Patrick's behavior began to improve over the next few days, but he still seemed to be inflicted with a moodiness that alienated him from his family. At school with his friends he was fine, laughing, joking, horsing around, but once he was home all that changed.

He tried to play it off to just being a teenager who was growing up and finding himself, testing the limits, and pulling away from his parents, but deep down inside he knew there was more to it than that. Sean seemed to be the catalyst that kept his inward fires burning, but he was hard pressed to figure out why.

Did it indeed have something to do with Sean being gay, as his mother had suggested, or was it a matter of jealousy, or...dare he think it, envy? Sean seemed to know exactly what he wanted from life. He had good friends, he was smart, and handsome, and popular, and his parents doted on him as if he were the prodigal son.

He knew it was stupid, that his folks loved him too, otherwise why would they put up with his shit for so long, but feelings were feelings, and right or wrong, well...that's just how it was. Could therapy help him? he dared to wonder. Would talking to someone about his feelings actually help him, or only make him feel worse. No, he couldn't risk opening himself up to a stranger, not to mention if it got back to his friends at school he'd be ruined. He sighed, so what was the answer? He'd already decided he couldn't change by himself, and that left only his friends or his family to turn to. Once, he would have gone to Sean, but that was then, and this was now.

"Hey," Sean said as he came in the front door, his backpack in his hands as he entered the living room, "mom home?"

"Huh?" Patrick said, realizing someone had spoken to him, but he'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't registered the door opening until he heard Sean's voice.

"Oh, yeah...somewhere, maybe doing laundry," Patrick said, trying to be as civil as possible, which was one of the new rules laid down by his folks.

"Yeah, there's some cookies," Patrick growled, his patience finally wearing a bit thin.

"Thanks," Sean said heading to the kitchen before his luck ran out and Patrick went into full-on-douche mode.

"Hi honey," his mom said as he entered the kitchen. She was carrying a laundry basket of clean towels which she sat on the breakfast bar long enough to give Sean a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "how was your day?"

"I had a wonderful day," his mom said smiling genuinely, "everything just seemed to go my way all day long."

"Yeah. Mom, he's trying. I can tell. Whatever you guys said to him must've helped."

"I'm glad to see you've noticed the change too. He still has a ways to go, but...like you said, he's trying."

Sean had found the cookies by then, and was pouring himself a glass of milk when Patrick wandered in, looking at the two curiously.

"Have you been talking about me...again?" he laughed, but there was very little humor in his laugh.

"Yes, but we only had good things to say this time," his mother said smiling, "we appreciate that you're trying, Pat. Yes, we've noticed, and we're glad to see you changing for the better."

Patrick blushed a bit, his mother's positive comments stilling the rebellion that had been rising in his chest, "Thanks," he muttered, "what's for dinner?" he said then, not comfortable being the center of attention at the moment.

"Spaghetti?" Patrick said quickly, almost sounding like the boy he'd been before 'aliens', or whatever had taken over his body and mind.

"All right, spaghetti it is. That's an easy one. I'll toss a salad and grill some garlic bread..."

Sean poured himself a glass of milk and dug in the cookie jar for some cookies, then sat at the breakfast bar enjoying his snack. Mrs. Lewis had gone upstairs to put the laundry away and Patrick had returned to his spot on the sofa where he was watching TV and thinking.

Sean sighed, there had been a time when the two would have been having their snack side by side, laughing, talking, cutting up and having a great time. Often after their snack they would change into play clothes and head outside to throw the ball around or wrestle on the lawn.

After his snack, Sean headed upstairs noting that Patrick was still glued to the same spot on the couch as before, and seemed to be as zoned out as he had been earlier.

Since their interaction so far this afternoon had been good, Sean decided not to engage him again and risk provoking him. 'Don't poke the bear', his dad had once told him, and that seemed to apply in this instance.

In his room, he stripped out of his clothes and once down to his underwear and stood looking at himself in the full length mirror on the back of the door. Like most boys he was concerned about how he compared to other boys his age. He'd seen a few of his friends bodies, but except for Tim, none naked.

He'd heard that next year in PE everyone would be required to shower, and although the thought was a bit exciting, it was also troubling as well. Would he look puny compared to his classmates, or would he be in between, some bigger, some smaller? He knew from his trips to the internet and what knowledge he'd gleaned from school and his friends that puberty was fast approaching, but that worried him too. After seeing what effect it had on his brother, he feared he would become just as surly, just as mean, and that was the last thing he wanted for himself. He knew that was silly, after all, not every boy Patrick's age acted out like that. He guessed puberty was different for every boy, every girl, and he'd just have to wait and see how it affected him.

Pulling the waistband of his underwear out a bit, he looked down at his penis, checking for hair as he always did, but finding none...again. Not that he was surprised, since he'd last looked when he'd taken his shower the previous evening.

As usual, even this casual handling of his penis caused it to stir a bit, though it wasn't fully erect by any means. He knew with a few strokes, however, that it would be at full mast, and the only way to get it to go down would be to masturbate.

He considered this carefully. Did he have time, was it safe with Patrick in the house, did he really want to, or could he wait till bedtime, which was his usual custom? Sighing, he turned a bit to get a good look at his butt, trying to see what others saw when they looked at him.

He knew his butt wasn't as pronounced as Tim's, an attribute that Sean really liked in his best friend, but his own butt wasn't bad either. On a scale of 1 to 10, with Tim's being a 9, he gave himself a 7.

Giggling, he slapped his right cheek playfully, then in a devilish mood he pulled down his underwear to expose his bare flesh and gave the other cheek a smart slap as well. The noise seemed too loud, and instinctively he checked the door to make sure it was latched, as had become his habit as of late.

Satisfied that no one would be interrupting his self examination, he pushed his underwear down to his thighs, then let them drop to his feet, where he stepped out of them. Once freed, his penis responded as predicted, swelling to it's full length almost instantly.

Resigned to the fact that now that he had freed the 'Cracken', he would have to deal with it, he reached down and wrapped his right hand around the shaft, while using his left hand to gently pull at his scrotum, freeing it from it's confined between his legs.

"Ahhhh," he sighed softly to himself, "I wish Tim was here, but no one does it quite as good as I can," he giggled, then turned his attention to his reflection in the mirror.

This was new for Sean, he'd never watched himself masturbate in the mirror before, and suddenly he found he was more excited than he could ever remember being, at least while alone. Now, as he stared at his own reflection in the mirror, his naked body, his hand flying along his shaft with ever increasing speed, and his balls jiggling with each movement of his hand, he was experiencing new and more intense feelings than ever before.

He wished he could see his own butt as he jerked off, and attempted to turn once more, but found that partial view less satisfying than the frontal view had been. Then he had a marvelous idea, he could take a selfie of his butt, then look at it as he jerked himself to release.

With trembling hands he grabbed his phone from his backpack as he tried to figure out how best to accomplish this photo session. He finally managed to prop the phone up on his desk, and after several failed attempts he managed to get a photo that pleased him.

"Wow, my butt is awesome," he thought as he fell down on the bed, phone in one hand, penis in the other as he returned to pleasuring himself.

However, with this new stimuli it didn't take long for that familiar feeling to begin, deep down in his gut, then radiating to all parts of his body as his orgasm approached like a runaway freight train.

"OH...OH...OH...UMM, Shiiiit," he gasped as his body trembled and choirs of pleasure sang throughout his entire body.

Reduced to a quivering mass of boy flesh, Sean milked out the last of his orgasm. However, there was no milk to be had, yet, though his body seemed to be unaware of that as his penis throbbed and spasmed as if producing a geyser of boy juice.

"Man," Sean said sighing one last time as his hand fell away from his spent penis, which still throbbed with pleasure, though it had become too sensitive to warrant more action.

His phone suddenly began to buzz, the sound causing him to jump and drop his phone, the picture of his butt still open. Then picking the phone up and quickly closing the photo, he was relieved to see it was Tim who had disturbed his post orgasmic bliss.

Sean, typing as fast as he could, quickly filled Tim in, including the fact that he'd taken a pic of his own butt to look at, and how intense his orgasm had been.

Tim: no problem, I have a secret file that's encrypted and only I know the password

Sean was still nervous as he loaded the file, but eventually he pushed the send button, and seconds later Tim replied.

Tim: no, seriously...as much as I like my own butt, I'm pretty sure I like yours better now

Tim: Ikr, weird. I just never saw it this way before. I'll look closer next time I'm over...lol

Tim: Okay, you got me, but then I have to do some stuff. But the reason I texted was to see if you wanted to stay over next Friday? Dad is gonna be out of town and my sisters are going to a lock-in skate party.

Sean sat holding the phone for a few minutes, wondering if he should reply or let Tim have his pleasure. He had to admit it was making him hard again just thinking about Tim in his room, maybe naked, jerking his beautiful cock, and...looking at his ass pic. Reaching down, he grabbed his stiffening cock and considered jerking off again, but in the end he decided he wasn't going to let his cock rule his life, at least not till he became a teenager, he laughed to himself. Instead he grabbed his underwear and snaked them on, then found some old jeans and a tee and pulled them on as well.

A few minutes later he heard someone coming up the stairs, and thinking it might be his mom, he opened his door just in time to see Patrick appear at the top of the stairs.

"Hey," Patrick mumbled without making eye contact, then he ambled to his room and went inside, shutting the door behind him.

I wonder, Sean thought with a grin, is Patrick gonna do what I just did? After all, it was no secret that Patrick masturbated. In fact, before Patrick had suddenly become so belligerent, he had actually talked to Sean about masturbation and how all boys did it, and that it was normal and natural and healthy.

Of course back then Sean was only about 9 or 10, and sex and self pleasure hadn't been a big issue with him. Still, it was nice to know these things and he was grateful for his big brother's counsel. In fact, perhaps because of that counsel, Sean had begun to experiment with touching himself, and soon self-pleasure was his new favorite pastime.

He knew he shouldn't. He knew if he got caught he might be risking more than a verbal tirade, but he just couldn't help himself. Tiptoeing on stockinged feet, he crept to Patrick's door and put his ear against the cool wood surface and listened. For what he wasn't sure. The rustle of clothing, that wet slapping sound that often accompanied his own sessions, perhaps even a moan or too?

At first there was nothing, no sound at all, then suddenly something hit the floor, causing Sean to jump. Recovering quickly, he decided it was the sound of Patrick's shoe hitting the floor, and as if to prove his hypothesis, there was a second thump as the other shoe hit the floor.

Next was the rustling of clothing, some squeaking, perhaps of the bed as Patrick sat on it and pulled off his pants, then the soft sound of fabric against flesh as Patrick pulled off his shirt.

Omigod, Sean thought to himself, he's getting naked. But his excitement was soon dampened as he decided perhaps Patrick was just changing clothes, as he himself had done earlier. Granted, he'd stopped in between to have some fun, but that didn't mean Patrick was going to do the same thing.

At first he thought he'd been detected, and expected Patrick to come barreling out of the door to pound him at any minute, but when no attack came, he settled down and resumed his vigil.

"Fuck...fuck...fuck," Patrick hissed in a lower voice this time, "damn dick...always hard," he hissed.

Sean nearly lost it then. Patrick was talking to his dick, scolding it for being hard, and probably contemplating what to do about it.

Well, what could a teenage boy do in such a situation? Sean thought with a smile, jerk it. Suddenly he was aware that his own dick was in the same state as Patrick's and he felt a little guilty. Wasn't this incest? he wondered. No, it's not like we're doing anything, he reasoned, I'm just...listening, that's all, I'm not even looking.

But that didn't take away from the excitement of the moment. In fact, listening to Patrick's sigh of submission, and then the rhythmic stroking of his cock almost sent Sean over the edge once again.

Suddenly there was a new sound, the snapping of a lid, a farting sound as something was squirted out, then a wet slapping noise as Patrick continued stroking.

Lube, Sean thought to himself, he's using lube or lotion to grease his hard cock. Oh man, Sean moaned inwardly, what a sight that must be, my big bro stroking his huge cock. Well, huge might not be the word, but Sean was sure it was bigger than his own 3 and a half-incher.

"Ahhh....shiiit," came a husky voice from the other side of the door that Sean barely recognized as his brother's.

He's close," Sean thought, suddenly realizing his own hand had crept into his pants and was massaging his own stiff penis, and that he too was very close to orgasm.

Then it was over, Patrick fell quiet, and Sean jerked back to reality as he quickly extracted his hand from his pants and bolted for the stairs. However, unknown to Sean, Patrick, hearing the commotion in the hall, had quickly pulled his boxers back up and peered out the door just in time to see Sean disappear down the stairs. He stood watching for a moment, worrying that perhaps Sean had heard him swearing and figured out what he'd been doing, but in the end he decided he really didn't care. In fact, sick as it might sound, the thought of his kid brother listening to him jerk off was kind of hot.

Sighing, Patrick closed the door and finished dressing, "Man, he said softly to himself, "Now I'm thinking gay stuff too. Gay must be catching," he laughed as he shook his head in dismay.

Downstairs, Sean quickly slipped on the pair of shoes he'd left by the front door and hurried outside. The weather was pleasant, and there were still several hours of daylight, so he sat on the front step and thought about what he'd just witnessed and how it had made him feel.

He thought about the way he felt when he messed around with Tim and tried to compare those feelings to those he'd just experienced listening to his brother jerk off. It seemed kind of sick in a way, but in another, it seemed innocent enough. It wasn't like they were actually touching each other, or even seeing each other. It was harmless, he thought, that is unless Patrick finds out what I did, and then I'm road kill, he giggled.

Should he tell Tim about what had just occurred? That one he'd have to think about some more. Although he was pretty sure Tim would think it was just as exciting as he had, he wasn't sure he was ready to share this particular secret. He'd definitely have to give this some more thought.

His dad's arrival was a welcome break from his deep thinking, and standing up quickly he brushed off his bottom and watched as he drove into the garage. Then walking into the open garage, he waited by the driver's side door for his dad to climb out of his SUV.

"Yes sir. Hey, I was wondering, Tim invited me to spend next weekend at his house, is that okay?"

"Well, I don't see any problem with that, but run it past mom first, whatever she decides is fine by me."

As expected, Mrs. Lewis gave her permission as well, and Sean said he would call Tim after dinner and give him the good news.

Meanwhile, Patrick hadn't been seen since earlier, and when it was time for dinner, Sean was dispatched to give him the news.

Nervously, Sean climbed the stairs, the earlier incident still fresh on his mind, but he was pretty sure Patrick was clueless, since he hadn't come looking for him to pound him.

Patrick's bedroom door was open, much to Sean's surprise and relief, and his older brother was sprawled on his back on his bed, phone in hand, as he watched some video. A pair of wireless ear buds delivered the sound, but apparently didn't block out Sean's voice, for when he spoke, Patrick sat up and looked his way.

"Be right down. Oh, and Sean...I know what you did," Patrick said, leaving Sean stunned and speechless.

Unable to think of a comeback, Sean stared back at Patrick and swallowed hard. His mouth felt as if he'd eaten a wad of cotton and he was barely able to choke out his next words.

Patrick laughed evilly, "You know what I'm talking about," he said, but offered nothing else as he removed his ear buds and closed his phone, then smirking at Sean he finally added, "I'll be down in a minute, gotta take a piss."

Sean nodded and quickly headed downstairs, his heart pounding a mile a minute. So, Patrick did know. The question was: what was he going to do about it? Would he tell their parents? Then he laughed to himself, of course he wouldn't tell their parents, what teenage boy is gonna admit that they jerk off, even if every parent already knows that. And to admit that he knew Sean was listening and he didn't stop, or at least yell at Sean, would be more incriminating than what Sean did.

No, retaliation would have to be something he could do under the radar, like maybe reminding Sean every chance he got what a little pervert he was. His stomach did flip flops just thinking about it, and it didn't help that Patrick kept smiling like the Cheshire Cat all through dinner. Sean was barely able to bring himself to eat, but he knew not eating would appear suspicious, and he had to keep up appearances.

It was Sean's turn to clear and load the dishwasher, but suddenly, uncharacteristically, Patrick volunteered to help. Of course his mom and dad were delighted, assuming Patrick was really trying to change and make amends. However, Sean wasn't fooled at all. He knew Patrick must have an ulterior motive and he waited for the other shoe to drop, as they say, as they went about their task.

"Just load the dishwasher, but don't start it," Mrs. Lewis said, "I'll start it later when I head to bed." That being said, she and her husband retired to the living room, content to let the boys handle the cleanup, and perhaps to begin the long process of bonding again.

"I'll wipe down the table," Patrick said taking the dishrag from the sink full of soapy water and exiting the kitchen.

Sean stared after him, his dread increasing by the moment as Patrick played his cat and mouse game with him, prolonging the inevitable and watching him suffer. Shakily he rinsed off the few dishes that needed it and loaded them in the dishwasher and he'd almost finished by the time Patrick returned.

Throwing the dish cloth into the soapy water again, the teen leaned against the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen and stared at Sean's backside as he bent over to load a skillet in the dishwasher.

For a moment he was transfixed on his younger brother's butt, then he shook himself out of his trance and raised his eyes just in time to catch Sean's stare as he stood and turned his way.

Patrick smirked, "You know. Don't pretend you don't know. You little pervert," he added with a laugh.

Raising an eyebrow, Patrick stared into Sean's eyes, then with a devilish grin he reached down and made the universal jacking motion with his hand.

Of course Sean's eyes went directly to where Patrick's hand was, just above his crotch, and instantly his face turned bright red.

"Made you look," Patrick said, and with that he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

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Two Brothers

by Rob Warr

Chapter 5

Decisions