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My lungs are on fire, my legs might be made of lead and I'm sweating through all of my clothes, but it feels good; I am just behind Daniel as we jog the entire perimeter of the Edinburgh Meadows, the final leg of what has become our Friday afternoon run. We've been running together for three weeks now and while the blistering August has ended, we're now into an oppressively hot September that is, if anything, more unbearable. The air is thick and each breath is dry, the grass yellowed and dead underneath my feet. I'm exhausted but I don't care. Even after such a short time I feel like a new person. I focus on my breathing and try to match my footfall to Daniel's, eyes fixed on the back of his hairy legs.
"Not far to go now man," he yells breathlessly, without turning around. I don't reply. If I try my lungs might just give out. The runs have been extensive; going from no exercise to running three times a week has been a bit of a culture shock and I honestly don't think I've ever slept as well as I am lately. I notice Daniel's strides become shorter, the urgency in his steps decreasing and I struggle to breathe a sigh of relief. He comes to a gentle stop beside a heavily scarred bench and immediately begins stretching his legs. I resist the urge to collapse and instead try to focus on breathing deeply. Daniel had told me that it was important to warm down properly, so I half heartedly copy his stretches.
"Good job, wee man," he says to me, grinning. "How you feeling?"
"Shattered," I tell him.
"I bet. You're doing really well, honestly. I didn't think you'd manage this route yet but you really impressed me.
I can't keep the smile off my face. He squeezes my shoulder.
"I'm going for a piss," he tells me.
"Same."
There's a grotty wee public toilets near us; you know the type, rotting doors and graffiti, decades of urine staining the air. Daniel strides over to the urinal but I bashfully lock myself in a cubicle. I don't think I'd be able to pee next to him; my little ginger willy might be a healthy 4 inches hard but it's still only about 2 inches soft and I bet Daniel's got a huge hairy dick that would just make me feel like a child in comparison. I hear his grunt of relief milliseconds before the sound of his piss hitting the metal and burst out laughing.
"Hey!" I hear him say, laughing too. "You know those pisses that feel almost as good as cumming?"
"Yeah," watching as my foreskin peels back and I start to piss too. I freeze; I've just admitted I know what it feels like to cum. He knows that I wank!
"Well that's what this feels like," he sighs.
When we're both finished, we begin to walk to the bus stop, stopping only to buy a bottle of water each.
"Daniel!"
We both turn. Quickly catching up to us is a tall slim girl with a head full of tight blonde curls. There is a cigarette between her fingers and a huge smile on her face.
"Hey Amy," says Daniel brightly, pulling her into a hug.
"Jeez, you're all gross and wet!"
"Yeah, that would be sweat," says Daniel nodding. "Literally just finished our run," he explains, gesturing to me with his thumb.
"Cool! And you are?" she asks me.
"Isaac. Or Izzy, if you like," I tell her, wiping my hand on my shorts and holding it out to her.
"Aw, aren't you the wee gentleman?"
She takes my hand and shakes it.
"Izzy is exercising with me lately. The wankers on the bus keep giving him a hard time so he's gonna get into shape, isn't that right?"
"Pretty much, yeah," I say.
"Good for you," says Amy. "If anyone is giving you trouble, Daniel has all the girls on his side so let him know and we can sort them out."
"Thanks," I tell her.
"Look, I have to jet but I'll se you on Monday, yeah Daniel?"
"Most likely," Daniel confirms. "See you then babe."
Amy gives him a quick pack on the cheek before walking back the way she came.
"Who is she?" I ask.
"Amy? She's in my registration class, we've had classes together for most of our time at school."
"She's nice."
"She can be," laughs Daniel. "You get on the WRONG side of her and she will destroy you. Luckily I have the girls on side so she's good to me."
"How come? You've got her on side, I mean? Did you go out with her?"
Daniel laughs.
"Nah man. We're just friends; when most of the boys in your year are sex crazed idiots, apparently it makes a nice change to meet one who isn't."
"So you're not having sex?"
Daniel gasps, exaggerating.
"God , we're getting personal are we?"
I glanced at the ground, face burning.
"Sorry..."
"Don't be stupid. I'm not having sex with Amy, if that's what you mean, though I bet she'd be up for it if I'm honest. But I'm not a virgin."
My willy twitches at that. I want to ask all sorts of questions but I don't know where to start.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just... I've never spoken to anyone about this stuff before."
"I get it. You've started puberty and you've got all these questions about it but you don't want to ask your dad because it's embarrassing and you can't ask your mates that are your age because that's embarrassing too and they don't have any more of a clue than you, yeah?"
"Erm... pretty much, yeah."
"Well look. You can ask me anything you like; I'll tell you if I don't want to answer but I'll do my best to answer you properly. Is that fair?"
"Okay," I reply, my heart beating fiercely.
"Anything you want to ask then?"
"You said you're not a virgin. How old were you when you first had sex?"
"I was 14," Daniel said calmly. We're at the bust stop; he checks his watch. "Fuck it, let's walk, it's only 40 minutes or so. Yeah, I was 14, just. Younger than some but not as many as you'd think."
"Who with?"
"Oh, they left school already. They were a couple of years older than me."
"Oh," I say. "That's cool."
"Yeah?" he asks. "You don't sound too sure."
"No, it is!" I insist. "I'm just... I don't know, it's a bit weird. Like... I'm horny all the time but I'm not having sex, so sex is like this big mysterious thing to me, you know?"
"I do."
"And like... You've done it. But you're still just... a person."
"Most of the people you see on a daily basis have had sex mate. And don't let yourself get too worked up about it. I know it seems lime sex is absolutely everything right now. That's not going to go away any time soon. But it will happen for you when it happens."
"I guess."
"Till then you'll just have to keep wanking four times a day."
"Wha- what!?"
Daniel bursts out laughing.
"I was 12 too once remember? When you discover your dick can feel that good you never want to let it go right?"
"Pretty much," I agree, grinning despite my embarrassment. Daniel is good at making me take a step back and realising things don't need to be as huge as I have a tendency to make them.
"Don't let anyone make you feel ashamed of wanking, Izzy. Every guy I know does it. Almost every man in the world does it or has done it. It's a natural part of being alive. As long as its private, who the fuck cares what you do to your nob?"
"Do you still wank then?" I ask.
"Of course I fucking do! I'm horny all the time too, I'm just used to it. But yeah. I had a wank just before we came out for the run and I'll probably have another one before I shower."
My willy is hard and sticking straight out from my body. I try to shift my body so it doesn't tent too visibly in my shorts.
"Amy's pretty," I say.
"You think?"
"Yeah. Not the smoking though."
Daniel laughs.
"Yeah, that's a bit of a turn off eh? No, she is hot, I'll give her that."
"And you think she'd have sex with you?"
"Lets just say, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Then why not do it?" I ask. "If I knew someone wanted to have sex with me I'd do it."
"I bet you would, ya wee horndog," says Daniel. "Look, Izzy..."
Daniel stops and leans against the wall at the top of the road we live on.
"Isaac mate. You're a cool wee guy, so I'm going to let you in on something."
"Er, okay?"
Daniel looks down at me, brow slightly furrowed, as if trying to work something out.
"I'm gay," he says, softly.
"Oh."
I don't know what to say.
"Or mainly gay," he says, sighing. "It's... look, sexuality is very fluid, it's not rigid gay/straight/boy/girl, despite what people think."
"That's... That's okay."
"Okay?"
"No, I mean..."
What do I mean???
"Like... I don't care if you're gay," I tell him. "I just... I've not met a gay person before and I never guessed you'd be gay. Sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Daniel insists. "I wasn't sure if you knew or not."
"No. I won't tell anyone," I promise, but he waves his hand.
"I've been out for ages," he says. "I couldn't be bothered pretending for years; I've known to many people who kept it a secret and I didn't want to do the same."
We come to my garden gate; I feel like I should say something.
"Daniel... I... thanks."
"What for?"
"For everything, I think? I... I don't have lots of friends and school can be horrible, but... the past few weeks, being able to exercise with you have been really good and things don't seem as horrible now."
"Oh. Thanks Izzy. That's actually really touching."
"Well, it's true," I say, shrugging. "And thank you for telling me that you're... that you're gay. Not... not because I'd care if you didn't but because... because you trust me. I think?"
Rather than reply, Daniel puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in for a one handed hug, my face pressed into his armpit; I can't help but breathe in. There is the sharp tang of teenage sweat. My willy twitches a bit as I think of the dark curls of hair, damp and hidden by a thin sheet of fabric. Wait... am I enjoying the smell of Daniel's BO?
He let's me go and I quickly come to my senses.
"Are we still on for swimming tomorrow, wee man?"
"Yeah, of course!" I say, nodding.
"Safe."
He bumps my fist and sets off down the path to his house. My dad is in the kitchen, peeling potatoes and belting along to Patti Smith like he's on X Factor.
"Good run?"
"Even my hair is tired," I groan, leaning on the door frame. "What are you cooking?"
"Lamb hot-pot. Should be ready in a couple of hours, so you have ample time to make yourself smell a little bit less like a changing room," he says, flicking potato peel at me.
"Yes dad," I say, smiling.
I pause before leaving; dad notices and stops what he is doing to give me his full attention.
"What's up?" he asks.
"Dad, did... Did you know that Daniel is gay?"
"Oh, that?" he says, getting back to his potatoes. "For a while now, yeah. Helen told me almost as soon as he told her, but she'd pretty much known since he was about 9 or 10. Why do you ask?"
"He just told me," I explain. "I had no idea."
"Does it bother you?" Dad asks, looking up.
"No," I say quickly.
"I'm glad. He's a good lad and I think he was treated pretty badly by some of the boys in his year for quite some time."
"Oh..."
"Yeah, it's a shame. People are idiots and they have idiot offspring who copy their parent's idiocy. I'm happy I raised you better," he adds, smiling at me.
As I climb the stairs to my room, I can't help but wonder what my dad meant by Daniel being given trouble. Was he bullied? Is that why he's so protective of me? I strip my clothes of and tug on my willy and balls; the heat has made them stick to me in one big clump and peeling them off me is nothing short of heaven. Stretching, I savour being nude; while my arms are in the air, I cross to my mirror and lean in to inspect my armpits. Still no hair growth, I note with a little disappointment. One of my friends at school had come into class a couple of days ago, all pleased with himself and showed me the first wee curl of black hair that had sprouted in his left pit; I was so jealous. My armpits were as creamy white and bald as my arse cheeks. I wanted my body to catch up with my hormones and produce body hair with the efficiency it was producing testosterone!
The chlorine stung my eyes as I opened them, my head bursting out of the water with the urgency of my lungs after having held my breath for so long.
"YES little man!" shouts Daniel, clapping his hands above his head.
"Cheers," I gasp, feeling a little light headed.
"You can hold your breath for so long!" Daniel says. "That was two whole lengths. Where'd you learn that?"
"Nowhere. I can just do it."
"Very impressive," he insists. I blush.
While I am wearing a long pair of beach shorts, Daniel is wearing a short pair of black swimming shorts that barely come halfway down his thighs. His powerful legs are covered in thick hair that turns black when wet. He told me before that could stare all I like but... I can't prevent myself getting embarrassed every time I feel my eyes flick to his belly or nipples or those fucking forests in each armpit; they seemed to soak up the water like sponges, covering his underarms in a shadow that makes me... feel something. Is it envy? Jealousy?
"You just about ready to bounce?" Daniel asks, stretching. "Dunno about you but I'm fucking starving. Let's get dressed and get something to eat, my treat."
"Okay," I say and turn to the ladder, climbing out of the water.
The swimming pool is chockablock with screaming children and harassed parents. Trying to swim a length had proved to be an absolute nightmare and Daniel and I had made a vow to swim after school from here on in. We have to wait awkwardly for the showers and hurriedly rinse off together when one becomes free.
The changing rooms are outrageous. Each one is occupied and after Daniel has pulled our bags out of the locker, we have to wait for a good ten minutes before a family unlock the door of their cubicle and exit.
"C'mon," says Daniel, nudging me forward.
"Wha-?"
"It's mad in here, we'll share that one."
My heart is pounding. Does he expect me to get naked in front of him?
Daniel slides the bolt across and drops our bags on the bench and digs out our towels, handing me mine. He vigorously rubs his hair before patting down his torso. I dry of my bare flesh before wrapping my towel around my waist and dig around for my boxer shorts. I can't stop glancing at Daniel; his flat stomach, powerful legs, the animalistic fur on his legs and... Oh FUCK, am I getting an erection?!
I am. I feel the shaft filling out and my head swelling, my foreskin retracting slightly. I'm so preoccupied by my sudden stiffness that Daniel catches me staring at the space his dick would be. Instantly my face turn crimson, I look at the floor and I turn around but before I can, Daniel grabs me by the shoulder, keeping me facing him.
"It's okay," he whispers.
With one hand on my shoulder and his thumb on the side of my face, he undoes the cord at the top of his swim shorts.
"I told you before. If you want to stare then stare. I don't care, and I don't want you to feel embarrassed. Look at me as much as you like."
He let's go of me and hooks his thumbs into the sides of his shorts, pushing them down past his hips, bending down and removing them from around his ankles. Daniel stands, arms by his side.
"There you go," he says, gently.
I look; the thick patch of hair that surrounds his belly button spreads down and out until it becomes a wild shock of brown pubes that seem to be as thick as the hair on his head. A girthy penis pokes out of the shag, intact but the foreskin only covering half of the head. I can't guess the size but he's certainly not a porn star. That doesn't matter though; this vulnerability of him just being nude in front of me, unshaved and natural, is sexier than anything I've seen in my limited porn experience.
"Do you like what you see?" he asks, quietly.
Managing to tear my eyes away from what I notice to be fairly low hanging balls, covered in a rug of light brown hair, I look back up at his face, tender and impassive.
"Yeah," I croak.
He smiles down at me.
"I'm glad."
End of Chapter 2
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