The Dangers of Desire

Author's Note: Thanks all for the ongoing feedback on the series. As always I love to hear what you think so feel free to email me at matterotica@hotmail.co.uk

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The Dangers of Desire

Chapter 21

by Matt

Thursday 19th March 2015

Dale left the house quite early. He had stayed at his parents' house overnight. They had been a little worried by his mysterious phone call earlier in the evening, and then more concerned when they got home to find his car there but he had quickly assured them everything was okay. Much to Warren's relief, he had agreed not to tell them everything that had happened. Their parents were mostly just relieved to see that their sons finally seemed to have made up with each other.

It had been weird for Dale being in his old room again. After the split with Josh, returning there had been his first instinct but he wanted to avoid Warren so it wasn't really an option. He didn't end up sleeping in there though. Shortly after they had all gone to bed, he had got up to go and check on his little brother. They had talked a lot and Warren had calmed down massively so he wasn't worried he might actually follow through on his earlier suicidal thoughts, but that still didn't stop him worrying.

When he crept into Warren's room, he found the boy still sitting there awake. He had joined him on the bed and the two had ended up falling asleep together.

"I'll see you soon. Call me any time if you need me." Dale had whispered to the boy as he left, leaving him sitting there eating his breakfast.

As he backed down the driveway, he stopped as he saw Nick standing on the pavement in front of the house, leaning on a tree. "Morning." he called out, lowering his window.

"Hey." Nick said with a smile. "You okay?"

Dale raised his eyebrows and nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, just about. You?"

Nick nodded gently in return. "Yeah, I think so. Didn't sleep much though. How's Warren?"

Dale shrugged. "He seems okay. I think yesterday was kind of rock bottom for him, so it's hopefully all up from here."

"I think that applies to all of us." Nick said, his brow furrowing. "I came to see him, but... do you think it's a good idea?"

"Definitely!" Dale said immediately. "He's pretty upset about most of the stuff that's happened, but I think splitting with you is still the toughest thing for him to handle. Last night he said.... well it's probably best if you talk to him yourself. You going in?"

Nick shook his head. "Nah, I was just gonna wait out here and walk with him to school. I figured we could talk on the way."

"Well he shouldn't be long. I gotta get going, message me later and let me know how it went, okay?" Dale requested. He reached out through the window and squeezed Nick's hand for just a second before driving off.

Dale had been right, it was less than ten minutes before Warren emerged from the house. He smiled shyly as he saw Nick. "Morning." he said awkwardly.

"Morning." Nick said back as Warren grew closer.

The two former lovers stood a few feet apart, each staring at the other in silence. Finally, Nick stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the boy. "You little idiot!" Nick whispered as he hugged him.

"I know." Warren replied. "It was stupid."

"I love you Warren, you know that, right?" Nick asked, pulling away enough to look into the boy's eyes without releasing him fully from the hug.

"Do you? Doesn't seem like it most of the time." Warren replied coldly.

Nick's arms dropped away, the words feeling like a shard of ice stabbing his chest. "Of course I do."

Warren frowned, and started walking, then gestured for Nick to follow. "Come on. I don't wanna be late to school."

The two walked silently for a couple of minutes, Nick occasionally glancing round at his ex who looked deep in thought. Finally Warren spoke again. "I don't get how you can say you love me, but act like our relationship never even happened."

The comment caught Nick a little by surprise. He thought that Warren's main complaint would be the new relationship with Greg. "I don't... act like that..... do I?" he asked, thinking back over the past few weeks.

"Yeah, you do. We split up and you just go straight into wanting to be just friends. It would have been nice to see you at least a little bit upset about it." Warren explained.

Nick stopped walking, his face screwed up in anger. "You're fucking kidding, right?"

Warren simply shrugged.

"A little bit upset? I lost my boyfriend and my brother all at once and all while worrying about a friend who had been beaten half to death. I was so far beyond upset there aren't even words for it." Nick snapped sharply. "You want to know why I wanted us to be friends? It wasn't so I could 'forget' our relationship, it was because I was falling apart and.... you were my best friend, Warren. I couldn't be with you like we were before, but I needed you as my best friend because... I.... I couldn't..." He stopped mid-sentence, shaking his head, unable to say any more.

"Nick, I... I didn't... know." Warren stuttered nervously.

Nick cleared his throat and shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter now. Look, I've done things to hurt you, you've done things to hurt me, but... can't we just... put it behind us? I meant what I said before. I still love you Warren. Maybe not in the same way I used to, but I do and I really want us to be okay."

"I want that too, it's just..." Warren said, hesitating.

"Greg?" Nick asked. When he got a nod from Warren, he added, "We... actually talked about that last night. We want to be together, but not if it costs us our relationships with you, so if us being together is going to cause problems..."

"Do you love him?" Warren asked sharply.

Nick pursed his lips, taking a few seconds before nodding.

"Then... you should be together." Warren said with a slightly forced smile.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, tilting his head sympathetically.

"Very." Warren said with a nod.

"And you promise we can still be friends?" Nick asked hopefully.

"No." Warren replied. He giggled as he saw the distraught look on Nick's face. "We'll never just be friends. We're brothers."

Nick laughed at the comment and pulled Warren into another hug.

Josh sat at work staring at his phone. Despite the supreme crappiness of the previous night, it had actually ended up quite well for him. He had pretty much made up with Corey, Nick had spoken to him willingly several times throughout the evening and, best of all, he had seen Dale. He kept smiling whenever he thought about that moment with Dale, when they had said it was nice to see each other. It made his heart flutter.

He was confused though. Dale had seemed genuinely happy to see him, but he had told James he didn't want to get back together with Josh. Perhaps he just wanted to be friends, like Nick and Warren were... although that hadn't really worked out that well so far.

Eventually he just had to send a message. He simply couldn't do anything else with Dale weighing so heavily on his mind. [Hey, I hope I don't seem to keen messaging this quickly, but you said we could talk. When are you free?]

As soon as Josh hit send, he cursed himself for what he had said. By saying he didn't want to appear to keen, he felt he had just emphasised it more. The last thing he wanted was to scare Dale off now.

He need not have worried. Dale's reply came almost instantly. [I could come round tonight if you like. Is 8 okay?]

[Yeah, that's fine. See you then.] Josh sent back, grinning.

His face dropped though as he remembered James. He had been so wonderful since they got together. He had been there when nobody else was and Josh was definitely falling for him. Should he tell James? Was it even necessary? After all, Dale was just coming round to talk. He played the options over and over in his head as he read and re-read Dale's message, smiling at the thought of seeing him.

Warren looked nervously around the quad. So far he had managed to avoid Greg and Sam, but he knew they had to be out there somewhere. He decided to head for his favourite spot, where he could be left in peace and not risk seeing anyone. As he dashed towards it, he noticed Tim standing with a small group of other boys. The two exchanged unpleasant looks. Tim had never bothered to make up with Warren, Sam or Greg after insulting them all those weeks ago and the relationship had just soured more and more over time.

Warren was in no mood for it though, he just carried on straight past them and ducked behind the low wall, disappearing from sight of the quad. He stopped dead in his tracks though as he came face-to-face with his two best friends.

"Told you he'd come here." Sam said with a nod.

"Hey Warren." Greg said, smiling weakly.

Warren's jaw flapped a little, trying to talk but no sound came out.

"You've been avoiding us." Sam said accusingly. "Have we really pissed you off so much you won't even talk to us?" He demanded, standing with his hands on his hips.

Warren frowned, still struggling to speak. He briefly considered turning and running the other way, but willed himself to stay, taking a deep breath. "I haven't been avoiding you because I'm pissed at you. Well I have been avoiding you, but it's not cos I'm pissed at you. I mean... I AM pissed at you, but that's not why I've been avoiding you." Warren rambled.

The two boys looked back at him, looking as confused as Warren sounded.

Warren rubbed his eyes, growling slightly. "I don't even know what I'm saying any more."

"Come and sit down." Greg said, taking a seat with his back against the wall. Sam sat down a short distance away, deliberately leaving enough space between himself and Greg so that Warren would know they wanted him to sit there.

Warren stared for a moment. He considered sitting opposite them rather than where they wanted as a show of his annoyance, but his desire to be close to his friends was stronger, so he sat down as they had intended.

"So why have you been avoiding us?" Sam asked bluntly.

Warren's eyes were fixed on the ground where his hands were mindlessly flicking around loose stones. He shrugged. He knew the answer, but didn't want to say it. Greg placed a hand on his leg and smiled as Warren gingerly peered round at him. "Because I'm embarrassed." he finally answered.

"About what?" Sam asked, almost laughing. "You've got nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Seriously?" Warren snapped incredulously at the boy. "I went full-on emo and.... just... did stupid things."

After a few moments of lingering silence, Sam nodded and said, "Yeah, it WAS pretty stupid."

Greg leaned forward to look past Warren at the boy, glaring angrily.

"What?" Sam said, shrugging. "It was. No point sugar-coating it. As stupid things go, it's pretty much right at the top!"

Warren raised his knees, folded his arms across them and buried his face.

"You're not helping!" Greg snapped.

"What am I meant to say? No, that was a sensible thing to do?" Sam snapped back.

Greg placed a hand on Warren's back as he saw it start shaking like he was crying.

"Warren, are you..." Greg started, but stopped as he realised Warren wasn't crying, he was laughing.

He raised his head, starting to laugh aloud, looking back and forth between the other two boys. "I fucking love you guys." he said through the laughter.

Sam started grinning and Greg just looked thoroughly confused. Warren reached an arm out each side and pulled them both into a hug.

"He's lost it. He's actually lost it." Greg said, his voice slightly muffled by Warren's shoulder.

Warren continued laughing as he held them. When he finally let go, he sat shaking his head. "I can't have another conversation about this. Could we.... do the short version. I'm sorry for scaring you guys and being so stupid. Sam, you're sorry for lying to me about Josh and Greg, you're sorry for seeing Nick without telling me about it. I forgive you, you forgive me..... and we're done. Okay?"

Greg and Sam exchanged confused looks with each other, then looked to Warren and shrugged. "Okay." They said in unison.

"Erm... Warren, I don't know where this fits in the whole... forgiving each other thing but..." Greg started nervously.

"I saw Nick this morning." Warren interrupted him. "We've talked and... I'm okay with you and him."

"You.... y.... you... you..." Greg stuttered until Warren reached up and gently swiped the back of his head. It knocked him out of his stupor and he continued with a smile. "You're really okay with it?"

Warren shrugged. "Well I'm not saying it makes we want to jump for joy, or that I need to see you making out again..." He gave a jokingly unhappy look. "But... yeah. Me and Nick are never going to be more than friends, so if you two are happy together..." He sighed heavily. "Then I suppose I'm happy for you too."

"And I really am sorry for scaring you both yesterday. It was... I dunno, I look at it now and it all seems a bit stupid, but it just felt like so much piled on me all at once. It won't happen again." Warren said confidently.

"Good." Sam said firmly. "So... if you're okay with Greg and Nick... what about me and Josh?"

Warren frowned at the comment. "That's.... a little more complicated!"

Callum kept looking around the store room nervously. His instructions from Nick had been very clear. He was to go to the third floor store room at the beginning of lunch break, strip and wait. He had done as commanded and now stood naked, attempting to hide behind some shelves, but not really managing it. If anyone came in, there was nowhere to hide.

Suddenly the door opened and Callum instinctively covered his cock, which was already solid from the sheer nervous excitement of what was probably about to happen. As the door swung wider, Callum was relieved to see Nick.

"Good boy!" Nick grinned as he saw his friend standing there naked.

"Thanks Sir." Callum grinned back anxiously.

Without another word, Nick approached the horny teen and placed his bag on the ground. He reached into it and pulled out two pairs of handcuffs, smirking as he saw Callum eyeing them nervously.

"Turn around." Nick ordered then waited a moment as Callum turned to face away from the door. He quickly attached one set of cuffs to his left wrist, then secured it to the shelf unit on that side. He then did the same on the other side, leaving Callum standing in the middle, unable to move much either way.

Next Nick grabbed a blindfold from his bag and placed it over Callum's eyes.

"Are you going to fuck me Sir?" Callum asked shakily.

"No I'm not." Nick replied, ducking under one arm to stand in front of his friend before adding, "But you ARE getting fucked." Nick took a seat on a box at the back of the room, then pulled out his phone and started typing out a message.

"What? So who's going to fuck me?" Callum asked, starting to breathe heavily, hands shaking.

"That really depends on how quick they all are." Nick replied with a wicked grin.

"All?" Callum asked, now sounding terrified. "All who?"

"Shut up or I'll gag you!" Nick snapped. "Behave and I'll let you see the video after."

"Video? You're filming it?" Callum asked breathlessly. He pulled at the cuffs, but he was secure. There was no way he was getting out until Nick let him.

"Yes I am. Now not another word until I say you can speak. And keep the screaming to a minimum. We don't want to get caught." Nick replied, then held up his camera to start filming.

A few moments later, Callum heard the door open. He heard movement behind him for a few moments, quickly followed by hands sliding up and down his sides, followed by a slippery cock head pressing into his rear. Whoever it was, they weren't being gentle. They pushed inside firmly, then started fucking him. The cock was quite large and hurt just a little, but the hands reaching round to caress his stomach and squeeze his nipples were slender and soft. After a few minutes, he heard excited moaning, followed by a shot of warmth inside him, then emptiness as the cock pulled out.

A few moments later, Nick called out, "Okay, send in the next one."

"Next one?" Callum whimpered as the door opened and closed, the mystery fucker leaving.

Nick didn't bother to reply. Instead he just continued filming as the door opened and the next guy walked in.

Callum soon felt another erection pushing inside. This one was slimmer but a lot longer while the hands grabbing his sides were rougher and much meatier. He took a lot longer to cum than the first, fucking Callum much slower, obviously wanting to enjoy the experience and not just cum. He soon added his load to the first one though.

"Next!" Nick called out happily as number two left.

The stream of fuckers continued up until a few minutes before the end of the lunch hour. The sixth guy had just shot his load when Nick called out, "Okay, that's all for today."

"Thank fuck." Callum moaned. Frustratingly, despite the continuous and often-vigorous fucking, the young man had not cum himself and his cock bobbed out expectantly in front of him, wet with pre-cum.

Nick approached the restrained boy and grabbed the rigid tool and started stroking it. It took barely more than a few seconds before Callum was shooting a hefty load onto the floor and moaning happily as he leant heavily against Nick. Spunk was oozing from his rear too, dripping down his legs.

Nick released the cuff on one side, then the other before heading for the door. As Callum pulled off the blindfold and looked round at him, he threw the keys and said, "Keep hold of the cuffs and blindfold, you'll need them for tomorrow!"

Callum just stopped and stared at the door closing behind his friend.

Liam sat at home, jumping nervously at the sound of every passing car, running to the window every time in case it was Dale. He had messaged the previous night to say that Warren was okay, but that still didn't stop Liam worrying about both Dale and his little brother.

He had something else on his mind though. He couldn't hold it in any more. Ever since he talked to James on Sunday and agreed to keep his secret, it had eaten away at him. He wanted to be with Dale, that much he knew, but not at the cost of lying to him.

As he heard another car, he dashed to the window and saw it was Dale. "Oh god, oh fuck, oh fuck, fuck fuckity fuck fuck!" He said nervously to himself, his fists clenching.

"Hey, I'm home." Dale called out as he walked in.

"I'm in here." Liam called out, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

As soon as Dale walked in, he rushed to Liam and put his arms around him.

"Hey, everything okay?" Liam asked quietly as his hands slid up and down Dale's back.

"Ugh, yeah, it's just... it's been tough." Dale moaned. He pulled away, kissing Liam briefly on the lips as he moved back.

Liam took a seat on the sofa, pulling Dale to sit down beside him. "And Warren's okay?" he asked. As much as he wanted to tell Dale what he needed to say, he knew some things were more important.

Dale smiled weakly, nodding slightly. "Yeah, seems to be." He looked nervous for a moment.

"I need to tell you something." They both said at the exact same time. They frowned at each other, smirked for a moment then returned to looking seriously at each other.

"You go." Dale said.

Liam shook his head. "No, you go first." He said, desperate for anything that would delay his confession.

Dale took a deep breath and fought back a smile. "I'm going to see Josh tonight. I know he doesn't want to be with me so it'll just be talk, but.... you know, he's my ex, so I thought I should tell you."

"Oh god." Liam said, burying his face in his hands.

"Hey, relax, like I said, it's just talking." Dale said as he reached out to stroke Liam's heavily muscled arm.

"Yeah, actually.... that's what I needed to tell you." Liam said, dropping his hands and staring Dale in the eye, getting a frown in response. "James lied."

Dale moved back a little, tilting his head as his eyes narrowed. "About what?"

"About you and Josh." Liam said quietly. "He told you Josh didn't want to be with you and he told Josh you didn't want to be with him... but it was all lies."

"What?" Dale asked, sniggering. "Don't be stupid, why would he do that? He's my best friend."

Dale frowned. "You know they're together, right?"

"Yeah." Dale replied with a slight shrug, then his eyes widened in realisation. "Wait, he lied... to keep us apart.... so he could date Josh?"

Liam nodded.

Dale shook his head. "He wouldn't do that."

Liam reached out and placed a hand on Dale's cheek. He nodded and said, "Dale, he did it. He lied to you so he could have Josh to himself."

Dale stood up and walked away, still shaking his head until he froze and turned back slowly. "How do you... know this?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"I figured it out when I saw him on Sunday." Liam replied nervously.

"And you waited this long to tell me?" Dale snapped angrily. "How could you keep that from me?" He stood right in front of Liam, staring furiously down at him.

"I'm sorry." Liam murmured. "It's just... I knew... I knew it would end... this."

Dale turned away shaking his head again. "It might not have ended this." Dale said, then turned back again and added, "But lying to me most definitely has! We're done. We're so... incredibly... done!"

"Dale, please..." Liam started, but Dale was already heading for the door.

Usually Josh would have been happy to get home and find James waiting for him, but not today. "Fuck." he muttered to himself as he saw the smiling young red-head. "Hi." he called out as he approached, forcing a smile.

"Hey, you okay?" James asked with a sympathetic smile.

Josh suddenly felt bad. James' smile was comforting and he was genuinely glad to see his new boyfriend, so wishing he wasn't there almost felt like a betrayal. "Yeah, I'm okay." Josh nodded as the two of them headed into the building. "How you doing?" Josh asked.

"Better now." James said, taking Josh's hand as they walked.

Josh knew he should just ask James to leave, say he had other plans, maybe even tell him the plans were with Dale, but his ex wasn't due round for a couple of hours so he figured there was no harm in letting him stay for a little while.

As they went into the apartment, Josh looked round and frowned. It wasn't massively messy, but compared to the way Dale used to keep it, it was definitely far from perfect. As James settled on the sofa, Josh started dashing round tidying and cleaning up.

"What are you doing?" James asked as he watched.

"Just... tidying." Josh said, still too nervous to actually mention the real reason.

"Come and sit down, you need to relax." James insisted, patting the seat beside him.

"Just a minute. I'm almost done." Josh said, continuing the frantic tidying. A few minutes later, he stopped and smiled at James. "Okay, I'm done." he said happily.

Just as he was about to sit, he heard a key in the door. He figured it was probably Corey or Nick and found himself smiling at the thought of seeing either of them. He had loved when his little brothers used to stop by unexpectedly. He frowned as he saw Dale walk in.

Before Josh could say anything, Dale's eyes widened as he saw James. "YOU!" He snapped furiously.

Josh stared at Dale, scared by the furious expression, then looked to James and saw him frozen in terror.

James stood up and moved around the sofa, holding his hands up defensively. "D... Dale... it's not... I didn't..." he stuttered.

Dale ran at his best friend and swung his fist, connecting firmly with James' face. The young redhead staggered backwards, grabbing his face and stumbled over his own feet, collapsing to the floor. Dale pounced on him, raising his fist again, but Josh was there in seconds, holding him back.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Josh yelled as Dale struggled against him. "You already knew we were together."

"He lied!" Dale snapped, letting Josh pull him back up onto his feet.

Josh looked back and forth between the two of them. Dale looked even angrier now while James looked more scared than he had before. "Lied about what?" Josh asked.

"Us!" Dale said furiously. "He told you I didn't want to get back together with you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, what... that was..." Josh replied, thinking about it, then stared blankly at James who was still laying on the ground. "That wasn't true?" he asked, suddenly feeling like he had been punched in the stomach.

"And he told me the same about you!" Dale added.

"But... why?" Josh gasped, shaking his head slightly.

"So he could keep you to himself, obviously!" Dale snapped angrily.

They both stared down at James whose jaw was trembling as he cupped his face in one hand where Dale had hit him. "I... I..."

"Shut. Up!" Josh said, breathing deeply and starting to look as angry as Dale. "And get out."

"But... but..." James stuttered, starting to get up.

"I don't want to hear it!" Josh yelled. He grabbed James by the front of his t-shirt, dragged him to the door and pushed him out. He turned and grabbed the young man's coat and shoes, threw them at him then slammed the door. He leant on the door, eyes closed.

"Josh..." Dale said cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Josh opened his eyes and stared at Dale. After a few seconds, he just shook his head. Dale rushed to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Me neither." Dale whispered as he held his former lover.

Josh had just found out he had been betrayed, lied to, deceived by someone he was really beginning to care about. His budding new relationship had been torn to shreds right before his eyes, but all he could think was how amazing it felt to be back in Dale's arms. He did his best to fight it, but tears started streaming.

"Josh?" Dale asked as he felt the wetness on his shoulder.

Josh sniffed and whispered, "I've just missed you so much!"

"Me too." Dale whispered back, squeezing Josh just a little tighter.

Liam lay on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling and feeling completely numb. After Dale had stormed out, he had felt completely lost. He had fallen for Dale so hard that the sudden loss felt worse than anything he could imagine. Aside from Dale, the only other person he could really speak to when he was feeling down was Ryan. He had sent his best friend a text saying what had happened, but he had got no reply.

As he lay there, he imagined what Ryan would be thinking. 'I'm not getting involved in all that gay shit', or 'You're not a girl, stop acting like one' or maybe even 'It's all your own fault'. Unfortunately imagining was all he could do as Ryan had still failed to reply at all.

When he heard a knock at the door, he curled up and buried his face in the sofa cushions. Whoever it was, Liam was not in the mood to deal with them. The only person he would want to see right then was Dale, and he had a key so he wouldn't be knocking.

They knocked again and after a few moments without reply, Liam heard the door opening. He sat up, alarmed that it may be some intruder.

"Answer your fucking door!" Ryan called out a few moments before walking in to the lounge.

"Ryan, what are you doing here?" Liam asked, both surprised and delighted to see his friend.

"Get upstairs and get your clothes off. I'm horny." Ryan said flatly.

Liam stared at him in disgust. "I tell you I've broken up with a guy I really care about and your first thought is to take care of your horniness?"

"Just fucking do it." Ryan snapped, frowning angrily.

"Whatever." Liam sighed. He got up, pushed past his large friend and headed upstairs, removing his clothes on the way. By the time he got to his bedroom, he was naked. He grabbed the lube, threw it onto the bed and then assumed his normal position on all fours, waiting for his friend to begin.

He heard Ryan walk in, then the sound of clothes hitting the floor before he felt movement on the bed behind him. Moments later, he felt Ryan's solid, slick cock pushing into his hole.

"Aah yeah." Liam moaned happily. As annoyed as he had been at Ryan's reaction to his breakup, he really loved getting fucked by his best friend. He felt like he should still be upset, brooding about Dale, but all he could feel was pleasure from Ryan's cock, comfort from his touch.

Ryan was grunting away happily, fucking Liam as vigorously as usual. He stopped unexpectedly and growled, "Turn over."

"What?" Liam asked, turning to look back at his friend. They had never done that before! It was always doggy-style, no talking, no eye contact, just a rough fuck.

"I said turn over!" Ryan said firmly.

Liam pulled away, feeling Ryan's cock sliding out, then flipped over onto his back. As he began to lower his legs either side of Ryan, the larger man grabbed them, lifting them up and spreading them apart to expose Liam's hole.

Ryan shuffled forward, aiming his cock back into his friend.

Liam stared in amazement as Ryan looked down at him. The pleasured look on his face was mesmerising and not at all like Liam had imagined it would be. Ryan always seemed so grumpy and acted like their fucking was simply a necessity to alleviate his horniness. He had never expected him to actually enjoy it so much.

Ryan continued fucking, as firmly as before, but something just felt different to Liam. Suddenly Ryan started to lean forward. "Ryan, what are you..." Liam asked as the large man lurched closer and closer. He never got to finish the question as he was silenced by Ryan's lips.

Liam reached up, his fingers digging into Ryan's back as they kissed and fucked. It all blurred into a haze of pleasure and confusion. Liam ejaculated, his thick goo making their bellies slick as they pressed together, then Ryan shot inside him.

Ryan pulled out. Instead of rolling to the side and staring blankly at the ceiling as he usually did, he sat back up, staring down at Liam again. His expression was a mixture of fear and confusion, two things Liam had never seen his friend show before.

"Ry, what was that?" Liam asked breathlessly.

"I don't want you to be with Dale." Ryan answered honestly.

"What?" Liam said in surprise. "So... are you saying.... YOU want me?"

"I... I don't know. I just... I saw you with him and... I didn't like it." Ryan stuttered.

Liam smiled up at his friend. "Come on, let's get dressed." he said as he sat up. "We should probably talk."

Dale and Josh hadn't moved since they embraced. Josh's tears had stopped, but he still seemed determined to hold on for as long as he could, as if letting go of Dale would let him get away again.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Dale whispered before pulling away. Despite their separation, Dale still knew him far too well and could sense his reluctance to part.

Josh smiled weakly and nodded as Dale moved away.

"Come on." Dale said, grabbing Josh's hand to guide him into the lounge.

They sat on the sofa, facing each other. Dale blushed briefly as he looked down and realised he was still holding Josh's hand.

"So...." Dale started, not quite sure what to say next.

"Yeah." Josh smiled, also lost for words.

"James lied to us both then." Dale said, his tone not really making it clear whether it was a comment or a question, so Josh just shrugged in reply. Dale continued, "So that means... you DO want me back?"

Josh shook his head, prompting Dale to release his hand, looking thoroughly disheartened. "I don't want you back, Dale, I NEED you back. Please. Please forgive me, I... I love you... I just... I love you Dale."

Dale smiled as his eyes filled with tears. "I love you too Josh."

Josh laughed with relief and joy and leaned forward to kiss Dale, but was stopped by a hand raised between them. He sat back, frowning at it.

Dale looked pensive as he slowly lowered his hand. "Josh, I talked to Warren last night... a lot!"

"Oh right." Josh said sheepishly. The boy was the reason they had parted in the first place, or rather the secret relationship Josh had maintained with him.

"I think... when I found out about you two, I just thought it was... I dunno... just some sleazy affair, some way of sneaking around behind Nick and my backs. I could tell from talking to Warren that it wasn't like that, was it? You loved him. I mean... really loved him, the same way you loved me. Am I right?" Dale asked seriously.

Josh nodded. If he had even known what to say in response, he doubted he would have been able to say a word.

"That's what I thought." Dale said with a slight nod. "He still loves you and he knows I do too, but.... you can't be with us both. That's why we decided to leave it up to you."

"What?" Josh asked, staring in shock.

"If you want Warren, then I'll be okay with it. He'll still be my brother and hopefully we could be friends. And if you choose me, Warren said he's happy to do the same." Dale explained.

"What, just like that, I have to choose?" Josh asked, eyes wide with shock.

Dale nodded. "Yeah, me or Warren. Who's it gonna be?"