The Life of Matt Summers, Part 1
by Flaming Matt
Chapter 9
October 2014
"You creep, you tricked me." Matt says half angry and half excited, as he pulls his friends briefs from his face and throws them to the ground along with his own and pouts at his friend.
Without saying anything, Ben walks over to his friend, pulls him into his body and kisses him, it only takes Matt a few moments, before he melts into his friends body and kisses him back, but just as the boys get lost in each other, they are startled by the front door being opened and turn in horror as someone walks in with a look of shock, as their eyes fall on the two naked boys holding each other...
"Holy shit guys, what the hell are you doing?" Mitch asks, totally unprepared for the sight in front of him and can't think of anything else to say, as he just stares at the horrified and mortified looking boys.
"Mitch what are you doing here, you said you won't be home for hours." Ben manages to say, as he stands frozen in his friends arms and not sure what to do.
"Guys get some clothes on now and when you are both dressed come and see me in the kitchen Ben and er... Matt you just wait here please." Mitch orders, as he walks into the kitchen leaving the boys to get dressed, he isn't angry at the boys for what they were doing, but he was angry for where they were doing it and he had to talk to his little brother.
After a few minutes, Mitch watches from his seat as a sorry looking Ben, meekly takes a seat opposite him at the table.
"Is Matt okay?" Mitch asks in a caring tone, causing Ben to give him a surprised look at the unexpected question.
"Er... yeah, well no, but he will be I think." Ben answers stumbling on his words, he is just mortified at being caught like that and can't quite think straight.
"Well I will talk to him in a minute, but first you dip shit what the hell were you doing?" Mitch asks in a slightly angry tone, causing his little brother to look down.
"We were just kissing and you know... having fun... we didn't mean... do you hate me?" Ben responds meekly, still avoiding looking at his older brother.
"Don't be a moron Ben, I'm not angry because of what you were doing, you know how I feel about you two being together and I'm really happy our plan worked, well from what I saw I assume it worked, but Ben I'm angry because of where you were doing it, the door wasn't even locked for fuck sake and anyone could have walked in." Mitch says, as he lectures his little brother.
"But no one was meant to come in, dad is out all day and you said you were out for hours, so what are you doing home anyway?" Ben says, trying to defend himself despite knowing it's pointless, he knows he messed up big time and was just lucky it was Mitch who walked through the door, the thought of it being someone else sent a shiver down his spine.
"It doesn't matter what you thought, you should be doing that stuff in your room anyway or at the very least lock the door and as for me well you owe me big time you little shit, why is your phone switched off and why is the home phone engaged?" Mitch asks sternly, he doesn't want to be this harsh, but he has to make sure his little brother realises the consequences of his actions.
"Huh... what do you mean, my phone is on and I haven't used the house phone, what has that got to do with anything anyway?" Ben replies back and actually for the first time looks up at his brother and notices just how angry he actually looks.
"Check for yourself, it's off and the home line is engaged, you're just lucky I came home because dad phoned me to say he had to quickly come home to pick up his laptop that he left in his room and asked me to get it ready for him, so he could leave straight away, I tried phoning you to give you a heads up just in case... well you know and by what I saw you're lucky, I got home before he did." Mitch explains in a slightly calmer tone.
"Dad is coming home?" Ben says in shock, now realising just how lucky he has been.
"Should be about another ten to fifteen minutes... Ben I'm serious now, you have to be more careful in the future... now come here and give me a cuddle you lucky sod." Mitch then says, now reverting back to his big brother role and watches his little brother slowly walk over to him and gives him a weak hug.
"Sorry Mitch, I will be more careful next time." Ben responds, thankful that he has such an amazing brother and doesn't notice the smile on his brothers face, after he had said 'next time'.
"I'm really happy that everything worked out with Matt though." Mitch then says, ruffling his little brothers hair, before playfully pushing him backwards. "Now go get dads laptop from his room, while I talk to Matt and take your time okay." He then states and smiles as his little brother nods and slowly makes his way upstairs, with a little skip in his step.
When Mitch makes his way slowly into the living room, he can't help but feel sorry for the poor boy sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands and walks over to him, before gently placing his hand on the young boys shoulder.
"Hey Matt, you okay little guy?" Mitch asks, in a kind tone and can't help but feel guilty, as the boy lifts his face to show his tear stained face. "Hey it's okay Matt, I'm not angry okay and please don't be upset." He quickly adds and carefully wipes away the young boys tears.
"I want to go home now." Matt states and tries to stand up, but to his surprise the older boy just pushes him gently back on to the chair.
"Maybe later, but let's have a little chat first." Mitch states, again being careful to keep a warm and kind tone, so he doesn't scare him.
"Okay." Matt replies meekly, he really just wants to go home, but he knows he isn't going to be going anywhere, until Mitch talks to him.
"First of all Matt, I want to say congratulations and how happy I am that you and my little brother finally got your feelings sorted out." Mitch says, before pausing as he sees the boy look at him in confusion. "Like I said Matt, I'm happy for you both and I want you to know that what you were doing was not the reason I was angry." He then says, using a slightly firmer tone.
"I don't understand though..." Matt replies back honestly, not understanding what he is being told and if he was in trouble or not.
"I was angry because of how careless you both were, the front door wasn't even locked and you shouldn't be doing that sort of thing, unless you're in your bedrooms, especially naked and holding each other, could you imagine if someone else had walked through the door instead of me?" Mitch explains seriously, he doesn't want to frighten the boy or upset him, but he needed to make sure he understands the potential consequences.
"Is it because what we were doing is wrong, I mean it isn't normal for two boys to kiss right?" Matt suddenly asks, taking Mitch by surprise, he hadn't anticipated that sort of question, but luckily his talk with his little brother earlier, was still fresh in his mind and he quickly thought of the best reply he could.
"Look I will be honest Matt, there are a lot of people who think two men or two woman being in love is wrong, but that is just their opinion, if you love someone it doesn't matter, but again being totally honest you, if you two are serious about each other, then you are going to have a hard time when you decide to let other people know. but that's a talk for another time though Matt and getting back to your question, well to be honest if it was me with a girl standing there naked kissing and holding each other, trust me when I say if my dad walked in, I would be in the same amount of trouble as you and Ben, now if we were just kissing and fully dressed it would have been okay, if not a little embarrassing, but do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Mitch asks, wondering if maybe he hadn't made it to complicated to understand, as he was a little confused himself at his attempt at an explanation.
"Yeah, we shouldn't have been naked like that, but even if we were just kissing people would still not like it would they, not like if I was kissing a girl right?" Matt replies, already knowing the answer as he had already thought about other peoples reactions, when he was trying to understand what his friend really meant to him.
"Sadly that's true, you will be surprised how many people won't actually care, but there will be some idiots out there who are just pricks and will try to make your life hell, I will tell you the same thing I told Ben though, if anyone bothers you just come to me, I meant what I said the other week about you being my little brother Matt and I don't want you to forget that... now let's go to the sink and wash your face, my dad will be home in a few minutes and I don't want him to see you like this." Mitch answers honestly and pulls the young boy to his feet, giving his backside a quick swat in the process and laughs at the adorable yelping sound the boy makes.
"Thanks Mitch, you're the best big brother ever." Matt states with a smile and almost skips into the kitchen and just as he disappears from view, Ben comes down the stairs with his dads laptop, just as the front door opens his dad walks in.
"Oh, hey boys." Mike says, a little surprised at seeing his youngest son home. "Didn't expect you to be home so early Ben, is everything okay?" He then asks, he can't help but be a little concerned although the smile on his sons face does put him at ease a little bit.
"Oh yeah, don't worry Dad, I just came home to see my favourite big brother and make sure he was okay, I was worried he wouldn't be able to handle not seeing me for so long, you know how weird he is." Ben answers, giving his brother a cheeky look as his dad chuckles, Mitch however gives his little brother an evil grin, which soon has the young boy wishing he had kept his mouth shut.
"Yeah, you should see the two of them wrestling around Dad, you would be amazed at what they look like." Mitch says, enjoying his little brothers face turn bright red.
"The two of them?" Mike then asks, he is confused at the remark and wonders who the other one is.
"Oh right, sorry Dad, Matt is here somewhere." Mitch explains and as if on cue, Matt walks into the room with a surprised look on his face, after he notices Mr Walker standing in the room looking at him.
"Hello Matt, nice you see you, I hope the trip went well." Mike says, as he looks the boy over wondering why he looks so guilty, he then can't help but notice the same look on his youngest sons face and if he had more time, he would definitely be trying to get to the bottom of it, but taking a quick glance at the clock he knows he has to head back to work and lets the boys off this time.
"Oh hello Mr Walker er... yeah the trip went great, we had so much fun and me and Ben learned how to gut a fish." Matt responds enthusiastically, purposely leaving out the other stuff because he really doesn't want to think about that right now and even the things he did want to think about, were definitely not appropriate to tell his friends dad.
"Oh did you now, well I guess that's a useful skill, I'm really glad you both had a good time and I would love to hear more about it, but I have to get back to work as quickly as possible." Mike says, as he looks over to his youngest son, who then passes him his laptop. "Boys I wish I could talk more, but I will be back for dinner later this evening, so we can talk then." He adds, before heading out of the door and leaving the boys to relax.
Mitch then watches out the window to make sure his dad is really gone and begins to turn around, but before he gets a chance to tease the two boys, he feels a sharp pain shoot through his shin as his little brothers foot makes contact.
"Oh shit Ben, what the hell." Mitch says as he hops on his leg, he had to hand it to his little brother, he sure could kick a shin with a vengeance.
"That's for what you said to dad, about me and Matt wrestling." Ben replies, trying to sound serious but unable to hide his grin and Matt just looks at the two brothers bemused by their behaviour, he always wondered what it must be like to have a brother and watching his friend, he thought it must be cool.
"You know there are only so many times I am going to let you kick me, before I kick your ass little brother, of course I could always tickle you until you pee yourself again." Mitch says sniggering, as he reveals his little brothers accident in front of his friend, but instead of the mortified look he expected, he just sees his little brother give him a cold look, before he walks over to his friend, who also surprises him by not seeming to react to the news and wonders what is going on.
"He already told me Mitch." Matt says, noticing the confused look on the older boys face.
"Yeah you shit head, cheers for breaking your promise..." Ben hisses, his anger clear in his voice and Mitch realises he has betrayed his little brothers trust and felt awful.
"Sorry, that was a shitty thing to do Ben and I really am sorry, you know I love you." Mitch says sincerely and tries to pull his little brother in for a hug, but Ben is having none of it and pushes his brother away.
"What ever." Ben once again hisses, but this time grabs his friends hand and pulls him towards the stairs, where they quickly head for his room.
"Oh come on Ben, I'm sorry you know I...." Mitch begins to say, but stops as he hears his little brothers bedroom door open and slam shut, now realising just how much he has hurt his little brother, Mitch just sits down angry at himself at being so stupid and insensitive and wonders how long he is going to pay for that mistake.
As Matt feels himself almost being thrown into his friends bedroom and then hearing the door being slammed shut. he quickly turns around and pulls his friend in for a cuddle and gently strokes the back of his head.
"Hey come on Ben, you know he was just messing around, he didn't mean to be such a dick." Matt says, trying to cheer his friend up, with his own recent experiences he knows this isn't just about what Mitch said and just does his best to try to support his friend.
"I know, but he just hurt me and if he can break that promise, what is going to stop him breaking the others as well?" Ben responds and looks into his friends eyes.
"You will hate me for saying this, but give him a break, it's not like you haven't messed up either." Matt then states and looks at his friend in surprise, when he is shoved backwards and almost falls over, with his friend glaring at him.
"What?" Ben asks, not quite hissing but still a little angry at his friends words, Matt then looks at his friend feeling angry and upset at being pushed, they never hurt each other, but he decides that his friend is just hurt and angry at the moment and gives him a break.
"So earlier today you didn't tell your brother what happened to me, even though you promised me you wouldn't tell anyone and you also didn't tell him about the stuff we have been doing, even though I may have wanted to keep it private?" Matt then states, not in an angry tone because he had accepted his friends reasons for breaking his promise, but he still wanted to make his point and the look on his friends face lets him know that his point has definitely been understood.
"Oh crap... I should go talk to him shouldn't I?" Ben responds, realising what a hypocrite he has been and knows deep down his brother would never betray him.
"Well yeah, but before you go I have something to give you." Matt states with a shy smile and just as his friend is about to ask what it is, he pulls him in for a big long kiss, which lasts almost five minutes, before he pushes his friend away smiling. "Now go see your brother, while I get comfortable in your bed." He then says in his best attempt at a seductive tone, while at the same time starts to pull his t-shirt off and smiles as he sees that his friend looking at him and almost drooling.
"Er... maybe I should talk to him later." Ben begins to say, but is interrupted as his friends t-shirt suddenly smacks him straight in the face and he can hear his friend giggling.
"Nice reflexes Creep, but if you don't go sort things out with Mitch, then I'm going to go home." Matt responds, just as he starts undoing his shorts and leaving his friend once again just staring at him. "Hey Creep get your ass moving.." He then orders, before letting his shorts fall to the ground and kicking them away.
After a few more moments, Ben reluctantly leaves his almost naked friend, but then just as he is about to reach the top of the stairs, he hears his bedroom door open and turns around, just as he feels something hit his face, then hearing his friend giggling again, he tries to quickly grabs what ever is covering his face and finds that he is holding a pair of tighty whiteys, at which point he looks up to his now grinning friend, who is just poking his head out of the doorway.
"Oh, can you look after those for me Creep, don't want them going missing." Matt teases, before he disappears back into the room closing the door behind him and leaving Ben standing still with his friends underwear in his hands and as the penny drops that his friend is now naked in his room and a shy smile spreads across his face, he then takes a few moments to enjoy the image of his naked friend in his room, before quickly stuffing the underwear into his pocket and heads downstairs to the living room, where he finds his brother looking sorry for himself, he then slowly moves towards him and slumps down on the sofa.
"Sorry Mitch." Ben then says and just sits waiting for his brother to reply.
"What are you saying sorry for, I'm the idiot who couldn't keep his mouth shut." Mitch responds and turns to his side so he can look at his little brother.
"Yeah, it must run in the family." Ben then states, returning his brothers gesture by turning to look at him as well.
"Huh?" Mitch says, slightly confused at his little brothers reply.
"Well that stuff I told you earlier was a secret, I promised Matt I wouldn't tell anyone and well I told you." Ben explains, adjusting his position, so he is sitting crossed legged on the sofa facing his brother.
"Oh, but he seems okay, he didn't look angry with you or anything." Mitch says, still feeling awful about what he did, but also wondering why Matt seemed fine, with Ben breaking his promises.
"He was angry when I first told him, but after I explained why he decided to forgive me and well if he can forgive me for that, then I was thinking what you did wasn't that bad and you were just trying to be funny, I know you would never you know... really, you know..." Ben tries to explain, but struggling to find the right word for what he wants to say, but looking at his brothers eyes, he knows he made his point.
"I'm really glad that you're my little brother and I love you Ben." Mitch then says and pulls him into a loving embrace, before pulling away. "Look why don't you go back to Matt, I feel like heading back out to my mates and acting like an idiot for a while, this emotional stuff is kinda hard going you know" Mitch suggests, he really does feel like he needs to just relax for a while.
"Yeah, it's been a tough week." Ben replies, before quickly getting to his feet and starts to head towards the stairs, but stops in his tracks when he hears his brother cough and turns around, instantly turning red at what he sees his brother holding.
"I think you're forgetting something little brother." Mitch states with a grin, as he holds up the underwear that had fallen out of his little brothers pocket.
"Oh er... shit er..." Ben mumbles, his mind just goes blank and he struggles to think of anything to say.
"Seriously going commando again, I know it feels good but come on Ben, try to wear underwear some of the time." Mitch then says, almost laughing as he assumes that it is his little brothers underwear.
"Hey, they aren't mine, look." Ben says defensively, as he pulls his jeans down at the side to reveal his own briefs, but the instant he does and the look on his older brothers face, he knows that he just messed up big time.
"If they aren't..." Mitch begins to say, but as he does he puts two and two together and shakes his head in mock dismay. "Seriously, jeez Ben can't you two control yourselves, take these and go tell him to put some clothes on and just try hanging out with each other with your clothes on for a change." He then states, trying hard to hold back from laughing, as he throws Matt's tighty whiteys at his little brother before walking over to the front door.
By the time Ben had managed to think of a comeback, his brother had already left and he just sighs to himself at not being able to think of any comeback sooner, but he soon smiles when he realises his brother and dad are both gone and he has his naked boyfriend in his bed waiting for him and it isn't until he is half way up the stairs, that he realises that he actually thought of his friend as his boyfriend now and his smile grows even wider, before snapping himself back to the matter in hand and continues up the stairs and to his door.
"Hey Matt you better not be asleep, we got the whole house to ourselves." Ben says, still smiling widely as he walks into his room to the sight of his friend, still in his bed with the covers right up to his neck.
"The house to ourselves, where did Mitch go?" Matt asks with a little concern in his voice, wondering if the brothers had made up or just argued.
"He went out to meet up with his friends again, said he will call before he comes home." Ben replies with a look that his friend can't quite work out straight away, but then as he watches him start to remove his top, Matt suddenly understands and smiles.
"You're such a creep, just can't wait to get your clothes off in front of me." Matt says teasingly, trying to hide his laughter and he can't wait to embarrass his friend.
"Coming from the naked guy in my bed." Ben retorts, as he throws his t-shirt to the ground and pulls both his jeans and briefs down in one go, enjoying the fact his friend is checking him out.
"If you say so." Matt replies calmly, which causes Ben to wonder what his friend is up to, there was definitely something going, but he couldn't quite figure it out.
Deciding it didn't matter if his friend was up to something, Ben just gives him an evil grin and moves towards his friend.
"Well I don't see why you get to look at my body and I don't to see yours." Ben states confidently, as he quickly rips the covers off his friend, leaving him exposed so he can have his turn checking him out, but instead of seeing his naked friend laying in front of him, he finds a fully dressed Matt, who is trying to hold back a fit of laughter.
"Well I think we better head out to see Jordan now, we don't want to miss visiting hours." Matt then says casually, before slowly getting up from the bed and walking towards the door and just as he is about to pass his friend, who is still just standing in shock, he reaches out his hand to grab hold of his friends and starts to pull him toward the door, but as soon as he starts moving the sound of his friend gasping stops him in his tracks and when he turns around, he realises that he isn't holding his friends hand and starts to blush.
For a few moments there is silence between the two boys, Matt though doesn't makes any attempt to let go of his friend, as they stand totally frozen in shock at what is happening, then to their horror they hear the bedroom door open and before either of them can react they hear Mitch.
"Oh for fuck sake, seriously you guys this is just getting ridiculous, I mean what the hell Ben, it's been like two minutes and you are naked and oh er... fucking hell." Mitch starts to say angrily, but trails off when his gaze drops to Matt's hand and to what he is holding and he can't help but turn bright red.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit Mitch what are you doing here?" Ben suddenly blurts out and tries to free himself from his friends grip, but finding himself getting no help from his friend, who seems to have frozen with fear, but he eventually manages to force himself free and scrambles to pick up his clothes to get dressed.
"I er... shit you two are really starting to get on my nerves, look I'm cool with you two and well whatever you two are and you know I love you both, but this has to stop, it doesn't matter how old you are or if you're a girl or boy you can't keep getting caught like this, because it will have consequences and trust me when I say this Ben, you don't need that crap in your lives, but if this is how you're going to act then maybe you shouldn't..." Mitch lectures the boys, but stops himself before he says something he regrets, he knows he is over reacting, but the boys still needed to learn they can't just keep doing this sort of thing.
"Shouldn't what?" Ben then asks, after a few moments and is clearly alone in this conversation with his brother, as his friend still hasn't moved an inch.
"Nothing, look let's make a deal okay, for the next week no more naked time for you two and I'm serious Ben, if you two aren't more careful then... well just trust me okay." Mitch says, as he lectures his little brother again.
"Okay..." Ben replies in a defeated tone, he wants to argue and say they should be able to do what they want, but he knows his brother is only looking out for him and if Mitch says they need to be careful than he is going to listen.
"Good, now Matt are you okay?" Mitch then asks, turning to the young boy, when he realises he hasn't actually moved since he came in the room and when Mitch sees the look on the boys face, he knows he needs to do some major damage control. "Hey Matt come on buddy snap out of it, you don't have to be embarrassed in front of me." He says, trying to reassure him after getting no reply the first time.
"I got an idea Mitch." Ben then says and before his brother can ask what it is, Ben quickly pulls his friends shorts and underwear in one go and jumps back smiling.
"HEY... WHAT THE HELL!" Matt suddenly shouts, realising what just happened and much to his friends amusement, he trips over landing straight on his face, after he tries to lunge at his friend.
As Matt lays on the floor trying to untangle his shorts and underwear, Mitch decides that his little brother has gone to far and walks over to him and pushes him on to the bed.
"Hey, what was that for." Ben says in surprise, slowly sitting himself up, he knows that was not a playful push and from the look on his brothers face he knows he is in trouble.
"That was a shitty thing to do Ben, the next time you do something like that, I will do a lot more than push you okay." Mitch threatens, it isn't often his brother gets this angry at him, so Ben knows not to argue and is about to apologise when the sound of his bedroom do slamming shut, causes both brothers to turn around.
Although instead of finding Matt gone like they had thought, they are surprised to see him standing in front of the door smiling at them, as he slowly pulls his untangled shorts and underwear up.
"It's okay Mitch, I probably deserved that and trust me I have done a lot worse to him recently." Matt states, giving his friend a cheeky wink.
"You two are impossible, you know that." Mitch says, looking bemused by Matt's reaction and actually feels guilty for how he had shoved his little brother, it was at that moment he realised that he actually did view Matt as his little brother and it wasn't just words, but he still felt bad for how he handled the situation. "Sorry Ben, I shouldn't have pushed you, but just because Matt is okay with it, that doesn't mean it's something you should be doing." He then says apologetically to his little brother, who to his surprise jumps up and gives him a big hug.
"No problem Mitch, you're still the best big brother ever." Ben says cheerfully, although he is more happy that his friend took the joke like he thought he would, rather than his brother apologising to him, he also put the connection of his actions and his brothers defence of his friend, as a sign that he really did view his friend as his little brother and he couldn't be more happy about it.
"Yeah, it's all cool." Matt adds. for no real reason, he just wanted to say something to join in and was actually glad that the brothers seemed to have forgotten about what actually happened, when Mitch came in the room.
"So what are you boys doing for the rest of the day and yeah I was serious about the naked thing, so you can forget about doing that." Mitch asks in a serious tone, he really wanted to get the boys to be more careful.
"Oh, we are going to go visit Jordan in hospital, you can come if you want Mitch." Matt replies excitedly, although he isn't really sure why he invited Mitch, as there really isn't any reason for him visiting Jordan, but it's to late now he already did it.
"It's a nice offer little guy, but I have plans and it would just be awkward me being there, how are you getting there though?" Mitch responds, wondering if they have even thought about that and from the blank stares he receives from both boys, he doesn't need them to say anything to confirm his thoughts. "Look here is some money, it should cover the bus there and back and should even cover you to get something to eat and I also want you to give me a ring when you are on your way home Ben." He then states, before handing over the money to his brother.
"Oh man, you don't have to give us money Mitch, we could have just walked or something." Ben replies, as he looks between his brother and the money in his hand, what ever he did to get a big brother like Mitch, it must have been pretty damn good he thought to himself.
"Just take it okay, but anyway I'm going to head off now, so just make sure you lock up when you go." Mitch adds, as he walks out of his little brothers room.
"Cheers Mitch you're the best." Matt says sincerely, as Mitch disappears downstairs and when he turns back to his friend, he smiles shyly. "Sorry for you know... I meant to grab your hand and er... well you know..." He then says, blushing a little.
"Oh er... yeah but it er... don't laugh or anything but it felt really good, I mean it was cool you know..." Ben replies shyly, it really did feel great and he couldn't help but wish his brother had never walked in the room.
"It did? But crap we should go see Jordan though, can we talk about this later, I definitely want to talk about it." Matt says reluctantly, he definitely wants to hear more about how his friend felt, but they had to be good and he needed to go see Jordan.
"Oh right yeah, we should get going then and well yeah lets talk about it soon, better not to do it now anyway, because if my brother catches us again I don't know what he will do." Ben says grinning, although he is still half tempted to tempt fate, he knows he has to take his brothers warning seriously, so he puts the money his brother gave him in his pocket, before holding his friends hand and leading him out of the room.
The journey to the hospital, only takes them twenty minutes thanks to the money Mitch gave them to use the bus and they only just manage to resist their natural urge to hold each others hand when they make their way inside the hospital, where they head over to the reception desk and the older woman behind the desk gives them a curious look, after a quick chat they get the directions to Jordan's room, but as they make their way through the endless maze of corridors, they soon get lost and confused as to where they are meant to be going.
They both end up standing looking at each other in confusion at the various signs on the walls scratching there heads, when they suddenly hear someone shouting out to them, but they can't quite make out who it is or even see where the voice is coming from until the shouts get louder.
"MATT, BEN IS THAT REALLY YOU... HEY OVER HERE." The voice shouts and as they turn, they start to smile as they see Carter, who is almost sprinting towards them and impressively managing not to run into the various people in the corridor, before he eventually comes to a stop in front of them smiling.
"Hey Carter, what are you doing here?" Matt asks curiously and stares at his friend, who looks a little out of breath.
Carter then fills the two boys on everything that has happened since they went on their trip that he knows about and how he has been with Jordan every day since he found out what had happened, which makes Ben raise an eyebrow, as he wonders why Carter would be here so much, sure they were friends, but to spend every day was a little suspicious.
"So he is okay then?" Matt then asks, not noticing his friends reaction to Carter being here every day for Jordan.
"Oh, yeah he will be, he's a lot better now and just wants to go home, but they want to keep him in for another few days for some reason." Carter replies, but gets distracted by the strange look his friend is giving him. "Why are you looking at me like that Ben?" He then asks looking at his friend, who suddenly realises what he was doing.
"Oh I er... nothing, so you have been here every day, I didn't think you and Jordan were that close." Ben says, slightly stuttering as he tries to think of something to say and gets a strange look from Matt, who has just noticed his friends odd behaviour.
"Carter can you show us where his room is, we kind of got lost." Matt then asks, attempting to break the uneasy tension that has built up and succeeds as Carter turns to him smiling. "Oh Carter is it okay if we can talk, I need help with something and Ben can keep Jordan company for a while." He then asks, hoping to get his friend alone to talk, as Carter leads the way to Jordan's room.
"Yeah sure." Carter answers curiously and wonders what his friend really wants.
It only takes them a few minutes to get to their friends room and all three boys smile at how happy Jordan seems to be to see them, after a quick hello and some small talk, Matt signals for Carter that he wanted to talk alone now and the boys leave there two friends alone to chat, Carter leads his friend to a room a few doors down from where Jordan is and they go inside and sit down.
"Are we allowed to be in here?" Matt asks, as he looks around the small room, which just has a couple of chairs and a drinks machine.
"Oh yeah, they won't mind it's just somewhere for families or friends to sit for a while, I come in here when the doctors want to do some stuff to Jordan." Carter explains and moves his chair so he is facing his friend.
"Oh cool, so er... can I ask you something kinda you know er... private?" Matt asks nervously, although he manages to force himself not to look away from his friend.
"Oh okay right, I think I know what you are going to say anyway and well I don't mind, so you can ask if you want." Carter answers a little shyly, knowing what his friend was about to ask him, but actually found himself surprisingly okay with it, he had already told Matt that he was gay, so already feels comfortable around him.
"So you and Jordan are like, you know er... together?" Matt tries to ask blushing, this time not able to keep himself from looking away from his friend, in case he has got the wrong end of the stick and will make him angry.
"Well it's complicated, but yeah I hope so, I really like him a lot, but I don't think he will want to be together, especially if he saw how Ben reacted when he figured it out." Carter responds with a little sadness in his voice, despite trying to sound happy, he couldn't help but feel a little down after seeing the look on his friends face.
"What do you mean, how Ben reacted?" Matt asks, taken a little by surprise by what his friend just said.
"You know that weird look he gave me, when I said I have been here every day and then when he said he didn't realise me and Jordan were even that close, I think he figured it out and he didn't like it." Carter says, this time not bothering to hide the sadness in his voice, but as he looks at his friend, he gets confused at the smile on his face. "Why are you smiling?" He then asks, not sure whether he is being made fun off or something else is going on.
"Oh, it's just you don't have to worry about Ben, he was just surprised is all er... Carter er... if I told you something private, will you promise not to tell anyone or even let Ben know that I told you?" Matt responds, he is still smiling, but it's more of a nervous smile now and begins to wonder if this is such a good idea and how Ben will react if he found out, before he could tell him that he had told Carter about them.
"Er... well yeah I mean you kept your promise and I owe you for that, so yeah I promise." Carter answers honestly, he can't help but wonder what his friend could possibly say, that would make him so sure Ben wouldn't mind if he was gay or seeing Jordan.
"Well, the reason I know Ben won't care if you are gay or if you and Jordan were er... you know together, is because well er... me and him are well you know the same." Matt eventually manages to say, as he fights against his nerves and waits nervously for his friends reaction.
"The same what? I don't get what you mean." Carter replies honestly, not quite picking up on what his friend is trying to tell him and still doesn't see how that was meant to tell him how Ben wouldn't care about him and Jordan.
"We are sort of boyfriends and er... you know we kiss and stuff and love each other, like you and Jordan, so we are the same." Matt explains with a smile, he couldn't believe how good it felt to say that out loud to another person and the warm smile on his friends face, lets him know he did the right thing and has nothing to worry about.
"No fucking way, you are both gay too and together?" Carter says in total disbelief, he couldn't believe this, he kind of always thought Ben and Matt were cute, but he never thought for a minute that either was gay.
"Well er... sort of but it's complicated, I mean I don't think I'm gay, Mitch explained it to me and well I don't really like boys, I just like Ben you know and well we aren't actually boyfriends, we still have to talk about that stuff, but we do love each other." Matt explains, with a big smile on his face, every time he said it out loud it made him feel even happier.
"So you don't like look at other boys or anything?" Carter asks curiously, he is a little surprised by his friends statement, for him it was simple, he liked boys and thought they were cute, but to hear his friend say he only liked Ben seemed odd.
"Nope, like when we shower and change at school, I don't think anything about it, but when it comes to Ben it's just different and I just know that I love him you know?" Matt then says, trying to explain to his friend as best he can.
"Oh right, it's just weird I just assumed you are either gay or straight, so does that mean you like girls?" Carter asks, still curious about his friend and his sexuality.
"I don't know, some are pretty and stuff, but when ever I see Ben or I'm near him, I get all these weird but great feelings and just feel happy, I don't feel like that around anyone else." Matt answers honestly, but as he says the words, he suddenly thinks about Tobias and how he had the same feelings with him too and the smile on his face drops when he realises just how much he missed him, but before he gets a chance to give it any more thought he feels a hand in his knee.
"Hey, sorry if I upset you, I didn't mean too, I was just curious and if it makes you feel better, I think maybe Jordan is like you." Carter apologises, thinking he has upset his friend.
"Oh shit no, sorry Carter it isn't you, it's just I was thinking about someone back in England and well maybe I am gay, I don't know it doesn't really matter though right, I mean I love Ben and that's all I care about." Matt says as his smile returns, there it is again he thinks to himself, just saying he is in love with Ben, made him feel so happy and he couldn't wait to tell him about it.
The boys continue to sit and chat about each other and their two respective partners among others things, before deciding to return to Jordan's room, they give each other a quick hug before they leave and when they open the door to Jordan's room, they can't help smiling as they see how happy their friends look and quickly make themselves heard.
"Oh hey guys, great to see you Matt, I hope Carter hasn't been boring you to death like he's been doing to me." Jordan says cheekily and even sticks his tongue out at Carter and gets a giggle out of Ben, who gives Carter an over the top comical wink.
"Oh shut up Jordan or I will call the nurses in and tell them you had a little accident again." Carter retorts, with an evil grin and holds both hands on his hips, as Jordan quickly turns red.
"Oh if you dare do that again, I will kick your cute little ass you prick." Jordan responds, looking slightly mortified at the thought of the nurses coming in like last time.
"So you think my bum is cute then?" Carter says, teasing his friend for his choice of words in front of their friends and as his friend blushes even more, he starts to laugh before moving over to the side of his bed and grabbing a hold of his hand, to both Ben and Matt's surprise though, Jordan doesn't pull his hand away or even look embarrassed about Carter's actions.
"Don't look so surprised guys, I already told you about us Ben and I am sure Carter already blabbed to you Matt, so just to make it clear, yeah me and this little dick head are well you know er... help me out Carter, you are better at explaining it then I am." Jordan states, as he looks up at him.
"We are boyfriends although in secret, we don't want anyone else to know, well I guess apart from you guys as well... oh crap well I guess we have to work on this secret thing Jordan." Carters explains and is a little bit embarrassed, after realising they have already told two people, even though they both agreed they wouldn't tell anyone.
"Hey, don't worry about it guys, we won't tell anyone and besides me and Matt are sort of boyfriends as well, so don't be embarrassed." Ben responds and quickly turns bright red, realising what he has just said, he tenses up and is to afraid to turn to Matt, to see how he has reacted and prepares himself for the worst and flinches when he feels someone grab his arm.
Thinking he is about to be hit, Ben is about to say something, but is stopped in his tracks by his friends... well his boyfriends lips pressing against his own and all his fears disappear and replaced by loving happy feelings as he returns the kiss passionately and it isn't until they hear the sound of their friends coughing, that they break apart and both blush as they look sheepishly to their friends. who have wide grins on their faces.
"Holy shit, you two just made out." Jordan then blurts out in disbelief, despite how much he and Carter have talked and joked around, they hadn't been brave enough to actually go further than cuddling and holding hands, but the sight of his two friends making out gives him a strange feeling and he quickly leans forward and pulls Carter's face to his own and kisses him, initially Carter instinctively tries to pull back, but after realising what is happening, he melts into his friend and returns the kiss and this time it is the sound of Ben and Matt coughing that breaks them apart.
"Was that your first kiss?" Ben asks curiously, wondering how they have managed to spend so much time alone and not actually kissed if it was.
"Er... yeah we were too scared in case someone walked in, so we agreed to wait until Jordan got out of here." Carter answers a little shyly, hoping no one has notices that he had got a boner, but in trying to hide it, he just manages to draw all the boys eyes in the direction of his hands and goes bright red as they all start giggling. "Oh shit." He then says, before looking down at the floor in embarrassment.
"Okay quit it you guys, we all get them, I bet you two have one right now, but they are too small to see." Jordan says mockingly, defending his boyfriend while at the same time pulling him closer so he can whisper in his ear. "Don't get upset, I think it's cute and I got one too." which causes Carter to smile and take a quick glance to see if he is telling the truth.
"Bigger than yours Jordan, but yeah sorry Carter, we shouldn't have laughed and if it makes you feel better, Matt here gave his parents a free show without even realising he had a boner once." Ben says trying to cheer everyone up, although the slightly harder than expected playful punch from Matt, makes him wish he hadn't said that last part.
"Hey, why the hell did you tell them that?" Matt says genuinely angry at his friends remark. "Oh forget it, we are here for Jordan, we can talk about this later Ben." He adds turning the attention back to why they are here in the first place, whilst letting Ben know he is in trouble.
"I'm really happy you two came though, especially you Matt, Ben sort of filled me in about what you know about Mr Jones and what happened, but I wanted to thank you for what you did." Jordan then says. sensing this was as good a time as any to change the subject and he really did want to talk with Matt about this.
"I didn't do anything though, you should be angry because if I had told my dad earlier you wouldn't be in hospital." Matt responds honestly, he really doesn't see why Jordan is thanking him.
"If I had had the balls to tell someone earlier, then you wouldn't have had to go through what you did Matt, so let's not blame ourselves okay, look you told your dad and that's why I'm thanking you because if those people hadn't killed Mr Jones, he would still be doing stuff to us and well I don't want to tell you what he was doing to me that night, so please don't ever ask me." Jordan states sincerely, he was very grateful that Matt could do what he couldn't do, but he didn't want them knowing what their teacher was doing to him.
"At least one good thing came out of this for you Jordan." Ben suddenly says, causing all the attention to turn to him, although when he looks at Matt, it's clear he is still in trouble when they are next alone and he isn't looking forward to that.
"What do you mean?" Jordan asks in a confused tone, he can't see any positives from what happened and if they knew what happened to him that night, they would know that as well.
"Well I mean er... I'm not saying it's good what happened or anything, because that would be sick, but I mean because you ended up here, you and Carter got together right, or were you like seeing each other before?" Ben explains nervously, not sure if he should have said anything, but while Matt is still giving him the same look of anger, his other two friends start to smile and they give each other a quick kiss.
"Oh you're right, I never really thought about things like that, but I don't know, I was kinda out of it for the first day but I could hear him, they tried to get him to go home, but he refused and they couldn't even get him to leave the room without having to drag him, but it wasn't until two days ago that I realised just how cute he was." Jordan says before stopping, briefly looking into his boyfriends eyes and smiles. "He thought I was asleep so got changed in front of me, but I wasn't asleep and when he took his little undies off, my heart literally went crazy." He started to say with a grin, but before he can finish, all eyes were drawn to Carter who turned bright red like he was about to explode.
"Is he okay?" Matt asks in concern, turning to Jordan who just smiles at him.
"Yeah, he just knows what happened next." Jordan says still grinning, although he does give Carter's hand a couple of gentle squeezes to reassure him.
"What happened next?" Matt then asks, curious to know what could be so bad, that Carter is reacting like that.
"Well like I said, he was now naked and as I saw all of him and I mean all of him, well my heart went crazy and well I'm all connected up to these monitors, so as he stood there naked some doctors and nurses came running in thinking something was wrong, because the machines were beeping and well when they saw Carter naked and I don't know who looked more embarrassed, luckily the nurses and doctors just left the room with out saying anything, but Carter looked like he was about to cry and well I just couldn't help myself, so I reached over and was just able to grab his arm and pull him towards me and well I just cuddled him until he started to calm down." Jordan explains and pulls Carter in for comforting cuddle
Ben feeling quite moved by Jordan comforting Carter, makes a move to cuddle up to Matt, but quickly gets the message that he isn't welcome and resumes his previous position, but looking a lot less happy than he was a few moments earlier.
"It was while I was holding him that I realised that I really liked him, I think I liked him ever since he told me he was gay, but I just didn't know and seeing him naked and then comforting him when he was so upset, something just clicked in my head and everything seemed so clear you know?" Jordan then says, looking at his two friends and can't help but notice the tension between them.
"I got my own back though yesterday, for getting me caught naked." Carter then suddenly says, he also notices the tension between Matt and Ben and tries to lighten the mood.
"Yeah you little shit, I still can't believe you did that." Jordan says smiling, as he remembers the previous day.
"What did you do?" Matt asks, moving a little closer to the two boys on the bed and away from Ben, who can't help but notice the intentional move.
"Well he was teasing me about them seeing me naked and teasing me about my penis, so I went to go get some juice and when I came back he carried on teasing me, so I got this really funny idea and before he could figure out what I was doing, I pull back his sheets and emptied my juice all over his gown on his groin." Carters explains, before giggling.
"Yeah then the little shit ran out and called out, so everyone could hear, that I had an accident and needed a sponge bath, a few minutes later two nurses came in with all the stuff and just came over and removed my gown and sheets and started washing me, they didn't even tell him to leave so he was just standing behind them making stupid faces and checking me out." Jordan explains smiling, which surprises Matt, he would have thought Jordan would be angry at Carter for doing something like that, but he still doesn't change his mind about being angry at Ben, because he crossed a line as far as he was concerned and it wasn't the first time.
"Carter you cheeky genius and you are meant to be the good one out of all of us." Ben says, trying to sound more cheerful than he was actually feeling inside, the more he look at Matt, the more he realises how much trouble he is in and he was wondering if they were even going to be friends after they leave the room, let alone boyfriends.
"Yeah well he deserved it and I had to show him who was boss." Carter then states smiling, before he is quickly pulled down and kissed by Jordan.
"Yeah right, I think we know who the real boss is." Jordan teases, but as Carter pulls back and reaches over to the side table to pick up his juice, Jordan quickly apologises and sighs as Carter places the juice back down.
"We sure do Jordan." Carter says with a big grin.
The four boys spend the next few hours talking and laughing with each other, except for Ben, who Matt is still not talking to him, but nothing is said about it, as they look up at the time and it's Ben who realises that they have to be going.
"Hey guys I'm sorry to have to say this, but me and Matt need to be heading back home, you can come with us if you want Carter, I got enough money to buy you a ticket for the bus." Ben announces and looks over to Carter.
"Oh don't worry, I sleep here." Carter responds casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"You sleep here?" Ben asks curiously.
"Oh yeah, I wasn't joking earlier when I said he wouldn't leave me, in the end even his mum gave in and let him sleep in here with me." Jordan answers, instead of Carter who just sits on the side of the bed with a mischievous look on his face.
"Oh that's so cool, can't believe they let you stay though, but we really do have to get going though, it was great to see you and I'm so glad you are okay Jordan." Ben then says sincerely and instinctively reaches for Matt's hand to walk out the door with him, but to his dismay he feels his hand being swatted away.
"Yeah, sorry we can't stay longer but we should go, I will try to come back tomorrow if you are still here mate and you too Carter." Matt says cheerfully, before turning to walk out of the room, without looking at Ben who just follows him.
With all the goodbyes said Carter and Jordan relax with each other and share another kiss, but while they are happy, Matt is definitely not and remembering the room he and Carter had been in earlier, he almost pulls his friends arm off and practically drags him inside before shutting the door behind them.
"Look Matt I'm sorry I...." Ben starts to say, but is interrupted by his friend who lightly pushing him backwards, not enough to hurt him or push him over, but enough to shut him up.
"Shut up and listen, if you want to be my boyfriend or even my friend any more, you have to learn to shut your mouth." Matt says firmly, clearly not joking around, but Ben can't help but interrupt.
"I didn't mean too, we were just joking and I thought..." Ben says and instantly regrets saying anything, when he sees his friend turn around and open the door to leave. "Please don't go, I will shut up now, please I won't interrupt again... please." Ben pleads, he can feel tears starting to form in his eyes, but manages to stop them rolling down his cheeks, as to his relief his friend shuts the door and turns back around, this was a new experience for him, when it came to arguing and fights he was normally the strong one, but with Matt and the feelings he has for him, he just couldn't keep it together and he was so scared of losing him.
"I'm serious Ben, I'm getting sick of you telling everyone our secrets, every chance you get you seem to try and humiliate me in front of people and I've had enough, I love you and I don't want you out of my life, but you can't keep doing this to me, it's just not fair and I don't think we should go home together either now, so I'm going to phone my mum or dad to come pick me up, while you take the bus and maybe I will give you a call tomorrow." Matt states almost coldly and he can see the stunned look on his friends face, but decides to keep going. "Just promise me you will think about what I've said, because I can't be around someone who can hurt me so easily." He then adds and is about to walk out of the room without bothering to wait for a reply, but stops in his tracks when he hears his friend crying, for a moment he almost walks away, but when he hears a sift thud sound behind him, he turns around to see his friend on his knees crying into his hands and all his anger falls away.
Matt moves to his friend and drops to his own knees, he then pulls him up, letting his head nestle into his chest and lets him cry, it takes almost ten minutes before his friend calms down enough to talk and Matt lets go of him, so they can be face to face.
"You're never going to forgive me are you." Ben then says in a totally defeated tone, looking pleadingly into his friends eyes hoping to see forgiveness.
"I don't know, I meant what I said though, you need to be more careful what you say, but..." Matt starts to reply, but stops as he struggles to figure out how he feels and what he wants to say.
"But what?" Ben asks nervously, not sure he really wants to know the answer and he can already feel his bottom lip tremble and does his best to hold himself together.
"It shouldn't be like this Ben, it's only been a few hours and look at us, maybe it was a..." Matt again starts to reply, but hesitates, he doesn't know where these words are coming from, but they are scaring him and he tries his best to work out what they mean, before saying something he will regret.
"You hate me don't you, I've ruined everything." Ben says, as tears stream down his face, he quickly gets to his feet and tries to get to the door to run away, but feels himself being pulled back down and embraced by his friend, who holds him tightly and he can't help but start crying again.
"Sshh Ben it's okay, everything is going to be okay, just remember what I said about telling people our private stuff and we will be okay, I love you so much Ben and never want to lose you." Matt then says from the heart, seeing his friend so distraught and realising how close they were to losing each other, was too much for him and he was determined to not let something so stupid ruin how happy he and Ben are together, he just hoped his friend had listened to him and he stopped revealing their private stuff to everyone, otherwise he really would have to stop being his friend.
They stay locked in each others arms for another ten minutes, when they suddenly hear a soft knock on the door that startles them, they remember they are in a family room and anyone could walk in on them, Matt however after the initial shock wonders why someone would actually knock, he didn't notice anyone else around when they went into the room so, why would anyone knock instead of walking in and then another soft knock interrupts his thoughts.
"Er... come in?" Matt says, surprising himself as he certainly doesn't want anyone to see them like this, especially as his friend is still crying softly into his chest.
When the door opens and a small figure enters and closes the door softly, he is surprised to see Carter standing there with a concerned look on his face.
"Carter?" Matt asks, wondering what his friend is doing here and even how he knew they were there.
"Sorry Matt, it's just I was going to the toilet and you were kind of of loud and I heard what you two were saying, I couldn't help but wait out here just in case someone tried to come in the room and then when it went silent again, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you aren't mad are you?" Carter explains nervously, but relaxes as his friend smiles at him.
"How can I be mad at you for looking out for us." Matt responds, still gently stroking Ben's back.
"So you two aren't going to break up are you?" Carter then says, looking at Ben who is still crying, it was strange for him to see this side of Ben, he had always been the strong one in the group, the one you went to with your problems and he would help, to see him this vulnerable made him feel so sad and he just wanted to help him, like all the times Ben had done the same for him over the years.
"No, this dumb ass will have to try harder, if he wants to get rid of me." Matt answers, trying to cheer Ben up a little bit and lighten the mood, he then smiles when he feels his friend shift his position slightly.
"You're the dumb ass..." Ben retorts, barely audible but both Carter and Matt laugh at his response, he then pulls back fully from his friends embrace and forces a weak smile, Matt then leans over and wipes the tears from his face before helping him up so they are both standing.
"You two should quickly go to the toilet to wash your faces, then hurry to the bus stop, you should be able to catch the next bus if you are quick." Carter then suggests, trying to help out after seeing that both his friends are okay.
"How do you know when the bus comes?" Matt asks, not being able to resist wondering how he would know something so trivial.
"I've been here for days, I had to read something while Jordan was asleep or being checked over." Carter replies, half giggling at himself and is joined by Matt, but Ben can't quite muster up the energy to be happy.
"Carter, thanks for being so great and I'm so happy you and Jordan are you know, boyfriends you two look cute together." Matt then says, just before the three boys leave the room.
Carter heads straight back to Jordan, after he says goodbye to his friends and telling them where the toilets are, once he disappears Matt puts his arm over Ben's shoulder and steers them towards the toilet.
"Let's make this quick so we can get the bus, we don't want to miss it and have to wait for the next one." Matt says, trying his best to sound happy and cheer his friend up, but it doesn't quite work and he can still see the look of sadness on his friends face.
They both quickly wash their faces though and then make their way back the the reception area and then out of the hospital, despite Matt's best efforts to reassure his friend, he still doesn't seem to cheer up, when they then walk across the car park to the bus stop, they are both glad to see the bus arrive almost straight away and both jump on and take a sit near the back for some privacy, where Matt realises that there are only a few other people on the bus and they are sitting at the front, so he decides to make the most of it and turns to his friend.
"Look come on Ben, talk to me please." Matt says, before placing his arm around his friends shoulder and waiting for his reply.
"Why are you being so nice?" Ben then asks meekly, he doesn't bother to look up and doesn't see the confused look on his friends face.
"Huh, what do you mean?" Matt responds, he is confused by the question and is starting to get really worried.
"Why are you pretending to be nice, we both know you're just going to leave me when we get home, it's just mean to pretend like you don't hate me." Ben responds, this time almost flooring Matt, who removes his arm from around his friends shoulder in surprise and shock.
"I'm not leaving you, didn't you hear me at the hospital, I don't want us to not be with each other and I meant it, Ben I want us to be boyfriends and not just friends." Matt states sincerely, but from the look he gets from his friend, he realises that he doesn't believe him. "Ben, I was angry and if I'm being honest, I still am, but I over reacted, but I did mean what I said about talking about our private stuff, but I promise you I want to be your boyfriend, not just your friend but your actual boyfriend and I know that now." He then says and this time he sees the sad look on his friends... no he thinks to himself, his boyfriends face, slowly change into a smile.
"You mean it, you aren't just pretending to be nice until we get home?" Ben asks meekly, he is still scared this is some sort of trick to hurt him, like he had obviously hurt his friend.
"No you stupid dumb ass, now come here." Matt answers, he then quickly looks around and grabs his boyfriends head and pulls him in for a quick but very passionate kiss, before pulling away with a big grin on his face.
"OH WOW!" Ben says, although a lot louder than he intended and blushes as the few people at the front of the bus turn around curiously. "Oh shit sorry." He then whispers to his friend who just smiles.
"Oh crap Ben, didn't Mitch tell you to phone him when we were on our way back to your house?" Matt then says, after suddenly remembering how serious Mitch was about them phoning him.
"Oh shit, I forgot." Ben says as he quickly pulls his phone out and calls his brother.
The phone call is brief and the two boys are soon just sitting together talking about everything and nothing, while they wait for the bus to get to their stop, so they can meet up with Mitch. who had told them that he will be waiting for them, eventually they arrive and are greeted by a happy looking Mitch, who proceeds to tell them about his day while they walk the short distance home, without having to be told, Ben keeps his mouth shut about the boys brief falling out and keeps the conversation about how Jordan is doing and what happened to him, once they get home the three boys continue to chat and play a few games, before it's time for Matt to be heading home, which he reluctantly does as his dad insisted that he be home before dinner, so after saying their goodbyes and with a big long kiss from his boyfriend he starts to walk the short distance home.
Two Months later: December 2014
It was only one week before Christmas and life for Matt Summers couldn't be better, it had been a month since he was able to put the whole Mr Jones abuse behind him, after the police finished their enquiries and the school had paid an out of court settlement to both him and Jordan, the amounts were more than enough to make his life comfortable for the rest of his life, although he would have to wait until he was eighteen before he could have the money himself, until then his parents were advised to put it in a trust fund, he was also grateful for Jordan, because although he had only suffered a short period of abuse himself, Jordan had decided to make sure they both got what they deserved and the two of them came up with a story that made his own suffering stretch over a longer period of time, Matt had felt guilty at first, but in the end accepted that he deserved something good and the school was too scared of a national scandal to really question the boys story and paid out.
It wasn't only the Mr Jones abuse being behind him that made him so happy, it was the blossoming relationship with his boyfriend that made him the most happy, they had heeded Mitch's warning and the only people that know about them were Mitch, Jordan and Carter, they had made sure no one else could find out and they had no plans to change that any time soon, they were aware of the trouble that comes with being gay and they had plenty of time ahead of them to go through that, so decided that they just wanted to enjoy being happy for as long as possible, it also helped that their two friends, Carter and Jordan were going through the same thing as they were and also doing well in their relationship.
Although happy and enjoying life, Matt still had moments where for no reason he would burst into tears or fall into a depression, but every time it seemed that all it took was for his boyfriend to be with him and he would soon cheer up, his parents didn't seem to be that worried either and though he often thought to himself maybe he needed help, the fact they didn't seem to be worried, just made him ignore it himself and just thought if it was serious, then his parents would surely do something about it and if they weren't worried, then he shouldn't be either.
While the boys still hadn't progressed much past just kissing and being naked together, they had talked to Mitch quite a bit about more things they could do with each other, but he had always said the same thing about not rushing things and just to let them happen when they happen, there had been a few more accidentally groping when the boys messed around and even the odd intentional grab, but they were still hesitant to go any further, Mitch had explained all about masturbation to them, but they found the whole thing kind of gross which made Mitch chuckle at the time, Matt though was just happy they had Mitch to talk too, because he was just amazing and treated them with respect and in return they gave him the same respect.
Since coming back from the camping trip, Matt has also been a lot more open with his singing, after the talk his dad had given him and his boyfriends usual enthusiasm, he has slowly managed to share his talent more, he has also started to enjoy how his friends and family react when he walks into a room singing, or when he is cooking or washing the dishes, he would just sing away and when he turned around, he would smile at whoever was there listening to him, he especially loved singing in the shower and although a few times early in the morning his dad had told him to shut up, he knew he was only ever half serious and just tried to be more quiet in the mornings.
He remembered one day when he had come home, he was singing 'Don't stop me now' by Queen, he took his coat and trainers off, before going into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich, it wasn't until he walked into the living room still singing, that he realised that not only were his parents sitting there, but also three of their friends. who were sitting open mouthed and not quite believing that an eleven year old boy could sing like that, a few months before that and he would have stopped in embarrassment, but with his new outlook on his singing he only paused briefly to greet his parents friends before finishing the song and sitting down to eat his sandwiches, much to the amazement and gratitude of his unexpected audience, his parents three friends even gave him a round of applause which actually caused him to blush, he still hadn't gotten used to that happening.
So when he had finished his morning shower, changed into some shorts and t-shirt for the day, he couldn't think life could get any better and was happily singing as he made his way downstairs, however as soon as he walks into the living room, he stops dead when he sees his aunty Amy and quickly runs over and wraps his arms around her.
"Well there's my favourite little nephew." Amy says cheerfully, she had missed the little boy so much and was enjoying the warm loving cuddle.
"I love you." Matt says and starts to cry, which takes his aunt by surprise and she gives David and Sarah, who are both sitting down a worried look.
"What's wrong sweetheart, why are you crying?" Amy asks in a concerned tone and starts to stroke the back of his head gently.
"Nothing... sorry it's just I missed you so much." Matt replies, after a few moments he slowly releases his hold on his aunty and wipes the tears from his face and again confuses everyone by smiling. "Wait here, I gotta call Ben." He then quickly declares and runs out of the room and to his bedroom.
"Is he okay?" Amy asks, as soon as her nephew is out of sight.
"Amy a lot has happened since your last visit, but everything is okay now and as soon as we can, we will tell you everything, but for now just let him be happy please." Sarah says in a slightly subdued tone, which causes her sister to raise an eyebrow, but quickly decides that when the time is right she will know everything she needs to know and just as she sits down again on the sofa, Matt comes running back in grinning.
"Yeah, Ben get here quickly, no nothings wrong just trust me, get here quickly." Matt tells his boyfriend, sounding a little out of breath as he hangs up, he then puts his phone in his pocket and smiles excitedly at his aunty, although he doesn't quite know what to do now, which amuses his parents as he sort of hops from one foot to another for a few minutes waiting excitedly.
"Hey, cut it out Son and just sit down." David suddenly says, deciding to help his son out a little, but regrets his words as he watches his son fling himself into his aunties arms and causes her to wince a little.
"Don't squash your aunty like that Honey." Sarah then says, blushing a little as her son clumsily tries to get off her sister, who to her credit is taking it all in her stride.
"Oh shit, sorry Aunty." Matt says and quickly holds his hand over his mouth, realising he just swore and when he turns to his parents, he can see they both glaring at him and he blushes. "Sorry Mum and Dad, I didn't mean too, I promise." he then apologises sincerely and hopes his parents don't get too mad.
"It's okay, we know you're excited, just try to calm down okay Son" David says, he knows he should tell his son off, but he doesn't want to ruin the mood in the house, just because of one little slip up.
"Yes, let's not have any more naughty language from you okay Sweetheart." Amy then adds, as she starts to tickle her nephew, who is soon begging for her to stop for a few moments before letting him go.
Finally shifting off his aunty, Matt sits happily next to her as they all chat and catch up, David and Sarah though both make sure the conversation stays away from their son, they don't want to bring any of that up and to their relief, their son is too preoccupied with firing all sorts of questions about where his aunty has been, too bring up the subject himself and they watch as Amy struggle to keep up with the barrage of questions, Sarah can't help but laugh at her son, when there is a knock at the door and he suddenly jumps up and runs over to answer it and her sister lets out a thankful sigh.
"You okay there Amy?" Sarah asks with a grin, as she looks over to her sister, who looks a little flustered.
"Well he certainly hasn't changed has he, I thought he might have calmed down a little as he got older." Amy replies and tries to prepare herself for another round as her nephew comes rushing back in and to her delight, she can see him almost dragging Ben behind him, she really enjoyed her nephews friends company and smiles at him.
"See look Ben, I told you she was here." Matt says, full of excitement and Amy can't help but notice the boys are holding hands, although she also notices neither of his parents seem to have noticed and decides not to point it out.
"Hello there young man, it's been a while..." Amy begins to say, before she finds herself being cuddled by the young boy, even though they have only met a few times, Amy couldn't help but love the little tyke and knew from what Sarah had told her about him, that he was a very special boy and as her nephew quickly joins the hug, she couldn't help but notice one of his hands was resting on the small of his friends back and was gently rubbing it and the hand almost disappears under the waist band of his jeans a few times, causing her to wonder if they were more than just friends, but she is also aware that it was unlikely anyone else knew about it, so she quickly untangles everyone from the hug and kneels in front of the two boys to get a good look at them.
"Hey Aunty James." Ben says gleefully, he had taken to referring to her as his aunty, almost instantly after meeting her for the first time and Amy couldn't help but enjoy the compliment.
"You can call me just Amy, you know young man." Amy tells him, although she is already smiling, knowing the little boys response by heart.
"I know, but I like Aunty James better." Ben answers, just as Amy had predicted and even Sarah and David chuckle as they have heard this exchange so many times before.
"How long are you going to be here for Aunty Amy?" Matt then asks and Amy can't help but smile to herself, as she realises no matter how many times she tries to get the two boys to call her just Amy, she is just never going to win.
"Just for a few days Sweetheart, unfortunately I will miss Christmas this year, but we can still have some fun now right boys?" Amy answers with a smile and although she can see the initial disappointment in both boys faces, it's soon gets replaced with a big smile.
They all spend the day together laughing and playing silly games, Amy can't believe how much her nephew has changed, she had assumed he would be the same old boy he always was, but watching his interactions with his friend and his almost eagerness to sing in front of them, has really made an impression on her and she couldn't be happier for her nephew and she hasn't forgotten about Ben either and she can't help but notice the way he stares at her nephew when he doesn't think anyone is looking, in fact she can't actually believe that neither Sarah or David seemed to have noticed, because to her it seems so obvious and she makes a mental note to talk to the boys as soon as she can get them alone, about how they act around each other and to see if anything is actually going on between them.
Eventually though, Amy finds herself alone with Sarah and David instead of the two boys, who said they had to go meet Ben's brother because they had already planned something with him, although they made it clear that they would prefer to stay with her, but Amy insisted they shouldn't break promises, so they reluctantly left the adults to themselves.
"So do you want to tell me what happened, now the boys are gone?" Amy asks, trying to get straight to the point, but hesitates slightly as she sees the look on her sisters face and even David looking uncomfortable at the question and she instantly knows she is not going to like what she hears. "Is it really that bad?" She then asks, trying to end the few moments of awkward silence that had built up.
"David maybe you should get us some drinks and check the front door is locked, just in case he comes home early." Sarah asks her husband, who nods and heads to the kitchen.
"Oh god, what happened Sarah? You are starting to worry me." Amy then asks, as she takes hold of her sisters hand, she had this horrible feeling inside her, that something is seriously wrong and despite how upbeat he seemed, Amy couldn't stop thinking about how her nephew had cried in her arms, when he had first cuddled her and for some reason cancer comes into her head and she prays to herself that he isn't seriously ill.
"Before we tell you, I just want to say that he is fine now and we are keeping a close eye on him, just to make sure he isn't hiding anything, but so far he just seems really happy." Sarah replies, thinking she is reassuring her sister, but in fact is actually makes her sister even more nervous, because if they are keeping that close of an eye on their son, how haven't they noticed just how close he is with his friend and if they can't even see that, then they are not going to be able to see an unhappy boy, trying to act like everything is okay.
David then walks back into the room holding two bottles of wine and three glasses placing them on the table, he then walks into the hallway and makes sure the front door is locked before taking his sit next to his wife, they take a few moments to have a drink and then after taking a deep breath, Sarah tells her sister the full story, with David filling in a few gaps when needed, Amy though couldn't believe what she was hearing and couldn't stop the tears flowing down her cheeks, she then thought how the happy go lucky boy she had seen not twenty minutes ago, could have gone through all that, apart from that first cuddle where he cried for no reason, he did seem fine and you wouldn't suspect anything and despite the fact she knew something was wrong, she could never have expected what she has just been told and struggles to keep her emotions in check.
Even as her sister talked about the murder and then the police interviews and how quick settlement from the school was, Amy couldn't help but wonder how her nephew, had made it through seemingly unaffected and then it hit her, the two boys closeness, the way they looked at each other and took every opportunity to be in some type of physical contact, she realised that it was Ben, who has helped him through this and even though she had decided to try and help the boys earlier, she was now determined to make sure they wouldn't get caught and was already thinking of what advice she could give them.
"Are you okay Amy, I know it's a lot to take in, but you had to know." Sarah asks, as she looks at her sisters tear stained face.
"We wanted to tell you sooner, but we had no way of getting in contact." David then states honestly, they had tried many times to get her to carry a mobile phone, but she wouldn't listen and would have no where to charge it up anyway she had argued.
"Are you sure he's okay though, he could just be hiding it very well." Amy replies, ignoring her own feelings as she fully focuses on her nephew.
"Honestly I haven't stopped worrying about him and every day I expect to find him curled up in a ball crying, but if anything every day he just seems to be happier and happier, we have both tried to talk to him about what happened, but it just seems like he has moved on, he doesn't even get upset about it now." Sarah answers, she still has her concerns and she couldn't help but think the worst and even though he seems to be coping fine, she can't help but fear one day, he will just break down or worse.
"It's true, at first he would cry or try to avoid talking about it, but now it's as if it had never happened, I thought it was just an act at first Amy, but I honestly believe he is fine, of course I won't ever take it for granted and we have both agreed to keep an eye on him just in case, but we aren't going to push him into talking about it, just in case we end up doing more harm then good." David explains and Amy can't help but agree with their logic, by pressing him to talk and relive the experience, they could in fact cause the very thing they are trying to stop, but she still couldn't help but think he was not as fine as they thought he was.
"Do you think he would mind if I talked to him about it, I don't want to upset him, but I would like to see how he is for myself." Amy asks, as she wipes away the drying tears from her face.
"I think that's a good idea, he will probably tell you about it himself, he was pretty adamant we found a way to let you know and he really wanted to speak with you." Sarah responds with a smile, she knows if anyone can find out for sure if her son was okay, it would be her sister.
"If you are going to talk with him Amy, you should try and make sure Ben is with him." David then suggests, surprising Amy who hadn't expected that to be suggested, let alone from David and also made her feel a little uneasy, but she couldn't quite put a finger on what it was.
"You really think it would be better if his friend was there?" Amy says to David just to make sure she heard him correctly, she definitely knew neither of them suspected how close the two boys really were and while she thought her sister wouldn't be angry or upset with her son, she definitely thought David would not take it well, she liked David a lot, but it was clear to her very early on, that while David is lovely, he definitely has strong views on certain things and his sons activities definitely won't go down well.
"Trust me, if there is one thing I'm certain of it's that Matt is a lot more approachable about this with Ben around, when the police did their interviews even they had to let Ben sit with him, otherwise they got nothing out of him and without Ben as his friend, I'm not sure if he would have made it through this as well as he seems to have done." David responds truthfully, even though he had his suspicions about the two boys friendship, he refused to even acknowledge it as a possibility of being true, he knew what would have to happen if they were proved right and choose to ignore any thing that would force his hand.
The rest of the afternoon is spent talking more about Matt, but also about where Amy is off to next and for how long, by the time the boys return, Sarah and Amy have dinner almost cooked and David has rearranged the front room with all the seats facing the front of the room, with Matt's guitar leaning against a stool in it's case, as soon as Matt notices the living room, he gives his dad a questioning look but to his dads surprise he doesn't see any anger or embarrassment in his sons face, he still sometimes forgot about his sons new outlook on performing.
"You don't mind do you son, it's just your aunty apart from a few words this morning, hasn't heard you perform for so long and well me and your mum wouldn't mind listening either." David asks in response to his sons questioning look and all eyes suddenly turn to the young boy.
"I guess so, any requests?" Matt replies looking at everyone, when he realises they are staring at him in surprise, well apart from his boyfriend, who he knows is probably just mentally undressing him and he gives him a shy smile.
There are a few minutes of silence, as the three adults seem to confer, after being taken by surprise that he would ask for requests, eventually they all agree on a song and then agree that Amy should be the one who makes the official request.
"Well Sweetheart, it seems we can't quite make up our minds and have two songs for you to choose from and you get to decide." Amy announces and can't help but notice her nephew look at his friend straight away.
"Oh well, Ben can decide instead of me." Matt responds and gives his boyfriend a quick wink and gets a shy smile in return, which makes him smile, he had noticed that his boyfriend looked a little left out of everything and wanted him to be a part of this too.
"Oh okay, are you okay with that Ben?" Amy asks, turning to the young boy who just nods his head grinning. "Well okay the two choices are 'Listen' by Beyonce or 'Stand By Me' by Ben King... so what's it going to be Ben?" Amy asks, quietly hoping he picks Stand By Me, but is also curious about the other choice because she has never heard of it.
Ben takes a few moments to decide, he even looks at his boyfriend to try and see if he was giving him a signal, but sees that he is just sitting with his guitar, checking him out which while nice, is not helpful at all, he then turns to the others, but it's obvious they each want their own choice and eventually he just decides which one he thinks would impress everyone the most and finally makes his mind up.
"Well I'm sorry Aunty James, but I want to hear him sing Listen, just to see if he can, it's not easy but I think he can do it." Ben announces, feigning doubt because he knows his boyfriend will try even harder if he thinks he is being challenged and by the look on his boyfriends face, he knows he took the bait and can't wait to see him in perform.
"Oh it's fine Ben, I'm actually intrigued by this song and it must be a big song if you don't know if he can sing it, he seems to be able to sing anything." Amy responds honestly and really did wonder if her nephew had any limits, when it came to singing.
"Er... well I can't really use the guitar for this song, so maybe I can sing Aunty Amy's song after dinner, you don't mind do you?" Matt then states, hoping they don't mind waiting for him to play the guitar.
"Oh sure dumb ass, they would hate to hear you sing again, come on get a grip Matt, we would have you singing all day if we thought we could make you." Ben blurts and instantly blushes, while his boyfriends parents and aunty chuckle.
"I think your aunty will love that Honey." Sarah decides to say, just to confirm that they too would love to hear him sing again later.
"What about dinner though, should I wait until after, for both songs?" Matt suddenly asks, remembering that dinner was almost ready when he and his boyfriend had arrived home.
"Don't worry about that, it's already cooked so we can heat it up if we need to after your song Honey." Sarah answers, before everyone makes themselves comfortable on the sofa and chairs facing Matt, who is busy putting his guitar back in it's case for later.
"Okay just give me a second, I just have to think of the song and remember the words." Matt states, before going over the words in his head so he can prepare himself, he knew his boyfriend was just trying to motivate him, but he was actually nervous about the song, to say it was a big song was an understatement and he had to prepare himself, so he could just let his emotions go, as they were as much a part of the song as the words and he wanted to sing it well.
As his parents and aunty wait in anticipation, Matt takes a long look at his boyfriend, who gives him the cutest smile and little wink he has ever seen and knows he is ready, so taking a deep breath he begins.
"Listen to the song here in my heart
A melody I start but can't complete
Listen to the sound from deep within
It's only beginning to find release
Oh, the time has come for my dreams to be heard
They will not be pushed aside and turned
Into your own all 'cause you won't
Listen
Listen, I am alone at a crossroads
I'm not at home in my own home
And I've tried and tried to say what's on my mind
You should have known
Oh, now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what you made of me
I followed the voice you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own
You should have listened, there is someone here inside
Someone I thought had died so long ago"
By this stage Ben is looking at his boyfriends parents and aunty and smiles when he sees the look of awe on their faces and tears in Amy's and Sarah's eyes, secretly he is doing all he can to hide his own, but when he looks back at his boyfriend singing his heart out and sees a few tears rolling down his face he decides to stop holding back and snuggles up to Amy, who places her arm around him and pulls him in tight.
"Oh, I'm free now and my dreams will be heard
They will not be pushed aside or turned
Into your own all 'cause you won't
Listen
Listen, I am alone at a crossroads
I'm not at home in my own home
And I've tried and tried to say what's on mind
You should have known
Oh, now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what you made of me
I followed the voice you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own
I don't know where I belong
But I'll be moving on
If you don't, if you won't
Listen to the song here in my heart
A melody I start but I will complete
Oh, now I'm done believing you
You don't know what I'm feeling
I'm more than what you made of me
I followed the voice you think you gave to me
But now I've gotta find my own
My own."
As soon as he finishes, Matt takes a look at the four people in front of him and starts to shake, it's just too much for him and he runs as fast as he can to his bedroom crying, leaving everyone else stunned as they were just about to applaud him and tell him just how good that was, but now they aren't sure what to do, even Ben doesn't understand what just happened and gets nervous when his boyfriends parents both turn to him, as if he has all the answers, he had found it increasingly more difficult to cope with the way they always turned to him to help his boyfriend and he was starting to wish they would step up for a change, just so he could regroup a little bit and deal with his own emotions.
"We should go up and talk to him." Amy suggests, she is concerned for her nephew, but is surprised by the words that come out of David's mouth.
"No, I think it's best if Ben goes up on his own, we can finish dinner and put the room back to where it was, I think if we all go up there, we could make whatever is wrong with him even worse." David says, as he looks at the young boy expectantly.
"He's right Amy, Ben will know what to say, he always does." Sarah then says, trying to reassure her sister, but Amy isn't convinced and when she turns to Ben, who is still at her side she can't help but feel sorry for the boy, because he looks completely shaken and decides she should step in.
"I'm sure he will do a fine job, but I think I should go and see him instead." Amy states, but just as she stands up and begins walking towards the door, she feels a gentle tug on her arm and looks round to see Ben looking up at her.
"It's okay Aunty James, I think I know what happened." Ben tells her and then turns to his boyfriends parents. "Can you just put our dinner in the oven or something please, this might take a while." He then asks, leaving Amy feeling stunned, she knew he was special and remembered all the stories her sister had told her about him, but this is the first time she has seen it for herself and she couldn't believe how strong he looked right now, compared to just a few moments ago when he looked every bit the child he was.
"Er... well okay." Amy replies, it was the only thing she could think of to say.
"Okay Sweetheart take your time and tell him we love him." Sarah says, as they all watch him make disappear up the stairs.
At the point where he disappears from sight, Amy can't help but turn back to her sister and David with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.
"You shouldn't be putting that much pressure on an eleven year old boy, no matter how remarkable he is." Amy states in a hushed voice, but it loses none of it's seriousness, which takes David and her sister by surprise.
"What are you trying to say?" David asks, clearly taking offence at what his sister in law is implying.
"I'm saying you're Matthews parents not Ben, you should be the ones in his room right now, not some poor little boy." Amy responds sternly, but still keeping her voice down.
"It's not like that, Ben is just better at..." Sarah begins to say defensively, before being cut off.
"No Sarah, he isn't better than your son having his own parents there for him, not to mention the emotional toll is could take on Ben himself, did you see his reaction to Matt running off like that." Amy then says and sees the slightly embarrassed look on both her sister and David's face. "No I doubt you did, because if you had there is no way you would send him up there." She then states, this time with real venom in her voice, Sarah is stunned into silence, as she has never seen her sister like this and David is not quite sure how to react.
"We appreciate your opinion Amy, but I think we know the boys better than you do and with all due respect..." David doesn't get to finish what he was going to say, as Amy cuts him off.
"Shut up David, because you clearly have no idea what you are doing and with all due respect to the both of you, it doesn't take a genius to know when your child is hurting, you don't send a another child, who is is clearly struggling himself, to fix him while you two do some house work and hope everything works out." Amy says lecturing David, who was initially seething, but after a few moments her words start to sink in and he just slumps back into a seat and holds his hands over his mouth.
Sarah realising what they have done, starts to walk towards the stairs but is stopped by her sister.
"I'm sorry for how I talked to you both Sarah, but it's too late now, I just can't believe this is how you have been handling your sons cries for help, what are you two thinking?" Amy states in a much calmer tone, realising this might not be their fault and they might not have even realised what they were doing.
"Cries for help?" Sarah then asks, in a shocked tone confirming her sisters thoughts.
"Yes, what else to you call what just happened, your son is not okay and you need to start talking with him about what's wrong." Amy responds, as she finds herself in the middle of something she wasn't expecting.
"We have talked with him though, he always says the same thing and seems fine, it's been days since his last outburst and Ben has always been the one to cheer him up." David offers, as he joins back in the conversation.
"Maybe you need to take him to a professional, he could be in denial about how he really feels or it could be something else." Amy begins to say, but instantly regrets her last words, if it is something else she knows what it is and David finding out is not going to help in any way, she only had one more day before she had to leave, so knows she has to talk to both her nephew and his Ben before she goes.
"Something else?" Sarah asks, as she starts to think of anything else that could be the cause of her sons distress.
"Er... yeah could be bullying or well maybe it's his hormones he's a little young I know, but these days it isn't that uncommon, it could be something as simple as that confusing him, stopping him from dealing with what happened, I don't know I could be completely wrong, but I definitely think you should take him to see someone." Amy suggests, hoping to avoid any further questions about what her nephews problem could be.
The three continue to talk about what they should do, while they set about rearranging the living room and finishing off dinner.
Ben had just opened the door to his boyfriends bedroom, when he thought he heard shouting downstairs, he is about to see if he can see what is happening when the sounds of his boyfriend crying draws his attention back the room, so he walks in and closes the door behind himself, seeing his boyfriends face buried in his pillows, Ben takes in a deep breath before moving over and gently rubbing his back as he sits next to him.
"Hey Matt, I'm here for you if you want to talk, but only when you're ready. I'm not going anywhere so there's no rush." Ben says softly, then shifts his position so he can lay behind his boyfriend and decides to gently stroke the side of his boyfriends face.
They lay like that for almost twenty minutes, before Matt finally calms down enough to say something.
"Ben what's wrong with me?" Matt asks meekly.
"Nothing is wrong with you, don't be stupid you just got a little upset is all and everyone gets upset sometimes." Ben replies in a soothing tone, as he continues to comfort his friend, but inside he doesn't really know what to do, there is clearly something wrong but he doesn't understand and he is struggling to keep his own emotions under control.
"Yes there is, Ben just tell me the truth, you know I don't like it when you lie to me." Matt responds, seeing right through his boyfriends lies, he knows there is something wrong with him, but he just has no idea how to fix himself, if he doesn't even know what is wrong with him.
"Do you remember when I told you about Mitch finding that dead body?" Ben asks, suddenly getting an idea that may help his boyfriend and even himself.
"Yeah, but what has that got to do with what's wrong with me?" Matt replies still sounding meek, but twisting himself around so he can lay face to face with his boyfriend, smiling weakly before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Well Mitch made me promise not to tell anyone, but er... he was so messed up afterwards that dad made him go to see a psychologist, to help him get over what he saw." Ben explains, then starts to wipe away the dried up tears on his boyfriends cheeks and decides to return the favour by kissing him on the lips tenderly.
"Did it work?" Matt asks, as he moves his hand down and takes a hold of his boyfriends hand.
"Yeah he didn't say much at first about what happened when he went to see him, but eventually he told me about it and how much it helped, it only took a month before the psychologist told him that he didn't need any more appointments." Ben responds, before leaning down and kissing him gently again, he was doing it to comfort his boyfriend, but also because it was helping him keep his own emotions under control.
"So you think I should see a psychologist?" Matt then asks, after he breaks the kiss and stares into his boyfriends beautiful eyes and for the first time since he broke down, he manages a weak smile.
"Yeah, I can ask Mitch who his one was if you want too." Ben offers, before his boyfriend gives him a loving kiss and pulls him in closer.
"Can you go with me?" Matt asks hopefully, after puling back from the kiss, he doesn't want to go to a psychologist on his own.
"If you want me too, I would do anything for you... I love you Matt." Ben answers, as he pulls his boyfriend back into his body, but this time just holds him tightly.
"I love you too and I think Little Benny loves me as well." Matt says giggling, feeling his boyfriends boner poke him.
"Little Matty loves me too." Ben replies and this time they do kiss and they spend the next five minutes in the tender embrace. "Are you ready to go back downstairs now, they are really worried about you." He then says, breaking the kiss reluctantly, but settles for staring into those sparkling green eyes.
"I think so, but are you okay?" Matt replies and causes his boyfriend to give him a funny look. "Don't look at me like that, I know this is hard on you too and if I have to be honest then so do you." He adds, he is genuinely concerned about his boyfriend and remembers that day they had returned from the trip and how his boyfriend had broken down and vowed to not let him go through that again.
"Maybe I should talk to someone too." Ben replies in a sad tone, realising maybe he did need some help too, he just hoped his boyfriend wouldn't blame himself.
"It can't be easy dealing with my problems, but I'm so happy you're with me, I just wish I could be strong like you." Matt says sincerely, now that he is facing up to his own problems, he can see just how much it has taken it's toll on his boyfriend and he can see the tiredness in his boyfriends eyes.
"Should we go wash our faces now and then head downstairs?" Ben then suggests, as he leans over and kisses his boyfriend one more time before getting up.
"Yeah, thank you again Ben, I love you so much." Matt says sincerely, as he manages to get off his bed and stand up.
"I love you too." Ben responds with a shy smile.
The boys have one final cuddle before heading to the bathroom to clean their faces, Ben makes sure his boyfriend is ready to go downstairs and when he nods they both slowly make their way down the stairs and into the living room with Ben going first, where they see Amy, David and Sarah sitting quietly watching the news on the TV not notice the boys standing in the room at first.
"Hey Mum, Dad, Aunty Amy... sorry about earlier." Matt says a little nervously, as all three turn to look at him.
It takes a few moments before any of them reacts, but it's Sarah who jumps up first and quickly pulls her son in for a big loving embrace.
"Eurgh... Mum you're crushing me." Matt says, as he tries to get out of his mums grip.
"Come on Sarah, you're crushing the poor boy, give him some room." Amy says, noticing her nephews discomfort.
"Oh sorry Honey, I just wanted you to know how much I love you." Sarah apologises, as she finally lets her son go, Matt then forces a weak smile before moving back over to his boyfriends side, desperately wanting to hold his hand, but knowing he can't and instead settles for being as close to him as he can get for support.
"Son, we have all been talking with each other and your Aunty suggested..." David is about to suggest the idea of a psychologist, but is interrupted by Ben.
"Er... sorry for interrupting, but well me and Matt have been talking as well and he has something to er... tell you, so can he go first please, it's important." Ben asks, feeling a little nervous for his boyfriend, just in case he gets upset again.
"If it's important then go ahead, our news can wait a few minutes." David responds, he is annoyed at being interrupted, but doesn't want to get into an argument, in case his son gets upset again.
"Okay, go ahead Honey and take your time." Sarah then states, as everyone turns to her son, causing Ben to feel nervous and can feel his boyfriend shaking already.
"It's okay Matt, I'm right here with you and this is best for both of us, I promise." Ben whispers into his boyfriends ear, being careful not to let anyone else hear him, David is about to say something after a few moments, wondering what was being whispered, but before he gets the chance, Matt take a deep breath and forces a weak smile.
"Er... well me and Ben were talking and well er... he said maybe I need to see a..." Matt begins to explain, but stops and turns to his boyfriend for support, when he nods his head and smiles, Matt looks back to his parents and aunty. "That I should go see a psychologist, because I'm not okay, I'm sorry Mum and Dad, but there is something wrong with me and it's not fair on Ben, because he always has to fix me so..." He then starts to add, as everyone looks at him with a startled expression, but it's his boyfriend who interrupts him.
"I'm also going to see the psychologist, we are hoping we can go together, because I need help too, it's been really hard to be there for Matt and hide my own feelings, so we thought if we went together we can get fixed quicker." Ben says, finishing what his boyfriend was going to say, thinking it would be better coming from him and not to just let his boyfriend do all the explaining, because they are a team now and the small smile on his boyfriends face, is enough for him to know that he did the right thing and he smiles back.
There is a few minutes of silence, as the adults take in what the boys have told them, David was just going to explain to the boys that they had come to the same conclusion, and was just amazed that the boys had such a serious and grown up conversation, even Amy was impressed and actually grateful that Ben did go up to help her nephew now and could already see why her sister and David have come to rely on him so much when dealing with their son, when the result is this, than it would be hard not to let it become the normal solution and decides to break the silence.
"Well you two are full of surprises, what David was actually going to suggest to the both of you, was the exact same thing, we had been discussing how it may help you Sweetheart, because it was obvious to me that something was wrong and as for you Ben what a remarkable young boy you really are, but like I told his parents it isn't fair to send you in to deal with something so emotional, so yes a psychologist is just what is needed and I can start making some calls to some friends of mine right away, as we are all in agreement is that okay with everyone?" Amy states, looking around to see if any one has any objections and is about to ask to use the phone when Ben coughs.
"Er... well we kinda of already have one in mind." Ben states blushing slightly, as they gives him a curious look, especially Amy who is once again floored by the idea, that not only have these boys somehow managed to think of going to a psychologist, but have already talked about which one they wanted to see.
"You already thought of someone?" David suddenly asks, not quite believing this conversation is really happening, most adults wouldn't be able to accept they needed help, let alone two eleven year old boys.
"Yeah well we can't really tell you because we would be breaking a promise to someone, but yes we know who we want to see and how to contact him and will sort it out tomorrow afternoon." Matt responds, explaining as much as he can, he knows he didn't make any promise to Mitch himself, because until his boyfriend mentioned it he had no idea, but if his boyfriend had promised then he would keep the promise too and when he gets an appreciative nod from his boyfriend he knows he did the right thing.
"Oh I see, well if you are sure you don't want us to book the appointments, but do you want to talk about things with us now and see if we can help?" Sarah says in a rather hopeful tone, she is proud of her son and Ben, but can't help feeling useless and wants to do anything to make herself feel like he is at least helping in some way.
"Er... well not really Mum... can Ben and me just eat and then go to my room to sleep, I'm really tired..." Matt begins to say and from the odd look his parents give him, he realises he hasn't actually asked if his boyfriend can stay over and even if it's possible. "Oh damn sorry... is it okay for Ben to stay over please. I can even call his dad if you want... please?" He then asks pleadingly.
"Son why don't you go in the kitchen, just heat the dinner up and take it up to your room with Ben, I will call his dad so he can sleepover." David states, surprising the boys and Amy, who can't help but give him a curious glance.
"Yes Honey, do as your father says but bring your plates down when you are finished please." Sarah then adds, she is also a little surprised by her husband, they don't normally let their son eat in his room.
Matt decides to not give his parents a chance to change their minds and pulls his boyfriend with him to the kitchen by grabbing his hand, once they have their dinner reheated, they hurry to his bedroom and Matt locks the door behind him, while his parents and aunty sit back down in the living room to discuss the boys.
"Well that was unexpected." Amy says, she is still amazed at the whole conversation.
"I don't know how Ben does it, he just never fails to get Matt feeling better." Sarah then states, as she remembers all the times the young boy had managed to cheer her son up.
"I don't know how we failed so badly, that we let an eleven year old do what we should have been doing." David then says truthfully, causing both his wife and sister in law to turn to him. "I know, you were right Amy, but it just seemed to be better for Matt, if we let Ben handle it, you have seen for yourself how good the boy is at it." He then adds honestly.
"I have and I want to apologise for being so hard on you both, it's easy to see how you could get used to him helping, because the change in Matt was remarkable and them coming up with the psychologist thing by themselves, well it's just amazing, but could I ask a favour from the both of you?" Amy responds, as both David and Sarah turn to her curiously.
"Of course Amy, you know you can ask us anything." Sarah answers.
"Well I would like to talk to the boys alone in the morning about something, I think it would be better if you two weren't around, I know it sounds strange, but could you possibly go out somewhere for a few hours, it's important and I could use their help." Amy asks a little nervously, she doesn't want them to get suspicious and hopes that if she makes them think it's for her benefit, then they may not ask any questions.
"I'm sure we can think of somewhere to go, are you sure we can't help though, I can't imagine how the boys can help." Sarah responds and in the process dashing her sisters hopes of not having to answer any questions, but at least this one is easy she thinks to herself.
"Well there is a family I know with two young boys and I think the boys can help me out with a problem they are having, seeing as they get on so well, I just thought it would be easier for the boys to talk without three adults around them." Amy says, impressing herself with her quick thinking.
"Well we have been meaning to take the Taylor's up on their offer of a morning out Sarah, if the boys can help your sister with something, it could help them as well." David suggests and gets a nod of approval from his loving wife.
"Thank you so much, I know it's an odd request, but I think David is right as well and maybe it will help them in some way as well." Amy states, more than happy how this has played out.
While the adults are talking downstairs, upstairs the boys have finished eating their dinner, or in their case feeding each other their dinner as they smile at one another, they have never done that before and found it to be very amusing, if not a little messy, but neither of them cared about that and just enjoyed being with each other.
"You think I should go down and sing that song, my aunty wanted me to sing?" Matt decides to ask, while leaning over and wiping a bit of sauce from his boyfriends chin, before licking it off his finger and grinning at the weird but sexy look on his boyfriends face.
"No, I want you to stay here with me, so I can kiss you all better." Ben responds, as he pushes his boyfriend on to his back and rolls on top of him before leaning down and kissing him, after enjoying the unexpected kissing for a few minutes, Matt manages to push his now pouting boyfriend on to his side and gazes into his eyes.
"You're such a creep, but seriously I feel bad, because she is only here for another day and I wanted to make her happy." Matt then says, wishing he didn't get so upset earlier.
"Don't make me tickle you into being happy." Ben responds, he can see his boyfriend starting to get a little upset again. "Besides you didn't see her face while you were singing before, she was so happy and proud of you and I think you even made her a fan of Beyonce after singing that." He then adds, hoping to reassure his boyfriend and leans in for another kiss.
"Okay, okay Creep, but I better take the plates down, before my mum comes up to get them." Matt says, after he reluctantly breaks the kiss and stands up.
"I think you should wait until Little Matty goes back to sleep first." Ben then teases and starts to giggles as he watches his boyfriend look down and blush.
"Damn it, this is your fault Creep." Matt retorts and places both hands on his hips pouting at his boyfriend, he was a little embarrassed, but he wanted to have a bit of fun and seeing his boyfriend happy, made him feel happy.
The boys tease each other for a few minutes, until Matt is able to safely head downstairs, without giving his parents and aunty an eyeful, however to his surprise and delight he somehow manages to get down the stairs and into the kitchen without being seen and is just about to sneak back upstairs, when his guitar catches his eye as he passes the living room door and is about to ignore it and head back to his boyfriend, when he suddenly thinks of his aunty and after taking a quick breath walks into the room instead of heading up the stairs.
"Hey everyone." Matt says cheerfully, as his parents and aunty smile back at him.
"Hello Son, you seem to be very happy." David says smiling, he is glad that his son appears to be all right again, although he is aware that he has problems and can't help but be a little concerned.
"I'm just feeling happy at the moment." Matt replies, not really thinking about what he is saying, but his parents and aunty pick up on his choice of words and give each other a quick look of concern.
"What do you mean at the moment Honey?" Sarah asks, she isn't really sure if she wants to open up any conversation that could upset her son, but feels she has to at least try talking to him.
"Oh er... you know I'm not very well, that's why I'm going to see a psychologist right, you know to get better so I will be happy all the time." Matt responds, again not really paying any real attention to the conversation and his words, otherwise he would definitely be choosing his words a lot better, instead of worrying his family.
"Okay Sweetheart, so why are you down here though, I thought you were tired?" Amy then asks, deciding to change the subject, although she is worried about her nephew, she understands he is probably just distracted and not really paying attention to what he is saying and can guess what the distraction is, with his friend waiting for him upstairs in his room and can't help but smile to herself.
"I just did what mum asked and put our plates in the kitchen, then I saw my guitar and wanted to take it upstairs...oh and I really wanted to say sorry for not getting to play your song Aunty Amy, I promise I will tomorrow, but I'm just all tired and stuff now." Matt says again in a cheerful tone, but there is something else in his eyes that neither of his parents notice, but Amy is close enough to see the twinkle in them, with the subtle glances to the stairs and she can't help but smile to herself knowing what he is really thinking about and thinks it is sweet.
"Before you go Sweetheart, I talked with your parents and they said it would be okay if I talked with you and Ben about something in the morning, just the three of us." Amy then says and almost as soon as the words finish coming out of her mouth, she can see his mood change and wonders if he is going to get the wrong idea.
"Wait what, why do you want to talk to us and why just the three of us?" Matt responds, firing questions at his aunty, as he panics and thinks something is wrong and begins to shake a little bit.
"Hey, it's okay Honey, you aren't in trouble just relax, me and your dad are just going out with Mr and Mrs Taylor tomorrow and your aunty just needs you advice about something that she thinks you can help her with." Sarah quickly states, deciding to step in when she realises her son is panicking and might start getting upset again.
"Oh sorry er... okay, but don't forget me and Ben have to go see someone tomorrow, then we are going to sort of the psychologist stuff." Matt responds calmly, feeling reassured by his mum that he isn't in trouble and relaxes.
"It's okay Sweetheart, now why don't you take your guitar upstairs and go get some rest, your parents and I have some boring grown up talk to do." Amy then says, giving her nephew the chance to make a quick escape and smiles as he quickly gives them all a kiss on the cheek, before grabbing his guitar and heading back to his room.
As he walks into his bedroom, Matt can't help but notice the shy but cheeky grin on his boyfriends face and sees that he is now laying under the covers of his bed.
"Hey, I'm not falling for that Creep." Matt says, while walking to the other side of his room to put his guitar away, however when he turns back around his eyes almost fall out of their sockets, when his boyfriend pulls the sheets off to reveal his naked body and just as quickly pulls the sheets back over himself with a sly grin.
"Fall for what?" Ben then asks in an innocent tone, but the look in his eyes is anything but innocent.
"Creep!" Matt states, before quickly stripping naked and slowly walks towards his bed, Ben seeing his boyfriend walking towards him quickly moves over, he then pulls the covers back to let him in and pulls the sheet back over both of them.
"So what do you want to do, you have two choices." Ben then asks, as he shifts so their faces are only inches apart.
"Huh, two choices, what are they?" Matt replies, he is a little confused, but he quickly starts to lose his train of thought, when he looks deeply into his boyfriends sparkling green eyes.
"You can pick to either kiss me or let me kiss you." Ben responds with a mischievous grin and doesn't have to wait for an answer as he feels his boyfriends lips against his own and enjoys the moment, until he suddenly feels his boyfriend pulling away from him and whimpers a little in disappointment.
"Okay, I pick to let you kiss me." Matt then says with a big cheesy grin on his face, he smiles knowing he has turned the tables on his boyfriend and really enjoyed the cute little whimpering noise his boyfriend made even more.
"You cheated." Ben responds with a smile, he then use his fingers to stroke the hair out of his boyfriends eyes and leans back in to kiss him, they stay that way for almost ten minutes before they both break the kiss and just relax for a few moments, enjoying gazing into each others eyes.
"Ben, I'm really tired." Matt then says reluctantly breaking the moment, he doesn't want to upset his boyfriend, but he really was tired after such an emotional day and is struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Go ahead I don't mind, you look cute when you sleep anyway." Ben replies happily, he is a little disappointed he won't be able to see his boyfriends eyes any more, but he really did enjoy watching his boyfriend sleep just as much and he could see how tired he was.
"I love you." Matt then says, before leaning over and giving his boyfriend one last kiss, before closing his eyes and falling asleep almost as soon as his head hits his pillow.
"I love you too." Ben says, gently kissing his now sleeping boyfriend on his forehead, it always amazed him how quickly his boyfriend could fall asleep and after watching him for over ten minutes, he feels his own eyes begin to close and soon falls into his own deep sleep, with a smile on his face.
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