Tangled - Part Fifteen

*** PART 38 : Homecoming

Kevin decided to stay on so he quit his company and joined Lee’s company. Derek Jones, Lee’s associate was glad of the help because he’d been running the company on his own since the accident. I gave Kevin the keys to my apartment and told him he was welcome to stay there as long as he wanted to. Jack, of course, had moved in with Danny a while ago and when I was discharged, I moved into Lee’s apartment. It was full of memories but I was glad of that. I knew it was going to take me a long time to get over him and I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to forget him.

Derek had continued the construction of our house on the beach and it was almost finished.
Danny was single-handedly running The Gallery and he kept pestering me to come back to work.

The guys gave me a welcome home party in Lee’s . . my apartment when I was discharged. Although I was not in the right frame of mind for it, I pretended to enjoy myself. Jack and Danny had invited several of our friends and it seemed as if everyone had a fairly good time. I could tell that most of them were treading around me carefully, afraid to say anything that might send me into floods of tears.

Derek Jones, Lee’s associate, who was now working closely with Kevin was there along with Darren and Clive. Kevin had also invited Gary and Jacob but they were away at the moment and were unable to come. I was glad of this because I didn’t think that I would be able to face them just yet. At one point, Kevin, Danny and I were standing talking softly, drinks in hand.

Kevin, who was now sort of working with Derek, was intrigued by the tall, dark-haired, good-looking man. Derek was about thirty, thirty-one with bright turquoise eyes and very dark, longish hair. His build was slim but athletic. He had a lovely nature, quiet, a little shy, but with a wonderfully infectious gurgling laugh. At one point, he was chatting to Jack. Kevin watched him carefully and then came over to Danny and I.

"That Derek is awfully cute! Gorgeous eyes!" Kevin said softly. "But I can't make him out! My gaydar doesn't seem to work with him!"
"Neither can I!" Danny said. “He’s seems so closed up.”
"Go and talk to him, Kevin." I said.
"Yeah, alright!" He said. "I think I will." He drifted off and a little while later I saw him chatting quietly to Derek.

About ten minutes later, Kevin joined us again.
"Nope!" He shook his head. "I can get nothing from him. All he talked about was work."
"I bet each of you a fifty that I can find out!" I said.
"Really?" Danny said, his eyebrows raised. "You're on. What about you Kevin, are you in?"

"Hell, yes!" He grinned at me. "Good luck."
"Give me five minutes!" I said.
"Okay, five minutes." Danny said and then to Kevin he said. "This will the quickest fifty I've ever made."
"We shall see." I said and walked over to Derek.

Darren had just finished chatting to him and had drifted over to Jack and Clive and Derek was standing alone, looking a little out of place.
"Hi Derek." I said. "I never had a chance to thank you for all the work you've put into our house. Thanks."
"You're welcome." He smiled. "It's a great project and I'm enjoying it."

"Um . . I suppose this sort of thing," I indicated the room in general. "Is a little new to you? I mean, a room full of gay guys."
"It is a little." He flushed. "But I'm actually enjoying it. It's . . different."
"Yes, it certainly is!" I paused. "Can I ask you a really personal question?"
"Umm . . sure, okay!"
"Are you gay?" I asked directly.

He flushed again. "Wow, when you say personal, you really mean it, don't you?"
"Sorry, but I would really like to know." I said. "Well, are you?"

He looked thoughtful for a minute.
"Aaah . . no . . yes, I mean, I actually don't know!" He flushed again. "I mean I've never really tried it so I don't know."
"Have you had a girlfriend?"
"Oh no!" He said adamantly. "Never really had the time and besides they scare me."
“Who?”
“Uh . . girls!” He said and flushed. “I . . uh . . I find it really difficult to talk to them.”
"What about a boyfriend?" I asked.

"Um . . well there was a guy I really liked once but we were just friends." He replied shyly.
"Then, my friend, you are probably one of the family. You possibly haven't found the right guy yet. When you do, you'll know." I said.

He smiled. "No, I think I'm too shy to even think of approaching anyone. I'd be scared out of my wits."
"Well, what if someone like . . say Kevin over there, came on to you. What would you do?" I asked.

He studied Kevin from under his brows for a minute. "Uh . . I don't know. I mean I wouldn't know what to do."
"Trust me," I said. "When it happens, you'll know exactly what to do. Instinct takes over."
"I guess!" He said.

He looked at Kevin again.
"What do you think of him?" I asked.
"Who?"
"Kevin!" I said.
“Kevin?” He said, his eyebrows raised.
“Yes. Kevin. You've eyeballed him twice in the last two minutes!" I grinned.

Again he flushed. "He looks nice!" He said, not giving an inch.
"He is nice. But I actually meant, do you think he's cute?" I said.
"Oh right." He looked at Kevin again. "Yeah, I guess he is! He has amazing eyes."
"He said the same thing about you!" I remarked.
"He did? Oh!" He said and took a longer look at Kevin. "He is very good looking!"
"Welcome, to the fold, my friend!" I said. "Trust me, you're going to have a ball!" I looked over at Danny. He held his hand up, fingers spread, indicating that my five minutes were up.

"Excuse me, will you?" I said. "Danny is calling me. I'll send Kevin over for a chat, okay?"
"Uh . . no don't!" He paused. "Um . . okay sure. Wait . . no . . I wouldn't know . . !
“Derek,” I said adamantly. “I'll send him over. Let him take the lead. You'll see, there's nothing to be scared of.”

He glanced at Kevin again and I could see his mind working. Then he turned back to me and smiled brilliantly.
“Okay, why the hell not." He said. “In for a penny, in for a pound!”

I went back to Kevin and Danny.
"Cash will do nicely!" He smirked.
"Not so fast, sweetie!" I smiled. "He is gay."
"How the hell did you find out so damn fast?" Danny asked, eyebrows raised.
"I asked him." I said.

"You asked him? You just asked . . ?" He said amazed. "Of course, now why the hell didn't I think of that?" He finished facetiously.
"So he is, is he?" Kevin said. "Interesting!"

He looked over at Derek who was contemplating his drink.
"Yeah!" I said. "He also thought you were very good looking and said that you had amazing eyes."
"Really?" Kevin mused.
"Yeah! I said I'd send you over for a chat."

Danny looked at me. "Is there no end to your matchmaking? First Jack and I and now these two!"
"David got Jack and you together?" Kevin asked.
"Oh yeah!" Danny laughed.
"Go Kevin!" I said. "Go chat him up, make a move on him. He's ready for it. Far more so than he realizes it himself."
"Okay!" He said. "I will. I really do like him, he's awfully cute."
"You owe me fifty, remember." I said. "And Kevin, be very gentle with him. He's still a virgin."

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Really? Even better!" He turned to leave and then said over his shoulder. "Oh, and David, bill me!"
I smiled as I watched him amble nonchalantly over to Derek.

“You're uncanny!” Danny remarked to me. “Your matchmaking positively borders on the occult!”
A while later, Derek came to me and took me aside. His face was a little panic stricken.
"David!" He whispered. "I don't know what to do! Kevin wants me to go home with him and I'm not so sure. I'm a little terrified."
"Don't be." I said. "Just don't panic. Go with him and you'll see. You'll have a great time!"
"Yeah!" He said. "But I have no idea what to do, I mean . . you know . . . ..!"

"Do you mean sex?"
He flushed. "Uh . . yeah . . I guess!" He stammered.
"Okay!" I said. "You've jerked off, haven't you? You must have if you haven't had any lovers."
"Well, yeah!"

"Alright!" I said. "Well, here's the thing. You're a man. He's a man. What-ever you like, he'll like. Just think about what you would like to have done to you and just do likewise to him. If you want a blow job, then it's likely that he won't say no to one either. It's that simple."
"Really!" He said and flushed. "Do you have to be so blunt?"

"gay sex is very in your face, Derek. We're all men and we all have cocks and we all have the same desires. We're very candid when it comes to talking about it. What's the point of being secretive when we all know exactly what goes on in the sack, anyway."
"I guess you're right." He said. "This is all pretty new to me so it may take a bit of getting used to."
"Trust me!" I said. "In a week you'll be telling me how great it was to be fucked by him!"

He flushed. "Please, enough!" He said. "Too much, too fast!"
"Derek." I said. "Just go and have fun, okay? Don't worry about it and don't be scared. Just let loose and enjoy the moment. It's only sex, after all."
"Okay, thanks." He said. "I'll try!"

"No, don't even try, just relax and go with the flow. Kevin will be gentle, I'm sure. He knows it'll be your first time with another guy so he'll take the lead and guide you." I said.
"You told him?"
"Yeah, why not?" I smiled. "Remember, we're terribly up front about sex. He'll give you a great time, I guarantee it!"
"Okay! If you say so." He turned to go and then swung back to me.

"By the way," He said. "He . . uh . . told me that I have a great lunch-box. I'm a little confused by what he means."
"Where have you been hiding, Derek? He complimented you on the size of the bulge in your pants!" I said. "Remember that you're in the gay world now, and sex and sexual references are a big part of it. And by the way, he's right. You really do have a great lunch-box, and I mean great in more ways than one!"

He flushed. "Well, okay!" He said. "And thanks!" And he hurried off.
Kevin came up to us while Derek was getting his coat.
"I'm taking Derek home with me." He grinned. "Time to corrupt an innocent!"

"Kevin, treat him nice okay? No hard-core shit yet. He's pretty scared right now and has no idea what to expect. He didn't even know what 'lunch-box' meant!"
"Really! That's so cute!" He grinned. "I'll go real easy on him, I promise . . I don't want to frighten him away. I really do like him, and I'll give him the time of his life. His eyes really turn me on and I can't wait to see his junk. You must have noticed his package? It's huge, he's really packing!"

When they left a little later, I caught Derek's eye and winked and smiled. He grinned back at me and gave me a thumbs up. I knew then, that he was going to be okay.
After they had left, the party sort of broke up and everyone left. Soon I was left alone and I got ready for bed. I tried to read but it was no use. I tried to watch television for a while but there was nothing of interest on. Eventually, I dozed off into a restless sleep.

I dreamed of the beach again but I was alone this time. I looked around me. The beach seemed even more vast than the last time and it was a lot darker. Then I saw Lee. He was standing in the water. The sea lapped at his knees and he was staring out over the ocean. I went to him and called out to him. He didn’t hear me. I called out again, louder this time. Again he made no sign of having heard me.

“Davey!” He called. “I can’t find you. Where are you?”
I went to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He turned slowly and faced me. His face was gone completely leaving just a bloody mess of tissue. I screamed out in horror and awoke with a jolt.

I lay in the bed and cried. I cried like I have never cried before, the tears hot and bloated wet my pillow.
I missed him, God how I missed him.

To be continued...