Disclaimer: This story is intended for people of age 18 (or 21 depending on where you live.) This story is about love between two gay male teenagers if this isnt your cup of tea dont read it :)
Legal stuff: If you want to copy this story and/or put it on your page please email me first, because if i find it someplace without my permission, I'll... I'll Well I'll think of something! :-)
Josh murmured to himself as he remembered his first night alone with Jeremy. How wonderful it felt to hold and be held. They didn't do anything sexual, but what they did do was almost as addictive. Josh had woken up in the middle of the night as Jeremy shifted in his sleep and simply watched him, the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the rhythm of his breathing. The feeling he had felt was unimaginable, time seemed to slow in that moment and for the first time he knew what total peace felt like. He just wished he could have remained in that moment forever.
Fate however had other ideas. He awoke from his slumber in the hard plastic chair. For a moment he was unsure to his environment, as he continued to focus it all came back to him. The stillness in the night. The flashing of the emergency vehicles. The utter panic he felt on what had been a cool fall evening. Now he remembered why he was here and began to tear up again. Before he had the chance to break down again, a set of double doors opened and out came is mother dressed in scrubs. Josh just stared at her with a mix of hope and pain. She sat next to her son and rubbed his shoulders.
"Josh..." She began as he closed his eyes. "Jeremy is still in surgery... And Miranda... didn't make it."
His shoulders started to shake as he held back the tears that ached against his eyes. He could only feel a fraction of the pain that Jeremy had gone though and would go through when he was he learned the news on his mom.
"What happened..?" He looked up at her, his expressions pleading to know the truth of what had happened tonight. His mom let our a sigh of guilt and frustration, she really did want to tell him but being in her position she couldn't readily give out that type of information, even if it was her own son asking.
She thought for a moment and just shook her head; he was after all going to find out one way or another.
"From what your father told me Josh... Someone broke into Jeremy's house and..." She wiped a tear from her eye as the moment of truth finally came to grips with her senses as well. "He was shot Josh. They both where."
Josh started to get light headed, and suddenly started to feel sick. Mandy pulled him close and held him as best she could.
"How... How is he? I mean is he..." His voice started to crack as once again the tears traced down his face
"No. No no Josh he isn't gone. He's holding on just barely. He's going to be okay."
"How can you be sure!?" Josh jumped to his feet so fast Mandy almost jumped herself.
"Oh Josh, I'm sorry." She rose to get up as Daren entered the waiting area and stopped, looking at Josh as he paced back and forth. With a silent nod Mandy got up.
"Well..." He began, "We didn't find the weapon in the house so that means whoever did this still has it."
"Have you got any ideas as to who did this?"
"Only one but we aren't sure were to look to find him. How is Josh taking this?"
"See for yourself."
She motioned to where she had been just moments before, where Josh had been pacing.
"Wait a minute... Where did he go?"
Josh was gone
"Jeremy I'm home." Miranda said as she placed her purse and keys, on the dining room table. The house seemed a little quiet without the TV, stereo or usual chatter she was usually welcomed with. "Jeremy?" She checked the living room, which was now packed up in boxes that were neatly stacked against the wall then started up the stairs. Other boxes littered the landing, and she softly knocked on the door to her son's room.
"Jeremy, are you in here sweety?" She found him. He was sitting on his bed with a box at his feet. He looked up at her with a faint smile.
"Hi mom."
"You alright sweety?" She looked down into the box she was packing then sat down on the bed next to him.
"I guess..."
"What's wrong baby?"
"Mom... Why do we have to move?"
That really wasn't a question she wanted to answer, in her eyes her son still had innocent eyes which had been abused enough by the horrors her marriage to his father had put them through. She told him that they were moving because of a new job but she knew that excuse didn't work with him.
"I'm sorry Jeremy..."
"Why can't he just leave us alone?" He let out a sigh and hugged his mother.
"I don't know sweety."
"I want to stay here"
"We can't. Look I know you do but it has been getting worse..." She didn't want to tell him exactly how worse it had gotten but quite frankly she was terrified of the whole situation now, but she didn't relay that feeling to her son. She just kept a solemn face and hugged him again. "It's just not safe here. I am going to wait though. I know how important this week was to you. So instead of being out by Friday I guess we can stay for a little longer since the job in California doesn't start for another month."
He looked up at her and smiled then closed his eyes as he hugged her tight. "I just wish we didn't need to go..."
"I know Jeremy, believe me I know. I wish we didn't either..."
Josh roamed the halls before the first bell with no destination in particular. People waved and said hello, but he just didn't care. Jeremy told him that his mom agreed to wait an extra week and a half, which did make him happy but at the same time only made him hurt worse. Delaying the inevitable. He wasn't really sure how he wanted to say good bye, or if he even wanted to say good bye. The last few days had been a remarkable experience. He had been able to express how he felt and have that expression returned only to learn that it was going to be taken away from him.
He looked up as he found himself outside in the court yard. Teenagers where coming and going; each trying to sneak a chat or two before the school day began. Josh saw Tyler walking in the distance. The last couple of days hadn't really been good for their friendship. He had the distinct impression that Tyler was ignoring him since he stopped showing up for lunch and generally made himself scarce during the school day.
Josh approached him, he hadn't meant to snap at Tyler the way he did a couple of days ago for merely caring about his feelings.
"Tyler..." He said as he approached his friend.
"Hmm?" He turned around and rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you want Josh?"
"Look I just wanted to apologize for the way I snapped at you the other day. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Josh said as he stood in front of Tyler.
"Good for you, now fuck off." Tyler turned away and started walking off.
"Come on now Ty. Don't be like this..."
"Don't be like what!? Listen Josh I tried to be your friend, I tried to listen, to be there when you needed a friend but no you practically slapped me in the face for it. So go off to Ben, Jeremy, Cat whoever and just leave me the hell alone."
Tyler continued to stalk off towards the school, Josh continued to follow him. Tyler knew he was being followed and allowed Josh to get as close as four feet before spinning around again.
"What do you want? Do you want to hurt me again? Perhaps physically this time?" Tyler stared at Josh. If looks could kill he would have been dead long ago.
"I just wanted too..." Josh wasn't able to finish his sentence because Tyler's fist made contact with his jaw. He stumbled back a few feet in a state of shock that Tyler actually had hit him.
"Oh man, Josh I didn't mean to..."
He didn't want to hear it. He just wanted to get away. "Fine Tyler. Have it your way." Josh pushed passed Tyler, and headed back into the school just as the first bell rang.
"Man this just isn't my week."
During first period Jeremy did show up after missing the first half of the class. It was Grissom's history class and Mr. Grissom did have an idea that Jeremy was in the process of packing up, for a move so didn't do anything but acknowledge he was there.
Josh just sat silently, and kept to himself until the end of class. When the bell rang He just gathered up his gear and started walking out the door.
"Josh! Wait up man." Jeremy hurried to catch up; Josh paused to allow him to catch up.
"Dude is something wrong?"
`Yeah my heart's breaking, Tyler hit me and this whole situation just totally sucks.'
"Everything's fine." He lied.
Jeremy didn't believe that as they started walking away.
"You sure...?"
He didn't need a reply, at that same time Tyler rounded a corner and saw both of them, then just turned around and walk away.
"And what's up with him? Yeesh everyone is in a crabby mood today."
"Heh, you have no idea." Josh remained silent for a moment as Jeremy grew quiet then sighed as he saw how down he was starting to get.
"It'll be alright Jeremy; this whole week is just messed up."
"So I noticed. But don't forget you're not the only one having a really bad time here."
Josh put a hand on Jeremy's back and guided him to a more secluded part of the hallway.
"I'm sorry, what you're going through is worse then all of our problems put together, I'm just frustrated that all of this is happening."
Jeremy just nodded with an understanding; he knew what Josh was feeling because he was feeling it as well.
"But all we can really do is enjoy ourselves while we can and get you ready for tomorrow night." Josh put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder, which made him smile.
"Erm... Do you think you could sleep over again?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah. Both mom and dad will be working late again tonight."
"Cool, I already asked mom and she said it would be alright and everything..."
They both chatted for a few more moments before giving a brief hug and continuing on to second period.
Tyler peered around the corner to see if they had left yet and caught the embrace which made him feel even worse. He felt as if there were something there between those two that had yet to be told, which increased his negative feelings.
He kept reminding himself that Jeremy was going to be going away soon, and then maybe he and Josh could have a very long talk to see if what he had been picking up was true. As the two boys walked off together Tyler started to feel pangs of jealousy that he hadn't felt before that angered him and made him feel physically ill.
`Man I can't handle much for of this...' He started walking off alone to his next class silently with his thoughts before someone stopped him dead in his tracks.
"What the hell is up with you?" Cathleen asked as she pinned him up against the wall.
"What are you talking about?" He asked with annoyance.
"I saw that punch this morning Tyler, and for whatever reason if you do it again I'll have to kick your ass myself."
"Whatever."
"Listen bud you know you don't want to tango with me so I suggest you rethink your attitude."
Tyler just remained there not moving as Cathleen continued to tell him off. He started getting weak in the knees considering this was the first time, besides Josh a close friend had said anything negative to him.
Cat picked up on this immediately and started looking him over, at first he looked angry and defiant and with each passing moment she had him there his demeanor changed.
"Tyler what's going on with you?"
"I... I... can't..."
"Why not?" She asked with force.
"Because... Look Cathleen I promise I won't touch Josh... I wont even go near him just please let me go."
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on between you too."
He wasn't prepared for this, for days he had been building up a barrier, shutting everyone else out and now he wasn't sure what to do or say. He tried to hold back the tears that came out of no where as Cathleen refused to budge.
"Tyler..."
"Please I promise, just let me go!"
She moved to hug him but instead he bolted.
"Tyler! Where are you going?!"
Cathleen would have followed him, but she lost track of him as he delved deeper into the continuing traffic.
"What the hell is going on with everyone today?" She muttered to herself as she stalked off in search for Ben. One thing she vowed to do was get down to the bottom of this before it started to get out of hand.
She never did find Ben. The rest of the day had gone by without ever laying eyes on him. The same went with Tyler. Cathleen had the feeling that wherever they were, they were at least together. So now she waited at the main exit waiting for Josh to come out, she didn't have to wait for long.
Josh and Jeremy headed out together talking amongst themselves. Cathleen just stood against the wall watching them go for a moment, just thinking. Then a small realization hit her, she wasn't sure what it was but the body language in those two had changed. `They are touching but aren't touching...' She slowly followed behind keeping out of range as they headed off school grounds. Neither of them lived far from school so it was a relatively short walk.
She expected both of them to continue on to one of the houses together; however once they reached their street they both just separated and headed for separate houses. As soon as she confirmed two door slams she stalked up to Josh's door and knocked rather hard. The door quickly opened.
"Who the... Cathleen are you alright?" Josh said as he looked her over.
"Inside." She replied. "Now."
Silently Josh obeyed and slowly backed up until they were both in the house, and Cathleen closed the door. She didn't take his eyes off him; they were locked to his as if she were looking for some dark secret that only his eyes could betray.
"Josh, what is going on with you and Tyler?" She finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Uh nothing, we had a fight a couple of days ago I tried to apologize but he hit me."
Cathleen just nodded not taking her eyes off his, and she wasn't blinking either. For a moment Josh was afraid, her facial features were devoid of emotion and her tone of voice wasn't making him feel good either.
"Cath..."
She cut him off, "Alright then what's going on between you and Jeremy?"
"We're just ... friends."
`Just friends, Joshy my boy you just gave yourself away.'
"I think there is something more than that Josh..." She really wasn't sure what she was saying, she was just trying to bait him into telling something, anything that could shed some light on the subject.
"We...I...I...uh..." Josh started to back up until he backed into the wall. Cathleen kept her stance firm keeping her eyes on his, why wasn't she blinking? She just kept staring deep down into his soul, he tried to think of something, anything to say, just to get her to stop but she was persistent.
Finally he said something and her eyes went wide. `Oh God...' Josh thought to himself, he had meant to say something other than the truth and instead that's what he said. The truth.
Cathleen backed off, and blinked. Not once but several times, the silence continued. She was the one that broke the silence.
"Are you sure..?"
Josh just meekly nodded preparing himself for the worst.
"Does he know?"
Josh didn't say anything, he only nodded again.
Cathleen remained silent for a moment as if she were putting things together in her head before she spoke again. "Man I didn't expect that. I mean. Well. Damn Josh."
Josh heaved a sigh and left his place against the wall and sauntered over to the couch and sat down in a slouch. Cathleen studied him for a moment in silence before sitting next to him.
"Look Josh, Don't go thinking the wrong things now alright. It's just a bit of a shock, well not shock more like surprise. The good kind of surprise you know?"
That at least made him feel better, she gave him encouragement by wrapping an arm around her shoulder and squeezing gently.
"It's alright Josh, really. I just never figured you as the type, although now it sort of makes sense, with the way you can dance and all. I should have figured that out myself. I mean straight guys like Ben and Tyler can't dance at all. Remember the lamp?"
Josh chuckled at the though, Tyler had back flipped right into an end table, sending the lamp crashing to the floor. As he thought about Tyler his mood changed slightly, he still wanted to know what the hell was going on with that front and why Tyler just suddenly changed on him like that. I mean sure they hadn't been close as they used to be. In fact before this year they had been inseparable, about as close as friends could get. Something had changed over the summer though, Tyler had gone away for a while and when he came back something inside had changed although Josh couldn't put his finger on it. So they hung out less, talked less even though they were still friends, they just weren't the same as they used to be.
Then Jeremy came onto the scene and became his new best friend. Before Jeremy had told him how he felt, his relationship with Josh seemed to match what he and Tyler had. Perhaps Tyler had picked up on that too and maybe, just maybe that's why Tyler had been so angered and why he was acting the way he was.
Josh talked about it with Cathleen for a while and she to confirm what he had been thinking. Maybe Tyler was just jealous and felt that he had lost his friend, or been replaced. That idea really didn't sit with him to well and he started to feel bad. Now he knew what ever had been going on between them would need to end especially with Jeremy about to make his quick exit on his life.
They both continued to talk for a while longer until Josh heard a knock on his door; they had been talking for almost 3 hours. Man time flies when you don't pay attention.
Josh made the move to open the door, Cathleen just stayed on the couch.
"Hey." Jeremy said as Josh opened the door. He let out a small smile and let the younger boy in.
"Well, well speaking of the devil." Cathleen said with a mischievous grin.
"Eh?" Jeremy asked as he flopped on the couch.
"Yeah, Josh and I have been having a nice little chat."
"About?"
"Jeremy... She knows."
"..."
Cathleen just shook her head and chuckled. "Aw come on Jeremy, its alright I don't plan on saying anything to out you two. Besides I think it's cute anyway."
Jeremy just blushed and gave a mild grin.
"So have you two played ride the pony yet?" Cathleen asked nonchalantly
Josh choked, Jeremy cringed and they both just stared at her.
"I take that as a no. Well you boys better get cracking, not that many more shopping days till Christmas."
That made both the boys blush.
"Alright alright, enough now." Josh said as he wrapped an arm around Jeremy's shoulder. "You know since the three of us are together maybe we should think about practicing a little. I mean tomorrow is the big night."
"First time for everything, usually I'm the one that has to badger you into it." Cathleen just giggled and refrained from saying anything further.
Much later that night after practice and Cathleen's departure, Josh found himself alone with Jeremy in Jeremy's bedroom. This would probably be one of the final chances they'd get to be alone together in the coming days. Together they lay clothed on Jeremy's bed with limbs wrapped around each other.
Both were tired after the workout that Cathleen had given them and they ached a little in the normal places, but as they laid there they began to ache in other places.
"Josh..."
"Yes?" He said as he raised his head up gently.
"What Cathleen said earlier...? Do you want to...?"
Josh's heart leapt as he let out a shiver of nervousness.
"Only if you do..."
Josh just gave a wry smile as he cuddled Jeremy closer.
The peace and tranquility continued to fill the night as the two indulged themselves with each other. Both wanted this moment to last forever, but as the old saying goes. `All Good Things..." Little did anyone know how true that statement actually was.....?
TO BE CONTINUED:
Sorry for the delay in there, if you've kept up this far all I can say is thank you :) If you wish to send comments or complains please do: snshadow@yahoo.com - Chapter 6 is in the works and I promise you wont have to wait long.