The boys all showed up at the FYC most every day. They tended to head there almost unconsciously when they had any spare time. It was where they did homework, planned weekend activities, and simply could be together. They’d become a group of good friends who not only enjoyed each other’s company but looked out for each other as well. Not that much of that was necessary; they were town heroes.
The trial had finally been held, and the Scowler, a twenty-year-old kid named Pat Golan, and the supplier, Melvin Kane, were both found guilty of drug possession, trafficking, and corruption of minors. There wasn’t enough evidence to convict Melvin for having hired a contract killer to deal with John Saunders, but the prosecutors were able to bring their suspicions before the jury, and who knew what effect that had on the verdict?
The two men had begun serving long sentences in the state prison.
The boys’ involvement was written up lavishly and luridly in the papers. Corbin’s partner, Bruce, had been granted exclusive interviews with them through their friendship with Corbin, and his station had run a series for two weeks at the 10 PM news hour. The boys were the talk of the town.
School was back in session, and it seemed everyone knew who they were and wanted to talk to them. Doing so increased the popularity of anyone who could claim friendship with any of them.
Corbin Fuller had the chance to talk to Jordan and Micah. He apologized for hanging the painting without being able to talk to them first and even told them he’d take it down if they wanted him to. Both boys had been shocked when they’d first seen it but loved looking at it, and as long as they remained anonymous, they didn’t mind it being displayed. Of course, there were now a few people in town who knew who the boys in the picture were, but those people were friends of Jordan and Micah and weren’t telling anyone the secret.
Corbin assuaged his conscience and rewarded the boys for letting the picture be displayed by giving them a gift—the third painting, the one of them on the blanket together, skin still wet from the pond, with the mill only showing in faint outline in the background. They hadn’t seen that one before. They blushed but took it, then argued over in whose bedroom it should hang.
Peter, whose video was the major piece of evidence against Golan and Kane, expected his stay with John to be temporary. The man had an emergency foster license and had never shown an interest in long-term care for anyone, excepting Parrish. He didn’t really take care of Parrish, though, as much as Parrish took care of him. So Peter was surprised when John told him he wanted Peter to stay on permanently, to regard this as his home. That was the first and only time Peter hugged the man and was hugged back. Their relationship remained salty on the outside, but Peter knew the man cared for him as much as John was capable of, and that was enough for the fiercely independent boy.
The two had a bond that neither of them ever mentioned. Peter had saved John’s life. And John had given Peter a home. They would always snipe at each other because that’s who they were. But they were very comfortable that way and each with the other.
Plus, Peter had Parrish, and Parrish had him, and nothing would ever change that.
Jack and Josh continued to be a couple, and Jack made that clear to everyone. He’d been denied the ability to publicly show how he felt about Josh for too long and made up for it now whenever he could. He became one of the leaders of the GLBT group at the FYC, and with Josh’s help, was instrumental in beginning a club at the high school.
Corbin made it a habit to get to know all the boys who became regulars at the center. There were all kinds, but he found he had the most empathy for the gay ones who didn’t have support at home. His talks with Peter were both sad and enlightening. He filled a hole in Peter’s life and became a surrogate grandfather to the boy; Corbin was demonstrative where John was acerbic. Peter now found the hugs he’d never had since he was eight.
Within a month of them finding each other, Corbin had opened a shelter next door to the center for temporarily homeless kids on the street, providing them a place where they’d be sheltered and fed and have a safe harbor for as long as they needed it.
As for Dill and Kirk, that was another story. Dill was basically a private boy. He’d been alone for so long that being a big man on campus and a big man at the FYC began to grate on him. He liked his celebrity and popularity, but he started longing for more alone time as well.
There was a complication now, however; there was Kirk. Dill liked Kirk and liked spending time with him. Kirk was lively, bright, inquisitive, impulsive and, in an impish way, cute. Now, when Dill thought of being alone, somehow he extended the premise to mean being alone with Kirk.
And so, after school one warm September day as the two slowly ambled toward the FYC, Dill had a proposal for Kirk. “How’d you like to go camping this weekend? You and I.”
Kirk looked over at him, and then his face lit up in a huge smile. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
Dill chuckled, trying to make it sound mysterious. “You’ll never know if you don’t agree to come.”
That weekend, the two boys took their sleeping bags and the few things they’d need and headed for the old mill. The clearing was just as it had been when Dill was last there. They laid out their stuff, then collected firewood and set up a campfire, using the depression Dill had already dug as a starting point. Dill wanted a larger fire this time; there were two of them to enjoy it instead of one.
When all the work was done, Kirk looked at Dill and Dill at Kirk, and with both of them grinning, their clothes started coming off. By the time they were naked except for their shoes, they were both aroused, but that was no deterrent; Dill told Kirk it was more fun walking around exploring that way.
Dill showed Kirk the mill, the grassy slope where he’d seen Micah and Jordan, the bridge across the waterwheel channel where he’d seen the Scowler’s moped, and then took him to the river where the diversion dam was. They stepped out onto the bank, and just then two kayaks came into view. They were being paddled by two teenaged girls. Dill stepped back into the trees, and Kirk, moving backwards while watching the kayaks, tripped. The motion caused the girls to turn and look as Kirk stumbled his way into the woods. The boys moved farther into the trees but could hear gales of laughter from the river. Dill was laughing, too. Kirk was embarrassed, but Dill noticed his arousal had returned to full mast.
The day and evening remained warm enough that they didn’t need clothing. They cooked dinner over their fire. Both felt some tension. They’d never touched each other, and while each of them was attracted to the other, nothing had been said or done about that. They were just friends. Friends who, on their first meeting, had seen each other in the altogether.
That night, the temperature dropped. Dill woke in the middle of the night shivering. He looked over and saw Kirk shivering, too. It was a natural thing to do to suggest they zip their bags together and share their body heat.
When they got up early in the morning, Dill having the idea that they should share Micah’s and Jordan’s experience of watching the sun rise over the mill, they were already more than friends, much more than the friends they’d been before going to bed the night before. And when they were on the grassy slope and the sun rose over the mill, they shared more of what Micah and Jordan had done than merely watching the night turn into glorious day.
They eventually swam some, too.
The End
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Cole