Kindred Love

Free

Brian saw Michael in front of the cafeteria standing and laughing with two boys. When Michael saw Brian walking towards them, and smiled and waved.

"Hey, Brian! How was your first two classes?" Michael asked.

"They were okay. Turns out my other school I went to was ahead in the reading for English, so I'm actually a couple of chapters advanced of the class. The Algebra class was pretty much at the same place as my other one, so everything is fine there," Brian said. He turned to look at the two boys staring at him curiously.

Michael nodded, and then motioned to the two boys standing next to him.

"Brian, these are my friends Emmett Honeycutt and Ted Schmitt," Michael introduced. Brian smiled at them.

"Hey," Brian greeted. "So these are the guys you share your bunk with sometimes?" he asked.

Emmett looked Brian up and down like he was a yummy desert he wished to devour. "Yeah, I'm always on bottom," Emmett said in a seductive voice. Brian raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"Michael, you never mentioned how hot your cousin is," Emmett said. Brian gave a surprised look at Emmett, and then laughed shyly. "Welcome to the Pitts, honey," Emmett said.

Ted smirked and rolled his eyes at his friend. "Don't mind him, he hasn't had a date in a while," Ted said.

Emmett shot Ted a dirty look. "And like you have, Mr. I'm-too-shy-to-even-talk-to-a-guy," Emmett retorted.

"Hey, I'm just waiting for the right guy, that's all," Ted explained.

Brian just smiled at them in amusement. He couldn't believe he was talking to three openly gay boys. He never even knew anyone who was gay before he came to Pittsburgh. Either that or like him, other boys had been confused about their sexuality or just silent about it. Brian was glad that he had found other gay teens. He didn't want to have to go through it all alone.

"So, honey, which team do you play for?" Emmett asked bluntly.

"Em!" Michael scowled, elbowing his friend in the rib.

"Ouch! What? Can't I be curious? I have to know whether I have a shot with him or not," Emmett said simply.

Brian laughed. He liked Emmett's forwardness. "Well, actually I'm not really sure," he admitted quietly.

"Well, baby, if you ever need someone to help you figure it out, let me know. I'm available for experimenting," Emmett said.

Brian laughed again. "You're funny," he said. "Unfortunately for you, I think that if I were to be gay I would be more interested in the more masculine type of guy," Brian said.

"Shit, you take the fun out of everything," Emmett pouted. The three of them laughed at him and then they all headed into the cafeteria to get their lunch.

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Michael and Brian had just finished changing back into their regular clothes after gym. They heard the last bell of the school day, ring.

"Wow, Brian. I had no idea you could run that fast," Michael said, collecting his things from his locker and closing it.

"Yeah, well, I've always liked being athletic. My main sport is soccer though," Brian replied, as he too gathered his backpack from his locker and closed it. They started heading out of the gym.

"I can imagine you're pretty good, huh?" Michael asked.

"I'm okay," Brian said modestly. He knew he was good, but wasn't really one to brag about his achievements. "Seems to me you didn't get as lucky in the gene pool for athletics, huh?" Brian teased with a smile.

When they had been running laps around the football field, he had passed Michael by a two laps. It was no secret that his cousin wasn't much of a runner. In fact, he looked absolutely miserable out there.

Michael smirked. "Yeah, no kidding. Actually, I just hate running. I'm not really good at sports. I'm a pretty good swimmer, though. I'm going to try out for the swim team when they make the announcements for it," Michael said.

"So what's up with that one guy... the dirty-blond who Coach Riley seemed to be praising throughout the whole fucking period?" Brian asked as they walked out to the front of the school to wait for Debbie.

Brian had noticed the handsome blond at first, because he had been running pretty much the same pace as he was around the football field. They had both run the same amount of laps in almost the same amount of time. Coach Riley had voiced how impressed he was that Brian had kept up with the other boy with little to no effort. Noticeably pissed that someone else was getting praise for a stamina that matched his own, the blond glared at Brian. Brian had just shrugged it off.

"Oh, you mean David Conner? He's like, the big jock of the school. He's good at every sport there is - including soccer. He's a real asshole, though. He thinks he's God's gift to human kind," Michael said.

Brian frowned. "He's never bothered you, has he Mikey?"

Michael looked down. "He's cornered me a few times," he admitted.

"What's he done?" Brian asked.

"He has this thing with dunking people's heads in toilets," Michael said frowning.

"That asshole!" Brian said, angry that someone had done that to his cousin.

"Is it because you're gay?" Brian wanted to know.

Michael shook his head. "No. No one really knows I'm gay except for Ted and Emmett. I kind of keep it under wraps at school. It's hard enough to survive high school without having to be gay and in high school too," Michael said.

"Well, that asshole better not mess with you again, or he'll be sorry," Brian said.

"Brian, don't get into trouble on account of me. Just ignore him. It will just get worse if you start something with him," said Michael.

"Well, if he fucks with you, then he's the one who is starting something. Mikey, we can't just let him get away with it or he'll keep doing it. It's time this David guy had some competition. He's in for a treat. I'm going to be on the soccer team, and we'll see who's the better player," Brian said more to himself with determination.

Just then Debbie pulled up in her white Cadillac, and the boys climbed in the car.

"Hey, boys. How was your first day, sweetie?" Debbie asked Brian.

"Pretty good," Brian replied.

"See, honey, I told you everything would be fine. Now we're off to go get you some bedroom furniture," Debbie told them.

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Later that night, Brian decided to sit down and write Justin an email. He hadn't had a chance to do so the night before and knew his friend was expecting to hear from him.

Justin,

Well, I made it in one piece. Things here are okay so far. Aunt Debbie, Uncle Vic and my cousin Michael have been great. I think I will be all right here. I feel a new sense of freedom in this place that I couldn't feel back at home. I am not living in constant fear anymore. It's a relief.

I started Lindberg High School today. The Principal is a cool guy. Michael introduced me to his friends, and they are a hoot. For now I'm sharing a bunk bed with Mikey, but it won't be for long because my room will have a bed in it soon. I don't really mind sharing with Mikey though. I never got to sleep on a bunk bed before.

I miss you all a lot. I think I will be happy here, but I just wish that I didn't have to be so far away from you guys. I can't wait until you can come here to visit. You'll love my Aunt Debbie. Well, I got to get to bed now. I hope to hear from you soon. Tell Jennifer and Craig hello for me and that I'm okay. Oh, and give Molly a kiss and hug for me too.

Brian

Brian clicked on "send" and sat back in his chair and sighed. He missed Justin. It was true what he said in the e-mail though. He felt free. He could already feel himself changing. He knew it would only be a matter of time that he would feel comfortable enough to open himself up to what he knew was the "real" him. He had no reason to hold back anymore or fear anyone.

Brian went to the kitchen to get something to drink before going to bed. When he walked back upstairs to Mikey's room, he noticed his cousin had already fallen asleep. Michael had passed out with his latest Captain Astro comic still in his hands. Brian shook his head and grinned, thinking about how innocent Mikey was. He himself had lost that a long time ago. He wished he could have it back at times. But life didn't work like that. You move forward, not backward.

He stripped down to his undershirt and boxers and crawled into his bunk, laid on his back and thought about his day. His mind traveled back to that morning when he met Principal Schwartz. He thought about the man's intense blue eyes, and how they seemed to shine as he spoke to Brian. He thought about his smile, and his generous attitude towards him.

Brian felt himself harden thinking about his Principals' toned body, and he started to wonder what the man looked like without his clothes on. Brian let his hand wander down to his hard-on and started touching himself as he imagined Mr. Schwartz standing naked in front of him. He stroked harder, his breath becoming more shallow with each stroke, until he felt himself erupt in his hand. He lay there for a moment, giving himself a chance to calm from the intensity of his orgasm. He removed his T-shirt and used it to clean himself up and then tossed it in the laundry hamper.

There was no question about it. Brian was definitely gay. Now that that was established, he knew his next step was to come out. He preferred not to live a lie. Not anymore. He already spent so much of his life lying about his life and covering up and pretending that everything was fine when it was anything but. For now, he would tell the few new people in his life that he trusted, and then take it from there.