The usual disclaimers apply - ie. no reading this if you're not of age to read it, and no peeking at this if you can't stand gay people (which would bring to mind the question of what the hell you're doing reading this anyway).
An apology is in order to all you people out there who waited so patiently for me to continue this story. I can only hope that this'll hold you :)
All questions etc can be directed to dcross1@home.com
September 12, 1992
5:00 AM
Robin stood in a dark chamber, with only one light shining directly down on him. Otherwise, all he saw was inky, featureless darkness. He yelled, "HELLO?! Is anyone here?!" His voice echoed, and garnered no answer.
A flash to his left caught him by surprise. A mirror! Ten feet high by four feet wide, it showed nothing. Then, foggily, a vaguely human image formed on the silver surface. What he saw made him yelp in fright and leap backwards a good three feet. In the mirror's reflection, moving exactly as he was, was Shane Wilson. Or if it wasn't him, it was the guy's spitting image.
Robin tentatively reached toward the mirror plane, unbelieving as his "mirror image" that was Shane reached towards the plane also. Their palms touched, and Robin felt a strange warmth begin to emanate from his palm. He took his hand away abruptly, and the warmth ceased. Confused, he put his hand to the mirror again, and the warmth resumed. He then received an even bigger surprise when he pushed further and his hand actually went THROUGH the mirror - and the warmth began to envelop the portion of his arm that was "behind" the mirror.
Robin strode forward, and just as his face touched the mirror...
POOF!
Robin sat up, breathing heavily. Disoriented, he looked wildly about for a familiar thing, and settled on the alarm clock. As near as he could make it, the luminous dial showed 5:20 AM. He rubbed his face, and found that his forehead was sweaty. He wiped the sweat off with his pajama sleeve and breathed a long sigh of relief. He lay back on the bed, his head on the pillow, letting out his breath.
Something was up with Shane. He could feel it. Almost as though a physical connection bound the two young men. Yet he couldn't figure out how to act on it, or how to do anything useful with it. Suddenly, his bladder signalled for attention. He rose from his bed, and went to the bathroom.
Having done his business, Robin nestled back under the covers and closed his eyes. He soon fell into a light sleep, dreamless yet restless.
8:45 AM
Robin woke up again, and yawned deeply. He caught the odor of scrambled eggs and bacon wafting through the house. His stomach evidently agreed with that breakfast idea, as it rumbled slightly. Pausing to put slippers on his feet, he walked towards the kitchen...
9:00 AM
Robin was sitting at the kitchen table, eating his mother's excellently prepared breakfast. Eating so industriously, in fact, that he dropped his fork, startled, when the phone rang. His mother answered. "Good morning, Peterson residence, Ann speaking."
Unidentified muffled voice in the receiver.
"He's actually just finishing breakfast right now. Can I have him call you?"
She hung up after scribbling something on a piece of paper and saying "Ok. Bye."
"Robin - Shane Wilson called. He'd like you to call him back. Said he was in your Biology class." She looked at him intently.
Robin himself felt strangely unsettled. "OK, I'll call him after I finish up."
His mother nodded, and left shortly after.
A few minutes later, Robin was finished, having put his plate and cutlery in the dishwasher. He went to his bedroom, and dialled the number given to him. He heard the burr of the other phone's ringing, and then a click as someone picked up the handset. He nervously said, "Hello? Is Shane there?"
"This is Shane. Is this Robin?"
"Yup. Uh, my mom said something about you being in my Biology class?" What the hell was going on here anyway?
"Yeah. I was calling to ask if you knew how to do this assignment about classifying animals."
"Oh, that. Actually, I did it last night. You need some help?"
"That would be cool. I know this sort of sounds stupid, but I don't think doing this over the phone would work very well. Could you come here? Or I can go there."
Robin paused as he stopped to consider the question. He decided to go with his gut instinct and said, "I'll drive over. I need to get showered and dressed, though. Can I see you about 10 AM?"
"Sure." Shane gave the house address, then they said their goodbyes.
As he put the handset back onto the hook, Robin felt strangely exhilarated yet cautious. If what he thought was true, there would be no turning back. But then again, all Shane wanted was help on a Biology assignment - right?
10:00 AM
Robin knocked at the door. After a few seconds, he saw the door open to reveal Shane, who was wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts. Shane grinned and said "Hi, Robin. Thanks for coming over." He reached out to shake Robin's hand, who took it and had to do his best not to betray his surprise at the warmth emanating from Shane's hand, just as it had the last time, with the booster cables and his car battery. Shane released his hand, and gestured toward the kitchen table and said, "I thought it best to get started right away."
Robin nodded and said, "I have my books right here as well, and it wasn't a problem to visit. I'd have ended up doing nothing today anyhow." He fished around in his knapsack for his notebook and turned to the assignment.
Shane's voice broke in on his concentration. "Can I get you anything to drink, by the way? I just realized I'm being a bad host."
Robin grinned and said, "No. Thanks for offering, though. So anyway, you wanted help with the assignment..."
10:45 AM
Shane nodded in apparent comprehension and said, "Ok, so the answer to the last classification question is that the avians are unique in having feathers?"
Robin said, "Yep. That's right! You almost didn't need me, you know. You seemed to pick it up pretty fast." He reached over and patted Shane on the shoulder. "Good work." He hoped Shane liked that, and wished he could have left his hand there longer. It seemed as though Shane's whole body radiated warmth.
Shane said, "Thanks again for the help. I couldn't think of anybody and then I remembered you, so I looked you up in the phone book."
Robin thought, 'Why would he look me up of all people?' Out loud, Robin said, "On second thought, I could use that drink you offered right now. What do you have?"
Shane opened the fridge. "Let's see. Milk, apple juice, orange juice, Coke Classic... hmm. Looks like that's it."
"I'll take a Coke, if you don't mind."
Shane grabbed two cans, one for himself and one for Robin. Robin accepted a can as Shane said, "Hey. I haven't toured you yet. C'mon, I'll show you around." He indicated the bedrooms, his parents' bathroom, the shared bathroom (which was really just a shower stall, toilet and sink crammed into a space not much larger than some closets), and the den which doubled as a family room. It all seemed rather... confined.
Robin said, "Hmm. Looks kind of small, meaning no offence, that is."
Shane waved that off with a shake of his head and a negative gesture with his hand. "Don't worry about it. It's not much, and I'm an only child anyway. Wanna chill out in my room for a bit?"
Robin paused to consider this, as he wondered if he could keep himself from doing anything stupid in the bedroom with Shane, and then nodded and said, "Why not, eh? Lead the way."
Shane replied, "Oh no. After you, please." In stepping aside, he rested his hand on Robin's back for a second as he gestured toward the chair with his other hand. Robin shivered slightly as he welcomed that fleeting touch. All too soon, he had to sit down, as Shane reclined on the bed.
Robin looked around, and noticed that the one thing he expected to find wasn't there. He inquired, "No Bibles?"
"Nope. I'm not a 'believer'. Don't tell my Dad that, though. He'd hit the roof and maybe the moon before coming back down."
Robin chuckled. "I promise to keep it real quiet." He mimed zipping his lips and winked.
Shane frowned momentarily. "What made you say that, anyway? I know my dad's well-known in religious circles here, but he hasn't really been famous or anything."
"Oh, I... just heard, that's all." Robin thought, 'Shit. Why did I blurt that out?'. He looked around again, took in the room more closely. He saw a book on the desk, titled Bad_Boy. He pulled it off the desk and idly read the back cover. He put the book back down and lifted his eyebrow at Shane. He wanted to know why Shane was reading a book like this - although he had an idea or two already.
"Yes?"
"'teenage sexuality'? That doesn't sound like just any novel." Robin gave Shane the hairy eyeball.
Shane grinned, and said, "All right, all right. So I like reading about people in unusual circumstances. Is that supposed to make me an awful guy?"
"Just seemed interesting, that's all. So you've read it?"
"Partway through. It's really intriguing, actually."
"Mrm. Well now I know what book to read if I'm ever bored." Robin smiled in return.
"Hey. What do your parents do?"
Safe ground. An innocuous question, thank the fates. "My dad's an insurance agent, actually. My mom occasionally works as a free-lance accountant. It means she gets to stay home and do 'domestic' things, but also to do work of her own. She doesn't mind."
Shane looked wistful as he said, "They seem pretty nice."
Robin, touched by the forlorn expression on Shane's face, spoke more from the heart than he had intended. "Yeah, they are. They've helped me out a lot recently and I really don't know what I'd have done without them."
Shane asked, "Mind if I ask why?" He quickly added, "But it's OK if you'd rather not say."
"Actually I would like to keep that private, but what makes you ask me that?"
"My parents don't seem to be that great, honestly. My mom works at a real estate agency and my dad's the general manager dowm at the pulp mill. So we're certainly not poor. But they don't seem to know how to interact with me. I'd be hard-pressed to remember a time when my dad sat down and actually talked with me. Most of the time I'm expected to shut up and listen to him pontificate, or answer a direct question from him." Frustrated, Shane slapped the bed and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He seemed to realize what he was doing, and said, "Um, sorry about that. I didn't mean-"
"It's OK. Really. I get frustrated sometimes, too." Robin could definitely relate, and momentarily reflected on his confusion of the past few days.
Shane sighed. "Yeah. So I asked you because I don't know what possible circumstances would force me to ever actually share anything with my dad. It's like looking into another world, sometimes, seeing real families with real people, you know?"
Robin nodded. He decided to probe deeper. "Do you ever have to act like you're somebody you're not? Having to attend church and stuff like that?" The way that question was asked, it could actually be answered on two levels. Would Shane pick up on that?
"Yeah. I have to do that every Sunday. But there are other aspects to the whole acting-like-someone-you're-not thing that I have to go through as well."
Robin was taken aback; he hadn't expected Shane to respond on a dual level, exactly the way he'd planned. "What do you mean?"
Shane's eyes bored into Robin's. The intensity was overpowering. "I think you know what I mean. You wake up every morning and you look at yourself in the mirror and you ask 'Why?' and nobody ever answers. You dream strange dreams where people who aren't supposed to be in them show up and touch your deepest self. You seek your true self, while the whole world tries to deny you the right to do so."
Robin's face struggled to stay steady as he kept fencing. He kept his voice steady as he replied, "Maybe I do know what you mean, and maybe I don't. I'd rather not take a guess as to what it is, though."
Shane's face clouded in fury, and stood up. He yelled, "Goddamnit, stop playing games! There's a reason why I don't believe in God, and it's not just because I saw the illogic of religion." He strode briskly out of the room.
Robin's thoughts ran wild. 'Oh shit, ohshitshitshitSHIT! I've gone and pissed him off. Oh maaaaaaan. Should I cut and run?' He stood up in indecision, waiting to see if Shane would come back.
As Shane re-entered, Robin noticed, puzzled, that he had a Bible with him. Shane said, "Read the section I tell you to." He flipped the Bible open to Leviticus, and pointed at Chapter 18, Verse 22.
Robin read the line: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." At that moment, everything clicked into place. His hands shook as his mask vanished. He was filled with awe at the sensation of knowing the answer to the mystery! Robin closed the Bible, and placed it on the desk beside Bad_Boy. He asked one simple, probing question that was more of an affirmation to himself. "So you're gay?"
Shane's face had gone white. Robin couldn't understand why. Shane weakly nodded, and then half-spoke, half-sobbed, "Yes. I am. You probably hate me now. Go. I don't care. Tell everybody at school. Hell, tell my dad."
Robin shook his head no, and spoke, his voice filled with gentleness and understanding. "Shane, that's not what I'm going to do. Listen to me." He paused as he took the biggest step yet. "I'm gay, too."
Shane's head snapped up. "What?" Disbelief. Shock.
"You heard me, buster." Robin smiled and reached out for Shane's hands, enclosing them in his own. His hands trembled.
Shane shakily breathed a sigh of immense relief. He could only nod to the bed, indicating he needed to sit down. He released Robin's hands and sat on the edge of the bed, near the pillows. Robin assumed a seat next to him.
Robin giggled as a sudden revelation came to him, and Shane said, "What? What's so funny?"
"I should have figured this out before now. You didn't need help with that assignment! You just wanted to get me over here so you could hit on me!" At that point, he couldn't help it. He started laughing. Shane joined him, and gasped out, "Yeah. I admit it."
A minute later, Shane soberly remarked, "By the way, I wasn't kidding about dreams. You... you were in one I had this morning."
Robin was thunderstruck. "Holy shit! You too!?"
"What's all that about?"
Robin excitedly related his own dream in rapid-fire speech.
Shane was flabbergasted. "You're kidding me. What time was it when you woke up?"
"Um, I remember looking at my clock, it said 5:20 AM."
Shane was amazed at the closeness to the time he had woken up. "No way. This is too unreal. I had a dream, too. I was in this long hall with mirrors every eight feet. The walls were painted in these beautiful murals, and everything looked classy. Anyway, I started walking, and the first six or seven mirrors looked normal, and then the next one - everything in the mirror was like a photographic negative! Then I went to the next one after that and the reflection was upside down. I started running like hell, and when I couldn't run anymore, I stopped to catch my breath, and saw another mirror, only you were in it! I jumped back, startled. Then I reached out to touch the mirror, and my hand got warm. I took it away, and the warmth stopped. Then I reached out again and put my hand through the mirror, and my hand and part of my arm felt warm! Then I walked up to the mirror, and just as I was about to walk through it, I woke up, and my clock said 5:17 AM."
Robin was shell-shocked. He cleared his throat, and then said, "I have a confession to make. You've been in my dreams before, too." He went on to briefly describe the recurring dream he occasionally had - about the road, the man in the dream, how he would reach out and take the other guy's hand and feel completely accepted and at home.
The two of them could only begin to fathom the implications of all this. Shane turned his head, looking directly into Robin's eyes. He murmured, "You know, ever since you came over your eyes looked moody every now and then, like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders. But after I told you I was gay, that's vanished. All I see is liveliness."
Robin blushed and could not speak. He knew his eyes showed moodiness, and felt embarassed that Shane had to see that. He was happy, though, that his true inner emotions showed through, and to his surprise, he DID feel less like Atlas holding the planet Earth, and more like a normal human being.
Shane leaned in closer, so their noses almost touched. "Would it be out of line for me to ask you for a kiss?" He smiled.
Robin smiled in return, and whispered huskily, "Not at all."
Shane tilted his head somewhat to the right, opening his lips slightly as they grazed Robin's lips and made contact. Their mouths mutually closed on each others' lips, as the kiss grew deeper and prolonged. Robin's brain struggled to process the unique sensations coming from his lips, as Shane began using some "tongue".
Eventually they had to come up for air, and said "Wow!" at the same time, then giggled.
Shane hesitantly reached up, and brought his fingers to rest on Robin's hair. Robin nodded his permission, and Shane ran his hand through Robin's curly hair. Shane then stroked Robin's cheek, tracing his finger along Robin's jawline. As Robin reached his hand to put it on Shane's head, Shane jerked his finger away, obviously startled. Robin similarly ran his hand through Shane's hair, and traced his finger across Shane's forehead and down his nose, to tap the tip playfully, feeling giddy at the feeling of coming home...
That ends part 8. Cliffhanger. You hate it, I love it, but don't go away. Watch the romantic couple have fun in the next set of chapters!