Val 'n Tyne

by Hans Schreiber and Flip McHooter

Chapter 20

It was over before Val even knew what happened.

As Tyne trailed Val outside, both Noah and Dane watched him go. They continued to eat their dinner, wondering what the two guys were going to talk about. But the second Lukas stepped out of the shadows, Noah squealed like a pig in heat and took off in a dead run toward the exit doors. Dane sat there mystified at first but then when he saw the second guy and Lizzy come out of the shadows and around the planter, he dropped his spork and took off after Noah. Just as Noah exited the food court into the courtyard, Lukas made his move.

Lukas kicked his right foot behind him like some charging bull cartoon character; he cocked back his arm, balled up his fist and made a sloppy run at Tyne, who was now poised in a balanced stance next to the planter. Val seemed slow to react and just sat there on top of the wall, almost like he was watching a badly scripted play.

Tyne's karate training took over automatically, and he squatted slightly into a defensive posture. As Lukas came running towards him, and once he was close enough, Tyne deftly shifted to the side allowing Lukas to lunge awkwardly past, easily missing him. Then, just when they were side by side, Tyne reached out and grabbed Lukas's balled up fist and out-stretched arm, and using Lukas's forward momentum, drove a knee with a sharp and precise attack to Lukas's nuts, and then immediately wrapped his arm securely behind his back and up towards his neck forcing him to make a screeching halt inches from running body first into the stucco planter. Tyne pulled Lukas's arm up even tighter behind his back, forcing Lukas to cry out in pain.

"Lesh go of me, faggot," Lukas screamed. He was half-way leaning over the planter with his ass sticking out. Tyne took advantage of his predicament and slipped up tighter behind him, and without really thinking, ground his crotch hard into the drunken boy's ass.

Lizzy, who had been standing there open-mouthed and bug-eyed, screamed out, "Oh my god! He's buttfucking Lukas! Right here in front of us! Stop him, Pedro, stop him!"

Pedro started toward Tyne to pull him off Lukas just as Noah and Dane came bursting through the doors. Pedro stopped short, stared at Dane and again at Val, who still hadn't moved, spun around and yelled to Lizzy, "Fuck that shit, you do it. He's your boyfriend. I don't even like the asshole all that much. I'm outa here." He quickly high-tailed it out of sight. Dane gave chase for a while and then pulled up to go back and see what was happening with Tyne.

Tyne leaned in as close as he could towards the bigger boy's head and growled softly but loud enough so that Val could hear too, "Next time you want me to fuck your smelly ass, ask nicely first." That made Val laugh and snapped him out of his trance. He finally jumped off the wall and stood on the other side of Lukas in case Tyne wanted any help, which apparently wasn't going to be needed anytime soon.

Lizzy, watching Pedro run off, reacted by rushing Tyne from behind and grabbing a fistful of Tyne's hair and jerking his head backwards and screaming like an alley cat in heat. Tyne grimaced but didn't immediately respond to her cheap shot and instead gave Lukas's arm another shove upwards. He took a moment to process his next course of action and, in that moment, Noah snapped his fingers, tossed his head from side to side crying out, "Oh no you don't, you fucking bitch!" He rushed Lizzy, grabbed two handfuls of her hair and tried to jerk her away from Tyne.

What happened next was a shocking surprise to everyone. Noah went crashing backwards onto his ass with both hands full of Lizzy's curly hair extensions. He landed hard on his ass with his legs flying in the air. His Utilikilt flew up over his torso and exposed his naked genitals underneath. Lizzy shrieked and grabbed at her head, letting go of Tyne. She whirled around to see poor Noah sprawled out on the sidewalk, both hands laid out spread eagle and his bald, clean shaven privates fully exposed.

"Oh my god, look at your dick! You're such a freak! Give me back my hair you freaking faggot!" She launched herself on top of him and her knobby knee caught Noah in the left testicle. He gasped and groaned as the two of them began rolling around on top of each other on the sidewalk, pulling hair, slapping and gouging at each other. It was quite an image. Val stared in complete disbelief at the whole sight.

Tyne yanked Lukas upright, turned him around and pushed him towards Lizzy and Noah rolling on the cement. Stumbling, maybe from being drunk or maybe just from being embarrassed by getting his ass whipped by the gay geek boy, he took a couple steps or so before he stepped on the laces of his untied shoe and did a face-plant on the sidewalk right at Lizzy's feet. He let out a moan then went completely limp. Lizzy let out another scream and covered her mouth. She pulled away from Noah and crawled over to her drunken boyfriend.

Tyne, Val and Dane, who had returned from his chase, just stood there looking down at Lukas wondering if he was going to get up. But before he even had the chance to move, a security cart rolled up silently behind them and two uniformed security guards jumped out and told everyone to freeze. The smaller of the two guards reached into his belt and pulled out a can of pepper-spray to underscore his order and stood in a defensive position off to the side. Noah sat up and tucked his Utilikilt between his legs, which he'd also shaved.

Dane walked straight over to Tyne against the mall cop's orders. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine," Tyne said.

"Sir, Stop! Go back over there, now!" the taller security guard yelled at Dane. "You two, don't even think about moving," he said, pointing to Tyne and Val. "Miss, please stand over by the cart, and don't move either." Then, looking over his shoulder at his partner to make sure he was still covered, he grabbed some plastic zip handcuffs from his belt, leaned over Lukas and locked his hands firmly behind his back. Once he was secure, he rolled him on his side so he could breathe. Lukas gave no resistance because he had passed out.

Standing up, the security guard went to Lizzy next, who had slowly heeded his warning and backed up a few feet towards the cart, rubbing her head. She was alternating between looking at Lukas on the ground and searching for Pedro down the sidewalk. It looked to the guard that she was thinking about making a break for it. "Don't even think about it. Turn around and place your hands behind your head."

"I will not! I did nothing wrong," she seethed.

"See that camera up there," he said, pointing to a small camera on a pole that nobody had noticed before. "We have them positioned all over the mall. One thing that The Commons takes very seriously is security. We have the most high-tech surveillance equipment available. We've been watching you and your two boyfriends drinking in your car just before you and this boy started this fight. That's how we got here so fast. We were on our way to arrest you."

"I did NOT start this fight. And I was NOT drinking. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Fine. That can be cleared up with a quick breathalyzer test."

That made Lizzy pause. Quietly, she amended her story, "Well, maybe I did drink a little. But I didn't start this!"

"Hands behind your head, now! Underage drinking, open containers in the mall parking lot, instigating a fight – you're in a lot of trouble, missy," he said, pulling out another pair of plastic handcuffs and putting them on tightly over her wrists.

"Ouch! Let go of me."

Her outburst caused quite a chuckle for the crowd who had just gathered and was standing around in a circle watching all of the action. The guys from the basketball team were front and center staring in disbelief at what was going on. They were laughing and pointing at Lukas on the ground. Another couple of security guards had just showed up, stepping out of a full-size car this time, one walking straight over towards Tyne and Val while the other pulled Lukas to his feet.

"Amazing job, young man," the older of the two said to Tyne, holding out his hand for a shake. "We saw the whole thing on our closed-circuit monitors. That was some slick move, I must say. Are you all right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so. You saw all of that?"

"Sure did. Have it all recorded, too. Where did you learn those moves?" he asked.

"Karate. I've been practicing for a few years now," Tyne said shyly. "I'm not in any trouble am I?"

"Oh, no. Not at all. All you did was protect yourself and without excessive force, I might add. If it was up to me I'd give you an award. If you were older, I'd offer you a job. We just need to take your name and contact information for our reports. Then we'll turn these two over to the Hartsdale PD along with a disc containing the security camera footage. The police may want to talk with you, but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay."

For the next few minutes, Tyne gave his version of the story to the security officer and then it was Val's turn. While Val was talking, Tyne walked over to Dane and Noah, who had gathered himself up off the sidewalk and walked over next to Dane, and told them everybody was fine and that he'd see them inside in a minute. While he was doing that, he looked out the corner of his eye to see both Lizzy and Lukas being placed in the back seat of the car and hauled off to the security office. He hoped that was going to be the last time he'd ever see the two of them. Once Val was done, they were both finally free to go.

The rest of the crowd had broken up and everybody had either left or wandered back inside the food court. Tyne and Val looked at each other, but neither knew what to say. Tyne seemed antsy and Val was feeling dejected. It seemed to Tyne that every time he was with Val something bad happened. As for Val, he had brought Tyne outside to apologize, and instead got him involved in a fight with Lukas and Lizzy. And all he could do was sit there and watch, frozen in place like some helpless damsel. The voice in Val's head scolded himself, "What the F is wrong with me? Why didn't I jump up and kick Lukas's ass?" he wondered. He wished they were someplace else where they could talk quietly together, and he could really apologize, the right way. Where he could hold his hand and look him in the eye and tell him how truly sorry he was for hurting his feelings, and then tell Tyne how F'n impressed he was with his kick-ass move on Lukas. What he really wanted, more than anything in the world right then, was to wrap his big arms around Tyne and never let him go, smothering him in tender kisses. That, and to feel Tyne's soft hands roving over his bare skin, hugging him back.

Finally, as they got moving and were going through the big doors, Val stopped him and said, "So can we talk later? I still need to apologize to you."

"Nah, I'm good. I told you already. No worries. Listen, I gotta go. Noah's my ride home and he's probably having withdrawals from his Ritalin or Adderall or whatever he takes about now, not to mention that he probably wants to get the hell out of here after the little display of his jewels that he just put on for everybody. Well, maybe not that. So I'll see you around, huh?"

"Tyne, I can tell you're still mad at me and I hate that. I really need to apologize to you. I need to explain."

"Explain? I don't think any explanation is necessary. I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own. And, I'm not really mad at you anymore. I was – really mad, but I'm over that. I am sad, though, but nothing you can say will change that. It's possible for me to be sad and not be mad at the same time. I think you got that all confused."

"Yeah, I guess. Tell Noah I like his skirt," Val said quietly.

"It's a Utilikilt. He's corrected me a half dozen times over that. But I'll tell him." Tyne gave him a quick wave and headed over to the table where Noah and Dane were sitting again. They had cleaned up the table and the rest of his dinner had vanished. But he didn't care because he had lost his appetite.

"So what all happened out there?" Dane asked, breathlessly. He was staring at Tyne with intense admiration as he sat down.

"Was Lukas begging for mercy? How did you get him in that buttfucking position?" Noah asked breathlessly, "And, holy crapola, I so wanted to do my happy dance when I saw Lizzy get arrested. That bitch. Can you believe I grabbed her hair extensions? But then I remembered I didn't have my chonies on underneath my kilt and I didn't want to put on any more shows. C'mon, spill it, mister man," Noah said, bouncing around in his chair. "DE-tails, DE-tails!! Blow by blow."

"It was nothing. Val wanted to talk about something but before we could even get into it, Lizzy, Lukas and some guy named Pedro showed up calling us faggots. I think Lizzy egged them on to gay bash us, but only Lukas seemed all that interested. He was shit-faced drunk, by the way."

"That's not a surprise," said Dane. "For a churchie, he parties pretty hard."

"Anyway, he charged at me and I just used my Karate training to subdue him. Then he fell on his face and Pedro took off. That's all there is too it. It wasn't even much of a fight." Tyne sighed and slunk back into his chair. All of a sudden he was exhausted – mentally more than physically.

"Well, you're my hero," Noah said, clasping his hands up to his chest tightly and batting his eyes at his BFF.

"No shit! That was awesome. I just wish I got to see it up close. Damn, Tyne, you're full of surprises," Dane said, with a big grin plastered on his cute mug. "I wonder what Val wanted to talk to you about? Do you know? I bet you were kind of shocked to see Lukas show up. I wonder what Lukas and Lizzy were doing together? Do you think they're a couple now? I can't think of two people who deserve each other more than those two do, you know? I wonder who that Hispanic pussy, Pedro, was. He took off like a scared rabbit. How did you handle Lukas so easily?"

"Like I said, it was nothing. Just years of training that has finally paid off," Tyne said. He looked over at the other end of the food court to see the crew from the basketball team talking excitedly about what just happened. Again he wondered why Val didn't do anything. He had a fleeting thought that maybe Val was going to let Lukas hurt him for some reason. But why would he? Then Tyne sighed and added, "You guys wanna go? Let's get out of here."

"Can Dane give you a ride home, Mr. Karate Kid hero? I want to go by Whole Foods and show off my new designer rags and see if the manager will allow me to wear my Utilikilt to work. Speaking of that, is the back of it dirty from rolling around with that Lizzy bitch? Plus, if Lizzy's sister is there, I can be the first to tell her all about the festivities tonight. I need to return LIzzy's hair extensions to her. Ohhh, I can't wait!" Noah said, squirming around in his seat again. "I wonder what Lizzy's mug shot will look like?"

"You better settle down or someone is going to see your junk under that kilt again," Tyne said. Then he looked over at Dane, who hadn't taken his eyes off of him. "Do you mind giving me a ride home? It's on your way, right?"

"Yeah! Of course. No problem. Let's roll."

They stood and Tyne inspected Noah's kilt for him and declared it to be clean. Then they both said goodbye to Noah and headed out to the parking lot on the other side of the Commons. Tyne made a point to steer them away from Val and his crew because he really didn't want to go through the whole thing again. And he really didn't want to see Val again, either. Tyne and Dane made small talk as they walked across the asphalt until they reached the only car left in the back part of the parking lot. It could only be Dane's.

Well, he guessed it was his, because the car parked way out there was a funky looking, ginormous boat of a thing that had to have been made in the 1970's. It was so big that at least ten people could fit in the steel behemoth. He had to admit that it was a beautiful looking car, though. It was shiny midnight blue with a taut, bright white canvas top. Gleaming, glistening chrome was everywhere and huge, white-wall tires poked out from deep in the four corners. It seemed that it took several minutes to walk around the car because it was so damn long. Dane popped open the passenger side door to let Tyne in and then scrambled around the other side. In fact, he moved so fast that he almost ate it on some loose gravel. Tyne took a second to peer inside the car before he climbed in. When the door opened, all kinds of interior lights lit up and he was totally amazed at how big the cabin was. The back seat looked like a living room in an old ladies house. He slid in on the sumptuous white-leather seat and pulled the huge door closed behind him with a pronounced thunk. He looked over at Dane who had beat him inside and was sitting up straight and tall at the large wheel, grinning up at him like a fool, and Tyne had to smile back. He just couldn't help it. It was so funny to see this cute young jock driving this humongous old car.

"What is it with you and all of these weird old cars? What the heck is this one? Shouldn't this land-yacht be out on Lake Hartsdale?"

"You like it? I was excited to show it to you when Noah said you needed a ride home. I wanted you to ride in the lap of luxury with me. We're lucky; my dad just washed and detailed this tub for a Route 66 car show thing yesterday. I don't usually get to drive this one. I'd put the top down but I'm not sure I'd get it back up. This beauty isn't even his favorite, but it usually gets the best awards. It's my favorite, though. I fantasize about having crazed wild sex in the back seat.

Tyne looked over his shoulder and his eyes popped. "A family of four could live back there," he joked and Dane laughed in his smooth, deep way.

"Anyhow, I'm glad you're here with me. I'm so glad you got Noah to bring you over to see me. I was surprised when you came out to meet me tonight. I didn't think you wanted to see me anymore. I was bummed. I'd kind of given up on you, you know? Then when … umm … when I umm…"

Tyne laughed at his unusual loss for words and filled in the blank, "When you got Noah's text about me and Val? It's okay, I know Noah put you up to it. I'm glad you sent the text. It was a sweet text, seriously. I'm happy you sent it."

"That's a big relief. After the last time I took you home, I thought I'd blown it for good with you and you'd never want to see me again."

"Dane, don't say that. You know I like you. I really do. It's just that, well, all this other drama that's been going on with me lately – like tonight. It follows me around like my own private little rain cloud. But I think all of that stuff is over now, finally. I hope, anyway. I don't want to lie to you, and I don't, you know, like, want to lead you on or something. But for now, can we at least just go slow and, you know, get to know each other better? I hope that's enough for you, because that's all I can offer right now. No pressure, no drama, okay?" Tyne told him, hoping that he didn't sound all preachy. He honestly did like this guy, but he was in no hurry to get burned again.

"That's cool with me. But just so you know, I really, really like you and it's going to be difficult for me to keep my hands off you. So bear with me, okay? If I get to be too much, just tell me and I'll simmer down or, better yet, just give me a karate chop," Dane said sincerely, keeping his hands on the wheel. "Well, maybe the karate chop is a bad idea after seeing how you laid Lukas out back there. Maybe just a little slap on my hands would be better. I promise I won't do anything that will make you uncomfortable. Friends first, and if more happens, which I'm really hoping for, then that will be a bonus. But I promise I won't push you, Tyne. I promise." Dane peered over at Tyne and winked.

Tyne chuckled. "Okay, that sounds good to me. So let's start fresh and pretend this is like a first date or something. Just new friends getting together for some low-key fun. How does that sound?"

"That sounds awesome!" Dane almost screamed. Then with a sly expression, Dane added, "You know, I actually lead the league amongst all the other point guards in getting rebounds. I'm just saying. You know?"

Tyne caught his drift but chose to change the subject. "So tell me about this car. It's really nice. But dude, it's so freakin' huge!"

"I know. It's a '74 Cadillac Convertible. This was my grandmother's car, and she bought it new. It only has like 40 thousand miles on it. My dad got it when she bought something else. He's got like 6 or 7 old 70's cars in his 'fleet'. He's weird like that, but he lets me drive them so it's all good. They're all fun to drive because everybody gives you funny looks, especially because I'm so young. This one is like driving around in your living room," he said, starting up the engine and letting it warm up.

"No shit. It's like you've got La-Z-Boy recliners in here for seats. Slinky leather La-Z-Boys. It's really kinda cool in a way. Too bad you don't have a flat screen up here and we could just kick back and watch a movie."

"No kidding. But it's in great condition and someday it will be worth some big bucks, at least that's what my dad says. Too bad it only gets like 7 miles to the gallon," Dane said.

"Yeah. Be thankful I'm not some kind of crazy environmentalist or something. So I guess I'm supposed to say something like 'Home James'?"

Smiling at Tyne's joke, he suggested, "How about we head to Baskin Robbins first to get a cone or something before we go home?" he answered.

"Awesome. So you like working out here at the Subway? This looks like a cool gig." Tyne asked, running his hand over the wide, white leather dash board. He was really thinking how great it would be to drive around in this boat with the top down on a sunny day.

"I'm just helping out my sister and brother-in-law for a while. Did you know she just had triplets? Pushed them out in like fifteen minutes. I got to watch it all happen. All three of them. God, it was fascinating. She's lying there with her feet all up in the air panting like she just ran wind sprints and her thing is wide open and pulsating and the doctor is turning the first little girl. Then when she starts to come out, my sister starts grunting like she's taking a massive dump or something and she got all purple in the face. She was squeezing the crap out of her hubbie's hand. Just then the top of numero uno with slicked up black hair peeks out of her vagina and they're all telling her to keep pushing, keep pushing and she's yelling at them that she is pushing and then wham! The whole little naked baby girl just pops right out, all purple and kind of slimy. It was good the doctor was right there to catch her. Then …"

"Dude! That's way too much information. But good for her. So, what, you're like an uncle now? That makes you sound so old," Tyne commented as Dane made a left turn out of The Common's parking lot and headed down Hartsdale Avenue towards town.

"Yeah, scary, huh? But I love those little nuggets like they were my own. I could just eat them up they're so cute. They named the first of the three girls Dayne, after me. Can you believe it? It's Danish for Dane, well, duh! It means I have, or she has, or we have a clever mind, good business judgment, a sense of responsibility, according to this name generator app I downloaded the other day. Oh, it also said us Dane's have an appreciation of the finer things of life, like you, if you catch my drift."

"I wonder what my name means," Tyne mused.

Dane pulled his phone from his pocket and navigated to the name app and tossed it over to Tyne. Type it in and see." Tyne typed in his name and it didn't come up. There was one for a 'Tine' spelling but that turned out to be just an abbreviation of Kristine. So he checked Spalding and read the meaning with bemused irritation.

"Well? What's it mean?"

"Nothing for Tyne, but I tried Spalding and it says it means 'Divided Field' if you can believe it. That's a little ironic."

"Hmm. Interesting. I kind of forgot your real name is Spalding. Well it's just a dumb app, you know? I mean the other two names of the triplets didn't really seem all that interesting. Well, Payton is kinda cool, but, c'mon, Isabella? Aren't we done with Twilight? Shit! Anyway, all I know is that those three little cuties are the bomb. I wanna have kids with my husband someday. You?"

Tyne handed the phone back. "Yeah, I guess so. I never really thought about it before. I think I'd rather start with puppies first and work my way on up. You know what I mean?" Tyne said, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden thinking about how his dad had left him so soon and how he'd never ever want his kids to go through something like that.

"What's wrong," Dane asked, picking up Tyne's quick change of mood as he sailed the big GM boat down the street toward Baskin Robbins.

"Nothing, just a chill, like when you get that déjà vu kinda feeling. Are you sure you want to go to Baskin Robbins? I mean, I don't care, but what if somebody from school sees us together? After that fight, I'm pretty sure that it's been texted all over everywhere now that I'm gay and I don't want you to be the butt of gossip if we're seen together," Tyne said quietly.

"No worries. If anybody sees us and asks what we're doing, I'll just tell them the truth that we're on a date," the copper-haired boy said, giving Tyne a dazzling toothy smile. "Like I told Tyrell. Besides, I'm proud to be seen with you."

"You're shitting me! No way, dude," he said, turning his body to really look at Dane.

"No. I'm fucking serious. Remember that day that I came out to you at the hospital? After I got home I told my family. I'm like that. I don't lie and I don't like liars. If something's on my mind I usually say it. I realized keeping something so big a secret was really no different than lying about it. So I told them and that was it. I might tell the guys at school tomorrow, but they probably know by now anyway since most of them were here tonight. Did you notice how Tyrell was looking at me? I thought he was going to freak for a second. But he got over it. And like I said, that's just how I am. I don't like liars. Whatcha see is whatcha get. No bullshit here. They can either take me or leave me, no big deal. Besides, now that I know you can do karate, I'll just keep you at my side protecting me. So why worry about it?"

"But it is a big deal, Dane," Tyne said, trying not to think about his comment about liars and pushing Val's face out of his mind. "What did your parents say?"

"They pretty much took it like when I told them I wanted to be a NASA Scientist instead of running the family business with them. Curious at first, maybe a little sad, but then they got totally supportive. They're pretty mellow like that. If I'd known it would go that smoothly, I would have done it years ago. I regret that I didn't, now. After you inspired me to come out, I decided right then and there, I was going to be true to myself from now on, no matter what. My Dad said he kind of wondered. I never really dated and he remembered this time when I was like eight years old. We went to a water park on vacation and I kept disappearing. He would find me back in the changing room just sitting on the bench peeking at the boys changing into and out of their suits. Then he noticed how at our annual summer beach trip, my eyes sneakily wandered after the cute guys instead of the bikini clad girls. He's pretty observant like that."

"Wow. You're really something," Tyne said with a feeling of confusion and astonishment. Maybe Lukas was right, Tyne wondered – maybe he really was systematically turning everybody gay or at least opening them up to the realization of their gay side as in Val's case.

"No I'm not all that. I always knew I was gay; there just wasn't any reason for me to say anything about it before and take the risk. Not until we ran into each other in that elevator."

"That was just a random thing. And anyway, me plowing headfirst into you is no reason to come out. I don't see the connection."

"That wasn't random! You know that. Life isn't random. Everything has a purpose. Besides, you smashing into me was the best reason to do it. I could have been run into by anybody, but it was you who ran into me. I'd been crushing on you for a while but didn't know how to approach you. I decide on a spur of the moment to go visit Val, when suddenly I'm flat on my back with the cutest kid in school on top of me. Boom! And look what happened? We're here having a rebooted first date. I think it's nice karma," he said, as he quietly and softly slipped his hand into Tyne's and curled his fingers around the back of his hand. Tyne didn't pull back, and instead, gave him a tentative squeeze back.

"I've got to hand it to you. It's really cool to be with a guy who knows who he is and what he wants. It's kind of refreshing really. I just hope you don't put everything on the table right away. You gotta have some surprises, right?"

"Of course I do! I bet you didn't know I like to wear silky black boxers, did you?" Dane laughed, pulling up to a light that had just turned red.

"TMI, dude, TMI!" and Tyne started laughing too. Then his stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten much of his Kung Pao Chicken. "C'mon, let's get going."

"Hold on a minute," Dane said, as he pulled the giant car over to the curb. "One more thing and then we'll go pig out on all 31 flavors. But you have to scoot over here closer to me."

"Why?" But Tyne already knew why, and he started to blush a little and his dick stirred in his pants. "Okay, I'm here. What?"

"Just this," Dane said almost in a whisper as he leaned into Tyne and pressed his moist lips to Tyne's. It was just what both boys needed right then – not too much and not too little. Just right.

Val woke up with butterflies in his stomach. He reached over and tapped the button on the alarm clock. He climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Vi rushed out of her room a little bit late. She had been happier than a monkey on a banana plantation ever since meeting Tim at Sylvia's church. They had texted and even talked on the phone every day for the past week.

Val had attended the youth group meeting with her on Wednesday and joined in the game night they were having. It was fun to watch Vi and Tim flirt with each other. Tim was awkwardly bad at it. Val was thrilled that she'd found Tim because he was obviously a good kid who had been well parented and would help Vi stay away from Danny and his type. Tim was polite and cheerful by nature.

Val actually enjoyed the youth experience as well. The older kids were all upbeat and fun to be around and didn't seem so shallow once the initial surprise of Sylvia and the hot jock was over with. Sylvia was enthralled that Val and Vi attended. She had picked them up and driven them over since it was Sylvia's turn to help with homework on Wednesday. Tyne had made excuses all week about coming over and doing homework together, but Val was sure to be completely honest with Tyne about going with Sylvia to the youth activity. He had even made a special point to invite him to join them, but Tyne politely declined the offer saying he had to help Dane at Subway. He wondered what exactly he was helping him with.

They played some relay games including one where they put three potatoes between their legs along with a stick horse. They had to hobble over three pans and drop one potato in each pan. If they missed the pan or dropped more than one at a time, they had to go back and start over. It was hilarious to watch from the back because it looked like they were pooping. Everyone was laughing their heads off over it. Another game involved passing an orange from under your chin to the next person in line without dropping it. The first team to get the orange passed all the way down the line won. Tim practically knocked his buddy over when he tried to get in line between him and Vi. There was no way he was going to miss the opportunity to 'neck' with Vi while trying to get the orange from under her chin to under his.

The last game had been suggested by a kid named Wyatt after the chaperones went inside to start cleaning up from the refreshments they'd had. He was a tall, skinny guy with sandy hair and mild acne. He took a little ribbing for suggesting it, but everyone ended up playing, despite some grumbling. It was called 'fag tag' and when Wyatt suggested it, there were quite a few groans. The rules were that if you were tagged, you had to freeze in place until another member of your team, of the same gender, kissed you on the lips. Val looked at Sylvia when the rules were explained with wide eyes and a slack jaw. She just rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I think Wyatt likes to watch the girls kiss each other." As the game progressed, Val was pretty sure Wyatt had other motives for suggesting the game. The boys quickly sorted themselves out as taggers or faggers. Some guys flat refused to free a teammate by kissing them, but would hustle their butts off to tag the other team.

Val got tagged in the back and was frozen, which was a big loss to his team because of his athleticism. He had been a very good tagger up to that point. Tyney Tim came up near him along with Vi. "Kiss my brother and free him," Vi urged Tim. Tim was a definite tagger as well. He shook his head emphatically, no. "C'mon, if you kiss him, I'll let you kiss me," she offered with a little waggle of her tongue. He paused and considered it for a second and then rushed over and pulled Val down by the shirt planting a quick kiss on his lips. It was weird for Val to get kissed by a kid like that. But it was funny too. The funniest thing was the immediate and frantic wiping of his lips afterward as if they were covered in manure or something. They all had to rush off since a fast kid from the other team was making a beeline toward them. As soon as they escaped, they slipped behind a bushy tree and Tim kissed Vi, a little unsure of himself. Val watched with amusement from a distance and suspected Vi might just probably be his second kiss, since Val had been his first. He laughed over that and watched with even more hilarity as Vi pulled him back in against her lips and apparently slipped him a little tongue. Something she probably learned from Danny. Tyney Tim came up wide eyed and gasping for air. Their hiding place was discovered and they had to run to escape getting tagged. At first opportunity, Tim stuck his hand in his pocket and wiggled it around a bit to rearrange his boner. He was still smiling like he'd scored the game winning basket in the state championship.

It had been a fun evening and Val wished Tyne would have joined them. He thought how cool it would have been to be able to kiss Tyne in public without any stigma attached to it. As fun as the night had been, it would have been so much better if Tyne had joined them.

Val stopped daydreaming about the youth activity and showered quickly and dressed. Then he poured himself a heaping bowl of Frosted Shredded Wheat. He poured the milk over it and let it soak in a minute before shoveling it in. He loved the mixture of the sweet frosting and the milky sogginess of the shredded wheat. He was nervous about going back to school. He wasn't sure what kind of reception he would receive. The basketball team had lost one and won one of the final two league games. As a result, they hung on to their league championship and were headed into the regional playoffs that were a 'one and done' format. Val wanted so badly to play in the upcoming Thursday game, but his parents and the doctor said no. Besides, while his depth perception was improved, it was still a little off. He was still going to wear a shirt and tie on game day and sit with the team on the bench. It would just be so hard not to play.

Nick showed up right on time to give him a ride. Val grabbed his backpack and made his way out to the car. As he climbed in, Nick turned down the bumping rap song he had playing and tossed knuckles at Val who bumped with him. "Dude, it's so great to have you back at school. We've missed you."

"Why?" Val asked in full honesty.

"Serious? Dude, you're the heart of the team. Whether you can play or not, you're like our inspirational leader. Not to mention your horrible sick sense of humor. Nobody cracks a bad joke as well as you."

"Hmm. Thanks, I guess. So where's Noah? I thought you'd be driving him to school since you guys are like attached at the hip nowadays."

"Nah, he drives himself. He's got a car. Besides, we both agreed to play it cool at good old Hartsdale High. Neither of us really wants unnecessary attention, if you know what I mean. Besides, we are NOT attached at the hip!"

"Oh yeah, I suppose I should have said, 'attached at the butt' instead of hip." Val smiled wryly.

"See! That's exactly what I was talking about - your lousy, sick sense of humor. Nobody does bad jokes as well as you." Nick grinned back. "For the record, we haven't gone that far yet. I'm not sure when or if we'll be ready for that. So what's going on with you and Sylvia? You tapped it yet? Lost your V-card finally? Sent your little miner into the glory hole? Drilled the …"

"STOP! Enough youthanisms, or whatever they're called. The answer is NO. Not that it's any of your jizzness, we didn't go all the way. We did get close though. Can I tell you something just between us?"

"Sure."

"Swear?"

"Geez! We're not ten anymore. All right, I swear."

"I had the opportunity, but I backed out because I was afraid of hurting Tyne over it." Val studied Nick for a reaction. Nick didn't really react for a bit.

"Well, what you did to Tyne in order to hook up with Sylvia already hurt him. Bad. I heard all about it from Noah." Nick looked Val hard in the eyes disapprovingly and then looked back to the road.

"I know. I've tried apologizing. I didn't mean for him to find out and get hurt over it. I know I have to cool the sex stuff with Sylvia and Tyne both."

"So you've been messing with Tyne? Like full on sex?" Nick pried. There was incredulity in his voice.

"No, not full on sex. Just some messing around together. Harmless boy on boy playing around, you know? Like you suggested I should try out like the way you did it with your cousin," Val explained weakly.

"Dude, I was saying that because I had the fucking hots for you. I wanted to get in your pants and play with your big toy. Tyne's a different story completely. He's not in lust with you like I was … am. He's in LOVE with you. Big fucking difference."

Val stared at Nick. There was that four letter word - LOVE. It was such a complicated, crazy-making word. "I never asked him to be in love with me," Val finally muttered.

"Yeah, well you don't really get to decide that. Trust me; we tried talking him out of it," Nick said. "But he's smitten. Don't ask me why?" Nick shot a sideways glance in Val's direction. Val shook his head slightly and smiled back. "Luckily, Dane's still interested in him so it's all good."

"Why Dane? I had no F'n idea that Dane was gay. Did you? I mean, c'mon. Shouldn't there be some clues? And what's with Tyne all hanging out with him like every night? I think he's just trying to get at me. Don't you think so?"

"I think that bump on the head messed you up more than you think. Seriously, you're shocked about Dane crushing on Tyne after YOU have been crushing on him? Dane's a lot more likely candidate to be gay than you are. And no one suspected me besides that homophobic asshole Lukas, and Lizzy, of course, until the fucking phone pix disaster happened. Are you jealous of Dane and Tyne being together?"

"No. Let's talk about something else. This is depressing me." Val counseled Nick on the upcoming playoff game to get the conversation moved away from his relationship issues. "If we're gonna beat Eastridge this Thursday, you and Dane gotta do some serious ballin' together."

Nick glanced over and started snickering. "I don't think Noah and Tyne would be very happy about that." Val looked puzzled at first and then grinned.

"Whatever. What I'm saying is you and Dane are the best players on the team and without a big man, you two have to feed each other balls when you got a man on you." Nick couldn't contain it and burst out laughing. Val was perplexed. "What? What is so damn funny? Dude, you're whack. Get your mind off sex for two minutes."

Nick fought for control and said, "Okay, but c'mon, did you hear what you said? Besides, I'm just zoning a bit in the buzz of last night's action with Noah. It was so sick."

"What did you guys do?"

"We were at my house just hanging out, listening to music, doing a little dancing and since only my housekeeper was there, we went out in the spa in just our boxers. My god, he had little pink hearts all over his. Once in the water, we pulled our boxers off and let them float around us. Noah gave me an underwater blowjob. Holy shit, dude, it was so hot. I can't believe how long he can hold his breath. God, I love being with him."

Val smiled and felt his dick enlarge a bit as he was reminded of his experience in the mountain hot spring with Tyne. "I'm glad for you two. It's gotta be great to have that without all the complicated shit. I wish …" They reached the school and Nick parked out on the edge of the lot where he usually did to try and avoid scratches to his nice ride. Val just sat in the passenger seat as his stomach churned, making no effort to get out. "What?" Nick asked, pulling the keys from the ignition.

"I'm F'n skitzing. What if I get shit about the whole naked thing with Tyne up on the mountain?"

"Dude, chill. It's been too long. Nobody's even remembering that shit. Peeps are just gonna be glad to have you back."

"I hope so." He grabbed his backpack and headed with Nick onto the campus. Along the way to first period, he got lots of second glances accompanied by thumbs up and waves with encouraging comments welcoming him back.

In each class, he was welcomed back by the teacher and students alike. Passing in the hallways between periods was the same thing. At lunch, he came into the cafeteria just as Noah and Tyne were headed out with their trays. The chicken enchiladas actually looked appetizing for a change, but coming face to face with Tyne, squelched Val's appetite. "Hey Tyne – Noah."

"Hey. Welcome back," Tyne said sliding to the side to get by him.

"Where you guys headed?"

"Out by the chess boards like always. Noah needs another lesson."

"As if, sister. Who checked your mate last time we played?"

"I spotted you a knight and a rook."

"So. I still won." Noah flipped his head back and sashayed out.

"Mind if I join you after I get my food?" Val tried not to sound like he was pleading.

"Don't you need to sit with Sylvia?"

"She has second lunch. Don't you need to sit with Dane?"

Tyne shot him a piercing glare, finally looking Val directly in the eyes. "He's not here today. He's working at Subway because one of the triplets is back in the hospital."

"So, can I join you and Noah?"

"Free country. Do what you want."

When Val arrived with his food, Noah was stressing over where to move. Val recognized Tyne's strategy and knew he was setting up a protected attack on Noah's queen. While Noah chewed slowly on his enchilada and fussed over where to move next, Val engaged Tyne in conversation. "Tyne, I never really got to apologize for my bad behavior and I know, I know you said I don't need to explain, but I need to say this for me." Tyne just shrugged so Val launched into it, "I never meant to hurt you. I care about you. A lot. I want us to stay friends." Noah was now paying little attention to the chess game and was watching the exchange between Val and Tyne. Val continued, "I won't lie and say I don't have special, tingly feelings for Sylvia, because I do. But I have them for you too. I don't know how to choose. I can't choose. Please forgive me. Don't stay mad at me."

"I told you already," Tyne burst out in exasperation, "I'm not mad at you, I'm just sad. You say you can't choose, but you DID choose. You chose her."

"Tyne, c'mon give me a break here. I got an offer to go over to her house while we were out on a ride at Makeout Meadow. She said her dad would be gone and the house would be all hers. She wanted to make me dinner and then watch Princess in Paradise together. I mean, if some hot guy invited you to go do something like that, I'd understand."

Noah was getting more and more red in the face and it looked like he was about to spontaneously combust. Tyne shot him a 'chill out' glance before he launched into one of his famous lecture tirades. Then Tyne looked Val squarely in the eye and said, "If this was meant to make me feel better, you failed. I really didn't want to hear that you not only dissed me to go out with Sylvia, but actually went to her house for dinner, a movie and your first fuck. Congratulations, by the way. I hope you enjoyed it." Noah had to restrain himself not to stand and give Tyne an ovation.

"That's just it, Tyne. That is what I planned to do. That's why I dissed you. The dinner was great, the movie wasn't as bad as I expected and it did get me horned up just like I'm sure she planned. We ended up naked together and as I was about to do the big deed, I couldn't follow through. I couldn't do it because all I could think about was you. All I could think about was how it would hurt you if I did it. Your feelings were more important than losing my virginity with Sylvia so I backed out."

There was a heavy silence. Noah studied Val's face for any signs of insincerity but didn't see any. All Tyne could do was look at his hands with intense interest. "Mind if I make a suggestion?" Val asked, leaning over Noah. He moved Noah's king side knight forward three and over one. It placed Tyne's bishop and his rook at risk with no way to protect them both. Val looked at Tyne and said, "It sucks when you have to choose to sacrifice one to save the other, doesn't it." He lifted his tray and walked sadly away toward the basketball gang like a dog returning to its vomit.

On Tuesday, Val purposely skipped lunch. He didn't want to deal with watching Dane and Tyne. But come fifth period and Contemporary Lifestyles, there was no avoiding Tyne. They sat at the same table. That had been exciting at first and now it was just awkward. Val assumed it would just be another day of awkward silence like it had been after the lunch encounter on Monday. Val considered skipping, but he couldn't do that forever. A big part of the grade was class participation. His stomach was in knots as he approached the classroom. He stood outside until the bell rang and slipped into his seat while it was still ringing.

Tyne greeted him with a simple "Hey."

"Hey back."

Ms. Harris was talking about the civil rights movement and Tyne focused on taking copious notes while Val drew a basketball court on his notebook paper and started marking X's and O's with arrows outlining some suggested plays for the big game on Thursday. Most of the plays involved Dane bringing the ball into play and then passing it off to either Nick or Tyrell on the outside perimeter. If they were going to beat Eastridge, it was going to have to be from lights-out shooting from the outside.

Towards the end of class, Val drew a thick, dark arrow from Dane's X at the top of the key over to the bench. He smiled to himself as he did it, then crumpled up the paper and flicked it into the waste paper basket in the back corner of the room. It bounced off the wall and dropped in. He gave a small jubilant fist pump and said "Yes!" under his breath. Tyne looked over at him and smiled. Val took the opportunity to ask something he knew he shouldn't but couldn't help asking anyway. "So, you hanging out with Dane tonight?"

"No. He's working at Subway again after school." There was an auspicious pause and then Tyne asked, "So I guess it's my night to come over and study with you. You okay with it if I do?"

Val almost swallowed his tongue. The shocked look on his face was so evident that Tyne chuckled slightly. When Val found his voice, he said, "Sure, that'd be great. If you want to."

"Yeah, I do. Can't have you failing after all the work Sylvia and I put into keeping you caught up, can we?"

"Yeah. I mean, no! We definitely don't want that. Does this mean you're not mad … I mean you're not sad at me anymore? Val asked.

Tyne smiled again gave him a little push on the shoulder. "No I'm still sad, but I still like you and I still care about you. Plus, I miss studying with you. See you at 7:00 then." The bell rang and the boys walked out together then split off for separate classes. Val practically skipped to gym. He went to the locker and stripped down next to Nick. After he pulled the jockstrap over his large package, Nick pulled his eyes away from it and looked up at Val asking, "How come are you dressing out? I thought the doctor and your parents said you couldn't play yet."

"I can't play yet, but I can work out a little, as long as it's just me and the ball. I'm just going to run and dribble around a bit and maybe work with coach on some ideas I've got for some plays for Thursday's game."

"That's cool. I've missed getting to see that big package of yours every day. I might just have to go see if Dane's finished in the toilet stall and take his place." Val shoved him hard enough to send him sliding off the end of the bench onto the tile floor. They both started laughing.

It felt good for Val to be back on the court and to get a ball back in his hands. He practiced dribbling and shooting on the opposite side from where the team was running through some of the new plays that Val had suggested to the coach. Every now and then he would get called over to consult on different ideas the players had. In the end, they were looking pretty good at spreading the defense and getting open looks for outside jump shots. They had to play a fast break, high speed game with perimeter shots whenever they couldn't drive quickly to the basket.

Back in the locker room, Nick pulled his phone out of the locker and said, "That's weird. Tyne sent me a text." He opened it while he sat in front of the locker in only his shorts. "Hmm," he said looking slowly over at Val. "Tyne's wanting me to give him a ride to your house to study together tonight after dinner. Noah's working and can't do it. He says his mom can pick him up afterward."

"Cool. Thanks for bringing him over," Val responded.

"Who says I'm going to?"

"Hello! Why wouldn't you? You got something else going on? If Noah's working, you won't be doing any underwater demolition together."

"There goes that lame humor shit again. But I'm seriously not bringing him over if you're going to start messing with his head again. I kinda like the little dude. Things are going good between him and Dane and you can't go fucking that up. I mean it. It isn't fair."

"I know it isn't fair. We sort of talked about that. Kind of. But anyway, I promised myself to cool it with him and just be friends like I should have done from the very beginning. I need the study help and he wants to help me out. So it's just a friendship thing."

"Okay then, if you say so. I guess Nick's taxi service is back in business."

They finished dressing and Nick took Val home. Val was so excited for Tyne to come he could hardly stand it. His mother and Vi both commented on his improved mood at dinner. Val was so antsy waiting for Tyne to show up, he was pacing around his room. Finally, he decided to go do some weightlifting in the garage to work off some nervous energy. He put on a tank and a pair of running shorts. They showed his boxers so he pulled them all off and just put the red nylon, running shorts back on. He worked on arms and pecs and was bench pressing with his favorite tunes blaring in the background on a small pair of speakers plugged into his phone when Tyne arrived. Mrs. Hardcastle directed Tyne to the garage. He stood quietly just inside the doorway next to the water heater and watched Val bench a full set. He watched in rapt, sexually charged fascination as Val's large muscles strained against the heavy barbell. Val strained and grunted with each upward thrust. A light sweat glistened on his firm, inflated neck, shoulder and chest muscles. Against his wishes, Tyne's dick twitched and expanded an inch within his shorts, creating a slight, but visible tent. The outline of Val's large, flaccid penis was visible as it lay in the crook of his thigh.

When Val set the weight on the rack and sat up, Tyne clapped and spoke up, "Impressive. How heavy is that?" Val spun around at the sound of Tyne's voice and lit up with his big, toothy grin.

"260 pounds. But for a cool down, I like to hot body lift 150."

Val stood and walked briskly over to Tyne and caught him off guard by wrapping his arms around him and pulling him off the ground just as Tyne was asking, "What's a hot body lift." Tyne was pressed to Val's strong, sweaty body with his feet dangling. "Eww, put me down. You're all sweaty and you stink."

Val complied and started laughing. "Oh yeah, sorry about that." Then Val asked, "Do you like to lift?"

"I like it and my sensei says I should do more of it. I just don't have anywhere to do it."

"You do now. Join me for a while before we go study. Physical exertion is good for the brain as well as the body."

"If you say so. But I'm not dressed for it."

"Sure you are. Just take your shirt off. I'll spread a towel over the bench for you." Tyne showed some interest mixed with reluctance as Val took hold of Tyne's shirt and pulled it up and off his upper frame. Tyne lifted his arms and let him, with mixed feelings.

Tyne and Val took turns working on various muscle groups while Val pointed out some better techniques on some of the lifts to help Tyne get the maximum effect. The conversation became more natural and free flowing as they worked together spotting and encouraging each other. As Val stood over Tyne when he lay on the bench to press, Tyne could see up the open leg of the red nylon, running shorts and see Val's dick and balls jiggling around. He had to close his eyes to prevent the distraction from overcoming him and cause his mind to go crazy with lust. After forty minutes, both boys had a faint sheen of sweat on them and Val declared it an adequate workout for the day. Val pulled his tank off, baring his chest, and tossed it in a pile of dirty clothes next to the washing machine.

Tyne felt good from the workout and they agreed to do it on a regular basis. When Tyne stood up, Val stepped over to him and slipped his hands around his back and then pulled Tyne into him. The heat of their strained muscles radiated between them. Their sweaty bodies slid together into a comfortable embrace. Tyne left his arms to the side at first and then involuntarily slipped them onto Val's back.

"Thanks for coming," Val said softly. "It means a lot to me. I've missed you so much." Tyne didn't respond verbally, but he relaxed into Val's embrace and pressed his fingers into the flesh of Val's back. Then they separated and Tyne wiped his upper body dry with a towel.

After helping Val with his math upstairs in his room, Tyne's mom arrived to take him home. Tyne and Val exchanged goodbyes with their special handshake and set a date for Thursday to lift and study together again.