A New Beginning?
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CHAPTER 4: A Visitor
Ed note: This picks up sometime after Chapter 3. I've been throwing around some ideas in my head for awhile now, so I decided to pick the story up. Again, the disclaimer, I'm not a writer, AND worse yet, I'm not sure how I'll end this! Wonderful!
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The summer was going by quickly. Steven and John never did make it to London and Soho. They did, however, spend as much time together as they could. Weekends were spent at either of their houses, though John felt more comfortable at Stevens house than his own. The Carters welcomed him like another son, whereas his parents while friendly toward Steven, and did regard him as their sons boyfriend, Johns mother was still a little “stiff” with Steven. John’s dad was ok with it.
John was taking some prep courses prior to going to Oxford, and Steven was working in his father’s shop. John would frequently come by and have lunch with Steven. Sometimes Linda would join them as well.
With a few exceptions, both their circle of friends accepted their life style, and were generally very supportive – especially Jess, Mark, Wendy, and of course Linda. Dave was OK with it and kept in touch with John, but Kevin had generally faded from the picture. They had run into him several times, but from about mid July on, they hadn’t seen him at all. He just vanished. Heeding Kevin’s warning, John kept clear of Kevin’s house and family and didn’t try to get in touch with him. Dave hadn’t heard from him either.
Also over the summer, several other students had “come out” to Steven, and one even to John. Even though Steven and John were constant companions around Basingstoke, some still didn’t know what the relationship was between them, even though Steven had made quite a “splash” as it were about coming out. They didn’t flaunt their relationship by holding hands, embracing, or kissing in public. Affection was shown and exchanged, but subtly. There was about one month left before John left for Oxford, and Steven started his last year at Belvedere. Neither was looking forward to their separation.
It was Saturday afternoon. Steven had the afternoon off from his fathers shop.
“It’s nice today – not too hot” Steven remarked as he and John were walking along the path next to the woods.
“Yeah. Want to nip into the woods for a quick one?” John laughed jokingly.
“Yeah, right. I’m sure my dad would be thrilled with us being brought in by the police, me for the second time. And what would your parents say? I’d want to hear that one!” Steven remarked.
“Yeah its daylight, not night, and besides I understand you used to spend some afternoons in the woods” John said.
“ And you didn’t?” Steven asked.
“Well . . . maybe a couple times – as usual I panicked and took off before anything happened. You were the first, and I hope the last.”
“Did you ever wonder what would have happened if you had not panicked with Danny, and carried that out to its logical conclusion?”
“Yeah, I have. He was a real good looking guy, quite handsome, about my size.”
“Stature, or . . .” Steven inquired with an evil grin.
“You wanker! I think that’s all you think about! I don’t really remember, my mind was racing so fast at what was happening, what he was doing to me, and how I felt. I was having a reaction, and I was not in control of it. Scary!”
Steve laughed. “And it took you almost another year to score with another guy!”
“And I had to get pissed to do it! Boy am I glad I did!”
“Get pissed, or score?” Steven laughed.
“Both, pillock!”
Both walked on in silence, enjoying each others company.
“Dave introduced me to his brother-in-law’s brother – whatever that is!” John finally said.
“Why?”
“He’s gay. You should see him. He looks like a professional wrestler. Big. Muscles everywhere. He’s huge!”
Steven just looked at John with an evil grin.
“I don’t know, he didn’t say, or show me, thank god!” John remarked at Stevens look.
“How come Dave introduced you to him?”
“Don’t really know. I knew about him. Dave told me the morning I told him I was gay. I guess just letting me know that he did know a gay person.”
“As in ‘some of my best friends are . . .’” Steven exclaimed.
“I guess. Though he’s actually related to him – I think. Isn’t he?”
“By law, I guess. I get confused after first cousins!” Steve replied.
“Yeah, me too. Both my parents only have one sibling. They are both married, and each one has only one child, so I have only two cousins total. Our family reunions aren’t very large.” John said.
“Well, my dad has two brothers, and mom has a sister and brother. They have a total of 8 kids. And two of those are married with one child each. Second cousins? I’m not sure. We seem to gather a respectable crowd at reunions, though we haven’t had one for quite awhile. I imagine I’ve been a topic of the relative grapevine.” Steven said.
“Are they all close by? Mine are.”
“One of dads brothers lives up in Scotland. He’s the one whose two children are married with kids. His wife died about 5 years ago, so he’s up there alone. The rest live close enough.”
“What does he do?”
“Not sure. He used to be in investments when he lived locally. Then all of a sudden, he wasn’t, and he was living up there. Nobody said too much about it.”
“Maybe we should go visit him sometime. I wouldn’t mind a trip to Scotland, having never been there.”
“Yeah, that would be fun. I could ask my dad if he could get in touch with him to see if it would be all right. Though . . .”
“Though what?”
“Well, I wonder if its made it up there that I’m out and with a boyfriend yet?”
“Well, we can still go. We can camp if it’s a no go with your uncle. We could at least visit him, and see how he reacts.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Think your dad will give you the time off?”
“I’ll take the time. What can he do, fire me?”
They both laughed and started playing tag with each other as they started jogging down the path. They spend the afternoon leisurely walking along the canal enjoying each other’s company. Around 3 PM, they parted as they both needed to take care of some personal business.
Later, Steve had gone home to get some things as he was staying at Johns house for several days. Both of John’s parents were gone for the week. John had gone out in the car to get some groceries as they were grilling outside.
John was racing home from shopping. It took him a little longer than he expected and he wanted to get there before Steven arrived. He came down the lane where he lived, and as he turned in, he saw a figure off in the shadows by the side of the road. He just caught a glimpse of the unkempt persons face as he drove into the drive. “God! Homeless here! I’ll have to call someone.” As he turned off the motor, and applied the brake, suddenly, he realized that he knew the person. It was Danny!
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