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The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by location, are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by explicit descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not based on any actual events.
Sexual Development: Chapter 21 - Sickness by Gymnopedies
Daniel wasn't in the best of moods during school on Thursday. He hadn't slept well, and as result he was feeling tired and more than a little irritable. Jason didn't exactly help, what with his constant prattling and complaining about things that, when compared to Daniel's problems, seemed pretty trivial. Daniel found himself tuning out and letting Jason chatter on to himself. Several times throughout the morning, Dean would turn and give Daniel a smile. Daniel would smile back, trying to ignore his inner turmoil. He felt incredibly guilty about what he and Dean had done the previous evening, as though he had in some way betrayed his friendship with Jason. He tried telling himself that he was being stupid, but this didn't help, and he found that the more he thought about it, the more he was blaming Jason for how he felt. If Jason didn't want to be more than friends then surely Daniel shouldn't be made to feel guilty for doing things with someone else. Putting the blame on Jason was unfair, and Daniel knew it, but he couldn't help it, and this made him feel even worse. Why were emotions so complicated?
The one good thing about the day was that there was no sign of Simon McBride. The boy's desk sat empty. At least that was one irritation less to worry to about. Daniel didn't think that he would have been able to cope with McBride's constant barbed comments on top of everything else.
The bell signalling the lunch-time break came as a welcome relief. Daniel quickly scooped up his books and pushed them into his schoolbag, glad that for the next hour he wouldn't have to sit listening to a teacher droning on. Beside him, Jason was already on his feet putting his own books away.
"I think old McKenzie is going senile," said Jason, referring to the teacher who had taken them for the last lesson of the morning. "He keeps saying the same things over and over. And have you seen the way he just stands there staring into space? It's like he's forgotten where he is. Maybe he's on the booze and he's pissed all the time." He gave a short chuckle. "I bet that's it. He's not senile, he's pissed. Don't you think?"
"Eh?" Daniel hadn't really been listening.
"Don't you think McKenzie acts like he's pissed?"
Daniel looked at Jason and shrugged. "Who cares?" he said, coldly, not the least bit interested in whether or not McKenzie might be a drinker.
For a moment, Jason looked surprised at the tone of Daniel's reply. Then he shook his head. "You're a real miserable git this morning, you know that?" He pushed passed Daniel and hurried to catch up with Dean, who was leaving the classroom.
Daniel groaned to himself. Taking his feelings out on other people, and Jason in particular, was certainly not helping matters. The best thing was probably to try to forget about his problems for now and simply concentrate on getting through the day without upsetting anyone. He decided that he'd better make more of an effort to be sociable during lunch.
In the canteen, the boys bought their lunch and sat down at an empty table, Daniel and Jason on one side, Dean and Trevor on the other. Trevor looked almost as miserable as Daniel was feeling. Perversely, this made Daniel feel a little better. He didn't like Trevor, mainly because Trevor clearly didn't like Jason. Just for a moment, Daniel entertained the idea that maybe Trevor was actually gay and secretly fancied Dean and that he was jealous that Dean was showing an interest in someone else. But no, Trevor wasn't gay. He was just an obnoxious wanker. Dean had got it right when he'd suggested that Trevor didn't like Jason because he thought that Jason might be gay and he didn't want to be seen hanging around with him. Bastard. Daniel glared across the table at the boy.
"I've been thinking about something," Jason leaned forwards, looking a little nervously at Dean.
"Thinking is usually good," said Dean, grinning.
"I was wondering..." Jason hesitated. He glanced at Daniel and then back at Dean. "Maybe you could show me how to fight. Just a few moves, you know, so that if someone like McBride starts anything, I can look after myself." He looked down, blushing.
The idea of Jason, the smallest boy in the class, going up against McBride, one of the biggest and most belligerent, was so ridiculous that Daniel had to struggle not to laugh. That is, until he saw that Trevor was laughing, and then his amusement turned to anger. "What's so funny?" he demanded.
"He is," laughed Trevor. "If he thinks that he can beat McBride he's off his rocker. McBride would put him in hospital."
Dean shot Trevor a reproachful look. "Anyone can learn to look after themselves," he said. "Size doesn't make any difference. Jason's not that much smaller than me. You think that McBride could put me in hospital?"
"Well no, but..." Trevor looked suitably abashed.
As Trevor dropped his eyes, Dean turned his attention back to Jason, his expression softening. "I can maybe show you a few things," he said. "But in a way, Trev is right. Unless you know how to do it properly, someone is likely to get hurt and it will most likely be you."
Jason looked disappointed. "Yeah, OK. I just thought... You know."
Dean nodded, sympathetically. "Yeah, I know. Look, if you're really interested, you can come and sit in and watch when I go for my coaching. Then, if you decide you want to do it, you can get some proper lessons of your own. You'd have to start in the beginners classes, but I'd help you all I could between times."
"Really?" Jason brightened up. "You think I could really learn how to fight?"
"Anyone can at least learn the basics," said Dean. "That's if they're willing to put the work in. It's really hard work." He gave a dry smile. "Or if you don't want to put in all that work you could always follow my dad's advice. Hit them before they hit you and make sure you hit 'em hard enough to knock 'em down."
Jason grinned. "Your dad sounds cool."
"You might not think that if you had to live with him," said Dean, with more than a hint of bitterness. "Anyway, I have a training session on Saturday if you want to come along and watch."
"Yeah, I'll be there," said Jason, happily.
Daniel looked from one boy to the other. He struggled to contain the sigh that he felt moving up from his insides. What was he going to do? He couldn't keep messing around with Dean behind Jason's back. Sooner or later, Jason was bound to find out and then there would be trouble. Especially given that Jason seemed to see Dean as some sort of role model. Daniel knew that even though he liked Dean a lot, his feelings for the boy could never match the way that he felt about Jason. But could his relationship with Jason ever develop in the way that Daniel wanted? Jason seemed to have opened up a little recently. Or was that just a case of Daniel seeing what he wanted to see? Probably. Jason obviously wasn't gay. If he'd had any sexual feelings at all for Daniel, then surely he would have said so when he'd found out about Daniel being gay. Maybe it was time to stop hoping for something that clearly wasn't going to happen. Jason would be coming round tonight for a measuring session, and Daniel decided that that might be a good opportunity to talk to his friend. He would tell Jason about what had been going on with Dean and see what happened.
"You OK, Daniel?" Dean asked, from across the table.
"Yeah, why?"
"You've been really quiet."
"It's women's troubles," Jason laughed. "It's his time of the month." The laughter instantly died as he noticed the hurt look in Daniel's eyes and he quickly looked down. "OK, so it wasn't funny," he muttered.
"No, it wasn't," Daniel agreed, softly.
The afternoon proved to be as big a strain as the morning. Having made up his mind to tell Jason about himself and Dean, Daniel was now becoming increasingly worried about what his friend's reaction might be. Suppose Jason was so upset by this information that he ended their friendship. Daniel felt sick at the thought that this might happen. But at the same time he knew that things couldn't continue as they were. Not telling Jason was almost certainly a far worse option than telling him.
It seemed that Daniel's mood was infectious. Jason appeared to become steadily more morose as the afternoon wore on, keeping his head down and hardly speaking. Daniel made a couple of attempts to lift the mood between them but his rather forced light-hearted comments were met with disinterested shrugs.
As they got up from their desks at the end of the final lesson of the day, Daniel confirmed that Jason still intended to come over later for a measuring session, and then set off for Adam's room for his bi-weekly session with Ben and Billy. To his surprise, Jason joined him.
"Where are you going?"
"To see Adam," said Jason. "Like I told you this morning, the runt is ill and Mum asked me to go give this note to Adam to explain why he won't be there today." He pulled a note from his pocket and held it up as though it were evidence.
"Ben's not in today?"
"Yeah. That's what I just said. That's what I told you earlier." Jason gave an exasperated sigh. "You've been really out of it today. You sure you're not getting sick as well?"
"No, I'm not sick," said Daniel. He didn't recall Jason mentioning Ben, but then he'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he'd taken very little notice of anything at all that Jason might have said. "So is Billy in?" He asked, wondering if there was any point in going to Adam's room.
"How should I know?" said Jason. He gave a soft giggle. "Mind you, with all the stuff that the little pervs do together, there's a good chance that they've gone and infected each other."
Daniel sighed. Jason had an amazing talent for saying the wrong thing.
Billy was waiting in Adam's room when the two older boys arrived. Daniel gave a brief knock on the open door as he went in. Adam, was was sitting on the edge of his desk reading the contents of a folder, and he looked up and gave the boys a welcoming smile.
"The runt's not coming. He's got the shits," said Jason, getting straight to the point.
Adam's eyes widened slightly at Jason's colourful phraseology, but he took it pretty much in his stride. "Yes, Billy's just told me that Ben's not in today." He accepted the note that Jason was proffering and glanced through it. He gave a frown. "When did this come on?"
"He started with it last night," said Jason.
"Has he been vomiting, or is it just diarrhoea?"
Jason gave a grin. "No, he's been puking up as well. That's how it started last night. He puked on the lounge carpet."
Adam shook his head, his expression grim. "It sounds like he's picked up the bug that's doing the rounds at the moment. It's not very pleasant, but as long as he drinks plenty of fluids he should be OK. It doesn't usually last long; most people are starting to feel better in twenty-four hours or so. The main thing is to be extra careful with hygiene to try to make sure that he doesn't pass it on to anyone else. These bugs often end up going around the whole family. How are you feeling?"
Jason gave a shrug. "I'm fine."
"That's good," said Adam. "Let's hope you stay that way. If I get the time I'll call in and check on Ben sometime this evening."
"So what do we do now?" asked Daniel. He'd intended to follow up on his promise to Ben and ask Adam whether it would be OK for the two younger boys to measure each other, as long as they were supervised. Now, that plan was obviously on hold.
"You may as well carry on as normal and measure Billy," said Adam. "Though I think it's probably best to just stick with the measuring today; we'll pick up the ejaculation tests next week when Ben is back with us."
"OK." Daniel glanced at Billy, who gave a shy smile.
"Will you be long?" Jason asked Daniel. "If you aren't going to be too long, I'll hang about outside until you're done. Then we can go straight round to your house."
"No, I won't be long," said Daniel.
"OK, I'll see you in a few minutes." Jason moved towards the door. As he passed Billy, the younger boy gently touched his arm, bringing him to a stop.
"You can stay if you like. I don't mind." Billy's voice was soft, and he spoke quickly and nervously, dropping his eyes as colour rose to his face.
"Erm... I dunno." Jason looked from Billy to Daniel.
"If Billy doesn't mind, you may as well wait in here," said Daniel. "That way I won't have to come looking for you when I'm done."
"Yeah, I guess." Jason didn't look particularly enthusiastic at the idea of staying in the room while Billy was being measured, but he made his way over to a chair by Adam's desk and sat down.
Adam had watched the exchange with an amused smile. "As long as everyone is happy," he said. He moved behind his desk and, sitting down, he turned his attention to his computer.
As Daniel collected the measuring tape and the boy's folder from the desk, Billy began to pull his clothes off. Daniel noticed that as he stripped, the youngster kept casting frequent covert glances at Jason. Jason, however, sat forwards on his chair, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, seemingly completely in a world of his own.
For some reason, Daniel found himself feeling quite self-conscious about putting his hands on Billy's body while Jason was there, even though Jason didn't appear to be paying them any attention. He guided Billy over to the measuring chart that was pinned to the wall, gently placing his hand on the boy's bare chest to hold him steady while he read off the height measurement. Billy, for his part, seemed to enjoy the contact, appearing more relaxed than he had during the times when Ben had been there. He smiled and even giggled softly a couple of times as Daniel took his measurements. By the time Daniel had completed the youngster's upper body measurements, Billy had a full erection.
Following his usual routine, Daniel dropped down to his knees and moved on to the leg measurements, leaving the best part, the penis measurements, until the end. He once again noticed that Billy kept looking over at Jason and felt an irrational stab of jealousy. Daniel had come to believe that Billy had had a bit of a crush on him, but now he recalled the time that he and Jason had listened outside Ben's room and heard Billy saying that he had always thought that Jason was hot. Billy might have a bit of a crush on Daniel, but it appeared that he had an even bigger crush on Jason.
Finishing the boy's leg measurements, Daniel pulled Billy's attention away from Jason in the most unsubtle way possible. He took hold of the youngster's hard dick and gave it a squeeze.
Billy gave a soft gasp, and looked down, smiling as he watched Daniel pull his skin back and measure his erection from base to tip. He stood with his arms down at his sides, his hips pushed slightly forwards.
Daniel couldn't resist rubbing his thumb over the boy's sensitive head, causing Billy to squirm and giggle, before allowing the foreskin to slide back into place. He looked up at the boy and gave a smile, which Billy returned, and then he stroked up and down the hard shaft a few times before taking the circumference measurements.
It was over all too soon. Daniel would have loved to try some of the things with Billy that he'd done with Dean. It would have been great to fully explore the boy's smooth body, stroke along his chest, feel his balls, touch his tight arsehole and maybe even put a finger inside him, and then stroke the boy's dick and make him cum. The thing was, Daniel was fairly sure that Billy might be open to most of those things. However, with Jason sitting just a few feet away and Adam working at his desk, anything more than was required in order to take the measurements was out of the question.
Strangely, the thought of getting his hands on Billy didn't cause the feelings of guilt that Daniel was experiencing as a result of what he had done with Dean. Probably because what he wanted to do to Billy was purely physical; there was no emotional attachment to the boy. Billy could never be a real rival for Jason. Though of course, following this logic, it must mean that Daniel did have some emotional feelings for Dean. He might not feel quite the same about Dean as he did about Jason, but there was definitely something there that could be built upon. Daniel looked over at Jason, who was still sitting staring at the ground, his chin in his hands. He sighed. If only Jason were gay, life would be so much easier.
"OK, we're done," said Daniel, after he'd entered up the last measurements on the sheet. "You can get dressed now."
"OK." Billy shot a final look at Jason, then slowly walked over to his clothes and began putting them on.
Jason remained silent and withdrawn as the two boys made the journey from school to Daniel's house. Daniel was starting to worry that he had either done or said something to upset his friend, and had played back over what had happened during the measuring and immediately before it, trying to think of anything that might have caused Jason to take offence. He couldn't think of anything at all, unless it happened to be the actual measuring. Was Jason upset at seeing Daniel touching Billy? Daniel didn't think this likely, but was unable to come up with anything else.
Given Jason's mood, Daniel was having second thoughts about whether he should tell his friend about Dean. Maybe it would be better to hold off with that particular bombshell until Jason was a little happier. He decided to wait and see what happened during their measuring. Maybe once they got started, Jason would brighten up.
They were nearly at Daniel's house before Jason finally broke the silence. "Is he bigger than me?" he asked, the sudden question taking Daniel by surprise.
"Eh? What?"
"Billy. Is he bigger than me? Is his dick bigger than mine?"
Daniel gave a short, involuntary giggle but quickly managed to bring himself under control when he saw the serious expression on Jason's face. "No, of course not."
Jason nodded, looking partially satisfied. "OK."
"Is that what's been bothering you? You thought Billy's dick might be bigger than yours?"
"It hasn't been 'bothering' me," said Jason, coolly. "I just wondered, that's all."
Daniel hid a smile. "You were looking then. You had a look at Billy's boner."
"I could hardly miss it when he was standing straight in front of me," said Jason, defensively. "He's bigger than Ben," he added.
"Yeah, he's bigger than Ben. He's not as big as you though." Daniel could understand where Jason was coming from. One of the boy's biggest worries was his slow physical development. Being the smallest and least developed in his class at school was bad enough, but discovering he had a smaller dick than a twelve-year-old would be much worse. "Besides, yours is getting is bigger; remember the last time we measured it?" This earned him a tight, embarrassed smile. "Billy likes you, you know."
Jason gave an almost derisive snort. "Yeah, right."
"I mean it. I think he has a real crush on you. That's why he suggested that you stay. He wanted you to see him naked. All the time that I was measuring him, he kept looking over to see if you were watching."
"He's a little perv," said Jason. "Just like the runt."
When they reached Daniel's house, Jason went straight up to the bedroom, while Daniel called into the lounge to make sure that his mother knew that they were going to be measuring each other; he didn't want her walking in on them by accident.
As he joined his friend in the bedroom, Daniel noticed that Jason was now looking even more unhappy than ever. "We don't have to do this today if you don't want to," he said.
Jason shook his head. "We'd better do it. The sheets for this week have to be in tomorrow." He started to get undressed, dropping his clothes onto Daniel's bed.
Daniel watched the boy for a moment and then he too started to undress. It really didn't look like today would be right time to say anything about Dean, he decided.
Daniel was the first to be naked, pulling off the briefs that he was wearing and dropping them onto the pile of his other clothing. The front of the briefs were marked with the precum that had oozed from his dick while he had been touching Billy, and he was careful to put them down in such a way that the mark was hidden from view. He stood and waited a moment as Jason stepped out of his shorts.
Looking at Jason, Daniel realised that his friend didn't just look miserable, he looked ill. Jason's skin was even paler than usual, there was perspiration on his forehead, and he was taking quick, shallow breaths. "You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You don't look it."
"I told you, I'm fine," Jason repeated, getting annoyed. The he suddenly closed his eyes and tensed up. "Oh fuck!" he groaned. His eyes opened wide and his expression became one of panic. His hand went to his mouth and he staggered forwards. He grabbed for his shorts, missed them, then gave up and charged for the door, his hand clamped firmly over his mouth. Naked, he flew out of the room and along the landing towards the bathroom.
Daniel rushed to the bedroom door, silently praying that Jason made it to the bathroom and didn't puke on the landing carpet. To his relief, the landing was empty. However, the awful sound of retching was coming from the bathroom. It looked as though Jason had made it just in time. Quickly, Daniel pulled on his briefs and went to check that his friend was OK.
Reaching the bathroom, Daniel found Jason on his hands and knees in front of the toilet bowl, looking thoroughly wretched. His skin was clammy and he was panting heavily.
"Are you OK?" It was a silly question, but Daniel couldn't think of anything else to say.
Jason didn't reply. He leaned forwards, his body tensing up as he vomited into the toilet.
"Ugh! Gross!" Daniel muttered. He watched Jason, wanting to help, but not knowing what he should do. What the hell do you do to help someone who is throwing up? His concern grew as Jason continued to retch, the spasms leaving the young teen panting and sobbing as his stomach tried to turn itself inside out. "Oh shit, Jase!" In a panic, Daniel ran to the top of the stairs and screamed down. "MUM!"
Daniel's mother appeared seconds later. "What on Earth is going on?" She stepped into the bathroom, taking in the scene. "Oh dear." She gave a sigh and, pushing Daniel aside, she knelt beside Jason, putting her arm comfortingly over his shoulders and gently stroking the back of his head. The bout of puking finally eased and, gasping for breath, Jason lifted his head.
"Daniel, throw me that towel," said the boy's mother, pointing to the towel rail. She took the large towel and draped it around Jason's body. Then she got up and flushed the toilet before rinsing a face-cloth under the hot water tap and using this to wipe the young teen's mouth. "I think we'd better try and get you dressed and get you home," she said. She looked back over her shoulder at Daniel. "Daniel, stop standing around like an ornament and go and get some clothes on. Then you can help Jason get dressed."
Daniel had been so worried about Jason that he had forgotten that he was wearing nothing but a pair of rather skimpy briefs. In fact, it was even worse than that: he was wearing a pair of skimpy briefs with an extremely obvious dried-precum mark on the front. He felt his face redden as he hurried back to his bedroom to get his clothes. He was almost finished dressing when Jason appeared, walking a little unsteadily, with the towel held tightly around himself and Daniel's mother still with her arm around his shoulders.
"Do you think you're going to be alright for a few minutes now?" the woman asked, looking at Jason's face, her expression concerned.
"Yeah," Jason nodded. "I think so."
"I'll leave you to get dressed. Come down as soon as you're ready and we'll get you home. If you start to feel sick again, get yourself straight back to the bathroom."
"I will," Jason promised. His voice was weak and he sounded extremely sorry for himself.
"How are you feeling?" Daniel asked, as his mother left, pulling the door closed behind her.
"Like shit."
"You should have said that you weren't feeling well. I thought that you were just in a mood."
"I didn't think it was going to get this bad," Jason replied. He lowered himself down onto the edge of the bed. "Pass me my shorts, will you."
With a bit of help from Daniel, Jason managed to get dressed. He still looked pale, but at least he didn't appear as though he were about to throw up again - not just yet anyway.
"You going to be OK in the car?" Daniel asked.
"Dunno. I expect I'll have to be. It's either that or stay here, and I don't think your mum will be too impressed with that idea. The runt started off by throwing up and then he spent all night shitting and puking." Jason gave a sick grin. "Look's like I'm in for some real fun."
Daniel squeezed the boy's shoulder. "Adam said it only lasts about twenty-four hours. You'll be OK."
"Yeah." Jason put his hand on top of Daniel's, the uncharacteristic 'touchy' gesture taking Daniel completely by surprise. "Thanks, Daniel."
"For what?"
"I dunno." Jason gave a shrug. "Just thanks." He smiled and lowered his eyes.
The car journey to Jason's house passed without incident. Daniel's mother made Jason sit in the front passenger seat with a plastic bowl on his knees and a blanket around his shoulders. By the time they arrived, Jason was starting to look quite green again, and as soon as he was out of the car he wasted no time in hurrying into the house to get to the toilet.
Feeling bad that he couldn't be of any help to his friend, Daniel stood in the doorway of the house while his mother explained what had happened to Jason's mother. He wanted to go up and say goodbye to Jason properly, but neither of the adults thought that was a particularly good idea. So he had to be satisfied with shouting up the stairs that he would give Jason a call later, before getting back into the car for the short ride home.
The story continues in Chapter 22: A Sleepoever With Craig
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