My Favorite Story: Someday Out of The Blue

CHAPTER 23: TURN THE LIGHTS OUT WHEN YOU LEAVE

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Someday Out Of the Blue

By LittleBuddhaTW

Special thanks to Kitty (PiscesRising) from GayAuthors.org for editing!

CHAPTER 23: TURN THE LIGHTS OUT WHEN YOU LEAVE

As June turned into July, the oppressive summer heat was becoming almost too much to bear. I was extremely thankful that I was working in the air-conditioned piano store. I wondered how Ryan could handle all of the outdoor sports activities that he had been participating in, when the most I could deal with was the occasional trip to the swimming pool with the twins, or our combination football-wrestling matches played in their backyard, with the sprinklers turned on full-force. Ryan was also supposed to be going away for a three-week baseball camp later in the month, and I was getting worried that all that time spent out in the hot sun wouldn't be good for him. I continued to surprise myself at how much concern I felt for Ryan, even after he so cruelly dumped me. My despair during the first few weeks after our separation had eventually turned into a feeling of anger at the way he'd been acting, refusing to communicate with me at all. But I still loved him, and probably always would. I still worried about him all the time, but I had also realized that it was time to start moving on with my life, despite the fact that I couldn't extricate myself from the situation entirely, being that we continued to live under the same roof. I had no plans to date again for a long while, but it wasn't going to do me any good to sit around and mope like Ryan had been doing. And I had to credit the amazing support of my friends for helping me to get through it so quickly -- if you could call a month "quick." Having been practically friendless for so long, I couldn't imagine my life anymore without them. They were there when I needed comforting, or to nudge me when I needed nudging. And, I must admit, my shrink was a big help, too. Ironically, since I'd been skeptical of the idea of seeing a therapist at first, my weekly appointments with Dr. Frazier had become a part of my routine. It was helpful to have an outside, objective person to help me look at things. Despite my being without a boyfriend, Toby and Cody seemed to be moving in that direction again. I was glad, because I thought they both deserved to have someone to love, and to be loved. At the same time, I was still worried that something would happen and Cody would end up getting hurt again. I'd discussed the issue with Toby, and he'd promised me that he would take things slow with Cody and wouldn't hurt him again. But I figured I should discuss things with Cody as well. One evening in early July, Cody and I were pigging out at an Ethiopian restaurant that had recently opened. I had been a little wary of Ethiopian food at first, and actually had no idea that they were famous for their cuisine. All I'd ever heard about were people starving in Ethiopia. The food was incredible, though. I'd never eaten much "foreign" food before, but after we'd made a mess of ourselves, eating the large slab of bread covered with all different kinds of curry with our hands (apparently, Ethiopians don't use utensils), I decided that I definitely wouldn't mind trying out some more exotic restaurants in the future. "So, what's going on with you and Toby?" I asked, swallowing a large mouthful of spicy curry. "What do you mean?" Cody replied, arching an eyebrow. "We're friends." "Are you sure you're just friends?" I asked. "You two were sitting awfully close together the other night." "We're both touchy-feely kinda guys," he said. "You know that." That was true. All of our friends were touchy-feely people. But considering Toby's and Cody's history, I figured something else had to be up. "So is that all you want to be? Just friends?" I prodded. "You're worried that I'm gonna get hurt, aren't you?" Cody retorted, with a wry grin. Yep, Cody could always read me like a book. "Yeah, so what? You know I care about you." "We've talked about things, and I know why he did what he did. We're not together again, at least not right now. But I think if we do get back together, things will be different. He knows how much I care about him, sick or not," he said. I really hoped it would work out between the two of them. But it wasn't in my hands, nor should it have been. It wasn't my place to get involved in their love lives, and I figured that they could decide things for themselves. Work was still going well, although I'd discovered after a month of working at the piano store that the hours were a bit much. I was working about thirty-five hours a week. Since I'd been enjoying my time with my friends so much, I didn't want to waste the whole summer sitting inside, even though I loved being there and having the opportunity to play all the time. So, the manager let me cut my hours down to twenty-five per week, and that gave me more time to spend with the twins, Cody, and Toby. Because I was working on commission, the hours didn't really matter, anyway. So, all in all, the summer was turning out to be better than I would have thought only a month before. I was enjoying my job and having a great time with my friends. The only drawback, of course, was the awkwardness at home. But I continued to manage that by avoiding home as much as possible. I doubted that Maggie even noticed that I was hardly ever there. At least, she didn't say anything about it. Ever since my conversation with her after Ryan broke up with me, I'd made an effort to avoid Maggie as much as possible. Between both of our busy schedules, that was pretty easy to do. The only real interaction I had to endure was getting the money that Social Services sent her for my care. I was back to being almost as independent as I had been before, and I liked it that way. Derek and Ben were both on the swim team at the pool they belonged to. I'd asked them why they weren't on the swim team at school with Toby, and they both said it was too much of a time commitment. They just liked to do it for fun during the summer. I'd had to miss their first couple of swim meets because of work, but after I had my hours cut back, I was finally able to make it to one. I clearly remembered how hot Toby had looked in his little Speedo when I'd gone to see him at one of his swim meets, but the way the Speedos tightly hugged the twins' hips and butts, and the highly visible bulges in the front ... well, it was almost downright obscene! Of course, I loved it. In fact, it was even better than watching Ryan and his teammates running around in their baseball uniforms. I figured I must be some kind of pervert or something, because I started thinking of ways I could get to spend more time around the pool, just so I could watch all of the hot guys running around, barely dressed. I thought about asking the coach if they needed a timekeeper or something at practices, but was too chicken shit to actually go ask. Ben and Derek both did really well that day, and as I had been doing for the past month, I was going to be staying the weekend at their house. Apparently, though, they hadn't gotten enough water for one day and decided that we would go to a water park that afternoon. I thought it would be nice to invite Toby and Cody to go along, although I wasn't sure that being out in the hot sun would be very good for Toby's health. But Toby loved being in the water, and because of the leukemia, hadn't been in a pool for a while. And he insisted that he would be fine, and would go sit in the shade if he started to feel tired, so I figured it would be ok. The five of us crammed into my car and headed over to the water park. It was just a local place, and certainly not as nice as some of the bigger theme parks, but it was still a lot of fun. I'd never even been to one of the bigger places, and wouldn't have known there was a difference if Toby hadn't mentioned it. I realized that there were a lot of fun summertime activities that I'd missed out on growing up. Since it was summertime, and a Saturday afternoon to boot, the place was packed. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was definitely a perfect day for being in the water. The screaming of little kids running around and playing, as well as their parents yelling at them to slow down and be careful, was practically deafening. At some point, I seemed to have gotten over my fear of crowds. While it was a little annoying when little kids kept bumping into me, I wasn't as terrified by the large number of people as I would have been before. It was definitely a new feeling for me. I almost fainted when I saw Cody come out of the changing rooms wearing a Speedo. I was a little surprised, because the twins had changed into board shorts, which was what Toby and I were wearing as well. If Cody had looked hot in a loincloth, he looked about a hundred times hotter in a Speedo. It was almost too much for my hormone-crazed sixteen-year-old mind to handle. I even noticed Ben sneaking a few glances at Cody -- although, I must admit, Cody's "bulge" wasn't quite as big as the twins' ... not that that mattered or anything ... just something I noticed. I was glad that Cody asked Toby to put the sunscreen on him, though, or else I might have made a mess in my shorts right then and there! My favorite part of the water park was definitely the slides. Even though the lines were long, I kept going back for more. I couldn't get enough of the adrenaline rush that came with sliding down the slick plastic at breakneck speeds and plowing into the pool of water at the bottom. Eventually, though, Ben managed to coax me away from the water slides, and we got onto a two-person inflatable inner-tube that traveled lazily around the park in a man-made moat. It was very relaxing, and I enjoyed taking in all of the sights and sounds around me. Lying there in the hot sun, I also realized that I'd probably end up with a nice tan, provided I didn't burn instead. It was a nice surprise when Ben took my hand in his. I wasn't expecting that, considering Ben wasn't "out" or anything. Heck, he'd never even said he was gay. But then again, the way we were positioned, it wouldn't have been obvious that we were holding hands. It was getting more and more difficult to ignore that things were going somewhere with Ben ... I just didn't know exactly where, or if I was ready for that. I wanted to be, though. Ben made me happy. Very happy. I must have been daydreaming or something as we were floating around the park, because I suddenly heard Ben's voice, and when I looked over at him, he had a strange expression on his face. "Are you okay, Connor?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm great. Why?" "I don't know. You just seemed like you were somewhere else for a minute there," he said. "What're you thinking about?" "Just stuff, I guess," I replied, with a shrug. "Good stuff?" he asked, with a cheeky grin. "Yeah," I said. "Really good stuff." The rest of the afternoon was great, and I did end up getting a pretty decent tan. However, I should have known that the day couldn't have possibly gone perfectly. I insisted on one more trip down the largest water slide before we left, as the sun was beginning to set. But this time, as I plunged into the water face first, my swimming trunks decided that they weren't going to stay on. When I came up, sputtering water, and realized that I was standing there in the middle of the pool buck naked, I almost had a total panic attack. Then I noticed Toby standing about five feet away from me, holding my swimming trunks up like a trophy. "You lose something?" he asked, chuckling. "Gimme those!" I practically shouted at him, trying to cover my crotch with one hand and going after my swim suit with the other. Unfortunately for me, Toby was in one of his more immature moods, and decided that it would be funny for me to chase him around the pool. I was absolutely mortified. The only good thing was that the water came up to my hips, so it managed to hide my "equipment." Unless one were to happen to look down into the water ... then "Little Connor" would be as plain as day for anyone to see. "Goddammit, Toby!" I shouted, as I finally caught him and managed to grab my trunks. "You're such an asshole!" "You know you love me," he said cheekily, sticking his tongue out at me and slapping my bare butt. "You're lucky I do," I retorted. "Or you'd be dead right now." "Oooooh, I'm shaking," he said in a mocking tone. Little punk. I was gonna have to think of some way to get him back for that! I was in for yet another round of embarrassment while we were walking back to the car after we'd gotten changed. "Now I know why my brother likes you so much," I heard Derek say as he walked up beside me. "You've got a cute ass." And with that, he giggled like a little kid and ran on ahead. Dammit! Now I had to get them all back!