Problems

Danny gave Jake an evil look as he reluctantly followed Bill towards the truck. Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance and then slowly followed after him.

At the hospital, Jake sat impatiently in the waiting area as Danny was being taken care of by the nurses. Bill had already left because he had to get his shipment to London later that night and thanks to this, he was already behind schedule. Jake tapped his feet on the shiny white hospital floor, nothing to do but sit and wait. He looked around the room reading the boring posters which offered him advice about various illnesses and problems, all of which he didn’t have. Then, he noticed the red payphone in the corner of the waiting room. It was as if it was calling him, luring him over, persuading him to pick it up. He had a few coins in his pocket and wondered if he should call his parents to let them know where he was. Then he thought about calling Danny’s parents. He knew that Danny really didn’t want him to, but he didn’t know why and deep down inside, he thought that they really ought to know what the situation was. He decided to do it. He didn’t understand what Danny was talking about. `They have to know` he thought as he walked over to the phone. He pulled the loose change out from his pocket, picked out what he needed and inserted it into the slot. He was just about to dial the number when he heard a voice say “alright then, you just need to change the dressing twice a week and I’ll see you in 2 weeks time”. The voice cut through his thoughts and brought him back into the real world! He had no time to react.

“Okay thank you”. Danny replied to the nurse.

Jake slammed the phone down and turned around quickly to see Daniel glaring at him from the other end of the empty white room.

“How did it go?” Jake blurted out trying to act casual, but Danny saw right though his act.

“You didn’t?!” Danny questioned sounding upset.

Jake paused for a second and just stared back at his friend with a blank facial expression. He considered trying to cover up what he was about to do before he was interrupted but decided that it was probably best to tell him the truth.

“Huh,” he groaned, “no, I didn’t ... but I was going to.”

Danny noticed the guilt in his body language as he looked down at the shiny white floor slouching, but he was still upset and annoyed by this; “But you promised me Jake, you promised me you wouldn’t say anything. You lied to me!”

At that moment, Jake knew that he had messed up. He could sense the hurt that he had caused Danny to feel as he hung his head in shame.

“Sorry Daniel”.

“Well that makes two of us then doesn’t it”.

“I just thought...”

“Well you thought wrong! ... Look, it doesn’t matter now anyway, let’s just go home, I’m tired. We can talk about this tomorrow”.

Jake didn’t say anything. There was nothing he could say, he felt so ashamed. They headed out of the hospital in silence. The bus journey back to the neighbourhood where the two young men lived was like torture. They went the whole way without saying a single word to one another. It wasn’t that they didn’t have anything to talk about; they clearly had a number of problems to sort out, but now was neither the time, nor the place. Daniel and Jake were both exhausted. They had been through so much in the last week or so that nothing really made sense any more. They needed time; Time to think, Time to adjust, Time to decide what they wanted in the future and how they were going to get what they wanted. Everything had been happening so quickly. It was like they were caught in a violent storm which was pushing them along giving them no control over where they were going or what they were doing. They needed it all to stop for a while.

***

11AM the next morning. Both boys were at home. Both were in their own beds. Both were safe, and their parents were relieved. They were both awake by now after sleeping better than they had ever slept before. Due to the extent of their mental and physical exhaustion the day before, they had no trouble sleeping at all regardless of everything that was going on in their mixed up minds. However, another thing they both shared was a problem. They knew that as soon as they got up out of bed, it would all start again. They would have to face the world once more, and the world included their parents.

All parents worry about their children, it’s only natural and of course, that’s the way it should be but at this moment in time, neither Jake or Daniel felt like answering a million questions. “What’s been going on?”, “Where have you been?”, “Why didn’t you tell us where you were going?” and so on. It was all so complicated, so confusing, so frustrating! They just couldn’t bare it. There was a part of both of them that wished they could just stay where they were forever. Safe, warm, comfortable, alone in their own beds, with nothing to do but lie down and think to themselves. However, they knew that this wasn’t going to happen. They had to get up eventually, and besides, the sooner they faced the world, the sooner they would be able to deal with their issues and get on with their lives.

Jake looked over at the small round digital alarm clock on the wooden cabinet beside his big king-sized bed. He just stared at the numbers and thought about how meaningless they were on their own. He thought about how, when those numbers were together in the way that they were, they had a purpose, to tell the time. Together they had meaning, but if you take a number out of the clock and look at it on its own, it’s useless; it’s just a number with no purpose, no meaning and no reason for existence. His head rolled back to its original position facing upwards towards the ceiling and Jake returned his thoughts to Danny. “You know,” the voice in his head said, “Those numbers are a lot like you and Danny. On your own your no good at all, you have no purpose in life but with him...with him you have a reason to be alive, - to make him happy, to respect him, care for him, be there for him...to love him!”.

When he thought that, a smile stretched across his beautiful face. He thought more about Danny and remembered how he felt about him. He remembered how he felt the day before when he sucked him off in the field behind the barn. That warm, fuzzy, happy feeling returned and he thought about how much he loved Danny. As Jake thought more deeply about the erotic events of the day before, he felt his cock start to twitch under the covers of his warm bed and he went to grab hold of it.

Bang bang bang!

Jake was disturbed from his thinking by a knock at his bedroom door.

“Yeah” he said hesitantly.

“It’s me” replied his mum’s voice, “I brought you some breakfast, I thought you might be hungry”.

Jake hadn’t even thought about food for ages. He realized how hungry he was when he heard his mother say those words. He hadn’t eaten anything substantial in days! The idea of breakfast sure sounded good to him!

“Come in” he replied, making sure his half stiff dick wasn’t visible through his covers.

His mother entered his room with a tray of food with a glass of milk on the side of it. Jake sat up in his bed, adjusting the pillows to make himself comfortable. His mother walked over and placed the tray on his lap. She looked him in the eye and smiled before patting him on the head like he was a dog or something. Jake looked back at her patiently, waiting for her to start with the questions. But then, to his surprise, she turned around and left the room. Although Jake was relieved at this, it sort of confused him a little because usually his mother would be the first person to worry and start getting hysterical, but this time she seemed completely normal. “What the hell?” he thought to himself staring into thin air and frowning, “Does she know what’s happened? ... Nah, how could she? ... Unless Danny ... nah, he didn’t want to tell anyone in the first place.” He was puzzled at his mother’s actions. “Oh fuck it,” he realised, “I’ve had enough of being confused! Just eat!” he thought. So Jake turned his attention to the food and started to fuel his eagerly waiting stomach.

***

Meanwhile back at Danny’s house, Danny had found the willpower to get his ass out of his pit. He got up, strolled over to the other side of his room and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His jaw dropped slightly when he saw himself. He looked a real mess! His hair was frizzy and was stuck to his head on one side where it had been resting on his pillow. His jaw line was covered with long whispey brown hairs where he hadn’t shaved in days. His left arm was led across his hid body, restricted by the sling which he now had to wear. “Fuck I need a shower!” he said to himself out loud, and with that he headed to the bathroom which was conveniently right next to his bedroom.

He walked in and locked the door with his one free hand, contemplating how difficult his life was going to be with just one hand for a little while. He removed his boxer shorts which he had slept in the night before. Although that sounds like a simple task, it took him about five frustrating minutes as he struggled to balance himself as he pulled them down with his one hand. “Fuck!” he thought to himself, “I’m gonna need some help with things in the next few weeks!”. He removed the sling and the bandages like the nurse had told him to do when he was going to shower. Now completely naked, he was in a huge amount of pain. He was forced to git his teeth and screw his face up as he reached up with his right hand and turned the shower on. Carefully he stepped in.

The warm water felt good as it trickled over his naked body. He groaned as he started to relax, feeling the liquid roll over him, caressing his young toned body. As Danny felt the warmth trickle over him, he felt his dick start to grow between his legs. He moaned again as waves rushed over his thickening cock sending waves of pleasure though his body. His now hard, wet rod jumped and twitched as the water massaged the head, brushing over the nerve endings. He threw his head back causing his face to move directly under the shower head. All of his troubles seemed to disappear as he reached for his cock with his left hand. “FUCK!” he screamed! The pleasure disappeared instantly and it was replaced with raw agony! He had forgotten about his arm. He thumped his other hand hard against the wall as his eyes winced and screwed up in pain. As the pain slowly subsided, he stopped punching the wall.

His cock was still hard and badly needed attention. He thought about Jake. He thought about the day before. He remembered how good it felt when Jake placed his cock in his mouth and sucked it like a professional until he came down his throat! His cock jumped up once more, twitching at the thought of Jake. Danny remembered the way that Jake slid his wet lips over his dick and caressed it with his tongue at the same time. He couldn’t take it, he grabbed his hard cock with his right hand this time, and started stroking it, doing his best to imitate the way that Jake had treated it the day before. He started off slowly and got faster and faster, trying to find a good rhythm. He pounded away at his meat, thinking about Jake the whole time. The pressure built and he felt like he was going to explode, he couldn’t last much longer. He dick twitched in his hand and he moaned in pleasure tipping his head back under the hot water allowing it to flow over his pulsating body. He felt his balls start to tighten and his round butt cheeks clenched together as he reached the point of no return. “Mmmmmm” he moaned as a stream of hot sticky white cum spurted out of the end of his dick over the floor of the shower! His mind shattering orgasm seemed to last forever as spurt after spurt of hot semen spilled out of his cock!

After he was satisfied with his session, he let go of his cock and let it flop back down between his legs. He grabbed the shower head and aimed it at the pool of thick white liquid which now covered the floor of the shower. He then continued to wash himself. As he covered his body with soap, he wondered what Jake was doing. He realised then, that they had left each other the day before, with so many problems left to deal with. He wondered how Jake must be feeling about this whole thing. If he was honest, Danny didn’t even know if they were really in a relationship. Would Jake still be interested in having a relationship with him after all of this? There was a lot which they desperately needed to sort out!

***

Later that day, back at the old wishing well where Danny had confessed his feelings to him, Jake was getting impatient. He reached into his deep pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. He searched through the menu system, menu, messages, inbox... until he found the text which Danny had sent him earlier that day. It read:

***
Jake, I’m sorry about how I acted yesterday, I know I fucked things up but I was just tired and confused I guess. I hope u can 4give me. If you wanna talk, meet me at the well at 6. Hopefully cya there.
Danny x.

He looked at the time at the top of the small, bright screen. 6 14. “Maybe he changed his mind” Jake thought to himself as he began to wonder if Daniel was going to show up at all. He considered giving up and heading home but decided to wait just a little while longer just in case.

The minutes ticked by and Jake was getting more and more worried. “What’s keeping him?” he thought. Tick, tock, tick, tock...time etched away and it was now coming up to 6.30, Danny was uncharacteristically late. He was usually organised and committed to what he said. In other words, if he said he was going to do something, he would do it. This got Jake thinking and before long his mind started running away with it and started jumping to conclusions. As he contemplated more and more about the situation he decided that it was obviously not that important to Danny for them to meet and sort things out. If it was important, he would have been there on time. Of course this was completely wrong but as most of us have experienced at some point in our lives, when you over-think things, sometimes you can reach a conclusion which seems realistic at the time, but in reality, is a long way away from the truth. Jake had built up a scenario in his mind which was untrue, however, it annoyed him and he decided that if Danny didn’t want to show up on time and try to sort out the problems between them, then he didn’t want to be there either! He was just about to leave when he heard the sound of panting behind him.

“Finally you decide to show your face!” Jake moaned as he turned to see an out of breath Danny approaching the wishing well. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here?!”

Danny was still trying to catch his breath before he responded, “I know... I’m sorry...I got here as fast...as I could!”

“Fuck man!” Jake commented, “you look like your gonna have a heart attack or something! Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll be alright, I jus...I just need to...to rest a sec”

Jake saw how worn out Danny was and wondered why he was so out of breath, he can’t have ran that far, the bus stop was only around the corner, and he couldn’t possibly have ran all the way from his house because that’s miles away! He noticed Danny slump down, putting his hands on his knees and bending his back as he struggled to regain control of his lungs.

“Come on lets go sit down, there’s a cafe around the corner, I think it’s still open” Jake said as he reached out and grabbed Danny’s arm, giving him a helping hand while Danny struggled to breath.

“Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Daniel yelled out in agony!

“OH SHIT!” Jake exclaimed apologetically, “Sorry man I forgot about the arm. What happened to the bandages?”

Danny just looked at him angrily, holding his broken arm with his working one.

“Ok, you can tell me later, I am really sorry though. Let’s go sit down.

The atmosphere was thick and heavy again. They’re problem solving hadn’t started well at all!

***

The two young men were now at the small cafe which was situated just around the corner from the old wishing well. They were sat alone at they’re table, nobody else in the building except them and the very kind old lady who worked there. This small, quiet building was the perfect place for them to sit and talk. It was distraction free and comfortable. However, to begin with, the cafe was even quieter because neither Jake nor Danny knew what they should say. Eventually the silence was broken when Jake asked a question;

“So, how did you sleep?”

“Well thanks. ... How about you?”

“Like a log” Jake smiled.

There was an awkward pause.

“Look Jake, about yesterday, I...”

“Danny you don’t need to explain anything that you did yesterday to me. It was a bad day and I completely understand why you were angry with me.” Jake interrupted. “I had no right to tell your parents, or anyone else for that matter, about anything which you don’t want to tell them. I was just a little confused that’s all. I couldn’t understand why you didn’t want to tell them.”

“I do want to tell them Jake but I can’t!” Danny replied, “I tried to explain it to you but it wasn’t easy. I was tired, confused, angry, upset and happy all at the same time. It was too much Jake! I felt like I was going crazy! You didn’t exactly make it any easier to explain to you because you weren’t listening to me. You just kept interrupting, trying to convince me that it was all going to be fine, but i know that it wouldn’t be fine and you wouldn’t let me tell you why. That’s what made me mad, more than anything else.”

Jake stared sadly down at the cup of coffee on the shiny steel table in front of him.

“I’m sorry about that Danny, but I was just trying to help”

“I know you were Jake, and in most circumstances, you’re great at making me feel better, but this time, you were making it worse. It’s ok though, I have thought about it now and I understand why everything that happened yesterday did happen. I just wish some of it didn’t.”

“Me too.”

Danny chuckled, “There were SOME good bits though”.

“Haha, yes.” Jake chuckled back as he winked.

They were then brought back into the real world when they heard a suggestive cough from the old lady who worked in the cafe. The boys laughed as they turned to look at her with cheeky grins on both their faces. She smiled back with one eyebrow raised and then went back to reading her book.

“Ok then, well let’s put yesterday behind us and concentrate on now shall we?” Jake suggested in a much better mood after their chat.

“You know what, that’s the best idea you’ve had in a very long time.” Danny answered. “Apart from the idea to save my life obviously, and there is one part of yesterday which I will never forget, and I think you know which part that is!”

“I have a pretty good idea.” Jake grinned.

“You know,” Danny then said flirtatiously, “my parents are away at my aunt’s house tonight. I asked them for some space and as it turned out; my aunt is having a dinner party tonight so I will be all alone when I get home. Sure will be boring!” he commented suggestively.

“Hmmm, well I could always keep you company, I’m sure we can think of something to do so you won’t be bored.” Jake winked again.

“Sounds like a plan. Lets go.”

They gathered their things and headed out of the cafe, thanking the old lady on the way out of the door.

“So what did happen to your bandages?” Jake asked on their way to the bus stop, “And why were you so out of breath?”

“Oh, long story” Danny responded reluctantly.

“Well, we have all night, and I promise I won’t interrupt” Jake laughed.

“Huh, ok” Danny said as he began to explain the story of his journey to the well, and why he was so late. As he explained during the bus journey home, Jake had realised that he was hasty earlier on when his thought that the meeting was not important to Danny. He now knew that actually, it was very important to him and that he was willing to go through hell itself just to be with him, so that they could make it right again. They had certainly done that, everything now was sorted out. They had put the past week’s events behind them. They were heading back to Danny’s house for what was setup to be the best night of their young lives!

***

Back at Danny’s house, everything was great as Danny turned the cold silver key, locking his front door as Jake made himself comfortable on the soft, black, leather sofa. Jake had been to Danny’s house hundreds of times in the past, of course he had, they were best friends, but this time, it was different. It felt special. It was the first time he had been there since they had become more than just friends. He couldn’t stop smiling. He was elated with their newly evolved relationship.

“Hey, I got this new movie the other day and I haven’t seen it yet, you wanna watch it? If we get bored we can always turn it off.” Danny asked.

“Sure, why not, the night is young” Jake replied. “What’s it about?”

“I’m not really sure if I’m honest, it was a gift” Danny answered, turning the DVD case in his hands to read the description on the back. “It’s basically a romantic comedy,” he laughed, “it’s about a couple called Jay and Mary who find their relationship in trouble when Jay thinks he is falling in love with Mary’s gay best friend Joshua. Sound’s fun.”

“Yeah, I agree, put it on”.

“I’ll tell you what,” Danny suggested, “you put the movie on and I’ll go get us some snacks”.

“Sounds good to me” Jake responded, giggling before he winked suggestively saying “what kind of snacks?” in a seductive tone.

“It’s so sexy when you do that” Danny murmured looking back at Jake across the living room as he stood in the doorway, which leads to the kitchen.

“Do what?”

Danny paused, blushing before shyly answering, “never mind” with a cute smile.

***

The DVD case clicked as Jake closed it just before he headed back to the sofa. As he sat back down, his senses were aroused as the sweet smell of delicious pop corn wafted into the living room through the open kitchen door. The smell took him back to when he and Danny were just small children. He had so many great memories of sitting exactly where he was sat right now, watching movies, playing video games, board games and generally having fun with his best friend. They would always have snacks, usually brought to them by jakes mum. Pop corn was both of their favourites. Jake was taken by surprise as Danny sat down next to him making the sofa move slightly.

“What are you thinking about babe?” Danny asked, placing the bowl of warm sticky pop corn on the cushion between them.

“Hmmm, I was just thinking about the great things we used to do when we were kids you know?” Jake replied, smiling at the way Danny used the word `babe`.

“Yeah we had a lot of fun times” Danny agreed looking into Jake’s cool blue eyes.

Jake smiled, acknowledging the loving eye contact. They gazed into each other’s eyes for what seemed like a week, the world with all of its troubles seemingly disappearing as they lost themselves in the special moment. They finally came back into the real world when Jake said, “anyway, are we gonna watch this movie or not?”

“Yeah put it on”. Danny replied turning his attention to the screen.

Jake pressed play on the remote control and the movie started to play. The movie was very romantic and very funny too and both boys were really enjoying it but really, they’re concentration was mainly on each other. They couldn’t help but take their eyes off of the movie every few minutes or so to check each other out. Of course they both knew that the other was checking them out, and they didn’t mind, knowing that the other was enjoying the attention just as much as they were. The pop corn bowl was getting emptied quickly and they had to reach right to the bottom to get to it. As it got to the last few pieces of pop corn, they’re hands met it the bowl and they turned to look at each other grinning like idiots, both thinking how cheesy the moment was. This time though, instead of turning their attention back to the movie, they kept looking at each other. Danny watched Jake’s bright blue eyes light up as they scrolled up and down his body, and Danny’s did the same thing, checking out Jake’s hot torso through his tight blue t-shirt.

Danny looked back up at Jake’s attractive face, contemplating how unbelievably good looking he was. Jake noticed him looking at his face and looked lustfully into Danny’s big, beautiful brown eyes. He saw desire. The atmosphere was getting steamy as the intense eye contact seemed to go on forever. Keeping his eyes locked on his lover’s, Danny leaned towards Jake, stopping just before his rosy red lips were about to meet Jake’s plump pink ones. Jake completed the movement, locking his lips onto Danny’s, breaking the lustful eye contact when his eye lids closed tightly allowing him to concentrate only on the passionate kiss.

“Mmmmmm” Danny moaned as Jake massaged his tongue with his own.

This was by far the best kiss they had shared so far. This time, the atmosphere was perfect. They were both completely comfortable with each other which meant that they could enjoy every second. The outside world disappeared again as they floated away into their own paradise. The kiss got hotter and hotter, only breaking for a second at a time when they needed air. Their tongues danced together in lustful passion. Their hot lips locked together, massaging, caressing, taking them to new heights, melting into the moist softness of the love locked moment.

They edged closer to each other on the sofa, never breaking the kiss, the movie still playing in the background. Danny opened his eyes to see Jake already staring scintillatingly into his soul. They passionate kiss got even hotter when their eyes locked as well as their lips. It was like they moulded into one when their warm hard bodies touched and intertwined with each other. Their hands found their way onto each other and began exploring, roaming over each other’s firm, hot bodies. Jake was very careful not to hurt his lover, remembering not to go anywhere near the broken arm which rested motionless at Danny’s side. Danny noticed Jake’s attention being distracted, knowing straight away what was causing the distraction. Jake knew though that Danny wasn’t going to let it get in the way when Danny’s right hand (the non-broken one) found its way to Jake’s crotch. When it got there, Danny found that Jake’s cock was rock hard and throbbing against his trousers. Still maintaining the passionate kiss and lustful eye contact, Jake winked when Danny felt his cock. Danny shuddered. He loved it when Jake winked at him, and now he knew that when Jake questioned him earlier, he must have known exactly what he was talking about. Jake knew that Danny was talking about the winking, he just wanted to hear Danny say it. Danny gently broke the kiss, rubbing his nose against Jake’s.

“Fucking tease” Danny whispered.

“Hmhmmmm” Jake giggled sexily, looking down at Danny’s crotch to examine the bulging tent in his trousers.

Danny placed his right hand firmly on Jake’s hard chest. Jake’s eyes looked back up sharply to Danny’s hungry brown orbs. He pushed Jake down, his head now resting on the arm of the sofa.

“What are you gonna do now?” purred Jake’s deep sexy voice.

Danny didn’t answer. Instead he lowered himself down and pecked Jake lightly on the lips, then his neck. He placed his hand under Jake’s t-shirt, feeling his tight abs. He pushed his hand upwards towards his mid-torso and up towards his hard, smooth chest, unveiling the gorgeous sculpted body as the t-shirt was pushed upward. Jake reached down and grabbed the bottom of his top, wrenching it up over his head leaving him led topless on the sofa. Danny wasted no time getting to work on the stunning piece of art which lay before him, immediately circling Jake’s hardening nipples with his wet tongue.

“Oh yeah!” Jake moaned enjoying the feeling.

“You like that baby?” Danny asked quickly.

“Yeeeaaaaaahhh!” came the reply.

“How about this?” Danny asked before biting down gently on Jake’s left nipple causing Jake’s body to jump and shudder.

“Ah!” he flinched, “oh god, do that again!”.

Danny complied, nibbling gently once more on his left love lump. Jake felt waves of ecstasy flow through him as the sharp pain faded into pure bliss. Danny flicked his tongue over the nipple one last time before kissing it, then, slowly, kissing his way down Jake’s hot, beating chest down to the top of his perfect abs. Each kiss was laced with love and lust as he made his way flirtatiously down to his navel, which he kissed before diving into it with his tongue. This made Jake squirm. His cock was now so hard, he thought his trousers were going to rip under the immense force.

“And you said I was a tease” Jake managed to say through his heavy breath.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, reality returning unexpectedly and uninvited. They both froze, looking each other coldly in the eyes, panic written on their faces!

“Oh...my...god!” came a voice. “What the hell is going on in here?”.

The level of raw shock was so high that neither Danny nor Jake could move, never mind manage an answer. After a few more seconds of frozen silence, Danny, still straddling Jake’s legs with his head just above his crotch, managed to hesitantly turn his head to look at the figure which stood in the doorway behind him. It was Danny’s dad. Danny just stared fearfully at his dad, waiting to see how he would react to what he’d walked in on. He gazed into his dad’s hate-filled green eyes as they drifted to the TV, and the gay kissing scene which dominated the screen.

“Danny...?” Jake said in a low, questioning voice. There was no reply so he tried again. “Danny who is it?”

“It’s umm...it’s my dad” Danny responded awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

“Oh fuck!” Jake blurted out .

“Oh fuck indeed!” Danny’s dad bellowed, anger, hurt and confusion laced in his response.

Danny shakily began to move himself up off of Jake’s legs, releasing his no longer secret lover from underneath him. Jake pulled his legs up towards his torso and then swung them round onto the floor, reaching for his t-shirt as he stood up. Danny also stood up and moved backwards to stand at his lover’s side for moral support. Jake put his t-shirt on and the boys just stood there looking awkwardly at Danny’s father.

“Daniel...” his father said in that voice which only an angry father can produce, “what the fuck are you boy’s doing in my living room?!”

His voice wasn’t at all loud or harsh or loud. It was simple, lacking any emotion. Danny looked at Jake, unable to speak and Jake saw the emotion, he saw the pressure building within Danny’s eyes. He grabbed Danny’s hand for reassurance. It was shaking and sweaty.

“Well...” Danny explained hesitantly, “me and Jake...umm...well...see, the thing is...”.

“SPIT IT OUT BOY!” His dad yelled, pure rage now in his voice and body language.

Danny’s hand tightened around Jake’s and his whole body started to shake. Tears welled up in his emotional pressure filled brown eyes and he felt pure fear, not for the first time in his recent life.

“It’s ok Danny.” Jake stated bravely.

“NO!” screamed Daniel’s dad, “NO IT ISN’T FUCKING OK! Who do you think you are anyway Jake?! You come here to my house, uninvited, then when I get back I find you watching a gay movie and making out with my son. AND YOU THINK THAT’S OK?!!!”

Jake felt angry, he didn’t like being pushed and intimidated like this, causing him to courageously fight back. “YES! As a matter of fact I do think that’s ok, if he was with a girl you wouldn’t react so ridiculously! Just because you can’t handle the fact that your son is gay, doesn’t make that his fault, or mine! It’s your problem, NOT OURS!”

Danny looked at Jake, amazed at what he had just said to the much stronger, bigger, more powerful man before them. His jaw actually dropped slightly. He stared at Jake. He was now more in love with him than ever! He felt slightly less scared but the feeling of security was short lived!

“How dare you!” remarked the older man who yelled punishingly loudly. “How FUCKING DARE YOU! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

“Never!” Jake yelled, standing his ground, “I would never leave Danny alone with someone in your state ... ever! You’re crazy!”

“I said...get out!” he this time in a regular, fairly calm voice and he pointed at the door.

Jake turned to face Danny.

“Come on Daniel” Jake said, “I want you to come home with me, I’m not leaving you here with him!”

Danny hesitated, unsure of what he should do. He knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to go with Jake of course, but he knew that if he did, he would risk losing everything he had, apart from Jake of course, but if he left, he knew he would never be allowed back into that house ever again, and that scared him! He was angry and hurt by his dad’s reaction, but he was still his dad, and Danny didn’t want to lose him, or his mother.

“...Danny?” Jake questioned breaking the thought process.

“I don’t know Jake” Danny responded blandly.

“What don’t you know Daniel?!” Jake responded aggressively, “Are you telling me that you want to stay here with him?!”

“FUCK OFF YOU LITTLE BRAT!” yelled Daniel’s father very angrily, “WHO ARE YOU CALLING HIM!? I’M HIS DAD! HE’LL DO AS I SAY! DANNY GO UPSTAIRS NOW!”

“NO DAD!” Daniel finally responded triumphantly. “NO! I’m not a kid anymore! You don’t control me. I can make my own decisions!”.

With that, Danny squeezed Jake’s hand and said, “Come on babe let’s get out of here”.

Jake smiled and looked into Danny’s eyes, relieved at what he just said, but it was wiped straight off again!

SMACK!

Jake hit the floor!

“OH MY GOD!” Danny screeched! “WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE!”

He charged at his dad, anger getting the better of him!

“I HATE YOU!” he bellowed at the top of his voice!

He tried to hit his father but the older man was too strong for him, pushing his back causing him to fly backwards across the room!

“Aahhhhhhh!!!” he yelped as he landed on his broken arm. “FUCK! Aaaahhhaaaaahhh!” he was in complete agony, pain took over his whole body. He cried and screamed repeatedly but nobody could help him!

His father approached him. He had been pushed over the limit, Daniel’s father was beyond the point of no return! He wasn’t himself, fury had taken all control away from him, mind and soul!

He got to where Danny was led, rolling in agony on the hard floor, he proceeded to beat his son, kicking him with massive strength. Danny continued to scream, yell and cry out for help! None came, he was on his own. Jake was unconscious on the ground at the other end of the room. His own dad was so angry at him that he was able to physically attack him! Not for the first time that week, Daniel feared for his young life.

He continued to take relentless blows to his weakened body. Time ticked by and the pain only worsened. He cried out but the beating continued. Again and again the hard force of the steel toe capped boots struck him. It was only when the older man began to tire that Danny managed to find the strength to reach out and grab onto his dad’s strong, muscled leg as he kicked. He pulled with all his remaining strength, causing his dad trip and fall violently onto his back. While he was down, Daniel seized his opportunity to get out of there! He stumbled as quickly as he could manage to the doorway and out into the hallway. He heard his dad calling after him, now even more furious than before. He clambered clumsily up the wooden stairway, reaching the top just as his dad reached the bottom. The older man was much quicker and had much more strength. Danny knew he had to shift! He reached his room as his dad got to the top of the stairs, slamming the thick wooden door so hard that it shook, he felt a small amount of relief but the fear remained.

He whimpered as his father’s strong hand smashed against the wooden door! The full force of his dad’s mighty strength sent shock waves through the entire building. The door shot open sending Danny flying backwards through the air once more. He landed on his ass at the other end of his bedroom by the window!

***
Boom! The horrifying and unmistakeable sound of the wooden door being ripped violently from its hinges. Daniel pulled his knees in as close to his chest as he could and huddled himself tightly into a compact corner of his room. He braced himself for what he knew was about to happen to him.
Smack!

Darkness...
...Silence...
...Stillness in time...

***

Morning. Daniel woke up suddenly to the sound of shouting downstairs. His eyes shot open like a greyhound out of the start gate at the beginning of an intense race. He found himself on the floor of his room. His back was against the hard, cold wall and his legs were folded around the 90 degree angle of the corner of the room. His right arm ached where he had been led on it. He tried to move his numb, tingling right arm out from underneath his stomach but it wouldn’t move. No matter how hard he struggled to pull his arm out from underneath him, it wouldn’t budge. Slowly the numbness started to die and it was replaced with unbearable and intense pain. That’s when Daniel realised, he was lying in a shallow pool of his own blood, and his heart started racing as he realised all of a sudden, the indescribable agony he was in. He remembered what had happened the night before.

***

The pain was unbearable. He now had two broken arms and was bleeding heavily. The shouting continued downstairs and he wondered who it was and what was going on. He wondered if his dad was still there. Was it him doing the shouting? He was scared but mainly he worried about Jake! Was he alright? He had to find out! However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move.

“JAKE?!” he yelled.

There was no reply.

“JAKE ARE YOU THERE?! Is anybody there?” he cried.

“WHO’S THERE?!” came a strange female voice.

Danny paused, unsure what was happening.

“What?” Danny asked confused.

The woman entered Danny’s bedroom. She was a nurse.

“Okay we have another one up here!” she yelled, “Another male, teen, in a very bad way! Let’s get some guys up here as well!”

“What’s going on?” Danny asked confused, “Another one? Oh my god please tell me that Jake’s alright!”

“Let’s worry about you for now, the other boy is in a bad way but he should be alright, I’m more concerned for you right now, you’re bleeding heavily.” The nurse answered truthfully.

“Yes I know but...”

“No buts!” She interrupted, “We have to stop this bleeding now! Can you tell me your name?”

“Yes, it’s Daniel, what happened to my dad?”

“Well, Daniel, everything is going be fine, your dad is fine, he has told us what happened and he is giving a statement to the police. We’re going to have to move you down to the ambulance and get you into hospital. Can you just confirm that you understand that for me?”

“Yes, but I really need to see Jake, please tell me that he isn’t hurt!”

“Like I said, he should be alright. We’re going to take him to hospital too as a precaution and get him checked over but we need to sort you out first.”

Two other men entered the room, they were male nurses and they were carrying a stretcher. The strong men placed the stretcher on the floor next to where Danny was laying.

“Alright Daniel, we’re going to move you onto the stretcher now. Can you move at all under your own power?” asked one of the male nurses in a gentle caring tone.

“I can’t move my arms, the right one was already broken,” he answered, “but I can move my legs I think”.

“Alright well we’ll do our best to keep the pain to a minimum but it will probably hurt a little bit because we will need to move your arms”.

The two men gently manoeuvred Danny onto the stretcher and although he did feel some pain, it was nothing compared to what he’d felt the night before. The nurses wasted no time in getting him out of the house and into the ambulance.

On the way to the hospital, they got the bleeding under control and made sure that Danny was as comfortable as possible. They talked to him about what was going on. They told him that the reason that they only got to him after he woke up was because they had only just got there themselves and were caught up with Jake. The nurses also told him that Jake was already there at the hospital and was fine apart from a headache and a small cut and a bruise on his face. Danny was relieved to hear that Jake was ok and at last felt some reassurance that things, for now, were under control.

***

Danny lay unconscious on the hospital bed after a long and difficult operation. Jake sat quietly by his side, simply watching him sleep. He had been out for almost twelve hours now and he was due to wake soon. They had discovered in the ambulance on the way to the hospital that Danny had indeed broken both of his arms and the left arm, which was the one he’d broken when diving out of the way of the truck, needed a metal plate in it. However, in the end, this turned out not to be the biggest worry. All of that kicking had left Danny with a punctured lung. That’s where all of the bleeding must have come from. It had been caused by a broken rib which had actually completely snapped under the sheer force of the beating. This was the main reason why they needed to operate fast, and why the operation was so difficult and risky. There was a chance that if the operation was unsuccessful, Danny may even have lost his life! It was also the main reason why Danny would never want to see or hear from his father ever again! Thankfully, the operation had gone very well and now they were just waiting for Danny to wake up after the heavy anaesthetic drugs had worn off. He was likely to still be in a lot of pain and Jake was worried about what was going to happen once he woke up. However, whatever happened, he wanted to be there when it did.

Jake was exhausted, he needed nothing more than a good night’s sleep. His whole life was a mess recently. The madness that had gone on had left him feeling deflated and worn out. He was beginning to wonder how much longer he could stay awake. His head was still hurting from the nasty blow he had received the night before. Still, he cared so much about Danny that no matter how he felt, he was going to stay up so he could be there for Danny when he woke up. Jake was sure that Danny was going to be in a lot of pain and that he would need someone there to comfort him and offer him moral support. To Jake, this was far more important than how tired he felt or how much his head hurt. He loved Danny and felt that he would do anything for him.

Another half hour or so passed and still, there was no sign of Danny waking up. Jake was now getting increasingly disturbed by the lack of movement. He stood up from the comfortable, worn brown leather chair and walked nervously over to the window which sat at the other end of the dull, uninteresting, plain white hospital room. Leaning on the window ledge with both hands, he looked down at the people below. The people were simply living their lives, just doing what they had to do to get by. The hospital was close to the town centre. This meant that the people below were not all there on hospital related business, they were just normal everyday people doing normal everyday things. Jake saw many different things going on. Everyone down on that street had something different going on. There were mothers with their young children carrying bags of shopping, teenagers just hanging around chatting to each other and messing around having fun, old ladies popping to the bank or the post office to collect their pensions. The thing they all had in common was that they were all just getting on with their `normal` lives. Gazing down thoughtfully, Jake contemplated recent events in his own life. He considered how `un-normal` his and Danny’s lives had been recently. He wondered if life would ever be `normal` for them. But then he thought to himself, what is `normal`? Is there any such thing? Everybody’s different right? So how can `normal` even exist?

Jake turned his head away from the window to glance back at Danny. Even though he was unconscious and in a very bad way, he still looked cute. His chiselled facial features were highlighted by the overhead lighting. He really was one seriously gorgeous boy! Jake so badly wanted to tell him how much he loved him and how badly he needed him. He walked back over to the small bed and knelt by his lover’s side resting his folded arms on the side of the bed. He placed his head on his own arms and looked up at Danny’s bright young face. He watched his dry lips as they got ever so slightly wider and then narrower again as Danny heavily drew in air and then exhaled it all out again. He hadn’t seen Danny awake since the incident the night before with his dad. He was so desperate to speak to him, or even just look into his beautiful eyes. It seemed like such a long time since he had seen those big brown eyes and he was desperate, almost to the point where he wanted to grab Danny and shake him until he woke. But he knew he couldn’t. All he could do was wait. Jake hated it!

“Is he still out?” said one of the nurses to Jake as she stood in the doorway of the small white room watching him, the light pouring in from the well lit corridor.

“Yeah” Jake sighed, “is that normal?”

“That he is still asleep you mean?” she questioned.

“Yeah” Jake nodded in agreement.

“Well it depends on the patient, some wake up really early, some later. It’s just one of those things but listen, don’t worry! He’ll wake up in his own time and everything will be just fine, you’ll see”.

“I hope so” he answered glumly.

Jake felt comforted by what she had said and he smiled at the kind lady before she returned the friendly smile and returned to her job, leaving the doorway and heading back into the bright corridor. Then, remarkably, Jake noticed the first sign of Danny’s return to reality. Jake felt elated and excited when he saw Danny’s hand twitch, lifting up off of the white sheet and then returning to its original position. Jake leapt up onto his feet before placing his hand gently on top of Danny’s. Danny’s hand twitched again at his touch.

“Danny?” Jake whispered softly, curious to see if he would get a response.

Danny’s hand moved again, but this time it slowly rotated, flipping over, placing it on top of Jake’s hand. This told Jake that Danny was conscious again, but his eyes remained closed. Jake wondered why he didn’t open them, he was slightly concerned that he was clearly conscious and yet unable to talk or open his eyes. His concern grew with every passing second and his heart beat began to rise. Jake nervously watched his lover and best friend’s face with heavy concentration as Danny’s mouth slowly opened again.

“Jake” was what softly emerged from his dry weak lips.

The tone was gentle and quiet and it was hardly a ground breaking statement, but it was enough!

“Danny! Oh Danny, I’m so happy your awake.” Jake said elated as he massaged his lover’s hand with his own before alerting the nurses by pressing the `attention` button on the panel beside the bed.

The kind nurse from earlier immediately re-appeared in the doorway and entered the room with haste.

“What can I do?” she asked quickly.

“He’s awake.” Jake responded, joy in his voice.

“Alright, I will inform the doctor right away. I told you everything would be fine” she said with a smile.

“Thank you so much for your help” Jake said gratefully.

“Aww that’s ok, it’s all part of the job” the friendly nurse replied.

Then, at last, it happened. The moment which Jake had been waiting for all day! Danny’s eye’s slowly widened revealing the bright, beauty of those bewildering brown orbs. Jake’s smile said it all, he was the happiest he had ever been, just to see those beautiful eyes again. That one simple, wonderful sight made him feel like the happiest man on earth. Danny was in pain, but even so, seeing the huge smile on Jake’s face after his eyes had adjusted to the light, put a grin on his own face. Danny’s lips opened again but this time he managed to say something more substantial;

“I love you Jake”.

There was a short pause.

“I love you Danny”.

The emotion in Jake’s voice told Danny that he really meant what he said. A single tear drop fell from the corner of Jake’s deep blue eye, like a drop of water from a deep blue ocean. It rolled down his smooth cheek as he leant over and very gently placed his head on Danny’s left shoulder. Danny too was moved to tears and he turned his head to softly kiss the man he loved on his neck. It was a moment which they would both cherish for the rest of their lives. There was magic in the air and no amount of tiredness, pain or suffering could have ruined the moment!

***

A few days later, Danny was sat up in the hospital bed speaking with the nurse about the pain killers he was taking. The nurse told him that his progress was astounding and that she thought he was ready to reduce the dosage which he needed to take. At that moment, Jake came bursting into the room with the biggest smile stretching across his gorgeous face.

“What are you so happy about?” Danny questioned, grinning foolishly at his lover.

“I have some good news” Jake replied vibrantly.

“Oh yes?” Danny responded intrigued as the nurse left the room.

“Yeah baby!” he had such a cute grin.

There was a slight pause as they both smiled stupidly at each other.

“Well? ... Go on then!” Danny chuckled.

“Well I have just been speaking to your doctor, you know the guy who is in charge of all the patients in this part of the hospital?”

“Yeah I know of him why?” Danny answered eager to hear the good news.

“Well he was telling me how amazed he is at how quickly you’re recovering from the operation. He said he’s never seen anything like it! He...”

“Jake!” Danny interrupted with a bit of a giggle, “What are you trying to tell me?”

“You’re allowed to go home baby!”

Danny smiled broadly back at Jake, overjoyed with the news, but then, the smile disappeared as he gloomily asked; “where is home?”

Danny hadn’t heard from his dad since the night he and Jake had been caught making out in front of a movie. That suited Danny just fine, as far as he was concerned, it was fine if he never heard from that horrible, evil animal ever again! He hated that man, no matter how hard he tried, he knew that he could never forgive him for what he had done! His own father meant nothing to him anymore! If he could do something like this to him, then he didn’t even deserve to be thought about! However, now that he had lost contact with his dad, he had also lost his home, along with the rest of his family. His father had always very much been the head of the family and what he wanted everyone to do was what everyone would do! It was strict, hard at times but everyone always went along with it because of the power which he had over them. They were scared of him. Of course in front of other people, he didn’t act like that at all. Jake for example, in all the years he had known him, would never have thought of him as that kind of man. Danny had tried to tell Jake that his father wouldn’t understand the fact that he was gay, but because Jake didn’t know what kind of man he really was, Jake didn’t understand what Danny was talking about. That’s why they had fallen out with each other after their experience at the abandoned farm. That’s why Danny had run away from Jake, and that’s why he had broken his arm diving out of the way of the truck! Basically, in one way or another, all of the recent bad events were his dad’s fault! Danny knew that his father would probably not want any member of the family to be involved with him after what happened. This made him sad, but it was just something which he was going to have to get used to. Then, the element of sadness faded and was replaced with joy and warmth as Jake spoke;

“Don’t be stupid Danny, you know that I didn’t mean that! I would never expect you to go back there after what that monster did to you! If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t even be here right now! You are moving in with me at my parent’s house.”

“What? Really?” Danny asked a little taken back by the statement. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a pain. I mean, what do your parents think? I bet they...”

“Danny relax! I’ve already spoken with them about it and there is plenty of space. You are practically part of the family anyway! Everything is sorted. They know about us and they’re fine with everything. It’s totally fine! I’ve even arranged for us to get your stuff from your dad’s house. It’s gonna be alright I promise! Maybe one day soon, we can even get our own place!” he smiled, and kissed Danny passionately on the lips.

“Oh my god, this is a surprise! I hadn’t even thought about this yet. Thank you Jake, I really mean it! You have been so kind and thoughtful. I don’t know what I would have done without you. I’m gonna have to do something pretty special to make it up to you!” he laughed.

“Danny really, it’s fine! I will always be here for you and you know it!”

“So when can we go?” Danny asked a little startled at how sudden this had been.

“As soon as you’re ready baby!”.

“Wow,” Danny remarked, “I can’t believe it, I love you so much Jake!”.

“I love you too baby” Jake winked.

That wink was becoming something of a trademark of his. It always sent a shiver up Danny’s spine. He just couldn’t get enough of it and Jake knew it!

“Fuck I wanna kiss you!” Danny stated in a seductive tone.

“Just a kiss?” Jake asked sarcastically, “Is that all I get for all that you’ve put me through?”

“You’re such a big fool!” Danny giggled, “We’ll have to wait and see what we get up to when we get home. Maybe I can thank you in some other way!”

This time, it was Danny’s turn to wink at Jake and Jake found that it made him just as crazy as it made Danny when he did it. They smiled at each other and lost themselves in the depths of each other’s eyes like they always did.

“I guess something good did come out of all this shit after all” Danny suggested.

“Yeah?” Jake asked, “What’s that?”

“We get to live together...”

“Yep”

“And sleep together...”

“Yep”

“In the same bed, every night!” Danny hinted suggestively.

Jake responded with another loving kiss and said with a laugh; “I guess this officially makes us boyfriends!”. Danny laughed back before Jake continued; “come on boyfriend, let’s go home!”

THE END.