As they neared the bridge, the flames retreated behind them, still racing west but no longer a threat to the truck or its inhabitants. Walter slowed when they approached the little town of Allagash.
“Well, what now?” he asked the boys. They both shrugged their shoulders, but then Isaiah said, “Maybe we could go to Phillip’s house and see if his family could help us.”
“Lead the way.”
So Isaiah gave directions and in a few minutes they were outside a well-maintained, two-story
house. They went to the door and Walter knocked. When he got no response, he knocked again.
“I’m coming,” came a voice from inside. A man in his pajamas opened the door, looked at his visitors, and spotted Isaiah. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”
“We just missed being fried by the forest fire. Our home and everything in it are gone.”
The man stood back, saying, “Well, you probably should come in so we can sort this out.”
Walter introduced himself and Kieran to Phillip’s father just as Phillip came bounding down the stairs in a pair of undershorts.
“Oh, my God,” he said to Isaiah. “You look terrible!”
At that point, Isaiah collapsed into Phillips arms, shaking convulsively. “I…I…I w…w…was s..so sc..sc..scared,” he stammered.
Phillip hugged him tightly and suggested, “Let’s you and me go to my room.” They climbed the stairs, Phillip supporting Isaiah the whole way.
Meanwhile, Phillip’s father offered to let Walter and Kieran spend the rest of the night. He had a couple of inflatable mattresses and they could camp out on his office floor.
When Phillip and Isaiah reached Phillip’s bedroom, Phillip asked, “Were you actually in the fire?” Then he chuckled, “Your clothes stink!”
Isaiah giggled, but he was still trembling.
Turning away from Isaiah to avoid any embarrassment, Phillip told Isaiah to remove his smoky clothes and get under the covers in the queen-sized bed. When Isaiah had pulled the blankets up over himself, Phillip lay beside him on top of the covers, gently rubbing the back of his neck and head. “You’re OK. You’re safe now,” he said quietly over and over. Finally, the trembling slowed and stopped. Isaiah said a few indistinguishable words and fell into a deep sleep. Very quietly, Phillip got under the covers with his back to Isaiah. He lay awake for some time, wondering about Isaiah, about himself, about what he should do. It was nearly morning before he fell asleep.
Later in the night, Walter cried out again in his sleep. Kieran went to him and just soothed him until he calmed down. “Now, will ya get some help?” he asked gently.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Ya been thinkin’ about it fer months now. It’s time t’ do somethin’.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s just get things settled here and then I promise I’ll get some help.”
Kieran said, “Thanks. And don’t wait too long.”
“I won’t,” and they settled back and went to sleep.
In the morning, Isaiah awoke slowly. Sunshine flooded the room. For a few moments he didn’t know where he was. Then he turned enough to see the still-sleeping Phillip.
“Oh, my God,” he thought. “I’m in bed with him!”
He lay for a time thinking, wondering first about himself and Phillip and then about Walter. “What will Walter do? Where can we live if not in the cabin?”
Finally, he decided that he might feel better if he took a shower. Silently, he climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. He turned on the shower, pushed back the shower curtain, and climbed in, letting the hot water pour over him. He was right; he did feel better. The shower soothed and refreshed him. It was only when he was ready to get out that he wondered what clothes he could put on. He had a couple of changes of clothes in his duffle, but that was still in the truck.
There was a knock on the door and Phillip asked, “Are you okay?”
Isaiah answered yes and invited Phillip to enter. The bathroom door opened and Isaiah heard Phillip say, “Good morning. Did you get any sleep?”
“Yeah, some. What about you?”
“You went out like a light after you calmed down, but I lay awake for a long time, just thinking.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“I’ll tell you sometime but not now. Do you have any clean clothes?”
Isaiah told him about the duffle in the truck and Phillip went to get it. When he returned, he said, “It’s lucky you have these, ‘cause the clothes you were wearing last night will never smell clean again, and my clothes would never fit you. I’ll leave them here. I put a towel on the toilet. Take as long as you want.”
Isaiah continued to enjoy basking in the warmth of the water before turning it off and stepping out of the shower. The towel was soft and luxurious. “Certainly much nicer than Walter’s!” Isaiah thought. After dressing, he returned to Phillip’s bedroom, but it was empty, so he headed downstairs, where he found Phillip’s family as well as Walter and Kieran at the breakfast table.
Walter and Phillip’s father, Don, were deep in a discussion about woodworking, which was Don’s occupation. He made wooden furniture which he sold all over Maine and even as far as Boston. He was encouraging Walter to work with him and perhaps settle in Allagash. Walter was his usual, reserved self, but he did seem interested.
Phillip’s brothers and sister asked Isaiah and Kieran all about the fire. They thought of it as an adventure; Kieran said he thought of it more as a terrible ordeal and a narrow escape.
As they chatted, Isaiah wondered, “What’ll Kieran do? Will he go to school? Will he get a job? He certainly can’t go back to living in the woods. The forest is burned out now, and he’d have no shelter. Probably all the animals either died or fled, and it’ll take years for the forest to return to normal.”
The solution to that question came later in the morning, when Kieran, Phillip, and Isaiah were talking together. Kieran said, “Well, if I can’t go back t’ the woods, and it looks like I can’t, then I’d like t’ get a job working in the forest. Maybe there are training programs I could get into.”
In the following days, Kieran was able to go to Fort Kent and live with Catherine’s family. While he was there, with Catherine’s help on the computer, he explored possibilities and found a couple he thought might work. Walter was able to rent a small room over the store in town, while Isaiah was told he was welcome to stay with Phillip and his family as long as he wanted.
The day came when Isaiah and Kieran cornered Walter, and Kieran said to him, “It’s time.” They suggested he should contact the hospital in Fort Kent and see if he could get help through the VA.
Walter protested, “I don’t need no help!” but they kept after him until he finally agreed to contact the hospital and at least find out what his options were.
Isaiah was very fond of Phillip’s family, so he quickly fit in. In the fall, he and Phillip would be able to ride to school together. After school, Isaiah could work in the library on his homework and then return with Phillip when he finished football practice.
From time to time, Isaiah had nightmares of a huge fire reaching out to consume him. He would awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, and Phillip always comforted and calmed him. Eventually the nightmares diminished.
Isaiah’s more immediate problem was that he was sleeping in bed with another boy and he found that very tempting and frustrating. They always slept back to back, and they both had pajamas on. Neither one of them said anything about it, until finally one day, Phillip rolled over in bed and asked, “Can you turnover so we can talk?”
Isaiah rolled toward Phillip and looked at him. Phillip sighed deeply before asking, “Do you remember after your first night here I said that someday I’d tell you what I was thinking about that night?”
“Yeah.”
“So, I wanna ask you a question, but I don’t want you to be mad at me. Promise you won’t?”
“How can I promise when I don’t know the question? Why don’t you just go ahead and ask?”
“Okay.” Phillip gulped. “Are you, by any chance, gay?”
Isaiah was silent for a long time.
“Please answer me! This is torture.”
“Yeah, I’m gay. How did you know?”
“I didn’t, for sure. I just thought you might be.”
“So what business is it of yours? Are you freaked out sleeping in the same bed with me? Am I gonna have to leave?”
It was Phillip’s turn to be silent, before finally saying very quietly, “It’s my business because I’m gay too.”
“You can’t be. You’re a football player!”
“So, why can’t a football player be gay?” asked Phillip, laughing.
“Because you guys are all macho and masculine. You can’t be gay!”
“Did you know that there are gay guys who are into muscle building and weight lifting?”
“No way!”
“Yes way!”
“Prove it.”
Phillip got out of bed and went to his computer. He logged on, tapped a couple of keys, and said, “Come look.”
Isaiah went over and stared at what he was seeing ‒ buff men with bulging muscles and very little clothing. “Oh, my God! How do you know they’re gay?”
“Look at the name of the website.”
“They can’t be.”
“They are. In cities there are even gyms that cater to gay men.”
Isaiah thought about that before saying, “Okay. I guess I have to believe you. So you’re gay. Have you ever had a boyfriend?”
Phillip turned off his computer and they climbed back into bed.
“I did have one, but I broke up with him the first time I met you, because I immediately fell for you. Have you ever had one?”
“Yeah, but that was a really complicated situation. Maybe someday I’ll tell you about it.”
“Would you mind if I kissed you?”
Isaiah thought a minute before saying, “No.”
Phillip leaned in closer, took Isaiah’s head gently in his hands, and kissed him on the lips before nibbling Isaiah’s lower lip.
Isaiah immediately responded, and soon they were tonguing, grasping each other firmly, their legs thrashing about in the bed.
When they finally broke the kiss, Phillip whispered, “I’ve been wanting to do that for so long. Now I have a boyfriend.”
“Yup. So do I. But I think we should move slowly and just let things develop. We probably have a lot of talking to do before we go any farther.”
“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“Well first, we need to talk about how we really feel about each other. Kissing is one thing, and of course it can get you horny real fast, but if we’re gonna go into this then there needs to be a lot more than sex. I don’t wanna have sex with another guy and then find out it’s not working out as I hoped.”
Phillip nodded. “So you got kinda burned the last time?”
Isaiah nodded.
Phillip added, “I guess I kinda burned my first boyfriend too. Now he doesn’t even speak to me.”
“My first boyfriend and I still speak,” said Isaiah. “In fact, we’re good friends, but I was really hurt at first.”
“Do I know him?” Phillip asked.
“I don’t wanna go there right now. Maybe later.”
Phillip said, “I’ve thought so much about you, Isaiah, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”
“Well, I haven’t really thought about you that way, and right now I’m not sure what I feel, which was why I wanna go slowly.”
Finally, they kissed again, a gentle, sweet kiss, before they went to sleep.
The last days of summer passed quickly. Isaiah began running around town and along dirt roads, trying to get in shape for cross country in the fall.
Walter was enjoying his work with Don, who was nearly as taciturn as he was. They could work in the same shop for hours without saying anything, but it was a companionable silence. Walter learned quickly and showed a natural aptitude with tools and fine work.
Meanwhile, Kieran had investigated a couple of intern positions that looked promising. He and Catherine spent a lot of time together, and although Kieran really wanted sex, he respected Catherine’s desire to wait until they were married.
Walter started seeing a therapist, who used a method called CBT or Cognitive Behavior Therapy. It involved Walter going back into his memories of what happened in combat, which Walter was extremely reluctant to do. But the therapist went very slowly and eventually Walter began to deal with some of his horrific memories. When the doctor wanted to give him a medication, he resisted, but he finally agreed to try it. His nightmares slowly decreased, although sometimes he still got depressed. He found it especially difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes, he had to force himself to get up. The first thing he always did was make coffee and then take a shower while the coffee was brewing. He found if he could force himself through this routine his depression usually got better and was gone after he’d worked in the shop for an hour or two.
One of the things the doctor suggested was that Walter get a dog as a companion so he wasn’t always alone. He also pointed out that, if Walter had a dog, he would have to get out of bed in the morning to walk the dog. The boys thought that was a great idea, and they helped Walter look for one. They found a rescue dog that was at least part golden retriever. For some reason, Walter named the dog Pilot. Walter and Pilot bonded almost immediately, and the dog went everywhere with him. When Walter was working, the dog found a place in the shop out of the way but where he could keep an eye on his new companion.
Isaiah and Phillip talked every night. They found a lot of interests they both had, and slowly, Isaiah grew closer to Phillip.
Finally one night, when they were kissing, Isaiah asked tentatively, “Do you think you’d like a blowjob?”
Phillip smiled and nodded. They both climbed out of bed and removed their pajamas. Soon they were back on the bed, kissing, rubbing, and fondling each other. Isaiah moved down the bed and took Phillip in his mouth, slowly moving up and down.
When he finished, Phillip exclaimed, “Oh, wow! I have so wanted you to do that!” He lay for a few minutes until his heart slowed and then asked, “Do you want me to do you?”
Isaiah nodded, and when they were finished, they lay facing each other. Isaiah wet his forefinger then reached over and traced Phillip’s mouth before moving to his eyes and nose and ears.
“That is so sexy!” Phillip whispered, before doing the same for his friend. They never bothered with the pajamas again. In the following days they moved to sixty-nining, often more than once a night.
Shortly after school began, as they lay in bed together, Isaiah said, “Phillip, I never believed I could love someone as much as I loved my first boyfriend. But I do love you…so much! Not exactly the same way as I loved him but in a way that’s special to you.”
Phillip smiled and nodded. He kissed Isaiah lovingly on the lips. Then, very gently, he reach over and put his fingers between Isaiah’s butt cheeks. Isaiah groaned but didn’t tell him to stop, so in a few moments he put his finger on Isaiah’s hole. Still Isaiah said nothing. Then Phillip gently inserted his finger as far as it would go and left it there, just moving it about a little as Isaiah continued to moan. Finally he said, “I really wanna go in there. Would you let me?”
Isaiah knew just what Phillip was asking. “Oh, yeah. Right now I’m ready for just about anything you wanna do.”
Phillip turned to his bedside table, opened the drawer, and pulled out a tube. “This is a lubricant,” he said to Isaiah. “I’ve heard that the first few times this could really hurt some and the lubricant should help. I want you to tell me if I’m hurting you and I’ll stop.”
After putting the lubricant in Isaiah’s hole and on his own cock, he asked, “Ready?”
Isaiah nodded.
Slowly, Phillip began working his fingers in before he withdrew them and started to enter Isaiah. He met with resistance so he paused for a minute before pushing farther. Isaiah tensed a bit. “Am I hurting you? Do you want me to stop?”
Isaiah shook his head.
“Okay,” Phillip said. He continued until he was all the way in. Then he moved in and out until he climaxed.
When he finished, he withdrew, used a sock to wipe up the lubricant and cum, and lay back beside Isaiah.
“What did you think of that?” he asked.
“It was so amazing!” Isaiah said.
“Do you wanna do me?” Phillip asked.
“No, for some reason I don’t wanna do that. I just wanna be on the bottom. But anytime you wanna do me I would love it. Could you just blow me?”
And Phillip did.
When they lay back, Isaiah asked, “Did you ever do that with your first boyfriend?”
“Nope. Did you?”
“No.” Isaiah smiled. “I love it that it was the first time for both of us.”
In the following days, the two coupled often. One day, Isaiah asked, “Are you sorry I don’t wanna do your ass?”
“No,” Phillip answered. “I’ve heard that some guys like to be tops and some like to be bottoms. I think maybe we got it right the first time, and I’m very happy with it if you are.”
Isaiah looked at him. “Phillip, I love you so much.”
Phillip grinned happily. “I’ve loved you since the first day I met you.”
On the following Saturday, Isaiah had his first cross country race. All of Phillip’s family came, as well as Walter, Kieran, and Catherine. When they arrived at the finish line, Isaiah went through his routine of following the course back and picking a couple of landmarks. Then they all went to the starting line to see him off. He had run this course before, so he was confident he wouldn’t get left behind.
At the starter’s gun, the runners took off down the course and slowly the pack spread out, some pulling ahead, some falling back a little. Each had his own strategy.
Isaiah stayed in the middle of the pack for the first bit and then began to inch up on the leaders. When he saw his first landmark, he put on a burst of speed and came even with the frontrunner, who had challenged him in other races. Stride for stride they matched each other, until Isaiah found his second landmark. Then he sped ahead, racing toward the finish line about a hundred yards away. He crossed the finish line three strides ahead of his challenger.
They both leaned over to catch their breaths. Then they hugged and congratulated each other.
The Director of Athletics from the University of Maine came over to Isaiah and asked if he had thought any more about going to college.
“I’m going,” he said smiling, “and my dad says I don’t need a scholarship.”
“Well that’s the best news I’ve had in a while,” said the man. I’ll be certain you receive all the enrollment materials. And make sure to apply for early admission. I’ll put in a good word for you.” They shook hands and the man walked off.
Isaiah went over to Phillip, who gave him a big hug before kissing him gently on the lips. Phillip’s parents and siblings looked surprised and he knew that he and Isaiah had some explaining to do, but he thought they were ready.
Catherine was going to drive back with Kieran, but Kieran said he wanted to ask Isaiah something first. So she walked off a little ways.
Kieran got right to the point. “D’ya love Phillip?”
“Yeah, I do. Not the same as you but in a way that’s special to him.”
“Okay, I’ve just gotta ask one question. “D’ya guys fuck?”
Isaiah laughed. “That’s kinda personal isn’t it?”
Kieran looked a little embarrassed. “I guess it is. I just wondered.”
“Well, yes, we do, and it’s wonderful.”
“I don’t even have any idea how two guys could do that.”
So Isaiah told him briefly how it was done, to which Kieran replied, “Ewww! Well, if you guys like it I guess that’s okay. I’m glad ya never asked me t’ do that.”
“I was getting ready to when you broke the news that you were straight.”
“Thank God I spoke up in time!”
They both laughed and hugged. “You’re still the best friend I ever had,” Isaiah said. He kissed Kieran gently on the cheek and they went their separate ways.
Phillip had observed all this from a distance, including the peck on the cheek. Later, when they were alone together, Phillip asked Isaiah, “Was Kieran the boy you loved?”
“Yeah, and I still do.”
“But I thought he was your brother. Don’t tell me you had sex with your brother!”
“No it wasn’t like that.” Isaiah told Phillip the whole story of his life with Kieran, ending with the fact that they were brothers only because they thought of themselves that way.
“My dad lied to a few people so he could take care of Kieran, so don’t ever say anything to anybody about it. He, Kieran, you and I are the only ones to know, and the only ones who need to know. I told you because I never want to have any secrets from you.”
“That’s quite a story,” said Phillip. “He really lived all alone, summer and winter, in the woods?”
“Yup. And if my dad and I hadn’t found him when he was so sick he probably would have died in the woods. And in a way, getting so sick saved him from the forest fire later on.”
“Amazing.”
“Yes it is. Now kiss me, you wonderful, football hunk!”
********
Phillip and Isaiah went to the University, where they both excelled in their sports as well as in their classes. In their last two years they lived off campus in an apartment. They graduated with honors. After some additional training, Isaiah was hired as a forest ranger to work in the National Forest where he had lived, and he had the joy of watching the forest begin to rebound. Phillip was hired as a PE teacher at the Fort Kent middle school where he was much loved and eventually rose to teach in the high school and finally become the Director of Athletics. They bought a house together in Fort Kent. Did people talk? Probably, but the boys didn’t flaunt their love and there were no problems.
When Catherine graduated she and Kieran married. Kieran had taken courses online to get his GED and had worked as an intern in the national forest as well as in Baxter State Park, the home of Mount Katahdin. It was there that he finally settled with Catherine. Catherine gave them a lovely baby boy who was adored by both families.
Walter kept in close touch with both of his sons. He continued to work with Don and eventually Don made him a full partner. He was able to buy a small house to which each of his sons and their families came from time to time. Pilot was very fond of them all, although a little protective of Walter. Like most grandparents, Walter doted on his grandson. Kieran complained that Walter was spoiling the boy, but Walter just said, “That’s what grandparents do.”