[Aethi]

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Chapter 7

Kyle swallowed. Sat up. Blinked. Questioned his hearing. Taking a breath, he got off of Tyler. “I-I…” he stammered. Fear, confusion, unbelieving all seeped into his mind, flowed into his veins, raced through his body, paralyzed him to the spot. The confused boy swallowed, got up, looked awkward for a moment, and then fell onto the couch. “B-but I’m not… not gay!” he managed.

Tyler took his own breath, worried. He got up as well, sitting a seat away from Kyle. “I know,” he began, “but can’t you just… try? Even if you’re not attracted to me, at least try. Not to be attracted to me, of course, but to… enjoy yourself with me. I’m not expecting anything from you, Kyle; don’t worry. I really, really like you.”

Kyle, breathing deeply and mind spinning, blinked his eyes. His skin had goosebumps running all over it, and being shirtless sure as hell didn’t help his obvious want. The only problem was he couldn’t tell if it was the weed that made him want Tyler or if he was truly and honestly not completely straight. “I… I don’t know right now, Tyler. I don’t even know if I-I’m gay, straight, bi, or what.” Taking a breath, he closed his eyes. “But I want you.”

Tyler blinked. Now it was his turn to be surprised. He actually wants me?! he thought to himself. But… But… Deciding to confirm what he just heard, he asked, “You… you want me?” He doubted it was true. How could it be true? It was impossible. Kyle was straight. He’d never once looked at a guy with lust intent on his eyes.

Then again, a small voice in Tyler’s head said, he’s never been interested in girls either. You never seen him talk about a girl, or even look one over. And plus, he didn’t really know Kyle all that well. Just was a friend of a friend. He just liked him, as a friend and as a fucking cute guy. It was difficult keeping his mouth shut, and when he finally opened it, he actually didn’t regret it. Amazingly.

It was hard for him to make sense of everything. Half nude, horny as hell, mind spinning, and saying too much, he wasn’t sure what was going on. With a fearful breath, he pulled his legs onto the couch and rested his head against his knees. It wasn’t easy being gay. Especially when you’re not sure who else is gay and who else isn’t gay. It was sort of a balancing act, you had to come off just gay enough so other gay men would realize it, but not too much so others wouldn’t notice.

He was just glad that Kyle wanted him. Supposedly.

Kyle eventually nodded. “I want you. I really do. I’m just not sure if it’s the weed or my horniness or my actual want for you. But… I’ll try it out. For you.” He smiled at the other man, happy that he’d found someone – even if it was a guy – in his life. “I don’t know if I’m attracted to you yet, but I think I am. But don’t expect too much of me.” He grinned and wrapped an arm around Tyler. “I really think I like you.”

Tyler’s mind blanked. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Especially not the one arm hug. Maybe it is just the weed, the cynicism in him said. “Y-you will?” he asked incredulously. He laughed happily, not believing his luck. The cynicism in him retreated to a far corner of his mind. The happiness was brought out, impossibly so. “I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed.

Kyle smiled happily and pulled Tyler just a bit closer, as if he was tightly one arm hugging him. Which he was. “Yup. I… to be honest, I, uh, I don’t think it’s the weed. Seriously. It’s mostly… a much more… in depth feeling. I really think I like you.” His eyes glanced deeply into Tyler’s as they twinkled slightly, a rushing sense of excitement coming over him.

Tyler made a sound that sounded like a high pitch scream of excitement, a “squee” if you will. He wrapped his arms around Kyle and got up, beaming. “I can’t believe it!” he yelled. “But… let’s not tell the others, ‘kay?” He looked at Kyle seriously; though he assured himself this was the last time he would have to be serious for the entire night.

“Oh, yeah. I didn’t want them to know either, at least, not yet.” Kyle got up as well and hugged the teenager whom he had proclaimed his attachment to. “But let’s go to the other guys, mmkay? They’re probably worrying about us.” Finishing with a laugh, he tugged on Tyler’s hand to drag him upstairs.

Without another thought, they made their way to the living room where they suspected the other guys would be. However, when they got there, they were no where to be found. It wasn’t suspicious, but it was strange. “I wonder why they’re in Jonathon’s room.”

The two quickly made their way up the stairs, racing. When Tyler won, Kyle had to remove his own socks. He didn’t feel strange doing it, but it was slightly odd now that he was one step closer to being naked. An errant thought ran through his head: would they slowly strip down through the night?

He actually was counting on that. He didn’t want to do too much to Tyler, but he wanted to at least explore his body. He’d almost never seen another man naked, and never in detail. It would be… interesting to see Tyler, naked. In an attempt to be playful, he let his hand fall against where Tyler’s genitalia would be. Tyler smirked back at him and took control of his hand and rubbed it a bit more vigorously. As they neared the room they stopped their playfulness, not wanting to get caught.

The two walked into the room, which was completely dark besides for the bright glare of a 42” TV. “Having fun?” Kyle asked the quintet of people. Anthony and Sebastian were back on the computer, Felix was hovering behind, and Ethan and Jonathon were going at it on a video game on the xbox.

“Actually, we are,” Jonathon’s voice called out. “Thought we’d leave you two alone for a bit. I know what it’s like for your first time.” Jonathon smiled up at Kyle and Tyler, but neither of them could see it. “Come and join us,” he called out again.

Kyle almost felt tired, and a bit surly. It was very gradual, but it slowly increased as they went on. Ethan and Jonathon continued their videogame, and though they invited Kyle and Tyler to join them, they both declined. Felix made some talk with his friends, but remembered to avoid Kyle. Anthony and Sebastian were in their own little bubble, “protected” from the idiocies of the other guys.

Over time, Kyle eventually began to feel bad. He lay down in the bed before remembering that he was trying to stay up all night. Sitting up, he decided to take a shower. With a quick murmur to Jonathon to let him know, he walked into the bathroom adjacent and connected to Jonathon’s room. He turned on the water, and quickly stripped.

After a minute or so of letting the water warm up, he stepped into the water. It hits his back with tiny little splashes, and soothed his tired muscles. The water gently rushed past his feet. The sound of the water drowning out the commotion of the guys, though the loud bass of the music was still beating through the floors.

He grabbed the soap, which he had purposefully left here since he visited Jonathon’s house so often and washed himself off. Since he had no shampoo of his own, he used a small amount of Jonathon’s; he hoped that Jonathon wouldn’t mind. The soaps reinvigorated his skin, and inevitably rejuvenated his mind. It stimulated his body, woke up him up, and gave him time to think. Think about Tyler.

He knew that it was the right choice to decide to try a relationship with Tyler. It would be something nice, to be able to fully explore his options. He’d never been interested in women, and he supposed that he could have been interested in men. At least, he was more interested in figuring out about men’s bodies than women’s bodies. But he didn’t know if that was his own stimulated erotic state of being or if that was truly what his mind wanted. He couldn’t tell anymore.

Still, it was nice to be able to finally figure it out. He decided, as he decided in the beginning, that this was the right choice. It was the best choice. He didn’t really want to be with a girl, but he wanted to be with a guy. Did that make him gay? Gay curious? Bi? Who knew. He gave up on trying to label himself at the moment, and instead just tried to make himself happy. Happy, at this moment, meant being with Tyler. Not someone else.

He stepped out of the shower, after a good twenty minutes. His thoughts cleared up, his mind refreshed, his body free and cleaned up, he was ready to go. After he quickly dried himself off and brushed his teeth, he pulled on the boxers and jeans, and curiously wondered if he should be more or less dressed. Shrugging it off, he exited the bathroom and into Jonathon’s room.

Where he was promptly grabbed a hold of and thrown onto the floor by Felix.