This story is a work of fiction. The events in this story are fictional. The characters in this story do not exist and any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental. Any use of celebrity or other real persons is entirely fictional and in no way reflects upon their actual sexual orientation. This story contains erotic and/or sexually explicit activities between consenting adults. If you are under age, find this type of work offensive, or it is illegal for you to view this, do not read it.
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Welcome Home – Part 1 By tmabare ©2016
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- Chapter 1 * * *
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"Ben, I know you don't want to be here but come on. Do it for me, please." The sound of Mandy's whining was more annoying than the thought of spending the night in the bar they were in front of.
Ben couldn't help but rolled his eyes, "Okay, but only because it's your birthday. Don't think I'm going to make a habit of it." Not much chance of that happening, but he felt the need to say it anyway.
As much as he loved his friends, he hated going to bars, especially this one. Miss Lulu's Saloon was a country dive bar on the outskirts of town. He had been here several times and hated it almost as much as anything else in life. However, he had to admit there were some highlights of coming here, the karaoke and of course the hot guys in jeans, boots and cowboy hats.
Walking into the bar, the group was greeted by several of the regulars. He had been here a couple times over the years and he noticed the faces were the same. As he stood there, Ben realized it was more a feeling of being out of place more than it was anything else. It was that feeling which made him not like being here. As he looked around he felt someone elbow his arm. He turned to find it was his closest friend, Cassidy, holding drinks.
"Here, drink." She handed him a large glass. "If we're going to be here, we might as well enjoy ourselves, or is it numb ourselves?"
He raised the drink to her, "I'm voting numb" and took a large swallow. It burned as it went down and he felt an uncontrollable urge to shake his head. "Holy fuck, what was that?"
"Sex on the Beach with sand in your ass. I figured you'd like that." She had a huge smile on her face.
"Jesus Christ, that's good!" He almost choked, "Strong, but good." He took another drink, "Yeah, this will do the job."
Cassidy smiled at him, "Let's go find a place to sit."
"I forgot to ask you when you picked me up, Pete home with the kids?" Ben leaned closer to Cassidy as he said it.
"No, they're at the sitter's. He and some of the guys were going to some club tonight."
"Strip club?"
"Knowing that bunch, I'm sure" She took a sip from what Ben was sure was a diet soda, "Hell yeah, I'll be a happy girl tonight." She turned her head and winked at him.
Ben's only reaction was to roll his eyes. "Like he needs that to get him going, I swear his call sign should be `Horny' or something like it."
Cassidy couldn't help but laugh, "Maybe you should talk to his CO about it."
As they were hunting for a table, Ben thought about Cassidy and her family. Her husband, Pete, was a fighter pilot and they had two of the cutest kids Ben had ever seen. Being around them really made him feel he was missing something huge in his life. Not only kids, but the relationship the two of them had.
They finally found a large table in the back corner of the room near the door to the outside patio. For the next several hours, they drank and had a good time. Ben didn't stop after his customary one and was finally able to relax, something he didn't do nearly enough of. Cassidy had drawn the short straw as the designated driver for the evening. As they were watching people dance and listening to the singing of some pretty bad karaoke, he noticed a group of young guys walk around the corner from the front door.
"Oh my God, look at them." Cassidy stopped drinking as she said it. "Holy shit, that one in the back is all you."
Ben nodded as he checked the new arrivals out. She was right about that last one of the group. "Yeah, I think they're all on your team though."
"Don't be that way, you never know whose team they're on." Cassidy couldn't help by shake her head, "You don't look like you'd bat for the pink team either."
It took Ben a minute to think about the man he was looking at, "There is something familiar about him."
"Do you think you've met him before? Where? Around here?"
Ben was slowly shaking his head, "I don't think it was here. Maybe not ever, I think I would remember him for sure, I mean, look at him."
"Yeah, he's hot as hell." Cassidy was steadily looking at the group. If Ben had been paying attention to the look on her face, he would have been scared.
Suddenly, Ben remembered the main reason he hated coming here. The guys were hot, but this was a straight bar and a country western one at that. Even though the scenery was nice, Ben always felt more than a little discouraged. He had grown up in the south and he knew better than to make a pass at a guy in a place like this. There was something else about the group that just arrived that made him more than a little leery.
"Come on, look at..." It was then that his phone vibrated. Looking down at it he frowned. "Let me go outside and get this, work."
"I didn't know you're on call?"
"I'm not supposed to be. But, I'm going to take it anyway. I can hope they need me to come in, so I can say no for a change." Ben couldn't help but laugh, he never said no when they called needing him. Tonight thankfully, that wasn't an option.
Cassidy rolled her eyes as Ben walked out the door to the patio, she then turned her attention back to the new arrivals. She looked one last time towards the door Ben had just walked out and then stood up and started walking.
The call didn't take long and as Ben walked back in he was shocked to see their group had almost doubled in size. The guys they were looking at earlier were now sitting at the table with his friends. Cassidy smiled at him as he walked back and pointed to an empty chair next to one of them.
Walking up to the table, he noticed the one she was putting him next to and couldn't help but smiled. It was the best looking of the bunch, the one they had noticed earlier. He was tall, muscular, and was definitely either of Italian or Sicilian heritage. He had short black hair, a great tan, and huge arms. Ben saw at least one tattoo on the man's arm. Two negatives he realized was the age difference between them, this guy was definitely younger than Ben, and the other was he had to be military.
As he sat down, the guy turned his head and Ben thought he saw a smile. Ben could really get a feeling for the difference in their sizes being this close to him. He had a thing for thick boys, and this one was every bit the corn fed country boy.
Cassidy pointed at Ben, "Guys, this is my best friend Benjamin Stewart. Ben, this is... everybody." She started to laugh as she said it.
Ben noted how easily it was for her to take control of every social situation she was presented with. Cassidy was a natural people person and loved to make sure everyone had a good time. Sometimes she took it to the extreme, which was more than a little tiring at times. Ben always thought she took extra pleasure in torturing him, since he was the most introverted of all of them.
The guys all raised their glasses and the one next to him extended his hand, "Anthony Brunelli." He had a great voice, with just a hint of an accent. Being this close, Ben could smell the cologne he was wearing. Ordinarily he didn't care for cologne, but this was making his head spin in a good way. Ben couldn't get a feel for how old he was, he knew Anthony was younger than he was for sure, but he didn't know how much younger.
Ben grasped the man's hand and was impressed by the strong grip and the eye contact he made when he spoke. This was something he always found lacking in the younger generation. "Nice to meet you. Please, call me Ben."
"Everybody calls me... Anthony." He took a slow drink of his beer, "I don't know why I let them talk me into coming here. I hate places like this."
Ben couldn't help but laugh, "I know what you mean, I was thinking the same thing to myself earlier."
"Looks like we have something in common then," Anthony smiled, "let's see what else there is."
"What do you do around here?"
"I'm in the Marine Corp, what about you?"
Ben tried his best to not let his face show what he was thinking, "We're a bunch nurses."
"That's cool!"
"Yeah." Ben didn't know why he didn't tell the complete truth, but he told himself it wasn't a lie either. There was something that made him want to keep talking to Anthony, and that might not be possible if he knew everything yet.
The two settled into a conversation that lasted well over an hour. Ben couldn't get over how they were enjoying themselves and were oblivious to the mindless drinking and partying going on around them.
"So, Anthony, you live here long?"
"No, just moved here. I've been living in California for a few years and decided I would enjoy the change of being on the east coast for a while."
"Yeah, I can understand that. I miss California, but I do enjoy the cost of living here much more."
"Are you from California?"
Ben smiled, "No, I worked out there for a few years. I'm originally from Vermont, but I grew up in Florida."
Anthony had an even bigger smile on his face, "No way, I thought I was the only Green Mountain Boy around here." He laughed before he continued, "But, we lived in Boston for a few years, and just like you we moved to Florida before I started high school."
"Wild, I knew I knew that accent." Ben couldn't think of anything else to say. The coincidences were too incredible to get over.
"Please tell me you're a Red Sox fan." Anthony's eyes were wide waiting for a response.
"Grew up listening to their games with my great-grandfather, as far back as I can remember." Ben noticed that Anthony seemed to be smiling wider the more they talked.
"What part of California did you live in?"
"The bay area, I actually lived in Concord and worked in Oakland. What about you?"
"San Diego."
Their conversation stopped for a moment and Ben noticed that Anthony was staring at him.
"I hate to ask, but have we met somewhere before?" Anthony was staring at Ben when he asked.
Ben thought about it for a minute, "I was thinking the same thing, but I may just have one of those faces."
Anthony shook his head, "I don't think that's it... but, I'll figure it out."
As he was about to ask another question, when one of the other guys grabbed Anthony's shoulder, "Hey man, let's go play pool."
Anthony frowned at Ben, "Sorry, he has no manners. I'll be back in a few."
Ben watched as Anthony stood up from the table and thought his eyes were going to bulge from his head. Damn, he was tall and handsome. Anthony had on a tight pair of jeans, not tight in design but they were tight from trying to contain the muscles inside. There was also a large bulge in the front that Ben noticed. Then as Anthony walked away, the sight of his ass was incredible.
Ben was glad he had switched to water while they were talking. He didn't need to be buzzed and talking to Anthony. As much as he would have enjoyed the alcohol, he didn't want to say something he'd regret later. Taking a large drink from his glass, he smiled at Cassidy. "Holy fuck, he's hot as hell." After he said it he quickly looked around to see if anyone else had heard.
Cassidy laughed, "You aren't kidding. So you're okay with the Marine thing?"
"Not like he's doing anything other than talking to someone who hates the bar as much as he does." He shook his head and thought to himself, `well the fantasy was nice while it lasted.'
"Don't shake your head, you never know. Besides, we don't have Don't Ask Don't Tell anymore, so you don't have to worry about that."
"I know, but I don't know if he's an officer or enlisted. That could be something we couldn't get over, you know?" Ben couldn't bring himself to even consider that possibility. "I'm just not sure what to think. One minute I think he is and then the next, I don't know."
Cassidy frowned, "I know, he does have that vibe at times. But he's pretty cool though, so no matter what, at the least you could get a friend out of the deal."
Ben couldn't help but laugh, "Just what I need, a friend I have some kind of crush on."
"In case you haven't noticed, he hasn't looked or talked to anyone other than you the entire time you guys were talking." Cassidy was holding back from smacking Ben upside the head.
"Yeah, he's very polite."
Standing up, Cassidy looked at Ben. "I don't know about you, sometimes you're so oblivious. I need a real drink and I think you do too."
Ben just sat there as she walked off towards the bar. He started to think about the past and all the choices he made in his life. The mistakes, the triumphs, and the things that could have been, they all came flooding back. Part of him wanted to just walk out of the bar and not look back. The best and worst times in his life involved a Marine, and as much as he didn't want to admit it... he was incredibly attracted to Anthony. Ben wasn't sure he wanted to go down that path with `the Corps' again, but he quickly reminded himself he was getting far ahead of himself.
Walking back to the table, Cassidy could see the look on his face. As long as they had been friends, she couldn't get him to see what everyone else saw. "Here, try this."
Taking the glass from Cassidy, Ben took a drink. It looked entirely different from what he had earlier and he took a drink of it. It was strong but so good... "What the fuck? This is great."
"It's called a Wet Pussy... I knew you always liked pussy and just didn't want to admit it." The smile on her face was enough to make him laugh.
He just scrunched up his face and sat the drink on the table, "I think I'm going to be sick." He then smiled and picked the drink back up, "Only yours, but don't tell Pete."
Cassidy rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I should be so lucky."
After a few more songs, Cassidy grabbed Ben's hand. "Come on and dance with me."
Shaking his head, Ben watched the people dancing and the look on her face before he stood up and moved towards the dance floor. "Let's go." He thought to himself how much he wished the alcohol hadn't lowered his defenses.
When they got to the dance floor Ben actually started to have fun. A few songs later, Cassidy noticed the guys returning from playing pool and it seemed as if Anthony was looking around. As he was slowly scanning the dance floor, she waved and got his attention.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ben couldn't believe her. The last thing he wanted was to have to dance with Anthony up there with them.
"Come on, I bet he can really move."
"Just what I need to see, him up here grinding on someone." Ben then thought to himself that at least someone should have fun with him.
It was almost as if Cassidy could read his mind, "For such a smart guy you are pretty stupid at times. He was looking for you, dumbass." She gave him her best pissed off face and tone.
"Okay, let's go with that." It did bring a smile to Ben's face.
It looked like Anthony said something to the guys he was with. One of the guys looked over at Ben and then at Cassidy, and quickly nodded his head. Watching Anthony head to the dance floor, Ben was admiring the way he was walking. He was like a man on a mission. Ben noticed a smile on Anthony's face as he was looking at the two of them on the dance floor.
"Looks like he is smiling at you." Ben said it as he leaned towards Cassidy.
She just rolled her eyes, but didn't want to fight. "I'm scheduling you for eye surgery when I get to work Monday. That or you fucking need glasses."
When he reached them, Anthony was full on smiling. "Man, I wouldn't have pegged you for the dancing type."
"Only when I've been drinking." As he said it, Ben was wishing he had drunk much more than he actually had. "So, I'm not sure why I'm dancing tonight. I haven't had nearly enough for me to be up here doing this."
They both laughed and the three of them started dancing as a group. Ben had to admit, he was enjoying the way Anthony was moving. For a country boy, Anthony could sure move.
Cassidy had been watching Anthony, as he was dancing with the two of them and noticed a few things as well. She was smiling at the way Anthony was dancing and then she leaned very close to Ben's ear. "I bet he fucks like a champ! Look at the way he moves those hips when he dances."
Ben could feel himself blush at the thought, and he just nodded his head at Cassidy. When he looked at Anthony he was surprised to see he had a huge smile on his face. Ben wondered if he had heard her, but decided not to ask.
After a few songs, the distinctive music of "The Wobble" came on. Cassidy immediately had a huge smile on her face. Ben tried to make a swift exit from the floor, only to have Cassidy grab his arm and pulled his ear towards her, "Oh hell no! Now it's your turn, show him what you've got."
Ben had to laugh. "Whatever, I don't want to scare him." He thought about it for a moment and had to admit he did love dancing to this song. He soon found himself surrounded by a large group of people (mainly women) as they were dancing. Cassidy and Ben had danced to this song what seemed like a hundred times and had gotten pretty good at it. Ben hadn't realized it at first, as he was moving his hips and ass, Anthony was directly behind him.
They were having a good time dancing and Ben got another good look at Anthony as he smiled. He quickly realized he could get lost in that smile and those eyes. Then there were those damn dimples. Ben felt he needed to get as far away from this man as he could. His track record with men sucked and having a young hot guy this close could lead to no good and some serious heartache.
"You dance pretty well." Ben heard it, but thought Anthony was talking to Cassidy.
She elbowed Ben, "Yes he does, doesn't he."
It took Ben a moment to get what was said, "Thanks, so do you."
After a few more songs, the three made their way off of the dance floor. When they got back to the table, the others were waiting for them.
Mandy, whose birthday they were celebrating, was standing there with one of the guys who had come in with Anthony. "Hey, we're getting kinda hungry and they're about to close. You guys up for breakfast?"
"Yeah, I could eat." Anthony said it and turned his head to look at Ben and Cassidy.
They guy standing with Mandy laughed, "When aren't you hungry?"
"Never!" Anthony again turned and looked at Ben, "What about you?"
He looked at Cassidy, who was smiling and nodding. He then looked back at Anthony, "Sounds like we're in."
"Where do you want to go, Birthday Girl?" Cassidy asked, but she knew Mandy enough to already know the answer.
"Kettle."
Walking into Kettle, the group claimed four booths to fit them all. As they were sitting, Ben found himself sharing one side of the booth with Anthony, as Cassidy sat across from them. He wasn't sure how it happened, but he wasn't going to complain.
"What are you going to get?" Anthony was half looking at the menu as he asked Ben.
"The most unhealthy and greasy thing I can find... a cheeseburger."
"Are the fries good here?"
Ben nodded, "Yes they are."
"I feel like I'm back in college." Anthony's comment made them both laugh.
Ben could feel the heat coming off of Anthony as they sat there. He also could now smell him better, and it was making his head spin more than earlier. He couldn't get over that as much as he didn't usually like the smell of cologne, whatever Anthony had on was incredible. It was now mixed with the smell of him, cologne and testosterone.
As soon as the food got there, the conversation ended as everyone dove in. It didn't take any time at all for the food to be gone. They all enjoyed themselves and ended up standing in the parking lot talking. Anthony and Ben were standing at the rear of Cassidy's SUV.
"Have any plans tomorrow?" Anthony looked at his watch, "I mean... later today."
Ben was floored by the question, he wasn't sure where it was taking them. He had to think about how to answer. "For once I can honestly say I have no plans. I was going to do some laundry, but that's about it."
"Can I interest you in lunch?"
Cassidy was standing behind Anthony and looked at Ben while raising her eye brows.
"Yeah, I'd like that." He reached in his pocket and pulled out one of his cards, making sure it wasn't one from work. "Here, give me a call when you get up and we can plan something."
"Cool." There was that smile on Anthony's face again. He extended his hand towards Ben. "It was great to meet you and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
Grasping Anthony's hand, Ben couldn't help but smile. "I'll see you then."
Anthony then turned and said his goodbyes to Cassidy, before he walked off to where his friends were standing.
"Well, that's pretty interesting." Cassidy had moved to stand next to Ben.
Ben could only nod his head slowly as he continued to watch Anthony walk away. He was brought back to reality when Cassidy waved her hand in front of his face.
"Earth to Ben, it's time to go home."
"Sounds good."
As Ben was sitting on the couch the next day, he was having a difficult time thinking of anything except Anthony. He had already finished the laundry and now he was watching baseball. As he reached for his water, the cell phone rang.
Looking at the number, he didn't recognize it, but it showed it was a San Diego number. He felt his pulse start to race, "Hello."
"Ben, Anthony."
He could feel the instant smile on his face, "Hi there, how's your day so far?"
"It's been pretty good. Doing some unpacking and now I'm starving."
"Well, what are you in the mood for?"
"I haven't been here that long, any recommendations?"
"Do you like Mexican?"
"Love it, who doesn't?"
Ben laughed, "Okay, I know just the place. Heard of Pancho Villa, over on Marine?"
"Actually, I have. Went there the other day and loved it."
"Sounds like a good plan then. What time?"
"About thirty?"
"Meet you there." As soon as he hung the phone up, Ben was a mad man running around getting ready. He had been ready most of the morning, but decided to change again anyway. As soon as he was done he jumped in his car and headed out.
The drive wasn't too bad, but there was a steady line of traffic coming off the base as he drove by. A few minutes later he was pulling into the parking lot and looking around to see if Anthony was there. Then he realized he had no clue what Anthony drove. He sat there for a minute and then decided to just go in and get a table.
As he reached the back of his car, he saw a grey pickup truck make the turn into the aisle he was parked on. It was jacked up, four doors and the windows were all down. When it whipped into the spot across from his, Ben noticed the California tag and saw a familiar face behind the wheel. As soon as the windows were up, Anthony jumped out and walked towards Ben.
"Hey!" Anthony extended his hand as he said it. "Nice car." Anthony was looking past Ben at the Volkswagen Passat behind them.
Grasping the outstretched hand, Ben couldn't stop from smiling. "Great truck!"
"Thanks, you hungry?"
"Starving, let's eat."
As they reached the door to the restaurant, Anthony made a quick move for the door and held it open for Ben.
"Thank you." Ben smiled, and was greeted with Anthony's killer smile and dimples.
A little while later they were seated, looking at the menu and had each ordered a margarita to start with. Ben was having a hard time not staring at Anthony. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this way about someone, but he knew it had been years.
"What are you going to have?" Anthony was looking over the top of his menu.
"I was thinking I'll get the chicken tacos."
"Oh, that sounds great." Anthony sat his menu down and reached for the chips and salsa. "How was your morning? Did you get much sleep?"
"I got a little, the suspense of laundry day kept me up I guess. And then the laundry was so exciting I wasn't sure I was going to be able to tear myself away to come down here."
Anthony laughed, "Yeah, I can only imagine."
"What about you?"
Anthony popped a chip in his mouth, and then swallowed some of his margarita. "I unpacked some more boxes. I'm living in a temporary place right now until I can find something permanent. I don't want to unpack too much."
"Understandable, there's nothing worse than having to pack, unless it's having to unpack." Ben took a drink from his own margarita and had a strong urge to shake his head. "Damn, that's strong."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This will definitely be a one drink visit."
It was then their waitress returned, "So, have you decided what you want?"
Before Ben could say anything, Anthony answered. "We'll take two chicken tacos and can we get some queso dip?"
"Of course, be right back with it."
Ben couldn't' help but smile, Anthony had taken command and Ben liked it. Something he rarely did was giving up control to someone else and for Anthony to take that role so easily was intoxicating to him.
"Some of the guys from work are thinking about going out again tonight. Feel up to going?"
"Where you guys going?"
"Jugheads? I've never been there, but some of the guys say it's good." Anthony took another drink, "Have you been there?"
Ben wanted to laugh, but tried to control it. "Years ago, it's really popular with the young Marines from the base."
"They left that part out, they can go without me."
Laughing Ben nodded his head, "I think you're making a wise choice."
"Maybe we can go do something else?"
As Ben started to open his mouth, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID, it was work. "Sorry, I have to take this." He swiped his finger and put the phone to his ear, "Stewart."
"Commander, it's Lieutenant Bennett."
"Hey Jazmin, what's up?" Ben noticed he had subconsciously turned the speaker volume down, in an effort to prevent Anthony hearing any of the other side of the conversation.
"Lieutenant Commander Wilson had a death in the family and he isn't going to be able to be here tonight. You're next on the list, so I was calling to see if you can cover."
Ben wanted to say no, but he couldn't do it. As much as he would rather spend time with Anthony, he couldn't bring himself to push this off onto someone else. This was one of his biggest flaws, work always seemed to come before his personal happiness. "Yeah, what time?"
"He was supposed to work two to two."
"Okay, I'll be late, but I'll be there."
"Thank you, sir. I'll see you when you get here."
Ben hung up the phone and set it on the table. Before he could say anything, the waitress showed up with the cheese dip.
"Here you go." She sat it on the table. "You're food should be right out. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"Yeah, I'll take a diet."
"Okay, be right back with it."
"So, that didn't sound like a good phone call. Problems?"
"Yeah, I have to go in and cover for one of the doctors."
Anthony's normal smile was replaced with a frown, "That sucks, but I understand. We'll have to do something another night."
"Definitely." Ben thought about it, but then decided he needed to come clean. "Anthony, I haven't been entirely honest with you, or at least I haven't come completely clean. I've skirted around the subject of where I work since we've met."
Anthony's face dropped a little and then he smiled, "I have no clue what you mean?"
"So, wait a minute... You've got this figured out haven't you?"
A full smile formed on his face, "I'm a Marine, like you think I didn't know from the get go where you worked?"
Ben couldn't help but smile as well and they both started to laugh. "What are you laughing at Jarhead?"
Anthony laughed just a little harder, "Same thing you are, Squid."
"Well, I'm glad we got that out of the way. I think that's enough revelations for one day, don't you?"
"Yes, I do." Anthony looked down at his phone as it rang, "Looks like it's my turn."
Ben didn't pay too much attention as Anthony talked on the phone. He was too busy with memories and thoughts running through his head. There was far too much bouncing around in there for him to concentrate on listening. He found himself thinking back so many years ago, the time Tyler and he met for the first time.
"Ben?"
The sound of Anthony saying his name brought him back to the here and now. "Sorry, got lost in thought."
"Well, I guess I will just have to find something else to do tonight. Maybe I can get a pick-up game of basketball going. When do you have to go in? Now?"
"No, I have a little bit. Enough time for us to eat."
As Ben said it, their food arrived and they both dug in. There wasn't much talking as they were eating, just some small talk. As they finished, the waitress brought the check. Ben pulled his wallet out and handed her his card before Anthony could even react.
"I asked you out to eat, why are you paying?"
"Because I was quicker than you." Ben couldn't help but smile as he said it.
"Well, next time I'm buying."
Ben thought to himself, `Well, good to know there'll be a next time.' He smiled a little wider, "I'll think about it, but no promises."
After getting his card back and walking outside, they stood on the sidewalk just standing there. Ben had things he wanted to say, but knew it wasn't the right place or time.
"So, you're going to be in the ER tonight?"
"Yeah, until 0200."
"If I get out and play ball, I'll try to stop by." Anthony then paused, "If that's okay with you?"
"Of course it is. I'd really like that." Ben thought there may have been too much excitement in his voice, but he had to admit that he actually didn't care what it sounded like.
It made Anthony smile, "Good, I'll see you later on then." He extended his hand, "Was good seeing you and thank you for lunch."
"Anytime and I'll hopefully see you later tonight."
As they both walked off towards their vehicles, Ben couldn't help but look over his shoulder at Anthony walking away and was caught when Anthony looked back at him. Ben could feel himself blush and he quickly looked at his car and climbed in.
Walking into the emergency room, Ben was surprised to see Cassidy standing at the nurses' station. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"You didn't think I was going to let you work without me, did you?"
"You're kidding?" He sat the uniforms he was carrying onto the counter and looked at a listing of the patients on the TV screens.
"Half kidding." She laughed, "Angela and I switched shifts because she had plans. I didn't know you were going to be here until just a couple minutes ago."
"Let me go change and I'll be right back."
It only took him a few minutes for Ben to change. He walked back to the nurses' station wearing khakis and a lab coat. He was hoping it wasn't going to be a typical Saturday night, but then again every Saturday night was a mad house.
Before Cassidy could get back from checking a patient, Ben had to see his first case of the night. He started to walk into one of the treatment rooms to see a dependent with stomach pains. "And so it begins."
Before Ben knew it, he looked at his watch and realized it was after 8 pm. Even if he hadn't checked it, the growling of his stomach would have told him it was late. As he was reading the chart in front of him, he knew he had to be starving worse than he thought because he swore he could smell French fries.
"Excuse me, sir. Could I interest you in food?"
Ben knew that voice. He turned and was surprised to find Anthony standing in front of him in shorts and a tank top, holding a big bag of food from Wendy's. Looking at Anthony wearing his basketball gear was almost more than Ben could stand right then. From the tattoos on his upper arms, to the well-defined muscles of his arms and legs, Ben could tell he needed to stop looking or he was going to tent the crotch of his uniform pants.
"I hope you like fast food, because it's all that's open on base right now."
"I love it. What a surprise!" Ben closed the chart and pointed Anthony towards his office.
"Been a mad house tonight?" Anthony's voice sounded tired.
"Oh yeah, and since I'm the only one here right now it's even worse."
"Why are you alone?"
"Lieutenant Whitmore is upstairs consulting."
As they entered the office, Ben noticed that Anthony stopped and was looking at the plaque on the door.
"Commander Stewart?"
"Yes, I guess that brings up something we haven't talked about." Ben wanted to giggle as he said it, for some reason it struck him as funny.
"I'm not sure I should be sharing my Wendy's with a senior officer." Anthony tried his hardest to make it sound ominous, and he was sure he may have succeeded until Ben saw his face and started laughing.
"I'd hate to have to mug you, but I will, if you don't give me some of your fries." Ben pulled out a chair from the table in his office and sat down.
As Anthony sat the bag on the table, he started to hand food to Ben. "Is that an..."
"Commander, I need your..." Cassidy walked in and saw Anthony sitting there. "Well, hello there."
"Good evening, I didn't know you were here or I would have brought more food." Anthony felt bad that he didn't even think of checking if she was working.
"Don't worry about it, please. I brought something from the house and I ate a little earlier. I haven't been as busy as this one." She pointed he thumb at Ben as she said it.
"What did you need?" Ben said it a little quickly, and then felt bad. It almost sounded like he was trying to get rid of her, which he was. He just didn't want it to sound like that.
"Signature. I want to give this patient some pain meds. Looks like a broken collar bone and says it's a 9." Cassidy smiled at Ben's reaction, it was good to hear him sounding this way.
Ben read the chart quickly and then signed off on the order Cassidy had written in it for pain meds. "Do you need me?"
"No, go ahead and eat. I'll yell if it gets to the point you need to see someone. We are in a little bit of a lull right now." She then turned towards Anthony, "Enjoy your dinner. It was good to see you again."
They both dove in and started eating. After a few minutes, Ben slowed down and had his hunger enough under control to be able to hold a conversation. "How has your night been, find anyone to play basketball with?"
"Not too bad actually, although I would have rather been doing something different tonight." Ben noticed that Anthony was staring at him when he said it. "Yeah, some of the guys from work and I are getting together in a little bit."
Anthony took another bite of fries and then swallowed. "What about your night?"
"Just your typical Saturday night in the ER. It doesn't really help that we have a group of corpsmen from the Field Medical Training Battalion here tonight."
"I was going to say something about it seeming a bit crowded out there."
"They're shadowing our corpsmen, to see how they operate in a clinical environment."
They both dove into the food and laughed as they traded stories of their afternoon after their lunch together. They sat there after they finished eating and didn't say much, just as Ben was about to say what was on his mind, his desk phone started ringing just as Anthony's cell phone rang. Ben stood and grabbed the phone. "Commander Stewart."
"Need you out here; we've got a MVA coming in."
"I'll be right there." Ben replaced the receiver in the phone and looked at Anthony who was also standing now. "Sorry, got to go."
"Me too, they're ready to play."
Ben had this urge to do something, he wasn't sure what, but something. "Have fun and be careful."
"Always... I'll try to come back." As he said it, Anthony put his hand on Ben's bicep and squeezed. He smiled and then turned and headed out.
Standing in the emergency room later, Ben was reviewing a chart when he realized he had read the same paragraph of the treatment notes four times. It had been a long night and all he could think about was Anthony. He was trying to concentrate, but it wasn't working. He looked down at his watch and prayed it would move faster. As he finally sat the file down, Cassidy walked quickly up beside him.
"I have a patient for you." She had a strange look on her face and she reached out and pulled Ben's arm.
"What the?" He wanted to laugh at her. She had only done this a couple times before and it usually involved a half-naked man.
"I have a 24 year old Marine with an injured left knee." Cassidy was talking over her shoulder as she continued her bee line for one of the treatment rooms. "He has been unable to put weight on it since the injury."
As they reached the door, Cassidy turned and looked at Ben. "Okay, hold on to your knickers."
Opening the door, Ben walked in and found a very familiar person sitting on the exam table. "Told you I'd see you later. Although, this isn't exactly what I was thinking."
Ben was completely shocked, "What the hell happened?" He grabbed the chart off the counter and started reading the notes which had been entered. Thankfully, he noticed something that gave him some relaxation. "Well, Lieutenant?"
Anthony laughed when he heard the relief in Ben's voice. He sat there quietly for a moment, looking at the floor. "You are so not going to believe this! I feel like a complete klutz, so I went in to dunk and when I came down, my leg twisted a little and I went down. At first it felt like I had a stinger. I tried to stand up and it was like my knee was trying to slip out of joint or something. I sat there for a little bit and then I tried again. One of the guys had to drive me over here. Now, I'm here, feeling like an idiot and very embarrassed you have to see me like this."
Ben noticed that Anthony seemed to be genuinely embarrassed, and he thought it made him even cuter, if that is possible. "Don't worry about it, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, remind me to tell you a story later about me playing basketball. I need to ask you some questions so I know where to go from here. Did you hear anything when you fell?" Ben was still reading through the file, all of Anthony's prior physicals and tests had perfect results. Everything showed a healthy and strong man. Ben flipped through the blood tests and was happy with what he saw there too.
"Yeah, it sounded like a popping noise when I came down."
"I'm going to have to examine your leg. Thankfully, we don't have to cut any of your clothes off." Ben thought about it for a minute and tried to think of a reason to do it anyway.
"Go ahead, swing around and lie down." Ben unlaced Anthony's shoe and dropped it to the floor. He was trying to keep it professional, but he couldn't help but notice the incredible legs in front of him. Anthony's skin was tanned and had a good dusting of dark hair. The muscles were well defined and large. As he examined the area of the knee by palpation, he reminded himself to keep it professional. That was something he had always prided himself on and at times it was the best thing to fall back on when things got out of his comfort zone.
"I was reading your medical record, but I can't remember... any history of knee injuries?"
"No, I hurt my ankle playing football in high school, never my knee." Anthony was laying back and propped himself up on his elbows, looking at Ben. "What do you think it is?"
Ben had to think about answering or not. He typically didn't like to answer that question without more facts. "Let me check a few things and then I'll answer your question, deal?"
"Sure." Anthony smiled as he said it.
Ben moved to the end of the table, and then placed Anthony's feet so his knees were bent with the feet flat on the table. "Okay, this is going to be a little awkward, but it will help me figure out what's wrong."
"Okay."
Ben went from one leg to the other. He had Anthony place the bottom of his foot on the table and had him bend his knee. He then pulled and pushed slightly in an attempt to move the knee. When he switched and grasped Anthony's left calf, Ben looked at him seriously. "This may hurt some, it may not."
Anthony nodded his head and looked up at the ceiling. As Ben did the same push and pull, there wasn't much pain. Anthony tried hard to figure out if he could feel any difference, but he couldn't tell for sure. Ben moved Anthony's knee in a few more directions and Ben was trying to look and also pay attention to see if he could tell any difference. He thought he could, and that bothered him.
Walking towards the counter, Ben started writing in the treatment notes. He then walked and opened the door, "Lieutenant Lane."
Cassidy came in the room, "Yes, sir?"
"Can you see if Commander Reilly is still here and available? Also, will you please get me a knee brace and some crutches for the Lieutenant?"
"Aye, sir."
After Cassidy walked out, Ben turned and looked at Anthony. "I'm bringing in Commander Joe Reilly, he's an orthopedic surgeon. Thankfully, he was here because of an emergency."
Anthony didn't like the sound of a surgeon. "That doesn't sound very good. So, what do you think it is?"
"I think it's your ACL. I'm sure you do, but I have to ask anyway, do you know what that is?"
Anthony's head started to spin, so many thoughts were running through his head. "Yeah. I guess this means the NBA is out for me for a while?"
Ben couldn't help but laugh, "There isn't a thing to worry about."
Anthony looked over at Ben, "Sorry, I know. Part of me knows there isn't a thing to worry about, then again part of me..."
"Don't worry, I've been through it myself. Let me show you something." Ben leaned over and lifted his left pants leg up and over his knee. He then pointed at marks around his knee. "You see these scars? I tore my ACL in Iraq."
"What happened?"
"I tore mine during a fire fight while treating a wounded Marine. Talk about klutz, but that's a story for another time."
Anthony knew his face showed some shock, but he quickly got it under control. He would have never thought of Ben being in combat, it's something you don't think about with nurses. Then he thought that Ben looked the type to be right there in the thick of it. It was definitely something they would be talking about sometime soon.
Ben sat back down at the counter and started writing in the file again. "This is what we're going to do from here. You're going to take a few days to let the swelling go down. I want you to ice it and keep it elevated, whatever you do, don't walk without the brace on. I'm going to give you some crutches, but you can actually put your full weight on it with the brace, just no bending it. I'm going to schedule you for an MRI the end of next week and then after that we'll follow up."
"Ben, you wanted me?" In the doorway was Joseph Reilly, a friend of Ben's and one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the Navy.
"Lieutenant, would you excuse me for a minute?" Ben walked into the hallway and started to talk to Joe.
Anthony was still lying on the bed, with everything that happened spinning around in his head. He was still feeling sorry for himself. The sound of someone walking into the room brought him around. He hoped it was Ben, but then he saw Cassidy's red hair.
"Cassidy, can I ask you something?"
Cassidy was unwrapping a black knee brace as he was talking. "Of course."
"Is Ben seeing..."
The question brought an instant smile to her face, "No, he sure isn't." Cassidy looked at the young man in front of her and had a million questions she wanted to ask him, but thought better of it. "We're going to put this brace on your leg. It shouldn't hurt, but if it does, I'm sorry."
"No problem, I can take it." Anthony looked back up to the ceiling and tried not to think about it.
It only took Cassidy a couple minutes to get the knee brace on him. She thought to herself that Ben was a `lucky bitch' if he and Anthony got together. That was if the rest of him under the clothes looked as good as his bare leg was any indication.
While Anthony was looking up, Ben walked back into the room and shut the door. "Anthony, can I ask you a couple questions?"
"Sure."
"I take it you live on base?"
"Yes, in BOQ, for the time being. I literally have only been here a couple weeks. I'm just waiting for the rest of my stuff to get here, before I go apartment hunting."
"That's really not going to work too well for you over the next few days. Have any friends you can stay with?"
"No, haven't been here long enough to make any real ones." Anthony thought about it for a minute, "Well, I've actually made a couple friends and they're both in this room."
Ben was writing on a prescription pad as Cassidy finished with the brace. "Cassidy, will you go ahead and notify his command, please."
Cassidy had seen what he was writing and smiled. She knew he didn't want her in the room for this. "Yes, sir."
"And, could you get these filled for him?" Ben handed her two prescriptions.
"Of course."
"So, I want you to take this one." Ben handed the young man a prescription.
When Anthony looked down at the paper, he was confused. It took him a minute to understand what he was looking at.
"It's your left leg, so I don't think you're going to have a hard time driving, but that's up to you. Think you can make it to that address?"
Anthony nodded his head slowly. He was taking it all in with so many things going through his head.
"That top number is the code for the garage and the bottom one is the alarm code. Go ahead and make yourself at home. The homeowner will be there about 0230."
`Is this really happening?' Anthony couldn't believe he was being invited to Ben's, "I'm pretty sure I can drive, or I can get one of the guys to run me over there."
As Ben was writing more in the treatment notes, a corpsman arrived with Cassidy. "We're all ready, Commander."
"Okay, Lieutenant, I'll see you back here in a few days when we get your MRI scheduled." Ben said it but winked so only Anthony could see.
"Thank you, sir." Anthony extended his hand, which Ben shook.
Ben was able to leave a little early and made a quick stop on the way home. He needed to pick up a few things if there was going to be someone else staying at his house. As he turned onto his street he could feel his pulse rate rising. As he got closer he saw a familiar truck in his driveway, which made his pulse go up even higher. After parking in the garage and closing the door, he walked towards the door leading to the kitchen and took a deep breath. Opening it he heard the television on in the living room and a smile formed on his face. Walking into the living room, he found Anthony asleep on the couch. He was still wearing the same t-shirt and shorts and Ben noticed the shorts showed off all of his assets with an extra emphasis on his crotch. Ben thought about just letting him sleep, but as he set his keys down on the counter, Anthony woke up.
"Welcome home."
It's been a long time since I've posted anything and I thought I would start with something new. I'll be working on this and on my two other stories again soon. There have been many changes in my life and I'm sorry that I've been neglecting my writing. I look forward to any feedback. - T