Chapter 4
I woke up a couple of hours later; rather it was Mike's movement that woke me. I opened my eyes to find Mike's face less than a foot from mine, smiling and staring right at me.
"Oh man", I said, taking my hand and pushing his face back a little, "give a guy a little space huh?"
Mike giggled and brought his face back to within inches of mine, "C'mon, you like seeing me."
I laughed and pushed him away again, "About as much as a pimple on my ass."
Mike suddenly straddled me across my midsection and tried to pin my arms down while pushing his face back into mine. Thankfully because I'd masturbated earlier, my morning wood wasn't threatening to burst out of my pyjamas. For the moment, I pretended to fight back, letting Mike think he was beating me.
"Hah", he said, his nose practically pressed against mine, "now you're my prisoner."
"Oh no", I feigned in defeat, "please don't torture me with your horrible smell."
Mike giggled, pushed himself up and thrust his crotch towards my face, "Now you'll have to sniff my dirty pecker!"
"Ewww", I said and made some retching noises, "get that dirty thing out of my face."
I couldn't help but notice that the front of his pyjamas appeared tented. I could also see that he was thinking about something.
"Suck my cock", he suddenly said.
I pushed him up and off me, then rolled over to sit on his legs and pin his arms.
"What was that?" I said in a more serious tone.
Mike's smile faded a little, "Did I say it wrong?"
"Well, no, not exactly, it's just that ...", I began, then started to tickle him and said, "it's just that you're not the boss of me!"
Mike started giggling and laughing, trying to push me off. I kept at him, and he tried harder, but couldn't stop me.
"Stop ... stop", he said between laughs, trying to catch his breath, "I'm ... you're gonna ... make ... me ... pee!"
I began to stop and sat back on his legs, but it was too late; I saw a small wet patch begin to spread across the front of his pyjamas. I quickly got off his legs, nearly whacking my head on the edge of the upper bunk as I did.
"Aww geez Mike, I'm sorry buddy ... I ... hang on", I said, rushing to the bathroom to get a wet cloth.
When I came back I saw that Mike was still laying there and that his eyes had started to tear up.
"I'm really, really sorry Mike, honest", I said as I sat on the edge of the bed, "c'mon, let's get you cleaned up, okay?"
Mike started to sit up, swung his legs towards the edge of the bed, and said between soft sobs, "You must ... think ... I'm ... I'm ... a ... baby."
"Nah, I don't think that at all, this was completely my fault, I shouldn't have tickled you like that."
Mike stood up and pulled his pyjama pants off; I handed him the cloth and told him to wipe himself off. I took his damp pyjamas and thought for a moment, then went to the kitchen. I opened the fridge, grabbed a can cola, opened it and poured some on the front of the pyjamas.
I came back to the bedroom as Mike was pulling on a fresh pair of pyjamas, "What am I going to tell mom?"
"I'll tell her that I accidentally made you spill some cola on it last night", I said, holding them up for him to see.
Mike smiled a little, "Thanks, but aren't they gonna smell?."
To show him how sorry I was, I held them up to my nose and took a big whiff, "Nah, smells like cola to me."
He started to giggle as I put the pyjamas on the top of his laundry pile so that they could dry at least a little.
"That's almost as bad as sniffing my pecker", Mike laughed.
"Almost", I said and then gave him a big hug, "I really am sorry, okay? I didn't mean for that to happen."
Mike hugged me back, "It's okay, I know you didn't."
We separated and I went to check his bed; fortunately he'd only peed a little and it had soaked into his pyjamas rather than his sheets.
"They're dry", I said and turned around.
The room was empty and then I heard Mike in the bathroom, emptying the rest of his bladder into the toilet. I went to the kitchen to start some breakfast for us; Mike followed after he was done in the bathroom.
"We good?" I asked him.
"Yeah", he said, "but next time I'm gonna make you pee your pants."
"Okay buddy", I laughed as I started to fry some ham, "but watch out, I might pee a lot and get it all over you."
"Is that because you got a bigger thing than me?"
"A bigger thing?" I asked, knowing full well what he meant.
"Y'know, your uhh ...", he thought for a moment and then smiled, "your dirty dick."
I mimicked him from last night, "Heyyy, it's not dirty, and whadda yah mean bigger? How do YOU know how big it is?"
"Oh, uhh, I ...", Mike started, a little embarrassed, "I guess maybe, I don't know ... I might have seen y'know, when you got ready for bed last night? And well, uhh, there was last weekend?"
"Ah okay", I said, "it's fine, don't be embarrassed ... it's normal to be curious okay?"
"It is?"
"Yeah, I mean look ... we'll talk about this more next time, but, lots of stuff is going to happen ... like to your body and uhh, you'll start thinking about stuff ... and I guess part of it is y'know, wondering about other bodies and y'know, how you compare."
"Oh", he looked thoughtful, "sooo ... will mine get that big?"
"Well, I don't know, y'know, I mean, everyone is kind of different and you can't really predict how big you or well, any part of you, is gonna get, you just sort of have to wait and see."
"Okay, and uhh, well what about, y'know ... will it get uhh, all hairy down there like yours?"
"So, well I don't know, I mean, you'll get hair, it's called pubic hair, but it's like everything else, can't predict how much you'll have."
"Jason's older brother Jake, he's got a bunch, but not as much as you."
"You've seen it?"
"Yeah, sometimes when I've been over he bugs us and says we're just babies, then he pulls the front of his pants down and says to look and see what a man looks like."
What Mike said made me curious, "You mean he just flashes you his pubic hair?"
"Well yeah and y'know, his whole thing and everything ... I mean his uhh, pecker and balls."
"Does he do that a lot?" I asked as I took the ham out of the pan and put the eggs in.
"I guess yeah especially in the last year, I guess almost every time I'm over anyway."
"Does he do it when you're not there, I mean, when it's just him and Jason?"
"Well, I think maybe, I mean Jason told me that his brother has y'know, that uhh, pubic hair? Before I ever saw it."
Mike was starting to give me the impression that Jake enjoyed showing off, more than what I thought might be some normal teasing or behaviour during puberty. I also thought that I might not mind getting my own look at Jake, maybe more. Not that I had any ideas right now on how I'd make that happen. It had been a while since I'd had more.
I slid our eggs onto a couple of plates with the ham and some toast.
"Breakfast is ready!"
We grabbed our plates and sat at the table to eat. Just then the telephone rang; Mike ran to pick it up and I could hear enough to know it was his mom that was calling.
"It's mom, she wants to talk to you", Mike announced, setting the phone down and coming back to finish his breakfast.
"Hello?"
"Hi Martin, I hope everything's gone alright so far?"
"Oh for sure, everything is good, we were just having some breakfast."
"Well that's good", she said, "so Martin, the reason I'm calling is that I've been asked to pick up another shift for someone that called in sick. I know it's last minute and I don't know what plans you have, but would it be possible for you to stay with Mike until later today?"
"Sure, yeah, that's no problem at all."
"Are you sure? If you have something else planned, let me know and I can see about calling someone else."
"No, no, it's all good, I can stay. I had maybe thought about going over to the mall, would it be alright if I took Mike with me?"
"Of course, as long as you don't mind? I'm sure he'd be okay on his own for a couple of hours if you wanted to go by yourself."
"I don't mind, it'll be fine."
"Thank you so much Martin, I really appreciate this, and of course I'll pay you for the additional time when I get home. I'll give you something extra in case you want to get something to eat for you and Mike at the mall."
"Alright, well thanks, I'm sure he'll like that."
"Thanks Martin, I should be home by around 5 or 6, if that's not too late for you?"
"That's fine, I'll make sure we're back before then."
"Okay then, thanks again", she said and hung up.
I returned to the table, "So guess what?"
"What?" Mike said as he took the last bite of his breakfast.
"Bad news for you ... you gotta spend the rest of the day with me ... and go to the mall."
"Really?" Mike exclaimed excitedly, "Cool, that's not bad news, that's the best news."
"Alright, well, how about you get washed up and dressed, I'll finish my breakfast and the dishes, and then I'll take a quick shower and get ready."
"Yayyy", Mike yelled and ran to the bathroom.
I finished eating and cleaned up the dishes, quickly called my parents, went to Mike's room to get a fresh pair of underwear and then headed to the bathroom. Mike had just finished washing his face and was combing his hair.
"Clean clothes okay Mike?" I said to him, "Don't just grab yesterday's stuff off the floor."
"Okay, okay ... Mom", he said over his shoulder as he walked back to his room.
I closed the door, stripped off my pyjamas and stepped into the shower. As I was washing I heard the door open.
"Gotta brush my teeth", Mike said.
"Okay", I said from behind the shower curtain as I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair and the soap off my body.
I finished and turned off the water, then realized I hadn't taken a towel out of the linen closet. I peered out from behind the curtain and saw that Mike was rinsing his toothbrush.
"Hey Mike, I forgot to grab a towel, could you get me one?"
"Sure", he said and went out to the hallway.
Unexpectedly, Mike suddenly pulled back the curtain and stood there, holding a towel. I could see his eyes look me up and down, then settle on my crotch. I was too surprised to have thought to cover up, and given that I'd already told him it was normal to be curious about other bodies, I didn't want him to think that he was doing something wrong.
"Seen enough?" I said as I put out my hand for the towel.
"What?" Mike said, still openly staring at me.
I really wanted that towel now though; I hadn't thought of myself as an exhibitionist, but being watched like that was starting to make blood flow into my penis.
"The towel, if you don't mind", I said, shaking my hand at him.
"Oh yeah, uhm, here", he said as he handed it to me.
I took it and began to dry myself, letting it hang in front of me as I did. Mike had made no move to leave or look away.
"So Mike, listen, I know I said it was okay to be curious about bodies right?"
"Yeah?"
"It's just us here, so whatever, but just remember that it's not usually considered polite to stare. Some guys would definitely not be cool with you just staring at them, okay?"
Mike blushed a little and looked down, "I'm sorry."
"It's fine Mike, you don't have to be sorry", I said as I continued to dry myself, "it's just that ... well, some guys might misinterpret you looking at them when they're naked, okay?"
"What does that mean?"
I was beginning to think that the talk I'd postponed with Mike wasn't going to stay postponed; I guess there was more than enough things to discuss about that it wouldn't have all fit into a one-time talk anyway.
I stepped out of the shower, forcing Mike to take a step back; I continued to dry myself as we kept talking.
"Okay, well ... so the thing is that, y'know how boys like girls?"
"Yeah", he said, "some of my friends are starting to say stuff about girls."
"Right, well, so uhh, okay so sometimes boys can like other boys", I said, looking at Mike to see if he was understanding what I was telling him.
"So boys like boys the way they like girls? Is that what they mean when they call someone a fag or homo?" Mike asked.
"Well, yeah, except that's kind of rude, okay? Especially because they're saying it to be rude to someone, like it's dumb or wrong to be gay. That's the right word actually, gay."
Mike asked innocently, "So it's okay to be gay?"
I took a deep breath and thought for a moment while I put down my towel and pulled on my underwear; Mike was back to watching me, especially when I adjusted myself in my briefs.
"Yeah, it is okay, people are just people right? It's just that ... well, not everybody y'know, understands that or thinks it's okay."
"Do you think it's okay?"
I felt like our conversation was getting more intense than I'd expected; I was still trying to come to terms with my own sexuality. It wasn't something I was ready to talk about, never mind talking about it with a boy that was still a few weeks shy of 12.
"Yeah, I think it's okay, being y'know, gay doesn't make you a bad person, but others wanna make you feel bad."
"Well if you think it's okay, then I think it's okay too", Mike smiled at me.
"That's good buddy", I said and ruffled his hair, "just y'know, some guys? Well, they might say stuff to you even just for you saying it's okay. They'll say that you must be gay if you think it's okay."
"Sooo ... I shouldn't say anything at all?"
I needed to end this conversation, "Look Mike, this is a really big thing, and well, it might not be easy to know what to do. I'm not sure I know how to explain everything right now, okay? But, y'know, we can uhm, well we can talk about it again sometime, right?"
"Okay", Mike said happily, and for no apparent reason, gave me a hug.
After we hugged I went to the bedroom to get dressed; I returned to the bathroom to comb my hair and brush my teeth. The mall wasn't far from where Mike and his mom lived; I locked the apartment as we left and within 15 minutes we were there.
"So what're you buying?" Mike asked as we started to wander through the mall.
"Well, I'm gonna buy a new pair of jeans", I said, "and there's a new book I wanna get."
I found the store where I usually bought my jeans; Mike stayed with me as I browsed through the various styles. I selected a pair that was essentially the same as what I typically bought.
"How about these?" Mike said, pointing at pair of button fly jeans.
"You think? Never had any like this", I said, and then grinned, "suppose I gotta pee in a hurry, I might have trouble with all the buttons."
Mike thought for a second and then smiled, "Then I guess you'd piss your pants."
"Thanks!"
"You gonna try them?"
"Sure, why not", I said, and took my two pairs to the back of the store where the change rooms were.
I tried on my usual jeans first; I didn't even bother coming out of the change room as they fit exactly the way they always did. Next I tried on the button fly pair; after fumbling with the buttons a little, I looked in the mirror and thought that they actually looked pretty good.
I opened the change room door and stepped out, "So ... what do you think?"
Mike seemed to scrutinize me closely; I turned around so he could see me from both sides.
"Well?"
"They're really good, you should get them."
The sales clerk, a young guy, chimed in, "Your little brother is right, those look really great on you. Turn around again, let me see you from behind. Okay, and now the front again."
I felt myself starting to blush from the attention; the guy looked like he was maybe 19 or 20, and I thought he was really good looking. He as a little taller than I was, and maybe 20 or 30 pounds heavier; he appeared fit with his thin sweater hugging his upper body. He had dark, almost black hair, and grey-blue eyes. I wished I didn't have so many zits on my face; not that a guy 4 years older would be interested, but at least I'd have felt better about myself. Of course I didn't even know whether or not he was even interested in guys, but I guess maybe I'd just gotten that feeling from him.
"Hmm, well, maybe", I said as I went back into the change room.
I took another look at myself in the mirror; they fit quite well and I did like the way the button fly front seemed to mold itself over my crotch. I needed to stop looking, otherwise I'd have an awkward problem. I changed back into my own jeans and came out.
"So?" Mike asked.
"Well ... I'm gonna get the ones you picked, `little brother'."
"Yess", Mike said as though he'd won something.
I went to the counter to pay for them while Mike milled around the store.
"So you are going with these one? Great, they really did look super on you", the sales clerk said, smiling at me.
"Oh, uhm, thanks", I said, feeling the heat flowing back into my cheeks.
"Nice of you to take your little brother shopping with you", he said as he was ringing up my purchase, "don't usually see that unless it's a whole family coming in."
"Oh well, he's not actually my little brother, I'm just uhh, looking after him."
"Looking after him?"
I looked to see that Mike wasn't standing close by and then lowered my voice, "Babysitting. Except he doesn't like it when you say that."
"Oh I see", the clerk smiled, "still pretty nice of you, and sweet that you're trying not to make him feel like he's just a little kid."
"Thanks, to be honest, he almost feels like a little brother", I smiled awkwardly.
I counted out money for the pants while he folded them and put them in a bag, "He must really like you, easy to see why."
I was sure my cheeks were on fire by this point, "Oh, uhm, thanks, I guess we get along pretty well."
"Alright, well, here you are", he said as he handed me the bag, "and by the way, we have VIP customer program. If you give me your name and phone number I'll make sure you get on the list, we have some special sales that we'll let you know about."
"Oh uhh, okay, sure", I said, giving him my name and phone number.
"Okay, great Martin, and I'm Andy. I'll call you ...", he said, then adding, "to let you know about any upcoming sales."
"Yeah okay", I said, "... Andy."
"Alright, see you around, hope you and your `little brother' have a good day", he smiled at me.
"Uhh, okay, yeah, you have a good day too", I said smiling back.
I caught up with Mike who had wandered just outside of the store, "Ready to move on?"
"Yup, what's next?"
"Uhm, the bookstore I guess."
We headed through the mall towards the bookstore; Mike saw that the video arcade was directly opposite.
"Can I go play some games?"
I thought about it for a second and then figured he'd be okay in there for a few minutes while I looked for my book.
"Okay", I said, fishing a few dollars out of my wallet, "but ... do not wander off, okay? I'll be over there in a few minutes."
"Okay, okay, I know, don't talk to strangers", he smiled, taking the money.
"You ask the guy at the entrance to give you quarters for that", I said, then added, "he needs to give you 12 quarters, okay? Make sure it's 12."
"Yup", Mike said over his shoulder, already nearly halfway there.
I watched him exchange the dollar bills for quarters, and then smiled as he counted them in his hand. I walked into the bookstore and went to the sci-fi/fantasy section, which was my favourite. I saw the book I wanted and made my purchase. Not more than five minutes later I was in the arcade looking for Mike, and started to get worried when I couldn't see him. I walked around again and then realized why I hadn't seen him right away; two older boys, probably my age, were standing right behind and had blocked my view. I saw as one of them pushed Mike out of the way and took the game.
"Hey, whadda yah think you're doing?" I shouted, causing a few heads to turn my way.
My stomach dropped when the boy that had pushed Mike turned around; it was Randy, my least favourite guy at school. He was the one who seemed to have made it his personal business to make sure that I had as many lousy school days as possible, mostly focusing on making comments about my acne.
"Well, well, look", he said loudly with a smirk, "it's zit boy to the rescue!"
I braced myself for what was going to be an unpleasant encounter; I could feel my heart pounding, but more out of anger than fear. It was one thing to make fun of me, it was another thing to let him push Mike around; Mike stood there, a scared look on his face given that Randy was far bigger than he was.
"Look", Randy said to his buddy, "he's probably gonna piss himself."
I stood in front of Mike, and found my voice, "He was playing that ... feeling like a big man picking on a kid?"
"Aww, what's this", he said, then guffawed with his buddy, "is this the widdle baby you gotta put a diaper on?"
I could feel my anger rising, making me think less clearly and causing a slight tremor in my voice, "Why don't you just fuck off already? You're such an asshole."
Randy's smile faded, "Whad'you just say to me?"
Despite my natural inclination to want to disappear, I stood my ground, "Are you deaf AND stupid? I said you're an asshole that should fuck off."
A small group of other kids from the nearby games had come over and stood around us. Randy took two steps towards me and punched me solidly in the gut, making me double over.
"Don't ever fucking talk back to me", he said coldly.
By this time we'd drawn the attention of the guy working the arcade; he was big and beefy, not the kind of guy the kids ever messed with while they were there. He pushed his way through the kids and stood in front of us.
"What the hell is going on?"
Randy told him nothing was going on, and about three or four other kids starting talking all at once about pushing and fighting.
"You four", he said, pointing at Randy, his buddy, me and Mike, "get out, if I catch you causing trouble in here again you'll be out for good!"
I started to protest, and even Mike chimed in, "But they started it, he took my game and pushed me."
The guy wasn't having any of it, "I don't care who started what, the four of you get out now."
I put my arm around Mike's shoulders and walked him out, still feeling the effects of the unanticipated punch that Randy had laid on me. Randy and his buddy were grumbling behind me, muttering various expletives under their breath so that the arcade guy, who was walking right behind us, couldn't hear them. I wasn't sure if Randy was going to carry on when we got out of the arcade, so I decided to stand not far out of it's entrance.I didn't necessarily think the arcade guy would come out and intervene, but I still somehow felt safer there. The mall had also gotten busier since we'd arrived and I hoped that might be enough to keep Randy at bay.
Randy stepped towards the two of us, and I braced myself in case he was going to throw another punch. Instead he and his buddy just smirked at me.
He then looked down at Mike and put on a nasty sneer, "Better watch out kid or he'll try to stick his cock in your ass when you're not looking, he's a pervy fag who likes little boys because he's too fuckin' ugly for any girls."
I could feel the heat in my cheeks and was starting to get angry again.
"He is not!" Mike said, then added unexpectedly, "Suck my cock."
All three of us looked at Mike; I was fearing the reprisal this was going to cause. Randy's face went from a blank stare to a loud laugh; his friend, who apparently didn't speak, looked at Randy and started laughing as well.
"Damn kid, you got a mouth on you", he said, then looked at me, "kid's got a bigger pair than you, eh Martin?"
I just glared at him; he started to turn away, but then looked back at us.
"Remember what I said kid, watch out or he'll make you ride his joystick, not that you'd feel anything", he said, then looked directly at me while pointing at Mike, "or maybe you should watch out for him, he'd probably give it to yah better."
I could hear the two of them laughing as they walked away. I felt ashamed that I'd let Randy punch me without even fighting back. I felt worse that it had happened in front of Mike. I felt like I'd failed to protect him.
"C'mon", I said, "let's just go."
Mike walked next to me, but didn't say anything; maybe he was sensing my dejected mood. As we walked, I kept playing things over in my head, thinking I should've done this or should've done that. The problem was there weren't any realistic scenarios I could think of where I'd have come out on top. Sure, in some fantasy Randy's fist would've connected with my six-pack abs and I would've knocked him to the ground with one punch.
We left the mall and walked in the direction of the apartment. Along the way I saw a burger place and asked Mike if he wanted something to eat.
"We don't have to if you don't want to", he said, looking at me.
I looked at Mike and smiled, "Yeah, c'mon, I want to."
We went in and both ordered chocolate milkshakes, a burger and fries. We got our shakes and sat in one of the booths to wait for the rest of our food. I realized that I hadn't even thought to make sure that Mike was okay.
"I'm sorry that happened, you feeling okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No, he just pushed me a little", Mike said between sips of his shake.
"Sorry Mike, I should've just gone in there with you instead of letting you go by yourself."
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know that would happen."
"Still, I should've ... I don't know ...", my voice trailed off.
Our food arrived and we started to eat.
"Did it hurt?" Mike asked, "When you got punched?"
"Yeah, I guess it was worse because I wasn't expecting it, y'know?"
"Yeah."
"Were you scared when he pushed you?" I asked Mike.
I could see Mike putting on a brave face, "Nah."
"That's good", I said, "I was scared."
"You were?"
"Sure, I mean, I wish I hadn't been, but ... that was pretty embarrassing", I said, "Monday at school is going to be a nightmare."
"Why?"
"Because I'm sure that Randy is going to tell everyone that I was scared shitless of him and that he knocked me down with a single punch."
"But you didn't fall down", Mike said.
"Well no, but y'know, that's not how he's gonna tell it, he'll make sure I look as bad as possible."
"I don't like him", Mike said.
"Me either", I agreed.
"Martin?"
"Yeah?"
"I guess I was kinda scared too", Mike admitted, "but just until I saw you coming."
"I didn't exactly do much."
"You made me feel better, I wasn't scared when I heard you and saw you."
"Thanks Mike", I said, "y'know something? I'm really glad that we've gotten to spend time together."
"Me too", he beamed.
We'd finished our meal and left to continue on our way back to the apartment; five minutes later we were back inside.
While we took our shoes off I said, "Do me a favour? Don't tell your mom about what happened?"
"Okay, I won't", he said, "but why? You didn't do anything bad."
"I know, but ... well, I don't want her to think that you're not safe with me, she might not want me stay with you anymore."
"But you came and protected me!"
"I'm glad you think so buddy", I said, "you're the best. But I shouldn't have let you out of my sight when we were out, that was a mistake."
"But I'm not a little kid that has to be watched all the time."
"I know you're not, I didn't mean it that way", I said, "it's just that ... well, when I'm with you, I'm responsible for what happens. I don't want her to think that I'm not responsible."
Mike came over and wrapped his arms around me, "I won't say anything, I promise, I want you to keep coming back."
I gave him a bear hug in return and lifted him off his feet; Mike wrapped his legs around my midsection and his arms around my neck.
"I want to keep coming back too", I said, then somewhat to my own surprise, added, "I love you Mike."
Mike's legs and arms squeezed me harder, "I love you too."
We spent the next few hours playing some games until Mike's mom came home.
"Hello", she said as she came in.
"Hi Mom", Mike said as he got up.
I got up to; I was hoping Mike would remember to not say anything about what had happened earlier.
"So, you guys had a good day?"
"Yeah, it was great Mom", Mike said and smiled at me.
I smiled back, "We did have a good day."
"Thanks again, Martin, I really appreciated your willingness to stay at the last minute", she said and handed me money for the day.
"Oh thanks, and no problem, Mike and I always have a good time together, right?"
"Right!" Mike shouted.
I went to Mike's room to pack up my bag and came out into the hallway, "Well, I guess it's time for me to head home."
"Awww", Mike said.
Mike's mom said, "Now Mike, Martin already spent a whole extra day with you, don't you think he wants to be at his home sometime?"
"Nah, he loves it here way better", Mike smiled.
"Well, what I love is hanging out with you", I said, then turned to his mom, "so we're on for Friday night again?"
"Yes, please, I'll try to stick to just the night this time", she laughed a little.
"No problem", I said while Mike gave me a big hug.
"I love you", he said as he squeezed me.
I blushed a little when Mike's mom looked at us in surprise, "I love you too, buddy."
"Alright Mike", his mom said, "how about you clean up whatever you were doing and get cleaned up before dinner."
"Okay", Mike said as though he'd been given the worst news ever.
I walked over to the door, ready to leave, when Mike's mom surprised me by giving me a hug.
"I'm sorry", she said, "but you have no idea how happy I am that you and Mike are getting along so well. It's been a long time since I've heard him say that ... say that he loves someone other than me. You have no idea how special you are to Mike and I couldn't be more grateful."
I knew I was blushing furiously now, "Well, uhm, y'know, Mike is pretty special to me too."