Author's Note: This is Book Two of The Kingswood Saga. If you want to start at the beginning, please check out Book One which can be found here: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/tales-from-kingswood/
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The Kingswood Eight - Chapter 39
Friday 9 July 2021
Things tended to get quite rowdy in the final couple of weeks of the school year. While most students still had regular classes running up to the last day, the Year 11 and 13 students had finished up the last of their exams. While they were given the option to return home early, it was exceptionally rare that any student even considered. The opportunity to spend time at the school, without classes, was a rare and special thing, especially for the Year 13 students who would not be returning to the school again once they returned home.
The rest of the Year groups were just as lively, knowing that summer break was right around the corner, with the school's music competition and end-of-year-party only a week away. Trying to keep order became an increasingly difficult job and it wasn't an unusual sight to see whole groups of students subjected to naked punishments for their over-exuberance, some even incurring them deliberately for `old time's sake'.
Miraculously, the boys of dorm 1.05 had managed to avoid any such punishments, even Danny who seemed more prone to nudity than most, though his excitement had been tempered all day by a healthy dose of nervousness.
"David. D'you know what to do if someone has a heart attack?" Chris asked with a snigger as they wandered their way back towards the Home Building.
David nodded as he started, "Of course, you start by..."
"I don't think he was actually asking," Rob chuckled before the shorter boy could recite the full NHS advice that he had likely committed to memory. "He was probably just kinda hinting that Danny looks ready to have one!" He nudged the boy at his side playfully, getting a nervous frown back.
"Mate, what's the big deal?" Chris asked, casually throwing an arm around Danny from behind. "You hang out with Brian pretty much every day!"
"Yeah, well not every day's our anniversary. I've never had an anniversary before!" Danny said shakily.
"Sure you have," David quickly interjected. "Every year, November fifteenth!"
Danny frowned. "That's my birthday, not an anniversary!" he objected.
"Your birthday is just the anniversary of your birth!" David reasoned with a shrug.
"Ah yes," James agreed. "All birthdays are anniversaries, but not all anniversaries are birthdays!"
"I... I..." Danny stuttered, unsure what he was actually arguing.
"Birthdays are birthdays!" Josh interjected. "Anniversaries are anniversaries!"
"A thing can be more than one thing!" Rob argued back.
"A thing is just a thing!" Josh said back petulantly.
"Thanks, this is really helping," Danny groaned, his shoulders slumping dejectedly.
"Mate, relax," Chris urged him. "You're gonna have an awesome night and he's gonna LOVE what you got him!"
"What did you get him?" James asked curiously.
"Bum sex!" Josh called out.
"Bum sex!" Rob added at almost the exact same time.
"Sex up the bum!" Mikey added.
"I'm thinking... bum sex..." Nicky said with a wry grin.
Danny glowered round at each of them.
"Ooh, he's not happy!" Josh grinned, looking at the angry boy.
"Yeah, but mostly cos he knows you're right!" Chris sniggered, earning himself a playful punch in the stomach from Danny.
"That's NOT what I got him!" Danny snapped, then blushed a little as he added quietly, "Well... not the only thing!" The others burst into laughter as he scowled at them again.
So far, the evening had gone about as perfectly as either Brian or Danny could have hoped. They had gotten their dinner to go and found a quiet corner of the school's peace garden to sit together and eat, happily enjoying early evening sun as they chatted about their plans for the summer.
After that, they had gone for a leisurely walk (hand-in-hand, of course) around the school grounds before ending up by the lake where Danny pulled out his laptop ready for them to watch Brian's favourite movie together, cuddled up happily. By the time it was finished, the sun was just beginning to disappear behind the trees of the surrounding woodlands, so Danny hurried them along towards the School Building, though he was yet to reveal why.
"Come on, just a clue," Brian pleaded as they wandered along.
"No!" Danny insisted. "I want it to be a surprise!"
Brian glanced at the building and said, "It best not be a surprise exam. I'm done with schoolwork for the year!"
"Oh, you got me," Danny smirked. "It was gonna be a surprise Maths exam, but now you've ruined it, so I won't bother!"
"Was the first question, `Danny minus clothes plus Brian equals what?' cos if it is, I think I know the answer!" Brian sniggered.
"Ugh, that's so cheesy!" Danny scoffed, then squeezed his boyfriend's hand and added, "I love it!"
They continued inside and headed towards the science labs. "Hey, you'd best not have messed with that night sky model," Brian said, referring to the ceiling display in one of the labs he had used the previous year to declare his love to Danny. "I got in SO much trouble for messing it up!" he sniggered, "But it was worth it!"
"Ugh, stop being so sweet," Danny giggled. "And no, but that IS where we're going!"
"Hmm, interesting," Brian hummed.
"Okay, grab a telescope," Danny instructed, pointing to the telescopes mostly used by the school's astronomy club (which included Brian, though it revealed his slightly geeky side which he did his best to hide).
Brian gasped. "I get it now. We're spending the night spying on guys in their dorms, aren't we?" he joked.
Danny shook his head. "No... but that sounds kinda hot, we should totally do that another night!" he laughed. "Come on, let's go!"
They hurried back outside and headed towards the Temp Building, moving round behind it so that the empty building blocked off most of the light coming from the rest of the school. Lighting the area with his phone, Danny watched as Brian set up the telescope then started giving him co-ordinates to aim it at.
"Okay, I think..." Brian hummed, looking into the telescope before pulling back and nodding, "Yup, I got it! What am I looking at?"
Danny was shaking a little as he approached Brian and took his hands. He took a deep breath, running through what he wanted to say, but most of it was gone. He pieced together what he could. "You... last year... you literally rearranged the stars to say you love me and that's... kind of a hard act to follow."
"Yeah, I did set the bar kinda high," Brian chuckled proudly.
"But I know how much you like the stars, so I... had a star named for you!" Danny said sheepishly.
"Oh my god, that's..." Brian said, shaking his head as he grinned. "So there's a star out there that's just called Brian Pearson?"
"Actually it's... called Danny!" Danny went on awkwardly.
"Wow, how very... selfless of you," Brian smirked.
"Well it's because... last year when you... did your thing, you... you talked about why you use those nicknames for me and how actually saying my name..." Danny said, pausing to think.
"Makes me go weak at the knees," Brian offered. He nodded as he reached out to stroke a finger through Danny's hair as he added softly, "Still does!"
Danny smiled. "Yeah, so I thought naming one of them after me..."
"One of them?" Brian interjected curiously. He let go of Danny's hands and took a closer look through the telescope. "It's a binary!" he declared excitedly, looking back at Danny.
"Mmm-huh," Danny hummed. "So the primary one is called Danny but the secondary one is called Brian! I thought... a star that's... bound to another... that's... that's weakened by it but can't exist without it. It just seemed..." He wasn't quite sure how to finish the sentence, so he just stopped.
Brian turned to look at Danny for a moment, slightly overwhelmed by the moment. When he eventually moved, he grabbed the boy in a tight hug, sniffing back tears. "That's literally the most amazing thing anyone's ever done for me!" he whispered as he held the boy tightly.
"You really like it?" Danny asked, sniffing too.
"I love it so freaking much! It's perfect!" Brian said as he pulled away, grinning. He moved back to the telescope to take a closer look at Brian and Danny.
The next several minutes were spent with Brian educating Danny about how binary stars actually worked, right from their creation up to the possible endings for them. As he finished talking about red giants, white dwarfs and supernovae, he turned to Danny and said, "Look, I know you planned this night out and you gave me this... incredible gift cos you wanted to make this night be for me, but... I kinda got something for you too!"
"You didn't have to!" Danny insisted, then grinned and said, "But gimme anyway!"
Brian chuckled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He took a deep breath as he looked at the boy, smiling as he noticed how the height difference between them was continuing to decrease. "Look, this year was... it was hard. When you had your accident..." he paused, welling up again. He took a few breaths and went on. "It felt like my heart got ripped out. Thinking about losing you was the hardest thing I've ever been through but all it made me do was realise I NEVER wanna be without you. So..." He opened the small box to reveal a pair of rings.
Danny looked at them and stared wide-eyed at Brian as he started, "That's not a..."
"Oh!" Brian suddenly yelped. "No, fuck, no! It's not... this... ugh, I'm messing this up. D... Danny..." he said, flinching a little at the use of the boy's name, "They're promise rings, not engagement rings. They're... a way of showing that... that I'm... I'm promised to you... that what we have is... it's forever. It's my way to show you and the rest of the world that... you're mine and I'm yours!" He stared at the boy as silence hung between them for several moments.
"You twat!" Danny said, frowning.
Brian took a slight step back, looking a little distraught.
"I go and do the most romantic thing I could think of, and you still manage to out-do me by being even more romantic!" Danny said with a grin.
"Fuck, I thought I'd really pissed you off," Brian chuckled, visibly relieved.
"No!" Danny insisted. "Ugh, you're the best. So..." he held out his left hand. "What finger does it go on?"
"Well, it's usually this hand, for a start," Brian said, grabbing Danny's right hand. "And... this finger," he said, positioning the ring against the tip of his third finger. He looked to the boy who smiled and nodded so he slid it on.
"I do!" Danny joked.
"Yeah, I do too!" Brian giggled as he put his own ring on, then grabbed Danny in a passionate kiss. They made out for several minutes before they finally stopped, happily holding onto each other. "Happy anniversary, buttercup," he whispered with a chuckle.
"What if I said I had... one more surprise?" Danny asked, biting his lip coyly as he pulled back. He smirked as he added, "And what if I said mine was ALSO related to a ring?"
"Go on..." Brian urged him cautiously.
"Well, you remember a few weeks back, when we did that thing with Ian and Joseph?" Danny asked.
"You mean the first time I fucked my best mate? Yeah, kinda rings a bell," Brian replied with a snigger.
"Well do you remember... what Ian asked me to do first?" Danny asked shyly.
Brian frowned. "Erm... I'm not really sure YOU fucking my best friend is a particularly traditional anniversary present!" he said sarcastically.
"Ha ha," Danny grumbled, "And anyway, don't pretend you wouldn't love to see that!"
"True," Brian grinned, picturing it for a moment.
"But I was thinking that maybe it was time that I... fucked you!" Danny suggested.
"I've never... bottomed," Brian said awkwardly.
"It's okay if you don't want to," Danny reassured him as he took his hand.
Brian thought for a moment then nodded. "I... you... erm... well, you let ME be your first, so... yeah, yeah I think I want to!"
A few moments and some playful stripping later, the two boys were naked, confident that their darkened spot away from the school afforded them the necessary privacy. Without really discussing it, Brian had dropped onto all fours as Danny moved up behind him. As Brian felt the boy gently pushing into him, he found himself glad that the boy didn't yet share his girth, though he certainly seemed to be on his way towards it. Even at its current modest size, it still felt huge as it slowly worked its way inside him.
"Doing okay?" Danny asked cautiously as he slowly worked his way deeper. He was taking his time, and quite enjoying the slowness of it too. It wasn't about cumming, it wasn't necessarily even about fucking, it was an exploration of something new that they could both try together. Knowing it was something Brian had never felt before, along with the fact he was letting Danny be the one to experience it with, it all added up to an intensely intimate moment that Danny was happily losing himself in.
Brian exhaled slowly and nodded as he looked back, though with the light off to avoid accidental detection by anyone out on the school grounds he couldn't really see him anyway. Realising the nod was likely unseen, he said softly, "Yeah, it's... weird but kinda nice. How you doing?"
"Weird but kinda nice," Danny giggled. "But you're so tight. It feels fucking amazing!"
"Thanks," Brian smirked, then let out a moan as he dropped down, resting his forearms on the ground, his forehead atop them.
Danny kept up the slow pace, letting his boyfriend get used to the feeling. He knew there had to be a little pain, but he trusted Brian to say if it got too much. He kept thinking of the previous year when the roles had been reversed. He had felt more than a little discomfort, but he had pushed through and it and been glad that he did.
"You can go a bit faster," Brian eventually urged him. "I'm getting used to it!"
"Okay babe," Danny said softly as he increased the pace. His sudden burst of speed made Brian bolt upright. Danny seized the opportunity and wrapped his arms around him, holding him up as he continued increasing the pace. His hands worked their way to his muscular chest, massaging it gently as he nuzzled and nibbled the older boy's neck.
While the night was warm, there was still a very slight chill and the feeling of Danny's bare chest against Brian's back felt wonderful. The shared warmth of skin-on-skin, the slight hint of sweatiness from both the exertion and the nervousness, the feeling of the boy's muscles reminding Brian in yet another way how much his young boyfriend had grown.
"Ugh, I love you so much," Brian groaned dreamily.
"I love you too," Danny giggled back, then slapped the side of one of Brian's buttocks and added, "Well, part of you anyway!"
Brian giggled, but it quickly devolved back into pleasured moans as Danny's hands made their way down to his cock. His own hands joined them, guiding Danny to start stroking him. "Oh fuuuuck," Brian growled as he dropped his hands away, leaving Danny pleasuring him alone. "Are you close?" he asked breathlessly.
"Mmm-huh," Danny hummed, though he continued the fuck for a couple more minutes as he teased Brian close to the edge.
Finally, too excited to hold back anymore, Brian suddenly pulled off of Danny's dick then span around. Placing his own cock against Danny's, he stroked them together with both hands as he kissed the boy, their mouths soon echoing with the grunts of a shared orgasm as their dicks each throbbed out a hefty load between them. Spunk squirted out and coated both of them in the warm goo as they once again enjoyed the warmth of skin-on-skin and the passionate kissing that could only come from the intensity of such a truly intimate moment.
Panting heavily, Danny rested his head against Brian's chest. Their hands found their way to each other, both smiling silently as they felt their promise rings touch.
Sunday 11 July 2021
The door to dorm 1.05 slammed open with a bang as Mikey screamed out, "YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. GO FUCK YOURSELF!"
David and James both jumped aside nervously as they heard the yell, standing clear of the door as Mikey sped past them. "What happened?" David asked as they walked into the dorm.
"I don't even know," Rob said as the two boys walked in.
"I'll go talk to him," Nicky sighed wearily as he headed for the door.
"No!" Josh said, quickly grabbing Nicky's arm. "Why don't you let me do it?" he offered with a polite smile.
Nicky looked like he wanted to object, but at the same time he simply looked exhausted. It seemed the tiredness won as he just nodded and let Josh go in his place as he said quietly, "Thanks!"
Josh quickly ran out of the dorm, hurrying to catch up to Mikey who had just barrelled his way through a bunch of Year 7 boys on his way out the main doors. "Wait up," Josh called after him.
Mikey paused as he heard the shout, looking back. His expression seemed to waver between outright fury and mild confusion as he stalled, unable to keep moving. "L... leave me alone!" he managed to snap as Josh got close.
Josh grinned. "It's okay, you're pissed, I get it, I'm here to help!" he reassured the other boy.
"No!" Mikey said, breathing heavily. "You... you just... you want... just... no!"
"It's okay," Josh repeated. "If you wanna punch me, that's okay remember. You're allowed to be pissed. You're allowed to feel whatever you're feeling. Take it out on me if you need to!" he encouraged.
Mikey stood trembling. He glanced away for a moment and frowned heavily, nodding to himself, his breathing increasingly laboured as he seemed to struggle against his own mind. "I don't..." he started weakly, but said no more, just shaking his head instead.
"I can't believe Nicky even said what he did!" Josh said with a shrug, gesturing back towards the building. "I mean... telling you that time at home with your family won't be `too bad'. I mean... what does he fucking know? Right?" Josh's tone was sympathetic, but he knew what he was doing, he knew he would just be goading the other boy more.
"Yeah!" Mikey agreed curtly, his confused grimace returning to an angry scowl.
"Him and his happy little family. Like he has ANY idea what it's like to have YOUR parents!" Josh went on. "The fucking nerve of him!"
"Yeah!" Mikey agreed again, fists clenching.
"God, it makes me SO mad!" Josh growled, fists clenching, watching as Mikey copied. "It makes me wanna... punch something! How about you?"
Mikey didn't reply verbally this time, he simply nodded as he looked around. He nodded towards the ornamental gardens, abandoned this early in the day. He grabbed Josh and shoved him roughly towards them. They were barely out of sight of the main path when Mikey threw the first punch. It seemed to catch Josh by surprise as he doubled over and fell to the ground with a grunt.
Seemingly just playing possum, Josh grinned as Mikey stood over him. He reached out, wrapped an arm around Mikey's ankles and pulled so he collapsed heavily to the floor, winding himself as he landed on his back.
Desperately gasping for breath, Mikey just managed to roll away as Josh climbed to his knees and threw a punch at his face. "Stop," he gasped.
"Make me!" Josh growled, throwing another punch into Mikey's stomach, making breathing even harder.
"NO!" Mikey yelped, curling into the foetal position as he began to cry.
"Come on," Josh urged him as he climbed to his feet. "Let Psycho Mikey out. Gimme a proper fight!"
"No!" Mikey whimpered again, sniffing. He rolled away and managed to get onto his feet, still gasping to catch his breath. Seeing Josh move towards him again, he saw an opportunity to attack back... and ignored it. Instead, he moved aside to use Josh's own momentum against him, giving him a shove that left him staggering away without hurting him. Seizing the opportunity, he bolted and ran as fast as he could back towards the Home Building. He was inside and up the stairs before Josh had reached the front door, then reached the dorm just before Josh could catch up to him.
They burst through the door together, Mikey's face streaked with tears as Josh did his best to look nonchalant. As Nicky and Chris both approached, looking concerned, Mikey grabbed them and repeated, "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" as they held him.
Chris and Nicky held the boy, whispering gentle reassurances to him as Josh just walked away, shrugging casually. Things may not have gone the way he wanted but having Mikey back with his boyfriends was still a good result.
Rob sighed as he lay with his head on Luke's chest. "Ya know, this is the first time I've ever NOT looked forward to summer break," he said wistfully.
"I know, right," Luke nodded, gently stroking the younger boy's back. "Woulda been nice if we'd been able to see each other, but we can still text and video chat!"
"I can't do this over a video call," Rob said, sitting up to kiss Luke briefly. He let his hand wander down to squeeze his lover's bulge and added, "Or this!"
"Mmmm," Luke moaned dreamily. "Yeah, fair point," he conceded.
"But hey, look at the bright side, when we get back after the summer... Jazz'll be here!" Luke grinned.
A huge grin spread across Rob's face as he sat back a little.
"That's too cute," Luke giggled as he saw Rob smile.
"Have you..." Rob started, frowning a little. He took a breath and continued, "Have you thought about... what we'll be, ya know, when he's here?"
"Whadda you mean?" Luke asked, sitting up as he reached out to straighten Rob's glasses.
Rob smiled briefly at the gesture, then explained, "Like... us... and Jazz. You know I like him, and I know you like him and I know he likes both of us, but... was it all just, ya know how the saying goes – a nice place to visit but I wouldn't wanna live there!"
Luke shrugged thoughtfully.
Rob frowned a little at the unhelpful response. "I mean, do you... want to date him? And if so, like, WITH me or separately from me?" he asked, then felt a sudden pang of nervousness as he added, "Or instead of me?" The disapproving headshake from Luke answered his momentary lack of confidence so he went on, "Or do you just want to date me, but we... do stuff with him or... or you do things with him without me? Or..."
"Woah woah woah, hold up!" Luke said, raising his hands defensively. "That's a whole lotta questions right there!"
"Do you have... a whole lot of answers?" Rob asked with a wry grin.
Luke nudged Rob playfully as he shook his head. "You're overthinking it a bit... which is totally on brand for you admittedly, but still... let him at least get here and then we can figure it out!"
Rob giggled awkwardly and said, "Oh yeah, I'm not, like, writing up a contract or something, I just... I dunno... this guy you like is coming here and I just... wanna know where you and me are gonna be in all of that!"
"Aww, my little man's getting jealous, is he?" Luke teased.
"No!" Rob pouted, then blushed a little as he said, "Well... maybe a bit. I just... ya know... kinda like you!"
"Hey, Rob, relax. You and me... we're good. Whatever happens with Jazz... if anything at all even happens anyway... it doesn't change you and me. Got it?" Luke reassured him, leaning in.
"Oh my god!" Rob suddenly declared, pulling back just before Luke reached him. "Jazz is locked in chastity at Fothergill, but he won't be when he comes here!"
"Oh yeah," Luke grinned. The Fothergill Academy had even more strict rules on the beginning of sexual activity than Kingswood did, with their students locked until they were of legal age. If Jazz was leaving the school, that would mean release from their harsh control. "We're totally gonna have to help him celebrate!"
"Ha, if he survives the summer!" Rob joked. "He'll probably wank himself to death!"
Luke snorted with laughter as he nodded his agreement.
"Dibs on first to blow him!" Rob called out, grinning.
"Ah, no fair!" Luke harumphed. "Fine, then I call dibs on first to fuck him!"
"You... wanna fuck him?" Rob asked, a little shocked. "You wanna fuck anyone?" he added, knowing the boy was yet to engage in anal, at least beyond the brief foray into fingering a few weeks earlier.
"At least let him get here and then I'll figure it out!" Luke teased again.
"Oh, funny," Rob groaned. "But... I didn't know if you'd be into that. I... might... not be!" he explained awkwardly.
"That's okay, I don't need you to be," Luke reassured him. "I'll have Jazz to fuck, once you get him to sign your contract!"
"Shut up, dickhead," Rob chuckled. "I just... got a bit carried away thinking ahead!"
"You?! Carried away overthinking? Never!" Luke joked.
"I say again... shut up, dickhead!" Rob chuckled.
"Make me!" Luke sniggered.
"Gladly," Rob replied, leaning in to kiss him.
They lay back down onto the bed, making out for several minutes, their hands casually roaming each other. As Rob pulled away, he looked at the dreamy expression on Luke's face and asked, "What ya thinking about?"
Luke gave a wry grin as he replied, "That time you fingered me and Jazz at the same time. That was... pretty hot!"
"Ugh, yeah," Rob grinned. "I, erm... I know Jazz isn't here now, but I could always give it a go with just you if you like!"
"Oh, good plan!" Luke nodded excitedly. "But... maybe with some... spanking thrown in too?"
"Oh, of course," Rob nodded with a chuckle. "You've been such a... naughty boy it just wouldn't be right to do it without giving you the spanking you deserve."
Luke just gave an excited giggle as he jumped to his feet.
"Well, you naughty boy, what are you waiting for? Drop those pants!" Rob teased.
"Okay, but... please be gentle," Luke said meekly, then raised his hand to give an exaggerated stage whisper as he added, "Please don't actually be gentle!"
"Shut up and get over my knee!" Rob snapped, barely holding back a smile as he shuffled forward to sit on the side of the bed.
Luke quickly shoved his sweatpants and underwear down to his ankles then threw himself over Rob's lap. He had barely even settled into place before he felt the first slap against his bare buttock. "Unnnh!" he grunted happily, his cock throbbing instantly against Rob's leg.
"You know the rule," Rob quickly ordered.
"That's one, sir!" Luke yelped excitedly.
Rob continued spanking, with Luke counting them out with each slap until they reached ten. "Time for a break," Rob said with a lop-sided grin as Luke craned his neck to look up at him. He slipped a finger into his mouth to wet it with saliva, then quickly probed it into Luke's butt. He didn't bother taking it slowly, he just plunged it full depth instantly.
"Oh fuck!" Luke yelped out, his whole body tensing.
Rob waggled his finger, poking roughly at his lover's prostate and loving every little squirm and moan it triggered. Without removing his finger, he raised his other hand and spanked the older boy once more.
"Eleven, sir!" Luke gasped excitedly.
After each spank, Rob stopped and gave Luke's prostate a number of teases corresponding to the number of spanks. As Luke yelped out, "Twenty-four... sir!" Rob tapped away at the sensitive gland two dozen times, like he was trying to talk in morse code.
"Rob... I'm... ugh... I'm close!" Luke whimpered.
"One more!" Rob whispered, delivering a sharp slap to the reddened butt.
"Ugh, twenty... five... sir!" Luke gasped.
As Rob started counting out twenty-five pokes to the prostate, he reached down with his other hand to give Luke's throbbing erection a quick tug. He had only just reached twelve pokes when the cock throbbed its way through an orgasm in his grasp.
Luke slid off of Rob's lap, landing heavily on the floor. Rob poked a foot under him and rolled him over onto his back, then straddled his stomach as he leaned down to kiss the exhausted, sweaty boy.
Nicky wandered along the path towards the school building. The final rehearsal before the music competition was about to get underway, though the party tent was not yet erected, so they were using the stage in the music room for now. For once, he was without Mikey. He had spent the early afternoon with both of his boyfriends, lazily lounging around the dorm as they discussed the upcoming contest. He had sent Mikey off ahead, accompanied by Chris before following on after a quick chat with Mr Trent about his progress with Dr Arkwright.
As he hurried along the path, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking round, he saw a familiar face near a large tree in the undeveloped area between the Home and School buildings... it was Angel! The Year 7 boy seemed to have noticed him too, having been sitting on one of the benches that surround the tree, though he now looked to be scurrying behind it, trying not to be seen.
Nicky had not seen the boy since their late-night bathroom encounter a few weeks earlier, when he had found out the reason for Angel's `bullying' and, more importantly, that someone had been hurting him as retribution for it. He considered walking past but the ongoing therapy he was working his way through was emboldening him to start facing problems instead of his usual instinct of running away. Angel felt like another one of those problems he needed to stop running from.
"Hey," he said as he got nearer, the hiding boy coming into view in response. He could immediately tell the boy had been crying, mostly because he was trying so desperately to appear he hadn't been. "You okay?"
Angel nodded, unconvincingly.
"What's wrong?" Nicky asked, sitting beside him on the bench.
Angel backed away a little but flinched as he grabbed his side.
"Are you... hurt?" Nicky asked, alarmed. Surely Chris hadn't let Mikey out of his sight? He had been explicit in his instruction they stay together.
"It's fine," Angel said weakly, sniffing heavily.
"Who hurt you?" Nicky demanded. "I... I did what I said I'd do," he insisted. "I kept Mikey away. At least... I thought I did! When did he hurt you? Was it this morning?"
Angel frowned at Nicky as he rambled, shaking his head a little. "Mikey's one of your boyfriends, right? What's he got to do with this?" he asked, shrugging.
"He's... he's the one who's been..." Nicky started, but couldn't bring himself to say the words. He just gestured to Angel's clearly-battered body.
"What? No, this was your other friend, the one you... set on me months back! Erm... Josh!" Angel exclaimed, flinching at just the mention of the name. "That's his name, right? The guy with the suicide thing!"
Nicky felt like the world had suddenly collapsed in around him. Josh was the one who'd been hurting Angel?! It wasn't possible! "Are you... are you sure?" he asked. He pulled out his phone and opened up the gallery, his penchant for snapping candid pictures of the boys in the dorm suddenly paying off. "You mean him?" he asked, showing a picture of Josh he had taken the previous week.
Angel visibly flinched again at the picture, making the nod he gave completely unnecessary.
"Fuck!" Nicky exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief. "He... he's been... Josh has been hitting you?"
Angel just stared at the ground, never wanting to be a `snitch'.
"Angel!" Nicky snapped. "Just tell me!" he demanded.
Angel nodded. "Just... every now and then he... he... corners me and... he... he hits me and tells me I deserve it for being a bully! He... he always says it's what all bullies deserve!" he sniffled heavily then squeaked, "And he's right!"
"He's NOT right!" Nicky snapped. "Fuck. Fuck! Josh... what the fuck!" he growled to himself, shaking his head. "He's not right," he repeated as he looked back to Angel. "What you did, it was pretty messed up and... and we'll... deal with that eventually but... but it doesn't mean you deserve this. Nobody does! I'm gonna stop this. I mean it this time, I promise. Do you... need to see Dr Arkwright?" he asked nervously.
"No!" Angel insisted. "It's not... he doesn't... it's not like... THAT bad."
"You sure? I'll take you if you need to!" Nicky insisted. I can explain what happened!"
Angel managed a weak smile as he said, "No, I'm just a bit bruised... thankfully the skin colour hides it. Being black finally pays off!" he joked weakly.
Nicky sighed as he shook his head. "Look, I've got a thing I need to get to, but I promise this'll stop. And then we should talk anyway, just... ya know... to clear the air!"
"I'd like that," Angel said with a gentle nod.
Nicky tentatively reached out and grabbed the boy's hand, giving it a squeeze. He gave a quick smile back and then ran off towards the School Building. His mind was racing. He had been wrong about Mikey. He had spent weeks sticking close to him, watching his every move, convinced he was just waiting for a chance to run off and do awful things. He had even drafted Chris into it, using him to chaperone the other boy any time he couldn't do it himself. It had taken over his life! And it had been for nothing.
How could Josh do this?' he thought repeatedly as he walked along. He told himself it didn't make sense, but the more he thought about it, the more it actually did! Josh had been the one to help him tackle the first instance of bullying. He had been the one who claimed to have sorted it out' when it happened again. Nicky hadn't probed at the time, scared to get pulled into conflict he couldn't handle.
He had to stop for a moment and catch his breath. This was all too much. The bullying. Josh's apparent assault. Mikey's constant temper. The repeated arguing and making up with his boyfriends. It was like his conversations with Mr Trent, he could feel the tightening in his stomach and only just made it to a shrub to throw up into. He stood, panting. All of it was just too much for him to handle, especially on top of the therapy, the revelations, the emotional rawness. He slowly started calming himself, breathing deeply to regain his composure before he continued on inside.
Mikey stepped out of the music room and spotted Nicky approaching. "Hey, I was about to come looking for..." he started but paused seeing the expression on his face and his pallid complexion. "What's wrong?" he asked nervously.
Nicky took a deep breath, shaking his head. "I made a stupid mistake!" he said angrily, the whole conversation still playing on his mind. "I found out someone was hurting Angel because of the bullying at the start of the year but I got it wrong! It wasn't... who I thought!" He still felt shocked his friend could hurt anyone. It barely even registered who he was talking to.
"Who was it?" Mikey asked, moving closer to stroke Nicky's arm comfortingly. "Wait was it... it wasn't Josh, was it?" he asked.
Nicky suddenly stared at Mikey, like he was just coming into view for the first time. He realised he was probably not the person to speak to about this but... why had he reached that conclusion se easily? "Yeah... why... how did you know?" Nicky asked, a little confused.
"It's... kind of a long story," Mikey frowned. "Maybe after rehearsal! We gotta go!"
Nicky remained still as he continued to stare at Mikey. Josh may have been the one hurting Angel, but that didn't mean there weren't other issues with his boyfriend. His head was spinning and all he could think of was the shouting, the arguments, the fear of someone he was supposed to love. "Wait," he called out as Mikey moved for the door. "I... there's... Mikey, there's something else, something I need to tell you!"
Mikey stopped, staring at Nicky nervously. He didn't recognise the tone and he certainly didn't like the expression.
"I need to... to end things!" Nicky said shakily, glad he had just emptied his stomach outside as he felt like he could do it again at any moment.
"No, don't kill yourself. It can't be that bad!" Mikey said, looking panicked.
"Oh, no, that's not..." Nicky started, realising the poor choice of words.
"Please don't die!" Mikey pleaded desperately as he moved back towards Nicky.
"I'm not killing myself!" Nicky insisted. "I'm breaking up with you!" He hadn't planned to say it. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind, even as it raced to process everything he had going on, but as the words hung heavily in the air, they felt... right!
"You... you... you're... what?" Mikey asked shakily, taking a step back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell it at you like that," Nicky apologised quickly, worried he was about to trigger the very mood he was afraid of in his best friend/boyfriend. "I just... I can't handle these sorts of conversations and I'm kinda freaking out right now and I didn't plan to say this but yeah, I'm sorry I'm breaking up with you cos I've got stuff going on that I can't handle and it's all bigger than I thought and I need to sort it out and I can't do that while I'm worrying about... other things!" Nicky rambled, barely taking a breath. As he stopped, he flinched a little, expecting explosive anger from Mikey, possibly even the violence he was so scared of.
"I... I get it," Mikey nodded. "I know you're dealing with some stuff and... I get it!"
"You do?" Nicky asked, visibly surprised as he stared at the unnaturally calm boy.
Mikey didn't look happy, but he didn't look angry either. "Yeah," he said with a gentle nod. "But we can talk about it after rehearsal!" he said, gesturing to the music room again. "Come on, Chris is waiting!"
Nicky's eyes widened at the mention of the name. He gasped slightly as he said, "Oh god, I need to tell Chris!"
"He'll get over it," Mikey shrugged. "We can tell him after!"
"No. I can't go on that stage with him knowing I'm breaking up with him and not say anything!" Nicky objected, shaking his head and looking nauseous again.
"Wait, you're breaking up with Chris too! I thought you were just dumping ME!" Mikey exclaimed, actually looking more alarmed about that than he was about being dumped himself. "Fuck, now you REALLY can't say anything to him!"
"But... but..." Nicky stuttered.
"No!" Mikey said sternly. "You keep your mouth shut and tell him later. He's excited to finally practice our song properly so... just do the fucking song!" he snapped, then turned and headed into the room, not allowing Nicky to say anything more.
As Nicky walked in, he heard, "There he is. Just in time!" He saw Chris smiling his way as he headed for the stage. "See, sir, I told you he'd show!" Chris added, grinning to the slightly disgruntled teacher.
"Okay, fine" Mr Yaeger said as the three boys took to the stage and readied their instruments. "I'd say you need a name for us to use to announce you, but considering it took you three months to pick a song, I'll just stick with Chris, Nicky and Mikey!" he called out, getting a laugh from the crowd.
Mikey readied himself on the drums while Nicky stood with a keyboard and microphone and Chris had his guitar and a microphone. After a few quick sound checks with Nicky shooting Mikey nervous looks, they were ready to begin and got the signal from Mr Yaeger to start.
They started playing and Chris came in with the first verse. "I saw you dancing in a crowded room, you look so happy when I'm not with you. But then you saw me, caught you by surprise. A single teardrop falling from your eye."
Listening to the lyrics, Nicky kept glancing back at Mikey as Chris went on, "I don't know why I run away. I'll make you cry when I run away!"
Chris smiled round at Nicky, ready for him to take over vocals.
Though a little shaky, Nicky came in on his cue. "You could've asked me why I broke your heart. You could've told me that you fell apart. But you walked past me like I wasn't there. And just pretended like you didn't care!" Nicky sang as he played but looked increasingly distressed. As he broke into the bridge and sang, "I don't know why I run away, I'll make you cry when I run away!" he stopped playing and blurted out tearfully, "Chris, I'm breaking up with you!"
The music stopped and silence filled the room.
Chris chuckled, not quite sure he had understood what he had heard.
"Nicky!" Mikey hissed angrily.
Chris frowned as he finally took it in. Staring at Nicky, he stuttered, "You... you... you're... what?"
"I'm sorry!" Nicky said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Chris stared for a few more moments, then glanced at the awkward, silent crowd then turned and ran for the door.
"For fuck's sake," Mikey said, shaking his head in disgust as he threw his drumsticks down. "I told you to..." he suddenly paused, like someone had flicked a switch in his head. "It's me!" he said, staring at Nicky accusingly. "The person you thought was hurting Angel! You thought it was me, didn't you!"
"Mikey, I just... it was... those times that you..." Nicky stuttered awkwardly. Finally, instinct kicked in and he did what he always did – he ran. "I'm sorry!" he squeaked before he turned and hurried out.
Mikey was left sitting alone on stage. As Mr Yaeger and the rest of the music competition contestants stared at him in awkward silence, he called out, "Sorry sir, I guess we're out of the contest!" He gave a quick drum sting, dropped the sticks and walked away. *****
"I swear this wasn't the plan!" Rob sniggered as he sat with Danny's dick in his hand.
"I believe you!" Danny replied as he jerked Rob off. "But to be fair, if a plan's gonna go wrong, this is a pretty fun way to go wrong!"
Rob laughed as he leaned against the boy at his side. The two of them had started off just chatting, catching up about what had been going on lately. Sharing virtually no extracurriculars, the two boys rarely got to spend any time together. Having been through a rough patch at the start of the year, both boys had been determined to get to know each other better, especially since Danny's return from his injury.
Danny had once referred to Rob as the `other sane one in the dorm' and confided that he relied on him to support the rest of the dorm with their multitude of issues, sort of co-leaders of the group.
When they had started chatting a short while earlier, they had just been talking about what was going on in their lives. Rob had talked about his time as rugby captain, his relationship with Luke and his excitement over Jazz joining the school. Danny had spoken largely about his recovery, his physiotherapy with Blane and his recent anniversary celebration with Brian. When Danny had revealed his promise ring to the dorm, reactions had varied from merciless mockery to abject adoration.
When the two boys' conversation moved on to matters of a more sexual nature, both had popped erections. From there, both had started playing, which had eventually turned into jerking each other off instead as they each shared stories about their sexual shenanigans with their respective boyfriends.
"So, you and Brian have both fucked each other?" Rob asked, squirming a little as Danny continued stroking him.
"Yeah," Danny replied, nuzzling against his friend. "I liked doing him, but I TOTALLY prefer him doing me!"
"Does it hurt?" Rob asked, raising his free hand to play with one of his over-sensitive nipples.
"A bit, at first," Danny explained. "Unnnh, yeah, bit faster," he urged Rob as he stroked. "It mainly hurts if you're... uh yeah... if you're not relaxed. So learn to relax... fuck yeah... and it's fine! I think I'm gonna cum soon!"
"Yeah, me too," Rob gasped. "I know Luke's into it... ugh, I'm close... and fingering is... fun," Rob admitted. "But ugh, I dunno, maybe I'll be more into it next year!"
"New year, new sex!" Danny giggled. "Sounds good to... uh fuck, I'm cumming!" He tensed up as he shot over his stomach, his t-shirt quickly lifted.
"Don't stop," Rob urged him as Danny's hand slowed in response to his own orgasm.
"Sorry," Danny giggled, his body convulsing with the last remnants of his orgasm. He pumped away at Rob's cock quickly.
"Fuck... yessss!" Rob hissed as he ejaculated over himself too.
As they both finished up, they sat back, panting a little. Both of their heads lolled inwards towards each other as they grinned.
"That was fun," Danny said happily.
"Yeah," Rob agreed. He reached over and gently stroked Danny's hair away from his eyes as he said, "I know I've said it before, but I'm really glad you didn't die!"
Danny giggled and nodded. "Yeah, me too! Now, let's clean up!"
"Good plan," Rob nodded.
They returned to chatting casually once they had tidied up and a few minutes later greeted Josh, James and David as they walked in.
"My report card's gonna be fucking awesome!" Josh declared excitedly as he hopped over the back of a sofa to sit beside Rob.
"That may be a slight exaggeration," James scoffed, sitting on one of the other sofas having just finished reviewing Josh's studies after their year of tutoring. "I said it looks like you've IMPROVED in most areas but going up to three stars from two doesn't quite count as... flipping awesome!"
"Hey, let him be happy!" David said, giving James a nudge as he sat beside him. "Josh has done so well this year and if we keep on tutoring him next year, he'll be top of the class in no time!"
James flinched a little at the mention of next year but frowned as he saw Danny do the same. Danny quickly looked away, not wanting to give away the fact he knew James' secret.
"... THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?" they suddenly heard screamed from the hallway.
"Not again!" Danny moaned at the sound of the shouting boy, ready for another moment of Mikey's irrationality.
"Stop shouting at me!" Nicky snapped as he reached the door. He froze as everyone stared round at him.
"NO! I WILL NOT!" Mikey screamed, following him in. "YOU COULDN'T JUST PLAY IT COOL FOR ONE HOUR?"
"Woah woah woah, fellas, cool it!" Danny said, jumping to his feet.
Rob quickly followed. "Yeah, erm... what's going on?"
"We just broke up!" Mikey snapped.
"Mikey, don't!" Nicky pleaded.
"Oh, what you think they won't find out anyway?" Mikey asked angrily. "You think the WHOLE FUCKING SCHOOL isn't going to find out?"
"Find out what?" Danny asked, moving between the two for fear of things turning nasty.
"Nicky decided to tell Chris that he was breaking up with him... on stage... in front of everyone!" Mikey said, looking furious.
"Fuck!" Danny exclaimed. "Wait, where's Chris?"
"No idea, I was hoping he'd come back here," Mikey said, still glaring furiously at Nicky.
"I'm gonna go look for him!" Danny said, heading out the door and leaving the rest of the dorm in stunned silence.
"Mate... what the fuck!" Josh exclaimed, standing up and shaking his head at Nicky.
"You!" Nicky snarled furiously. "This is YOUR fault!" he took a step towards Josh, but Rob was immediately in his way.
"Woah, whatever you did to Chris, don't go blaming anyone else for it!" Rob said sharply.
"No, it's HIS fault. I only did it like that cos I was... so pissed from dealing with shit that HE'S done!" Nicky snapped angrily.
"What you talkin' `bout, mate?" Josh scoffed.
"ANGEL!" Nicky snapped angrily. He looked round the rest of the dorm and said, "You might all wanna know we're sharing a room with a bully!"
Josh went from indifferent to outraged in the blink of an eye as he screamed back, "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" while rushing towards Nicky.
"A BULLY!" Nicky growled at Josh, then looked round at the others and explained, "He's been beating up a Year 7 kid!"
"What are you talking about?" Rob asked, shaking his head.
"I'M NO FUCKING BULLY!" Josh snarled. "I've just been paying him back for what he did to YOU. I woulda thought you'd be grateful, ya fucking dickhead!"
"What... Josh... is he..." Rob stuttered, backing away as he looked at Josh, appalled. "You've been beating someone up?"
"It's payback. That's all. Bullies are scum. The fucking lowest of the low. They deserve what they get!" Josh hissed furiously.
"He didn't even do anything!" Nicky said, shaking his head. "I swear, you go near him again..."
"And what, you'll run away? Fucking coward!" Josh said angrily.
"Josh... you..." Rob started. "This... this isn't you!"
"Yeah it is!" Mikey chimed in. "This is totally him. He's... he's more broken than I am! He's got a fucking problem and you need to fucking deal with it!"
Josh went to argue back, but just looked down at the ground, shaking his head. "I'm not a bully," he muttered to himself.
Just as thing looked ready to calm down, they heard Danny out in the hallway call out, "Chris, don't!"
The door slammed open. "How the fuck could you do that to me?" Chris demanded as he appeared at the door.
"Chris, I didn't..." Nicky started, taking a step back.
"Save it!" Chris snapped. "I can't even act surprised. It's always been about what you want hasn't it. Shouldn't surprise me that you still can't think about ANYONE but yourself!"
"Guys I think we should maybe all just... cool off a bit," David urged the group, standing from the sofa.
"Screw you, I don't need to cool off!" Chris barked angrily. He wasn't even angry at David; he was just angry and aiming it wherever he looked.
"Hey, don't speak to him like that!" James scowled, jumping to his feet.
Chris's fury bubbled over as he looked at James. He laughed, sounding almost unhinged. "Oh, come on, YOU... you're worried about upsetting David?" Chris demanded incredulously. "Seriously?!"
"Chris, don't!" Danny muttered as he grabbed Chris' shoulder, worried he knew what was coming.
Pulling away from Danny's grip, Chris' pain and anger continued to bubble over as he said accusingly, "You're leaving, and you haven't even told your supposed best friend!"
Everyone turned to face James who suddenly went pale.
"You're... what?" David asked, staring at James.
"Chris," Danny whispered, shaking his head in utter disappointment.
Seeing the look of absolute misery on David's face was enough to shock Chris out of his fury. "Fuck," he muttered, realising what he had done. He turned and ran out.
"Chris wait, we need to talk," Mikey called out as he ran out after the other boy.
"I just wanna be alone!" Chris snapped, walking quickly away.
Mikey jogged to catch up and said, "Yeah, well I wanna talk. And it's important!"
"Fine," Chris huffed, continuing to walk quickly until they were outside the building. He continued on towards the school's gardens but stop just short of entering them. "Was that whole thing, like, a game to you both? Find the absolute worst time for you both to just dump me!"
"We didn't! Nicky did. I didn't even break up with you!" Mikey said, a little offended by the accusation. He never liked anyone talking for him, and he certainly wasn't about to have someone breaking up for him.
"Oh, I thought..." Chris started, but paused, shaking his head, confused again.
"But I am now!" Mikey added.
"Are you FUCKING kidding me?" Chris demanded furiously. "That's why you followed me? To get another laugh at my expense and kick me when I'm already down?"
"Do I look like I'm laughing?" Mikey asked, visibly on the verge of tears, still somehow remaining the calm one in the conversation.
"No, you look upset," Chris said as he shook his head, "Which makes me want to hold you, which is REALLY fucking annoying on account of the fact that you just DUMPED me!"
"I know. I'm sorry!" Mikey said meekly.
"Do I... at least get to know WHY I'm suddenly single? What did I do?" Chris asked, sniffing heavily.
"You didn't do anything!" Mikey insisted. "Nicky... well that's for him to tell you! But for me... I can't date you," he said, getting an even more hurt look from Chris. "What I mean is, I can't date JUST you! I chose to start dating you AND Nicky and if you're not together, then... I can't do that! I'm sorry!" He began to cry gently.
Chris just stood staring at him, torn between holding him and running away again.
"Please say something," Mikey pleaded when he was finally composed enough to speak again.
"Thank you for... explaining, I guess," Chris said a little vacantly. "Now can I be alone?" As Mikey nodded, he turned and walked away.
"So how bad is it?" Joseph asked quietly as he walked along beside Danny.
"Pretty bad," Danny sighed, shaking his head.
"By your dorm's standards or by regular human standards?" Joseph asked with a slight smirk, getting an angry frown in return. "Like, on a scale from accused of mis-use of the school network to run a porn racket to dormmates found nearly dead in a hole in the woods, what are we talking?"
Danny stopped, jaw slightly agape with mild disgust. "Wow, I'm so glad our misery is entertaining to you!" he said, shaking his head angrily. As Joseph just looked back at him grinning, a reluctant smile spread across Danny's face as he replied, "Well on THAT scale, I'd put it somewhere around `abused dormmate delivers savage insults to dorm'. It's not good!"
"Guessing this means I should expect to hear you creeping into bed with Brian again tonight then?" Joseph asked, casually throwing his arm around the younger boy. "I know you like to hide out when it's... messy!"
Danny hummed thoughtfully for a moment then shook his head. "Nah, not this time. I think I'm gonna stick around in the dorm tonight, just in case."
"In case of what?" Joseph frowned, then shook his head and said, "Wait, I don't think I wanna know. With you lot it'll probably be fist fights to the death or... some weird sexual ritual!"
"Nah, the weird sexual rituals are next year!" Danny sniggered.
"Wait, you know about that?" Joseph asked, looking shocked.
"I was joking!" Danny replied, looking somewhere between shocked and intrigued.
"Yeah, yeah," Joseph smirked, "Me too!" he laughed awkwardly, getting a suspicious look from Danny.
Danny dismissed his curiosity, now really wasn't the time to pursue it.
"So what's the plan? Sit them down one at a time and give them a bit of Danny-style straight-talking and tough love?" Joseph asked, keen to change the subject.
"If I need to... eventually," Danny nodded, then frowned and added, "Not that there's much `eventually' left to... event..." He shook his head and moaned at the verbal misstep, "Ugh, long day and that one got away from me. But no, for now it's probably best to just... let people feel what they feel. They'll figure it out. I don't have to fix everyone!"
"Wow," Joseph exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief.
Danny frowned at the reaction but got a smile in return.
As Joseph grinned, he explained "I can't even imagine Danny from, like, this time last year saying something like that. I know you've not had it easy here." His smile faded as he began to look a little sad. "And you've been through stuff most people can't even imagine, but... you've really grown up so much. This is a proper proud mentor moment!"
Danny blushed a little as he smiled sweetly. "Thanks," he said softly.
"Not that I really get any credit," Joseph chuckled. "I mean, all I did was embarrass you and give you stupid dares!"
"Shut up," Danny said, slapping the older boy's arm. "You've done loads. You've taught me all sorts of stuff. You're always there when I need anything and... ya know... let me... fly free or whatever when I didn't."
"Okay, look away," Joseph teased. "I don't want you to see your old mentor cry!"
Danny laughed and shook his head but couldn't help notice what genuinely looked like a slight tear in Joseph's eye. Feeling a surge of affection for the older boy, he let out a gentle sigh and said, "I love you, Joseph!"
Joseph smiled and nodded as he turned and placed both hands on Danny's shoulders. "Danny I..." he started, pausing dramatically. "I'm afraid it'll never work. My heart belongs to another!" He burst into laughter as Danny's eyes narrowed and he shook his head in mild annoyance. Giving the boy a coy smile as they continued walking, he said quietly, "Love ya too, ya little pervert!"
Considering it was virtually the height of summer, the atmosphere in dorm 1.05 was outright frosty. Most of the boys had managed to stay away from each other for the rest of the day, but as the time came for lights out there was no avoiding all being in the same room.
Surprisingly, as more of them entered the dorm, not a single voice was raised. Most of them barely looked at each other. It was hard to tell who was pissed at whom, especially when they factored in who was on who's `side' over the many issues that had exploded earlier. As they settled into bed and Mr Trent did his final check on them, silence lingered so heavily it was almost oppressive.
By the time Mr Trent lurked the halls for his final check of the evening, the silence remained unbroken, not even by the usual sounds of sleeping boys.
"I'm not leaving!" James eventually called out. He heard nothing in response. "I'll still be here at Kingswood next year, I just... won't be in Year 9!"
"Or our dorm!" David said pointedly.
"Yeah, that too!" James said sheepishly.
"Were you just... not gonna tell us?" Mikey asked bluntly. "Like, we'd just be in our new dorm next year and be all, like, hey anyone seen James?"
"No, I just... didn't want to make a fuss!" James said.
"Well, that worked out well," Mikey muttered. Nobody laughed.
"Can we not do this?" Chris suddenly snapped. Silence followed for a few moments. "We're not gonna... sit here and... and... share... and... ugh whatever. I don't wanna talk about it and I don't wanna hear anything ANYONE has to say!" The `anyone' was very clearly aimed squarely at Nicky, obvious even in the darkness. "I just wanna go to sleep, so are you all gonna do the same or do I have to go find somewhere else to do it?"
Nobody replied.
"Good!" Chris said bluntly.
There were sounds around the room of the other boys all shuffling into sleeping positions. Despite his annoyance at Chris for both how he had hurt David and the bluntness of what he had just said, Danny knew his best friend was hurting so he silently reached across and slid an arm beneath him before pulling him closer to cuddle. He lay there feeling silent tears dripping onto his chest as the dorm gradually fell asleep.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Be back here next week for the final chapter of The Kingswood Eight!! Feel free to email any thoughts or comments to matterotica@hotmail.co.uk
Also, if you wish to support me via patreon where I share behind-the-scenes information, updates on works in progress and exclusive stories, please visit https://www.patreon.com/matterotica
For my other stories, please see links below:
The Kingswood Saga ------------------
Tales from Kingswood (Book 1)– https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/tales-from-kingswood/
Half-Term at Kingswood (Book 1 bonus story) – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/half-term-at-kingswood/
The Kingswood Eight (Book 2) - https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/the-kingswood-eight/
A Very Kingswood Easter (Book 2 bonus story) - https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/a-very-kingswood-easter/
The Benny Saga (in reading order) --------------
Benny Takes Control – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/benny-takes-control/
The Dangers of Desire – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/the-dangers-of-desire/
Benny's House – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/bennys-house/
Other Series ------------
Possession – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/possession-series/
Jack Hamilton – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/jack-hamilton/
Phil's Naked Adventures – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/phils-naked-adventures/
One-shots ---------
The Art of Seduction – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/the-art-of-seduction
Jake's Exposure – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/jakes-exposure
Becoming an Internet Master – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/becoming-an-internet-master
Brian's Big Mistake – http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/authoritarian/brians-big-mistake
And Then It Got Worse – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/masturbation/and-then-it-got-worse
Missed Opportunity – https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/missed-opportunity