Who Dares Wins
by N Fourbois
Part Five
After the excitement of Jirí Patácek's visit had died down, life in the Dutton and Farthing households returned to normal, or as near to normal as ever it could. The school term ended with the usual exams followed by end of year activities. Charlie had now completed Year 7 at the same school as his elder brother and Gideon who themselves were about to enter Year 11 the following September, the GCSE year. The Dutton and Farthing parents had now had plenty of time to get used to the idea of having gay sons, although they still felt they were on a learning curve. What the Dutton parents had yet to learn was that they in fact had two gay sons since Charlie's adventures with Jirí and his accompanying declaration remained confidential to just Jamie and Gideon. The promised parcel for Charlie from Jirí had arrived and he wore the Czech gymnast's 'uniform' with pride whenever he had the opportunity. With so much notice the boys could this year go on holiday together. Their relationship, as hot as ever in private, was accepted in public as that of best friends whilst at school thanks to people like the bully Lacey it had become an open secret and was largely tolerated, or more precisely ignored. Anyone who might have taken exception to it first took a leaf out of Lacey's book and realising that discretion was the better part of valour kept their sentiments to themselves. Jamie and Gideon were after all very popular members of the school community. To some extent therefore it was left to Charlie to make the running, which he did at a time in his life when he was just starting his growth spurt. He was about to lose his pretty little boy looks and exchange them for those of a handsome adolescent and because of his God-given nature he was to be spared the moodiness that afflicts so many adolescents. Whatever happened he was going to remain like his brother a blond bombshell.
The school holidays had just begun, but there was a week until the Dutton family holiday in France. The peer group from school had not yet dispersed and Gideon and Jamie had arranged to meet Alex and Will with some other friends in the park to play football. Naturally Charlie wanted to come too and because he was slowly, if unconsciously, developing the ways of a tart he was always welcome company, even among the str8 members of the gang. With the blond thatch, big blue eyes and infectious smile who could resist him and he never had an evil word to say to or about anybody?
Gideon had gone round to Jamie's house immediately after breakfast. The lads were due to meet at ten in the park. Gideon was lying on Jamie's bed absorbed in the latest copy of GY magazine while Jamie was going frantic.
"Hey, that's not on!" exclaimed Gideon.
"What's that?" replied Jamie in a half interested tone.
"Noah in Home and Away is going to be bumped off."
"What murdered?"
"Yeah, shot after he's married Hayley. He's only just got engaged to her in the English editions."
"Well, they're always months behind Australia in Britain," said Jamie.
"Look, it says so here." The article was accompanied by some of the hottest pictures of Beau Brady, the actor who played Noah, that the boys had ever seen and Gideon started adjusting his shorts under his tracksuit. Jamie wasn't left untouched either.
"Still that doesn't help me. I can't find my jock anywhere. I'm sure it was on top of all my sports kit in the drawer last night." Gideon put down his magazine and went to help rummage through Jamie's drawers. It was also an excuse to rub his half hard cock on Jamie's thigh. "Frottage, that's what they call that," said Jamie.
"What?" asked Gideon thinking it was the latest slang for annoyance when you'd lost something.
"Rubbing your dick against someone when you've still got your clothes on."
"Oh," replied Gideon taking refuge in an adolescent monosyllable.
"It's from the French word frotter to rub."
"I must use that in my next French letter at school," said Gideon trying to deflate Jamie's display of specialised knowledge, and in the school holidays at that. Jamie started up again.
"Sugar, that means I've got to wear those baggy black soccer shorts with the built-in slip."
"What's wrong with that?"
"My bollocks bounce up and down like a yo-yo and you can't see my superb legs."
"But I know what your superb legs look like anyway."
"You can be really annoying at times, Gids. I don't mean 'you' you. I mean you, people, everyone..."
"Perhaps you could make it clearer in French," said Gideon getting his own back.
"Bitch!"
"I might be a bitch, but at least I know where my jockstrap is. You could wear your white rugby shorts. I adore you in those."
"What with no jockstrap? Low undercarriage."
"I don't mind."
"You wouldn't"
"On second thoughts I would. Your balls are my personal possessions and I'm not sharing them with anyone."
"We're not married, you know."
"Yet, Jamie," and Gideon looked at him with a seductive expression on his face while sexily licking his lips. They often had little lovers' tiffs like this which in fact they thoroughly enjoyed. They burst out laughing.
Jamie stripped off completely before changing into his soccer kit. It had become second nature to both of them, especially if the other was there. Gideon could resist no more. He got off the bed, grabbed Jamie in a hug, forcing his lips open with his tongue and slipping his right hand between Jamie's legs. At that moment the door burst open, followed by a knock as an afterthought, and Charlie came bursting in.
"Hey, come on, you guys. We're going to be la... Whoops! Are you two at it again? I'm surprised you ever have time to play football."
"We're playing handball at the moment," said Jamie as they slowly parted.
"You'll be like that when you get a boyfriend, Charlie," said Gideon.
"I've already got one, thank you," retorted Charlie haughtily.
"In your dreams," said Jamie.
"No. Jirí and I are boyfriends."
"Since when?"
"Since we slept together."
"Come on, Charlie, pull the other one."
"It's true."
"Hey, guys," said Gideon "we really are going to be late if we go on arguing like this."
"See ya in five," said Charlie as he made his way to the door. "Nice boner, Jamie," he shouted over his shoulder before slamming the door and running headlong into his mother who just happened to have arrived on the landing.
The three boys jauntily made their way off to the park. It wasn't far away.
"Hey, Charlie," said Jamie "are you and Jirí really boyfriends?"
"Sort of," mumbled Charlie.
"What do you mean, 'sort of'?" asked Gideon.
"Well, I asked him to be my boyfriend because he said he hadn't got one and I felt sad for him and he said I could be his boyfriend until he found one in Prague, and he hasn't told me he's got one yet." Both Jamie and Gideon were overcome with a great feeling of love for Charlie as he looked at them with those big round blue eyes. They put him between them and walked along with their arms round his shoulders and his round their waists.
Will and Alex and a couple of the others were already there kicking a ball around.
"I knew we'd forgotten something," said Gideon. "We were supposed to bring the football."
"Doesn't matter," said Jamie. "At least we've got one." Meanwhile Charlie had gone off to join the others. The boys had to take their tracksuits off to form the goal posts. As Charlie slipped his bottoms off neither Gideon nor Jamie could ignore the bulge in Charlie's white shorts with the clear outline of rather a large dick. They'd never noticed one so big on him before and they looked at each other questioningly, but said nothing. With the sides picked, skins against shirts, the game commenced with Jamie and Gideon on opposing teams. Charlie had ended up on the skins and, the little fireball he was, he gave the bigger boys on the shirts a good run for their money. He was not scared of taking any of them on until one mistackle sent him purling along on his front. 'Ow' thought Jamie. 'That must have hurt sliding along on his bare chest.' Charlie was a gutsy little so and so and would normally have got up and and got on with the game, but since he was still lying there both Jamie and Gideon ran over to where he was with some concern. Jamie immediately saw the tears in his eyes.
"What's the trouble, bro?"
"I can't get up."
"Have you broken anything?"
"Yes and no."
"Does it hurt anywhere?" Jamie motioned the others apart from Gideon to move away and they got on with idly kicking the ball about at the other end of the field.
"No, Jamie," and at that he burst into floods of tears.
"What's the matter then, Charlie?"
"It's just... it's just..." Charlie gave a quick glance around and noticing it was only Gideon and Jamie by him he rolled over and they could see the mess he was in. His shorts were covered in a wet sticky yellow and white damp mess and had what looked like a banana skin peeping out of the waistband of a rather loose jockstrap. It was beginning to dawn on the two older boys what was going on.
"I didn't know you had a jockstrap, Charlie," said Jamie.
"I haven't. It's yours. I borrowed it from your drawer."
"Aah, that's where it disappeared to. And...?" Charlie sniffed the tears back.
"I wanted to look like you and Gideon with a big bulge in my shorts. So I put on your jockstrap and stuffed two eggs and a banana down the pouch bit that's there for a cricket box and it looked good. The eggs were a bit cold 'cause I took them straight from fridge, but otherwise I felt good." Jamie and Gideon nodded knowingly at one another.
"Perhaps you ought to hard boil them next time," grinned Gideon.
"There won't be a next time," sniffed Charlie "and I'll buy you a new jockstrap from my pocket money, bro."
"We'll worry about that later, Charlie," Jamie replied. "We'd better get you cleaned up. Turn over," and they saw the extent of the mess he was in with strained egg white and yolk trickling down his legs. Both Jamie and Gideon started to roar with laughter and even Charlie was beginning to see the funny side as his face lit up and a grin came to his face.
"Hey, lads," shouted Jamie. "Charlie's all right. Come on over here. He just needs a bit of help. He's got to change his shorts." Gideon went and fetched his clothes from the 'goal post'. Then in time honoured fashion the lads made a circle round him while he stripped off his shorts and jockstrap, wiped himself down and put on his shirt and tracksuit. As Will remarked afterwards, he didn't really need to stuff a banana down his shorts. It brought a new meaning to the word lunchbox, remarked another and they all laughed heartily. By now it was getting on for lunchtime and the boys dispersed to go their several ways.
"What are we going to tell Mum?" asked Charlie in a husky voice.
* * *
For the next couple of weeks the Duttons along with Gideon were off camping in the south of France. Gideon tried to see how many times he could use the verb frotter while he was there. Jamie was beginning to wish he'd never mentioned it. The two boys had a tent to themselves; that is to say when Charlie allowed them to have it to themselves. What had become clear was that Charlie's voice was beginning to break.
After that the Farthings disappeared off to Cyprus for a fortnight with Jamie. Here the boys were allowed to be on their own without interruptions from a younger brother at essential moments. Oddly because of the heat the two boys learnt to love more in the emotional sense for the heat, although tolerable, was too much for encounters of the closer kind to be comfortable. Any lovemaking was confined to the cool of the morning around sunrise before they got up, put on their Speedos and went to swim in the hotel pool before going off to breakfast.
When at the end of the holiday they arrived back at the Farthings' house and the Duttons came to pick Jamie up, the first out of the car was Charlie who ran up and hugged and kissed first Jamie and then Gideon. Over a cup of tea the Duttons explained how much he had missed his big brother and how unusually miserable he was without him and Gideon around. The two boys were, however, completely overwhelmed when they heard Charlie's brand new dark brown voice, Although it had that grating harshness of adolescence it was easily deeper than either Jamie's or Gideon's. Adolescence was having another effect on Charlie.
It was August bank holiday weekend and Gideon's turn to stay with Jamie. On the Sunday evening they had said good night at the same time as Charlie was sent to bed. With Mr and Mrs Dutton safely ensconced downstairs in front of the television, they knew they could safely express their passion for one another and physically exhausted they fell asleep. The next morning they were still naked in one another's arms under the duvet.
"Gids, are you awake?"
Bleary eyed Gideon answered "I am now."
"Give me a kiss."
"I can't. I've got to do something first."
"I'll come with you." They both climbed out of bed sporting morning wood and eased themselves into their shorts. By the time they had reached the bathroom their stiffies had relented enough to allow them both to release a healthy stream into the lavatory bowl without wetting the mat round the pedestal. They returned to Jamie's room, discarded their shorts and, their bodies chilled, climbed back under the duvet. Gideon lay on his side and Jamie spooned his back against Gideon's chest and stomach, while Gideon wrapped his arms round Jamie warming each other up. It wasn't their intention to have sex, just in case Jamie's mum came in with a cup of tea, but as is so often the case, it just happened and Gideon somehow found himself inside Jamie. There was hardly any movement as they didn't want to attract any attention to themselves with any noise, but as they lay on their sides Gideon was just reaching his climax with Jamie to follow aided by Gideon's hand, when crash, bang wallop, the bedroom door opened and Charlie appeared. Two cocks immediately deflated without releasing their seed and Gideon unceremoniously slipped out of Jamie.
"Hey fellas, look!" bellowed Charlie in his brand new raucous voice. Two reluctant lovers blinked and tried to sit up in bed.
"Good morning, Charlie. It's not quite the right moment," groaned Jamie. Then they saw Charlie bare topped and in his sleeping shorts which were soaked as if he'd wet himself.
"Sorry, guys, but I just had to tell you. I've just had my first wank. I've been working on it for days and this is the first time I've come." The other two boys thought back to their own first experience before they'd become an item and although it was something they had kept to themselves they immediately remembered what an important milestone in their growing up it had been.
"Come here, Charlie."
"What? You're not going to..."
"Just slip those wet shorts off, come here and climb in between us." They parted enough to allow him to climb in between them without themselves falling out of bed. Jamie kissed his brother. "Congratulations, Charlie. Now you're a man."
"Thanks, bro, thanks, Gids." Gideon kissed him as well. "I'm going to e-mail Jirí after breakfast. I was thinking of him all the time I was doing it. It made me feel really sexy," and the three settled down to a group cuddle.
It ended when Mrs Dutton knocked and brought in two cups of tea. She wouldn't have been surprised to see two heads in one bed, but she was taken aback to see three. Jamie had the presence of mind to reach out and slide Charlie's shorts under the bed. She said nothing, but smiled to herself, shook her head and went downstairs to fetch a third cup of tea. Quickly the boys made sure they put their shorts on. It was too late for Gideon to get into his bed.
The family was due to take a picnic down to the beach later that morning, but Charlie did have time to send the promised e-mail to Jirí and got a reply. He printed off the answer and took it in to Jamie and Gideon, for once remembering to knock the door and wait for an answer. «Dear Charlie, what does this word wank mean? We have not learnt it at school and I can't find it in my dictionary. Love and hugs, Jirí.»
"How are you going to get over that one, Charlie?" asked Gideon.
The day at the seaside went very well until back home over supper that night Mr Dutton asked
"Charlie, what's got into you today? You've gone hyper." Gideon and Jamie looked at one another and giggled. Charlie blushed.
"Shall we tell him, Gids?" Charlie blushed even deeper.
"Nah," said Gideon, shaking his head. Charlie looked visibly relieved.
* * *
The year continued to take its remorseless course. The GCSE year was not so much one of difficult work, but one weighed down by the bulk of it. Gideon and Jamie still took turns during the school week to go to each other's house to do their homework before one of them returned home. Jamie had just left the Farthing home and Mrs Farthing was getting on with preparing tea. Gideon's father would be home in a quarter of an hour or so.
Once they were all sat round the tea table and had exchanged their news of how the day had gone, Mr Farthing said
"Gideon, we wanted to talk to you about something." Immediately Gideon's conscience was pricking him and he wondered which of his jolly japes had caught up with him. Seeing the look on his face, his father added "It's all right, son. It's nothing to worry about... this time," and laughed. His mother continued.
"It's just that your birthday's coming up in a couple of weeks' time and you'll be sixteen, but you haven't mentioned any particular present or anything you want to do specially."
"I've been thinking about it and you know there's nothing special that I need or want. I'd like to go on this Prague trip with the athletics club next year, if it comes off, but I can't think of anything else."
"That'll depend on the dates, what with your GCSEs coming up," replied his father.
"Would you like a party?" asked his mother.
"Well, you know how difficult that is, with me and Jamie as we are. We can't exactly dance together while everyone else is there with their girlfriends."
"Mmm, I see the point," replied his mother.
Gideon thought for a few moments. "Do you know what I'd really like?"
"No," said his parents in unison.
"This might sound weird for a sixteen year old, but I'd like to have a dinner party with everyone wearing their best clothes."
"Different," said his mother.
"Do you mean at a restaurant?" asked his father.
"Not really. Mum, how many do you think you could cater for if we had it here?"
"Mmm, judging by the Christmases when we've had the family here, I would say we could comfortably seat twelve round the dining room table, if we pull out both leaves, and I know I can cook for twelve if I use the Aga as well as the gas stove."
"Can we do that then? Please, Mum?"
"If that's what you really want, that's fine by me."
"Are you sure that's what you want?" said his dad "and not in a restaurant?"
"We can eat what we want at home instead of having to pick from a menu."
"And do you know what you want to eat?" asked his mother.
"I've got a pretty good idea, but I want to discuss it with Jamie first."
"Sorry, I forgot," said his mother quite genuinely.
"That brings us on to something else that Mum and I want to talk to you about." Gideon gave his father an old fashioned look, wondering what to expect. "When you're sixteen, and we know Jamie's going to be sixteen the following month, that brings with it certain rights under the law, like you can buy a lottery ticket and, we hope you won't, you can buy cigarettes." Jamie knew they weren't going to talk about the National Lottery and fags, but he kept his own counsel and said nothing.
"We know how much you two are in love with each other," continued his mother "and Mr and Mrs Dutton and us, we've never poked our noses into what you get up to, but we are very conscious of the fact that when you're both sixteen it becomes legal for you to... er... sleep together. So..." Gideon, blushing, was beginning to wonder what this was leading up to.
His father took up the theme. "...we wondered if you would like to move into the large spare bedroom and have it decorated in the way you want." Gideon's eyes opened wide.
"Wow, cool." He'd never even dared think of the idea, let alone ask. "What about when we have visitors?"
"We'll have to accommodate them the best we can, but that's not a worry."
"We take it you like the idea then?" said his father.
"Like it? Adore it."
"Well, this is the plan. You've got the rest of this week to choose the wallpaper and the paint. We can go across one evening to that huge B&Q they've just opened. I'm taking a week's holiday next week to get it done and on the assumption you were going to say yes, we've arranged for you to stay at the Duttons' all week so that we can get on with the work and you come home for the Friday evening. How does that sound?"
"Excellent. Can I go and ring Jamie and tell him?"
"Finish your tea first and provided your homework's all done you can telephone to your heart's content."
"Thanks, Mum. Thanks, Dad," and he gave them a big Charlie-type bearhug before deciding he'd finished his tea.
"So how does that sound, Jamie?"
«Awesome.»
"And you can come along with me to B&Q and help me choose the colour scheme. I want Charlie and your Mum and Dad to come to my birthday dinner."
«Who else is coming?»
"I haven't asked anybody else yet, but I want Will and Alex and Great Aunt Mathilda."
«She'll be a bit stuck out on a limb, won't she?»
"Don't you believe it," and here he lowered his voice. "She's a lesbian, you know. She told me all about it."
«What? All about it?»
"Well, not all about it. Not that part and I don't think I really wanted to know anyway. Got to go and design some invites on the computer. Love you lots, Jamie."
«Love you lots more, Gids.»
"Love lots more than that, Jamie. *kiss*," and he quickly cut the connection before Jamie could say anything else.
The next few days flew past for Mr and Mrs Farthing, but for Gideon they ground past slowly. Friday evening with his homework finished he left the Duttons' and made his way, overnight bag in hand, back to his own house. When he got there he was greeted by Great Aunt Mathilda who called for his parents as they were busy putting the finishing touches to the decorating.
"Can I go and look?" he asked when his mother eventually appeared.
"Not yet, dear. It's not quite finished. You can see it tomorrow."
Even in the morning the door was firmly locked and he was not allowed to look inside his new bedroom. There was a school rugby match on that morning that he and Jamie and Will and Alex were playing in.
"I hope you don't mind, Gideon," said his mother over breakfast as he was opening birthday cards from his parents and Great Aunt Mathilda, "but we won't be able to come and watch you play today. I need to get on here, Aunt Mathilda is going to do the shopping and Dad's going to give your room the finishing touches."
"That's okay, Mum." Aunt Mathilda's card puzzled him for instead of the customary postal order there was just a message saying that her present was too large to go into the envelope, indeed too large to go through the letterbox. All would be revealed later. He was out of the house on his way to Jamie's before he saw either his father or Mathilda with an early start for an away match.
It was a perfect day for rugby. The ground was soft, the sun was shining and without any wind the temperature was neither cold nor too hot. The game was going well until about ten minutes after half time when Gideon's team won a scrum, Jamie passed the ball to Gideon at fly half and a frustrated opposing flanker, not content with tackling him, blatantly and in front of the referee thumped him in the face. The reaction of the crowd made it impossible for the offence to be ignored and for the 'advantage law' to be played. The offender was sent off while Gideon was given the satisfaction of kicking the penalty. It was not a difficult kick and he scored three points, but now they were playing against just fourteen men it threw the balance of the game in their favour. The score was more or less even after the kick, but the away team's opportunity came when Jamie got the ball from the scrum against the head, not so difficult as it was eight against seven, passed it out to Gideon, the pass going on to Alex, then Will. Meanwhile Jamie and Gideon had run off the ball, made the overlap and Gideon was able to touch the ball down in the corner for five points, putting his team just in the lead. The conversion would have been a difficult kick for an adult and while Gideon got the height, he failed to put the ball between the sticks. They just needed to hang on in there, if they couldn't get another score. Eventually the final whistle blew without any more points being scored. The visiting team had won. After the two sides had clapped each other off the pitch Gideon's friends grabbed him and gave him sixteen birthday bumps. The master in charge of the team checked his face before he went in to shower and change. Jamie's parents along with Charlie took the boys back home in the car and duly deposited Gideon outside his front door, saying they would see him later.
Gideon went in to find a pile of birthday cards awaiting him. It was frustrating, but he was still not allowed to see his new room.
"What on earth has happened to your face, Gideon?" asked Aunt Mathilda with some shock.
"Oh, it's just from rugby," he answered dismissively.
"You'd better go and take a look at it, dear." He went into the kitchen and looked at himself in the mirror over the sink. He had the mother of all black eyes.
Finally the evening arrived. The Duttons had been invited over half an hour earlier than Alex and Will for the official opening ceremony of Gideon's bedroom. He was presented with the key which had a gold ribbon tied round it and he and Jamie went up to unlock the door, closely pursued by Charlie. The two sets of parents and Aunt Mathilda followed at a discreet distance. When Gideon opened the door he was taken aback as he looked round. The centre piece was a large double bed covered by a double duvet with a rainbow cover, undersheet and pillow slips. On the bed were two single duvets, likewise in rainbow covers on which was a golden envelope. He undid the envelope carefully and read the message on a plain white card. 'I hope this is what you wanted, Gideon. With love and best wishes for your birthday, Mathilda.'
"It only just arrived in time this morning," came her voice from outside.
"Thank you, Aunt Mathilda," said Gideon and he gave her a great hug. As he continued to look round the room, he realised that there had been a number of alterations. An en suite bathroom had been built into the corner, there was a built in double wardrobe and two work desks, and still the room didn't look crowded. After a sharp intake of breath he went and hugged his mother and father, thanking them. No wonder they wanted him out of the way while all this was being done.
The joyous celebrations were interrupted by a ring at the front door. On opening Gideon found Alex and Will there. After a non-sexual hug for their str8 friends they came in clutching cards and presents. They handed them over, three packets, one of which oddly was wrapped in Christmas paper.
"This one," whispered Alex "is from both of us, but whatever you do, don't unwrap it in front of the grown ups." This roused Gideon's curiosity, but he slipped it into his jacket pocket while the other two packets were placed with the rest of the presents and cards.
"Come and have a look at my new bedroom," and the five boys went upstairs leaving the adults downstairs in the living room enjoying a glass of sherry.
Safely upstairs Gideon could undo the little packet in Christmas paper. He was slightly amazed to discover that the contents was a thirty-six pack of condoms.
"We don't usually use these, guys, but thanks a lot. I don't want to get Jamie pregnant... yet."
"But look at the pack carefully," said Alex.
"They're fruit flavoured," added Will. "I'm sure you could put them to good use." Charlie was bouncing up and down with curiosity.
"Boys," came a shout from downstairs, "dinner's nearly ready."
Gideon was visibly proud and content when they sat down at the dining table to see everybody, particularly his young friends so formally and neatly dressed in jackets and ties. As usual it was Charlie who stole the show for despite its being Gideon's birthday he attracted the most attention one way or another, intentionally or unintentionally, and he looked so cute in a mid-blue jacket, black trousers, pale pink shirt and a matching blue bow tie, all dominated as usual by his shock of blond hair. The parents sat at either end of the table while along the length sat Gideon with Jamie on his right and Charlie on his left and opposite Alex and Will accompanied by Great Aunt Mathilda who despite her seniority kept them royally entertained. The photographs Mr Farthing took with the digital camera made fitting souvenirs of the evening even though the centrepiece was adorned with a huge black eye.
The evening passed and was an exhibition of Mrs Farthing's culinary skills and naturally the menu chosen had been built around a full roast dinner. At the end of the meal Gideon was toasted and he acquitted himself well with an impromptu speech thanking all present for their various contributions and explaining how with the rugby match in the morning as well it couldn't have been a better birthday to remember and perhaps the black eye made it all the more memorable. He then undid his presents and graciously thanked those who had given them. He extolled the conversion that had gone on to make his new bedroom, but his most heartfelt gratitude went to Jamie who had presented him with a sterling silver bracelet with a hallmarked nameplate. On the outer side was simply engraved his name. The inner side was more telling. It consisted of 'Je t'aimerai pour toujours, ton Jamie' flanked by a pair of male symbols entwined. He immediately put it on his right wrist.
The conviviality of the evening was interrupted by a ring of the doorbell. It was Mr Wilding who had come to fetch Alex and Will. He was invited in and after a cup of coffee and a chat whisked the boys away home to their beds, which just left the Farthings and the Duttons. Mrs Dutton had an announcement to make.
"Gideon, we discussed this with your parents and with their permission, as you are now sixteen and you are almost a member of the family we would like you to call us Eric and Martha." Gideon blushed at the idea, but nodded his acceptance, while Mrs Farthing said
"And Jamie we would like you to call us Jeremy and Penny."
"Does that include me," piped up Charlie feeling a little left out.
"You have a few years to go yet, young man," said his father. Jeremy and Penny Farthing looked at one another and Mr Farthing said
"As we are talking about virtual families, the answer is yes, I suppose." Charlie beamed that smile that could win over the most hard hearted of people.
The conversation continued in a lively manner for another half an hour or so until Mrs Dutton decided it would soon be Sunday and that they had better go home. Teasingly, as she already knew the answer, she said
"Jamie, are you coming home with us?"
"No way, Mum. You know it's my turn to stay at Gideon's this weekend."
"Can I stay as well?" said Charlie more in hope than faith.
"I think Jamie and Gideon want a little time to celebrate Gideon's birthday together without you around, young man," and Charlie put on his mock disappointed face. The three Duttons disappeared after profuse praise and thanks for a wonderful evening. After they had helped Mr and Mrs Farthing with the clearing up the two boys disappeared upstairs after saying thanks for what had been a most enjoyable evening. Gideon went into his old bedroom and removed the 'supplies' he had locked away in the bottom drawer of his old desk to lubricate the remaining proceedings of the night.
"Why are there both a double and single duvet, Gids?"
"It's easy, Jamie. The double one is for lovemaking and the single ones for sleeping. It was Aunt Mathilda's idea. She's a very wise old bird with lots of experience, even if it is with the opposite, yeuk!, sex. Which side do you want, Jamie?"
"The right. That's the side I usually end up on."
"That's great as I prefer the left."
They slept in late the next morning, so late that Mr and Mrs Farthing had already gone to church with Aunt Mathilda. There was a note on the kitchen table telling the boys to make their own breakfast, but taking advantage of being home alone they decided to return to bed and experiment with Alex and Will's alternative birthday present.
* * *
Just after trial GCSEs in January an announcement was made at the athletics club that an invitation had been received from SK Hradcany in Prague for a return visit; and fortunately the dates came a few days after the end of the GCSEs at the beginning of July. Naturally, Gideon, Jamie and Charlie put their names down and then sought their parents' permission. Their canny parents had obviously colluded for conditions were set out for the older boys. They had to mortgage their exam results, which wouldn't become available until the end of August. If their results were good, the trip would be paid for by their parents. If they were bad, they would have to repay the expenses out of their own money. Charlie had to be bribed in a different way. The parents knew that they were on to a loser as both boys were bright and worked hard at their schoolwork. On the other hand Jamie and Gideon could not and would not take it for granted that they would do well. It also solved the problem of how to reward the boys once the results were known.
Once agreement had been reached at home Gideon and Jamie e-mailed Jirí in Prague. It was not long before they got a reply which informally invited the three boys to stay with Patácek family in their apartment. The boys were overjoyed and a week later the Duttons and the Farthings each received a formal invitation from Dr and Mrs Matyás Patácek for the boys to stay at their apartment with Jirí. The letter also stated that arrangements had been made through SK Hradcany for this to be done, but while the boys knew that the club strip was manufactured in one of Dr Patácek's factories, they didn't know that he was also a generous sponsor of the club.
Time passed quickly from January until the end of June when Jamie and Gideon could finally relax from the pressure of exams. Once they were over, the two boys were free from school until the last week of term when they were expected back for activities. Charlie had to be granted special leave of absence to go to Prague, but there were other boys and girls as well and the school leniently viewed the trip as educational.
So early one July morning a group of twenty boys and ten girls boarded the coach which was to take them to the airport for the flight to the capital of the Czech Republic. There was only one hitch in an otherwise uneventful journey and that was when one of the girls tried to take Jamie's seat in the bank of three so that she could sit next to Gideon. Charlie protested before Gideon could utter a word and told her in no uncertain terms it was his brother's seat. She had had the hots for Gideon for some time and since she went to a different school she did not know about his sexual preference. In fact the irony was that she'd primarily come on the trip in the hope of getting closer to Gideon. When Jamie turned up and pressed the point, she became really pissy and yelled out
"Are you two gay or something?" It was one of those moments when everybody coincidentally stops talking and her voice reverberated round the cabin.
Despite that Gideon answered clearly "Yes, thanks," as Jamie sat down and held Gideon's hand. Charlie being Charlie had to go one further and shout in his raucous dark brown voice
"So am I. So piss off, girly. We've got some serious snogging to do," and he kissed Gideon on the cheek.
"You three are gross," the girl said as she turned to find another seat.
"At least we don't suffer from PMT," added Charlie, "only other people's," not knowing when to shut up. "What do you know about that, Charlie?" enquired Gideon.
"The girls at school are forever going on about it."
"I hope you're not turning into a str8 guy, Charlie, going around with girls," added Jamie. "Family pride and all that."
"Quieten down, everybody," said Mr Jones, the head coach and leader of the party. "Has everyone got a seat?"
"I haven't," sulked one reproachful girl who in fact hadn't looked very hard, for there was an empty one just by her.
As this was a return visit, everybody had been allocated to a family, as far as possible with the one whose offspring they had entertained in England. The arrangement was that they should be met at the airport. Once they had passed through immigration and collected their luggage they were immediately confronted by a large group in the concourse holding cards with various names written on them. One man came forward and greeted Mr Jones and the other adults.
"I am Engineer Jirí Matucha," and he introduced himself and the other leaders of the Czech group.
"That's the big boss of the club, the President," said Jamie in a stage whisper. After the formalities and introductions the boys and girls were free to meet their families. Our three straightaway picked Jirí out of crowd and ran to meet him. It was hugs all round with an introduction to his father, but our boys were taken aback by how much he had grown in a year. He was no longer a pretty little boy with his hair combed forward, but a handsome strapping youth, his muscles well developed, a totally new hairstyle with his sandy hair gelled to stand up, and, dressed as he was in a dark blue tanktop and white shorts, there was no doubt about what else had become well developed over the last year. Jamie's mind, for some reason, flashed back to what Charlie had loudly whispered to him and Gideon after the time he had climbed into Jirí's bed. 'Thank goodness Charlie's grown as well,' thought Jamie 'or there could have been a bit of a mismatch there.'
The four were whisked off by Jirí's father in a large Mercedes to a block of flats which overlooked the Moldau (Vltava) valley and the old city of Prague. From the outside the flats did not appear particularly impressive, but once Dr Patácek had driven his car into the underground garage and they had taken the lift to the apartment they realised how luxurious they were.
"These were built in the time of the Communists for the party apparatchiks. They couldn't be seen to be living in luxury and so the outside is bland, but inside they are very well appointed. We were lucky to buy this at a good price when a lot of government property was being sold off after the velvet revolution, as it is called." They had meanwhile reached the door to the apartment where Mrs Patácek was standing ready to greet them. Jirí introduced the three boys and after shaking hands she said that she recognised them immediately from the photographs she had seen. Gideon and Jamie placed a cardboard box in her hands that they had been carefully nursing throughout the journey. It was a gift from both of the families and contained a Worcester tea service.
They were shown to their rooms. Mrs Patácek spoke perfect English as well and the boys later found out that she taught German and English at a local gymnasium, not a gym, but a grammar school.
"A lot of people still speak German in the Czech Republic because until 1918 it was part of the Austrian and Hungarian Empire. A foreigner might find it easier to use German than English, though more people speak English now that Russian is no longer compulsory in schools. Now that's enough of a history lesson. It's the school holidays, anyway. Now we have to apologise because you will have to share rooms, but Jirí said it would be okay. If we could go to our house in the country it would be different. It's much bigger. Jirí will show you where to go."
"Come with me." He took the three through to a room at the end of the corridor. As they passed he pointed out the lavatory and the bathroom. "Jamie and Gideon, here is you room. I am sorry it is small." They went in and immediately noticed that there was just one large bed and very little room for anything else. Gideon and Jamie looked at one another and grinned. Then they looked at Jirí.
"Wicked," said Jamie.
"What? I am wicked?" said Jirí.
"You are," said Gideon, "but wicked can mean cool or great in slang as well as bad." They then went back along the corridor.
"This is my room." They went in to find a large room with bunkbeds, a large desk with a computer on it. "I'm afraid, Charlie, you must sleep with me, but you can have the high bed because I am heavy and you are light." Charlie's face lit up. All his prayers had been answered.
"Jirí, I get vertigo. What if I can't climb up to the top bunk?"
"Vertigo? What is vertigo?"
"Dizziness from fear of heights," answered Jamie and he doesn't suffer from vertigo. He's being wicked."
"Now you must unpack and rest after your long journey. I must go and train for an hour. We will then eat and then we make a little tour of Prague in the evening."
The boys unpacked after Mrs Patácek had made them a snack. They got out the presents they had brought for Jirí, the latest Harry Potter book in English, a DVD of his latest film, a bright red Speedo and a light blue one and by special request two more jockstraps and left them ready for his return. Gideon and Jamie showered (together) and were just about chilling out on the bed when crash, bang wallop, their bedroom door opened and Charlie appeared.
"Hey, guys. Oops, sorry," and he closed the door behind him. "Can I hang with you two 'cos I'm lonely without Jirí?" he asked pushing his bottom lip forward and putting on the saddest face he could muster. Gideon and Jamie looked at one another with pained expressions on their faces.
"Okay," they said with willing resignation at which Charlie's face lit and he leapt on the bed and snuggled inbetween them.
They returned from their sight-seeing tour about eleven o'clock that evening. The sun hadn't long set. Instead of going into the city by car they took the tram and then walked, which made sense. They walked across the Charles Bridge, a pedestrian area where young people and buskers collected and crossed into the Old City, viewing the famous clock and the Jewish cemetery where the dead were buried on up to twelve levels. They saw Franz Kafka's house, although that did not mean a lot to the boys until Mrs Patácek gave an explanation. They walked to Wencelas Square, named after the good king of the Christmas carol and which had become a centre for the velvet revolution. Finally before coming home they sat in a café and watched the night life pass by. By the time they got home our English boys were tired out, especially after the travelling, and with a snack inside them quickly disappeared to bed. Gideon and Jamie only had time for a good night kiss before crashing out until woken by the light of the morning.
In the room next door the chatter went on for a few more moments.
"Jirí," said Charlie "I want to ask you something. Did you ever find a boyfriend?"
"No, not at school and not at the athletics club. I read in a German magazine that up to one in ten is gay, but I still haven't met any."
"Does that mean we can still be boyfriends?"
"Charlie, I will always be your boyfriend, but can I be your lover as you live in England?"
"You can be my lover while I am in Prague."
"How old are you now?"
"Thirteen, fourteen in the autumn."
"You see, Charlie, it is against the law to be your lover until you are fifteen. I am now fifteen."
"It was against the law for Jamie and Gideon to be lovers until sixteen in England, but they were only fourteen when they first made love."
"We must sleep now. Good night, Charlie."
"Good night, Jirí. I love you." Charlie turned over in his bunk and fell asleep straightaway.
He woke on hearing a distant clock strike three. He was dying to pee and wandered out in his shorts to the toilet. When he was finished he returned to Jirí's bedroom and thought 'To hell with it'. He dropped his shorts, threw them up onto his bunk and climbed into bed on the bottom bunk with Jirí.
The visit went enjoyably well. It was a mixture of sight-seeing, sport, some training with the club and an official reception. One depressing occasion was a visit to Terezín or Theresienstadt, a concentration camp for Jews from the Second World War. It was appreciated by the English group for it tied in with their GCSE history course. The payback was that Jirí and his fellow gymnasts had to get up early for an hour's training each morning except Sunday. He would return in time for breakfast with his guests and then the official programme would begin. One thing they could do in their free time was go swimming. Gideon and Jamie admired Jirí for his skill at gymnastics certainly, but also for his physique which had developed so much over the last year. He tried to teach them some of the easier moves, but they had to acknowledge that they had left the development of their bodies until too late in life to achieve the suppleness that Jirí needed to perform his moves. Particularly they loved to see him performing in his competition top and long trousers. However, they were disappointed, as they well knew from the set Jirí had given them, that these two garments conspired to flatten his packet and so it was with an ulterior motive that they were looking forward to the session at the swimming baths and they were not disappointed when they saw him in the light blue Speedo they had given him. Naturally it was up to Charlie to say what everybody else had been thinking when his raucous voice pierced all other conversations going on and he said
"Adore the packet, Jirí. Hey, guys, I said his dick was much bigger than it looked in his gym kit."
"Thank you, Charlie," said Jamie as three of them blushed leaving Charlie quite unabashed and looking genuinely innocent with that 'What have I done now?' look on his face. Fortunately they were surrounded by Czechs at the time who probably didn't pick up the conversation. But it wasn't only Jirí's packet that impressed our friends as they stared at the well developed muscles on his legs, arms, chest and particularly on his upper and lower abdomen, muscles our boys had never seen before.
"If you want, I give you a private demonstration at home, jockstrap only," said Jirí. "You cannot do gymnastics naked. You hurt yourself."
After the English group had been in Prague for three days they settled into a routine. Gideon and Jamie would wake early when they heard Jirí getting up for a shower before his early training session. They knew they had an hour at least before they could get up and would spend that time enjoying each other's company. That particular morning Gideon was lying on his side with his back spooned into Jamie who was teasing his nipples. There was a knock at the door and surprise! surprise! who should burst in but Charlie.
"At least you knocked this time, I supposed," said Jamie.
"Good morning, Charlie. What can we do for you?"
"Dobré ráno, Jamie, dobré ráno, Gideon."
"Who's the sharpest knife in the drawer this morning?" said Gideon.
"Shh, guys," Charlie said in one of his stage whispers. "Can you keep a secret?"
"No."
"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. I'm not a virgin any more."
"What?!" said Jamie.
"I'm not a virgin any more. I seduced Jirí and got him to fu..."
"Charlie!"
"Sorry, got him to make love to me last night. And Jirí's not a virgin either. I stole his cherry this morning."
"Did it hurt?" asked Gideon concerned.
"Just a bit to begin with."
"Did you use lube?"
"Yeah, of course. I brought that vaseline I keep with my rugby kit with me."
"If you two made love, shouldn't you be in the shower with Jirí now?" asked Jamie.
"S'pose so, but it's a bit late. He'll be nearly finished by now. You know, it's great. I can still feel his spunk inside me."
"That's an overactive imagination, Charlie," said Gideon.
"We're all allowed to dream."
"Anyway, congratulations. Give us a hug." He dutifully gave them a hug and a kiss on the lips.
"Gotta go now, guys. I want to kiss my boyfriend and watch him getting dressed in his gym uniform."
Jamie sat up in bed and stared into the middle distance.
"He's grown up ever so quickly. He's not my baby brother any longer. He's just my younger brother and I still love him to pieces. You've got to admire his taste."
"Come here, Jamie. If those two are going to walk around all day with a grin on their faces, so are we," and Gideon reached for the K-Y gel from his sponge bag while Jamie spread his bath towel over the bed sheet.
Over breakfast Jamie and Gideon certainly noticed an additional sparkle in Jirí's eyes.
"How did the practice go this morning, Jirí?" asked Gideon.
"Fantastic," answered Jirí. "My best performance since the last composition..."
"Competition!" shouted Jamie, Gideon and Charlie in unison.
"Oh, yes, competition. I don't know why, but I feel I have a new life this morning for some reason." Charlie giggled, Jamie and Gideon looked at one another knowingly and Jirí blushed.
"Would you boys like more tea?" asked Mrs Patácek as she came in from the kitchen.
The week's stay in Prague went quickly and was enjoyed by all the participants, but by none more so than by our four heroes. When they said goodbye at the airport, they had to blink back tears. Just before the English party was to go through for their passport check our four got into a combined hug.
"Gideon, Jamie." Jirí took something out of his pocket. "You left this in your room." Under cover of the hug he passed them a tube. It was their K-Y gel. "I'm sorry. We... I mean I used some of it."
"You keep it, Jirí," said Gideon.
"We hope it will be a souvenir of a very happy time together," added Jamie and they both gave him a wink. The three shook hands with Jirí's mother and father while expressing their thanks.
"You must come and see us again soon. You have made Jirí a very happy boy," said paní Patácekova. The three were shepherded through the passport check by Mr Jones as the last of the group. Once through Charlie collapsed in floods of tears.
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