The Life of Matt Summers, Part 1
by Flaming Matt
Chapter 7
September 2014
"Well you didn't know it, but if Jordan hadn't sent you to come rescue me, I think Mr Jones would have er... well I think he would have er... touched me Ben." Matt reveals before stopping to look at his friends reaction, he had ignored his friends attempt to make him smile because if he was going to tell him everything, he needed to stay focused.
"Touched you, what do you mean touched you?" Ben says confused by what his friend has said and not understanding the implications of his words.
"You know like what Mitch told you and my dad told me about the er... you know er... sex stuff." Matt explains, before again pausing to judge his friends reaction, before looking down in embarrassment and shame as his friend finally seems to understand and his jaw opens wide in horror.
"You mean like touch your penis and stuff?" Ben asks in total shock, he had always liked Mr Jones, he was so fun and nice and a part of him can't believe he was one of those bad men, but this was his friend and while he is many things, being a liar is not one of them and if he said it happened Ben believed him.
"Yeah, but because of Jordan looking out for me and sending you, well you see I know you joked about it at the time Ben, but you really did save me from him that time." Matt then says, pausing yet again, he has decided that for now he would only reveal a little bit at a time, until he felt comfortable enough to tell the whole story.
"What do you mean by that time? Oh no Matt, please tell me it...." Ben begins to say but trails off after he looks at his friend, who has lifted his head back and can see the tears rolling down his friends face.
What the boys hadn't realised though, due to them being too busy talking to each other, is that they were being watched from the bushes.
David had actually decided to play a prank on the boys, after they had left to go swimming, he had waited five minutes and then packed up all the gear and leaving it to collect later, his plan was simple he would sneak up on the boys and after they got out of the water and had their backs to the woods, he would leap out and scare the crap out of them, however as he was just about to launch his surprise attack after successfully managing to sneak up close to them while hiding behind some bushes, he had stopped after realising they had started to have a very serious conversation and was intrigued by what it could be about, so he decided to eavesdrop for a while out of curiosity.
That curiosity however, soon turned to anger as his son had slowly opened up to his friend, unlike his sons friend though, David figured out the meaning of his sons words straight away and it was all he could do to not leap out and get some answers, instead though he just about managed to control himself, after deciding that his son could clam up and refuse to say any more if he just surprised them and confronted him and while he had no doubts this was not something his son would joke about, other people might not be so convinced, especially if his son gets scared and decides to pretend nothing happened, so he was going to have to let this play out in front of him and then without letting the boys know he had listened to their entire conversation, make his way back up the lake and make some phone calls to get this Mr Jones checked out and then make a decision, so he quickly makes himself as comfortable as he can without alerting the boys to his presence, just as the conversation picks up again and knew he wasn't going to like what he would hear, but if he was going to make this Mr Jones pay, than he had to get as much information as possible and this was the easiest and quickest way.
"It just started off with him rubbing my legs or my arms and back at first and I didn't really think it was bad, okay sure it was weird but I didn't realise it would get bad." Matt starts to explain, as more tears start to run down his face.
"When though, we were at school and we always went home together." Ben then asks, carefully making sure his tone is caring and not sounding like he doubted his friends story.
"Well he asked me to stay behind for a bit after class a couple of times remember, then he even got Jordan to come get me out of some classes to go see him, just like he did Friday in music class." Matt explains, trying to avoid eye contact with his friend, but he suddenly starts to feel worried when he sees the flash of anger on his friends face and worries that he doesn't believe him.
"Wait what, Jordan is helping Mr Jones touch you?" Ben then asks, not even attempting to hide the anger in his voice and already forming a plan to beat Jordan to death the next time he sees him.
"Oh no, no shit no, it isn't like that Ben please, no." Matt replies in panic at his friend misunderstanding of what he was trying to explain.
David, who is still concealed out of sight, is really struggling to contain his own anger and it takes all his self control to stop himself from revealing himself to the boys and demand his son tell him everything, but he knows that would be a huge mistake, this has to be done right and he has to just control himself.
"Then what is happening, please just tell me Matt." Ben then asks still feeling angry, but is now totally confused as well.
"Jordan has it worse than I do, Mr Jones has been doing stuff to him for months, he even got his parents to make Jordan go to his house for extra tuition, after convincing them that Jordan was falling behind, even though he isn't." Matt quickly tells his friend, as more tears roll down his face.
"He did what, but how and why..." Ben then asks, now totally gob smacked and wondering how something like this could be happening.
"Jordan said he didn't know what Mr Jones told them, but he couldn't get out of it and well Mr Jones said he was going to do the same to me and that there was nothing I can do about it." Matt answers, sounding totally defeated and on the verge of breaking down completely.
"You have to tell your parents and the police." Ben suddenly states, thinking that it was an obvious answer and doesn't know why his boyfriend or Jordan haven't done it already.
"No I can't, he said he would hurt me and my parents, he even threatened to do the same to you Ben, like what he is doing with me and Jordan if I didn't do what he told me." Matt then reveals, much to his friends horror. "He even made me strip naked, while he took pictures and videos of me and then made me touch him, I didn't want to do it Ben, but I couldn't let him hurt my family or you and then he told me that if I told anyone what he was doing, then he would put the pictures and videos on the internet and that everyone would know what a dirty little boy I am and they will hate me and my parents will hate me." He then states, just before he loses any composure he had left and starts sobbing uncontrollably.
Seeing his friend break down, Ben quickly moves over and embraces him into a loving cuddle and starts to stroke his back, David who is still in the bushes only just manages to resist his paternal instincts to comfort his son, knowing the damage that him revealing himself could do, he had already been forming a plan for his sons teacher, but he knew there was more to come and he had to get all the information he could get, even though it was killing him not to reach out to his son, who is still unaware that he and his friend are being watched, Ben continues rubbing his friends back gently, while he tries to quickly process everything and work out what to do next, when his friend suddenly pulls back from him enough so they are facing each other.
"Friday I was so scared when Jordan came to the music room, I knew Mr Jones was going to do something really bad to me, I almost cried but Jordan saved me, because instead of going to see him he told me to go with him and he then told me everything that had happened to him, Ben I couldn't bare it if Mr Jones had made me do those things." Matt then states sadly, he was trying his best to tell his friend everything, because he knew he couldn't go through this again.
"We have to tell your dad and the police Matt." Ben then says as firmly as he can manage, but is suddenly pushed on to his back, by his friend who then jumps up to his feet.
"NO YOU PROMISED ME, YOU WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING TO ANYONE!" Matt suddenly shouts full of anger, which scares Ben, who wasn't expecting such a strong negative reaction.
"Calm down Matt, you're scaring me, please." Ben says, almost pleadingly as he slowly gets to his feet, not quite sure what he should do.
David lays still, he is caught between whether to intervene or let it play out, until he reluctantly decides to just let it play out and to only intervene if things turned violent.
"CALM DOWN! YOU PROMISED ME AND YOU LIED TO ME." Matt hisses, with tears streaming down his face.
"No I didn't lie, I was just saying we should tell someone, I won't say anything unless you want too, I promise." Ben says and almost jumps back as his friend lunges at him, but his initial fear is soon replaced by relief, when he feels himself being cuddled, David had actually moved to intervene, but luckily he was slow to react and realised in time that he didn't need to reveal himself.
"I can't tell them Ben.... he will hurt everyone I love and then he will put the photo's and videos on the internet and there is nothing I can do." Matt then says, sobbing on his friends shoulder, Ben for his part just gently rubs his friends back, trying to think of something too say.
"Matt you have too, if this carries on he will destroy you and I don't want to lose you." Ben says sincerely, he had tried to think of one of those spectacular speeches you hear people on TV shows say to help someone, but that was the best he could think of and just hoped it was enough to at least calm his friend down a little.
"I can't Ben, there is nothing we can do, Jordan and me are trapped and we just have to do as he tells us or more people will get hurt and if those pictures or videos ever got out, everyone will see them and they will be there forever and I won't even know who will see them, they could be someone I see every day and they will know Ben." Matt responds, calming down slightly, although he is still on the verge of breaking down again at any moment.
"No Matt, come on we may be young, but we have heard the stories of what happens to kids in your position in movies and on TV shows and it never ends well when the kid doesn't ask for help and I won't let you end up like those kids." Ben then says in a firm and serious tone, he knew his friend has seen those kind of shows and films, most with him and they both used to say how the kids should tell someone and he just hoped it was enough to get his friend to ask for help.
"I can't and you promised, I meant what I said if you tell anyone." Matt replies, as more tears run down his face, until suddenly his friend pushes him back and he almost falls to the ground.
"I did promise and I know you meant it Matt, but if you never talking to me again and hating me is the price I have to pay to save you, then that is something I will have to live with." Ben then says in a dead serious tone, letting his friend or soon to be ex friend know how serious he is, he doesn't want to lose him, but having him hate him was better than watching him get abused and maybe even killed by some sick pervert.
"You wouldn't, I won't ever forgive you and you wouldn't do that to me." Matt replies, he is stunned by his friends words and starts to panic.
"I will do anything for you Matt, believe me when I say this, if you don't tell your dad then I will and there is nothing you can do that will stop me." Ben responds, still in the same dead serious tone as he did before, he was going to save his friend, even if it meant losing him forever as a friend.
"No you won't." Matt says coldly, hoping that his friend is bluffing.
"Yes I will and I'm doing it right now." Ben replies, as he grabs his friends arm and tries to pull him in the direction of where David is still fishing, but his friend proves to be a lot harder to move than he anticipated and he quickly realises that he isn't going to be able to drag him all the way to where his dad was.
"No no no, if you do this you will ruin my life and Jordan's... this isn't just me you're doing this too but Jordan as well and you will ruin his life as well." Matt almost shouts in desperation, hoping that this isn't really happening, he had trusted his friend and he had betrayed him and it hurt more than anything his teacher had done to him.
"I'm doing this to save you not hurt you, Jordan will understand, he stopped you seeing Mr Jones Friday, what do you think will happen to him and you when Mr Jones gets you alone after that, no I'm not letting it happen so we need to get the police to do something and fast." Ben states, still half dragging his friend towards where he thinks David is, but he is barely making any progress up the lake.
"Please don't make me tell my dad, he will hate me and think I am disgusting for letting this happen." Matt pleads, before dropping to his knees and in the process forcing his arm from his friends grip, where he then begins crying his heart out and when Ben looks down at his broken friend, tears roll down his face.
David could barely stop himself running out to his son, but knows it would make everything worse and decides there and then what is going to happen as soon as they return home, he will make the necessary calls like he planned before, but there would be no police involved and he would have to cut the trip short, somehow without alerting the boys to the fact he knows, unless they confide in him which he was actually hoping they wouldn't because that would complicate things, this would all work out smoother and easier if he wasn't told anything by his son or Ben.
"Your dad will not hate you, he loves you, we all do and we will protect you." Ben tries saying in a caring tone, knowing he has almost got through to his friend and just needed to keep going.
"He will hate me, I know you're right and I have to tell someone but not now, please let me just have these few days to be a normal boy again, please, Ben just let me have them before we tell people." Matt then responds, now looking up at his friend with his tear stained face, pleading for him to just let him be a normal boy for a few more days and tries forcing a smile before letting his friend pull him to his feet, where they end up standing face to face, with his back to the lake.
"If you promise to tell your dad and the police, then we can do whatever you want Matt, I meant what I said you know and I will do anything to keep you happy and safe and if that means you wanting to enjoy just being normal for a few more days, than I'm happy to help you with that." Ben then says with a mischievous look on his face, that Matt is too slow to recognise, as his friend suddenly pushes him backwards and sends him flying into the lake squealing as he hits the water, much to the amusement of Ben and even David, who was still hiding couldn't help but chuckle.
Seeing the change in the boys behaviour, David decides there isn't any more he needs to listen too and happy that they are going to mess around for a while, he decides he should make his way back to the fishing spot, before they head back there themselves and wonder where he is if they beat him to it, he has enough to deal with without them trying to get him to explain where he was and what he was doing.
Matt meanwhile, just about manages to upright himself and glares at his friend, he isn't quite sure how to react to being shoved into the water, until he is confronted by a big cheesy grin on his friends face and the glare turns into a pout, which sends his friend into a fit of giggles and he can't help but relax a little.
"What the hell." Matt then says, still pouting although to his own surprise he is no longer angry at all, this is just what he needed from his friend, even though he would have preferred not to get sent flying backwards into the freezing water.
"I was just helping you out, you said you wanted normal, so I gave it to you." Ben responds, still grinning, but if truth be told he had mix thoughts when he pushed his friend into the lake, part of him wanted to run down the lake towards his friends dad and tell him everything, but he just couldn't do that to his friend, who had finally accepted he had to tell his dad the truth and betraying his friend now would have ended badly.
"Thank you Ben, for everything I really mean it, but you know I was lying earlier right?" Matt responds shyly, leaving his friend shocked and confused.
"Wait what, you promised to tell your dad and if you don't I will." Ben says angrily, wishing he had run off to David to tell him everything, now that he knows his friend just lied to him.
"No no, Ben I didn't mean that, you are right and I need to tell him. all that was true, I meant hating you, you know if you told him after promising me you wouldn't, I would be pissed off for a while and maybe not talk to you for a few weeks, but I could never hate you, I don't know how to explain it or anything, but you mean too much to me and I don't ever want to lose you." Matt explains from the heart, as he edges out of the water towards his friend, whose anger dissipates and is replaced by a shy smile.
"I wasn't lying either Matt, even if it meant you hating me, I would have still told your dad, I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt or even worse, knowing I could have stopped it and well I care about you too, I don't understand it either, but when we are together I just feel so happy and it's amazing." Ben admits, with tears in his eyes.
As soon as his friend finishes talking, Matt pulls him in for a cuddle and they stay that way for what seems like an eternity, but is actually only a few minutes long, they then part slightly gazing into each others eyes, Ben then starts to get nervous as he feels himself leaning in to kiss his friend, he has never kissed anyone before and he doesn't really know what to do, but Matt is a lot more comfortable having kissed Tobias all those years ago, but as he remembers what happened with Tobias, he quickly pulls away from his friend and takes a few steps back, causing Ben to look at him with a look of hurt and confusion, he thinks about running away after being rejected by his friend and feels a tear run down his cheek and just as he decides to run away, he notices the look on his friends face and it isn't anger, hate or disgust but there is a sadness that makes Ben realise something else is happening and it isn't something he did.
"Is something wrong Matt, I didn't mean to do that, it just sort of felt right, I'm sorry if I freaked you out." Ben says apologetically, even though he is sure it isn't his fault that his friend looks so sad, he still wants to reassure him.
"Sorry Ben, I wanted to kiss you too, but I er... well it reminded me of Tobias and it just took me by surprise, I haven't really thought about him much lately and I feel bad for forgetting him." Matt explains, but not making eye contact with his friend, he didn't even realise he wasn't thinking about Tobias any more lately and the realisation had hurt him deeply and he wondered if he was a bad person and deserved what was happening to him.
"Hey, it's okay I understand and don't be stupid, it has been so long since you even heard from him, so you can't beat yourself up for not thinking about him every minute of everyday." Ben replies truthfully, trying again to reassure his friend, although he was still feeling a little upset that his friends first thoughts when they were about to kiss was about Tobias, but he has known ever since they started being friends that Tobias was a massive part of his friends life and he actually thought it was sweet and it comforted him to know that if for some reason they ever got separated, he would always be in Matt's heart, just like Tobias is and he just wished he had got to meet him too.
"It's just been a rough day, maybe we should just head to my dad, we have a few more things he wants to do today." Matt then suggests, sounding just as tired as he looked.
"You know if you ever want to talk about Tobias, I'm here for you right, you used to talk about him so much and I always enjoyed listening to what you two got up to." Ben states honestly, he actually did enjoy the stories and actually felt like he knew Tobias at times and often wondered how awesome it would be if Tobias lived here as well.
"I know, but I want to move on from all that, I will never forget him and one day I know we will see each other again, I just know it will happen, but I don't want to talk about him right now, so let's just head back to my dad." Matt says forcing a smile, he actually did want to talk about Tobias but not right now, there was way too much going on to open those emotions up and he had to save his energy for when he told his dad about his teacher and he was a little scared of what might happen.
"Okay, but let's wash up first we can't let your dad see our faces like this." Ben then suggests, pointing to his face and then his friends to indicate the tear stains and then with a wry shy smile, nods down to their speedos which were tenting and it was only then that Ben realised that his speedos were actually see through and anyone looking could see everything, causing him to look up at his friend in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "You gave me speedos that go transparent when they get wet?" He then asks looking at his friend accusingly and not looking too amused about it either.
"Oh er... crap shit, yeah it was all part of the joke, but I totally forgot about them, oh shit sorry." Matt responds clearly embarrassed, although Ben notices his friend isn't taking his eyes of his transparent tented speedos, but his amusement soon turns to embarrassment again, when he remembers what happened the day before.
"OH MY GOD! Your dad could see my penis yesterday couldn't he?" Ben states in horror, he had basically been walking around in front of his friends dad naked and he knew a few times he was half hard.
"Oh shit Ben, I'm so sorry, it was just meant to be a joke, I was meant to give you a real pair today, but totally forgot, I'm really sorry." Matt says apologetically and is feeling like the biggest jerk in the world right now and wishes the ground would swallow him up.
"SHIT, shit Matt, you owe me big time for this, shit it's too late now, so let's just wash our faces and head to your dad, at least I have my shorts here this time so he can't get another free show." Ben says, surprising his Matt, who had been expecting him to be a lot more upset and angry about this, but he didn't want to give him a chance to change his mind and start getting angry.
"To be honest though, you look cute in them and er... well maybe you could keep wearing them?" Matt then asks shyly, he even blushes as he finally manages to take his eyes of his friends boner to make eye contact and then sees an evil grin on his friends face and knows he is in trouble.
"Well I think you would look just as cute, if your speedos did the same as mine, so if you want me to keep wearing these, then you have to do it too." Ben responds grinning, he knows he is in a no lose situation and was more than willing to carry on wearing the speedos, if it meant getting his friend in an equally revealing pair of speedos.
"Deal, I will sort it out later when we get back to the tent, so come on let's get washed up, my dad will be wondering where we are." Matt responds excitedly, causing Ben to smile, as he hadn't been expecting his friend to agree that easily or quickly.
The boys quickly go back into the water to wash their faces, but instead of washing their own they decide to wipe each others face, they then spend a few minutes messing around a little before they get out of the water and head up towards Matt's dad, where after a few minutes of walking see him sitting by the fishing gear and smile as they realise that it is already packed up, saving them the hassle of having to do it themselves and when they finally reach David, he looks up and smiles at them and manages to hide his true feelings, so they won't suspect anything.
"You boys have a good time then?" David asks. sounding genuinely interested and still managing to keep up his act up.
"Yeah, the water is a lot better when you don't just run straight in." Matt states smiling, as his friend lets out a chuckle.
"Well you look okay, so I can safely assume there was no trouble this time?" David asks still maintaining his smile, while trying to see if the boys will mention anything about what really happened, he really didn't want them to tell him anything at all because it would complicate his plan too much, but knew it was a possibility and did have a contingency plan thought out.
"Yeah Mr Summers, it was fun just messing around and playing, but we remembered what you said and were really careful, how about you though, did you catch any more fish?" Ben responds, being careful not to tell his friends dad what had really happened, but at the same time not actually lying.
"That is great to hear, I knew I didn't need to tell you boys to be careful, but it is something that needs to be said just in case and well as for the fishing, just the one but it wasn't big enough to keep and we already caught three good sized ones already, so I put it back like we did with all the others earlier." David answers, lying about what he had actually been doing, but convincingly enough that the boys didn't even think to question the story.
"I can't believe you already packed up, I was sure you was going to make us do it while you just watched." Matt then says half seriously, he knew his dad was capable of doing that to them, but also knew it would have been in good humour, it was a side of his dad that he loved and had missed a lot since they arrived in New Zealand.
"I was tempted, but we have a few things to do when we get back to camp and I didn't want to waste any time, next time though well I may not be so kind, so come on you two pick this crap up and let's head back." David responds, before standing up and walking empty handed back to the camp, leaving the boys with no doubt that they would be doing all the lifting and carrying again.
The boys though to both their credit and to the admiration of David, don't even make a fuss and just set about with their task quickly and spend the walk back laughing and joking with each other, although truthfully the boys were just trying really hard to keep up appearances of being happy, so that David wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. but little did they know that he had heard everything about Mr Jones and what he was doing to his son.
When they arrive back at their camp, David tells the boys to put the equipment on the ground and go get changed while he puts the gear in the car and again to his delight the boys do as they are told with out any fuss, then as soon as they are inside the tent, Matt quickly zips the entrance up and turns round to face his friend, he then strips off completely and gives his friend an expectant look, Ben doesn't need to be told twice and with a grin of his own he quickly strips naked.
"Thanks for not saying anything to my dad, I wasn't quite sure what you were going to say when we go back to him." Matt states honestly, he knows he doesn't have to lie to his friend and knew he wouldn't be angry at him.
"I promised you and I know you will keep your promise as well won't you?" Ben replies, as his eyes wonder down to his friends soft two inch penis, Matt's eyes follow his friends and he smirks as he realises he is being checked out.
"Creep." Matt then says teasingly, causing his friend to look back up quickly.
"What?" Ben replies innocently, as if he hasn't done anything.
"Nothing, it's cute that you keep looking at it, but the drooling is kinda gross." Matt then responds, knowing there is no drool and starts to giggle when his friend uses his hand to wipe the non existent drool from his mouth.
"Dumb Ass." Ben retorts, realizing there was no drool and he had basically just admitted to ogling his friend.
"Anyway, I won't break my promise, but I just don't know how to tell him Ben or even when." Matt then states honestly, deciding to get the conversation back on track and hoping his friend can help him even more than he already has.
"I will be right there with you when you tell him, I won't let you go though that alone and don't tell me I don't need to be there, because it isn't open for discussion and as for when, well it has to be before we leave here, but I agree with what you said earlier about waiting, so how about the night before we go back?" Ben suggests confidently, wanting his friend to know he will support him all the way and suggesting the best moment to tell his dad.
"Thanks Ben, I really do need you, because I don't think I can do it alone." Matt says genuinely, as he walks over to his friend and hugs him in appreciation. "Why the night before though?" He then asks as he pulls back from the hug, after realising if they stayed like that they would both have a problem and with his dad just outside it would be a disaster if he were to suddenly come in and with that in mind he starts to pull some underwear for himself and his friend out from his bag, while he waits for him to respond.
"Because we will be going back the next day anyway, so it will give you more time to just enjoy the trip before, well you know everything gets serious and if we wait until night time, your dad won't be able to get angry or do anything silly, because we will all be to tired to pack everything up and drive back, so he should have time to cool down and think about it when we all go to sleep." Ben explains, as he pulls on the underwear his friend gives him and pulls on the shorts he was wearing earlier, as Matt also does the same with his own clothes.
"Oh that's a good idea and I think you're right, these may be the last few days I can just be a kid for a long time and thank you so much Ben, I don't know what I would do without you." Matt then says from the heart, as he quickly moves over to his friend and pulls him into a warm grateful cuddle.
Unknown to the boys though, once again David had heard everything, well not everything luckily for the boys, he had only wondered close enough to the tent to hear Ben tell his son that they should tell him about Mr Jones the night before they go home, in a way David couldn't help but be impressed and grateful of Ben for what he was doing for his son, because it just shows what a great friend and person he is to his son, but on the other hand knowing that he is going to be told about everything means he has to go to his back up plan, which he really wanted to avoid, but there is nothing he can do about that now and will make the necessary calls in the morning, when the boys are out exploring the woods.
Still unaware that David was listening, the boys slowly separate from each other and stare into each others eyes, they both wanted to kiss the other and if they were somewhere they knew they couldn't get caught, then they would both have made the first move and although they are both still confused by their feelings for each other, they also now knew that they were both feeling the same thing, but it was just not the right time to do anything about it just yet.
"About time boys, the fire is ready so we can start cooking our dinner, after we gut the fish." David tells the two boys as they emerge from the tent, he then grins when he sees the horror on their faces at the mention of gutting the fish.
"Eww, no way that's disgusting." Matt says, picturing all the blood and guts going everywhere.
"Yeah do we have to Mr Summers, it sounds gross." Ben adds, sharing his friends view, although he was actually curious about it and wonders what it would be like.
"Well first of all, Ben call me David please, Mr Summers makes me feel old and secondly if you don't gut the fish, then you can't eat it." David tells them both, still grinning at the boys reaction, although he can tell Ben seems to be at least a little bit interested in the process.
"Why can't we eat it though Mr... er... sorry David?" Ben then asks, with a curious look on his face.
"Well if you think taking the guts out is disgusting and gross, then I would imagine eating those parts is even worse right?" David answers still smiling, as the boys look at each other as if to communicate telepathically.
"I guess so, how do you gut a fish though?" Ben then asks curiously, deciding this might be a useful thing to learn for the future.
"Tell you what, why don't you go use the toilet boys and when you get back, I will show you how to do it and then you can both gut your own fish." David suggests, he is happy to see both boys seeming to be doing okay, because after what he had heard, he was having a hard time dealing with it and expected the boys to be struggling as well, so to see them like this it made him feel a little bit better.
"Eww, I'm not going to the toilet with him." Matt then says sounding less than impressed, sure he and Ben are close and he is sure he feels something more than just friendship, but there is no way he is going to take a dump in front of him.
"No you moron, go one after the other, seriously I sometimes wonder if there is anything between those ears of yours at times Matt." David responds by teasing his son, although for the first time since the boys had come back, he gets a really good look at his sons eyes and he can see the hurt and sadness in them and it takes everything he has to not reach out and comfort him, but he knows if his plan is going to work he needs to be strong.
"Yeah Dumb Ass, it's obvious he meant one at a time." Ben says, trying to pretend he wasn't thinking the same thing as his friend, so David didn't think he was as dumb as his son could be at times.
While each boy goes and make use of the toilet facilities separately, the other makes small talk with David until they have both finished, then while seated in front of the man they watch as he shows them how to gut a fish and even how to take the bones out and apart from a few initial feelings of being sick at the sight and the smell of the whole process, both boys actually enjoy learning a new skill, as they both make a reasonably job of gutting their own fish.
With that task out of the way, David sets about cooking the fish while the boys prepare some salad to go with it and once everything is cooked and ready they all enjoy their meal, which is surprisingly better tasting than David had been expecting and wishes he could take some of the fish home when the trip ended, but knows he has no way of preserving them and makes a mental note to bring something to do the job, if they ever came here again.
After they have all finished, the boys clear up and decide to just sit down and talk for a while, David starts to feel a little uncomfortable fearing the boys may decide to tell him about what has been happening, even though he knows that won't happen until a few days from now, but he still worries just in case they change their minds and decides that he needs to get things moving sooner rather than later, just in case that happened and suggests to the boys that they go off and explore the woods, while he goes to the toilet.
"Boys don't stray too far okay, it's a big area and while I have been assured there are not predators here, it's best to not take any risks, so stick together and stay within shouting distance." David tells the boys, even though he knows they don't need to be told.
"It's okay David, the first sign of Matt fainting at the sight of a dangerous looking bush and I will call in the army to come save him." Ben replies, before bursting into giggles and then feigning injury as his friend punches him in the shoulder.
"Get lost Creep, it's you who will be jumping every time one of us steps on a twig." Matt weakly retorts, knowing just how lame his comeback was, when even his dad sniggers at him and he can't help but blush.
"Well as much fun as this is to listen too, you boys better get off and remember don't be out too long, I will give you a shout if I need you to come back." David then tells them and both boys then nod their heads, before quickly going in to the tent to get some trainers and a shirt to put on.
The boys then emerge a few moments later, to see David already making his way to the toilet and as soon as he disappears into the woods, Matt quickly reaches down to hold his friends hand and smiles as they begin to move in the opposite direction to explore the woods.
**********************
When David walks as far as he thinks he needs to go to avoid the boys being able to hear him, he stops to pull out his phone, although he has to walk around a little more to get a decent signal and quickly searches through his contacts, until he finds the one he is looking for and dials.
"Hey Nick, it's David can you talk?" David says, in a serious tone.
"Yeah you caught me at a good time, it's been a while David is everything okay?" Nick replies in a curious tone, it had been a while since they talked and he could tell by his friends tone that something was wrong.
"No not really, I have a job for us, but I can't be involved." David states, looking around just to make sure the boys haven't followed him, even though he knows he is just being paranoid.
"I'm not going to like this am I?" Nick replies in a knowing tone and can't help but smile after being right about there being some sort of issue.
"Yes and no I would suspect, I need you to get as much information on a Mr Andrew Jones, he is an English teacher at my sons school, around fifty five years old and originally from England." David says, informing his friend of what he knows, while wishing he had been more involved in his sons life and made the effort to get to know the teachers, like he had done back when they lived in England.
"Okay, but I'm going to need too know more than that David, you know how this works." Nick states, not wasting time with being polite and knows David will respect the fact he is doing his job.
"I can't be one hundred percent, but I suspect that he is a paedophile and he has been abusing at least two children, one of them is my son, so Nick I need you to help me out." David explains, with anger in his voice, just saying it like that, makes him wish he was back home so that he could take care of this himself.
"Your son and you're calling me to deal with this?" Nick asks, he is a little shocked, he knows David well and for him to have not taken action himself is surprising.
"It's complicated, I'm out camping with my son and his friend and we aren't getting back for a few more days, so I can't deal with it myself, I would wait until we get back and deal with it then, but my son is going to tell me all about it before then and there is another potential problem." David explains, he is still a little distracted because he really wants to deal with this himself, but knows that it just isn't possible now.
"Your sons going to tell you? sorry but I'm confused David because if he hasn't told you, then how do you know?" Nick then asks, even though he doesn't need to know, he is curious and wants to help anyway he can.
"I overheard him telling his friend, I was going to wait until I got back, but if he tells me before then and I take action it could get messy if something happens to that teacher and Matt lets on that I knew about what happened and I would be in a whole lot of shit, so I need this sorted before Saturday Nick." David explains firmly, so his friend understands how important this is and how difficult the situation is.
"Okay I understand, I will get the ball rolling and I assume you're happy that if your suspicions are confirmed, you want us to take immediate action and take full measures?" Nick states in a serious tone, he understands now and knows how important this is.
"Yes, I want him gone and I know I don't have to tell you, that I don't want it to be quick." David replies coldly, as far as he is concerned the sick pervert is going to suffer as much as possible for what he has done.
"That's more than okay with me, but you also mentioned another potential issue, is it important?" Nick asks, remembering what his friend had sad a few minutes earlier.
"Oh right yeah, well like I said Nick, I know of two potential victims, my son being one and the other is one of his friend, who I suspect could be in danger and if what my son said is true, I'm worried that waiting too long is not an option, his name is Jordan Anderson and is eleven years old, so have someone keep an eye on him Nick and one last thing I want you to keep me informed okay." David tells his friend, hoping he hasn't forgotten anything important.
"Understood David, I will make the necessary calls now and will let you know when we have something to report." Nick responds, now in a professional tone.
"Thank you Nick, I owe you big time for this." David then says gratefully, he knew if he wasn't able to handle this himself, that Nick was the man for the job and had full faith that he would get the job done.
"I don't know, I think we are pretty even these days, but our work is never done and to be honest it has been a while since anything like this has come up and I'm looking forward to it, I will call you tomorrow David. Good bye." Nick says before hanging up, not bothering to wait for a reply.
David puts his phone back in his pocket and decides to make use of the toilet any way before heading back to camp, so he can finish the make shift changing box that he had started the day before.
The boys make good head way into the woods and were still holding hands, despite at times making the trek slightly harder as they explored and to their excitement they discover a hidden pool of water and take a few minutes to look at the beautiful sight in front of them, before turning to each other and smiling.
"I can't believe how clear the water is." Matt then says, breaking the peaceful silence and staring in awe at the beautiful spot they had stumbled upon.
"We should go in, it looks deep enough to sit in." Ben then suggests, as he judges it to at least come up just above their waist whilst standing and they should be able to sit at the edge.
"We haven't got our suits though and I don't think we can explain to my dad why our clothes are soaked." Matt replies, before noticing his friend grin widely at him. "We can't, what if we get caught?" He then states, knowing exactly what his friend is thinking and despite his own fears, he can't help but get a little bit excited by the idea.
"Like who, we are the only ones out here and your dad won't come this way and even if he did we would hear him." Ben responds, as he releases his friends hand and begins to strip off, hoping his friend will follow his lead.
"You're such a creep." Matt then says, before letting out a small sigh and begins to strip slowly, although he is distracted by the sight of his now naked friend, who just stands facing him with a big smile on his face and once both boys are naked, they quickly hold each others hand again and slowly make their way into the water and are pleasantly surprised that it was not as cold as they had feared and was actually warmer than the lake and they both sigh a little, as they stand deep enough so the water is above their knees.
"I think if anyone's a creep, then it is you Matt." Ben then says, as he looks down to his friends now hard four inch boner and smiles, which causes his friend to blush and quickly sit down trying his best to hide it, but Ben just laughs as the water is so clear, that he could still see everything.
"Oh shut up, you have one as well." Matt retorts, pointing to his friends own four inch boner, Ben however isn't as shy as his friend and is a lot slower to sit down next to him and smiles when their sides and legs touch each others.
"Matt, I know you have a lot going on right now and most of it is crap and horrible, but do you think maybe we can talk about us?" Ben suddenly asks nervously, catching his friend off guard slightly.
"What do you mean, talk about us?" Matt responds, he is genuinely confused at the question, although if he was given more time, he would have worked it out for himself and saved himself from feeling like an idiot.
"Well you know about how we feel, I mean we have been best friends for like two years, but well er... recently well you know, it feels like er... more than just friends you know?" Ben tries to explain nervously, he was trying to think of a way to say how he feels, despite still not fully understanding it himself and is finding it a lot harder than he thought he would.
"Oh right that, well I guess we can talk about it, I mean we are still best friends and that hasn't changed and I really do like you a lot, although it's really confusing." Matt replies honestly, now understanding what they are talking about and blushing a little for not getting it straight away.
"Yeah, it's really confusing, when Mitch gave me 'the talk' he told me how boys and girls like each other and that sort of thing. but I well er... the stuff he said about what boys and girls do and feel, well I think I feel those things for you." Ben then states, trying his best to explain while at the same time trying his best to not to look at his friend and starts making little circles in the water with his fingers to try and keep his nerves under control.
"So you like mean you er... well I don't know, there is so much going on right now, I just know that whenever I'm with you everything seems better you know?" Matt replies, looking at his friend who starts to slowly look up at him, with those sparkling green eyes and Matt can't help but feel himself tingle with happiness as he looks into them.
"I think so, I get these strange feelings and then I just want to er... to you know..." Ben begins to say but trails off, he then almost jumps in shock as he feels his friend lean over and kiss him, at first he doesn't know what to do, but his instincts soon take over and he returns the kiss.
The two boys kiss for what seems like hours to them, but actually only lasts a few moments and when they slowly part and neither can hide their happiness, while they gaze into each others eyes.
"Do that?" Matt then asks, with the biggest smile on his face and there was no doubt in his mind that he did the right thing and has never felt so happy in his life.
"That was awesome." Ben simply states, it's all he could think of to say, that was his first kiss ever and to him it was perfect, even though he never really knew what to expect it would be like, he knew that it was everything he could have hoped for.
"Was that er... you know your first kiss?" Matt asks a little nervously, he doesn't want to embarrass his friend and smiles as his friend blushes shyly.
"Yeah, was I good?" Ben then asks, he is still blushing and is just hoping that his friend enjoyed it as much as he did, he would die if he thought his friend hated it.
"It was awesome in fact..." Matt starts to reply, as he moves in front of his friend and straddles his legs, he then uses both his hands and pulls his friends face to his own and kisses him again, this time the kiss lasts for almost five minutes, before he pulls away smiling.
"Wow!" Ben just about manages to say, as he smiles in happiness, he has never felt like this before and he doesn't want it to end.
"Yeah, that was just awesome, I can't wait to do... oh wait I can." Matt says and before his friend can wonder what he was going to say, he is pulled back into another passionate kiss, this time though their two bodies come together and both both boys let out a surprised gasp and pull apart after their boners rubbed against each others.
"What the hell was that?" Matt asks in a surprised tone, as he moves off his friend and sits back on his heels, while still facing his friend with a shocked expression.
"I don't know but, it felt er... I mean it felt amazing right?" Ben replies nervously, to him he has never felt something so good, but was unsure of his friends feelings after seeing him pull away and is a little worried that he didn't like it.
"Yeah, it was amazing, but what was it, I thought I was going to explode or something and I was like tingling all over you know?" Matt says is a confused tone, on one hand it was by far the best feeling he has ever had, but at the same time the scariest and for now, scary just wasn't something he could handle.
"Want to do it again?" Ben then asks enthusiastically and moves forward, he is now kneeling in front of his friend and leans in for another kiss, but is left disappointed, when he feels his friend pull away.
"I'm not sure, can we just hang out and talk or something?" Matt asks a little shyly, he just really isn't ready for all these confusing feelings and doesn't know if he can handle it with everything else that is happening.
"Oh... okay I guess." Ben replies in a disappointed tone, as he moves back to his original sitting position and Matt can't help but notice the hurt look on his friends face.
"Oh shit sorry... I didn't mean it like that, please don't be upset Ben." Matt quickly says, after he realises that he has just hurt his friends feelings and feels even worse.
"It's fine, we should head back anyway, it's getting late." Ben responds, clearly upset as he slowly gets up and even covers himself with his hands, while he steps out of the water towards his clothes, but then suddenly feels himself being pulled around and feels his friends lips on his own and all his feelings of hurt and rejection melted away instantly.
After a few moments, Matt breaks the kiss and takes both his friends hands into his own and looks him directly in the eyes.
"I'm so sorry I said what I did like that, I really, really like you and what we just did was amazing, really amazing, but I'm not ready Ben, I have so much to deal with and to go through and this would just be too much, please don't hate me, I couldn't bare it if you hated me, I need you so much if I'm going to make it though all this crap, so please don't be hate me." Matt then pleads, as tears roll down his face.
"Don't be stupid, I'm the one who should be sorry Matt, not you and of course I would never hate you, I will be here for you and when we are both ready we can talk about us then." Ben replies, lovingly wiping away his friends tears, his friend or are they more than that now, he starts to think to himself, as he processes what had just happened, he knew he needed to talk about this, but it was obvious his friend was in no state to do that, he then thought about who else he could talk to and smiled to himself, he could talk to his brother about anything and decided as soon as they got home, he would tell Mitch all about it.
"It's neither of our faults, I'm just happy to finally know that you feel the same way as I do Ben and well I think that I love you." Matt suddenly announces, without breaking eye contact with his friend.
"I think I love you too Matt." Ben responds sincerely, before leaning in for one final kiss, this time it doesn't last as long as the previous ones, but it is full of love and both boys think to themselves that it was the best one yet.
"We should head back now though." Matt then says reluctantly, after they both break the kiss.
"I know, but just to make up for rejecting me earlier, you owe me a song later tonight." Ben replies, with a cheeky grin and turns around to picks up his clothes.
"Creep, but okay fine, but only because your boner looks so cute when it bounces up and down like that." Matt replies, with his own grin and walks over to collect his own clothes and gets dressed.
"So does yours." Ben retorts, with a shy smile and the boys look at each other for a few moments. "Come on, let's get going then." He then says, grabbing his friends hand after they both finish dressing and gets a funny look from his friend. "What, just because we can't kiss and stuff, doesn't mean I can't hold your hand for a while, well at least until we get close to the camp." He states, after quickly working out his what his friends look was for, it actually made him smile how easy it was for them to understand each others expressions, even with how close he is to his older brother, they just don't get each other the same way he and Matt seem to, although that is only true when it comes to Ben reading his brother, Mitch has always been able to read his little brother like a book.
"I guess so, I'm just not thinking straight Ben, I just wish all the other stuff would go away, so we could just be together and enjoy ourselves." Matt then states with a sigh and gives his friends hand a gentle squeeze, as they start walking back to their camp and Matt didn't know why, but he really felt safe with his friend holding his hand and didn't ever want to let go.
"You mean, enjoy each other." Ben corrects his friend in an adorable attempt to sound sexy, which causes his friend to start laughing and he soon follows, as he realises how lame that sounded.
"Well yeah that too of course, but you know what I mean, it's going to get really bad when the truth comes out isn't it?" Matt replies, his laughter quickly being replaced with tension, as he thinks about what is going to happen when the truth comes out.
"Yeah I think so, but I will be with you every step of the way, I promise." Ben answers sincerely, doing his best to reassure his friend and gives him a quick peck on the cheek, just to make sure he got the message and even though he doesn't know exactly what is going to happen when they got home, he does know that it won't be easy and that he will need to be strong for his friend, even if it gets really bad and Matt tries to push him away, he knows he can't let that happen and just hopes he doesn't let him down.
The boys then decide to just make small talk and leave the emotional stuff for another day, when they then get within a few hundred metres of the camp, they reluctantly release each others hand, just in case David is near enough to see them, the last thing either boy wanted was for him to see them and have to explain what was happening.
"DAD ARE YOU THERE!" Matt then shouts out, a little louder than he had intended, which to his amusement makes his friend to jump in surprise.
"Jeez Matt, could you shout a bit louder, I don't think they heard you back home." Ben then says, giving his friend a playful shove as he pretends to hold his ear in pain, but Matt just smiles at him and starts to lean in, so that he can kiss his friend on the cheek.
Suddenly though both boys are startled and Matt quickly moves back a little from his friend, just as his dad emerges from some bushes beside them looking worried.
"Boys what's wrong, are you okay?" David asks in a panicked tone, while looking the boys over and then around them before giving his son a confused look.
"Oh er... sorry dad er... nothings wrong, I guess I just shouted a little louder than I meant too." Matt answers sheepishly, realising his dad must have thought something had happened to them.
"Yeah, the dumb ass almost gave me a heart attack as well David." Ben then states honestly, before giving his friend another playful push.
"Jesus, you scared the crap out of me Matt." David states, but making sure to smile so that the boys knew he wasn't angry.
"Sorry Dad, so what should we do now?" Matt responds apologetically and then hoping to change the subject quickly, but just before David can think of something, Ben jumps in first.
"You can sing for us Matt, I think you owe your dad a song after scaring him half to death and you already owe me one for the er... bet you lost earlier." Ben quickly suggests and then blushes as he realises he almost said the wrong thing and when he looks at his friend looking less than impressed, he goes an even deeper shade of red.
"Well I was going to suggest we just sit and have a chat, but that's a great idea Ben, two songs from my talented little baby boy, is just the thing this trip needs." David declares with a grin on his face, he doesn't bother to ask what kind of bet the two boys had, he is just happy about the chance to hear his son perform and knowing that he had his guitar with him as well, gave him a great idea for a request.
"Fine, but this isn't happening every day and just two songs okay no more and if you call me that again Dad, I won't talk to you for the rest of the trip." Matt states sternly, clearly unimpressed by his dads teasing and although he doesn't want to perform in front of people normally, he brought his guitar for a reason and was actually excited to sing for both his dad and his friend, although thinking about it, he can't help but wonder what he and Ben are now and the more he thinks about it the more he starts to notice an unwanted feeling in his shorts and quickly tries to think of something else, having a boner in front of his dad was definitely not something he wanted to experience again.
"Two seems fair to me, but we get to choose which songs Son." David demands with a smile, causing Ben to smile cheerfully as well, because he had the perfect song in mind for his friend.
"Er... well okay, but only if I know the words, I'm not doing any songs that I don't know because it will be rubbish and I want it to be good." Matt responds in a serious tone, he wants to make it clear to the others, that he won't make a fool of himself.
"Well I don't know what your dad will choose, but the song I want you to sing is definitely one you know." Ben states giving his friend a shy smile, which David doesn't notice, although he does notice his son blush, but just thinks it's him being shy about performing.
"Well I think my choice is safe, I've heard you sing it when we used to go camping when you were little Matt, so I know you know the words." David then states and starts to walk back to camp knowing the boys will follow him.
When they make it back to camp, Matt heads straight to the car to get his guitar, while his Dad takes a seat and watches as Ben attempts to light the fire and finds himself suitably impressed by how quickly the young boy has the fire going and gives him pat on the back when he walks past to take his seat, before waiting for Matt to join them.
"Great job Ben." David decides to say as they sit waiting, he really hadn't expected either boy to have the first clue when it came to starting a fire and actually realises that the boys had lit the fire the day before as well and he hadn't really took much notice or given them any credit.
"Thank you Mr Summers, Mitch taught me when I was younger, he said it was something all boys should know how to do." Ben responds, smiling with pride at the compliment.
"Ben, remember to call me David please and I agree with your brother, every boy should know how to light a fire, it's nice to see he is having a great influence in your life." David says sincerely, while looking the boy over, thinking to himself that he is a very happy healthy looking boy, who seems to be enjoying life and he was glad he was in his sons life, he knew even when Mr Jones is dealt with, his son is going to have a rough time and he will need all the friends and family he can get.
"He is just the best David, he makes sure I know the things I should know and he is always looking out for me so that I'm safe." Ben then says full of pride, but this time for his brother rather than himself and David can tell the young boy loves his older brother.
"Everyone needs someone to look out for them, I haven't really done very well in that department for Matt, since we moved here though Ben." David tells the young boy, who looks at him in surprise, he wasn't expecting his friends dad to say something like that to him.
"He talks about what you two used to do together before you moved here all the time and he loves you a lot David, I can tell." Ben replies, he has no idea how he was meant to responds to his friends dad or even if he was meant too, but he tried his best to say something to cheer him up and just hoped he didn't make a mess of it.
"The key words there are 'used to do' though Ben, since we moved here I haven't given him enough time, it's the reason we are out here now Ben, so that I can try to make it up to him and I just hope it isn't too late." David then says, giving the boy a weak smile before looking over to see his son still trying to get his guitar out of the car, which seems to have somehow ended up underneath everything else.
"Then it's working David, you should have heard how excited he was when he told me about this trip and how it was going to be like old times." Ben replies honestly, he remembers how excited his friend was that his dad wanted to be with him and realises just how much they both seemed to miss each other, although he doesn't tell David the part about his son thinking that it was a bit weird, that his dad had suddenly taken an interest in him again.
"I want you to know that I'm grateful for what you have done for him Ben, since you came into his life, he has been so happy and you have been the best friend a parent could hope for their son to have." David then says as he turns to face the boy with a genuine smile, he is still uneasy about their friendship and will be keeping a close eye on them, but for now he is content to just let them be friends and help each other through what is to come in the coming days and months.
"He is pretty awesome and it works both ways, without him I wouldn't be as happy as I am now David, even though I have other friends, Matt is different and he just gets me you know?" Ben responds sincerely, he is still a little surprised to be having this kind of conversation, but can't help but feel pride at the way David is talking to him, like he is an adult and not jut a little kid and it made him feel good about himself.
"I know what you mean, it's rare to find someone in your life that understands just who you really are and..." David starts to respond, but is interrupted as his son finally comes over with his guitar looking a little flustered.
"About time, we thought you had done a runner or something." Ben then says, just as his friend takes a seat opposite them and he can't help but smile, when he gets a look of appreciation from David for not mentioning what they were just talking about and blushes a little.
"Sorry but somehow this thing ended up at the bottom, so anyway let's get this over with, who wants to tell me their song first?" Matt responds, wanting to start as quickly as possible, so he can just relax and sing.
"This was Ben's idea, so I think he should go first." David answers, giving his sons friend a quick wink, he is actually curious about which song the boy has chosen, although he is half expecting some new modern song that kids these days think counts as music that he will hate.
"Okay, well come on then Ben what is it?" Matt ask a little impatiently, he doesn't mean to sound rude, but he is actually getting a little nervous and just wants to start.
"We can do this later if you want, you don't really sound that keen." Ben responds a little disheartened, he can't help but think his friend doesn't want to do this and is starting to feel bad for suggesting it in the first place, he should have known with everything that is going on in his friends life, that he didn't need this kind of stress as well.
"Sorry guys, I'm just a little nervous and I really do want to play for you both, so come on Ben what song did you choose?" Matt quickly responds, this time making an effort to sound a lot more upbeat as he apologises for making his friend think he didn't want to sing.
"Okay, then I want you to sing 'Lean On Me' please." Ben answers with a shy grin, as both his friend and David look at him in surprise, but for very different reasons.
"Bill Wither?" David asks, ending the few seconds of silence, he honestly couldn't believe the young boy had picked that song and had to yet again admit that the boy was pretty special.
"Yeah, I really like him and this is his best song and I wanted Matt to sing it because er... well just because." Ben replies a little nervously, he wants his friend to know he picked this song to show how he feels about him, but doesn't quite know how to say it with David sitting right next to him.
"Well I got to say Ben, I'm really impressed, I was half expecting some modern pop song that I would hate, but this is definitely a great surprise." David then states honestly and he could see the boy blush with pride and again thought of how remarkable he was and was full of surprises.
"You sure you want that one Ben?" Matt then asks a little nervously, he definitely wasn't expecting that song and was trying to work out if it was deliberate or not and couldn't help but be aware that his dad is going to hear the song as well and gets a little bit more nervous.
"Yeah I'm sure, the words mean a lot and they are very true, don't you think?" Ben replies giving his friend a knowing look with a warm smile, Matt can't help but smile shyly at his friend in return, as he understands exactly why he had picked the song now and almost forgetting that his dad is sitting right there.
"Okay then, just give me a few seconds." Matt then says, he plays a few chords and makes himself comfortable and with a nod from both his dad and his friend he begins to play.
"Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's
Always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things
You need to borrow
For no one can fill
Those of your needs
That you won't let show
You just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on"
Ben can't help but mouth the words, as he watches his friend sing and smiles as they make eye contact and finds himself having to try his best not to cry.
"I just might have a problem
That you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
You just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem
That you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on"
As a few tears manage to finally roll down his cheek, Ben quickly tries to wipe them away so that David doesn't see them, but he doesn't have to worry because when he looks over, he can see that he is fully focused on his son.
"If there is a load
You have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me."
David couldn't be more proud of his son, as he watches him sing and play the song flawlessly and while it may be a little biased, he actually thought his sons performance was the best he had heard, he doesn't quite know why or how, but he can't help but believe every word his son is singing and doesn't seem to notice the way his son and Ben are looking at each other.
"Call me
If you need a friend
(Call me)
Call me
If you need a friend
(Call me)
If you ever need a friend
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
If you need a friend
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)
Call me
(Call me)"
As soon as Matt finishes, both Ben and his dad stand up and applaud him and he can't help but blush, when he feels tears roll down his face and quickly wipes them away.
"That was amazing Dumb Ass, really amazing." Ben says with a massive smile on his face, David can't help but laugh when his son sticks his tongue out at his friend, he knows he should probably tell Ben to mind his language, but knows it is just one of many pet names that they had for each other and actually found it quite amusing.
"You really are talented Son, you really should be entering competitions you know." David says and quickly gets an icy glare from his son, which he had expected as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew what his son thought about performing in front of people, but he just got caught up in the moment.
"Dad I told you before, I don't want to do that sort of thing." Matt responds in frustration, it's one of the reasons he doesn't like performing in front of other people, because they always say the same thing.
"I tell him the same thing, but he won't listen, it's his choice though isn't it David, I mean he shouldn't be forced to do something that he doesn't want to do." Ben then says, as he backs up his friends stance, although only half heartedly, he wanted his friend to show the world how good he was, but knows right now it is pointless to try, there is just too much happening in his friends life for this to even be a possibility.
"I'm getting tired, so I'm going to take a rest in the tent." Matt suddenly announces, as he places the guitar on the ground and stands up, he was now starting to feel upset and just wished his dad didn't say anything about competitions.
"Sit down Son." David suddenly tells his son, who is now just standing in shock, by his dad telling him to sit down. "I'm sorry to bring it up, but it's only because I love you and want the best for you, I know you have your reasons and I respect them, but just let me have my say one last time and then I will make sure your mum and I never bug you about it ever again, I promise." He then says a lot more softly, after realising that he probably scared his son, when he had told him to sit down and wanted to try and get him to relax again.
At first Matt just stands there, weighing up what his dad has just told him and is unsure whether to listen or just go to the tent, he then glances at his friend, who gives him a loving look and with that he sits back down and looks over to his dad.
"Okay I will listen, but you won't change my mind Dad." Matt tells him honestly, he really can't imagine his dad saying anything he hasn't heard before and the only reason he is going to listen is because of his friend and the loving look he had given him.
"How do you feel when you sing?" David then asks, catching his son off guard, he was expecting a lecture not questions and he can even see his friend giving his dad a funny look.
"Huh, I thought you were going to try and convince me?" Matt responds curiously.
"I am Matt, this is part of it so just answer the questions please." David then explains in a warm friendly tone, the last thing he wants to do is make his son feel like he is being lectured.
"I don't know, it just makes me feel better and understand things sometimes." Matt answers, not really knowing how to explain it better without feeling embarrassed, maybe he could say it better with just his friend in front of him, but not to his dad, that is just too much for him to deal with.
"Good, so when you are upset, you sing a song and it helps to make you feel better?" David then asks, continuing his approach to getting his son to see that he should perform in front of people more often.
"Well yeah sometimes it does." Matt replies honestly, still wondering where his dad is going with this.
"You also said it helps you understand things right?" David then asks, he knows this is a strange way to get his point across, but he knows if anything is going to work, than it is this.
"Some songs just seem to help me make decisions, like the song Ben just asked me to sing." Matt replies, careful not to use the wrong words and cause his dad to be suspicious.
"I see, so what did that song help you understand?" David asks, but instantly regretting it, as he thinks about the conversation he over heard and the song lyrics, although it was touching to know how much that song suits the two boys, he didn't want his son to suddenly reveal to him what the boys had been talking about.
"Well you know er... it just made me er... remember that if I ever er... need someone to talk to about anything, that I have Ben, I know I can talk to you and mum about things, but sometimes you need someone else you know to er..." Matt tries to explain nervously, struggling to think of an answer that won't raise any unwanted questions, but sighs in relief as his friend comes to his rescue.
"David I think it's like me, I have Mitch who I can talk to about the stuff I don't feel comfortable talking to dad about, but well Matt doesn't have a big brother, so I guess when I asked him to sing that song, I wanted him to know that if he ever needed to talk to someone, he had me." Ben explains and smiles shyly as he makes eye contact with his friend, David however looks towards Ben and then back to his son and smiles as he appreciates what the boy had done for his son and he can't help but think of the close friends he once had and he was glad that his son had found someone like that.
"Yeah things like that, because of that song I know I have someone I can talk to, I mean I already knew I guess, but that just confirmed it." Matt then says honestly, as he returns his friends shy smile, he knew the song had deeper meaning between them both, but as far as explaining it to his dad, that was as good a explanation as they could have come up with.
"That is really good to hear boys, everyone needs someone they can talk to and well 'lean on' when they need something." David says sincerely, although smiling a little at his pun, but he can tell neither of the boys picked up on it.
"Dad I just don't get what your point is though, how does this make me want to sing and perform for people?" Matt suddenly asks, after deciding it was his turn to ask something.
"Well my point is this, those songs you listen too help you and they mean something to you right?" David responds with a question of his own and looks directly into his sons eyes.
"Yeah so?" Matt answers, still not really understanding his dads point.
"Well what if the people who wrote and performed those songs didn't, what if they decided they didn't want share their gift with the world and just kept it to themselves?" David explains in a firm tone, not aggressively or confrontationally, but firm enough to get his son to take the question seriously.
"I don't know, I don't get it?" Matt replies, he is confused by the question and even looks over to his friend who looks equally confused.
"What would you listen to when you're sad or need to understand something, if those songs were never written or performed?" David then asks with a knowing look and he can see that his son seems to be realising the point he is trying to make.
"Er... well I don't know, I guess there wouldn't be anything to listen too." Matt answers, then the penny finally starts to drop and although he still doesn't quite fully get it, he is starting to see his dads point.
"That's right and how do you think you would feel, if you didn't have music to help you like that, would you be as happy?" David asks, making sure he doesn't lose eye contact with his son.
"I don't know I guess no, but I still don't understand, what this has to do with me not singing in public." Matt states, still just coming short of being able to put the pieces together himself, although as he looks over to his friend, he is surprised to see him grinning widely and realises he understands the point already.
"You are gifted Son, the way you play the piano and guitar is amazing, I'm not being biased because you aren't perfect, but with a few lessons you would be and then your voice well that is flawless, most young boys are at a disadvantage, because when they go through puberty their voice changes." David starts to explain, before Ben interrupts him.
"Huh?" Is all Ben says, but it is enough to stop David talking and give him an amused look.
"Well Boys tend to sing in a higher pitch when they are younger, but when they go through puberty boys voices will break and go much deeper, so some boys who have amazing voices when they are young, actually find that they can't sing that well when their voices grow deeper." David says, trying to explain it as best he can without confusing the boys.
"How do you know it won't happen with Matt though?" Ben then asks, he is a little horrified at the thought of his friend not being able to sing like he can now.
"Wait, I might not be able to sing when I get older?" Matt suddenly says, he is just as horrified as his friend at the news, before his dad gets a chance to reply to Ben's question.
"No sorry, I didn't mean to worry you both, Matt well there is always a chance yes, but to answer Ben's question though, it's highly doubtful because of the way you sing now, like I said most boys who are good at singing when they are young, sing in a higher pitch, but you already sing in a lower tone, so when your voice does get lower and deeper your singing voice will only change slightly and if anything sound even better then it does now, obviously I am no professional, but we could always talk to someone about it if you wanted to know more." David tries to explain reassuringly and sighs a little in relief, as both boys seem to be happy with his explanation.
"I hopes so, but well I still don't get your point Dad." Matt responds, after realising they had gone off topic and while he is finding it frustrating talking about performing more, he does want to find out what his dads point actually was.
"Oh right sorry, well basically you are listening to music that was written and performed by talented people, who even though they may have felt like you did at some point, decided to share it with the world, they did this so people all over the world like yourself, have that music to listen to and like you have said yourself Matt, it makes you feel better when you are sad and helps you understand things." David tries to explains again.
"Yeah I get that, but I still don't get what it has to do with me." Matt states, as he processes his dads words.
"What if in thirty or forty years time, there is a kid who needs help and he turns to music for help, but because you choose not to share your gift, he doesn't get that help?" David answers, as he gets to his point and watches his son as he seems to finally put the pieces together.
"Oh er... well I never looked at it that way, but I still don't know, I mean I get your point, but I still don't want to be a singer or musician, so does that make me a bad person?" Matt asks, looking a little upset at the thought that he was being selfish, which causes his dad to realise he hasn't explained his point in the right way and has somehow made his son feel like he was doing something wrong instead.
"No don't be stupid Son, I wasn't saying you're being a bad person for not wanting to be a singer, I just meant, well I just don't want you to hide your gift and er..." David starts to say, but he can't quite think of the right words to say and the look on his sons face doesn't help either, but thankfully as always it seems recently, Ben is on hand to say something.
"Matt what you dad means, is that you have a gift and you shouldn't keep it hidden, it doesn't mean you have to go on tours and make records or anything like that if you don't want to, but you shouldn't be so eager to keep it a secret either, a lot of people perform as a hobby for special occasions." Ben starts to say before pausing, he can see that his friend is looking at him curiously and knows he has to choose the right words to get his point across. "You remember that YouTube video you showed me, you know of that guy who sings at hospitals for sick kids?" He then asks and smiles as his friend nods. "I think he is a gardener or something, but he goes every weekend to sing for the kids and it makes them happy, maybe you could do that you, just make some people who need cheering up, have something to smile about for a little while." He then says, as David looks at him in awe, the young boy has pretty much summed up his whole point, in just a few sentences and it made perfect sense to him.
"Thank you Ben, you pretty much said exactly what I was meant to say." David then says, giving the young boys shoulder a squeeze, before turning to his son. "So what do you think of that then, it's obvious you don't want to be a singer or musician, but like Ben just said you can still use your gift and you can help make people happy." He tells him and waits for his sons response with a smile.
"Okay, I understand you point, but I don't think you understand me, I will think about it though because it's something I enjoy for myself and it's special to me, so can we just leave it at that for now?" Matt states, hoping they can move on and once again his friend steps in to help him out, well sort of because he wouldn't be Ben if he didn't always have to mess around at his expense.
"Yeah it's already getting dark David and he still has one more song to play for us, so what you going to make him sing?" Ben states grinning, knowing exactly what he is doing as he sees his friend pouting at him.
"Well I tried and I will keep my promise Matt and neither your mum or I will bother you about it again, but Ben is right, I did have a different song in mind, but because of Ben's choice, I wouldn't mind something a bit more fun and I have never heard it played with a guitar before so it should be interesting to hear." David then says and pauses for effect as both boys look at him expectantly.
"Well, what is it then Dad?" Matt suddenly asks, he knows his dad is obviously making the most of this, but decides to take the bait anyway.
"You know the Iko Iko song right?" David then asks, looking at his son and he can see the blank look on his face and can't help but smile, despite thinking he will have to choose another song.
"The Iko Iko song?" Matt asks, looking confused and doesn't recognise the song.
"He means that song, you know er... my grandma and your grandma sitting by the fire, I think." Ben says and looks over to his friends dad, who gives him a quick nod and smiles to himself.
"Oh right yeah, I know that song, but Dad will it work with a guitar, I thought you needed bongo's or something?" Matt asks, looking at his dad.
"Like I said Son, I have never heard it with a guitar, so just give it a go, worst comes to worse you can use the back of your guitar as a make shift bongo." David responds enthusiastically, as he watches his son get comfortable and play a few chords, he always thought it was adorable when his son played a few chords before every performance and wondered if he even realised he did it.
"I bet it will sound great Matt, just go for it." Ben then says, with a smile on his face.
"Okay I will try my best." Matt says a little nervously, although he is actually enjoying the challenge in front of him and he again plays a few chords, before taking one final look at his dad and friend.
"My grandma and your grandma were
Sit-tin' by the fire. - My grandma told
Your grandma "I'm gonna set your flag on fire.
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-na. - Jock-a-mo fee na-na
Look at my king all dressed in red
I-KO, I-KO, un-day. I betcha five dollars he'll kill you dead
Jack-a-mo fee na-na
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-n?. - Jock-a-mo fee na-n?
My flag boy and your flag boy were
Sit-tin' by the fire. - My flag boy told
Your flag boy "I'm gonna set your flag on fire."
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-n?. - Jock-a-mo fee na-n?
See that guy all dressed in green ?
I-KO, I-KO, un-day. He's not a man
He's a lov-in' machine
Jack-a mo fee na-n?
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-n?. - Jock-a-mo fee na-n?"
Just as his friend and dad are about to get up and applaud him, Matt decides to just start over again, he didn't think he did a good enough job and really wanted to get it right.
"My grandma and your grandma were
Sit-tin' by the fire. - My grandma told
Your grandma "I'm gonna set your flag on fire.
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-na. - Jock-a-mo fee na-na
Look at my king all dressed in red
I-KO, I-KO, un-day. I betcha five dollars he'll kill you dead
Jack-a-mo fee na-na
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-n?. - Jock-a-mo fee na-n?
My flag boy and your flag boy were
Sit-tin' by the fire. - My flag boy told
Your flag boy "I'm gonna set your flag on fire."
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-n?. - Jock-a-mo fee na-n?
See that guy all dressed in green ?
I-KO, I-KO, un-day. He's not a man
He's a lov-in' machine
Jack-a mo fee na-n?
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jack-a-mo fee-no ai na-n?. - Jock-a-mo fee na-n?"
This time when he finishes, Matt blushes as his dad stands up and clap, but tenses up slightly when he sees his friend jumping up and moving towards him, but as soon as he feels his friends arms around him, he relaxes and just enjoys the closeness, despite his dad being so close.
"I love you." Ben then whispers in his friends ear, making sure David couldn't hear him and when he pulls away, he can't help but smile before sitting back down, feeling both happy and scared about telling his friend how he feels, they had said it earlier, but neither said it with much conviction, but Ben knew right then that he loved his friend for real and wanted him to know.
"Amazing son and even better the second time." David then says, unaware of the boys little exchange.
"Thank you both, it means a lot and well I had to do it again because it isn't a long song and well I thought I could do it better." Matt replies beaming with pride, but also feeling amazing, because of what his friend had whispered to him and just wished he could have said it back.
"Yeah the second time was better, the first time was good, but the second was better." Ben then says sincerely and smiles when he notices his friends shy glances towards him and he knows that his friend feels the same way.
"You did great Son, but I'm getting a little bit hungry, so if you boys need to use the toilet or something now is the time to go, while I grab us something to eat out of the car." David then tells the boys, as he gets up and walks towards the car, to see what he could find that didn't require too much effort.
"Okay Dad, well I need to pee so I will be back in a few minutes, I can just go to the bushes, so Ben can use the toilet if he wants to." Matt responds, as he starts to pack his guitar away.
"I just need to pee as well." Ben quickly says, although he is a little unsure whether he should go with his friend or not, just in case David might think that is was strange.
"Just go together, it's getting a bit dark so even though it's safe, you can never be to sure and your dad would kill me if anything happened to you Ben." David suggests to the boys, not thinking anything of two boys using the same bush or tree to take a pee, he did it plenty of times when he was growing up. "Just make sure you don't do it too close to the camp and don't be too long either." He then quickly adds, as the boys are about to disappear into the woods.
"Okay Dad, we won't be long." Matt replies before disappearing and as soon as they are a few metres out of sight, Matt feels his friend take hold his hand and a shy smile spreads across his face.
They walk for a few minutes in silence and just enjoying being with each other, when Matt suddenly stops.
"What's up?" Ben asks his friend curiously, wondering why he has stopped.
"I don't think I can tell him Ben." Matt responds, with a look of sadness on his face.
"What do you mean you can't, you promised you would Matt." Ben states, he is a little surprised because he thought that he had got through to his friend.
"I know I did, but the way he talked about the music stuff and how proud he was after my songs, if I told him about Mr Jones, he would be ashamed of me for letting it happen." Matt explains, releasing his friends hand and sitting down almost on top of a bush, in normal circumstances Ben might have laughed at him for it, but he could tell his friend needed him and this wasn't the time for jokes.
"Matt he is your dad, he would never think it was your fault, trust me the only thing your dad will be angry at you for, is if you kept this from him and something really bad happened to you." Ben says, realising his friend is not trying to back out, but is genuinely afraid his dad will blame him and tries to reassure him as best he can.
"Why did it have to happen to me though, I went through all that stuff with Tobias and having to move to another country and it was horrible, everything has just been horrible since I came here, that thing with my boner, the park with your brothers friends and now that pervert Mr Jones, what did I do to deserve this Ben?" Matt asks, almost crying as he looks up at his friend.
Ben however this time doesn't have any answers, he just can't help but feel hurt by his friends words, even though he knows he must be so confused right now, saying nothing good has happened since he came to New Zealand, was like a knife through the heart and he actually thinks about turning around and heading back to the camp, until his friend starts talking again.
"If it wasn't for you Ben, I don't think I could have got through any of it, after Tobias I didn't think I would ever meet someone special again, but then I met you." Matt states sincerely, not knowing how close his friend came to running away from him a few seconds earlier. "I just don't understand what I have done that is so wrong, why am I being punished Ben and why can't I just be happy with you with out everything else." He then says with tears falling down his face and this time his friend isn't lost for words.
"You don't deserve any of it Matt, you're the best person ever and I will always be there for you and protect you I promise." Ben responds from the heart and kneels down in front of his crying friend, he then pulls his face up and kisses him as lovingly as he can, well what he thought was lovingly, he really had no idea about how to kiss someone, but his friend seemed to be enjoying it as much as he was, so he must be doing it right he thought to himself.
The kiss last for almost two minutes, before Ben breaks it and wipes the tears from his friends face.
"If you want, I can do most of the talking to your dad, you just have to get it started and I will do the rest okay?" Ben offers sincerely, he then brushes the hair from his friends eyes, before standing up offering his hand.
"I love you too, just so you know." Matt then says, before he takes his friends hand and lets himself be pulled to his feet.
"I know Dumb Ass, now let's go pee because I'm bursting and your dad will wonder where we are." Ben responds teasingly, as he tries to get his friend smiling again and starts to giggle when he receives a playful punch to the shoulder.
"What ever Creep, you just want to see me pee, well come on then and try to keep your tongue in this time." Matt retorts and smiles after they decide they are okay where they are and drop their shorts and speedos at the same time.
Neither boy bothers to hide the fact they are concentrating more on the other, then they are themselves and have a few near misses with their aim, but just laugh it off and carry on enjoying the view, after they are both done they decide to have one final kiss before pulling their clothes back up and then reluctantly make their way back to the camp, while holding each others hand for as long as they dared too and even before they reach the camp they can smell something being cooked and Matt's heart drops, realising to his horror that his dad is cooking, sure he did okay with the fish, but this didn't smell good at all, although when he glances at his friend he notices a smile.
"I wouldn't get too excited Ben, my dad is awful at cooking and what ever he is cooking now doesn't smell good at all." Matt says, trying to warn his friend not to get his hopes up too high for a decent meal.
"You may be right about your dads cooking, but even he can't mess up my dads stew, sure it smells bad but trust me Matt, it tastes so good and all your dad had to do was heat it up." Ben responds, pulling his friend towards the camp by his hand and only releasing it moments before they emerge from the bushes, he didn't want to let go at all, but he knew if his friends dad saw them, it would be a nightmare and his friend had enough to deal with already.
"Hey boys just in time, hope you don't mind Ben but I just couldn't resist when I saw your dads stew." David states cheerfully, as the the boys approach him and chuckles at the wary look on his sons face and when he sees his nose scrunching up his smile widens.
"No complaints from me, I love my dads stew and I know it smells bad but it tastes great." Ben says smiling and walking over to sit down next to his friends dad.
"It smells so bad though." Matt states, he is still unconvinced as he takes a seat on the other side of his dad, the boys had agreed before hand that they would sit like this, to make sure David, didn't feel like they were ignoring him.
"It's not that bad Matt, just give it a try." David replies, with a teasing grin.
After a bit more teasing, David finally decides the stew is ready and serves it first to a very excited Ben and then to his sceptical looking son, who to David's amusement scrunches up his nose and prods at the stew with his spoon, once David sits down and starts eating, Ben quickly joins him and when he looks up he can see that his son is still not quite sure, but Matt soon joins them and while it isn't in the same league as New Zealand Lamb, it is very good and despite being the last to start, to both his friend and dads surprise he is the first to finish.
"Not so bad then, is it Dumb Ass." Ben then says with a cheeky grin, as he finishes his stew and looks over to his friend.
"It's awesome, but what's up with the smell?" Matt responds honestly, wondering how something so nice could smell so bad.
"I don't know really, Dad just says as long as it tastes good then it doesn't matter what it smells like and it's not like he is selling it to people." Ben answers honestly, he had asked his dad the same thing many times and always received the same reply.
After they talk for a while, Ben decides to give his friend and his dad some time alone and starts heading towards the tent.
"Where are you going?" Matt asks, noticing his friend leaving, which wasn't hard as he had been staring at him for the last few minutes.
"I'm just feeling tired and thought I would get an early night." Ben replies, after turning around to look at his friend and he can't help but smile, when he realising his friend is checking him out.
"Are you feeling okay?" David then asks, worried that he may be feeling ill.
"No nothing like that, I'm just tired." Ben says and again starts heading towards the tent, but stops as he hears his friends voice and while he can't help but feel excited and happy, this is the last thing he wanted to happen.
"I'm feeling tired too." Matt announces, but before he can get up he sees his friend quickly turn around.
"Okay I lied, I'm not that tired, I just wanted to give you two a chance to talk without me around and..." Ben begins to say, but pauses when he sees David smile appreciatively at him and it takes him a few seconds to continue. "I know this is a bonding trip for the two of you and I wouldn't mind a little time to myself anyway, so I thought it would be a good time." He then finishes explaining, he knew he had to be honest, otherwise he would have ended up in the tent with his friend, which he had to admit would be amazing, but he would have hated it knowing that David would be sitting outside on his own.
"Oh, but you don't have to do that." Matt says, realising once again what a good friend Ben really is and it makes him want to be with him even more than he already does.
"He's right Ben, I really don't want you to feel like you are getting in the way, I enjoy your company and it's nice seeing the two of you have such a good time." David says genuinely, the boy has really grown on him and he found himself enjoying having him around, especially seeing how he handled his son at the lake and how he has actually made it easier for him to talk with his son and help with any silences they had.
"I know I don't have too, but please just let me do this for you both, it will mean a lot to me and I do really need some alone time myself, even with my dad and brother at home, I haven't spent this long with someone always right there with me this much and it's not that I don't like being around you, I just er... you know?" Ben explains, trying his best to express himself, but not quite finding the right words.
"I can understand that Ben, everyone needs some alone time, so go ahead and get some rest because we do have a big day tomorrow." David says, realising the boy is probably lying about wanting to be alone, but is trying to do the right thing and decides to respect his decision.
"Thanks Ben, we will try not to wake you when we come in." Matt then says and gives his friend an appreciative nod, he would prefer to be alone with his friend, but he did want to spend some time alone with his dad and knew it was the whole point of this trip, he just hoped he didn't get upset and breakdown because of what he has been through recently.
With that said Ben heads inside the tent and zips up the opening behind him, leaving Matt and his dad to talk alone.
Whilst Matt and his dad talk outside, Ben quickly strips naked and looks through his friends bag to find some underwear to pull on, although he normally only wears briefs, he can't help feeling excited by wearing his friends tighty whiteys and noticed he was actually starting to get a boner and giggles quietly to himself before climbing into his sleeping bag, but instead of trying to sleep he pulls his mobile out and phones his brother to have a quick chat.
"Hey little guy, hows the trip going?" Mitch asks cheerfully, as he answers his phone.
"Hey Mitch, the trips okay I guess, I need to talk to you about something though, are you busy?" Ben responds in a slightly sad tone, not bothering to hide his feelings.
"Sure little guy, are you okay though because you sound a bit down." Mitch responds with concern in his voice, he wasn't expecting his little brother to call him and doesn't like how down he seemed to be.
"Well it's really complicated and I can't tell you now really, I just needed to ask you something for when I get home if that's okay." Ben explains a little hesitantly, he doesn't want to reveal too much over the phone, in case he talks too loudly and his friend or David hears him.
"Oh, well okay just tell me what you want to say and we can go from there." Mitch replies, he isn't quite sure where this conversation is going or whether he is going to like what he hears.
"Well when we get back, things are going to be very bad for a while, some stuff happened to Matt and my friend Jordan." Ben begins to say, but again hesitates before carrying on. "Me and Matt are going to tell his dad about it the night before we head back, Mitch it's really bad and I wish I could tell you now, but I can't and I just need to know you will be there for us." He then says, hoping he hasn't revealed anything too bad and at the same time hoping his brother understands how serious it actually is.
"Well way to be cryptic little guy, I'm not really sure what to say, but I promise that I will do what ever I can to help." Mitch answers, he really isn't sure what is going on, but he knows his little brother wouldn't ask him if he wasn't serious and that is good enough for him to go into big brother mode.
"Sorry and I promise I will tell you when I get back." Ben apologises, he knows he is probably confusing his brother, but he also knows that he can trust him with his life and knows he will help him.
"Alright, but you're okay though right and not hurt or anything?" Mitch asks, he can't help but be concerned for his little brother and if he was hurt he wanted to know about it.
"Oh yeah, I'm not really involved, I just have to be strong for Matt and I'm not sure how it's all going to work out." Ben reassures his brother, but he has something else on his mind, that he wants to talk about and he just can't help but want to ask for his brothers help. "There is something else though and you're the only one I trust to tell, well I can talk to Matt, but he has so much happening already, so we can't talk about it together." He then says, hoping his brother understands.
"Jeez Ben, you really aren't very good at this sort of thing are you, look I'm going to be honest with you, you're kind of scaring the crap out of me, so quit with the cryptic shit and talk to me properly little guy." Mitch states with a stern tone, knowing his little brother will not take it the wrong way and think that he is being told off.
"Okay sorry Mitch, I'm fine and not in trouble or hurt, it's just well something happened with Matt and I don't understand what it means and he doesn't either, but because of what is happening he asked me to wait until later to talk about it and I agreed, but I really need to talk about it." Ben then says as quickly as he can and almost too fast for Mitch to keep up with his little brothers explanation.
"So you two finally kissed then?" Mitch suddenly asks out of the blue, catching Ben by surprise because that was the last thing he had expected his brother to say.
There is a few minutes of silence as Ben is too stunned and scared to say anything and Mitch is just giving his little brother a chance to compose himself, but after a few more moments decides to take the initiative.
"Ben, are you there little guy?" Mitch asks in a warm friendly tone, hoping to get his little brother to relax.
"Do you hate me now?" Ben then whispers as quietly as possible, afraid of the answer he is about to hear from his brother.
"Wait what, don't be a moron you idiot, why would I hate you?" Mitch replies quickly, he hadn't expected that response and started to get a little worried that he had upset his little brother.
"Because I kissed a boy and boys are meant to kiss girls not boys, you hate me don't you?" Ben answers sadly, he wishes he had never called his brother now and considers hanging up and crying himself to sleep.
"Look shut up okay, I don't hate you, nothing could ever make me hate you Ben, so you can quit with that kind of talk or I will kick your ass." Mitch says trying to reassure his little brother and thinks he can hear him giggle, but isn't sure. "As for you kissing a boy, it's not what most people consider right, but screw them because they are just ignorant and now just so I know you understand Ben, I really want you to think about the words that I used when I asked if you kissed Matt and really think about them okay." He then tells him, careful to keep his tone friendly and warm.
Again there is a few moments of silence, as Mitch waits for his little brother to process everything and really think about things.
"Oh... wait why did you say 'finally' did you already know something?" Ben suddenly asks, he only just realises what his brother had said and wonders how he knew, when he didn't even know until a few hours ago and even now he wasn't completely sure of his own feelings.
"The way you two have been acting recently Ben, it was hard not to work it out, the way you look at each other, the way you are always there for each other, the banter you two have between you and oh yeah the getting naked with each other thing, that was a pretty big giveaway, so yeah kind of obvious really that something was going to happen, I'm just surprised it took you two this long." Mitch replies honestly, he actually thought they had already kissed and maybe even gone further, but now he knows he was way off with his assumptions.
"What does it mean though Mitch?" Ben then asks, keeping his voice low just to make sure he doesn't get overheard, he was happy with what his brother had said, but he didn't know how much time alone he had and wanted to get his questions answered.
"Honestly Ben, I don't know, only you can really answer that." Mitch answers honestly, he would love to be able to tell his little brother how he feels and what it means, but all he can do is try and support him as best he can.
"I don't understand though, is there something wrong with me?" Ben then asks in a confused tone.
"Ben there is nothing wrong with you, look I really want to talk to you about this, but over the phone is not the right way to go about it, so how about as soon as you get back home, you and me have a big long talk and I will help you understand as much as I can?" Mitch suggests, as he realises talking over the phone is not really working, he needs to be able to look at his little brother and be able to physically reassure him to help him understand.
"Okay, I wanted to talk to you when we I got home anyway, but I guess I got carried away, talking over the phone isn't the same as in person is it." Ben then states, with a hint of sadness in his voice, that Mitch picks up on.
"No, no it's not when it comes to something as big as this, look any time you want to call me before you get back, then you do it right away Ben, it doesn't matter what time of day it is, just call me if you need to talk okay." Mitch tells him, he wants his little brother to know he will be there for him any time he needs him.
"Thanks Mitch, you're the best brother ever and I love you, but I'm really tired and this is all just so confusing." Ben replies, now in a slightly happier but tired tone, which is a great relief to Mitch, who can relax a little knowing that his little brother is at least for now isn't going to be upset, but he is still concerned about him and also wonders how Matt is doing and what the big news is about.
"Any time little guy, you know I would do anything for you and I mean that, now get some sleep and remember to call me any time you need to talk to someone, goodnight though and I love you too." Mitch then says from the heart, so his little brother knows how much he means to him.
"Goodnight and will see you when I get home." Ben says, feeling a lot happier as he hangs up the phone and lays on his side, he still didn't fully understand what his feelings for his friend meant and still had a lot of questions, but just knowing that he had Mitch to help him, just seemed to make everything better.
Whilst Ben had been talking with his brother, outside the tent Matt and his dad had been having a lot of fun talking with each other and getting to know each other all over again, after they finally decide to get some sleep, they realise they have spent almost two hours talking about school, work and hobbies among other things, however it was the conversation about their move from England to New Zealand that gave David an opportunity he couldn't let slip by, to just sow some seeds of doubts into his son's mind, sure he liked Ben and had no doubt what a positive effect he had on their family, but he had grown worried about the boys close bond and decided to use some underhand tactics.
It was when his son was talking about his first few weeks, that David ceased his chance and lied to his son about how glad he was that Ben had come into his sons life, because he and Sarah had actually considered moving back home because of how upset he was, but because of Ben and how their friendship developed they decided to remain where they were, he knew it was a cruel move and deep down he was a little ashamed of himself for saying it, but the look on his sons face as he processed what he has just been told let him know that it had worked, sure this wasn't going to affect the friendship in any way on it's own, but the seed was there and if future opportunities happened to come a long then he had already laid the groundwork.
Of course his son had asked a few questions related to what he had just been told, but with a few more little lies David managed to change the subject and soon they were back to just casually chatting about everything and nothing, until they both decided that they needed to get some sleep as well and weren't surprised to see Ben was already fast asleep as they climbed into the tent, David tells his son to go ahead and get changed, while he did the same in the make shift changing area he had finished earlier in the day outside.
When David returns to the tent ready to sleep, he notices his son had moved his sleeping bag next to where he sleeps and smiles at the gesture and ruffles his sons hair, he then gets into his sleeping bag and turns the light out, David then watches as his son falls asleep beside him and then after a few moments falls into a deep sleep himself.
Surprisingly being the last to fall asleep, it's David who awakens first but his mood quickly turns from happy to anger, when he reaches across to his son and finds that he is no longer sleeping beside him and when he looks up and across the tent to see his son, who is still in his sleeping bag asleep, is now facing his friend and just like the night before they were holding hands and has to take a few moments to let the anger subside before getting out of his sleeping bag, he then walks over to the sleeping boys and just like he had done the morning before he carefully separates then, before sitting back down and just stares at them, thinking about the situation and what to make of it.
Eventually though the boys begin to stir and David decides just like before, to ignore what he had seen and put it down to them not knowing what they were doing, so he quickly grabs a change of clothing and heads out to get changed, leaving the boys to wake up without them knowing he was watching them.
The next few days pass with out any further surprises or shocks as they explore, fish and swim as well as talk with each other, to Ben's credit and David gratitude he gives him and his son plenty of time alone, while he kept himself busy and as he notices the growing closeness between them, he couldn't help but think everything was going to end up okay, Matt was also feeling the same way about his dads reaction to what they had planned to tell him, because of how close they had managed to get to each other in just a few days.
With both boys seeming to be in high spirits, David couldn't help but enjoy himself as well and actually managed to forget about what was coming, but he wasn't that lucky and as the final day of the trip came around he spent the whole day on edge, trying to work out how best to react, he had to get it right otherwise the boys might question any odd reaction and he couldn't risk them knowing he had already known, he had also received a phone call from, Nick reporting that the job had been completed, although there was a complication, but he was assured it was nothing too serious and David decided to not ask for any more details for the time being.
The day passed quickly and when the evening set in, David actually wondered if the boys had changed their minds about telling him, but that could have just been the couple of beers, he had already had and hadn't even questioned why the boys seemed to be overly keen for him to drink and it wasn't until they sat around the fire and he saw his son give his friend a very worried look, that it finally clicked and he realised why they were keen on him to be a little drunk, when he remembered the part of the conversation they had about making sure he couldn't get so angry, that he would want to drive home straight away, he actually couldn't help but admire the two boys planning for this talk and how it was going to happen, but as his son began to talk, his mood dropped as the moment he had been dreading all day was about to happen.
"Dad, I need to tell you something." Matt suddenly says, with a heartbreaking look of shame and sadness on his face, that David finds hard to look at, knowing what is to come didn't help make this any easier, but he had to follow through with his plan and resisted the urge to reach out to his son and instead just stays where he is and lets him speak.
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