When Alex woke up on Wednesday morning, he was feeling happy. As he made his way to the bathroom, he was thinking about what had happened the night before. The thought of Justin jerking him off made his morning boner twitch. He quickly used the toilet before jumping in the shower where he could take care of his boner.

"The same, just a bit horny. What are we going to do today? Mom is out for the day, she said she was gonna spend the day working the phones for the Samaritans."

"I need to spend the day studying. I didn't exactly do much yesterday, and I promised to go see Mark this afternoon remember?"

"Oh yeah, we'll probably have to ask him to pick you up, it's supposed to rain all day."

"I thought you only wanted me along because we were going to be doing our run just before."

"Don't be silly, you know all there is to know, besides I want you there for support."

"What do you need support for? I thought you were only going to talk about church matters."

"We are, but I thought it was best if I told him from the start that I am gay and I would like you there when I do."

"If you're sure. I tell you what, I'll give Mark a ring now and ask him to pick us up while you have your breakfast."

Justin went to the drawer and picked up the phone book, found Mark's number and dialled it.

"Hi Mark, this is Justin, Justin Western..... I'm phoning for Alex.... yeah my new brother...... you made arrangements with him to meet up this afternoon.....we were wondering, as it's supposed to be nasty all day, we were going to ask if you could pick us up, but I just thought, would you mind having your chat here? It will save on the driving, mom and dad are going to be out all day so there'll be plenty of room and quiet.....cool. Also if you don't have any plans you could stay for dinner afterwards?..... Ok, see you this afternoon."

"Yeah. Mom will be stoked he's staying, she left me instructions for the dinner so it's all under control. What subject do you want to work on this morning?"

"I was thinking that I would get on with the History paper I didn't finish yesterday, then we could look at where I went wrong with the Geography paper."

With that Justin left the kitchen and went upstairs. When Alex had finished his breakfast, he swilled his dish out and went up to the bedroom. Justin was sat at the computer surfing the net when Alex walked in.

"Wotcha doing?" asked Alex, as he put his hands on Justin's shoulders causing him to jump.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, you looked so engrossed in what you were doing. What were you looking at anyway?"

"It's called Nifty, it has loads and loads of different stories about gays, all written by different people. It is amazing how some people can write this stuff, I wouldn't know where to begin, never mind write over thirty or forty chapters like some. I found a link to it once from another site I use. It told me to check out a story called Double the Trouble. It's an amazing story, set somewhere in Australia and it's based around two boys who become friends through their swim team. I've read loads of others since then. Some of the stories are great ideas but poorly written, while others are just quick wank material, but there are quite a few that are really really good. One of my favourite authors on the site at the moment though is David Lee. His story Tales from Bentonville, was amazing and Second Chances was pretty cool too."

"I didn't realise this type of thing was out there, but then I am not that familiar with the Internet."

"It's surprising what you'll find on the net. I'll get off now though so you can have the desk to work on."

With that, Justin got up from the desk and went over to his bed, picking up the book he had been reading on the way. Alex sat at the desk and started to work on his History paper. The rest of the morning seemed to fly by with the occasional break for the toilet.

Around lunchtime both boys went downstairs to get something to eat. Justin had a quick look in the fridge and decided he would make a couple of omelettes for their lunch.

"It's easy enough to whip a couple up. So this book you got me reading, with your dad being so weird about some things, how come he let you read it?"

"I'm not sure myself to be completely honest. Perhaps he saw it as not being too radical, being as there was no magic, aliens or stuff like that in it. Plus the book is set so far back in history you could argue that it is possible that what happens in the story could actually have happened."

"I suppose. I don't know if I could have done what Ayla did though or live with Brun's Clan, I mean their way of living is so weird."

"Not really, don't forget that it's only recently that women have been allowed to vote in this country. Many men over the years have believed that women had their place and that was in the home to look after the needs and desires of the man who had married her, with no consideration taken to what she wanted, which is not much different to the Clan and some still think that way."

"I suppose you're right. It's just so weird to me. I don't think I could ever have lived like that."

"Just remember, Ayla had no choice. She was dying when she was found by Iza and by that point she had lost her memory, so whilst the people who found her were strange looking, how the Clan were doing things seemed that was how it was supposed to be."

"I think it's great, I know I want to keep reading, just to find out whether it is Snape after the Philosopher's Stone."

"I knew you'd like it. They've made the last of the movies now and it's out in a few months. Do you want to see them?"

"The films are ok, if you don't keep comparing them to the books. You see the books and the films don't always match. For example, a few of the characters in the book don't appear in the films like Peeves. Granted, I can see the reasons for not including them but still, I prefer the books although Dan Radcliff is quite fit."

"I don't see why not. I could read all seven in a few weeks. I was able to get a copy of books five, six and seven on the day of release. I was so engrossed in them that I think I read each of them in like one or two days."

"Don't worry about it, the last film doesn't come out until July so you've got plenty of time."

"Coz I am going to do the dishes and I don't want any arguments from you. You cooked it, I'll clean up." Justin could tell by Alex's tone of voice he was serious.

When Justin finished he put his plate by the sink and went upstairs to read some more of the story he had been reading on Nifty before Alex had scared him earlier. When Alex reappeared they went over his Geography paper. There were a few areas where it was obvious Alex had a pretty firm understanding, but there was also a few he needed to revise up on so he understood them better.

"Now that's out of the way, why don't you chose another subject and I'll go through this History paper."

Alex settled down to with a Maths paper as Justin cracked on with marking the History paper. The boys spent the next hour quietly working. When Justin had finished he went to go downstairs, then he remembered doing the same thing the day before and the near tragic consequences.

"Hey Baby, I need to go down and do a few things to start dinner, why don't you come down and do your paper in the kitchen?"

Alex finished the question he was working on and followed Justin downstairs. The boys worked in their separate areas in the kitchen. Justin was slicing, dicing and peeling the veggies and putting them into saucepans of water, while Alex carried on with his Maths paper.

Right on the dot at three o'clock there was a knock on the door. Justin dried his hands and went to answer it.

"Hello Mark, come on in, Alex is in the kitchen. Still raining pretty nasty I see."

"Thank you." Mark took his coat off and handed it to Justin who hung it up with the other coats.

"I think the kitchen is fine," Mark replied. Justin led him towards the kitchen.

"Would you like something to drink? We have plenty of coffee, tea or something cold."

"A cup of tea would be nice thanks. Hello Alex, are you studying for your exams?"

"I remember what it was like sitting mine. Not something I would like to repeat. How are you today?"

"So you said you wanted to join our Church, well there are a few things we need to talk about. I would like to talk to you about the expectations you have about the church, what you expect to get from it and so on."

Alex was nervous about what he was about to do and he hoped that it would not upset Mark or mean he would be excluded from the church but because of his parents and everything else he felt he had to be upfront about this.

"Mark, before we get too involved, I think it is only right that you know I am gay."

"I see. Can I ask why you both felt you needed me to know?" Alex felt really nervous now.

"The short answer is that I was recently thrown out by my parents because of my sexuality. Remember I explained about the church I went to before? Well my father and the vicar are pretty close and I think he was ashamed of what everyone at the church would think. The vicar was always preaching about the sins of homosexuality and how everyone who practiced it would burn in the fires of eternal damnation," said Alex

"And I didn't think it was fair for Alex to be out there on his own. Mom and Dad know about both of us," added Justin

"That must have made things very uncomfortable for you Alex, but for me, I believe that God loves all his creations and that gay people are a part of his plan. What that plan is we will probably never know. So I would like to thank you both for being so honest with me about it, I know telling strangers something so personal is never easy. So what do you expect to get from the church?"

Alex and Mark chatted about what Alex could expect and possibly get from attending the church. Mark wasn't one of these who demanded from his congregation total attendance to every service or that they necessarily agree with everything he said.

Justin was quietly getting on with the preparations for dinner while Alex and Mark were talking, although he was invited for his opinion now and again. Sarah returned home at four. She was surprised to see Mark sat in the kitchen talking with the boys.

"Hello Mark, I didn't realise you were going to be here or I would have come home sooner."

Justin giggled at how his mom seemed flustered at seeing Mark sat in her kitchen.

"I was going to meet up with Alex to talk about the church and Justin phoned me up and asked if it would be ok for me to have the chat here being as the weather has been so foul all day."

"I invited someone over once, asking them the same thing. I ended up just giving them potatoes and chicken. They had a list a mile long of all the things they didn't eat. It was easier for them to tell me what they did and that was pretty small."

"I know the type, my daughter is exactly the same. She saw something on telly a few weeks ago and now she won't eat anything to do with a pig."

"It's weird how some people can get, I'm sorry, were you and Alex finished talking?"

"You boys can go upstairs then if you want; I'll look after dinner now. Can I get you a drink Mark? I'm going to make tea for myself, so it's no trouble."

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Alex's Guardian Angel

Chapter 23

By and © Anthony Lane