The following story is fiction based on some fact and my wishes for things that "could/might have been" if the world worked like my hopeful mind. It will eventually include sexual relations between young men. Some characters and events are based on fact but the names, places and circumstances have been changed for obvious reasons. If you're not old enough to be reading this for WHATEVER reason, please leave now. If you are plenty old enough, please continue on and let me know what you think of my first ever submission to the Nifty Archives.
Mason and Jack Chapter 4
It had been a few months and nothing spectacular happened. We celebrated out birthdays together. His is on Christmas and mine is on January 7th. He got me the first two Harry Potter books because I had been talking about wanting to begin reading the series for quite a while. I had gotten him a pendant necklace with our school's mascot on it, because he was going to be in high school the next school year and he was all about the sports. I had it engraved with "I love you ~ MSS", which are my initials.
We had told Sandy about us, a couple of weeks after we had told John about our relationship. He said he already knew and was totally happy for us. Still to this day I'm not quite sure how he knew, but he won't tell us. Says it keeps a little mystery in the relationship. Oh well.
It was closing in on the end of the school year and everyone was nervous. I was going to be a Senior next year and Jack was going to be a Freshman. Because Jack and Sandy's 8th grade class was having a "graduation" ceremony, I was at the school at night watching my boyfriend walking up on the stage receiving his awards. I was so happy for him. It's not really a huge deal "graduating" from the 8th grade, but to me it meant we were going to be in the same building next school year and could eat lunch together, walk through the halls together if we wanted, and maybe share a locker. Who knew...?
The next day was the last day of school and when the last bell rang and everyone was saying their goodbyes for the summer or whatever, I was running to the parking lot because I knew Jack would be waiting for me at my car. He was there, but his father's car was parked next to me and Jack was standing at the passenger side window talking to John and his wife Stephanie. I came up behind Jack and slid my arm over his shoulder and rested my head against the top of his head. John had told Stephanie about us the same day we had told him. She was just as accepting.
"Mason, I know Jack was supposed to come and spend the night with you, but we have something we need to tell you boys and we'd like it if you'd be our guest tonight and come to our place for the night. I've already spoken to your mother and she's agreed," John stated with a smile on his face I couldn't quite place.
"Oh, sure, that's not a problem. I'll have to run home to get some clothes and stuff. Do you want to follow me out there and I can follow you back to your place?"
"No, Steph and I need to pick up dinner and desert. It's a big night for us and we're celebrating."
"That sounds perfect. Jack, are you going to go with them or with me to my house first?" I asked looking over at Jack.
"I'm coming with you, of course," he said as he slid his hand around the small of my back and gave me a squeeze.
"Let's head out then. We'll see you in about an hour then, John?"
"Perfect! See you boys then. Drive safe."
Jack and I got into my car and we drove towards my house. John and Stephanie pulled out behind me but went in the opposite direction. Jack and I held hands the entire 10 minute drive to my house.
"What do you think your dad wants to talk to us about?" I asked Jack as I made the first of several turns to get to my house.
"I'm not sure exactly, but I think it has something to do with my mom. She's been really quiet lately. Like the last month or so. She seems almost defeated in a way. I don't know what's going on. You know how I am with my mom, if I went up to her and asked her what was wrong, she'd blow it completely out of proportion and we'd get in a fight."
I did know how their relationship was, volatile. "I know baby, I completely understand. Have you talked to your dad about how she's been acting lately?"
"I've mentioned it, but he said not to worry about it and it would all make sense eventually." He said looking at me and squeezing my hand a little tighter. "Mason, what's going on?"
"Babe, I have no clue. I was surprised to see your dad's rig next to mine when I came out to find you. I figured you'd know what was going on. Hell, I didn't even know about your mom acting stranger than normal until just now." I looked at him and smiled.
He lifted the hands he was holding and kissed the back of my hand and squeezed it again. I slowly pulled up to another stop sign and noticed we were the only car in sight, as usual. As he pulled our hands away from his lips I turned to him and leaned forward for a slow sensual kiss that got a little out of hand. We pulled apart just in time to see a big black truck driving up behind us. I put my car back in gear and made my turn and sped away as fast as possible. I didn't know what they had seen, but didn't want to hang out long enough to find out. I took the long way home, just to make sure we didn't get followed.
We got to my house, walked into the house holding hands and headed to my bedroom so I could pack an over night bag. Jack laid on the bed and watched me. Giggling he says, "I love watching you pack, you're so OCD about it."
Mocking hurt I scoffed, "Whatever! I just don't want any of my clothes wrinkled. Can't let your dad think I'm some sort of a slob with wrinkled clothing." Then I threw my underwear at him.
"These are sexy," he said holding them up in front of himself to look at them closer.
"They're boxer briefs sicko."
"Still sexy," he said as he folded them up and placed them in my bag for me.
Finished packing I zipped the bag, threw it over my shoulder and held out my hand for Jack to take so we could head to his dad's house.
We headed out for the 30 or so minute drive to John and Stephanie's house, turning up the volume for some of our favorite songs and holding hands and singing the entire time. We arrived right on time and we both got out of the car and grabbed our bags from the back seat and headed inside. We were greeted by John who hugged Jack and I in turn.
"I'm glad you boys are here. We have some great news for you," John stated as he motioned for us to leave our bags in the foyer and follow him to the dinning room. We complied and took seats next to each other on one side of the rectangular table as Stephanie came out with a platter of pizza from our favorite New York Style pizzeria.
As she placed the pizza on the large dark stained oak table John started telling us the good news, "The last time the three of us talked about you boys being together I said I was going to try and make some changes to prevent Jack's mother from causing problems when she found out about the two of you. I've been working for a couple months now and got word from my lawyer this morning that my efforts have been fruitful."
Jack and I were sitting next to each other and must have had looks of complete confusion on our faces, as Stephanie sat down and grabbed a plate, she started busting up with laughter, "John, just tell the poor boys already. They have no clue what you're talking about."
Looking back and forth between the two of us and finally stopping on Jack he says, "I'm now your permanent guardian."
To say I was overjoyed would be an understatement. Being a little older and having an understanding of custody rights, etc. I knew exactly what that meant. I turned to Jack and the look of confusion was still there. "Baby, don't you understand what this means?" I asked him.
"No, I don't understand it at all. What's going on?" he asked.
"It means that you're going to be living with your dad full time. We can come out and there won't be anything she can do about it," I said with pure happiness in my voice. "That is correct, right John?"
"Absolutely. She's willing to sign over 100% of her parental rights to me," he said and let his statement trail off.
"But?" I asked the obvious.
"From what I understand, she already knows about Jack. She also knows about you two being together. She's been able to keep her feelings under check when Jack's not around, but your stepfather, Max, called me a few weeks ago when your mother wasn't home and told me about what she was saying while you were gone. Max is totally ok with your sexuality, Jack. He wishes he could convince your mother of the horrible decision she's made, but his marriage is in jeopardy as it is."
"Are you saying she doesn't want anything to do with Jack ever again?" I ask, concern apparent in my voice.
"Yes," John states and lowers his head.
"Wait. Wait just one damn minute!" Jack finally blurts out. "You mean she's SO disgusted by me that she's giving up ALL of her parental rights to me?" A single tear slipped from his eye as he realized what he had just said and squeezed them shut to try and keep the tears under control.
John was up and around the table in a flash. Much faster than it took for me to respond and realize what had happened. John had Jack embraced in a hug to end all hugs while on his knees at Jack's side. As the realization hit me I couldn't help it, I lost all control of my tears and started silently shedding a torrent of tears. I reached out my hand placed it in Jack's longer hair. I could feel him sobbing under his dad's embrace and I couldn't handle seeing him hurting like that. I stood and walked to the open back door and out onto the deck. Once I leaned against the large deck's back railing I lost it. I started sobbing. I saw Stephanie's cigarettes lying on the rail in their normal spot and reached for the pack. Pulling a cigarette and the lighter from the pack I lit it and took a long drag of it. As I inhaled the menthol laced smoke I was starting to calm down a little.
"Can I join you?" I heard from behind me.
I turned and had to use my free hand to clear the tears from my blurry eyes to see that it was Stephanie. "Oh my god! Stephanie, I'm so sorry. I should have asked first." I panicked as I realized I was smoking in front of an adult. It wasn't the first time I had smoked, but in front of an adult and my boyfriend's stepmom no less I was freaking out.
"Mason. It's ok. John and I both know you've smoked in the past and don't have a problem with the occasional smoke break," she said as she came up and leaned against the railing next to me. "Just don't make a habit of it. It's nasty." She added as she lit her own smoke and took a drag.
"How's Jack doing? I should be in there with him right now, but seeing him hurting like that. I felt is Stephanie. I honestly felt the physical pain he was feeling. It felt like the time my dad tried to hit my mother," I said taking another drag.
"He and John are talking. They moved to the office and are sitting on the couch talking. Jack knew the day may come that she'd find out and wouldn't be able to accept him. Of course he was hoping things would have been different, but of all the scenarios he played out, this was not one of them. He thought she'd always be a part of his life. The only difference was the level of acceptance she'd have. Jack didn't think about the fact that Barbara would completely disown him. I think that caught him off guard," she said turning towards me a little to look me in the eye. "The first thing he asked when the sobs stopped and he pulled away from John was, `Where's Mason?!' I told him you had to excuse yourself. I explained the pain I had seen on your face and he instantly tried to come after you. John stopped him and told him you would be fine."
"I don't know that I am ok. I feel horrible for leaving like that. I should be there for him, to support him..."
"You are here, Mason. You didn't leave, like go home, leave. You're still here, just taking a break for yourself. You don't have anyone here, other than Jack, to support you right now. He's in no condition, emotionally, to be able to that."
"But I should be in there right now. Holding him, talking to him, something. But, no, I'm out here, being selfish. I should have been strong enough to handle the hurt I was feeling when he broke down..." I said, starting to get worked up again.
"Mason, I know we don't know each other very well, but I do know you well enough to know that you're a very, very strong person. I know you were feeling some very strong emotions back there. Quite frankly, you handled that with more maturity than I've seen in most of the adults I've met throughout my life. I'm most definitely impressed and that's why I told Jack I'd come and check on you and to go and talk to his father in the office." As she said this, her hand came around and rested on my back, giving me the physical contact I always needed when I was upset. I instantly calmed.
"Thank you Stephanie."
"You're welcome Son," she said with a smile. I looked up at here when she said it and I smiled also.
We finished our cigarettes in silence and I was finally calmed down enough to face Jack again.
"Shall we go in and eat?" Stephanie asked.
"Let's go."
We walked back into the house and found Jack coming from the kitchen holding the pizza box.
"Stephanie put it in the oven to keep it warm," he said looking at me and smiling. His eyes were red and a little puffy from crying, but he looked genuinely happy. I instantly lit up. I was happy because my boy was happy.
We sat down and started eating. I kept looking at John and could see he had also been crying. I was very happy and content at this point. I knew what I wanted and needed to do and who I was going to ask to help me. We continued eating and joking about random things and didn't say anything about what had happened less than an hour ago.
When everything was cleaned up Jack and I went to his room and laid together on his bed. I was holding him to my chest and he was holding the hand I had on his chest. "Are you ok?" I asked.
"Much better now, baby. Thank you for asking. I was worried you had left me, but after Steph explained to me how hurt you looked after I started crying I wanted to go and find you. She stopped me and I was a little angry, but she told me that you were a strong young man and she'd check on you. I felt ok with that for a little bit. Dad and I went to the office and talked about what was going on. I understand it all now and couldn't be any happier. I love my mom, Mason. But I wasn't happy, and you know that. We've talked about it over and over again. I'm going to be much happier being here, able to have you over and we can be ourselves. It's a huge weight lifted from my shoulders."
"I know babe. I'm so happy that this is happening. I had to leave when I touched your head and felt you sobbing I almost lost control. Seeing you in that much pain and then touching you I could feel it. I was in the worst emotional pain I've ever been in. I'm SO sorry I left like that, but I had to have a few minutes to myself to try and regain control. I'm glad Stephanie came out onto the deck though. She helped me to understand that I did the right thing," I replied rubbing small circles on his chest with our interlocked hands.
"I hope this is the beginning of a great coming out for us. I hate hiding how I feel for you. I know that when we get back to school in the fall and are in the same school, I won't be able to do it. We're just like any other couple at that place, why can't we show our affection just like all of them?"
I pulled him closer and leaned my head down and kissed right behind and below his ear, it's one of his "places". He shivered and a small moan escaped his lips. "I agree one hundred percent, Jack," I whispered in his ear. "We'll work on it over the summer and once you're with your dad permanently we'll be free to do whatever we want."
"You're going to help tomorrow, right?"
"Help with what Baby?" I asked, almost ready to fall asleep for a short nap. I was very content holding my Jack in my arms in a safe environment.
"I'll be with Dad tomorrow. We're going to take his truck and trailer and Steph's SUV and get my stuff. Apparently Mom started working on moving everything of mine into the empty garage, after she found out about the judge's decision this morning on the conference call."
"You don't think she'll do anything to it, do you? Your stuff?" I asked.
"Not at all. One of Dad's demands was that he could hire an off duty County Sheriff's Deputy friend of his to watch the move. He'll be there the entire time watching to make sure she doesn't do anything to my stuff."
"I'll be there," I said as I leaned over him and kissed his always soft lips. "Of course I'll be there. I'll ALWAYS be there." I kissed him again but with a little more enthusiasm to emphasize that I wasn't going anywhere.
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This is my first attempt at fictional writing, please let me know what you think of it by emailing me redmondgayguy at yahoo dot com.