Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
They had known each other since junior high. Josh had been new to the school. Craig had seen him in the hallway, and noticed him on occasion. For some reason, he had been intrigued by him. Yes, even a bit taken by him. Within a few weeks of his starting there, Craig noticed that Josh seemed to draw people to him. When Craig passed him in the hallway, he was often amongst a crowd of people, who appeared to be drawn to him, laughing with whatever he was saying. I guess that's charisma, thought Craig, a bit wistfully. On top of looks. Must be nice...
Not that Craig didn't have his own friends. But he didn't have near the popularity that Josh seemed to have. He might have been jealous, if he hadn't admired Josh from afar.
In addition to his other interests, Craig was passionate about wrestling. He first thought about going out for it on entering the seventh grade, and a guidance counselor encouraged him. A bit hesitantly he went for tryouts, and Coach Brown was impressed enough that afterwards, he took Craig aside.
"I'd like you for the team," Coach Brown said. Craig looked at him, barely able to hide his delight in hearing the words.
"Wow," Craig replied. "I'd love to be on it."
"We'll just need a parental consent form. I can give you one. In my office."
"Sounds great," said Craig.
For the remainder of the seventh grade, Craig slowly honed his wrestling skills, and accompanied the team to regional finals at the end of the year, where they won their tournament, helped by Craig's contribution. Craig liked the camaraderie he found on the team.
Returning to school in the eighth grade, Craig looked forward to continuing with the team. At the first team meeting, the boys lined up in two rows, sitting on the gym floor, waiting for Coach Brown to assemble them for practice.
"Dang!" said someone behind Craig. He looked around, to see Josh sitting behind him. He had never actually met Josh, and was surprised to see him. He hadn't known he had joined the team.
"What's wrong?" asked Craig.
Josh glanced up at Craig, with a bit of a grin. "I was just trying to tie my sneakers. Think I pulled a finger muscle. It's not serious, but it makes it hard to tie them. Give me a hand? Just put a finger on top there," Josh said, indicating the top of the sneaker, where the bow would be.
"Sure," said Craig, placing his finger.
Josh proceeded to tie his sneaker. Afterwards, Craig pulled his finger away, and looked back up at Josh, who smiled.
"I don't think we've met," said Josh, grinning. "I'm Josh."
Craig couldn't help but notice Josh's nice smile, and blue eyes.
"I'm Craig. Nice to meet you," he said.
"Likewise."
At that point, Coach Brown came up to start the practice.
"First," said Coach Brown, "we'll assign everyone to weight classes. Since we don't have many on the team this year, each class will be kind of small, and you'll get a lot of practice with the guys in your class."
Coach Brown proceeded to distribute the guys into classes. Josh and Craig ended up in the same class. For that practice, and the few subsequent ones, they got several practice matches together, along with some with other team members. During this time, Coach Brown observed the group dynamics, and who seemed to `click' with whom.
At the end of the third practice, Coach Brown talked to some of the guys. Before everyone hit the locker room, he came up to Craig. "Hey, Josh," he called, as Josh had also been on his way to the locker room. Josh came back.
Looking at the two of them, Coach Brown said, "From the first few practices, I've noticed that you two seem to hit it off."
Craig and Josh looked at each other, a bit bashfully. "Yeah, I guess," they said.
"Since you two are in the same weight class," the coach continued, "I'd like to encourage you two to practice the moves on off time. You both have good technique. With some practice, we could really win the state championship." He looked at them. "How about it?"
Craig and Josh looked at each other again. "Fine by me," said Josh. "I'm sure I can find some time."
"Me, too," returned Craig.
"OK, great," said the coach. Then Craig and Josh hit the locker room.
For the remainder of the eighth grade, in addition to their respective circles of friends, they began to spend more time together with each other, bonding easily after practices. Their team won the state championship at the end of the year. The friendship continued as they began, and continued through high school. During the last week of school of junior year of high school, Josh came up to Craig in the hallway.
"I don't think I told you," said Josh. "I'm taking the summer in the vineyard."
"No," said Craig, just a bit disappointed. "You hadn't."
"Yeah," continued Josh. "Sue's parents were able to get me a job at a resort there. Since they'll be spending a lot of time there, it sounded like a great situation."
Sue was Josh's girlfriend. They had been going out since the beginning of junior year. Craig had known Sue for several years, and found her to be really nice. She like him as well.
"Well, have a great summer," said Craig, with a smile.
"You, too," said Josh, with a wink. He pointed at him. "I'll be looking for you, first week of September."
The summer passed uneventfully. Craig spent time with his other friends, but missed seeing Josh. He looked forward to seeing him again, as Labor Day weekend rolled around.
On the evening before the first day of school, the phone rang in Craig's house. His mother answered it. She yelled up to Craig's room.
"Craig! Phone's for you!"
Craig raced downstairs.
"Who is it?" he asked, as he took the phone from his mother.
"I don't know," she replied, with a bit of a puzzled look. "Didn't recognize the voice, and he didn't say."
"Hello?" said Craig into the receiver.
"Hope you haven't slacked the summer off."
He didn't recognize the voice. It was deeper than that of most of his friends.
"Who is this?" asked Craig.
"Uh, your no. 1 wrestling partner, maybe?"
"Josh?"
"Bingo!"
"Hey, I didn't recognize your voice. Are you OK?"
"Yeah, fine. Think the culprit may be ...puberty."
"Aha..." said Craig.
Josh hesitated. "As it turns out, I'm going to be missing the first week of school. A family emergency came up, so to speak. And, I was going to ask. My parents are going to be out of town this weekend. They're celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary. I know it's a bit of an imposition, but do you think I could stay at your place? Sue will be out of town with her parents, too."
Josh had had several overnighters at Craig's home in the past, so this was nothing new.
"I don't think my parents will mind," replied Craig. "I think my Mom will be out of town visiting her sister, but I think my Dad will be fine with it. Let me ask."
"Mom," said Craig, covering the receiver. "Josh's parents will be out of town this weekend. Can he stay here?"
His mother thought for a moment. "Sure," she said. "I don't think that should be a problem. Check with your father, but I don't think he'll mind."
"Josh," said Craig, returning to the phone. "My Mom says it's OK. I'll have to double check with my Dad, but I don't think there will be any problem.
"Great," replied Josh. "OK if my Dad drops me off at your house around 5 Friday afternoon, on their way out of town?"
"Sounds good," said Craig. "Looking forward to seeing you."
"Me, too."
On Friday afternoon, around 5 o'clock, Josh's father's car pulled up outside Craig's house. Josh got out, and got out a duffel bag, and garment bag. He closed the car door, and his father pulled the car away, as Josh proceeded up towards Craig's house. Craig had come out of the house, and waited on the porch for Josh to come up.
Craig almost didn't recognize Josh. He was more muscular, especially in the upper arms and chest, with broader shoulders than he had had the previous year.
On the porch now, Josh sat his duffel bag and garment bag down. They looked at each other, hesitated a bit, and then gave each other a close, tight hug for several seconds. Josh loosened his grip to pull away. As he pulled away, Craig noticed that his eyebrows seemed a bit darker, and his masculine scent was noticeable. His dark brown hair was longer than it had been the previous year, too. It had always been silky and straight, but now it seemed even shinier, mostly covering his ears on the side. With just a suggestion of a part on the left, it had a full look, falling just above his eyes in gentle wisps over his eyebrows.
"Wow," Craig said, pulling back. "Almost didn't recognize you. Puberty's been good to you," he said, in spite of himself.
"Yeah," replied Josh, with a small cough. "It happens," he said with a grin. "So, are your ready for the team again this year?"
"Sure thing."
"Let's go! Whoopee!" exclaimed Josh, playfully giving Craig's dark blonde head of hair a healthy tousle. Craig, laughing, instinctively jumped back a bit, and then picked up the garment bag, as Josh picked up his duffel bag. They proceeded inside.
Craig's mother had already left to visit her sister, so only his father and sister Becky were home for the weekend. Becky was seven years old. The ten year age difference between Craig and Becky made it apparent that Becky might have been an `accident.' But as she grew, she easily fit into the household, as a precocious member, very much loved by everyone.
Craig's father entered the living room from the kitchen. Josh looked up to see him, and smiled.
"Mr. J!" Josh exclaimed. "Thanks for having me."
"No problem," said Craig's father, coming up to Josh, extending his hand, which Josh shook. "Great to have you again. Why don't you boys put Josh's stuff upstairs? Dinner's almost ready. I'll give a yell."
The boys proceeded up to Craig's room, which was converted from the attic. It had lots of room. As they walked inside, Josh noticed the wrestling mats in one corner.
"Wow," Josh said, noticing the mats. "You didn't tell me about this!"
"Yeah," replied Craig. "They were a gift for my seventeenth birthday. Look kind of nice don't they?"
"Super!"
They put Josh's duffel bag on the floor, and his garment bag in a closet. Craig sat on the lower bunk of his bed, while Josh laid out nearby on one of the mats. They talked some about how their respective summers had been. Now and then, Josh ran some fingers through his hair, causing a wisp to fall over his eye. He noted a bit of distraction on Craig's part when he did this.
"Boys!" shouted Craig's father, about fifteen minutes later. "Dinner's on!"
They got up, and came down the stairs to the dining room, where Becky had set a nice table. Craig and Josh sat at adjacent seats. Becky came in and sat in a seat adjacent to Josh, across from Craig. With most of the dishes on the table already, Craig's father brought the main dish in with him, and he sat in the remaining chair.
They started eating, with conversation along the lines of catching up with everyone's summers. After a pause, Becky pondered a bit.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked Josh. Her innocence at this question was endearing.
"Becky!" said Craig's father, with a laugh. "That's a bit personal," he said looking at her, and then smiling at Josh.
"That's OK," said Josh, blushing a bit. "As a matter of fact, yes. Sue, one of Craig's and my classmates, and I have been going out for about a year now. We're pretty `tight'," he continued, winking at Becky.
"Well," continued Becky, thinking a bit more. "If you ever were to break up, I'm available." At that the others cracked up.
"Becky!" said Craig's father, in a mock scolding manner.
"That's OK," said Josh, in a mock exasperation tone of voice. "If we ever do break up," he said, smiling at Becky, "I'll keep you in mind." He couldn't help but feel touched by the obvious crush on him that Becky had just expressed.
Becky looked at Josh again.
"Something wrong?" asked Josh, looking at Becky.
"Your hair is nice," observed Becky. "It's longer. I like it."
"Becky," muttered Mr. Johnson. "It isn't polite to talk about Josh's hair."
"Why not?" asked Becky, looking at her father.
"I don't know," said Mr. Johnson, trying to think of a reason. "It's just..., not... I don't know why, but it isn't." Then he glanced at Josh. "Although he does have nice looking hair," he admitted. Everyone laughed at that, the three men blushing a bit. "Your parents let you wear it that long?"
Josh paused. "Yeah, actually, my girlfriend Sue prefers it longer. My parents haven't hassled me much about it, so I've let it grow longer. They say, as long as I keep it nicely combed, it's OK."
"Yes, it is nicely combed, too," concluded Mr. Johnson, appearing to admire it a bit. Craig and Josh looked at each other, as the former gave a hint of a roll of his eyes.
The rest of the dinner conversation continued along more conventional lines. When they were finished, everyone helped clear the table, and Becky helped her father with the dishes in the kitchen.
The boys spent the evening watching TV, and playing video games. Around ten, they proceeded upstairs to Craig's room.
"Well," said Josh, looking at the mats. "Want to give these a workout tonight, or wait until tomorrow?"
Craig looked at Josh. "I don't know. If you're game..."
Josh smiled back at Craig. "I'm game."
Craig stripped down to gym shorts, sans t-shirt, while Josh did the same. They flipped a coin, to see who got the choice of upper and lower position. Josh won the coin toss, choosing upper position. They got into starting position, Josh putting one hand on Craig's lower wrist, and his other arm under Craig's torso, snugly and gently. They did several sets, alternating starting position, each pinning the other roughly the same amount of times.
Craig noticed something that unsettled him a bit during the matches. He had always found Josh to be an attractive guy, but had rarely mentioned it, except for that time, last school year. Tonight, as Josh's hand was brushing across different parts of his body as they went through different holds, he found himself getting a bit aroused. Looking over his shoulder or plainly at Josh at different points from close-up or back a bit, he couldn't help but notice Josh's hair, falling down into his eyes. During a match, you wouldn't bother moving a hand up to clear hair out of your eyes, when the hand would be more useful or even critical somewhere else. But as he noticed Josh's shiny hair in his eyes, or layers of hair flopping back and forth around his head as it bopped around during the match, and felt his hands, after firmly in position for one hold, continually brush, ever so gently, over parts of his body, to get to the next hold position, he couldn't help but feel more and more excited. He sure hoped Josh wasn't noticing. At the end of one set, Craig pulled back and got up.
"Got to take a break," he said to Josh. "I'm going to get some water. Be right back," he said, going to the bathroom, off the bedroom.
"Take your time," said Josh, getting up, and sitting on his knees.
A few minutes later, Craig came back into the room. "OK if we call it a night for wrestling?"
"Sure. I'm kind of tired, anyway," replied Josh, yawning and stretching. "Mind if I take a shower tonight? Kind of smelly after today, and this," he said, indicating the mats.
"Be my guest," said Craig with a smile, indicating the bathroom.
Josh proceeded to take a shower. Following the shower, Craig heard his hair dryer going for a few minutes. Afterwards, Josh came out of the bathroom in full length pajama bottoms, again sans shirt. His hair, almost dry, again had a nice shine from its natural oils, and a full look. Craig, who had been at his window, looking through a telescope, glanced up at Josh, and couldn't help admiring his hair a bit as Josh crossed the room. It looked obvious that, in addition to drying it, Josh had also run a comb through it.
"Always give your hair a once over before bed?" teased Craig softly, as Josh walked up to him.
Josh smirked at Craig. "Yeah, if I don't, it tends to be a `bad hair' day the next day. Not sure why. What are you looking at?" he asked softly, looking over Craig's shoulder, at the outside sky.
"Saturn," Craig replied. "The rings look really nice tonight."
"Have a look?" asked Josh.
"Sure, let me get it a bit more in focus."
After Craig had taken about a minute, Josh came up more closely, and gently put a hand on Craig's shoulder. "Come on," said Josh softly. "Let me see." Like Josh, Craig was dressed in full length pajama bottoms, sans shirt. The feel of Josh's hand on his shoulder made Craig shiver just a bit.
"You OK?" said Josh, noticing the shiver.
"Yeah, fine."
Josh proceeded up to the telescope, as Craig pulled away. As Josh put his eye to the telescope lens, a wisp of hair fell into his eyes. He slowly brought up a hand, and ran his fingers through his hair, in an attempt to get it out of his eyes, to no avail.
"Wow," whispered Josh, as he looked through the telescope. "Cool!"
He pulled away, and smiled at Craig. "Nice!"
"Well," said Craig, looking toward his bunk beds. "Ready for bed?"
"Yeah," said Josh. "Long day."
"You can have the top, as usual," said Craig.
"Fine," said Josh, climbing the ladder to the top bed.
When they were both settled in their respective beds, Craig turned out the bed side lamp by his bed. With his window curtains open, the lights from the street lit up the room quite a bit. After a few minutes, Josh spoke softly.
"Craig? You awake?"
"Yeah."
Josh hesitated, and then snickered a bit. "Some weird dinner conversation tonight, huh?"
Craig also hesitated. "Yeah." Craig waited, hoping for Josh to continue.
"Never knew Becky had a crush on me."
"Yeah, I don't ever remember her mentioning it."
Josh hesitated again. "And that talk about my hair! Sheesh!"
"Yeah. Sorry if it embarrassed you."
"Nah. Just found it kind of amusing." Josh paused for a moment. "Sounded like both Becky and your dad might have had a thing about it."
Craig, though a bit concerned about where the conversation was headed, was vaguely intrigued; he wasn't sure what to say.
"It does seem shinier than it was last year," said Craig.
"I think that may have something to do with puberty. It's always been kind of silky and shiny, but I think with puberty, there's some kind of increase in skin oils or something. So if there's an increase in oils on the scalp, that would make hair shinier, I guess.
"That makes sense." Craig hesitated again. "And for whatever it's worth, I think it looks nice, too."
"So you like it, too."
Craig didn't know what to say. "No, I'm just saying..." he stammered, not knowing what to say.
Josh laughed a bit. "I'm just having fun with you..."
There was no talk for several seconds.
"Craig?"
"Yeah?"
Josh hesitated again. "Mind if I come down there?"
"Come down here?"
"Sleep down there."
"Uh, sure. I can go up there." Craig was puzzled. "Something wrong with the top bunk? You always sleep there."
"No, I meant, can I join you down there?"
Craig was really puzzled. He didn't know what to say.
"We're not going to do anything. I just thought..." continued Josh.
"There's not much room."
A pause. "A bit snug, but we could probably both fit," said Josh.
"Well, OK, sure," said Craig, after a moment.
After a few seconds, Josh got up, climbed down the ladder on the side of the bed, and crawled in over Craig, to be on the side of the bed nearer the wall.
"Hope you're not a covers hog," quipped Craig softly, with a grin.
"No," said Josh, a bit indignantly. "Try not to snore too much," he replied with a wink.
Josh turned to face the wall, lying on his side. Craig faced in the same direction, lying parallel to Josh against him. In the moonlight through the window, Craig looked at the hair on the back of Josh's head, shiny with the moonlight. His face just inches from the back of Josh's head, he got a faint smell of his hair, with a hint of the shampoo. He brought up his free hand, and ran some fingers through it for several seconds.
"I guess you do like my hair," said Josh softly.
Embarrassed a bit, Craig replied, "I guess..." Then he threw that arm over the top of Josh's torso, and gave a gentle squeeze of the upper part of his body. Josh brought up his hand and put it over Craig's.
"'night," said Josh softly.
"'night," replied Craig.
The next morning, at dawn, some outside birds' chirping gently woke Craig. He was lying on his side, facing the room. Josh was behind Craig, with his arm around Craig's waist. His soft snoring indicated he was still asleep. Craig slowly adjusted, to lie on his back. His body's movement wakened Josh, who brought his hand up to rub his eyes as he yawned.
"'morning, sleepy head," said Craig, turning over onto his other side, to face Josh, who now turned to lie on his back.
"'morning, yourself," said Josh sleepily, with a grin.
"Sleep OK?" asked Craig, propping his head against his right hand, as he put his left hand on Josh's chest.
"Yeah, great," replied Josh, putting his hands behind the back of his head, as he lay on his back, and looked up at the bottom of the top bunk. They both lay there for a few minutes, as they drifted in and out between sleep and consciousness. Eventually, they heard Becky get up downstairs, and start to run around, and wake her father up. The two of them went to the kitchen to start breakfast. This noise fully waked Craig and Josh, who continued to lie as they were in bed.
"Any idea of what you'd like to do today?" asked Craig, looking into Josh's blue eyes. He then brought his left hand up, and ran some fingers deeply through the layers of hair on the side of Josh's head for a couple minutes. Then he ran some fingers through the wisps of hair running over his eyebrows, causing them to fall into his eyes. He gently brushed the wisps out of Josh's eyes after they would fall into them. He did this repeatedly for a few minutes.
"You really do like my hair," said Josh, with a laugh.
"Yeah, I guess so," said Craig.
"Any idea why?"
"Why what?"
"Why you like it so much?"
"No," said Craig. "Guess I just do." He paused and chuckled. "There's just something about it, the hair running between my fingers, and covering your eyes. I don't know..."
Josh looked at Craig, with a bit of a curious look. "Does it excite you?" he asked.
Craig looked back at Josh, with a bit of a shrug. He didn't answer.
Josh chuckled. "You're nuts." He paused, and then looked back above. "I was thinking. Maybe hit the science museum today? There was an optical exhibit I wanted to see. What do you think?"
"Sounds good."
Now they could hear Becky and Craig's dad more noticeably, downstairs.
"Maybe you'd better get back in the upper bed," said Craig. "My dad might get weird if he comes up, and we're in the same bed."
"Good point," said Josh, putting his hand gently on Craig's chest, and climbing over him to get out of the bed. He proceeded up the ladder, to get into the top bunk bed. As if on cue, they then heard Craig's father climbing the stairs, and then knock softly on the door.
"Come in," said Craig.
Mr. Johnson opened the door, and poked his head around door.
"Morning, boys," he said. "Pancakes sound good?"
"Great!" they said, simultaneously.
"OK, why don't you shower, and be down in 15 minutes?"
"Thanks, Dad," said Craig.
"You bet," said Mr. Johnson, as he closed the door, and went back down stairs.
The boys proceeded to shower and dress. They both dressed in jeans, Craig wearing a favorite t-shirt, with Josh wearing a polo shirt. Josh's muscular arms and torso were evident beneath his shirt. They proceeded downstairs, where Becky had set the table.
"So, where are you two off to, today?" asked Mr. Johnson, towards the end of breakfast.
Craig and Josh looked at each other. "We thought we'd hit the science museum," said Craig. "Josh says there's an optical exhibit. It sounds cool."
"Yes," said Mr. Johnson. "I think I read about it. It's supposed to be really good." He paused. "Craig, I don't think the paper came today. Think you could drive down to get one before you head out? Maybe Josh could help with the dishes? Earn his keep?" He gave Josh a wink.
Again, Craig and Josh looked at each other. "Yeah, sure," they said. Craig looked a bit puzzled. He couldn't remember a day when the paper hadn't been delivered.
Becky proceeded to clear the table, while Craig left to get the paper.
Afterwards, Josh followed Mr. Johnson into the kitchen to help with the dishes.
"Any preference?" asked Mr. Johnson, indicating whether Josh preferred to wash or dry.
"How about, I'll wash, you dry?" asked Josh.
"You bet," said Mr. Johnson, as they started. They washed and dried for a few minutes before anyone said anything.
"You know," said Mr. Johnson finally, "I'm glad you and Craig are friends. You two seem to hit it off really well."
Vaguely, Josh seemed to feel just a bit of discomfort at Mr. Johnson's remark. He couldn't tell why, right offhand.
"Craig's a cool guy," replied Josh, with a shrug, and grin towards Mr. Johnson. "Not a bad wrestler either."
They went on washing and drying for a few minutes, talking about everyday topics, and then falling silent for a few minutes. Looking down towards the sink as he did the dishes, Josh's hair seemed to constantly fall over his eyes, as it already was over his ears on the side, and collar in the back. He occasionally gave a toss of his head, in an attempt to get the hair out of his eyes, with no apparent success... After a few minutes, Mr. Johnson looked at Josh, noticing his physique under his polo shirt.
"I remember having to work out a lot to keep in shape when I was in high school wrestling," said Mr. Johnson.
"Yeah, it's kind of a pain, but you have to do it," replied Josh.
Mr. Johnson looked at Josh. "Looks like you've been good at it. You do have a good build."
"I don't know," replied Josh, a bit bashfully.
"No really, you have a good physique, good muscle tone."
Josh felt a bit uncomfortable, though he couldn't say why.
Mr. Johnson looked at Josh's hair. "Looks like you have a thread in your hair."
Josh looked at Mr. Johnson. "Really?" he asked, taking off a rubber glove to run some fingers through his hair, in an attempt to get it out. Looking at his hand, he couldn't see anything on it.
There hadn't been any thread in Josh's hair. Mr. Johnson saw a thread on his own pant leg. Nonchalantly, he picked the thread up on his fingers.
"Yeah, you just missed it," said Mr. Johnson, looking at Josh's silky hair. He hesitated. "May I?"
"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," said Josh, looking at Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson brought his fingers up to Josh's head, careful to hide the thread behind his fingers as he did so. He proceeded to slowly run his fingers through Josh's hair a few times. At first, he ran them through close to the surface. Then he ran them through much more deeply. After running them through deeply a few times, he left the thread in Josh's hair.
"Here it is," Mr. Johnson said softly, gently pulling the thread back out with his fingers.
Josh looked at it, as Mr. Johnson held it in his fingers. "Hmm," said Josh. "Who knows where that came from," he said with a small smile.
"Who knows?" said Mr. Johnson. He looked back at Josh's hair. "Think I mussed your hair a bit when I got the thread. Here," he said, as he brought his hand back up to where he had pulled the thread out, and ran a few fingers slowly through again, in an attempt to smooth the hair back to its original look. "You do have nice shiny hair," he said as he moved his hand to Josh's forehead, using a few fingers to brush a wisp out over his eyebrows. He could see that the words and gesture had made Josh a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry," he continued, "I didn't mean to embarrass you."
"No, that's OK," said Josh, shrugging him off.
They proceeded to finish washing the dishes. When they were finished, and Josh had taken off the rubber gloves again, Mr. Johnson looked at Josh.
"Thanks, Josh, and have a good time with Craig today." He gave Josh's shoulder an affectionate squeeze.
"No problem, and thanks, Mr. J," replied Josh with a smile. They then heard Craig pulling back into the driveway.
Craig came back into the house, to find them coming into the living room. Tossing the newspaper onto the coffee table, he said, "Mission accomplished. Ready for the science museum?"
"Yeah, let's go!" beamed Josh.
They left, and headed over to the science museum, where they spent the day browsing the many exhibits. As they left, Josh exclaimed, "Boy am I hungry! I could eat a horse. You want to go to that restaurant on Maple Drive? Maybe catch a movie afterwards?"
"Uh, yeah, that sounds great," replied Craig. "Let me just call my dad," he said, pulling out his cell phone. "Let him know what we're doing." Craig stepped away for a few minutes, and then came back. "He said fine, have fun, and that he wouldn't wait up. I told him we'd be back by 11 tonight. He did say not to get back too late, just so we'd be awake for church."
"Super!" Then a pause. "Oh, yeah..., church."
Craig drove them over to the restaurant Josh had referred to, where they had a nice dinner. They then went to a current movie both had wanted to see. As they came out, Josh gave another yawn and stretch.
"Wow! What a day. This has been fun," he said, grinning at Craig. "What did you think of the movie?"
"I liked it," said Craig, thinking for a moment. "A bit sappy in places, but good overall."
"Yeah," replied Josh. "Good acting, too."
They got back to Craig's car, and drove home. When they were coming into the house, they took care to be quiet, so as not to wake Becky, or Craig's father. They tiptoed up to the attic, where they undressed for bed, with similar night attire to the night before.
Craig wasn't sure what Josh wanted to do for sleeping arrangements now. As Craig went to the lower bunk, and pulled down the covers, Josh followed him, and sat down on the end of the lower bunk. He mumbled, glancing at Craig, "Join you again tonight?"
Craig glanced back at Josh. "Uh, sure."
Craig stepped aside, while Josh got into the bed before him, again lying nearer the wall. Craig got into bed beside him. Josh lay on his back, and put his hands behind his head. He appeared to be lost in thought for a moment. Craig looked at him.
"Penny."
"What?" asked Josh, looking at Craig.
"Penny for your thoughts."
"Oh, yeah," said Josh with a laugh. He looked a bit troubled then. "It's funny."
"What's funny?" asked Craig, turning on his side towards Josh, propping his head on this right hand, his left head on Josh's chest.
"I think your whole family is hung up on my hair," replied Josh. "At least the men and Becky."
Craig looked at Josh. "What. What happened? Did something happen with my dad?"
"Well, yeah, kind of," replied Josh. "When you went out to get the paper this morning, I was doing the dishes with your dad. We got to talking about everyday stuff, but he also mentioned how he was glad we were friends, and how we seemed to hit it off. I guess that wasn't so weird. But then, he complimented me on my build and physique. Maybe that was ok, but after that, he said there was something, a thread, in my hair. I felt for it, but there wasn't anything there. So he brought his hand up, and ran his fingers through my hair." Josh paused. "Actually, he took his time doing it, and ran his fingers through pretty deeply, too. Then he pulled a thread out. I really think he might have `planted' a thread in there right then, just to be able to run his fingers through, and pull it out. After that, he commented about how shiny my hair was, and brought his hand up again, to run some fingers through the hair on my forehead." Josh looked at Craig. "Finally, he squeezed by shoulder, and told me to have a good time with you today. I don't know what to make of it. Maybe nothing."
Craig looked at Josh. "He might have just been trying to be friendly. But yeah, it is kind of weird." Craig paused, and then looked at Josh again. "Did you mind it, when he was doing it? I mean, running his fingers through your hair."
That's the funny thing," said Josh. "It felt kind of good, his running his fingers through. Not like when Sue does it. It was just different. Has he ever done that with you?"
"He certainly gets playful and physical sometimes, but I think he is just comfortable around guys, having wrestled in high school himself. He's tousled my hair now and then, but never run his fingers through, that I can remember." Craig looked concerned. "I hope you won't say anything. I mean, not to your parents. I'm sure my Dad is straight as they come."
"Nah," said Josh. "I'm sure he was just trying to be friendly. I've known him all these years. I guess the guys in your family just have a thing about hair," he concluded, with a wink at Craig. "'night," he said, turning on his side, lying towards the wall.
"'night," replied Craig, turning on his side to face Josh's back, and throwing his arm over him, as he had the night before.
Craig was standing in the local sporting goods store, admiring the wrestling mats which he had gotten for his seventeenth birthday. Not bad, he thought, as he looked at them. They looked even better in his room at home.
"I think these look better than the ones you have," someone said jokingly, with a cocky tone of voice, over his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see Josh. He hadn't been aware that he was there. Then he noticed that Josh was dressed in just his gym shorts and sneakers, as he himself was. With the post-pubescent look Craig had observed the night before, he was also incredibly handsome, even more so than he had previously noticed. A far off fan blew a warm gentle breeze in their direction. Josh's hair was even silkier and shinier than Craig had remembered it from the night before, the breeze blowing through layers of it on the sides of his head, and wisps of it from his eyebrows, into his eyes. As the breeze got stronger, it blew his hair around more and more, going completely over his eyes. Josh didn't bother to try to clear it away. Craig just looked at him, apparently mesmerized. "Like my hair, huh?" he asked, with a grin at Craig. As he felt the warm breeze getting gradually stronger, Craig began to get a pleasurable weak feeling. What the heck, he thought. What's going on here? Then he began to wonder. Is this a dream?
"Last one back to the car's a rotten egg," said Josh, tapping his shoulder, as he started sprinting towards the store's entrance. Craig, a foot in front of him, instantly started sprinting in the same direction. Being in front of Josh, he shouldn't have had any problem beating him out of the store. But as soon as he started running, he found he couldn't run fast. Actually, he found he was only able to run in slow motion, and felt as if he were running against a big headwind, the warm breeze from the fan which they were running towards, having become much stronger in just moments. With each step, he found himself to be feeling much weaker. Now he really wondered what was going on. As he tried to run, he also began to have a really pleasurable feeling.
Within a few steps, as he continued to helplessly slow down, he could feel Josh's arms coming around his waist from behind. "Josh," he moaned softly. "I feel so ...weak." "It's OK, I've got you," Josh whispered softly back into his ear, his arms wrapped around the front of Craig's upper body in a sensual, caressing hug now, his warm breath on Craig's neck.
As the strength drained out of Craig's body, he slowly began to fall, despite Josh's arms, which seemed to be wrapped almost loosely, back around his waist now. Surely Josh was strong enough to support him. Was he intentionally letting him fall, just distracted by something, or just trying to gently ease him down to the floor? Whatever the case, the gentle friction across his body as he slowly slid down through Josh's loose grasp, his fingers slowly sliding up from Craig's waist over his torso, was more than Craig could take, giving him an incredibly pleasurable feeling. "Feels so good...," whispered Craig as he went completely limp, putting his own hands gently over Josh's hands as they slid over his body. Craig gave an audible moan, as he felt an extremely pleasurable release.
He awoke with a start, to find himself lying partly on his side and partly against Josh, facing the center of the room. Josh was facing him from behind, against him, as he had been against Josh, when they fell asleep. Josh's arms were also wrapped gently around Craig's stomach, with Craig's hands on top of Josh's, as it had been in the dream. Craig could feel Josh's breath on his neck, just as in the dream. At Craig's start, Josh also stirred.
"What," he asked softly. "Bad dream?"
Craig noticed he was wet. Then he began to realize, he had just had a dream, and it had been a wet dream. Finally, it dawned on him. Oh no, he thought. It was about Josh. Then he noticed that both his and Josh's arms, wrapped around him, were also slimy.
"Sheesh!" said Craig, with mild disgust, looking down at his and Josh's arms. "I'm sorry."
Josh looked down over Craig's shoulder to see the mess on their arms and hands. "Hey, don't worry, it happens," he said softly, with a smile. "We better clean up."
They got out of bed, and Craig went into the bathroom first and washed off. When he came back into the room, he got a new pair of pajama bottoms out of his dresser drawers, and put them on, as Josh went into the bathroom to wash off himself.
When Josh came out of the bathroom, they got back into bed; Craig was obviously bothered by what had just happened. He lay on his back and looked up at the bottom of the top bunk
Josh chuckled. "Was she hot, at least?"
Craig seemed really bothered now, eyes trained above.
"What," said Josh.
Craig look at Josh, then looked back above.
"It was about you," he said finally.
Josh thought for several seconds, before he spoke.
"Come on," he said finally, thinking somewhat carefully about his words. "You know lots of guys have wet dreams about other guys when they're younger. It doesn't mean anything. Don't worry about it."
"Yeah, right," said Craig, a bit derisively, turning back on his side, facing the room and away from Josh. He jerked his shoulder away from Josh slightly. "Sorry to have woken you. See you in the morning."
Josh hesitated. "Yeah, see you in the morning." He could tell Craig was upset. He put his hand gently on Craig's shoulder, as he lay on this side facing him. Several minutes later, they both gradually drifted back to sleep.
The next morning, Craig woke up before Josh. He was still in the same position, lying on his left side, facing the room, with Josh facing his back. Josh was still asleep when Craig turned over on his back to look up at the bunk bed above. As Craig turned over, Josh stirred, but did not awaken. He continued to sleep, snoring softly, as Craig dozed off and on, for several minutes. Finally, sounds from downstairs woke both of them up.
"You'd probably better get back up into the top bed," said Craig.
"Yeah," said Josh, yawning and stretching. He gently put his arm on Craig's chest again, as he crawled over him to get out of bed. He climbed the ladder, and got into the top bed. Again, as if on cue, they heard footsteps on the stairs, followed by a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," said Craig.
The door opened, and Mr. Johnson poked his head around it.
"You boys better get up and at `em," he said. "You know the drill. Get dressed for church. We'll leave in an hour. We'll have breakfast here afterwards."
"Right, Dad," replied Craig. "We'll be down. Thanks for the wake-up call."
"You bet," said Mr. Johnson. He closed the door, and went downstairs.
Craig was silent, remembering the dream from the night before. Following his lead, Josh didn't say anything either, at first.
"You want the first shower?" said Craig, finally.
"Yeah, sure," replied Josh, getting up, and coming down the ladder. He went to his duffel bag, to get some things, and went into the bathroom.
About fifteen minutes later, after the shower had finished running, along with Craig's hair dryer, Josh came out of the bathroom, dressed just in shorts. His hair had its usual full look, with silky shine, combed out over his ears on the side and collar in the back, and over and across his eyebrows in front, almost covering his eyes.
"Do you ever have a bad hair day?" asked Craig, just a bit derisively. For a moment, he wondered why Josh had combed his hair that morning as he had, with it almost covering his eyes, after Craig had mentioned his fascination, not only with Josh's hair, but also his hair in his eyes. And after the wet dream he'd told Josh about the night before... Was Josh `playing' with him? Who knows, he thought, maybe he couldn't help it; maybe his hair was just trained that way...
"Now and then," replied Josh, with a small smile and flick of his eyebrow.
Craig went into the bathroom to take his shower. When he came out about fifteen minutes later, he saw that Josh had started dressing in the suit he had brought in his garment bag. He had pants, shirt and shoes on, and was in the middle of tying his tie. Craig started to get dressed himself. They had a little small talk about everyday things, thoughts about the school year to come, and so on. By the time Craig had finished getting on his pants, shoes, and shirt, and tying his tie, he noticed that Josh was finished dressing, just short of jacket. He glanced at Josh.
"You're looking handsome," he said casually, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.
"You're looking pretty spiffy yourself," replied Josh with a grin, looking back at Craig. He noticed that Craig's tie, which Craig had apparently finished tying, was a bit off center. "Your tie looks a little off, but otherwise..."
"What," replied Craig, looking in the mirror.
"Here," said Josh, coming up behind Craig, as he looked into the mirror. Josh put his right hand gently on Craig's shoulder, as he adjusted the tie for several seconds with his left hand. Just inches apart, Craig tilted his head a bit towards Josh, as they both looked into the mirror at Craig's tie. As Josh finished adjusting Craig's tie, and gave him a casual pat on the chest with his left hand, Craig felt himself getting a bit aroused. He was relieved that Josh was finished adjusting his tie. Josh winked as he said, "Wouldn't want your offset tie embarrassing me in church."
"Eh, get out of here," replied Craig, playfully. He was able to hide the concern he was feeling over the arousal he had felt moments before. They proceeded to put on their jackets, with a final check in the mirror. Josh then went up to Craig, and gave his lapels a final small adjustment with both hands, as he gave him a barely susceptible nod of approval.
"Let's get out of here!" exclaimed Josh, as they went out the door and down the stairs to join Mr. Johnson and Becky.
When Josh, Craig, Becky and Mr. Johnson got to church, it was more than half full, a bustling crowd moving relatively quickly towards pews, as small groups and couples greeted friends they saw. The four of them stood momentarily in the back, trying to search out a section where the four of them could sit together. The minister walked somewhat briskly down the center aisle when he saw them come in. He beamed as he came up to them.
"Ah, the Johnson family! Great to see you! No Mrs. Johnson this week?" the minister asked.
"No, she's visiting her sister, but sends her best. She'll be back next week," replied Mr. Johnson.
"Ah, yes," replied the minister. "I seem to remember her mentioning that last week." Then he looked at Josh, and smiled. "And I see Josh is back," he said, smiling, and looking into Josh's eyes, lingering just a bit, as he shook Josh's hand with both of his, again lingering just a bit. "Good to see you." He glanced back and forth at Craig and Josh. "I hope Craig will bring you back more often." Craig and Josh looked at each other and blushed, Josh giving a small toss of his head, to get some hair out of his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry," replied the minister, as he observed their awkward glance at each other. "I didn't mean to embarrass you boys."
"That's OK," replied Josh and Craig, almost in unison, as they glanced back at each other. "No big deal."
"Well, I better get back up there. See you later," replied the minister, as he left the four of them, and started walking towards the front of the church.
"I think I see some free seats up there," said Mr. Johnson, looking towards the front of the church, and moving in that direction with Becky.
Josh glanced back towards the rear of the church. "I'm a bit thirsty. I think I get a drink of water before the service starts," he said to Craig, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Save me a seat?"
"You got it," replied Craig. We'll be up there," he said, indicating the direction his father and Becky had started walking in.
"I'll look for you," replied Josh.
Mr. Johnson, Becky and Craig walked up to some seats towards the front, on the side, and took them, Craig on the outside. Josh came up to them a few minutes later, sitting down next to Craig. The service was beginning.
"Looks like we don't have enough hymnals," whispered Mr. Johnson. "Think you boys can share?"
"Sure," said Craig, as Josh nodded.
The service began, and went through its usual paces. When the minister was in the middle of his sermon, Craig glanced over to see Josh occasionally nodding, and jerking his head up, as he tried to fight off drowsiness. Craig gave him a barely detectible jab in the ribs, as he glanced over at him with a grin. Josh looked back and smiled, with a small cough, as he came fully awake.
When the minister finished his sermon, he went back to his seat on the pulpit for a few minutes, before coming back up to the lectern.
"Our final hymn will be psalm 15. All please rise," he said.
The congregation rose. Craig took the hymnal near him, and opened it so Josh could also look on. After Josh's visits to the church, he was familiar with it, and joined in as it was sung. Standing near him, Craig could hear that he had a nice, rich baritone voice, deeper now, but very beautiful. As Josh periodically looked down at the hymnal to refresh himself on the words to hymn, hair fell over his eyes; he gave his head a small toss in an attempt to flick it away. As the song finished, Josh put his hands down in front of him, folded over each other. The minister gave his final benediction, and the service was over. The congregation filed out of the church, and after a brief social mingling period, people went home.
After breakfast at home, the boys played video games for the afternoon, before Josh's parents stopped by to pick him up on their way back into town. Shortly before they came, Josh and Craig had gone back up to Craig's room, so Josh could pack his things. They both came down in time for Josh's departure as his parents arrived.
Josh looked at Craig. "Thanks for having me," he said, giving Craig a quick hug. "See you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you."
"And thank your dad for me, too."
"Sure, will do," replied Craig.
That night, in the Johnson household, after dinner, Becky and Mr. Johnson were preparing to do the dishes.
"Craig? Could you tie up the week's newspapers, and put them on the curb?" asked Mr. Johnson.
"Sure, Dad."
Craig got up from the sofa, where he had been looking at Saturday's paper, after looking at the Sunday paper. He went outside to the piles of neatly stacked previous week's papers. His father was a stickler for neatness, he thought with a chuckle. As he looked down at the stack of papers to be tied, he looked puzzled. Wasn't I just looking at Saturday's paper, he thought, in the living room? He knew he had been, but there it was, another copy sitting on top of the papers to be tied. Hmmm, he thought. He then proceeded to tie up the stack of papers, and took it out to the curb, as his father had asked.
The next day, at school, right after lunch, Craig was walking down the hallway, when he saw Josh at his locker. He went up to him. Josh saw him, and grinned.
"Nice wrestling mats you had there," he said. "They should pay off."
Craig looked concerned.
"What," said Josh.
"Not sure how to tell you this," said Craig. He hesitated. "When I was tying up the week's newspapers at home last night, I noticed, after glancing at the Saturday paper in the living room, I saw it again on the stack of papers outside, ready to be tied." He looked at Josh. "I don't know..."
"Yeah," replied Josh, a bit quizzically, after seeing Craig's reaction, and thinking about it. "See you at practice later?" he asked after a pause, with a glance at Craig, as he closed his locker.
"Yeah, see you then," replied Craig.
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