A Charm For Every
Season

By: Geron Kees
(© 2016 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

GKees@tickiestories.us

Summers are like no other time.

Jesse awoke in the cot, in the fort, in the woods, and felt his best friend in the world beside him. It was already warm, even though the softness of the light coming in through the big vent window in the wall above them told plainly that the sun wasn't an hour old. The first awakened birds were still finding their voices yet, while the the night's chorus of toads and crickets seemed just to be ending their songs.

Jesse closed his eyes again, still not fully awake yet. Against his body, beneath his hands, he could feel Marty. Breathing slowly, still asleep. Warm, close, with a faint feeling, even, of sweat between them. The night always gained a chill just before dawn; but the humidity was up and the sheet they had mostly over them, while keeping off the chill, had also kept in the warmth and the moisture.

He could smell Marty's skin-scent, a wonderfully pleasant sweet-musk that Jesse had come to associate with the boy he loved, and which was a nose flavor he absolutely adored. He inhaled slowly, amazed that someone could smell so wonderful, and that the scent seemed so much stronger here in the cot. Maybe it was the sweat that did it.

Jesse opened his eyes again, carefully slid the sheet down from them until it just covered their legs. Marty gave a little sigh in his sleep and moved in Jesse's embrace; Jesse froze, not wishing the moment to end just yet. But Marty simply made a few quiet sounds and then resumed his slow breathing. Jesse pulled his head back a bit, studied the peaceful face lying so closely by his own.

Marty's hair was all over the place, it's new length really seeming noticeable now. Did it grow an inch overnight? He smiled, knowing that that was impossible, but somehow unable to put even that unusual feat beyond his friend's abilities. Marty's closed eyes conveyed his absence - his mental absence, anyway - and a peace that Jesse found very much a counterpoint to the sparkly quality of Marty's eyes when they were open. The energy, the liveliness - even the subtle deviltry - all asleep with Marty behind those shades that held out the light.

Marty's mouth. usually animated, to say the least, was quiet; his lips full, appealing, asking to be kissed. Jesse smiled, leaned in a bit and gently kissed his friend twice.- Just very small, very fond thing, with the tiniest of clicks at the end of each.

Marty smiled, but didn't open his eyes. "Hi."

Jesse smiled himself, a little annoyed that he had awakened his friend, but pleased at his company in this world again. "Hi. Sorry to wake you."

"I'm not awake. This is a dream, isn't it? The dream where I have you close to me and everything is wonderful?"

Jesse laughed. "Okay. It's a dream. In the dream, you go back to sleep, and I kiss you some more."

Marty smiled again. "I love that dream."

Jesse grinned, feeling that Marty was awake enough now for some mischief. "Is it also the dream where I suck your dick while you suck mine?"

Marty opened his eyes, his smile widening. "I thought I felt something sticking me down there. I thought a lost squirrel got in during the night and was trying to go home now, but was stuck under the sheet."

Jesse grinned. "Well, it's got nuts, but it ain't no squirrel."

Marty returned the grin, leaned forward and kissed him. "I hope I don't have killer breath. My mouth tastes a little nasty."

Jesse started. He hadn't even thought of that, and now felt a little self-conscious. But Marty neither smelled nor tasted badly. "What about me?"

"Sweet as always," Marty said, laughing. "But my senses are a little sleepy still."

"I know I gotta piss," Jesse said, finally kicking the sheet the rest of the way off of them. The morning air seemed to surge over their naked bodies, a refreshing feel in spite of the humidity. "Coming?"

Jesse got up, climbing over Marty, who copped a feel as Jesse went by.

"Leave it until it's empty," Jesse warned, grinning.

Marty got up and followed, stopping in the doorway as Jesse went outside. "You're gonna walk around out there naked? The sun's up, Jesse."

Jesse went over by a tree, took his mostly stiff dick in his fingers, willed it to relax so that he could pee. "Yeah. I'll bet it's not even six o'clock yet. No one at my house is gonna be up. What about yours?"

Marty considered. His dad got up at seven to be ready to leave for work by eight, to be there by nine. He wasn't getting up early for any reason that Marty could fathom. And nobody else at his house got up that early at all during the summer. So he shrugged, stepped out, looked around self-consciously, then went over and stood by Jesse. They both held onto their dicks a full minute before they could go. Jesse started first, and just seeing his friend pee seemed to relax Marty to where he could go. They crossed the streams like duelists, laughing.

When they were done they shook off, and Jesse turned and grinned. "Wanna take a quick swim? Knock the sweat off your balls?"

Marty's eyes filled with little sparkles."Yeah, that sounds cool." He turned and headed for the door to the fort, and Jesse turned and headed around the side of the fort to the path to the creek. Marty stopped, stunned; then he bounced to the corner of the fort and looked around.

Jesse was standing there, smiling. "You coming?"

Marty's jaw dropped. "Naked?"

Jesse nodded. "Hell, yeah. Me'n Nate used to do it all the time. They're still in bed at our houses, and there isn't anybody else." He put his hands on his hips. "You afraid the wildlife's gonna see your dick?"

Marty gave a little pout. "No." He looked around some more, considering; then he grinned and came on around the fort to stand by Jesse. "I need a kiss first to get my nerve up."

Jesse sighed, but immediately wrapped his arms around Marty and pulled him close. Their dicks immediately became pokers; Marty wiggled his hips, pushing himself against Jesse, and looked around at the empty woods. "Damn, this is hot. I'm so horny now I could spunk just rubbing on you."

Jesse nodded. "It's sexy as shit walking around out here naked. Me and Nate used to be so horny by the time we got to the swimmin' hole that we'd have to sit on the bank and jerk each other off."

"I was thinking about something a little better than jerking off," Marty confessed. "Well, the off part is okay, but you need to put the word suck in place of jerk."

Jesse nodded, pulled Marty closer, and kissed him. Despite the humor with which Marty was approaching this new adventure, he took the time to be serious a moment and trade a fond kiss with Jesse. They pressed themselves together and let their faces rub as they touched tongues and explored a little.

Finally, Marty sighed and pulled his head back. "Heart thief. Nobody can charge my batteries like you, Jesse."

Jesse nodded. "It's 'cause I love you."

Marty took a deep breath, let it rush out, and grinned. "Yup. I love you, too." He let his gaze linger on Jesse's a moment, sending across all sorts of nice, sparkly thoughts. But then he looked down the path that led to the creek. "You sure this is cool?"

"Done it fifty times or more," Jesse said. "Never saw anyone else yet."

Jesse grinned, took Marty by the hand, and started off, giving his friend a little pull. Marty made a face, but followed.

He skipped a couple of steps to catch up with Jesse, and they walked along, side-by-side, hand-in-hand, letting their arms swing as they walked, in a shared motion.

"What are we going to do today?" Marty asked. "Feels like it's gonna be hot."

"First were gonna get wet and suck each other," Jesse said. "Then were gonna come back to the fort and get dry, and then suck each other. Then we're gonna get dressed, and eat, and then suck each other --"

Marty laughed out loud and gave Jesse a little push. Jesse just grinned.

"I mean really," Marty said, looking off through the trees ahead of them, halfway expecting a bunch of Boy Scout campers or something to come into view. Walking around outside, buck naked! Marty would never have dreamed he'd be doing this, just a few weeks before.

Before he'd met Jesse, that is. He looked at the boy next to him, couldn't help a smile, couldn't help letting his eyes rove over Jesse's body as he walked, watching his muscles move under his skin, watching his beautiful tanned hide flex and flow to accommodate those muscles. He sighed. Jesse was beautiful, and Marty was lucky enough to have him as a boyfriend.

Jesse looked over at him, examined Marty in much the same way that Marty had just eyeballed him. Jesse smiled the same way, and thought the very same thing about Marty.

Beautiful. And mine.

Jesse knew he was lucky. What were the odds that someone else had moved into Nate's house that he could be friends with? Well, friends, and a little more? He squeezed Marty's hand and pulled him closer, so that their shoulders bumped together as they walked.

Marty grinned. "Can't you walk straight?"

"No. I'm gay."

Marty laughed, his eyes twinkling in the weak early morning sun.  "You mean, like happy gay? Or, like fruity-tooty gay?"

Jesse faked a frown. "I'm as fruity-tooty as you."

Marty whistled. "Wow. So you suck dick?"

"Yes."

"And boink guy's buttholes?"

"Yes."

"And are part-owner of a great purple pecker?"

Jesse nodded, grinning. "Proud part-owner, uh huh."

Marty laughed. "Then you must kiss boys, too."

"I do," Jesse acknowledged. "Just as much as I can." He winked at Marty. "Are you volunteering?"

"Maybe. Are you any good?"

Jesse shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me."

With that he stopped, grabbed Marty, and wrestled him to the leafy pathway. Marty didn't fight at all, and allowed himself to be taken down easily. Jesse climbed atop him, pressed his face close, and stuck his tongue gently into Marty's mouth. They both closed their eyes and went at it.

It was all of a minute before they drew apart.

Marty sighed. "Man. You got the job, okay?"

Jesse laughed, gave Marty another kiss. "I already had it, remember?"

"Yeah. But it's nice to know I hired the right guy."

They got up, smiling, took each other's hands, and resumed the walk to the creek.

"Wonder what Greg and Rafie are doing right now?" Marty wondered aloud.

"Sleeping," Jesse returned, with just a hint of friendly scorn in his voice. "City boys. They don't get up early like we do here in the sticks."

Marty nodded. "Yeah. Sleeping." Marty grinned. "But are they sleeping by themselves? Maybe Brendan is there."

Jesse looked over. "Do they have sleepovers in the city? I thought there was a law or something."

"No, that's for littering," Marty returned. "Stuff laying around. Not people."

"Oh." Jesse gave his friend a bump with his elbow. "You're a nut."

"Look who's talking. I just woke up and wanted a kiss, and now I'm a nudist running around the woods with my junk hanging out."

Jesse grinned. "Shit. If I had my way, your cute junk would always be hanging out."

They rounded a curve in the path, and the twin oaks guarding the end of the path came into view. Marty sped up a bit, grinning, watching Jesse out of the sides of his eyes. Jesse sped up, too; and then Marty some more; and then with a dual whoop, they both took off running.

The pelted between the two oaks, past the stump bench, and launched themselves into the center of the inviting pool. Jesse landed with a huge splash, every bit as big as the one that Marty made. They bounced to the surface, laughing, and came together. Jesse put his arms around Marty and pulled him close. Marty went with it, giving a little shiver.

"Damn water. It got cold during the night."

Jesse grinned. "Dummy. It doesn't get any colder over night. It's always this temperature. You just got to get used to it."

"How do you know it didn't get colder over night?" Marty demanded.

Jesse sighed. "It comes out of a spring, and under the ground, it's cold. See? Then it just runs across the surface for a mile or so, and gets here. It's cut a channel in the ground from all the years it's been running, so it's still exposed to the cooler earth a few feet down. The sun doesn't hit it because of the trees, so it doesn't warm much. Simple."

Marty frowned. "What are you, that guy Elbert Ernstein?"

Jesse blinked, thinking a moment. "You mean Albert Einstein?" He burst out laughing.

Marty grinned, but Jesse could see then that it was a fake, and Marty was playing.

"You knew," Jesse accused, squeezing his friend a little tighter and giving him a kiss. "You're always pulling my leg, Marty."

Marty sighed, his eyes searching Jesse's, and liking what they saw there. "Love you, Jesse."

Jesse nodded, feeling a little emotion then. He pushed his face gently against Marty's and closed his eyes, and they stood quietly, as one, as the cool water passed around them. Jesse could feel Marty's heart beating, could feel the life in his body. Jesse could also feel Marty's dick prodding him, and knew that his own was just as hard. Marty always made him feel that way. Horny. It wasn't just that Marty was nice to look at, and sexy. There was also the warm beauty of the part of him that lived within that drew Jesse to him. Marty complimented Jesse in a way that no one else ever quite had. It was if they were the two main pieces of a very large jigsaw puzzle, pieces with many parts that interlocked, and formed one very special part of the big picture.

"I love you, too," he finally breathed. He pulled back, smiled at the other boy. "Probably always will."

Marty smiled. "Okay by me. I got room for forever with you."

Jesse grinned, and reached down and gave Marty's dick a little squeeze. "Can I get some of this?"

"Hell, yeah. All you want."

They coasted, still wrapped together, towards the bank, grinning, both feeling the first tugs of anticipation. They reached the bank and crawled out, and lay together in the soft carpet of old leaves. Jesse's nose was again full of the sweet-musky scent of Marty's skin, something he just loved so much. He breathed it in, tasted it, let it loose, went after some more.

Above them, the birds had awakened fully now and were calling, and squirrels ran among the high branches, effortlessly performing daredevil leaps between trees. But on the ground, all that Jesse and Marty were aware of was each other. They kissed, and let their hands slide down, to caress each other gently.

Jesse loved the feel of Marty's dick in his hand. That it was such a source of pleasure for the other boy made it extra special for Jesse. He loved to make Marty feel good. He loved to make Marty feel wanted.

Marty performed the same gentle exploration upon Jesse, smiling and kissing him in return.

Jesse flipped himself around, lifting his upper leg and bending it so that his knee pointed straight upwards, and lowered his face and used his tongue to lightly sample the head of Marty's dick. Marty scrunched his eyes closed for a moment at the touch and grinned, then opened his eyes, and rolled a bit so that he could taste Jesse's dick in return.

Jesse sighed, closed his eyes, and slid the first couple of inches of Marty's dick into his mouth, wrapped a few fingers around what was left, and began a gentle rub and pull, while gently squeezing what he had in his mouth between a rolling tongue and the roof of his mouth. He let his head move slowly with the rhythm, a steady, circular motion that let his tongue get at everything.

He loved doing this.

At the same time, he loved the feel of what Marty was doing to him. Sex was one thing. The act of it was fun, pleasurable. But it took someone who cared about you to make into something more. It took the addition of emotion to make it into love.

Jesse was feeling the love, too.

Minutes ticked by while the two of them worked slowly and fondly, their minds blank save for the focus on the one thing they were sharing in the moment. Jesse only felt the soft/firm thing in his mouth and the soft/wet motions of what was happening to him down below. The two feels together were awesome.

Jesse felt the tautness come upon him, the slow turn of some inner part of him as it tightened and grew firm; a tensing of muscles in his middle, whose presence he went through the day normally unaware of; until a sensation seemed to creep up inside the shaft of his dick to the head. Jesse's hips scrunched forward, and it became hard to do anything but endure the wonderful awfulness of an orgasm readying itself for launch. He held onto it, wanting to wait until Marty could participate, too.

It was a terribly long minute before Marty's thigh muscles tensed, and his own hips crawled forward a little, and then Jesse's mouth was painted with the spicy flavors of Marty's spunk. Jesse lost his concentration then, and busted off himself, groaning at the dual pleasures of giving and receiving at the same time. He felt the quiver of Marty's body as it flexed, felt Marty's tongue as it compressed Jesse's dick, adding to the pleasure.

It went on for a brief eternity, and then was over. They sagged against each other, breathing hard through their noses, and each came off of the other's dick and milked out the last few drops of spunk.

Marty gave Jesse's dick a last fond kiss, then rolled onto his back, groaning. "Awesome."

Jesse managed to turn himself about and crawled atop his friend, and just laid his head beside Marty's. Marty brought up his hands and laid them on Jesse's back, rubbing him gently.                         

"Good?" Marty asked, his voice just above a whisper.

Jesse nodded, then turned his head and kissed Marty's cheek. "It's always good with you."

He felt Marty smile. "Yeah, same here."

Their skin was drying in the morning air, and the process cooled them, and it felt so good to Jesse to feel the warmth of Marty's body beneath him. Here was a touch he never seemed to tire of experiencing. He moved himself gently, allowing his skin to rub against Marty's, allowing his skin to feel the presence of a touch that never seemed to be just a touch.

Jesse had decided that there was something inside Marty that was broadcast, like radio waves, that his own body picked up and turned into gentle vibrations that tingled and resonated and felt absolutely incredible. There was no other explanation for why Marty's touch seemed so extra special.

He looked down at the other boy, saw him looking back; saw the tiny sparkles in Marty's eyes that signified humor and mischief and love, and affection. Jesse knew that those were two different things, love and affection, and that, while he and Marty loved each other strongly, it was the affection that made their relationship so extra special. Jesse felt he had a pretty solid definition of love for people. It meant caring for someone so strongly that you placed what they needed above what you needed. It meant enjoying the closeness of someone's thoughts, their humor, even their fears. Love was the sharing of life most intimately, most willingly, most strongly. Love was also dependence, and reliance, and trust.

Jesse loved his parents, and he loved Marty.

Affection, on the other hand, was less easily defined. But Jesse knew he had a lot of it for Marty, for the way he smiled, and for the sparkles in his eyes, and for the way he touched Jesse, and made love to Jesse, and just for the way he acted when he was around Jesse. As if Jesse was the most important thing there was, but that he kind of didn't want Jesse to know that. It was a game of sorts, played with pieces of the heart and mind, pieces hard to name at times, but pieces oh so wonderful to field.

He smiled, and kissed Marty, and felt joy at the smile that Marty gave him back.

"What are you thinking about?" Marty asked. "I see something in your eyes."

Jesse smiled. There it was. Affection. How else could Marty so easily read his mind?

"I was thinking about you. I'm always thinking about you."

Marty's arms tightened, and he kissed Jesse, and turned his face slowly against Jesse's. "Me, too. You're always with me, Jesse. Inside me."

They laid together quietly for awhile, just wanting the peaceful moment not to end. They were relaxed, and close, and just happy to be together.

Finally, though, Jesse sighed and raised his head. "We should jump in the creek and wash off, then get back. My dad will be up at seven. He doesn't have any reason to come to the fort, but I don't want to push it, either."

Marty nodded, and they got up. This time they just squatted at the edge of the bank and eased into the water, both of them feeling a little low-key after what they had just done together. The moved out into deeper water and stood close, letting the natural movement of the water whisk away any grime and sweat from their bodies.

"That was pretty cool," Marty finally said. "I mean, all of it. Coming down here naked, and everything. Makes me feel alive."

Jesse smiled, understanding completely. "I've been all over these woods naked, at night and during the day. Even up to the cow field. Walking around naked makes you super horny, and there's something about it that is just so free."

Marty grinned, and gave a little laugh. "You're kinky, Jesse."

Jesse made a face, but then smiled. "Yeah."

"It's cool. I am too. I like stuff like this." Marty looked around at the woods. The sun had come up noticeably, and the tops of the trees were filled with morning sunlight. "I mean, this is just cool as shit. There's always that weird little feeling that you're gonna turn around and somebody will be there, looking at you. I got that feeling for real when Greg and Rafie were watching us that day we met 'em." He grinned, leaning his forehead against Jesse's. "Made me wanna nut just standing here in the water."

Jesse laughed. "Well, I think we need to get back to the fort. You wanna nut someplace, do it there, so I can get some of it."

They went over to the bank and hoisted themselves out. Jesse jumped up and down, shedding water, and Marty grinned, loving the way Jesse's dick bounced up and down with his motion.

"You gonna make do this by myself?" Jesse asked.

Marty just laughed, and began hopping up and down in time with Jesse. "Nut."

Jesse finally stopped, and Marty did as well. They took their hands and rubbed each other briskly to remove most of the remaining water, and then started up the path back to the fort.

"What time do you think it is?" Marty asked.

Jesse looked up into the trees. "It's pretty close to seven, I'll bet."

"What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. We can go to my house and eat, or yours."

Marty gave him a look.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"Are we still doing the joke thing? You're still one up on me."

Jesse smiled, recalling the piece of toilet tissue stuck to his back at the end of the day before. "I don't know. I feel kind of laid back today. Wanna put it on hold? Always another day to do that."

"I guess." Marty poked him. "Sure was fun, though."

"I thought that was the biggest skeeter ever on my back," Jesse admitted. "Or a bat."

Marty made an astonished noise. "A bat?" He gave the woods around them a cursory look before letting his eyes come back to Jesse. "You got bats here?"

"Yup. They never bother people, though. It was just my imagination that got me. The bats here don't even suck blood."

"How big are they?" Marty asked.

For just a second Jesse was tempted to describe them as big squirrels with wings and fangs; but they had already called no jokes for the day. "They're little, like field mice. And they don't bother people, I said."

"Good." Marty sighed. "Last thing I need is to spoil all this fun by having to worry about giant bats landing on me in the dark."

Jesse laughed, shaking his head. "That's a city boy remark if I ever heard one."

Marty gave him a slight push. "I'm getting more country all the time."

Jesse nodded. "Okay. I'll let you know when you're all the way here."

They rounded a curve and the fort came into view. Jesse let his eyes study the clearing a moment, but it looked okay. He was always aware in the back of his mind that any of their parents might suddenly get the notion to walk down and ask them something, or check on them, or some other parent-type thing. He wasn't ready yet to be caught naked with Marty.

Although, in all actuality, getting caught coming back from the swimmin' hole wouldn't be that bad. They could just say they went skinny dipping, and the most they would probably get is one of those parents-rolling-the-eyes looks that they so liked to deliver.

"You guys went swimming naked?"

"Sure, dad. You never did that?"

"That's beside the point. I don't want you traipsing around these woods with no clothing on, you hear me?"

"Okay, dad. We won't do it again."

And that would likely be the end of it.

He became aware that Marty was looking a little anxiously ahead, too, and again wished he hadn't called quits to the jokes for the day. Sure would be fun to stop dead in his tracks, and say in an astonished tone, "Is that your sister over there?"

He had to laugh at his imagination's portrayal of Marty's reaction.

Marty looked over at him. "What's funny? You thinkin' about saying you see Parker there by the fort or something?"

Jesse was astonished to have his mind read like that, and must have looked it.

"Uh huh," Marty said, giving him a little push. "Thought so."

"You know me that well already?" Jesse asked, looking at his friend in disbelief.

"Hell yeah. You're the devil in disguise, with your humor sometimes. Sneaky little brat."

Jesse laughed. "You're not exactly innocent, either, Mr. Hide-under-a-black-cape-and-give-me-a-heart-attack."

Marty grinned. "That was pretty good, wasn't it?"

Jesse nodded. "I nearly crapped my shorts."

They both laughed. Marty reached out a hand, took Jesse's, squeezed it warmly. "We go together good, huh?"

Jesse was touched. "Yeah. We do."

They arrived at the fort. All clear.

They pushed inside, found their clothing, and got dressed. Jesse checked his cell, found it was just hitting seven o'clock. He stuck his feet into his flip-flops and turned to face his friend.

"My house or yours?"

"You got any apples at your house?" Marty asked. "That's usually what I eat."

Jesse thought hard. His mom usually kept what fruit they had in a big bowl in the kitchen. He remembered there being bananas there, but no apples.

"Don't think so. Better your house, then."

They sprinted up the hill to Marty's yard, passed the gazebo, and arrived at the back door, grinning. "Speedy," Jesse said, patting Marty on the shoulder as the boy dug in his pocket and produced a key, stuck it in the lock, and opened the door. "You can almost keep up now."

Marty snorted. "Almost? If that wasn't you breathing down my neck, behind me, it was one of those giant bats you said were here."

"I didn't say they were giant, I said they were small. I just didn't tell you they were poisonous because I didn't want you to worry."

Marty looked at him and laughed. "You're stupid. Come on."

They went into the kitchen and shut the door quietly. They could hear water running upstairs.

"Sounds like my dad's up," Marty said. He went to a large bowl on the counter and grabbed two apples. "Couple kinds of cereal there," he said, pointing to the pantry door. "And a bowl in the cabinet above the dishwasher. Milk in the fridge. Help yourself."

Jesse looked in the pantry, found a box of cereal he liked, and got a bowl and filled it. He returned the cereal box to it's slot on the shelf and closed the door.

The refrigerator had milk and orange juice in it, in addition to other drinks. Jesse poured milk over the cereal, then pointed at the orange juice. "Okay to have some of that?"

"Sure. Glass in the cabinet next to the one you got the bowl from."

Jesse got a small juice glass and filled it. He looked at Marty. "Where shall we eat?"

"Gazebo?" Marty asked.

They left the kitchen, relocking the door behind them, and walked over to the gazebo and found seats inside. Jesse sat his glass on the wicker table between the two white wicker chairs, and started eating his cereal while Marty munched on his first apple.

"You didn't want to see your dad?" Jesse asked.

Marty shrugged. "Didn't matter. He's usually a little sleepy at first, and not very talkative. I just felt it wasn't that cool to spring company on him first thing."

Jesse nodded, understanding. "My dad isn't like that. He opens his eyes in the morning and is ready for push-ups." He grinned. "Pisses my mom off royally. She's sleepy for a while, like your dad."

Marty laughed. "My mom is kind of in-between. She wakes up sometimes and gets right up; other times you got to drag her out of the bed. My dad gets annoyed at her because she always seems to get up when he wants to sleep in, and she always seems to be hard to wake when we gotta be somewhere."

Jesse shook his head. "Hard to believe they were kids once, huh?"

"Yup." Marty seemed to think a moment, then smiled. "I can imagine my dad as a kid. He gets a little crazy sometimes. He can be a blast when he wants to be."

That made Jesse think; soon he had to nod. "Maybe. My dad once said that your body grows up and that the inside of your head gets more experienced and smarter about life. But he says you never really feel any different inside than you did as a kid."

"That's kind of a nice thought," Marty decided. "I'd like to think I can kind of stay this way my whole life, and just grow up some."

Jesse allowed his eyebrows to bounce upwards. "That might take a while."

Marty grinned around his apple. "I'll grow up just as much as I want, and no more. What reason would I have to grow up more?"

Well," Jesse said, pausing with his spoon halfway to his mouth, "we want to at least get you to where you can count on your fingers and your toes."

Mischief crept into Marty's smile. "I can always count on your toes if the numbers get too big."

Jesse nodded, imagining that. "Yeah. Any time you need to borrow 'em, you let me know."

They smiled at each other, and went on eating in a companionable silence.

Jesse turned his head towards the front yard and stared off into the divide between the trees across the road as he munched a mouthful of cereal, looking at the way the trees receded down the valley until he could just see the tops of the distant ones moving in the morning breeze.

What a great place to be, he decided. He imagined what it might be like to be in the city now, maybe hanging out on a basketball court someplace, with concrete everywhere and no trees to speak of. The mental picture made him shudder. Sure, people that lived any place often liked where they were, but sometimes they had nothing to compare it with, either. Jesse had been to the city. It was a place to be visited, and that was all.

He looked back at Marty, and sighed. And what a great person to be with, too. The world sure knew how to make a guy's life wonderful, when it happened to find itself in a good mood.

They continued to talk while they finished eating, and then Marty came over and managed to cram himself into Jesse's chair with him. Jesse scrunched over and made room, sighing at the warmth of his friend, and the tantalizing closeness. Having Marty touch him was now something he longed for, instead of just expected. He leaned to one side, freed up his arm, and draped it around Marty's shoulders and gave him a fond tug.

Marty simply leaned his head over and nuzzled the side of Jesse's cheek with his hair, and sighed. "Sure love you, Jesse."

Jesse nodded, smiling. "I wonder how many times a day we say that now?"

Marty turned his head and looked at Jesse, smiling, than managed to push his face close enough to give him a kiss. "Not enough."

Jesse returned the kiss, closing his eyes and savoring the warmth and softness of the touch of Marty's face. "No. You're right. Love you, too."

They kissed for a while, and rubbed their faces together, just because it felt so good and so right. Jesse's dick stood up straight in his shorts, as straight as Marty's own, and they let their hands play gently with each other, rubbing and squeezing.

"I could suck you right here," Marty whispered.

Jesse gave a little huff at the idea. "Won't your dad be coming out soon?"

"Yeah." Jesse had to grin at the disappointed sound of Marty's voice.

"We can go back to the fort."

Marty smiled. "Or, we can wait until my dad goes to work."

Jesse laughed. "You don't really mean doing something here in the gazebo, do you?" He turned his head and looked at Marty's house, a scant forty feet away. Close.

"I don't know if you ever noticed," Marty returned, "but you can't see inside the gazebo from the house, like you can see the house from inside the gazebo. We're close to the little holes in the lattice here, and we can see through them. From the house it looks all white, and you can't see inside."

Jesse sat up straighter and looked at his friend. "You want to suck my dick here? Why don't we just go over on the patio deck so everyone can see?"

Marty gave him a look. "Who's gonna see? As you're always telling me when we're in the woods, there isn't anybody else around."

Jesse had to stop and consider that one. Well, there really wasn't anyone to see. Jesse's house was far off, through the woods, and the only house close by was Marty's, and you couldn't see inside the gazebo from the house.

Jesse felt a small thrill at the idea of doing something like that so out in the open. Or, what felt like out in the open. This wasn't the woods, which was really out in the open, maybe, but which was also pretty remote; this was right in Marty's backyard. The difference was in the possibility of getting caught, much greater here.

And that was the thrill of the idea, he now saw.

We could get caught.

It was both a scary thought...and a cool one. It made him tingle.

He grinned. "Okay."

Marty laughed. "That's what I like about you, Jesse...you're tough to convince."

Jesse shrugged. "I just saw that you were right. And there's a little kinky in the idea of doing shit when you know you might get caught."

Marty squeezed him. "We won't get naked or anything. I'll just pull the front of your shorts down so I can get at the toys."

At that moment they heard a sound, and looked over at the driveway in time to see Jesse's dad's SUV pull up. It didn't back into the little parking slot to the side, and they heard the horn give a small toot. That meant that it was Jesse's dad's turn to drive to town that day.

In only a moment they heard the garage door going up, and then Marty's dad appeared, carrying a blue knapsack up against one shoulder.

"What's that?" Jesse whispered, even though they were more than far enough away that they couldn't be heard.

Marty gave a small laugh. "My dad thinks a briefcase is for what he calls a desk jockey. He won't carry one."

Jesse looked over at his friend. "Doesn't he work at a desk near my dad?"

"Yeah, he does. He just acts like he doesn't."

Jesse grinned, looking back at Marty's dad as he climbed into the front seat of the SUV next to Jesse's dad.

Hmm. Maybe there isn't so much to growing up after all.

The SUV backed up, turned around, and went back down the driveway. They could hear it go up the street, until the sound of the engine faded away.

Marty pushed himself against Jesse. "Mmm. Just you and me now, Jesse."

Jesse's dick, distracted by the departure of the dads and having gotten a little lazy, leapt back to attention. Old dependable!

He let Marty kiss him, and let Marty pull up his tee-shirt and kiss his belly. Jesse thrust his legs out and wiggled his feet so that his flip-flops would fall off, and then lay back more comfortably in the wicker chair.

He put a hand on the back of Marty's head and closed his eyes as Marty licked and kissed his way down Jesse's front to the waistband of his shorts. There, the angle was too great for the other boy to bend to accommodate, so Marty slid out of the chair and settled to his knees between Jesse's legs, gently pushing them apart a little to make room.

He lay his face back to Jesse's belly, kissing warmly just above the waistband of Jesse's shorts, and brought a hand up to gently feel Jesse's dick through the thin material. Jesse felt his breathing and heart rates go up. Just the anticipation of Marty doing something with him was enough. He let out a short breath, relaxed, and made himself even more comfortable.

Marty raised up, used his hands to work the sides of Jesse shorts and underwear down some, and Jesse raised, first one cheek, then the other, to let Marty pull the back down as well. The cool wicker of the chair pressed lovingly close to his butt now, one more sensation there to be appreciated. Jesse's dick now pressed almost painfully against the taut tent of material out front, straining against captivity.

But not for long. Marty settled back to his knees, used one hand to release Jesse's dick from its prison of cloth. It sprang out and upright, thrilled to be free. Marty immediately recaptured it in an enclosure of warm and wet flesh, sliding his mouth over the head and  halfway down the shaft, while Jesse's toes curled with pleasure at the touch.

Marty began a slow up and down motion, turning his head one way on the downstroke, and the other way coming back up. It felt very good, and Jesse tilted his head back and sighed.

"Oops. Told you guys to lock the door when you did this," someone said.

Marty came off of Jesse's dick so fast that his teeth caught the edge of the head, causing Jesse to wince. But that was immediately forgotten as Jesse opened his eyes and violently yanked his shorts up to cover himself.

Parker stood in the opening of the gazebo, a smile on her face. She was dressed in light blue shorts and a slightly darker blue halter top, and tapping her foot restlessly in her white sandals. Her blue eyes, so like Marty's, sparkled with good humor.

Shit! We really got caught! Jesse marveled to himself.

"Damn it, Parker!" Marty said, getting to his feet. "I didn't think you'd spy on us."

Marty's sister looked offended. "I was not spying. I saw you guys go out the back door carrying food, from my bedroom window, and just thought you were eating." She grinned, and reached out and gave Marty a little shove. "Never thought about what you might be eating."

Despite the suddenness of this new situation, Jesse laughed out loud.

Marty looked at him, shocked. "You think it's funny?"

Jesse nodded. "She means she caught you eating my dick, Marty."

Marty blinked, then managed a grin of his own. "Oh, yeah." He looked back at his sister, his smile dissolving. "So you just had to come out and see, huh?

Parker sighed, and adopted a patient expression. "I came out to say hello to Jesse, and to tell you that mom is going to the mall today after lunch, in case you wanted to go."

Marty suddenly looked interested. "The mall?" He looked at Jesse. "Be nice to get out a little. Want to go?"

Jesse simply stared at Marty, amazed at how quickly he seemed to have forgotten that they'd just been caught by his sister having sex.

Parker laughed. "That's my brother. Has the attention span of a gnat."

Marty looked at her. "No use getting upset about it. You already knew we were boyfriends."

"You looked upset a minute ago," Parker pointed out.

Marty shrugged. "That's when I thought you were peeping. Now it's just an accident. I can't get that mad at that."

Jesse just shook his head. Here was more of the weird way that siblings interacted. It made Jesse wish he had a brother or sister of his own. It would be nice to be able to say so much to someone without using words to do it.

Parker relaxed, but couldn't hide her smile. "Looked to me like you were having fun."

Jesse felt the smallest of burning sensations in his cheeks. "How much did you see?"

Parker's look turned more serious. "Truth, or make you feel better?"

"Truth," Jesse decided.

Parker smiled. "You have a cute dick, Jesse."

The burning in Jesse's cheeks intensified. "Oh. Uh - thanks."

Marty looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. He finally nodded at Jesse. "She's right. You already know I think the same thing."

"Might even be cuter than Marty's," Parker added.

Jesse's eyes got big, even as Marty stuttered a second before turning on his sister. "Parker!"

Jesse waved a hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute." He grinned at Marty, whose face was now turning red, too. Jesse turned back to Parker. "You've seen Marty's dick?"

Parker shrugged. "He's my brother. I've seen it tons of times."

Jesse shook his head. "I mean recently."

"It's been a year at least!" Marty blurted. He looked at his sister. "Probably more."

She nodded. "True. It's been a while now." Her smile came back. She looked at Marty. "We can't count that little thing with your last boyfriend, because I only saw Keith's dick that time."

Jesse grinned, recalling then that Parker had walked into Marty's bedroom once while he was sucking Keith's dick, too.

"Ah ha," he said. "So, lightning does strike twice in the same place."

Parker gave Marty a fond push. "Well, some one has been caught in the same place twice, yes."

Marty looked annoyed. "I can't help what I like." He seemed to consider those words, then he smiled at Jesse. "Or what I love."

Parker's expression softened. She put a hand on Marty's shoulder and squeezed it. "You just redeemed yourself, little brother. I'll lay off."

Jesse raised a hand. "We're gettin' away from the subject here, folks." He looked at Marty. "So how did it happen that your sister saw your pecker?"

Marty winced and looked away.

Jesse looked at Parker, who only grinned. Jesse reached out and poked Marty, who looked back at him, embarrassed all over again. "Uh --" Marty began.

"Either one of you can say," Jesse added, looking back at Parker.

That seemed to be the spur that Marty needed. Rather than risk having his sister give her version first, he held up a hand, causing Jesse to look back at him.

"I showed it to her," he admitted. But he brightened then, looking back at Parker. "And she showed me her pussy."

Jesse's eyes shot back to the girl, who looked a little embarrassed herself, but nothing like Marty had. "Yup. That was the deal. We both had to show."

"That's all that happened, right?" Jesse eyed them both pointedly.

For a second both Andersons gaped; and then they both gave expressions of distaste.

"She's my sister," Marty said, like he'd tossed a handful of raisins into his mouth and found a prune among them.

"He's my brother," Parker said, at the same moment. She also looked like she'd accidentally sampled something sour.

Jesse grinned. "Well, I've read some pretty kinky shit online about brothers and sisters. I just had to ask."

Marty shook his head. "Yeah, that's straight brothers and sisters, maybe." He grinned then, gave Jesse a fond little feel. "Now if you and me were brothers --"

Parker tossed her head back and laughed, and Jesse grinned.

"Kinky, all the way," he said, smiling at his boyfriend.

Marty gave a little bow. "Guilty." His grin got bigger. "But happy."

Parker cleared her throat. "So, I guess you guys would like to get back to what you were doing --" She stopped, licked her lips. "Don't suppose you'd let me watch?"

Jesse and Marty looked at each other in astonishment; then they both burst out laughing.

Parker stood by, looking embarrassed, until they quieted down. "I've never seen anything like that before," she explained, after they had quieted to big grins. "Not in real life, anyway."

Jesse was amused. "Your family is a little out there," he said to Marty.

Marty shrugged. "She's a girl. They're all out there."

Jesse had to nod at that. But then he looked back at Parker. "You really think we'd go for that?"

She seemed to think about it. "Don't know unless I ask," she finally admitted.

Hell, Jesse thought. She was serious.

Jesse and Marty looked at each other. Jesse could read what Marty was thinking. Almost. That his sister was crazy for asking such a thing. That they would never allow her to watch them have sex. But then Jesse caught a final appendix to that line of thinking, as Marty suddenly looked thoughtful.

We wouldn't allow that, Jesse...right?

It was as if Marty were telepathically asking him to agree, but not requiring it. He stared at his friend. "What? Are you thinking about it?"

The little bit of guilt that flashed across Marty's face confirmed that idea. Jesse was momentarily annoyed; but then he stopped to think. Why the hell would Marty even consider such a thing? Jesse closed his eyes a second, imagined Marty back down on his dick, while Parker sat in the next chair and watched. He felt an immediate stirring between his legs, so sudden it made him laugh. He opened his eyes.

Oh. That's why.

"It would be kinky as shit, you know," he said, to both of them, and neither of them.

Marty nodded, looking serious for once. "Yeah."

Parker also looked serious. "Well, maybe I could help a little."

That got both boy's attention. "How?" Jesse had to ask.

Parker licked her lips. "Well, being rubbed feels good. Maybe I could rub you a little while Marty's is, um, doing what he's going." She swallowed. "Maybe rub you a little, and kiss your hair or something."

Jesse felt his jaw sag down. He stared at Parker, saw the slow creep of red up her neck to her face.

"You got the hots for me?" Jesse asked, softly. He couldn't help it; it just came out.

Parker rolled her eyes, looked mortified. But then she nodded. "Maybe a little. " She tried to smile. "You're awfully sweet, Jesse. And awfully cute."

"You're almost three years older than me," Jesse pointed out.

Parker blinked. "And?"

"And he's my boyfriend, that's what," Marty said, sounding annoyed. "I already told you, hands off, Parker."

Parker sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Marty."

Marty looked instantly contrite. He smiled and looked at Jesse. "It's okay, Park. Jesse isn't into being shared, anyway."

Being shared?

For a moment Jesse really had to look at what was being considered here. Marty sucking him off, while Parker kissed on him. Weird, or what?

His dick was undeniably hard now, as if it was also considering the idea. A tingle ran through his body, and he realized it was at the idea of having Parker be a little intimate with him. A damn girl.

He looked at her. In a lot of ways, she was very much like Marty. He liked Parker, no two ways about that. And he could see now, in her eyes, that that feeling was returned. That feeling, and a little more.

She has the hots for me, he thought again.

He'd seen plenty of naked girls online. The place was crawling with them, ten times as many as naked guys. He knew what tits looked like, and knew what a pussy looked like; although the idea of sticking his dick in one kind of turned him off. Kind of. But a warm and affectionate touch was the same from anybody, wasn't it?

And he did like Parker --

He became aware then that both Andersons were watching him.

"You're thinking about doing it," Marty said, his face expressionless, although his eyes sparkled with expectation.

"Not if you don't want to," Jesse returned - and then realized what he had said.

Marty laughed, and Parker grinned.

"Someone else around here is a little kinky," Marty said, pointing a finger at Jesse.

Parker actually looked hopeful. "So I can watch?"

The decision was somehow just his now. He looked again at Marty, understood then how much his friend loved his sister. But that wasn't supposed to include something like this, was it? That Marty would consider sharing him with Parker was simply outlandish. Even letting her watch...? Jesse sighed.

Funny how quickly a decision can be made. Jesse stood up, held his arms out for Marty to come to him. Marty smiled and came immediately, and they wrapped each other in arms and pulled together.

"I love you," Jesse whispered.

"I love you, Jesse," Marty returned.

They kissed, and the more they kissed, the harder Jesse's dick got. He was aware now of a striking difference in the way this all felt, they were being observed. Here, then, was the reality of why Jesse had walked around in the woods naked with Marty, and Nate before him.

The chance that someone might see them.

There was such a tingly thrill to that notion, of being seen. Yet it was just the idea of it that had tantalized Jesse. He had never actually wanted to be seen. It was just the possibility of it happening that made being naked spicy.

Well, until now.

On one level he was a little disgusted with himself. What he and Marty had was private. Just theirs. It wasn't supposed to be put on display for others. But that it was being done so, even now, gave a thrill that made his dick so hard he thought it might just spunk on it's own, untouched.

Oh. There was that, too. He didn't really want to show off his dick to Parker. She was a girl. It just seemed...wrong.

But, she had already seen it, too. So what about that?

Marty pushed his tongue into Jesse's mouth, and Jesse's arguments started to dissolve. It took too much thought to examine all these arguments, and the way his body was feeling now, no energy could be spared for thinking. Slowly, his head quieted, until it was just Marty holding him, and them kissing, and the solid feel of their bodies and their dicks pressing together. He sagged a little into Marty, just wanting the other boy, and suddenly not caring who was watching.

"Bring him here, Marty," Parker said softly.

Jesse opened his eyes, saw Parker patting her lap.

Marty turned them, and began moving Jesse that way. Jesse pulled his head back and grinned at Marty, couldn't help to feel the weirdness of it all, but also a resolve to go along and see what happened. He'd try almost anything once, he decided now.

And he did like Parker.

They arrived in front of the girl, Jesse with his back to her. He felt her hands then, on his thighs, as they slid slowly up over his shorts. Marty was kissing him almost furiously, and Jesse realized that his boyfriend was caught up in the moment, too.

And Jesse was so horny now --

Parker slid her thumbs into the waistband of Jesse's shorts, pulled them slowly down, taking his boxers with them. She got the clothing to his knees and simply let them go, and they slid the rest of the way to the floor on their own. Jesse hooked them with a couple of toes, stepped out of them, and kicked them to one side.

Marty dropped a hand, took Jesse's dick in it. At the same moment he felt Parker's hands on his butt, gently squeezing his cheeks.

Holy shit.

There had never been so many hands on his body before at one time. His skin throbbed with each touch, flashes of wonder that coursed up and down his nervous system. Marty continued to caress Jesse's pecker as he kissed him, and Jesse felt like he was going to have trouble breathing.

Then one of Parker's hands slid off a cheek and quested between Jesse's legs, finding his nuts and closing gently around them. Jesse gasped into the kisses he was exchanging with Marty, coming up on his tiptoes at the amazing feel of being touched like that. Parker massaged his balls while Marty massaged his dick, and Jesse's taint felt like someone had taken a battery attached to two little wires and was gently shocking him there every few seconds.

Marty stepped against him, and Jesse was backed up against Parker's knees. He couldn't stand, and sat onto Parker's lap. She let her legs slide apart, and Jesse sank between them, laying back against Parker even as her arms encircled him. He felt her take the lower edge of his tee-shirt, and then it was coming up over his head and off.

I'm naked! a tiny voice yelled inside him. But Jesse ignored it.

Marty was sliding down his front, between his legs, kissing every bit of skin he passed. Parker's embrace held him in place until Marty settled on his knees, lifted Jesse's legs, and draped them over Parker's knees. Parker was able to let go her embrace then; he felt her doing something behind him, and then her top seemed to disappear. Jesse felt the warm and insistent press of breasts and nipples against his bare back, and gasped at the absolutely unexpected sensation.

Marty went down on Jesse's dick, and at the same time Parker kissed the hair on the back of Jesse's head, and then she pulled his head back and pushed her lips against his cheek. One of her hands went around front, sought out a nipple, which her fingers began to gently massage and squeeze.

Jesse's heart was racing now. This was beyond - way beyond - anything he had ever done.

Marty was lighting up the end of Jesse's dick, and Parker was doing her best to take care of everything else. Jesse's body felt electric, almost on fire. Sensations crashed into his mind from every quarter, stunning things that broke on his awareness like tall waves on the rocks at the beach. Jesse's feet were clenched, his toes rolled under, such was the extreme nature of what his body was feeling. It was absolutely amazing, and absolutely wonderful.

Jesse turned his head in the direction of Parker's kisses upon his cheek, and suddenly their lips were together, and her tongue was sliding between his. Jesse grinned under the semi-stupor he was feeling, and went at kissing Parker with a will. He noticed then that she had almost the same musky-sweet smell to her that Marty did, an absolutely wonderful aroma that sent his nervous system up another notch from electrified to nuclear.

Parker gasped under Jesse's onslaught, her eyes blinking in astonishment while his grinned at her over the kiss.

Try me out, will you? I'll show you...

It went on and on, while Jesse's body wound slowly towards orgasm.

When it came, it was a roar.  It made just about every other orgasm he'd ever had fade into memory. Jesse's body convulsed while Parker squeezed him close and Marty sucked down Jesse's spunk like it tasted of sugar. Jesse's body suddenly relaxed as the orgasm ended; relaxed so hard that he thought he would pass out. He felt wobbly for a second in his head, and then just very relaxed and quiet. He laid his head back against Parker's shoulder, and she nuzzled the side of his head with her jaw.

"You're amazing, Jesse," she whispered. "Nobody ever kissed me like that."

Marty heard. He came up grinning, wiping a tiny bit of white from the corner of his mouth and sucking it off his fingertip. "He's a fucking awesome kisser, Park. Told ya."

"Oh," Parker said, suddenly tensing. "I took my top off. Jesse, don't turn around."

Jesse sat up and immediately turned around. "No you don't. I'm sitting naked on your lap, and you're afraid for me to see your boobs?"

She looked startled, and Jesse took in an eyeful while she considered it. But she didn't try to cover up, and looked almost shy as he examined her. Marty, too, peered around and looked.

Parker had smallish breasts, but they were beautifully formed, slightly upturned, with small nipples. Jesse had seen girls with cannonballs on their chests online, which he found slightly repulsive; but Parker's breasts were elegant and appealing.

He hitched himself around so that he was seated on one thigh, bent over, and lightly kissed a nipple. "Mmm. Nice."

The look that Parker gave him was beautifully sweet. "You're something, Jesse." But that look was followed immediately by one as devilish as any Marty had ever worn; and then Jesse felt Parker's hand close around his softening dick and give it a gentle squeeze.

"Mmm. Nice."

They grinned at each other as Marty got to his feet and put his hands on his hips. "Let go of the hardware, sis. Mine, remember?"

Parker laughed and released Jesse's junk. He slid off her lap and got to his feet, completely unconcerned now with being naked in front of Parker.

She saw that, let her eyes run up and down his body a few times as he moved to get his shorts and put them back on. But she then seemed to see that he was getting dressed, and concerned herself suddenly with putting her top back on.

Marty gave a sigh. "That was hot as shit, Jesse." He pulled at his still hard dick. "I really need some help here."

"In front of Parker?" Jesse said, sticking his hands out like he intended to pull Marty's shorts down. Marty turned his hips and danced away.

"No!" He looked sheepish then. "I mean, no. I can wait until it's just us."

"That's a good idea," Parker said, dressed now and getting to her feet. She licked her lips, leaned towards Marty. "Can I use the purple pecker?"

Both boys looked at her.

"What?" Parker looked unabashed. "That whole thing left me horny as shit. Jesse got off, but I didn't."

"It's at the fort," Marty said. "I'll run down and get it while you finish getting dressed, Jesse."

Marty turned to go; then he turned back and pointed at Parker. "Hands off while I'm gone."

Jesse and Parker both grinned at him, and then he was off.

Jesse pulled his shirt on, sat down in a chair and stuck his feet back into his flip-flops. Parker sat in the chair next to him. For a second, a strange quiet hung between them.

"Thanks, Jesse," Parker suddenly said.

"For what?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. For being so nice."  She winced, realizing that that word didn't cover it.

He looked at her. "I like you, Parker. But I'm Marty's boyfriend, and I love him with all my heart. I thought this was fun, and it made me horny as shit --" he grinned "-- but we aren't going to be doing this all the time. Maybe never again, even."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. That was a lot of hormones going there. And it's just too weird to be doing anything with my brother around." She looked at him. "Jesse --"

He waited, looking at her.

She smiled. "Yeah. That's dumb. I was wishing you were older, and maybe in love with me instead of my brother."

He nodded. "I've been seeing for a while now that you're lonely, Parker. That's why I wanted you to meet Kim. I know it's not the same as having a boyfriend. I guess that'll happen, soon enough." He smiled. "I can't imagine guys not being crazy about you."

She gave him a look. But then she smiled. "I just hope the guy I finally get can kiss like you." She shook her head. "Never thought I'd envy my little brother like I do there."

"Envy me what?" Marty said, appearing at the top of the hill and coming into the gazebo. Jesse looked at him, surprised.

Marty had run.

Marty handed his sister the binocular case containing the great purple pecker and its supplies. "Clean it good when you're done, okay, Park?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "You guys going with us to the mall?"

Marty looked at Jesse.

"I have to call my mom first," Jesse said. "But, yeah. That would be fun."

"We'll take some money and go in the hobby shop," Marty said. "That place is cool as shit."

Parker held up the case, smiled at Jesse again. "I'll tell mom. See you guys later."

She turned, stopped, looked back at Jesse. She smiled, came over, and bent slightly and kissed him on the lips. Then she was gone.

"What were you guys saying when I got back?" Marty asked. "She said she envied me."

Jesse smiled. "Just that you had someone that loved you." He reached out and squeezed Marty's wrist. "She's lonely, Marty."

He nodded. "Hell, I know that. Why do you think I let her do this shit with us?" He leaned closer. "I really didn't want to share you, you know."

"Is that why you ran down to the fort and ran back?"

Marty grinned. "Oh, you noticed that, huh?" He nodded. "I just didn't want Parker to put any moves on you while I was gone."

Jesse reached out, took Marty's hand, squeezed it. "Don't you trust me?"

Marty nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I do." He grinned again. "But Parker's my sister, and she's more like me than you know. So I wasn't leaving her here too long alone with you, if you know what I mean."

Jesse laughed. "That Anderson bunch. Ya gotta watch 'em."

Marty pouted, but it wasn't completely real. "You're my guy, Jesse."

"Yes. I am." Jesse leaned forward and kissed Marty. Then he looked off at Marty's house. "Hope she's careful and doesn't hurt herself."

"What's that mean?"

Jesse smiled at Marty. "She's got the great purple pecker, remember?" He sighed. "She may fall in love with that thing, you know?"

They both laughed.

Marty's pout came back, and this time it was real. He patted the front of his shorts, which were still furiously tented. "Little help?"

Jesse stood up, looked around them. "I like this place. We should use it more often."

Marty nodded. "Now would be good."

Jesse went to Marty, pulled off his tee-shirt, brought to his nose, and inhaled deeply. Marty watched, grinning.

Ohmigod. The scent of Marty's skin was incredible here. Jesse closed his eyes, almost in love with just the shirt.

"You two make such a nice couple," Marty said then.

Jesse opened his eyes and grinned. He dropped  the shirt in the chair Parker had sat in, and grasped Marty and turned his backside to the second chair. Then he was dropping to his knees, taking Marty's shorts and underwear down with him. He wanted Marty naked, and he wanted him naked now. Marty raised his feet in turn, allowing Jesse to remove the clothing.

Marty smiled down at him as Jesse next pulled off, first one, and then the other, Marty's flip-flops. Jesse bent all the way over, sank down, and kissed Marty's toes. They wiggled, and he heard Marty laugh in delight. Jesse kissed them some more, then started up Marty's legs. He took Marty's left thigh in both his hands, one inside, one outside, and rubbed it gently while leaning in to kiss and lick the middle. Marty sighed, and when Jesse stole a quick glance upward, it was to see the boy with his eyes closed and his lips slightly parted.

Jesse kissed on up the thigh, and arrived at the little valley where the thigh met Marty's torso. There were exquisitely sensitive nerves there, Jesse knew, and he kissed that spot and licked it, while Marty's thigh muscle twitched and his body shuddered. The satisfaction Jesse felt at knowing that Marty enjoyed this was pleasing.

He stopped, looking upwards, aware of the scent of Marty's skin, and the muskier scent of his pecker, so close it rubbed against Jesse's cheek.

Marty's eyes opened at the pause, and looked down at him. Jesse grinned, and Marty grinned back.

Then Jesse was gently pushing, and Marty sat down in the chair. Jesse reached for the other boy's ankles, lifted his legs, and draped them over the arms of the chair. Marty was beautifully spread now, and Jesse went to work on what was there.

He stuck his tongue out, dabbed it against Marty's pucker, grinned at the way that Marty squeezed his eyes shut and smiled. Jesse let his tongue out some more, pushed the tip down into the center of the pucker, and rotated it slowly while Marty made small noises of appreciation. Jesse continued this for a couple of minutes before taking his tongue and swiping it upwards onto Marty's taint, which he licked and kissed quite fondly before plopping one of Marty's balls into his mouth and sucking gently on it like a tootsie pop.

At last, he arrived at Marty's pecker. Jesse laid his nose against it and inhaled it's warm scent, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, all pleasant and distinctly Marty; then he turned his head a bit and ran his tongue back and forth underneath the head while Marty purred like a kitten. All of this was leading up to the plunge. Jesse took Marty's dick into his mouth and went to work on it, holding it at the base between thumb and forefinger and rubbing it gently with the thumb, while his other hand roved over Marty's hip, his belly, his pubes; the touch as soft and light has Jesse could make it.

Jesse closed his eyes as he worked, concentrating on being good for Marty. Everything he did he hoped would feel wonderful for the other boy; everything he did, he did because of what he felt for Marty. Jesse's own dick was hard again, and a little sore now, because it had been so active already that morning. But there was no way that Jesse could be at Marty's body the way he was and not be hard as a rock.

He could feel the slow tensing of muscles under his hand, and a gentle slide of Marty's hips towards him, knew that it was just moments before he would be tasting that so special thing that Marty shared with him. That Marty's spunk tasted like good Mexican food was a gift. Jesse knew that spunk, on the average, was far less appealing. Something about the unique chemistry of Marty's body, or the foods he ate, or the whim of the gods, caused his spunk to have something special in the way of taste, something that Jesse loved.

Marty gave a little sigh, and his hands dropped down to caress Jesse's hair. In the same moment, the warm and spicy taste of Marty's spunk started pumping into Jesse's mouth. Jesse continued what he was doing while his tongue collected the jets, until Marty gave a big sigh and settled back into the chair.

Jesse sighed himself, sucked out the last few drops of joy, rolled it all around on his tongue, and then swallowed it.

He kissed the underside of the head of Marty's dick, then came full up on his knees and leaned over the other boy, put his arms about him, and laid his cheek against Marty's belly.

"That was extra special," Marty said quietly. "I could feel it. Was there a reason?"

Jesse turned his head and looked up into Marty's sparkly blue eyes. "Does there have to be?"

Marty shook his head. "No. I guess I'd better get dressed."

Jesse laughed, kissed Marty just beneath his diaphragm. "There's time."

And then he laid his head back, and rubbed his face into the warmth of Marty's skin, closed his eyes, and smiled.

* * * * * * *

Jesse's mom said it was okay to go with Marty's mom to the mall. Mrs. Anderson called and made sure, and Marty changed into clean shorts, shirt and shoes and then walked Jesse home so that he could do the same. Marty had brought some money with him, twenty dollars.

"In case we find some cool shit at the hobby store."

Jesse and Marty went up to Jesse's room and shut the door. Jesse immediately stripped and went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. He wanted to make sure he pooped before they left, so that he wouldn't have to go in one of the crummy bathrooms at the mall. Those places were dirty and creepy.

Marty came in and sat up on the sink cabinet while Jesse went.

"Never seen a guy take a dump before," he said, grinning.

"Just like everyone else does," Jesse said. He lifted a cheek and farted. "Wanna look?"

Marty cracked up, and Jesse grinned.

"I don't think I would have wanted Nate to sit in here while I crapped," Jesse said suddenly, thinking.

Marty looked at him. "Why not? He saw you naked. You guys jerked each other off, and you kissed. It's not like you weren't close."

"It was just different," Jesse said. He looked at Marty. "You've had your tongue up my butt, and your dick up my butt. You know my butt. Nate didn't."

Marty shook his head. "Can't argue with that." He nodded. "I never let Keith in the bathroom when I shit. And he even fucked my butt. I know what you mean about it being different." He laughed. "Sex is one thing, shittin' is another."

"Yeah." Jesse wiped and flushed, got up and nudged Marty aside so that he could wash his hands. He finished, dried them on a towel, and turned to go back to his bedroom, but Marty stopped him.

"Wait a second." Marty pushed the bathroom door shut so that the full length mirror showed. He pushed Jesse over in front of it, then stood close behind him, put his arms around Jesse and hugged him. Marty laid his head against the side of Jesse's and looked at their joint reflection in the mirror.

He sighed, rubbing his fingertips gently down Jesse's middle. "Oh, Jesse. You're so beautiful. I love to see you without your clothes."

Jesse smiled, seeing the affection, and maybe a little lust, in his friend's face in the mirror. He examined their reflections; they were beautiful together.

Jesse turned slowly within the circle of Marty's arms, and drew the other boy close, kissed him as if their lives depended upon the strength and longevity of the action.

When they came up for air, Marty sighed. "Guess we should get back to my house."

Jesse nodded, not wanting to talk for a moment. They went back into his room and he got out clean boxers and shorts, a fresh tee-shirt, and slid his Reeboks on over his bare feet. Then he went to a drawer and dug out twenty bucks of his own, just in case.

He came back to Marty and extended his hands. "How do I look?"

"Good enough to kiss," Marty said, and came forward and did just that.

They went back downstairs, said bye to Jesse's mom, and hastened down the path past the fort and up to Marty's house.

When they went in through the kitchen door, Parker was seated at the table sipping a ginger ale. "Good timing. Mom'll be down in a minute." She simply smiled at Jesse, but didn't say anything.

Jesse went over and sat in the chair next to her. "How did it go?"

Parker looked briefly at Marty, who grinned, then smiled at Jesse. "Pretty good. That thing is awesome."

Jesse and Marty both laughed.

Mrs. Anderson came in then. "Hi, Jesse. How's the world treating you?"

He grinned. "Pretty good today. How are you?"

"Not bad." Marty's mom went to a cabinet and looked inside, opened another and looked in it. She did this with several more, than nodded her head. "Okay, no need to stop at the grocery store. Just the mall, then. Come on, let's get going."

They herded out to Marty's mom's white SUV and climbed inside. Parker took the shotgun seat up front, and Jesse and Marty belted in in back.

Mrs. Anderson sighed as she backed the truck out of the garage. "I hope the mall isn't too crowded today."

Actually, although everyone referred to the group of stores they were heading to as 'the mall', it wasn't that at all. Modern shopping malls were enclosed, and this one wasn't. Actually an old double-strip shopping center, with two parallel rows of shops and a wide concrete sidewalk between them, with benches and flowerbeds, and even a fountain in the very center, Jesse's dad said the place was built even before he was a kid, and only still flourished because it was the only shopping for miles. If you wanted something not available here, you had to go on another twenty minutes to a real mall.

Jesse's and Marty's favorite store at the little shopping center was a hobby store that sold all kinds of cool stuff. The had models of every kind: cars, ships, planes, tanks, submarines; you name it. They sold model rockets and engines; and robots, and robotic and electronic parts; and all sorts of gadgets and gizmos and the plans to use them to make stuff. Jesse didn't collect stamps or coins, but you could get them there.  There were cases of baseball cards and football cards and sports-related collectibles; slot cars, RC cars, and helicopters - even small drones. They sold scale model trains and every manner of accessory for them. If you made stuff, anything from leather goods to model doll houses, you could get everything you needed in the way of supplies. The place was a warehouse of every cool thing he could think of, and then some.

Every time the boys went to the mall, the first place they went into was the hobby store.

Except today.

"It's closed," Jesse said, in disbelief. He stared through the glass of the door, noting the dimmed lights, the lack of movement within. Of course, the locked door was what clinched it.

"Aw, man," Marty said, equally disappointed. He sighed, turned and looked across the way at the clothing store that his mom and Parker had disappeared into. They'd be there an hour, minimum. No way was Marty going inside that place to wait.

"We'll just have to find something else to do," he said, turning to look at the other stores. "Electronics there. Need any stuff for your computer?"

"No," Jesse said, giving the hobby store a last, disgusted look. He looked around, but didn't see anything that immediately appealed to him. "Let's walk down to the end and see what's there."

Marty nodded, and fell into step with Jesse as he headed off. Technically, they were not supposed to go roaming on their own, but they were within the confines of the shopping center, and there was a security guard walking around here someplace, and neither boy felt any discomfort at stepping out a little bit.

They walked down the length of the shopping center, looking at signs and into windows.

"Sure sell a lot of clothes here," Jesse grumbled, looking into yet another window filled with smiling mannequins wrapped in the latest fashions.

"My dad says this place is foo-foo girlie heaven," Marty said, but then he grinned. "But only when my mom isn't around."

Jesse laughed. "Where's a hardware store when you need one?"

They reached the end of the row. The last shop was kind of dark. The large front window looked to be frosted white so that you couldn't see within. Jesse went to turn to cross to the other side for the walk back, but stopped when Marty called him.

"Jesse! Come see this!"

Jesse turned and went to stand next to Marty, who had his face against the glass of the last shop.

The frosted effect was an illusion. The window wasn't just a window, it was the front of a large display case. There was another pane of glass maybe three feet behind it, and it was the rear pane that was completely frosted white. The front pane - the outer window - was only frosted up to about neck height for the boys. By standing on tiptoe, they could see over the frosting and look down at what was displayed within.

Jesse goggled at what was there.

There were bottles of the sex lubricant like they'd bought for the great purple pecker; and, in fact, there were half a dozen dildos arrayed in a line in front of the bottles. A couple were smaller than their own purple pecker, but the rest were larger.

There were other things whose functions they could only guess at, including some items that looked so much like sex toys that they were both certain that that was what they were. A few items Jesse had seen online: pocket pussies, and a gizmo called a Fleshlight. Other things, like see-through underwear, and lacy garments in both women's and men's fashions, made them laugh.

But another object caught Marty's eye, and he pointed at it excitedly. Jesse examined the thing, a long, tapering cylinder that looked like plastic, with a rounded nose at the narrow end and what looked like a small switch on the handgrip at the other end.

"I want that," Marty said.

Jesse shrugged. "What is it?"

Marty laughed. "Jesse, it's a vibrator."

Jesse blinked. He'd read about those things online. They were used just like a dildo, except they ran on batteries, and when you turned them on they vibrated like crazy. Jesse had read that, when used in certain places, they felt absolutely wonderful.

"Marty, it's thirty-five bucks," Jesse said, pointing to the price tag next to the thing.

Marty gave him a look. "I got twenty, and you got twenty."

Jesse snorted, but then he grinned. "Okay.

Marty laughed, reached out and squeezed Jesse's arm. Jesse loved the excited look in his boyfriend's eyes, and any reservations he may have been forming simply evaporated.

Marty tapped Jesse on the shoulder and headed for the front door.

The glass of the door was inscribed in gold letters, "Body Chemistry - Everything for Him and Her", and a small sign in orange letters said, "Open".

Jesse reached out and stopped Marty, pointing at another line of print just below: "You must be 18 to enter these premises."

Marty shrugged. "Screw that. Come on." He pushed the door open and went in. Jesse sighed, and followed.

The place seemed deserted. The store might have had everything for him and her, but people didn't seem all that interested, at least at this time of the day.

Glass cases holding all sorts of interesting things stood along the walls, and lighted glass display cases crowded the center of the shop. They got all the way to the center displays before Jesse noticed a head sticking up just above a countertop - a head that was turning their way.

It was a man sitting in a chair behind the counter. Probably the store clerk. He had short black hair, gold earrings in each ear, and wore a tight black shirt that looked to be made of satin. His eyes went wide when he saw them.

He jumped to his feet. "Oh, no. No. Absolutely not. Shoo!" He came around the counter, fluttering his hands as if he was herding ducks.  "Shoo, I said. Out! Out! You can't be in here!"

Neither Jesse nor Marty moved. The man, also dressed in black satiny pants, got right up to them, still fluttering his hands, before he stopped in surprise at their disinclination to be pushed.

"Out, I said. You boys can't be in here. You have to be eighteen."

Jesse could not remember ever seeing a more unthreatening looking adult in his life. For one thing, the man was young. Jesse wasn't good at guessing adult ages, but this guy looked like he was barely out of high school. Secondly, the guy was short. Jesse was about five feet tall, and Marty was his same height. This guy couldn't have been more than four inches taller then either of them, tops.

Plus, he was obviously gay. And by that, Jesse meant gay. The word he had seen online for the way this guy looked was flamer; but Jesse never would have said it out loud.

And, the guy had a sweet face, appealing, even to Jesse. He smiled, realizing that this guy had certainly been a cute boy, once.

He and Marty apparently both absorbed the guy's harmless appearance in the same instant.

"I'm eighteen," Marty said, deadpan. "I just shaved."

Jesse sat on the urge to laugh, and nodded. "I've always had a baby face. Even my mother says so."

The store clerk opened his mouth and closed it, before tsking at them. "Oh, you are not, either. You two can't be a day over fourteen."

"You got rubber dicks in your front window," Jesse said then.

Marty looked for all the world like he was going to hoot, but then converted it, by some herculean inner effort, into a solemn nod. "Yeah. Some big dildos there. I like the vibrator, though. We came in to buy one."

The clerk's mouth opened again, and his eyes narrowed. "Are you deaf? You have to leave. You're underage. I'll get in trouble if someone sees you in here."

Marty nodded. "Okay. Sell us a vibrator, and we'll go."

The clerk simply looked at them. "Like you even know what it's for."

Jesse nodded. "Sure we do. Penetration. I want my boyfriend to put it up my butt and tickle my boy button with it."

Marty looked like he was going to cry, he was trying so hard not to laugh.

The clerk's mouth dropped open. He leaned forward. "You're not gay?" he whispered.

Jesse and Marty looked at each other. Marty's eyes were so full of humor that it was easy for Jesse to swoop him up and lay a big kiss on him.

The clerk gaped, suddenly looking shocked. "Oh! That is so...sweet!" He clasped his hands in front of him. "Oh, I just don't believe it. What a cute little couple you are."

Jesse and Marty both grinned. "So sell us a vibrator," Marty repeated.

The clerk blinked, and his vulnerable look disappeared. "You're underage. You have to leave."

"We have the money," Marty said.

"Yes? You have photo I.D. with your age on it?"

"We left them in the car," Jesse said. "With the beer."

The clerk actually smiled at them. "You're both full of shit." But then he sighed. "Boys. You're not of legal age. I could lose my license to operate if someone sees you here. Do you want to close me down?"

That was sobering. "This store is yours?" Jesse asked.

The man nodded. "I am part owner. A friend and I worked quite some time to be able to open this place."

Marty smiled. "Is he your boyfriend?"

The man gave Marty a sweet look. "My life partner, yes."

"You don't look old enough," Jesse said.

The man smiled. "Really? How old would you say I am?"

Jesse and Marty looked at each other. "Eighteen," Jesse guessed.

The clerk's mouth dropped open, but he looked delighted. "Oh, you didn't really say that! Oh, you sweet little man!"

Marty made a small face, trying not to laugh. "Is that close?"

"Not by ten years." The clerk looked at them. He shook his head. "So young. You have a lot ahead of you, guys."

"Yeah," Marty agreed. "We just want the vibrator for now, though."

The clerk scratched his head. "Your parents know about you?"

"Not yet," Jesse admitted.

"Do you plan to tell them?"

Jesse nodded. "Sure. Some day."

The man looked at Marty. "What about you?"

"I'm telling my folks the day after he tells his."

The clerk laughed. "You're not even fourteen, are you? You're both too full of crap to be believed." He put his hands on his hips. "You're probably not even lovers."

Jesse smiled. "You saw me kiss him, didn't you?"

"So? Bullshit artists like you two might do anything."

Jesse and Marty grinned at each other. Marty moved over by Jesse, pulled out the waistband of his shorts - and his boxers - and stuck a hand down inside and rummaged around, plainly grabbing at stuff.

"Ooh. Lower," Jesse said, rolling his eyes.

The store clerk's eyes got huge, and he immediately started fanning his hands. "Stop that! Oh! Stop that!" He rolled his eyes. "My god, I'm going to jail."

Marty pulled his hand out. "Look mister, what do we have to do to show you we're boyfriends? Do I have to suck him off right here?"

The store clerk hopped up and down, looking at the door to the shop as though he was certain that the F.B.I. was about to come crashing through it. "Shhh! Don't say that!" He turned and went back to the counter he'd been sitting behind and went around it. "Come here, you two."

Marty grinned at Jesse, and they both hastened to the counter.

"Which one did you see that you wanted?"

The boys looked inside the glass display case. Marty found a vibrator like the one in the front window and pointed it out. "That one."

The man slid back a glass panel, snatched out the vibrator, looked at a little tag attached to it. Then he thrust the device back onto it's velour pad and slid the glass panel shut. He turned, walked along the big rack of shelves behind, looking at numbers. Suddenly, he reached up and snatched down a box.

He turned back and set it in the counter. "Here. Now go." He made the fluttery motion with his hands again. "Hurry!"

Marty jammed a hand down inside his pocket and produced his twenty, and looked at Jesse.

"No," the clerk said immediately. "No money. No receipt. It's on me, guys. Take it. Go. Enjoy."

Jesse frowned. "Oh, we can't do that. We'll pay."

"No you will not. I do not intend to give you a receipt. If you come back in here with anyone, I'm going to say you stole that. Understand?"

Jesse and Marty looked at each other, the fun suddenly disappearing.

"Aw, we can't do that," Jesse repeated. He looked at Marty. "Come on, let's go, Marty."

Marty looked wistfully at the box on the counter, nodded, turned to follow Jesse.

"Wait!"

The boys turned as one to stare at the man behind the counter. The man was frowning. "Come back here, boys."

Jesse swallowed, wondering if they were in trouble now. Shit. They'd just been kidding around. And they'd really wanted to buy the stupid thing, not steal it.

They went back to the counter. The man watched them come, his eyes hard to read.

"We're sorry," Jesse said then. "We really wanted to buy that. Not steal it."

The clerk smiled, leaned closer to Jesse. "How do you feel about this boy?" He pointed at Marty.

Jesse turned and smiled at his friend. "I love him."

Marty grinned at Jesse, his eyes sparkling.

The clerk let out a small breath, "Oh. I can see it." He straightened, looked at the shop's front door again, then back at the boys. "You know how to use this?"

"We have a dildo," Jesse said. "A purple one."

The clerk laughed. "So you've...uh..." His face reddened slowly.

"Used it," Jesse supplied.

"Yes. You have lubricant?"

Marty nodded. "Big bottle of the stuff. And sanitizer to clean the dildo with."

The clerk looked approving. He picked up the box with the vibrator in it, thrust it out towards Marty. "Take it. From me. A gift."

Marty looked over at Jesse. "What should I do?"

Jesse was at a loss. This whole thing had gotten really screwy. "You want to give it to us? Why?"

"You don't want it?"

Marty immediately nodded. "Yeah, we do." He looked at Jesse, nodded insistently.

"I cannot sell this to you," the clerk said. "It's illegal."

"You can't give it to us, either, then, I'll bet," Jesse said.

The clerk scratched his head again."No. Not really." He set the box back on the counter, thought a moment, then smiled. "Boys, you have to leave my store. You're underage. I cannot sell you anything. On your way out, would you mind taking this box on my counter and dropping it in the dumpster around back?"

Jesse looked at Marty. Marty grinned. "Oh. It's just some trash?"

The clerk smiled. "Yes, I believe it is."

Marty picked up the box. It was brown, with a big number on it in black letters, but otherwise blank.

The clerk came around the counter again, his hands once again waving. "Now, out you go."

This time, the boys let themselves be herded. Jesse was feeling a mixture of unease over what had happened, and pure delight that things had happened the way they had. Marty seemed just plain delighted, all smiles and bright eyes.

As they got to the front door, the clerk danced ahead and peered out through the one section of unfrosted glass. Then he turned back to face them, bending slightly and pointing a finger at them. "Always use lubricant. Never, ever force that thing in, you hear? You love each other, and you don't want to hurt each other."

Both boys nodded.

"Never push it in beyond the handle, either. Keep it clean. Use that sanitizer you have between each use. Be careful, okay?"

They nodded again.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then the clerk smiled again. "Just a tip: that thing feels good in a lot of places. Not just in your...not just in back. Don't be afraid to experiment a little, as long as you're sensible."

Jesse and Marty grinned at each other.

The clerk sighed, looking at them. "You're both beautiful. I've never seen a sweeter couple. When you turn eighteen, feel free to come back." He winked. "You can pay me then." He straightened, checked outside again, then pulled the door open. "Bye guys. Have fun. And be safe, okay?"

Jesse and Marty both nodded. "Thanks, mister," Marty said.

Then they were back outside, and the door was closed, and they were walking away, and no one had seen them.

And they were the proud owners of a brand new, nine-inch vibrator with three settings of ecstasy, batteries included.

* * * * * * *

The ride home was deliciously exciting. Neither boy could long take his eyes off of the box that lay on the seat between them. Jesse's imagination was already reading the instruction manual for the thing, and placing pictures of himself and Marty in the text.

Parker, and Marty's mom, had asked what they had purchased; but both females were laden with bags of their own, and Parker was constantly pulling stuff out of hers and showing it to her mom as they drove along, and neither of them paid much attention to the box after Marty had mumbled something about it being "a thing for the fort."

Jesse watched Parker and her mother, and realized that they both shared a love for clothing. He already knew that appearance was a bigger deal for girls than it was for most guys, but what Parker and her mom shared went far beyond just an interest in looking nice. This was a girl thing, shared between them more like two girls the same age would enjoy something, and not a mother-daughter thing at all. Mrs. Anderson smiled and gushed over the stuff the same exact way that Parker did. Jesse couldn't help smiling over that.

Marty kept patting Jesse's hand when no one was looking, which was most of the time. Mrs. Anderson was concerned with the road, sparing occasional looks and smiles at Parker and whatever she was holding up at the moment; and Parker was simply wrapped up in the stuff she had in her bags.

Or so Jesse thought.

It wasn't until they turned into the driveway that the girl turned and pushed her face between the two front seats, gazed down at the box, and smiled, first at Jesse, then at Marty. "You can tell me later," she whispered.

Jesse simply laughed. Marty rolled his eyes, seeming to be less surprised than Jesse might have expected. He looked at Jesse, and they couldn't help sharing a grin.

Parker was Marty's sister, no doubt about that.

They helped carry things into the house, and then Marty retrieved from Parker the binocular case containing the great purple pecker and supplies. That only seemed to strengthen the girl's notion that the prize they had returned with from the mall was something extra special in nature.

"You going to tell me?" Parker asked, looking at them with a small smile.

"Later. I promise," Marty said, holding up his hand like he was taking an oath. Jesse simply nodded and grinned when Parker gazed his way.

She shrugged, knowing it was no use to pursue the matter at that point, and waved them off. "Go. Have fun. Just tell me later."

And then they were off down the path to the fort, Marty carrying the box like it was full of eggs, Jesse grinning ear-to-ear at his friend's excited look.

They got to the fort and went inside, closed the door, and went and sat next to each other on the cot. Marty looked at Jesse and blew a small bit of air between his lips. "That guy at the store was cool as shit."

Jesse laughed. "He was scared to death, you mean." He shook his head. "I still feel a little bad that we did that. Got the thing without paying for it."

Marty looked at the box, obviously reluctant to let anything spoil what was soon to come. He looked at Jesse. "He wanted us to have it, Jesse."

Jesse understood that. "At the end, maybe. We kinda twisted his arm, Marty."

Marty smiled, leaned over and kissed Jesse.

"What?" Jesse asked, surprised at the sudden attention.

"Nothing." Marty nodded. "Maybe we did scare him a little. But, Jesse, he wanted us to have the vibrator. He knew we were like him. He knew we wanted it to use together."

"He knew we weren't old enough to buy it, too," Jesse pointed out.

Marty nodded. "That's why he gave it to us, Jesse. It was more important that we were the same as him than it was that we were young."

Jesse smiled. "Okay. Let's open the thing and not worry anymore about how we got it." But in the back of his mind, Jesse made a mental note: someday, when he was old enough, he would go back to that store, and make sure he had thirty-five dollars with him when he did it.

Marty pulled the end of the box open, upended it. The vibrator slid out, wrapped in plastic with tiny air bubbles in it, and with a folded white sheet of paper curved around it. A pair of AA batteries, sealed in plastic wrap, also slid out.

Jesse grinned. Here we go!

They looked briefly at the sheet of paper, but it was all basic stuff. They opened the plastic and removed the vibrator, and Jesse peeled off the plastic from around the batteries. Marty slid the handle back, inserted them, and snapped it shut. He looked at Jesse then, grinning.

Jesse took his thumb and forefinger and made a little circle and extended his hand. Marty grinned, and slid the tapered nose of the vibrator into the hole.

He pushed the switch forward a single notch. There was a pleasant hum, and Jesse felt a mild and relaxing vibration in his fingers. He looked at Marty. "Oh, man. This is gonna be so excellent."

Marty grinned, and pushed the switch to the second notch. The hum increased, and so did the vibration. Jesse's whole hand tingled wonderfully, and he was already imagining that sensation applied to other places. He rolled his eyes, feeling his sense of excitement increase.

Marty pushed the switch all the way forward, and the vibrator growled and Jesse's hand nearly shook. He gaped at it, his imagination unable to keep up with the reality of setting three.

Marty laughed, able to feel the same sensation, albeit slightly muted, through the grip of the vibrator. He turned it off then, grinning like he had the first time he'd laid eyes on the great purple pecker. "You wanna go first?"

Jesse did, but he also felt that this was somehow Marty's big moment, so he shook his head. "I wanna use it on you, first."

Marty laughed and nodded, his eyes bright; and Jesse loved him so much that all of his doubts about what they had done earlier simply vanished.

The world would adjust, and things would even out, eventually.

They stood and undressed each other, smiling, and then Marty lay back on the cot with his legs drawn up, exposing the inviting slot between his buns where his pucker waited. Jesse opened the binocular case and got out a paper towel and the sanitizer, and wiped the tapered end of the vibrator down carefully, and then wiped his hands with the towel before dropping it onto the crate table. Then he got the the lube out, squirted a tiny amount onto his fingertip, and bent down and gently wiped it into Marty's pucker. He squirted a little more onto the finger, and this time placed the tip against Marty's pucker and gently pushed it up inside.

Marty arched his back slightly, but grinned the whole time. "This is gonna be so cool."

Jesse nodded, smiling at Marty's anticipation, and squirt some lube onto the tapered end of the vibrator and smoothed it around until it was covered. He closed up the lube and set it on the crate table. He held up the vibrator and pointed it at Marty. "Ready?"

Marty nodded rapidly, his eyes bright. "Go for it."

Jesse lowered the vibrator, placed the tapered tip against Marty's pucker, and pushed gently.

They were good at this now, and knew how to relax. The tip started in immediately, and Marty closed his eyes and smiled. "Man, that feels great all by itself."

Jesse grinned, continuing to push, until he was sure there was a dick's length of vibrator inside his friend. Marty's eyes were on his as Jesse used his thumb to push the switch to the first position.

The vibrator hummed, and Marty's mouth dropped open. His eyes seemed almost to vibrate as well; then they rolled up and Marty closed the lids. "Oh, man," Marty breathed, tilting his head back.

Jesse moved the vibrator slowly, in and out, about two inches at a stroke, and Marty gasped and Jesse could see the other boy's toes curl. Marty took a hand and wrapped his fingers around his pecker, not stroking it, just holding it.

Jesse bent forward and kissed the inside of Marty's thigh, and used his free hand to hold it against his face while he moved the vibrator with the other hand. Just the warm feel of Marty' skin against his face, and the wonderful scent of it, made Jesse equally breathless.

Oh. Jesse could already imagine where this was going to go. He withdrew the vibrator slowly, and stood it up on its end on the crate table. Marty opened his eyes and looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything when Jesse grabbed the other boy's ankles and swung him around so that he was properly on the cot. Jesse retrieved the vibrator, managed to snag the bottle of lube, too; and then got onto the cot on his knees, and pushed one of Marty's legs up and back. Then he eased the vibrator back into Marty's pucker and turned it on.

Marty gave a little gasp again and grinned. "That feels so awesome, Jesse. I can't wait until you try this."

Jesse nodded, pushed the switch up to the second position. Marty's eyes briefly crossed, and he tilted his head back, his mouth open, and laughed. His hands grabbed at the sheet and pulled, making little pleats in the fabric. Jesse increased the speed of the stroke a little, feeling Marty's thigh muscles twitch as he strained not to draw his legs together in reaction.

"Good?" Jesse asked, leaning forward a little to watch Marty's face.

"Shit, yeah!"

Jesse grinned. "Wanna try turbo for a minute?"

Marty laughed. "Go for it!"

Jesse pushed the switch to the third position. Marty gave a little shriek and started laughing, and Jesse couldn't help laughing with him. He moved the vibrator slowly in and out, while Marty squirmed and giggled.

It was all Jesse could take, watching his friend so fired up. Jesse's own body was full of longing now, and he knew what he wanted that would satisfy that. He let Marty enjoy the vibrator a few minutes more, than turned it off and carefully withdrew it.

"My butthole's numb!" Marty said, grinning. "That was bad as shit, Jesse."

Jesse grinned. "There's more, if you want it."

"Yeah?" Marty looked interested. "What'cha got in mind?"

Jesse set the vibrator on the frame of the cot where it would be out of the way. He picked up the bottle of lube, squirt some on his hand, snapped the cap down and set the bottle out of the way. He took his hand and wiped the lube all over his hard pecker, grinning at Marty as he did so.

Marty's eyebrows went up. "Ooh. I like where this is going."

Jesse nodded. He wiped his hand on his thigh, then used his hands to lift Marty's butt up, then wiggled forward until his folded legs were beneath the other boy. Jesse took his pecker in his hand and looked at Marty's pucker.

It hadn't closed all the way, and Jesse could see a little pink up inside it. He grinned, and pushed the head of his dick into the hole. "Ready?"

"Shit, yeah. Fuck me, Jesse."

Jesse thrust his hips slowly forward, and was astounded at how easily his dick slid inside Marty's butt. The vibrator had either relaxed all the muscles, or knocked them silly. He slid in all the way up to his pubes, while Marty squeezed his eyes closed and moaned. "Man, that is excellent. Go for it, Jesse."

Jesse began to stroke slowly, putting Marty's legs up on his shoulders and leaning in a little more. Marty gasped, and actually seemed to push his butt at Jesse on each inward stroke. It felt amazing.

Jesse was almost breathless now. It had been a while since he had done this, and it was so special a thing, putting his dick inside Marty, that it excited him almost to gasping. He stroked a little faster, but very carefully, not wanting to hurt Marty in any way.

Marty did not seem to be hurting. He made a little sound on each inward stroke, and Jesse was sure he was hitting Marty's button. Marty's dick was hard and straight, and when the boy made to wrap his fingers around the shaft, Jesse gently slapped his hand away.

"Save your spunk for my butt," he said, grinning.

Marty laughed, nodding. He continued to make small noises that Jesse loved to hear, and Jesse bent farther forward and looked into Marty's eyes. "Can I get kissed?"

Marty nodded, raised his head, and Jesse put a hand behind it and pulled it close enough to press his lips against Marty's. He fell into that, using his tongue to assault Marty's, which had the other boy laughing in short order. Jesse's dick was tingling, and his balls felt full and ready to go, and he knew that it wouldn't be long. His body was wound up, his middle tense, and his dick felt so good he almost couldn't believe it.

There was almost no warning; in an instant he was squirting spunk into Marty's insides, and gasping so hard that Marty pulled his head back so that Jesse could breath.

It was a spunk for the record books. It wasn't a minute long, or even thirty seconds. But it felt like an hour. Jesse's legs felt weak, and he had trouble holding himself up, it was so intense an orgasm. When he was done pumping he gasped and dropped his forehead onto Marty's belly, feeling it rise and fall quickly in the aftermath of all that power.

Marty put a hand on the back of Jesse's head and rubbed it slowly and affectionately, a comfort that Jesse appreciated. He finally lifted his head and smiled at the other boy. "I think I might have shot one of my nuts up your butt."

Marty laughed, his eyes bright. "I wouldn't be surprised, the way you hollered when you came."

Jesse was stunned. "I hollered?"

Marty blinked at him. "You didn't know? You sounded like an Indian in one of those old western movies."

Jesse gaped. "I did not."

Marty crossed his heart with a finger and nodded. "Swear, man. You did. Every dog in the neighborhood is probably on his way here now."

Jesse squeezed his eyes shut and laughed. At the same moment, Jesse's dick, going limp, was squeezed out of Marty's butt and fell against his balls.

Jesse reared back enough to lay Marty's legs down and climbed aboard the other boy, careful to not put too much pressure on Marty's dick, which was still hard and patiently waiting for it's turn to go. "Was it good?" he asked, smiling down into Marty's eyes.

"Damn right. It was worth it just watching your face go all blank and your tongue hang out, and then hearing you yell like a crayfish got hold of your balls."

Jesse shook his head. "No, dummy. I mean, was the vibrator good up your butt?'

Marty sighed. "Are you kidding? That thing's gonna be our new best friend. Wait until you try it."

Jesse laughed, and lowered his head and kissed Marty.  Marty kissed him back, and when they were done he pushed his face against Jesse's and sighed. "Every time I think we can't get better, we do."

Jesse nodded. "That was really good for me, I know that much."

"Wait until you get Buzzy up your butt," Marty said, nodding. "You ain't felt nothing until you feel that."

Jesse smiled. "Buzzy?"

"Well...yeah. It's gotta have a name. We got the Great Purple Pecker, and now we got Buzzy." Marty grinned. "Buzzy, the Butt Buddy."       

Jesse tossed his head back and squealed, and Marty cracked up. It took them a moment to get control of themselves; when they did, Jesse looked back at Marty and shook his head. "You're not right, you know that?"

Marty's eyes were all smiles. "What? You don't like that name?"

Jesse dropped his head, kissed Marty. "No, I like it. It's official now."

Marty nodded. "I think Buzzy has a date with your butt."

Jesse got up, took the vibrator and cleaned it with sanitizer, then handed it to Marty. "Buzzy's had a bath."

Marty sat on the edge of the cot. "Get across my knee, young man."

Jesse grinned. "Serious?"

Marty nodded, his face almost laughably stern. "You've been bad, boy. Now you have to pay."

Jesse grinned, and laid down across Marty's lap, his pecker sliding down between Marty's legs. Marty patted Jesse's butt, gave it a squeeze, "Oh, my. What have we here?"

"It's a butt,"Jesse said. "Be careful with it, because it's the only one I have." He turned his head and looked back, and grinned at Marty. "Don't do anything with it I wouldn't do."

Marty laughed. He took the lube and made his forefinger slick, and then gently pushed it up inside Jesse's butt. Jesse grinned at the feel of it, closing his eyes, and bending his head back. "Is that the best you can do?"

He heard Marty laugh. "Oh, no. I'm just getting started, young man."

Jesse was aware of Marty slicking up the vibrator, and then putting the lube down. He felt Marty's hand on his butt, and then the cool plastic tip of Buzzy against his pucker. He relaxed, smiling in anticipation, and felt Buzzy start in. Like Marty before him, it seemed easier than usual this time. The vibrator went in a good dick's length, and then Marty patted Jesse's butt. "Ready?"

"Yup."

Jesse heard the small click of the switch, and then felt --

It was like...shit, Jesse had never felt anything like it before. It was amazingly pleasant, and relaxing, and it made his butt tingle inside and out. Marty moved the vibrator back out and then slid it back in, and as it came in Jesse felt a momentary flash of something wonderful. Buzzy had found Jesse's button. Marty settled into a regular stroke, and Jesse closed his eyes and sighed, feeling about as wonderful as he ever had. His pucker was gloriously happy, which made Jesse gloriously happy, too. The vibration traveled down Jesse's taint to his balls, and it was like the were bouncing around at super speed inside his sack.

"Ready for the next one?" Marty asked.

Jesse just nodded, too into what he was feeling for speech.

There was another tiny click, and then Jesse gasped as his taint went crazy with vibration. Jesse thought he could actually feel legs on his balls now, and that they were dancing inside his sack. His dick, just home from a party, sighed and grabbed the keys for the car to head out again. Jesse couldn't believe that his dick could get hard so fast. It was like someone blew it up with a tire pump. Marty could obviously feel it's resurgence between his legs, because he brought his thighs together and moved them up and down, rubbing Jesse's dick between them.

Jesse made a little noise; not a groan and not a gasp. Something in between.

Marty continued to stroke Jesse's butt with the vibrator, and Jesse continued to make little noises that were not a groan and not a gasp.

"Time for turbo," Marty announced; and then there was a last click, and Jesse went nuts. He squirmed, thrusting his head back, and his dick felt like it was going to spunk right then. But it didn't, and Jesse went on squirming, wanting the incredible feeling to stop, but scared that it would because it felt so amazing. Marty let it go on for several more minutes, and then Jesse heard a combo click, and the sound of the vibrator ceased.

But the vibrations didn't. Jesse's middle felt numb and tingly and strange; pleasant and unpleasant, incredibly weird and unbelievably wonderful. Something large with many legs seemed to be crawling back and forth on his taint, and his balls felt like little needles were inside the sack with his nuts. Jesse clenched his teeth and breathed through them as the sensation slowly wound down, until finally he was left with a pleasant sense of numbness between his legs.

Marty rubbed a hand slowly up and down Jesse's back, knowing how he was feeling. "Stand up a minute, Jesse, before it all goes away."

Jesse got to his feet, his middle still feeling out of whack, even his thigh muscles seeming bewildered at the return to carrying a load. Marty grabbed the bottle of lube and squirted some on his fingers, and quickly lubed up his dick. He set the bottle on the floor and held his hands out to Jesse. "Sit on my lap?"

Jesse came back, slid onto the cot with his knees down on either side of Marty's thighs, and carefully sat down on Marty's dick. Marty guided it, and it started up inside Jesse's pucker without the slightest bit of resistance. Jesse sat all the way down onto Marty's lap, wrapped his arms around Marty's neck, and laid his head on Marty's shoulder. Marty immediately began moving, but Jesse only felt a sweet and numb feeling in his butt, pleasant, warm, all his.

He kissed Marty's neck, up the side of his face; pulled back and found the other boy's lips and went at them. Marty was warm and wonderful in his grasp, and the feel of Marty's dick going in and out of him was somehow restful and sweet after the attentions of Buzzy the Butt Buddy.

But slowly, the numbness subsided, and Jesse really began to feel Marty inside him. Marty was tagging Jesse's button on each inward stroke, and Jesse's dick was hard and pressed tightly between their moving bodies. Jesse was a little shocked to feel the onset of an orgasm - the build to glory - and then he was suddenly spunking off into the tight space between their bodies. It was unbelievably good, and made even better less than a minute later when Marty's panting turned into something else, and Jesse could tell by the way that his friend's body was jumping that Marty was shooting his spicy spunk into Jesse's insides.

And then it was all over. Their bodies relaxed at the same moment, and they sagged against each other, and Jesse was surprised to feel the dampness of sweat between them. He found Marty's lips again and kissed him and kissed him, until Marty finally  turned his head and pressed his face into Jesse's cheek.

"I need to breathe," he said softly, and Jesse let him, gently nuzzling Marty's cheek with his own.

The sat together for an unknown length of time, until their breathing finally slowed and their senses came back. Marty sighed, looked up at Jesse. "You are so fucking awesome."

Jesse grinned. "Me? You did all the work."

Marty lay back gently, and Jesse felt Marty's now soft dick pop out of his butt. Marty turned his body, brought his legs up onto the bunk as Jesse knee-walked along with him, and then Marty lay back with his head on the pillow and Jesse simply laid forward on top of him and made himself comfortable. They kissed for a while, and somehow that led to tickling and wrestling, and Jesse wound up on the bottom with Marty on top of him.

Marty picked up his head and smiled down at Jesse, his blue eyes sparkling with what he was feeling inside. Jesse grinned, feeling wonderful, because he could see what Marty was feeling: love. He pulled the other boy down and kissed him, and Marty pressed his face against Jesse's cheek and sighed. "I could stay here forever."

Jesse closed his eyes and nodded. His body was relaxed and he felt just wonderful after all they had done, and he just lay there, rubbing Marty's back with both of his hands and enjoying the feel of Marty's skin against his.

But then Jesse was aware of something: the light coming in from outside through the vent window - so even until now against his closed eyelids - suddenly fluttered as if a large bird had flown between him and  window.

Jesse opened his eyes.

Above them, Jesse's dad had his head stuck in the vent window, and he was looking down at them on the cot. His dad's eyes were huge, staring, and Jesse simply froze up so tightly he couldn't move a muscle.

His dad blinked as their eyes met; and then he pulled his head outside and was gone. A shadow flitted against the window, and Jesse realized that his dad was leaving.

Jesse's air went out of him, and he made a noise that had no name. Marty instantly picked up his head and looked down at him. "What? Are you okay?"

Jesse looked up into Marty's eyes. "My dad just looked in the window. He saw us, Marty."

"Yeah - right." But Marty could see then the horror and the fear in Jesse's face, and his eyes widened in shock. "For real?"

Jesse nodded, feeling tears in his eyes. "He saw us, Marty," he repeated, unable to believe it. His dad had seen his son and his son's best friend laying naked together in the cot in the fort, kissing and --

Jesse let out a sob as his world seemed to crumble around him.

Marty immediately squeezed him close and laid his face against Jesse's, and kissed him so hard that it made Jesse wince. "It's okay, Jesse. I'm here."

And suddenly, that was the most important thing there was. Jesse wrapped his arms around Marty and hugged him with all his might, and clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes closed and tried like he'd never tried before not to cry.

His dad had seen them.

His dad knew.

* * * * * * * 

Jesse felt that life had drained out of him. Marty held him, and rubbed him, and kissed him, and that was all that kept Jesse going.

"So he knows now," Marty finally said. "Big deal." But Jesse could see the same fear, only marginally smaller, in his friend's eyes. He realized then that Marty was thinking the same thing that he was: was it over?

Jesse's dad could simply forbid Jesse from ever seeing Marty again. They could keep him in, or tell Marty's parents, or even move.

Move. And not just away from Marty, but away from Jesse's woods, from Jesse's creek, from his fort. From his life.

He hugged Marty anew, feeling it already lost.

The sound of Marty breathing was in Jesse's ear, the sound of his friend's life. A life that Jesse realized now he loved completely, and just could not bear to lose.

"I gotta go talk to him," Jesse decided. "I gotta go now. Before he can do anything."

Marty didn't ask what things Jesse referred to. He knew.

He nodded, and they both got up and hurriedly dressed. "I can come with you," Marty said then.

For a second Jesse was tempted. His dad would be more careful - maybe - if Marty were there, too; but...no. This wasn't Marty's battle, not yet.

"No," he said, trying to smile. "Go home, Marty. I'll call you as soon as I can."

The look of anguish that crossed Marty's face tugged at Jesse's heart, and he went to his friend and hugged him. "It'll be okay," he offered.

A weird sort of calm was settling on Jesse now. He had just looked at the worst possibilities of what might happen now, in his mind; what came next could be no worse than that.

Marty drew back, and his eyes were wet. "I can't lose you, Jesse."

"You won't," Jesse said, kissing him. "Go home. I'll call you as soon as I can."

They went outside, into the late afternoon sun, and Jesse looked around at his trees, his woods. That they might go away seemed a remote possibility just now. They had been there forever, and they would always be there forever.

He hugged Marty a last time, and smiled at him. "I'll call you."

Marty nodded, and turned around and walked away. Jesse watched him a moment, then turned and headed home. He got to the curve in the path and looked back; Marty was there, watching him. Jesse smiled and waved; Marty smiled and waved back. Then they both headed for home.

Jesse came up the path into his backyard and stopped by the patio. He looked up at his house, at the window of his room, and could not imagine either going away.

He went to the door and let himself in - and froze. His mom was in the kitchen, just starting to get things out to make dinner.

She saw him and smiled. "Hi, honey. You're early. I'm just getting started." She frowned then, seeing something in his eyes or his expression. "How's Marty?"

She didn't know.

Jesse forced a smile. "He's okay. Where's dad?"

She looked at him a moment, chewing her lip. "Um...in the den. Did he talk to you?"

Jesse shook his head. "Not yet. That's why I came back."

She smiled then. "Oh. Better go see him. I think he wanted to talk to you."

Jesse nodded, walked past her.

"Jesse, are you okay?"

He turned back to see her frowning. "You look tired, honey."

He tried to smile more convincingly. "No. I'm okay."

He turned and headed for the den. His father's place; his dad's version of the fort. The den was where his father worked when he worked at home, and where he sometimes relaxed when he needed a little space. A lot of the things in the den were his dad's, and the room was not one that Jesse ever used on his own, except maybe to use his dad's computer now and then.

Jesse stopped in the hallway. The door to the den was open, and Jesse could see a light on. For just a moment all of his fear came back, and he couldn't move.

How mad could his dad be? Jesse's father was not known for his temper. His dad's approach to life was a calm one, and Jesse had always liked his dad's thoughtful take on most everything. That he would yell or scream now seemed unlikely. But...he had never caught his son naked in bed kissing another boy, either.

Jesse swallowed, took a step, then another, and was at the door.

He looked inside. The light on his dad's desk was on. His dad was sitting on the brown leather sofa, just kind of staring off into space. He didn't look mad, and he didn't look scary.

He looked like dad.

Jesse gathered his energies and knocked lightly on the door frame. His dad's gaze turned, and their eyes touched. In that split second, all of Jesse's fear came back to the fore.

His father frowned, then nodded at him. "Hi, son. Come on in."

Jesse entered the den, went to stand in front of his father. His dad looked up at him with a curious expression, almost as if he was looking at Jesse for the first time.

Jesse licked his lips, but didn't know where to start.

"Jesse." His dad reached out a hand, and Jesse automatically extended his and took it. His father pulled, and Jesse sat down next to him.

"I'm glad you came, Jesse. I was just going to go and look for you." He smiled. "I'm sorry I ran off. I was surprised. I hope that didn't scare you."

Jesse felt like he had been holding his breath for hours. It sighed out now, and he leaned over and hugged his dad, unable now to hold back all the tears.

He didn't cry, not in front of his dad. But for a second the tears welled out and ran down his face uncontrollably, and he had to use every bit of effort he had to just snort it all back in and stop.

His dad pushed him back and looked down at him, his face full of sympathy - and love. Jesse had been seeing that love from his dad for so long now that he knew its look by heart. The relief that came over him was huge. His dad had not stopped loving him.

He tried to smile, wiping at his eyes. "You're not mad?"

His dad seemed surprised, and then looked like he was thinking about it. "No. I'm not mad. Surprised? Yes. But I'm not mad."

The other question came next, the one Jesse was somehow most afraid of.

"Are you...disappointed in me?"

His dad gave a small laugh. "No. I don't think so. I'm not disappointed in you."

Jesse hugged him again, just because he had to do it. His dad squeezed him back, and the strength and surety of it made Jesse know then that somehow, things were going to be okay. He started breathing again, and felt his heart, which he now realized had been pounding in his chest, begin to slow.

His dad looked down at him. "What...what were you and Marty doing, Jesse?"

Jesse's fear tried to come back. For a moment he couldn't speak; but then his voice came back. "Kissing. Hugging."

His dad nodded. "Why?"

Jesse gulped. "I love him, dad."

His father looked puzzled. "You've known him such a short time, Jesse. Is that even possible?"

Jesse nodded. "Dad...I think I loved him the first day I met him."

His father looked like he was trying to understand that. He nodded. "Do you see yourself as gay, Jesse?"

There it was. Jesse gulped again, and nodded.

He heard a sound, and looked up at the doorway. His mother was there, a dishtowel in her hands, looking at them.

Jesse felt the fear all over again as he stared at her.

But Jesse's dad simply smiled at her. "We didn't see you there, honey. Come on in and sit."

Jesse's mom nodded, and came and sat by Jesse on the other side, and immediately took his free hand. That was either a good sign, or a very bad one.

"We were just talking," Jesse's dad went on.

His mom nodded. "So I heard."

His dad sighed. "I went down to the fort to talk to the boys, and when I looked in the window, I saw Jesse and Marty laying in the cot together." He nodded. "They were kissing."

His father did not say that Jesse and Marty had been naked, and Jesse looked at him now. He gave Jesse an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Leave it.

Jesse's mom looked at him. "I see. Did Marty talk you into this, Jesse?"

Jesse was stunned. "No, mom."

She squinted at him. "Well, you weren't doing this before you met him."

Jesse closed his eyes a moment, reopened them and looked at her. "Yes. I was. Me and Nate, mom."

She looked shocked then, and she and his dad looked at each other. "You talked Marty into this?" his mom asked.

Jesse had trouble believing she could think that. "Mom, you don't talk someone into doing this. They either want to, or they don't."

His mom blinked. "So Marty is gay? Do his parents know?"

Jesse nodded. "He's gay, mom. Like me. And they don't know."

Jesse's dad put out a hand and gently grasped his mom's wrist. She looked up at her husband for a long moment - and Jesse could see her slowly relax.

"I'm sorry, Jesse. I...I just never would have thought about this before now."

Jesse nodded. "I know." He turned his hand and grasped hers. "I love Marty, mom. I really, really do."

She looked at him silently for a moment, and then she nodded, and looked up at Jesse's dad. "Oh. That poor boy. He must be sitting at home, quaking in his shoes just now."

"He had flip-flops on, mom," Jesse heard himself say.

Both of his parents laughed, and Jesse smiled.

But then he had to ask: "Are you disappointed in me, mom?"

That, somehow, had always been his greatest fear. Never that his parents would stop loving him. But that they would be disappointed in him.

"Jesse."

Jesse looked over at his dad. His father was looking at him oddly now, with a little smile. "Jesse," he repeated, "we aren't disappointed. We love you just as much now as we always have. The will never stop." His dad's smile grew. "Jesse, you're the magic in our lives. You are everything in the world to us. Do you understand that?"

Jesse nodded, wanting to cry again. He struggled against it, and both of his parents obviously saw it. His mom put an arm around him and hugged him, and so did his dad.

"I'm not disappointed, Jesse," his mom said quietly. "I like Marty a lot." She sat back, smiled down at him. "At least if you're going to have a boyfriend, you sure picked a good one."

Jesse laughed, relief flooding through every inch of his body. "I thought you might not let me see him anymore."

Jesse's mom looked upset. "Oh, no, honey. That wouldn't be fair or good. Marty is just as welcome here as always." She looked up at Jesse's dad. "Right?"

His dad nodded. "Sure. I like Marty, too." He smiled at Jesse. "I can't believe he's anything but good for you."

A thought came to Jesse then, and he had to ask. "Dad? Why were you at the fort?"

Jesse's dad laughed. "Oh. I forgot about that." He leaned closer, grinning." My boss wants to send me to a production meeting in California. He said he'd pay to send the whole family if I would go."

Jesse blinked. "Go away? For how long?"

"Just a week," his dad said. He looked at Jesse's mom, grinning. "We're discussing the client's product changes on a Monday, retooling their plant to institute them, and then reviewing new procedures on Friday. So I have meetings both days, but the rest of the time is free. I thought we'd make a little vacation out of it."

Jesse grinned. "That sounds fun." But then he frowned. "You came out to the fort just to tell me that?"

His dad's smile widened. "Well, I called your mom earlier and we talked about it. We realized that, if she and I did some things together, that might leave you feeling a little left out. So we thought we'd ask Marty to go along with you, if he wanted."

Jesse gasped. Vacation? With Marty?

His parents laughed at his expression. His dad nodded. "I already asked Frank, and he and Marty's mom talked about it on the phone, and they said he could go."

Jesse's breath felt short again. From nightmare to wishdream, all in one hour? It was overwhelming. He looked up at the ceiling, grinning.

Jesse's mom squeezed his hand. "Honey, there are things we'll need to talk about, about you and Marty. You need to know about how to do things, um, safely."

Jesse nodded. "Already been there, mom. I've read a lot online. I know how to be safe."

His mother laughed, looking at Jesse's dad. "That damn Internet. I forgot that you probably know more about some things than we do."

For a moment no one said anything. Then his dad sighed. "You need to talk, Jesse, you come to us. Either of us, or both of us." He smiled. "I see now that you were really afraid to come talk to me. That took a lot of courage, Jesse. I respect you for facing up to that."

"I was scared to death, dad."

His mother shook her head and squeezed has hand again. "Don't ever be afraid to talk to us, Jesse." She looked at Jesse's dad, then back to Jesse. "I do want to talk some more about this, okay?" She gave him a little smile. "It's a lot for us to get used to so quickly."

He nodded. "Okay. But if you guys can handle this, you can handle anything."

His dad poked him. "Want to call Marty and ask if wants to go with us?"

His mom nodded. "In fact, ask him if he wants to come to dinner."

Jesse gaped. "O-kay."

His mom smiled. "I want to know him better now, Jesse." She stood  up. "Speaking of dinner, I'd better get back to fixing it." She waved a hand at Jesse's dad.  "Matt...make him understand he's not in trouble." He smiled at Jesse. "You're not in trouble, Jesse."

His dad laughed. "You know that, right?

Jesse sighed. "If you guys say so."

His mom grinned and left the room. Jesse just looked at his dad, like he couldn't believe how this had all gone.

His dad smiled at him. "Thought you were doomed, huh?"

Jesse nodded. "I thought you would be mad. But I thought mom might flip out."

His dad sighed. "Tell you a secret, Jesse, if you promise not to tell your mom I told you."

Jesse nodded. "I promise."

His dad made a funny little face. "Your mom's brother - your Uncle Brian? He's gay."

Jesse's jaw dropped. His goofy uncle, the one that had dropped out of med school to be a singer of odd songs. Gay?

"Ohmigod, dad. It runs in the family."

His dad laughed, his eyes crinkling in the way that always told Jesse things were okay. "I don't know if it works like that, Jesse. But it's probably why your mom took this so well. She was the only one to stand by Brian when he came out. And that was twenty years ago, when it was a lot harder to be gay."

Jesse sighed. "Dad, you're really okay with me?"

"Yes, Jesse," His dad smiled, and reached out an mussed Jesse's hair. "Besides, nothing's set in stone. You're just thirteen yet. Still time for girls further down the line."

Jesse was about to shake his head when he remembered how he and Parker had been, earlier that very day. Jesse liked Parker, and having her kiss him had been pretty thrilling. Hmm.

"Maybe, dad. I'm not counting it out, either."

"There you go." His dad got up, and so did Jesse. "Go call Marty, son. He's probably got no finger nails left by now."

Jesse gave his dad a hug, and the hug he received in return told him for certain that his dad was okay.

Jesse ran to the kitchen and gave his mom a big hug, and she laughed and squeezed him back. "Did you call Marty?"

"I'm going to now." Jesse laughed, and virtually danced from the room. He ran up the steps to his room and sat on the bed, pulling out his cell and pushing the icon for Marty's number.

It rang for what seemed like a long time, and Jesse was starting to worry when when he heard Marty's voice.

"Hello? Jesse?"

Jesse immediately took a breath. Marty sounded like he had been crying.

"Marty? Are you okay?"

"Are you?"

Jesse let the breath rush back out. "Yeah. I'm okay. Are you crying?"

He heard a noise over the phone, like Marty was blowing his nose. "I was. I'm not now."

Jesse felt terrible. "Why are you crying? I'm okay."

"I told my folks I was gay."

Jesse's mouth fell open. "No you didn't! Why, Marty?"

"I was afraid your dad would call mine and tell him. I didn't want him to find out that way."

"My dad would never do that, Marty," Jesse said. "Man, I'm sorry."

Marty laughed. "It's okay. Now they know."

"How'd they take it?" Jesse asked.

Marty sighed. "My dad yelled. He was a little mad. My mom told him to stop yelling. But then Parker came in and yelled at both of them. You should have seen it Jesse. She was hollering at them, and they were just standing there with their mouths open."

"What was she saying?"

"Jesse, she said she already knew I was gay and that she thought it was fine, and that she knew I loved you and you loved me, and we were a sweet couple, and that my mom and dad should be ashamed of themselves for thinking they had a right to stop me from loving who I wanted."

Jesse couldn't believe it. "She didn't."

"Yeah, she did. And she started crying and said my dad was mean, and my dad hates it when Parker cries, and my mom was smiling, and...Jesse, I think my family is nuts."

Jesse started laughing. "So they aren't mad at you?"

"They were too busy trying to get Parker to stop crying. But I don't think they are."

Jesse shook his head. "Then why were you crying?"

He could hear Marty sigh. "I was afraid your folks might not let you be with me anymore."

Jesse laughed. "Actually, they said you should come to dinner tonight."

The phone was silent a moment. "You're not shittin' me, are ya?"

"I wouldn't shit you," Jesse said, smiling "You're my favorite turd."

Marty laughed. "I'll come, sure. I gotta ask my folks, but they'll probably be glad to get me out of the house."

"They still love you, Marty." Jesse was certain of this.

"Oh, I know that. I just mean so they can talk. And Parker can talk to them. She's on our side, Jesse."

Jesse smiled. "When you see her again, kiss her for me, okay?"

"I already did, Jesse. But I'll do it again." Marty sighed. "Think your folks will still let me go to California with you?"

Jesse blinked. "You know about that?"

"Yeah. My dad had already said I could go before I told him I was gay."

"My folks said you could still go." Jesse said. "You want to?"

Marty gave a squeaky laugh that made Jesse smile. "Go on vacation with you? Jesse, I'd love to do that."

Jesse grinned. "How long until you can come over for dinner?"

"Give me ten minutes to square it with my folks."

"Okay," Jesse said, smiling. "Meet you at the fort in ten minutes."

"Okay, Jesse. I love you."

Jesse grinned. "I love you, too, Marty. Bye."

"Bye."

Jesse turned off his cell and stuck it in his pocket.

His head felt like it was whirling inside, so much had happened. But the biggest thing he was feeling was a loss; that little nagging fear he'd been carrying around for a while now, the fear that his parents would find out that he was gay.

It was gone. He was out.

Jesse grinned. He jumped up off the bed, ran downstairs, and went to his dad's den. His dad was standing by his desk, reading a paper. He looked up as Jesse entered, and smiled at him.

Jesse went right to him, and hugged him with all his might. "Thanks, dad." He looked up at the man. "I love you."

His dad nodded, looking maybe a little defenseless. "I love you, too, Jesse."

Jesse squeezed him again, then stepped back. "Marty said he'd come to dinner." He grinned. "And go to California with us."

His dad smiled. "That's good, Jesse. I'm glad."

Jesse nodded. "Gotta go hug mom now."

His dad laughed as he ran out. Jesse ran to the kitchen, found his mom in the pantry looking at cans. "I know there's some Lima beans in here some place."

Jesse reached past her and plucked a can off the shelf. He handed it to her, and when she took it he hugged her. "Thanks, mom. I love you."

She smiled down at him, then dropped her head and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you, too, Jesse. I don't want you to worry about a thing, okay?"

He nodded. "Marty said he'd come to dinner. I'm going to go meet him at the fort."

"Okay. Come on back then. We'll be ready to eat in about fifteen minutes."

Jesse grinned, went out through the back door, crossed the patio, then ran down the path to the fort.

He slowed, almost skipped, he was feeling so good. He went around the fort - and almost collided with Marty, who was coming the other way.

They both stopped, smiling. And then they moved together, and they hugged each other with all their might.

Jesse kissed his boyfriend - his official boyfriend now - and inhaled the sweet-musky scent of Marty's skin. "God, I love the way you smell, Marty."

Marty laughed. "Take all you want. I got more."

Jesse grinned, reached down and gave Marty's crotch a little squeeze. "I wish there was time for more."

Marty grinned. "Pervert."

Jesse turned, giving Marty a little tug. They started back up the path to Jesse's house.

"I learned all I know from you," Jesse said. "That make's you an even bigger pervert."

Marty waved a hand. "There's worse things to be famous for."

Jesse grinned.

"So tell me about California," Marty said. "When are we going?"

Jesse laughed. "I forgot to ask."

Marty rolled his eyes; but then he brightened. "I heard they got nude beaches in California."

Jesse laughed. "Is that all you ever think of?"

"I never think of beaches," Marty said, but his eyes were sparkling.

Jesse rolled his eyes, looked for a moment at the sky. "Help me out, huh?"

The sky looked back, silent.

Marty grinned, reached out and took Jesse's hand. "I sure love you, Jesse."

Jesse nodded. "I know. I love you, too, Marty."
 
"What's for dinner?" Marty asked, squeezing Jesse's hand.

Jesse grinned. "I forgot to ask."

"Don't know much, do you?" Marty said, kidding.

Jesse smiled. There were all sorts of come-backs he could think of, but none seemed appropriate. He knew what was important, and he knew he had been lucky to have gotten so much of it in life.

People were important. He had parents who loved him, even when he wasn't perfect. Even when he turned out not to be as they had expected, or even wanted. You couldn't do better than that.

And he had Marty, who loved him just because he could, and because he wanted to, and because somehow he and Jesse both had things inside them that spoke the same language deeply. What an amazing thing that was, to find somebody like that. A stranger, and then a friend, and then a lover. Amazing, and worth holding onto.

"We're having Lima beans, I think," he finally managed, smiling.

Marty grinned. "Well, it's a start." He looked at Jesse, his eyes full of mischief. "Wanna race?"

Jesse laughed, took off running.

Marty yelled, and took off in pursuit. "You suck!"

They got to the top of the hill and Jesse slowed, waited for Marty to catch him. "Maybe later," Jesse said, grinning.

And then they went on to Jesse's house, together.

Posted: 03/27/2020