

Dion's stomach knotted. He thought of Katrina, of every secret and hope they ever shared, of every look that revealed their every thought, and he just knew it was slipping through his fingers. That already they were growing distant, that he knew he couldn't love her the way he did before, and he knew she knew it too, even if neither of them were prepared to admit it.

"But remember when I moved in you

And holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew is Hallelujah"

And in the hallelujahs Dion remembered. Remembered the fumbling and the giggling, the way she gasped as he broke through, and the way her legs drew him in while her nails scraped his back. Remembered being inside her as she held him and it was like they were one person and every word was yes. And staring at Zach he remembered him too, remembered their hot, desperate need, the taste of Zach's breath on his tongue as even through the pain they couldn't stop kissing, remembered every kiss they'd ever had. And he worried and wondered what secret had just made Zach look like he'd seen a ghost.

Zach plaintively plucked out the notes, taking his time before the final verse. He let the last note hang in the air then continued,

"Well maybe there is a God above

But all I ever learned from love

Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya"

He strummed harder, increasing the volume as he pushed his voice to the breaking point, letting every word grip his throat,

"And it's not a cry that you hear at night

It's not somebody who's seen the light

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"

And as he sang the final hallelujahs Zach thought of that perfect twilight he'd paused for days, of that first kiss he had with Dion, of that golden sunset he'd watched with Sean, of every beautiful moment he'd ever had with his friends and lovers, and of how they had all passed and gone. On the last he held the "loo" as long as he could, his fingers dancing along the strings, till he'd spent every last breath and finally the "jah" was nearly silent and he let the sound of the guitar fade away.

Zach had been in his own world as he sang, and when he came back to reality he felt immensely exposed. Chris, Dion, and Sean's stares and open mouthed silence didn't help.

"Whelp," Zach said awkwardly as he passed the guitar back to Chris, "Hope that saved me from a paddling."

"Bro," Chris said taking the guitar and setting it down next to him, "You bitch and moan bout not wanting to sing, then it's like a fucking angel came down and possessed you."

Zach blushed fiercely and looked down at his feet as he took a swig of water, "I just love that song."

"No, I just love that song, you just made sweet, sweaty love to it for 5 minutes," Chris said.

"Seriously, Zach, you have a really beautiful voice," Sean said softly.

"Thanks, bud," Zach said, smiling bashfully across the dying fire at his friend. Then he turned to Dion who was still quiet and staring at him to his right. Zach extended his leg and gently kicked Dion's shin, "Stop starin' at me like that."

But he didn't. Dion stood up, walked in front of Zach, and pushed him against the back of his chair. Then Dion straddled Zach's waist, took his face in both of his hands, and kissed him. Gently at first, their lips dancing together in perfect sync, but soon Dion's tongue was in his mouth and they were making out.

This time Chris didn't interrupt, and Sean watched partly turned on partly jealous. Eventually Dion pulled back from the kiss to look deep into Zach's eyes and said "You are fucking incredible."

"I'm just fucking lucky," Zach grinned, pressing his boner against Dion's ass as he couldn't take his eyes off Dion's face. He was just too handsome.

Then suddenly Zach gave a full mouthed yawn. It'd been a long day and a longer night and it was starting to catch up with all of them. Dion caught his yawn and laughed as he gave Zach a final kiss and hopped off him.

"We're in the home stretch now," Chris said, "Little less than 3 hours till sunrise. Time for an energy boost."

They went back inside and stood around the kitchen island while Chris grabbed a small bag full of tiny blue pills.

"As discussed," Chris said as he started crushing the pills with the handle of a chefs knife, "There's no fucking coke to be found, so we're settling for adderall. Should be enough here to keep us going, but not too much to keep us from passing out once we're done for the night."

Chris lined the powdered pills in small lines along the countertop and rolled up a $20 bill.

"We're fucking snorting it? Seems a bit intense," Zach said, stifling another yawn.

"Now don't be a baby," Chris said, "this is like under a day's worth of a prescription for each of us." Then he put the bill to his nose and sniffed up a line in one go. He clapped his hands and bounced a little bit before handing the bill to Zach, "It just makes it come on faster, and it'll wear off faster too."

They took turns snorting the adderall and by the time it was finished nobody was yawning. Zach had never had it before and was amazed at the energy it gave him, he felt like he was ready for another 5 mile hike. Not that he'd actually be able to hike, he was still drunk and stoned enough that even with all the energy in the world he couldn't walk straight. And not that that stopped Zach from having another beer with the rest of the guys.

Dion and Chris started to have a long "remember when" conversation, and they slowly disengaged from their littles and sat at the kitchen table as they talked and reminisced. Zach and Sean made eye contact and Sean subtly picked up the pack of cigarettes from the counter and jerked his head towards the door and they quietly left the house together.

When they were back outside Sean handed Zach a cigarette then lit it for him.

"You know I really do fucking love that piercing," Zach said as Sean lit his own smoke, "I feel like it changes your whole look."

"My look needed changing huh?" Sean grinned at Zach as he took a puff.

"You know that's not what I meant," Zach giggled.

"Eh, it's what I thought," Sean said, "Gonna be a stoner frisbee frat bro better look the part right?"

"Is that why you got them?"

"No," Sean smiled, "I just always thought they were really cool."

"Well you're a cool guy, so it fits," Zach said.

Sean leaned against the side of the house and ashed his cig in the grass, "You know, sometimes I think you're just teasing me."

"I think that's mostly cause you can't take a compliment," Zach said, "I'm pretty sure I've never teased you, I just say something nice about you and you get uncomfortable."

Sean rubbed his chin as he considered that, "You may have a point."

They fell into a pleasant silence as they smoked their cigarettes. They'd spent enough time together that they could be comfortable not saying anything. But then Zach remembered he'd had a question.

"Will you tell Emily?"

Sean didn't need to ask what he'd tell Emily about.

"I don't know."

"Leaning one way or the other?"

"No...I don't think she'd like it. Any more than the piercings."

"How've things been going with her?"

"Same as ever. Some cute texts couple times a day. FaceTime couple times a week," Sean wasn't thrilled with the topic and decided to change it. "But how're things going with you and my big?" Sean asked with a grin.

"Funny you ask, we just had a little fight. He said you were too fun and he was gonna oust me as best friend, relegate me to big bro's boyfriend," Zach laughed.

"He's got his work cut out for him," Sean smiled.

"You guys seem to be getting along pretty well though."

"We are. D's a really, really cool guy," Sean said. "That doesn't mean he's ousting anybody," he added with a wink.

"And how bout you," Zach said, raising an eyebrow and gently poking Sean in the side, "Should I be taking these threats of stealing my man more seriously after our little revelations?"

"Ha, as if I'd stand a chance," Sean laughed, "I don't know if you've noticed but he can't go two minutes without staring at you."

Zach blushed and then he flashed Sean a mischievous grin, "Seriously dude, now that I know this isn't like a purely hypothetical thing, isn't Dion so fucking hot?"

Sean said, "I mean I think it's real sweet you'd go for a less attractive older guy. Shows character. Or maybe you just wanted to come off better in comp--" but he was interrupted by Zach punching his arm.

"Giving me shit for teasing then say something like that," Zach said as Sean backed away laughing.

"I couldn't help it," Sean grinned, "But yes, he is so fucking hot. And he's hot for you so congrats you lucky bastard. I still can't believe you fucked his girl though."

"Me neither," Zach laughed, "D had to put a blindfold on me and fuck me at the same time."

"Now that is so fucking hot," Sean said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at Zach and imagined him blindfolded between the sexy juniors.

Zach didn't have time to think of a witty response as suddenly they heard shouting from inside the house.

Chris and Dion burst out the door. "There you fucking are," Chris said as he caught sight of them. He had a beer in one hand and in the other a jug of...olive oil?

"Strip, pledges!" Chris yelled.

"Why?" Zach asked, confused.

"Less questioning more doing, come on chop chop," Dion said snapping his fingers and grinning.

The pledges slowly complied, covering up their bits as they stood naked in the cold night air. They both had some serious shrinkage.

"Hands out in front of you," Dion said.

They put out their arms Frankenstein-style and Dion and Chris took turns with the jug of olive pouring some on their hands and rubbing it all over Sean and Zach's bodies.

"Ugh, that feels so weird," Sean laughed as Dion's hands rubbed over his pecs and up and down his arms, "What the fuck are we even doing?"

"I heard you guys have been practicing with Jake," Chris said, rubbing the oil along Zach's back, "So D and I bet on a wrestling match."

"And since this is Greek life," Dion said his hands going down Sean's belly, "Figured we'd do it like the ancient Greeks, get you boys naked and oiled up."

"~Fuckin pervert,~" Zach muttered as Chris oiled his butt and legs.

"~You're the one boning up,~" Chris said giving Zach's ass a smack, "~Now I got $50 on you so use those muscles and give that twiggy ginger hell.~"

Sean and Zach went on the lawn out front and squared off. They were lit by floodlights on top of the porch, and Zach could see Sean half shadowed half glistening naked. Sean was swaying a little on his feet, but his muscles were taut and he looked ready to pounce. He and Zach were intensely holding eye contact, partly to get into the competitive spirit, partly to avoid staring at each other's boners they got when their bugs oiled them up.

"Let's fuckin go!" Chris yelled from the porch with Dion.

Zach and Sean slapped hands and immediately they started grappling. It felt nearly impossible with the oil, their hands immediately sliding over their bodies making it impossible to get a grip. So they stopped using their hands and started trying to get their arms around each other, both trying to get low and go for the other guy's legs or wrap their arms around their torsos. Which in practice meant their faces were constantly in each other's crotches, and they both got a few inadvertent dick slaps to the face. Not that they were complaining.

Being smaller Zach had the advantage at getting low, eventually grabbing one of Sean's legs and pulling him down onto the grass. They scuffled for awhile, trading places on top of each other as they each tried to pull the other onto their back.

As they were both starting to sweat and get exhausted Zach was on all fours while Sean had his arms wrapped around Zach's collarbone and under his armpit. As Zach felt Sean's hard dick rub against his ass he had an idea. Instead of trying to pull away he pushed back against Sean, his dick smoothly sliding over Zach's cheeks and along his crack.

The sensation distracted Sean and his grip on Zach loosened. Zach took advantage of it by pushing off the ground with all the force he could and flipped Sean and himself over so he was on top. Before Sean could react Zach quickly turned himself around and put an arm across Sean's chest while his legs straddled Sean's upper thighs, their dicks and balls pressed against one another.

Sean struggled to slip free, but Zach could finally use his strength advantage and held Sean firmly to the ground. And even as they both were focused on the wrestling match they couldn't help but appreciate how fucking hot it was when their dicks slid against each other as Sean squirmed beneath Zach.

"We have a winner!" Chris yelled. Sean stopped trying to get out of the lock and Zach collapsed on top of him, loving the feeling of their whole bodies touching even as they both gasped for air after all the exertion. Eventually Zach pulled himself up and gave Sean a hand up. They grinned at each other.

"You know you played dirty," Sean said glancing back at Zach's ass, "But a win is a win," and they clasped hands and pulled each other into a bro hug, both leaning into it to avoid pressing their boners against each other.

Dion and Chris walked out into the lawn.

"I can't believe you let this pipsqueak pin you dude," Dion said feigning disappointment even as he grinned, a boner clearly visible through his shorts, "I'm half convinced you just liked it."

"There're worse things, but I'd definitely have preferred to be the one doing the pinning," Sean said.

"'Pipsqueak,' fuck that, look at this ripped little twink, you're beautiful," Chris said as he clasped Zach's hand. Chris turned to Dion, "I'll accept the 50 in weed if you'd prefer."

"Yeah, yeah," Dion said, openly staring at his naked boyfriend's body, still flush and sweaty with his hands on his hips.

They hosed the freshmen down and gave them some old towels to dry off. Then the guys went inside and played some Chinese poker, finally pulling back on the drinks.

Around 5:30 the adderall was starting to wear off and all the guys were beginning to feel bone tired. Chris checked his watch and stood up.

"Come on Zach, we got a big and little thing to do."

Zach slowly got up and followed Chris' example as they put their shoes on. Chris grabbed some flashlights from a closet and handed one to Zach. Then Chris turned to Dion, "We should be back in about an hour. We'll be doing the challenge stuff so make sure yours is good to go too. They can do it later if you want to pass out before we get back though."

Dion nodded and Chris headed for the door. Zach gave his boyfriend and best friend a long affectionate look before he followed him.

"So," Dion said as he and Sean had the house to themselves, "You ready for some 1800s culty nerd shit?"

It took about 20 minutes for Dion to teach Sean the passwords and code phrases and secret handshake every Sig Chi brother was required to learn. When they finished they sat next to each other on the couch as the sky started to brighten through the windows.

"Who the hell could make all that shit up?" Sean asked as they did a final secret handshake.

"Dudes with no girlfriends, tv, or video games, and who thought they'd go blind if they masturbated," Dion said, "So they had a lot of time on their hands."

Sean laughed, "Makes sense. And D, thanks again for taking me to that piercer, I'm fucking in love with it."

"Absolutely, man, was happy to do it," Dion said, smiling at Sean, "Seems like you really wanted to go on a roll with the rebellious streak today."

"Well, figured if my dad would kill me for the piercing then he couldn't kill me again for liking boys right?" Sean said, resting his head back against the couch.

"It's a big step, bud, you should be proud."

"Well, less a step than a push. I was ready to take the drink."

"You could've taken it. Zach might've been upset but he would've gotten over it. You're the one who made the decision to tell us, don't underestimate that."

"I guess you're right."

"Are you going to tell Emily?"

"Zach asked me that earlier. I really don't know."

"Why not?"

"Cause...cause I think it might scare her. And even if I am interested in guys that doesn't mean I have to act on it. Like if I'm just with her what's the difference if she thinks I'm straight?"

"One major difference would be is what she thinks about you the truth."

"Well that's a fucking read isn't it."

"I didn't mean it to be. Just a fact."

"Yeah...when did you come out?"

"Freshman year. Early on Kat and I were talking about fantasies and kinks and things and we both admitted we had some interest. Couple weeks later we got drunk with a gay friend of hers and she suggested the two of us have some fun together. After that, I don't know, I just got the confidence to be open about it. Told a couple friends, rest took care of itself."

"Haha, I don't think Emily would make a suggestion like that for me."

"Do you want to do something with a guy? Or are you content just being attracted while you're with her?"

"I mean sure I do, but I can't cheat on her. I felt like such a piece of shit after I made out with that girl at lambda. But I don't know...honestly, D, maybe it's just the long distance thing but...I don't know, I'm not sure how it'll work out."

"I'm not trying to read you, Sean, but you don't seem that thrilled when you talk about her. It's mostly about things she won't like or things you can't do. Like, give me the good qualities. Why are you together in the first place?"

"I mean, she's really nice. And she's cute too. We've known each other most of our lives and after I took her to prom it just seemed like, just...the thing to do."

"This may not be fair, I don't know her and I haven't seen you two together, but I feel like I've gotten to know you a little bit. And I don't think a guy as smart and fun and handsome as you should look defeated when you're talking about your girlfriend."

"Heh, that bad?"

"It's not great, bud."

Sean stewed on that for a bit as the sound of birds could be heard outside. Then he looked back at Dion with a little smile.

"So, you think I'm handsome huh?"

"Haha, bro, thinking's got nothing to do with it. One fine redhead."

"So, handsome for a pasty ginger, I get it."

"First of all you're way too freckly to be pasty. Second, who doesn't like a ginger, you could have any guy or girl you wanted. You're fucking sexy, dude."

"Well, you're not too bad looking yourself."

"Even if I am batting out of my league."

"Nah. You're in the majors, you could get with Tom Holland and I wouldn't blink an eye."

"Honestly I think he may be a downgrade. Money aside."

"You may be right about that...I mean, don't tell him, but you and Zach, you're so hot together."

"Yeah?"

"Like when you guys make out...it's just so fucking sensual. Feels like I'm watching the end of some rom com. Or maybe the beginning of a really good porno."

Dion pulled his legs up onto the couch and turned to face Sean as he sat Indian style, "Alright, favorite gay porn category, go."

"Oh man, I don't know...honestly kinda boring but I always go for amateur stuff. Just feels way more real."

"You're gonna have to be way more specific than that, bro. Amateur is like an umbrella category, any kind of porn can be amateur porn. I want specifics. Blowjob porn, anal porn, threesomes, gangbangs, kinky stuff."

"Haha, I like it all man. Not picky."

"Oh come on, give me a kink at least. And don't tell me a guy who just went all in on a bar in his ear doesn't have some kinks."

Sean blushed and grinned, "I mean I got plenty of kinks. But you tell me yours first."

"I'm a fuckin freak dude, would be harder to say what I'm not into. Feet, nipples, bdsm and dom/sub stuff, little cbt, even some piss play. Zach loves armpits so that's become a new favorite."

"Honestly that's fucking hot, bro," Sean said breathily. They were both visibly hard through their shorts. "I'm guessing Zach's more the sub?"

"Started off that way. But since he popped my butt cherry we've been flipping a coin. That little guy can get pretty sadistic."

"Oh yeah?"

"Fuck yeah. There's something so fucking hot about a smaller guy having all that power over me."

"Smaller in some ways anyway," Sean laughed.

"I mean can you fucking believe that thing? It's like, we're both pretty well off in that department right, but Zach it's almost unreal."

"Seriously, don't know how he fits it into most of his pants. And you took that up your ass?"

"Hottest fucking thing I've ever done man. You'd think it'd tear you in two but it was like my hole wanted him inside me. And he leaks so much pre, I didn't even need fucking lube."

"Holy shit," Sean said, feeling his own dick pulse a drop of pre in his underwear.

"But you distracted me, come on, name some kinks."

"I mean, pretty sure you just name dropped every fantasy I've ever had. Like, just in general a lot of it is really just bdsm, right?"

"You fantasize more about giving or receiving?"

"Depends on the day. It's like, why be a top or bottom if you can do both."

"Fuckin right, man."

The first rays of the sun were starting to peak through the windows and Dion suddenly looked a little embarrassed as he considered his words.

"You know, Sean, we, uh, we got another big little tradition for the first night. Apparently used to be mandatory, you know like a hardcore hazing thing, but at least for my big and me it was just a if you wanted to thing."

"Voluntary hardcore hazing?" Sean grinned.

"Kinda. Depends on the guy really. I'm sure it started off as a humiliation thing, but with my big, I don't know, it was more a, like, trust exercise. A bonding experience."

"Let's hear it."

Dion scratched behind his ear looking uncomfortable, then he said, "Well, uh, a little would give his big a blowjob."

Sean tried to hold back a grin and failed, "That so?"

"Obviously totally cool if you're not into it," Dion said, "Just, it's a thing so felt like I needed to mention it."

"I don't think being into it would be the problem," Sean said as he looked at Dion's tenting shorts, but then he felt bad, "Issue is more like I just talked about not wanting to cheat on Emily you know? And you with Zach...I don't want either of us to feel like we're betraying his trust."

"Totally fair," Dion said, "But I will say, for me, it's...I don't know, I think it's different. It's not like we're having an affair or something. This big and little thing, it's a brotherhood. We're not trying to have a secret relationship, it's just supposed to be like, a pact you know? Just a one time thing to seal our trust. I mean I'd never breathe a word of it to anybody, and I hope you wouldn't either. And don't get me wrong, seriously, I totally respect if you feel uncomfortable with it, I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. I'm just saying, I'd be down for it if you are."

Sean bit his lip as he and Dion looked at each other.

"How much time till Zach and Chris get back?"

Dion checked his phone, "Bout a half hour. But I've been hard nearly all night, won't last two minutes."

"I mean I've never done it before. I might suck."

"Well that's all you'd have to do," Dion said and they both laughed.

"One time thing? Just some bro bonding?"

"Exactly."

"...Let me see it."

Dion grinned and pulled his shorts down over his dick and balls, his hard-on bouncing against his stomach. Sean sucked in some air as he stared at it, admiring every detail, the thickness of the shaft, the way the head glistened with pre, Dion's full smooth balls resting beneath it.

"What do you think?"

"It's a fucking nice dick, D," Sean said, unable to look away.

"You can touch it if you want."

Slowly Sean brought his hand over and gripped Dion's shaft and Dion's dick pulsed beneath his fingers.

"Feel good?"

"Yes," Sean whispered.

"Get yours out bro."

Sean didn't hesitate, he let go of Dion's dick and pulled his shorts and underwear down to his knees. As soon as he did Dion reached over and started stroking Sean's boner, and Sean reached back to Dion's.

"You like this?" Dion asked, staring at Sean as Sean kept staring at his dick.

"Yeah," Sean said, glancing up at Dion with a smile before going back to his dick.

Dion let go of Sean's dick and held Sean's wrist, holding his hand down at the base of his dick, "We do that much longer I'm gonna shoot. Look at how much you're making me pre dude."

And Sean realized Dion did have so much pre. It was like a steady stream from the head down the top of the shaft, slowly pooling against his grip. Sean unconsciously licked his lips.

"You want to taste it?"

Sean looked at Dion and, blushing, slowly nodded.

"Get down there then."

His dick still out, Sean got on his knees in front of Dion. He was about to take it right in his mouth when Dion put a hand on his head and stopped him, "I told you dude, I'm already close. This is your first dick right? Take your time. Savor it."

Sean grinned at that. He looked up at Dion from between his legs and started gently kissing his smooth olive toned thighs, slowly working his way towards his dick. When he reached it he let his nose run through Dion's trimmed pubes.

"Don't be shy bud, you know you like it. Get a good sniff."

Sean buried his face along the side of Dion's dick and balls and breathed in deeply, drunk on the smell. He started flicking his tongue along Dion's balls, loving the salty taste and soft texture, then he pulled one then another into his mouth, sucking on them.

"Oh fuck yeah, dude," Dion moaned.

Sean let them pop out of his mouth and let his tongue travel up the underside of Dion's shaft. When he reached the head he licked past it, a rope of pre hanging from his tongue to Dion's dick.

"God damn, bro," Dion smiled down at Sean, taking his face in his hand and rubbing his thumb along his cheek, "Kiss it."

Sean gripped the dick in his hand and took the head between his lips and started kissing it, his tongue occasionally flicking across it as he savored the taste of his skin and pre. Dion raised his foot and rubbed it against Sean's boner.

"Play with yourself too."

Sean lowered his other hand to his own dick and started stroking it.

"Now suck it."

Sean took the head in his mouth, and slowly started working down the shaft, his lips and cheeks sucking against it while his tongue moved up and down the underside of the shaft. Sean took Dion's dick further into his mouth but it was so long he barely got halfway when he felt himself gag.

Dion pulled Sean off his dick, laughing, "Calm down, bro, don't need you puking on me. You having fun?"

"Fuck yes," Sean said breathily, smiling up at Dion as he started kissing Dion's shaft, "Does it feel good?"

Dion smiled back and slapped his dick across Sean's face as Sean's tongue chased it back and forth, "Fuck yes."

Then Dion pushed it to his lips and Sean jumped back on it again, only going down a few inches at a time.

"Use your hand on the shaft," Dion said huskily, his fingers lightly brushing along the back of Sean's head as he bobbed up and down. Sean started working the base of Dion's dick in a twisting motion as his tongue swirled around the head, his lips and cheeks sucking the top. Dion felt his balls rise.

"I'm getting close dude."

Sean felt Dion's dick twitch in his mouth and he picked up the speed.

"Really close."

Dion's whole body shook and Sean could taste his pre coating his tongue.

"Fuck, bro, I'm cumming."

Sean looked up at Dion as Dion's dick jumped in his mouth and he shot rope after rope. Dion felt Sean's cum blast his leg as Sean jerked himself off while he swallowed Dion's load, loving the salty taste.

As they came down from their orgasms Sean pulled off Dion's dick with a pop. They looked at each other for a moment, both out of breath, then Dion's face cracked into a smile and they both started laughing.

"I'm feeling pretty bonded, are you feeling bonded?" Dion said as his dick went soft.

"Definitely bonded," Sean said, drunk on the sight of Dion spent.

"Good. Sooo can you grab me a towel? I think me and the couch took some friendly fire."

Meanwhile Zach and Chris were sitting together on a large stone at the top of a hill near the house, gazing over a perfect view of the Sun rising through the morning fog, illuminating the valley and forest, casting the trees in a vibrant green amid a small scattering of leaves just starting to change their colors.

"~Worth the hike right?~" Chris said, nudging Zach with his elbow.

"~Definitely,~" Zach said, smiling at his big, "~It's beautiful.~"