Jamie Lawrence - Chapter Twenty Five
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Jamie Lawrence - Chapter Twenty Five
Jamie rolled over in bed and snuggled back against his sleeping boyfriend, feeling his morning wood press between his cheeks. Shane's arms instinctively slid around Jamie's body. Jamie sighed contentedly and seriously considered going back to sleep.
Tempting though it was, he had promised to help his father before he and Shane headed off to college. In the last two weeks, Johnny had been hard at work catching up on all the odd jobs he had neglected over the last few years and had already made a serious dent.
It seemed to be, at least in part, driven by a desperate need to keep his hands busy. Still, it provided tasks in which father and son could both be fully engaged and yet still be together. It meant that their relationship was at last on the mend.
This morning's task was putting together the new garden shed. Jamie was confident his father could have done this alone, but he was glad that he had asked. It made him feel useful, and coming from an adult, that was always a compliment.
Reluctantly, Jamie made to slide out of bed and Shane's arms immediately tightened around him. "Where do you think you're going?" mumbled Shane sleepily.
Jamie put his face next to Shane's and whispered. "You go back to sleep. I'm going to help my Dad for a couple of hours before college. I'll come and get you when it's time to shower." He kissed Shane's forehead and tucked him in a little tighter. He pulled on some old clothes before darting down the stairs, passing his heavily pregnant cat, Rosie, on the way.
Out in the back garden, he found his father already examining various tools and staring uncertainly at various parts of the soon to be erected shed.
Johnny was looking much better this week. In the first few days after he had quit drinking, he had started to suffer with tremendous headaches as well as dramatic mood swings. Jamie had tried to suffer through these, but each time the anger had turned on him, he had fled. It was not for fear of injury but because he didn't want to have to see the pain in his father's eyes any longer.
That, however, had passed. The nightmares had gone away and Johnny was the cheerful man Jamie remembered from his childhood. They had even shared a slight moment two days earlier.
Johnny had noticed a puncture in the rear-left wheel of the Peugot and, rather than changing it himself, he had insisted Jamie do it under his careful instruction.
After forty-five minutes of cursing in French so that his father wouldn't understand, Jamie finally managed to put the new tyre in place. He jumped to his feet, spun, and exuberantly hugged his father; something he hadn't done for a very long time.
Embarrassed by his sudden display of affection, Jamie had immediately started cleaning up, but he thought he noticed a beatific smile on his father's face.
Now, however, his father's face was twisted in consternation. "This is going to take forever!"
"What's the matter?" asked Jamie.
Johnny sighed. "We have to dig the posts in by at least eighteen inches."
"What's wrong with that? So we have to sweat a bit."
"Jamie, this is Manchester. Most of the earth here is full of clay and is unbelievably hard to dig out. We're going to be sweating a whole hell of a lot."
"Oh," said Jamie, suddenly wishing they were still working on the car. "Maybe Shane can help," he said brightly before he headed back up the stairs, giving Rosie a swift pat on the bottom as he did.
Shane was floating comfortably somewhere between sleeping and waking. He was aware that he had a morning erection and was unconsciously stroking the head while a dream about Jamie teased at the edges of his awareness.
And then suddenly, the real Jamie was there, spoiling his fun. He was bouncing on the bed like a child on Christmas morning shouting "Wakey wakey, Shaney Baby!"
For a single moment, he regretted agreeing to stay over with his super-energized boyfriend, but that single moment passed when Jamie lay on top of Shane and kissed him fully on the lips, effectively reminding him why he always did exactly what Jamie wanted. It's hard to ignore someone so perfect.
"I'm up!" Shane grumbled.
Jamie giggled. "I know, I can feel it."
"That's not what I meant." Shane rubbed at his eyes and started to stretch out his muscles.
"Come on, me and Dad need your muscles." As if to emphasise the point, Jamie kissed each of Shane's biceps.
"Right. I'm getting up, but you owe me some serious shower-time." Jamie smiled, kissed Shane's nose, and darted out of the room again.
Shane checked his phone to make sure Callum hadn't texted him. He was staying at Darius's, yet again, a fact for which Shane was eternally grateful. He was only happy to sleep at Jamie's when he knew that Callum was also out of the house for the night. He was trying to trust his father, but this was Callum's safety and he felt it was best not to take risks.
Admittedly, Gerry was doing well. He had sat down with Shane the day he had moved back in and they had tried to lay the groundwork of their future relationship. Still, Gerry wouldn't refer to Jamie as anything more than Shane's 'friend'. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't such a big deal, but it still grated on Shane's ears.
Gerry had attempted to set some new ground rules to accommodate for the things he now knew about Jamie and Shane. Jamie was still welcome at the house, but Gerry had tried to insist that, should Jamie stay the night, that he not stay in Shane's room.
"Don't look at me like that, Shane!" he had said. "I would have the same rule if you were straight and dating a girl."
Thankfully, Diane had vetoed that rule. "Gerry, dear. I've known what those boys have been getting up to since the day I caught them naked in Shane's bedroom. There's no point locking the stable door once the horse has bolted."
In point of fact, Diane had vetoed every rule Gerry had tried to put down, insisting that the boys had obeyed every rule SHE had implemented and everything had been going swimmingly.
Gerry's reluctance to talk about anything sexual pertaining to the boys had saved Shane from any further restrictions and in the end, the status quo was to be maintained, albeit with a disgruntled Gerry in the picture.
Shane stuffed his raging hard-on into his jeans and followed his Little Love down the stairs, carefully resisting the urge to kick Rosie on his way past her. He still wasn't all that enamoured of that evil cat. It still watched him like it was plotting something viscous against him.
After an hour of grunting and sweating, Jamie finally gave Shane permission to stop hauling clay out of the ground. Shane had long since abandoned his t-shirt; Although Autumn was creeping across Britain, digging up half of Manchester had set Shane to sweating.
He didn't mind, however, as he had caught Jamie staring at his body more times than he could count. The look of hunger in Jamie's eyes boded well for their shower and it was great excitement that Jamie finally excused himself and Shane, begging the need to get ready for college.
The two headed up the stairs and Shane helped Jamie get undressed, dotting his slender body with butterfly kisses as he did. The effect was almost immediate and when Shane finally pulled Jamie's little boxers away from his body, his beautiful cock sprung free.
Once the water was running, the two set about cleaning each other from top to bottom. Conveniently, Shane had to get down on his knees so that Jamie could effectively wash his hair; this put him at a comfortable slurping height, and he did not waste the opportunity.
He urgently stuffed Jamie's semi-hard dick into his mouth, causing it to quickly swell to capacity, filling his mouth to its fullest. Jamie paused in the act of lathering shampoo into Shane's hair. "Baby, I ca-can't concentrate when you're dah-doing that."
"Mmm-hmf-mmhmmf," said Shane. Jamie giggled and returned to running his fingers through Shane's hair, pausing now and again to enjoy what Shane was doing to him. Shane reached down to his own throbbing tool and started to play along the shaft in time with his suckling of Jamie's.
By this time, Shane had memorised every bump, every vein, and every maneuver that drove Jamie over the brink, and after only a minute or two of tongue-work, Jamie clutched two handfuls of Shane's hair. "Shane, I'm cumming!"
Shane leaned back on his ankles and pointed Jamie's spewing monster at his own face. As Jamie grunted and rose onto his tiptoes, he unloaded four shots of hot cum which coated Shane's face from forehead to chin.
Watching Jamie cumming and feeling it spread over his own face, Shane let out a grunt of his own while he came over Jamie's feet. Both were somewhat breathless, though Jamie was giggling a little. They rinsed each other off with the shower-head and headed off to Jamie's bedroom to get ready for a morning of boring lessons.
"Darren Dempster?" asked Beth from the doorway of her office. Darren didn't know why she continued to call his name in that fashion. He was always the only person in the waiting room when she did. Still, he jumped agilely to his feet and traipsed after her.
"How are you then, Darren?" she asked brightly.
"Fine, thanks. You?"
"I'm very good, thank you. So how's college?"
Beth started every session this way. She always asked about college and his parents. Only then would they get to the nitty-gritty of the drugs and alcohol. Darren felt, however, that he was for all intents and purposes, cured. They had only had eight sessions, but he felt like a new man, though he felt that Kyle had a lot to do with that.
"College is fine. I'm getting good grades and I'm spending time with Jamie and Shane and a few others like me."
"Like you? You mean...?"
"Gay," Darren put in quickly.
"So you're comfortable identifying yourself that way? You're confident that that is your, ah...path?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, I figure there was somethin' there before, 'cause I looked at guys sometimes. I guess I just went with girls 'cause I didn't think there was an alternative. D'you know what I mean?"
Beth smiled that warm smile of hers. "I do."
"If it hadn't been for Kyle," said Darren, a silly grin spreading across his face as he said Kyle's name. "I probably wouldn't have noticed." Beth chuckled, almost to herself. "What?" asked Darren, still smiling.
"It's just that; well, come here and I'll show you."
Confused, Darren rose and moved to sit next to Beth on the couch. She tipped her notepad so that Darren could see and pointed at the left side of the page. In the margin was a tally chart. It extended from the very top of the page to more than three quarters of the way down. The tally had to number in the hundreds.
"What's that?" asked Darren, still mystified.
"That is a tally of the number of times you have said Kyle's name in our sessions."
"Really?" asked Darren, at first surprised, and then slightly embarrassed.
"You think about him in relation to everything about yourself. You can't bring up a topic of conversation without it eventually turning to Kyle."
Darren was chuckling at himself. "Am I really that bad? God, people must hate being around me!"
"Well, I can't speak to that." Beth stopped smiling for a moment. "It could be indicative of co-dependency, but I think I can offer a different opinion."
"What's that?" asked Darren, suddenly concerned.
"It's a very serious condition. It's called puppy love." Beth winked at him. "There's no harm in a boy as young as yourself falling so deeply in love with somebody." She nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Especially somebody as loveable as Kyle."
"He is pretty great," Darren agreed.
"He is. Now, onto other more important matters! Cancelling all of your upcoming appointments with me!"
Darren's head reeled with the speed of that strange segue. "Huh?"
Beth put her hand on Darren's arm. "I don't think you need me any more. At least not as a therapist. Obviously I'm still the mother of one of your friends."
Darren snorted. "Yeah, 'cause that hasn't been weird at all."
Beth laughed. "I think we did just fine. Do you think you're better? Because that's the most important thing. If you don't think you can look after yourself on your own..."
Darren stared off into the middle-distance. "I don't know. I hadn't thought about what it'd be like after therapy. I guess I'll be okay. Besides, I won't be on my own; I have Kyle."
Beth picked up her pen and clicked it pointedly before adding another tally to her chart. They both laughed for a while after that. Finally, Beth picked up her handbag. "Well, I have to get down to Orthopaedics, and I'm guessing you have a lunch date with a cute little nurse?" she asked, winking quickly at Darren.
"Okay, Mrs Carter. This is an oscillating saw. It makes a lot of noise, but it won't hurt at all."
"Just hurry up and get the damned thing off me!" shouted Diane. Beth sat in the corner smiling slightly while she watched her colleague, Doctor Barker, removing her casts. Gerry was standing outside with Jamie and Shane.
"Now now, Mrs Carter. You can't rush perfection," he said over the sound of the saw that he was now using to remove the cast from Diane's arm. "Now, let's see that lovely arm of yours."
"Are you flirting with me?" Diane ribbed the Doctor good-naturedly.
"No, but if you don't think it's too inappropriate, I may flirt with your friend over there." He winked and nudged his head in Beth's direction.
Diane's eyebrows shot up. "What's this then?" she asked over the incessant buzzing of the saw. Doctor Barker tugged on the cast and it came free. He immediately set to work on the leg.
Beth sighed and smiled. "Doctor Barker here has asked me out for next Friday and the moment I said 'yes' he became completely unbearable. He's been acting like a lovestruck teenager all week."
Doctor Barker threw a charming smile at Beth. "That's just how I roll, baby."
Beth threw a balled up tissue at him. "Just focus on your bloody work, you." Doctor Barker was a little younger than Beth, with blond hair that just covered his ears and lovely green eyes.
"No need," he said, lifting the last piece of cast out of the way. "You are free, Mrs Carter."
Diane flexed both her arm and her leg like a cat stretching out its muscles and smiled. "Thank the Gods!"
"Now, this isn't an all clear. You still have to practise caution. It's still early days. There'll be physiotherapy too."
Diane jumped up and ran out into the hall to celebrate her release with her husband and son, along with Jamie, leaving Beth alone with Doctor Barker.
"Doctor Lawrence," he said, tipping his head.
"Doctor Barker," Beth returned.
"I've booked a table at Ocean 235 for us, Saturday at eight. Is that okay?"
Beth nodded and smiled. "Of course."
"Great. I'll pick you up at seven and we can grab a drink first."
Again Beth nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I should be in the celebration out there."
Darren bounced happily down the stairs having just checked at the Geriatrics ward for his Angel. He got a few waves from the longer term patients who recognised him from previous visits, but with no Kyle to be found, he went in search of him elsewhere.
Darren spotted his Angel staring studiously at a chart outside the Phlebotomy room and sidled up behind him to slide his hands slowly around his slim waist. He pulled him in tight against his body, ensuring that his crotch was pressed into the crack of his pert little bottom.
"Dazzle, people are watching us!" Kyle giggled.
"They're just jealous," he said, pressing his lips to Kyle's left ear. "I've decided, since you've been so good on my health food thing, how would you like fish and chips for lunch?"
Kyle spun around in Darren's arms with an eager look on his face. "Really?! Yay!" He threw his arms around Darren's neck and kissed him.
Darren chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes. We can eat on that field on Delauney's Road, and then, if we have enough time, we can snog each other's faces off."
"Mmm, that all sounds just delish."
"Okay, you finish up here and I'll nip to the chippy." Then he turned serious again. "Do NOT leave the building until I'm back."
"I know, I know."
"That reminds me! The confirmation of the non-molestation order came this morning. John-Paul can't come anywhere near you without getting in serious shit."
Kyle jumped up and down a few times, clearly very happy about the news. "Yaaaaay!"
Darren chuckled and gave Kyle a quick kiss. "Okay; back in a flash. Love you."
"Love you too."
Darren released Kyle from his grip and headed out to Delauney's Chippy. It was a tiny place that received almost all of its custom from the hospital's visitors. The girl behind the counter with greasy skin flirted shamelessly with Darren and, though he didn't encourage her, he offered her a quick smile which seemed to make her happy.
He tucked the two little parcels under his arm, did up his coat and stepped out into the Autumn cold, whistling tunelessly as he stepped back out onto the road and headed over to the hospital.
Despite the stresses of the last week, Darren was still incredibly happy to be living with his boyfriend. He found it strange to think that it was hardly two months ago that he had been dating Sarah, and now he could be so deliriously happy with a man.
Every time he thought about Kyle, he still got butterflies; though he would never admit that to Kyle. He would undoubtedly rib him mercilessly. Still, as Beth had rightly pointed out, Kyle had become the all-consuming fact of Darren's life.
Darren rounded onto the hospital grounds and happened to look over at the staff car park where Kyle's bright orange Punto was easy to pick out from the cluster of Mercedes' and BMWs. What was also easy to pick out was the man in the balaclava standing menacingly over Kyle who was pinned against the driver's door of his car.
Darren didn't notice the moment when he dropped the parcels under his arm, or the moment when he had broken into a full sprint. The balaclava didn't do much to hide the identity of the person standing over Kyle, as he was wearing the same leather jacket he had been wearing the day Darren had had the displeasure of meeting him.
Darren had never known what genuine fury was until that moment. An urgent desire to snap John-Paul's neck had seized him as he accelerated in the direction of the car-park. His teeth ground together and he became blind to the world on either side of him.
"Get away from him!" he screamed from two hundred yards away.
Both Kyle and John-Paul looked in Darren's direction. Kyle looked as though a great wash of relief had come over him. John-Paul looked back at Kyle and reached into his pocket.
When his hand came out again, something metal glinted in the afternoon sun. Darren's fury broke and was immediately replaced by fear. "NO!" he screamed.
And then John-Paul's arm thrust forward into Kyle's abdomen. Fifty yards away, Darren howled in terror. He forgot all about John-Paul, who by now was running in the direction of Cheetham Hill, whipping off the balaclava as he went so he could immerse himself in a crowd.
Kyle fell to the floor, his hands clutching his stomach. Darren finally reached him, his heart in his throat. "Kyle?" he asked, his chin shaking and unbidden tears stinging at his eyes.
"Hey Dazzle," Kyle smiled. His skin had gone pale and his eyes looked slightly glassy. He looked like he was on drugs the way his eyes couldn't focus.
"L-let me look," said Darren, carefully prising Kyle's hands away from his stomach. The moment he saw it, his heart broke. There was a large gash in Kyle's coat, the edges of which were stained red. "Oh God! No!" Darren lifted the hem of Kyle's coat to assess the damage.
The wound was about an inch long. The knife had pierced Kyle's stomach between two of the stars he had tattooed there, about three or four inches away from Kyle's navel. It was sneering at Darren, threatening to destroy the reason for his existence. The blood was not gushing, but it was definitely coming out of him, trickling down his side. Darren pressed down on the wound for a few moments, hoping to stem the red tide.
"Kyle, baby. We have to get inside the hospital now." Kyle didn't seem to be listening. He was humming 'Poker Face' and running his fingers through Darren's hair distractedly. It was as if they were at home watching the television. Darren pulled Kyle's arm around his shoulders and dragged the little man to his feet.
The moment he did, Kyle all but wilted, collapsing fully against Darren. Darren swept Kyle's legs out from under him and held him tight against his chest.
"Come on, baby. You have to stay awake now." Darren was crying in earnest, sobs racking through his chest. "Tell me about, um, the- the first time you dressed as a woman," Darren improvised, hoping a story would keep Kyle awake.
Kyle smiled weakly against Darren's chest while the bigger boy struggled towards Accident and Emergency. "I was fourteen," he said simply. "I found my Mum's make-up while she was away in France. I tried on the lippy and thought it was cute so I put the rest of it on."
Darren barked a fake laugh. "I bet you looked sexy as hell."
Kyle sighed. "I love you, Dazzle."
"I love you too, Angel. Come on, finish your story."
"I'm just so tired." He already sounded half asleep when he spoke.
Darren shook him as he continued to half run toward A&E. "Wake up!" Kyle didn't respond; the only thing reassuring Darren was the shallow breaths he could feel Kyle taking. Darren stepped up the pace even as he continued to try and wake Kyle. He was petrified that he wasn't going to wake up again.
After an agonizing eternity, Darren burst through the doors of Accident and Emergency and immediately started screaming for help. Two nurses hurried over with a trolley to take Kyle away. Darren placed him down gingerly. "He's been stabbed," he supplied.
"Are you family?" asked a third nurse.
"I'm his boyfriend," said Darren, his eyes never leaving Kyle's face and tears streaming down his own. His voice was weak as he spoke.
"Then you'll have to wait here," said the nurse brusquely.
"Just tell me he's going to be okay!" Darren called out after the fleeing nurses. Not one of them answered him and he fell to his knees in the doorway. "Please God, let him be okay!" he shouted at the ceiling.
I hope you enjoyed this. Any comments, questions, or even suggestions are welcome. Please feel free to email me at thebobbyfish@gmail.com. Your emails are all very welcome, and I will try to answer ever single one of them!
Keep an eye out for Chapter Twenty Six!