Coach Assistant

By: Tim
(© 2015-2016 by the author)

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

Chapter 28 
 

As you might imagine, we had some difficulty getting out of bed after all the alcohol we'd drank. But we knew that a great weekend had come to an end and we had to go back to school, so we hurried as much as we could and made it just in time.

There was a lot of praise for the both of us as it seemed that word had gone out that we'd won the city championship that Saturday.

I somehow survived the morning, feeling better slowly, but when I looked at Francis, I knew he wasn't doing much better.

My brother had been lucky: his classes started later in the morning as one of his teachers was ill.

When lunchtime arrived, it took us some time to get to our normal table. When I saw that our teammates were surrounded by girls and other interested people, I suggested that we not join them; we could sit somewhere else.

I saw Andrew and Peter sitting at the rear of the canteen. They looked pretty occupied, but I just wanted to get out of sight as much as I could, so I walked over there.

"Hi there! Do you mind if we join you?" I asked them.

"No, that's fine, but are you sure you don't want to be in the middle of all the attention after your great victory of last Saturday?" Andrew asked.

" No, I've had enough and I'd rather just talk with you guys for a while."

"Great! Come and sit down," Peter said.

Peter walked around the table to sit beside Andrew and we took the other side.

"So, what did you do after your victory? We saw the other guys celebrating but you weren't there. Had a more private celebration together?" Peter whispered.

I looked at Francis.

"I think we can tell them, don't you?"

"Yes, there's nothing wrong with that, I guess, Nick."

So I started to tell them that we had been invited by Alexei to join him for a dinner that evening. I told them that we met with Randy and Andy but I didn't tell them that they were gay. I suppose they would or at least could know it from Randy but not from Andy or Alexei.

I told them that we had met them again for lunch yesterday and that we'd had a great time.

"I can imagine that you did," Peter said.

"Did you tell them that you were gay?" Andrew asked.

I had started to appreciate Andrew more and more because he was so honest, so straight forward. As if that is a word that can describe him but you know what I mean.

"Yes, they know, and they even know that we're boyfriends."

"WOW," Peter exclaimed softly.

"So how did they react?" Andrew continued looking at me.

"They were OK with it. Guys, it was just great to be able to hold hands during the evening and not have to be careful or anything ... it was such a nice thing to be able doing that."

"I think we know what you mean by that," Andrew said with a big smile on his face.

This time there was a gaze from Andrew to Peter and back, a gaze that gave me the impression there was something going on more then just a slip of the tongue there.

"Hmmm. It seems, Nick, that we weren't the only ones who had a great weekend. From the look on your faces, you have something to tell us, too."

"Yep, I guess we can tell you," Peter said. He nodded towards Andrew and said, "You'd better tell as it was your parents who started it."

"Parents???" I said, surprised.

"Yes, parents, Nick. We had our own little surprise on Saturday. When I came down for breakfast that morning, both my mom and dad were waiting in the kitchen for me to join them for breakfast. Now we do that throughout the week, you know, except for Saturday. Then it is just whenever you get out of bed, you eat ... you leave the stuff on the table and go and do what you want. So I was pretty suspicious."

I saw very nice looks going from Peter to Andrew and back while he talked.

"So I said good morning and they told me that I needed to be around that evening for dinner. Now you know I had made plans to go to a movie with Peter so I told them that that was rather bad timing. So, when they insisted, we got into a rather unhappy discussion with me walking out of the kitchen more or less angry. So when I came to my room I called Peter. To my surprise he told me that he was ordered to stay in as well that night and to make sure he was home for supper. Now that was really strange. At least I think that now as we look back at it."

I started to get an idea what had happened but I didn't want to interrupt their story, so I waited while Andrew sipped some milk before he continued.

"Well, I didn't have much to do. I sulked around the house until it was time to go to your competition. Yes, I was there to watch together with Peter."

"Hmmmm, I didn't know you liked gymnastics."

"To be honest," Peter, continued, "we don't, but we just wanted to see how our new friends were performing."

"Thanks," I said. I knew we had indeed made two new friends although we hadn't spoken with each other very much. We'd been too busy with the preparations for the meet.

"So, instead of going to the movie, we went our separate ways back home to have dinner," Andrew said.

"Let me continue now, Andrew. Otherwise the story isn't going to make much sense."

So Peter went on telling us what happened:

I hadn't given them much of a fight that morning when they asked me to stay home for dinner. I knew that, whenever they wanted us all at home for dinner, mom would make special plans to cook and I couldn't disappoint her. I knew that Andrew would understand. So, when I came home, it was about 30 to 45 minutes before our normal dinnertime. When I walked into the kitchen, there was nothing to see or smell that said that there was a meal being prepared. So I walked into the living room where I found mom and dad sitting on the couch together with my two sisters. I said hi to them and asked when dinner would be ready. My dad answered that dinner was not going to be at home. I looked at them and, instead of getting an explanation, my mom said to my two sisters that they'd better get ready to go and that they'd see them after the movie.

Now, I can tell you, I was totally lost and starting to get angry as well. You know, to forbid me going to a movie and then sending my sisters to go and watch one! I still didn't say anything and my dad and mom also remained quiet until my sisters had left the room, but both of them looked kind of oddly at me.

When the door closed, I looked at them and said, "What is going on? Can I go to the movie?"

"No, son, you can't. We're invited to dinner somewhere and you're going to go along with us."

"Sorry, but I had an arrangement to go to the movies, so if you don't mind, I'd rather do that than go to some stupid dinner party."

Peter stopped for a while to take a sip of his drink and looked at us. I felt Francis slide his hand into mine under the table. It seemed that we both had some idea where this was going.

Peter continued his story:

I was told to get dressed and they would meet me downstairs in a few minutes. You know, I was really getting angry but I saw on my dad's face that he wasn't going to cave in and I've never been good at challenging him. So I just did what they wanted and came back dressed for dinner.

"You're looking fine, Peter," my mom said.

I relied that we should just get out of there. I knew they wanted me to come along, and I would, but I didn't like it one bit, so I told them not to expect me to be happy about it.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but I think you'll thank me later for having you dressed for the occasion."

I told her that I too was sorry, but I didn't think I'd be happy at all, that I'd rather have gone to the movies, and she knew it."

"Come on son," she cajoled. "Don't get mad at us. Let's get out of here so we can show you where we're going."

To be honest guys, I got more and more angry the longer I sat in the car. I was in the back and I was really going berserk. I didn't look outside so, when the car stopped, I had no idea where we were. I looked at them and they turned around.

"Sorry to drag you along, Peter, but there is something we though that was important and we had no idea how to bring the subject up ... so we would just like to give you this."

They gave me a small parcel. I opened it and I found a small necklace with a silver heart hanging from it. I looked at them again, not knowing what was going on.

"Look at the inscription, son," my dad said.

I saw that they were looking intensively at me. When I turned the heart over, there was indeed a small inscription on it. It said: "Whoever you love, we will always love you. Your parents."

I don't have to tell you that tears started to well up in my eyes when I looked at them. They didn't say anything. They just waited for my response.

I asked them whether they knew about me.

"Son, do you think you could ever hide your feelings from me?" my mom asked.

I started to cry a little as my mom reached back and hugged me.

Through a blur of tears, I asked if they were really OK with this.

"Yes, Peter. Just like the inscription says, we love you whomever you love. But I think it's now time to introduce us to him, don't you think?"

You can understand that at that moment, I started to realise where I was. I looked outside and saw we were standing in front of Andrew's parents' house. I looked at them again, not able to say anything.

"We've known about your love for Andrew for a few weeks now, Peter. We found some parts of your diary that you'd thrown into your waste basket. I'm sorry to say that I read it ... but I'd never seen you go from sad to happy in such a short time and I wanted to know what had caused this transformation."

I must say that, at that point, there wasn't much I could say, so I just hugged them.
My dad made a good attempt to get us back to normalcy when he said, "So, you're glad you changed into something nice?"

I couldn't help it but a smile appeared on my face then.

"OK, that's enough of an answer. Now, let's go inside."

I had only one question for my dad: did Andrew's parents know?

"Yes, of course! Why do you think they invited us to dinner? They wanted to get to know us, I think, and I must be honest that I found it a good idea myself."

I started to get nervous at that point. I knew Andrew's parents but now, as his boyfriend, I wanted to make a good impression. Damn! If I'd only gotten something to present to Andrew's mother.

We got out of the car and I looked at myself.

"You look good, son. Don't worry," mom said.

"Did they tell Andrew that we were coming over for dinner?"

"Well, we agreed that we would both tell you that we knew before dinnertime, so I think they have told him."

So we walked towards the door and my dad rang the bell to let them know we'd arrived.

Andrew interrupted at that point. "Shall I tell them the rest of the story, Peter, although I'm sure they have a pretty good idea what happened next."

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. You can also tell them what happened when you came home."
I (Nick) felt that they really wanted to share this with us. So far we'd had a pretty good idea what happened and I was glad that they had such lovely parents. Parents!!! Damn, I thought, and I looked at Francis. I saw that he wasn't too happy, so I just squeezed his hand a little. He looked towards me and I whispered, so softly that I was not sure he could hear me, "Are you OK with this?"

I got a little nod back so either he'd heard me or he'd read my lips.

Andrew then started to tell us what had happened to him:

So when I came home from your competition, guys, I was still angry. Spending time with Peter that afternoon had convinced me that I wanted to be with him instead of at some stupid family dinner. So when I walked in I went straight to the kitchen. Both mom and dad were busy preparing dinner. I looked at the back of the kitchen where there was a view of the garden and a big table where we normally would have dinner when there were guests. I saw that there were at least six plates on the table, so I looked at mom and dad.
I asked them who we were having for supper.

"Oh, you're back! That's good, just in time, Andrew. I've made sure your good shirt is ironed so you can wear it for dinner tonight."

She didn't continue so I received no answer to my question. This only made me madder. So I started to yell that I was not going to have dinner with them and that I was leaving right now. I must say that somehow that was the wrong button to push with them. I've never seen my dad angry but he was then.

"Be quiet, son! We're only doing this for you, so don't make it more difficult for any of us."

I only looked at mom. I thought, what the heck. I told them I wasn't going to sit there all evening, just so they could show me off to some business client. No way. It would just be like the last time, I was sure. This client would bring their daughter so I'd have to be there all evening."

"Sorry, son, but we just need you to be here now. Please go upstairs and get dressed. After we finish dinner, we'll want to talk with you."

I stormed upstairs. I wasn't prepared to talk with them so I stayed in my room. I changed, yes, that is what I did but I wanted to wait to go downstairs until they ... whoever they were ... had arrived.

So after 30 minutes or so, I heard the doorbell. I heard some talk and then a yell from my dad. "Andrew, our guests are here. Are you ready?"

I only sighed in defeat and decided to come downstairs.

So what happened then? Peter was standing there in the hall with his parents and, before I could do anything, Peter walked over to me hugged me tightly. He leaned over to kiss me almost on the mouth but, before he could do that, I pushed him away, yelling at him that our parents were present, you stupid little .... Well, let's not get into that, Andrew said while he smiled shyly at Peter.

(We are back in the school cafeteria now.)

"All is forgiven, Andrew," Peter said. "So, to make a long story short, Andrew's dad explained everything to him and we had a nice dinner ... though some strange things happened ... but I can only say that they were all very good with what was happening. I think, if I look back, that maybe we were more uncomfortable with the whole situation than they were.

"I am so happy for you guys and if we weren't at school, I'd have given you a great big congratulatory hug."

Peter and Andrew really had big smiles on their faces. "Thanks, Nick. We thought you'd want to know ... so, if you two want to spend time with us, you can always visit us now without pretending or whatever."

"Great!" I said.

"I can only say that I'd love to get together some more this week. You know we have had so many practices that we've had almost no time for other stuff."

"But you have to go to the state championships now, Nick!"

"Yes, but they are only in about four weeks time, so I'm sure my dad wants us to take it a little easier this week. Otherwise he'll never be able to get us worked up again for them."

"Well, that's nice ... we can see later today after school when and where, OK?"

"Yep, that is fine, isn't it, Francis?" I turned my face towards him. He hadn't said too much lately and I became more concerned about him. After what they'd told us, I understood that he'd been thinking more about his parents than he'd let on.

"Oh, sure, that'd be nice," he answered ... but still, he was miles away from us at that moment.

Then the bell rang; lunch was over and next class was coming up. I quickly looked at Francis but there were just too many people around us, now that everyone had started to stand up and walk around.

There was a tap on my shoulder. It was Andrew who said, "Is he OK?"

"Yes, he will ... it's a long story, I'll tell you later, OK?"

"Yes, that's fine."

So I tried to talk to Francis all afternoon, but there was no way I could hook up with him. Somehow, there were just too many people around to be able to chat with him. So at last, when school was out, he was waiting for me at the gate. But the moment I arrived, I heard our names yelled by Andrew.

"Hey, you guys ... when do you want to get together this week?"

"What about Thursday night?" I answered.

"Yes, that would be fine with me. I don't have a lot of homework for Friday most of the time," Andrew answered.

"Well, neither do we, and we don't have any practice that evening, so we could meet up after school and go somewhere from there."

"That would be nice. You could come around to my place ... do some drinking there and then we can decide what to do."

"Is that OK with you, Francis?" I asked him.

"Yes, that seems to be a good idea ... a night partying with the four of us, Nick."

"That was exactly the idea I had," Andrew said, smiling at him.

So we waited for Peter to come our way.

"OK, we're going in the other direction ... so we'll see you tomorrow somewhere," I said.

"OK, see you!"

"So, Francis, how are you?" I asked the moment we had started to walk away from them.

"I'm fine, thanks, Nick."

"Are you sure, Francis?"

"Yes, nothing to worry about."

That sentence alone was enough to start making me worry about him. Because he wouldn't say if there were nothing wrong.

We went home and the rest of the week went its normal way. I had a chat with the shrink again. That didn't tell me anything I didn't already know already but somehow I could see the point of continuing to see him.

I was still worried about Francis. We had some fun together during the following days, just being around each other ... nothing too big, just a good time. Practice went as we expected. There were four weeks between the two competitions and dad wanted us to take it easy for the first week. The second one he wanted us to give 100% or more. He would try some new stuff and see if we could add to each exercise or make them better. Alexei would come over the third week and help us with that and the last week, we'd do a little less and put the emphasis on finishing it all off. So I knew that Alexei would be there in a short while, which was good.

I didn't have much contact with James and I hoped he would somehow contact me. I'm not sure if Francis had more contact with Brian. I know they exchanged e-mail addresses but so far he hadn't mentioned it and I didn't want to ask him and sound again like a jealous brat.

From Randy I received the following e-mail on Wednesday night:

Hi Nick,

I hope you and Francis are OK. I must say I really enjoyed getting to know you two first at the dinner and then last Sunday during lunch. At the moment I'm with my friend and not around but I hope you want to meet up with me when I'm back in town.

I know that Alexei will be over visiting you as he told me so and I want to spend some time with him soon so I might be over when he comes. But I'll let you know.

So I hope to see you soon

Randy

Hmmmm ... I'd enjoyed my time with him as well but I never expected to get such a message, so I wrote him an e-mail back:

Hi Randy,

I know we exchanged addresses, but I didn't expect to get a message back from you so soon. Of course I want to see you again! Just let me know when you'll be in town and then we can get together.

I knew you were eager to meet with me after the dinner party and again after lunch, but I'm kinda confused as to why. This makes me kind of wonder why (sorry for saying this) a "celebrity" like you would want to spend time with a young guy like me.

And whatever you want to do ... visit me, call me or just write me a mail ... that is OK ... you can trust me.

So bye for now.

Nick.

I was really wondering when he'd answer me back. It was a question that had me puzzled after his invitation to have lunch and the exchange of addresses after it.

*******

On Thursday we didn't go home but went with Peter and Andrew to Andrew's house.

"So, do you guys know what you wanted to do tonight?" Andrew asked as we walked to the front door.

"Well, we can watch some movies either here or at a theatre," Peter answered.

"I don't know about you guys but I'd rather stay in so we could just be ourselves. If we go to the cinema, we'll need to be careful what we do and stuff and I don't feel like doing that," I answered.

"Yes, I'd rather stay in as well, Peter, if you don't mind?" Andrew answered.

He opened the door and we walked in.

"Ah, there you are! I was already wondering where you were!"

"Hi, mom. I told you we'd bring some friends with us, so we had to wait for them."

"I know, honey, don't worry. I just wanted to tell you that I was making dinner for all of us tonight so I was hoping you would join us."

"Oh, to be honest, I wanted to get a pizza delivered and we could all eat in my room".

"Well, just think about it. So who are your friends?"

"This is Nick, mom, and the other one is Francis."

"Nice to meet you, boys."

Not much more was said as Andrew dragged us up to his room as fast as he could. It seemed as if he was still not feeling real comfortable with the way his parents acted. I must say, seeing parents react in a way you wouldn't expect is kind of strange.

'That was kind of rude, Andrew. I know your mom only wanted us downstairs so she could meet Nick and Francis, but still ..." Peter said the minute we were in Andrew's room.

"Sorry, Peter, but I still feel uneasy when she just acts as if nothing has happened. I think, guys, I still feel a little bit embarrassed by it all."

We chatted some more and we sorted through the music CDs Andrew had.

Then there was a soft knock on his door.

"Can I come in, guys?"

I saw Andrew turn red and he whispered to Peter, "You see what I mean? In the past she'd simply come barging in!"

"Yes, mom, come on in."

"Sorry to interrupt you guys but I got out some drinks and some snacks to go along with them."

"Thanks, mom, and I'm sorry I was a little bit rude a moment ago."

"No, that's OK honey. I surprised you with the idea of dinner. I should have asked before."

"OK, we'll think about it and let you know in about 15 minutes what we are going to do. We might even go out tonight."

"OK, that's fine, just one thing. I know the door wasn't locked and you know I would always knock before entering but your sisters might not ... so please to be on the safe side. Could you close it?"

"Mom!" Andrew said with a little bit of upset in his voice. "Do you think we would make out here with Francis and Nick around?"

She looked at both of us, then smiled and said, "I don't know! They seemed pretty happy with each other ... so I'm not sure if they'd mind!"

This time it was our turn for Francis and I to turn red. I looked at her and I wanted to say something but I couldn't. I looked at Francis and saw the same look on his face.

"Sorry, guys, but when you figured these two out, then you're just about as obvious as they have been. Don't be embarrassed by it ... you two look like a nice couple and your secret is safe with me."

She left the room smiling as if she has done a good job.

"Are we that obvious?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Well, if you look at all the signs, you are obvious ... but I think you can only see it if you know a couple in love or if you know that one of you is gay," Peter answered.

"We'd better be careful then," Francis said.

"You know, guys, it is just so nice to be able to be around other people who don't care, so we all can just be ourselves. I really enjoyed the dinner and lunch last weekend."

"I know you did, Nick, so that's why we'd be better staying in, don't you think?"

"Hmmmm, could be ... but Andrew ... if you don't mind, I think it'd be nice to get to know your parents better."

"OK, if you're sure about that," Andrew said.

"Yes, I really would like to and you can come over to our place as well and meet my father. He's been cool with us as well."

"OK, that's agreed," Peter said, "and after that, we're going to have some fun in the city ... have a drink or go see a movie. I'm not going to sit inside all day."

Andrew went downstairs and told his mother that we would be there for dinner. We chatted and got to know each other during the time it took for dinner to be ready.

Dinner went OK ... it was really nice to see how easy to get along with Andrew's parents were. I could see that, sometimes, they embarrassed him a little bit but I saw that Peter particularly felt very welcome here and would now and then hold his hands on Andrew's arm or touch him somehow.

That was just the feeling I had been having during the dinner party and lunch. Just to be able to do that out of the house was great. It might have embarrassed Andrew but I think Peter realised that this felt good to do ... better then being sneaky.

I am not sure Andrew's parents noticed but, just before dinner, I managed to get my hand on Francis as well. I got a wonderful smile from him back.

I left my hand there and, at some point, I saw that Andrew had seen it also and smiled at me as well.

So when dinner was finished, Andrew's mom asked, "So, what are you going to do tonight?"

"We are going out and see a movie, mom," Peter answered.

"Ah, that's nice ... anywhere special?"

"No, we haven't looked at what is showing."

"Well, that's not a problem as long as you're going to be home around 11 ... or call if you decide to sleep at Peter's house, Andrew."

"Yes, mom."

So the evening had started out really nicely. We walked into the city and wandered around, ending up outside of one of the smaller cinemas.

"Hmmmm, it doesn't seem as if there's a movie we want to watch, is there?" I asked the others.

"No, not much new, to be honest," Andrew answered.
"Hey, look!!! Who is getting out of there, Nick? Isn't that your brother with what's her name?"

I looked at the direction Peter pointed.

"Yes that is Dave and Kathy, his girlfriend."

They had seen us and came towards us.

"Hi Nick, Francis! I didn't expect you to see you two out here. I thought you'd be cuddling up somewhere."

"Shush," Kathy said and looked at Andrew and Peter.

"No worries, Kathy," I said. "They are gay as well."

"Ah, didn't know that, did you, Dave?"

"Well, to be honest, Kathy, I suspected something like that because Francis and Nick are holding hands." He had a big smile on his face as he said that.

I jumped and let Francis's hand loose.

"Sorry, Nick, I didn't want to frighten you like that, but you'd better be careful. I saw more of your classmates in the movie a moment ago."

"Thanks, Dave," I said with a smile.

"So, what are you guys going to see?" Kathy asked.

"Nothing, I guess," Andrew answered.

"Why is that?"

"Nothing we fancy to go see."

"Well, why don't you come along with us and have a drink in the bar next door?"

"Are you up to that? We don't want to interrupt your training schedule," Andrew answered.

"No, we are allowed a drink this week, I think," I answered.

So we followed Kathy and David and found a place way in the back of the bar in the corner. It seemed that David and Kathy had been here before as they got into a good chat with the waiter. Who by the way looked pretty cute if you asked me!

Despite the fact we were in the corner of the bar, I still didn't dare touch Francis in public. I was a bit scared after what had happened outside a moment ago.

"So, you can hold hands here Nick. No one is watching," Kathy said.

Somehow she felt that I was not at ease as I stayed out of most of the conversation.

"Sorry, Kathy, but I just don't feel like doing it here. You know I loved it last weekend during the dinner and the lunch but here, I just can't do it."

"But you are among friends ... we don't mind and I am sure Francis doesn't mind!"

"I know, Kathy," I said, smiling at Francis in the meantime. "Feeling at ease doing that is so great ... and if I do it now, I'll feel like I have to look around all the time to make sure no one who knows us is around."

"I know how you feel, Nick," Peter replied. "Being able to hand holds just like I did at Andrew's house feels great."

"I just don't like having to look around and be careful all the time. I'm not sure." I looked at Francis in the meantime. "If I hold hands with Francis and feel comfortable, I might just slip up at the wrong place or time."

"Hmmmm, you know what?" she looked at David.

"Do you think this is a good time to bring it up, Kathy?" Dave interrupted her.

"Well, I didn't ask him that for no reason ...and we agreed on telling them. For all I know, they know already."

"I know! OK, we could go along with them just to make sure."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Francis asked.

The four of us were looking at Dave and Kathy with great interest.

"You know, Nick, that I have a nephew who is a few years older?"

"Yes ... what is his name ... Rick?"

"Yes, that's him. Well, he works at this new place a few blocks from here."

"So what?" I was getting kind of impatient.

"Well it is a so-called gay bar." She said it carefully, as if we'd fall out of our chairs.

"So what?" I repeated.

"Well, you've never been in one, have you?"

"No," I admitted, and I looked at the others to get a confirmation. They all nodded.

"But it's not as if we don't know that they exist."
"I know ... but you've never said anything about it to us."

"Or to me, Nick," Francis interjected.

"I know ... but we've all seen some episodes of Queer as Folk ... we know that they are out there. There's a reason I've never talked to you about it, Francis. I feel sometimes that they exist just for anonymous sexual encounters and we have each other ... so I didn't give it a thought."

"Well, I knew they were out there. I walked past one a few times, just when I arrived in this city," Francis said, looking at me.

"Have you ever discussed it, Andrew?" I said.

"No, we haven't!" Peter answered.

"So, do you guys think it would be nice to go in and look around? Maybe it'll feel relaxing and you might feel like you could be yourself. It's not that you're likely to see any of your classmates there. And, even if you do, he or she will probably be gay anyway."

It would be nice to be able to go and be ourselves for a while, I thought.

"You might even dance together," Kathy added.

That did it for me. I'd thought about drinking, laughing and a lot of pickup guys in there, but not about dancing. Stupid me! That was the most common activity in a bar, so why didn't I think about it?

"OK, I'm up for it," I said.

"Good for you, Nick!" David replied.

I looked at the others. "So, what do you think? Shall we go?"

"Yes! It'd be nice to check the place out, don't you think, Peter?" Andrew said.

"Hmmmm, it might be fun ... but we'd better call your parents and let them know we'll be late."

"OK ... yes, we'd better do that."

"Good idea, Peter! David, can you tell dad we'll be late?"

"No, you'd better ring him, Nick, because I think we're going to join you if that is OK with you."

I looked surprised at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yep. I think it would be great spending some time with you if you don't mind."
"No, I am OK with that but I'm just not quite ready to see you and Kathy going into a gay bar."

"Well, I think we'll be fine in there," Kathy said.

So we followed Kathy down the street to a point in front of the bar. There wasn't too much to see on the outside. Both Andrew and me took our cell phones and called home. We didn't say where we were going ... only that we'd be home late.

So I slowly opened the door and looked inside.

"Come on ... keep going," Francis said as he pushed me inside.

It was still pretty early in the evening, around 9 p.m., and it seemed not too crowded yet. We walked in. I looked around and saw that there were about 20 to 30 people already inside. There were people of all ages, but we were probably the youngest ones around, but not by far.

There was a place where you could leave your coats opposite the entrance. Above it was a big mirror. On the other side was a bar in a half circle.

A little bit further beyond the bar was a dance floor with some light balls on the ceiling. Beside the dance floor was the door which led to the toilet and ... .

So we put our coats in the cloakroom and I walked towards the bar to get a drink. The man behind the bar asked what we wanted to drink. I put in the order and while he was preparing the drinks he asked us if we were from this town because he couldn't remember that he'd seen us before.

"No, we haven't been here before. We just wanted to check the place out."

"OK, that's fine ... if you have questions, let us know."

He handed me the drinks and I walked towards the others.

"So what do you think, guys?" Kathy asked.

"Well, you want us to answer that after we've been here for ... what? ... four minutes?" Francis laughed.

"Oh, I thought you were the quick one of the four of you, Francis," she teased him back and he coloured just a bit when she said that.

"Leave him alone!" I said in his defence.

Kathy smiled and stuck out here tongue.

"David, could you please teach your girlfriend some manners, now that she is in a fine gay establishment?"

Instead of answering he looked around and then looked at me and said, "Well, if this is a fine establishment, I'm not sure I want to know where you went for dinner on your first date!"

"It looks nice," Andrew intervened, "and it has a nice atmosphere."

I thought he was right about that. The place looked comfortable with itself and the people in it ... not much tension. I can't say that we weren't checked out when we entered and I can't deny that we weren't looking around, checking people out too ... but still, there was no pressure.

Some men were holding hands, others were kissing, and a few were on the dance floor, doing their interpretation of dirty dancing.

So when Francis found a chair at the front of the bar to sit on, it only took me a few seconds before I decided where I wanted to be and I jumped on his lap. He looked kind of surprised but he smiled and put his arms around me.

"Ah, you're already getting comfortable, I see," Kathy said, smiling at Francis.

"I told you to leave him alone, Kathy! Go and have fun with your boyfriend."

"Yuck!!! Straight couple around," Peter said, perhaps a bit louder than he intended to do. Some of the men around us watched us and smiled towards Kathy to let her know that it was OK.

"Keep that up and I'm sure I'll be kicking one of your asses tonight, guys," Kathy said a little peevishly.

"I'm sure that David will be glad to help you out, Kathy," Andrew said this time.

"OK, that's enough! I think we'd better leave these guys to themselves. Will you dance with me, Kathy?" David said in a bit of a seductive way.

"Yea, let's leave these wimps here ... let's go!"

They walked to the dance floor, but were stopped just before they reached it by one of the bartenders. Hmmmm, a cutie if you ask me. I saw Kathy point in our direction and he came towards us.

"Hi, guys! I'm Rick, Kathy's nephew. I hope you have a good time. If you have any questions, let me know ... and do make yourselves feel at home."

"Thanks, Rick ... we will," we said, almost in unison.

"Hmmm, Nick, this is really nice, being here, being able to touch you without having to look around to see if someone is watching."

"I know, Francis," and I kissed him first on his cheek, then on his mouth. Slowly our lips started to do their normal lip dancing again. We'd not done that in some time, and it felt great.

"I think we'd better leave the lovebirds together, Peter."

"Hmmmm, good idea ... let's go dance."

They walked away from us and I looked back at the dance floor. Kathy and Dave were dancing closely and they were joined by Peter and Andrew, not far away.

"You want to dance, Nick?"

"No, let's just sit here together for a while."

So we stayed where we were. Sometimes we looked around but most of the time, our faces touched somehow or our eyes were closed.

I felt totally at ease when Francis started to run his hands over my chest, nipples and a bit higher to my neck.

He stopped for a moment so I turned my head a bit and, before I knew it, we were kissing again. I don't think that either of us had any idea at that moment how many people were looking at us or stealing a glance.

When we finished our drinks, I looked around again.

"While you get us another drink, Francis, I'll go to the toilet. But I expect you to be here when I get back."

"Hmmm, afraid I'll go after someone else?"

"No, I just want to be sure my warm seat is still here when I come back!"

"Just go, Nick. I'm not leaving."

I smiled at him and walked in the direction of the door which said toilet. Now I wasn't sure what I'd encounter ... a normal toilet area, or something more exotic. I'd seen that kind of thing on TV but I wasn't sure if all places had backrooms. I thought this place wouldn't have a backroom ... it definitely didn't look like such a place.

I opened the door, which led into a corridor and almost at the end, there was another door standing open. I walked towards it and there was the toilet area. No one was there so I just walked up and started to pee.

It felt comfortable to go as that there was no action going on. I was not sure how I would have responded to anything happening.

When I walked back to the bar, there was a nice pair of not too old men walking towards me. One of them smiled and I let him pass. Just as he got by, he pinched my ass. I didn't dare to look back and moved a bit faster.

I walked back into the bar. I saw Francis sitting in his chair. He was not alone. Some other guy was chatting with him. I slowly walked towards them and, when Francis saw me, he smiled. I decided to make it clear that he was mine. I walked past the men without saying anything and I sat down on Francis's lap again.

"Hi," I said. "Nice to meet you ... I'm Nick, Francis's boyfriend."

The man's face turned red. He said something about getting another drink and was gone.

"You are evil, Nick!"

"No, I just want to protect what is mine."

"That is exactly what I meant."

"Oh," I answered, and I felt my face turning red.

"Oh, you are cute when you're blushing, Nick. Come here, you deserve a ...." Instead of finishing his sentence, he kissed me slowly and passionately.

We finished our drinks and looked where the others were.

"Do you want to dance, Francis?"

"Do you, Nick?"

"It looks like fun, don't you think?"

"Hmmmm, yes ... but I like you here on my lap as well," he said as he played a little bit with my nipples through my shirt.

"To be honest, I think it's time that I got up, Francis ... otherwise, I'm not sure we'll be sitting here too much longer."

This time it was Francis who turned red.

"Busted, I think," he said.

"Well, shall we go then?"

I took him by the hand and we got up and started to walk towards the dance floor. Francis walked a bit behind me but I made sure that I held his hand. When we were almost at the dance floor, he moved up and got very close to me.

"Something wrong, Francis?" I knew what had happened and I saw his face turning red again.

"Don't worry, Francis. I got pinched before when I came out of the toilet."

"Oh, you did? And why didn't you tell me that?"

"I didn't think it meant that much. I got pinched on my bum in the past on more than one occasion."

We stepped onto the dance floor and we started to dance. The first song was pretty up tempo, so we danced a little bit away from each other. Then, when the music slowed down a bit, we started to dance more slowly and we touched each other several times.

I had no idea that Francis could dance so erotically. He matched my moves with his own, making sure that his body stayed almost in touch with mine. I got very hot from the fact that I could feel his body moving in the same rhythm as mine, moving in the same body space but still not touching. Our eyes were locked together and it seemed like we became more and more one instead of two.

Until now I'd never gotten this horny without touching each other but slow dancing like this brought a new feeling of being one together.

The next song was again a more up tempo song and Francis took my hand and started to slowly lead me into a faster dance style together on the dance floor. It seemed almost as if he, with his eyes, made it possible for me to follow his moves exactly. It must have looked as if we'd rehearsed this a thousand times. It felt like being in heaven.

I had no idea what was going on when the music stopped. I felt him come close by and start slowly to kiss me. Then suddenly I realised that the music had stopped and that people were looking at us ... some of them were even applauding. We stopped kissing and looked around us, embarrassed.

David walked towards us. "Hmmm, guys. Where in the world did you learn to dance like that?"

"I have no idea, David," I answered.

"I have had some lessons in the past to make sure that my presentation skills in gymnastics would improve."

"Well, it looked like you'd practised this a hundred times together!"

"We didn't, David. It happened without thinking."

Together with David we walked off the dance floor. As we walked back to our table, we got several "heys" and "well done" and "nice couple" and "looking good" from the others who'd been looking.

I'd had no idea they were looking at us and I felt a bit embarrassed but I also felt that we had reached a new plateau in our relationship ... something that went deeper than it had ever been before.
 

To be continued...

Posted: 01/08/16