Love Conquers All
by Flaming Matt
Chapter 30
December 2015
"It's been nice just hanging out." Peter decides to say in a contented tone, as he continues to enjoy the jacuzzi and although he was still jealous that his friends had one and he didn't, he was still enjoying it.
"I love sitting in here, I always feel better afterwards." Matt responds in a relaxed tone, before sighing in content as he feels the bubbles against his body and his foot, which he always placed over one off the jets.
"I remember coming here a few times." Peter then says in a slightly hesitant tone, he knew what happened the last time he brought up Alex and while he thought it would be okay, he wasn't quite ready to bring him up without testing the waters first.
"You're in a jacuzzi Peter, so I don't think us threatening to throw you in the pool is going to work this time, even if you are naked, so you can say his name." Ben quickly states in an amused tone, as he gives his friend a teasing smile and while his friend had been hesitant to get naked, once he and his fiancé had stripped and got in, their friend soon joined them and to both their surprise, he didn't even cover himself up.
"From what you told me, your parents would kill you if you got caught skinny dipping again." Peter quickly retorts with a big grin and while he wouldn't have been comfortable or confident enough to do this earlier, his two friends had been amazing and while he still didn't remember everything, they had made him feel accepted and it meant a lot to him.
"Hey! Don't look at me, you're the one who told him about that." Ben then quickly states with a shrug of the shoulders, as he glances at his fiancé and sees the look on his face and knew what he was thinking.
"Anyway, if you want to talk about Alex, then it's up to you Peter, but I doubt we can tell you anything you haven't heard a million times already." Matt decides to say, after giving his fiancé a less than impressed look, before turning back to their friend with a friendly smile.
"I just want to know about how he got me to be his boyfriend before, because everyone keeps telling me that we were boyfriends and how much we liked each other and Wesley and Carter kind of said a little bit, but I don't remember any of it and well, do you guys know?" Peter asks in an almost pleading tone, as he decides to just ask them the thing that had been bothering him for the past few days and while he doubted it would change his mind, he was still curious about what had happened.
"Well er... well..." Matt quickly begins to respond, before just as quickly trailing off as he realises that he had no idea what to actually say or whether it was even his place to say anything.
"I think it would be better if you talked to Alex about that Peter, I mean it's pretty private and we don't know that much." Ben then states in a more relaxed tone than his fiancé, but as he sees their friends face drop, he felt a little guilty. "Look Peter, you were confused about your feelings, you were sure that you were straight and you told us all that, but at the same time and while we don't know exactly what you and Alex did, although I think we can guess, you did a lot of gay stuff and you liked it and it wasn't just like enjoyed the good feelings, because the good feelings are awesome, you liked how it felt with Alex and you liked making him feel good, as much as you liked him making you feel good." He then decides to say and while he could have said a bit more and definitely could have worded it better, he wanted to give him a chance to think that over before he said anything else.
"So I actually did gay stuff, like real gay stuff?" Peter asks in a hesitant tone, after taking a few minutes to take in what his friend had just said and while he might have forgotten a lot, he had looked online at what being gay means and what they do and he couldn't imagine himself doing stuff like that, it looked gross and weird and kind of painful.
"We don't really know, it's not like you ever told us what you actually did and we didn't ask, that's private Peter, but we're gay and it's not hard to guess what you'd done with each other and as weird as this is to say, you did seem to like it, because you actually asked Alex to be your boyfriend a couple of times, before you actually got together for real." Ben answers honestly and while it was a little awkward to talk about, well very awkward, their friend was obviously serious about wanting to know and he wasn't going to lie to him.
"Wait, I asked him to be my boyfriend?" Peter quickly asks in response, as he gives his two friends an unconvinced look and couldn't believe he would ever ask a boy out.
"A couple of times." Ben responds honestly and while he could see the doubt in their friends eyes, it was the truth and the way he was remembering more and more each day, he would know that for himself eventually.
"Wait, you said we got together sometime after I asked him, so that means he said no, twice." Peter then states in a confused and slightly annoyed tone, as he thinks about being rejected by someone who everyone was telling him loved him, twice and he surprised himself by actually feeling a little hurt about it.
"Ah well, it's complicated Peter, because Alex loved you, like seriously, you've been told it a billion times Peter, but he loved you and he loved you enough to just be your friend if you didn't want to be his boyfriend and when you asked to be his boyfriend, he said no because he thought you were asking, just to make him feel better and not because you actually wanted to be his boyfriend." Ben quickly responds honestly again and could see their friend thinking his words over again and while he thought he did a good job that time, he still knew he could have done better.
"You fooled around together Peter and you liked it and you knew Alex loved you and it was obvious that you liked him back, but you were so adamant that you were straight, that when you did ask him to be your boyfriend, it kind of sounded like you just didn't want to hurt his feelings and because Alex genuinely loves you, he didn't want you to pretend to be gay, just to make him happy, he either wanted you to love him like he loved you or just be your friend, that's why he said no." Matt decides to say and while he had let his fiancé do all the talking so far, he felt like he needed to help him out and also help Alex out, because while they didn't want to interfere too much, he could see that this was a good opportunity to help Peter remember the truth and maybe help get their friends back together.
"So he could have had me as his boyfriend, even though I might have been straight?" Peter decides to ask next and while he had so many other questions, this was something he hadn't been told before and while it still didn't make him want to be boyfriends with the other boy, it was definitely something to think about and consider over the next few days.
"Pretty much and you would have went along with it as well Peter, but I know Jarred has told you things about Alex and things like him bullying people and being a bit of a prick were true and he will tell you that, he would never do something that could hurt you and even though saying no meant that he could only be your friend, he loved you enough that he could accept that." Matt answers honestly and when he feels his fiancé's hand finding his own under the water and giving it a squeeze, he gives him a quick and loving kiss on the cheek.
"Wow." Peter then says in a surprised and slightly stunned tone, as he thinks about what his friends had just said and he couldn't deny that it made him feel more comfortable when it came to Alex, especially since the incident with the skipping rope had caused him to be a little reluctant to be around him again, but it still didn't change his mind about them being boyfriends and he doubted anything would, well not right now anyway.
"If you want our honest opinion Peter, then you should just hang around with him for a little while as a friend, it doesn't have to be alone, but say if we all go out somewhere like the park, then sit next to him or close enough to talk to him a little bit and do stuff like that, because it's obvious you don't remember being boyfriends, so it makes sense to just get to know him as a friend and then see what happens." Matt then decides to suggest, after giving his fiancé a quick glance and thinking about their friends reaction and he kind of felt like maybe everyone has been looking at this the wrong way and it was better if they just slowly got to know each other again.
"I just don't want him to think I want to be his boyfriend though and if I start hanging around him and talking to him, he will think I want to er... to er... well get back together." Peter then says in a slightly confused tone, as he thinks about how it would work with Alex, which just confused him even more.
"He's not like that Peter and it's better than avoiding him, which wouldn't even work anyway, you both have the same circle of friends, so you're going to see each other and it's not like you have to sit next to him and talk to him every time, just sometimes and it could help jog your memory." Ben then decides to say, after letting his fiancé do the talking for a little while and while it was tempting to let him continue on his own, they were a team and he wanted to help.
"Okay, but can you guys like er... well you know, sort of tell him that I don't want to be his boyfriend, well not er... well just er... well..." Peter then begins to say in an unsure tone, before trailing off and blushing, as he messes his words up and struggles to explain himself properly.
"No problem, we'll make sure he knows that for now at least, you are just friends and he will understand Peter, he did before." Matt responds with an understanding smile. "Tobias has trouble speaking sometimes, so we're both kind of used to understanding people when they mess their words up." He then states in a slightly amused tone, after seeing the look on their friends faces and knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Why don't we just relax for a little while? Then we can get dried off and get something to eat." Ben then decides to suggest, as he looks at their friend and could see that he didn't have much more to say about Alex, well he obviously did, but he could tell that for now, he didn't want to talk about it any more.
"Okay." Peter responds with an appreciative smile and while he actually thought his two friends were a little weird, well not bad weird, but the way they spoke for each other sometimes, well it was a bit weird, he really did like them and they were pretty cool.
"So it's true then?" Mitch asks in an almost despondent tone, after sitting down opposite his boss and seeing how serious his expression was and assumed he knew what this was about.
"You're going to have to be more specific Mitch." Hopkins responds in a slightly surprised tone and while he had asked him in here to give him some good news, the way he had spoken, had him worried and he wanted to find out what was wrong, before he revealed what they had discovered.
"I spoke with Conner remember Sir and he gave us directions to find Simon's body and that's why you called me in here, because you found him." Mitch explains in the same tone, as he does his best to hold himself together, as the realisation that another of his friends was dead, while another two were paedophiles and one of those was a murderer.
"I'm aware of what he told you Mitch, but Simon is alive and..." Hopkins decides to quickly respond, as he sees the look on the young man's face and wanted to quickly put his mind at ease, but before he can finish, he is cut off and despite not usually tolerating being interrupted, the young man had been through a lot and he wasn't going to pull him up on it.
"He's alive? But Conner said..." Mitch quickly starts to ask in a confused tone, before finding himself being interrupted himself and he couldn't help but look at his boss in concern, he knew how much he hated being interrupted and knew that he could be in trouble now.
"Simon is alive, but he is in a coma and while I don't know much, I do know that given another day or two, then he would likely have no survived, so it's fair to say, that Conner just assumed he was dead given the time since he was arrested." Hopkins quickly decides to say, as he takes control of the conversation and also gives the young man a stern look, just to let him know that he doesn't appreciate being interrupted and while he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it, he didn't want it to keep happening.
"I er... he er... how did he survive for that long, it must have been eleven days since we arrested Conner, has he been alone all that time?" Mitch quickly asks in a horrified tone, as he realises what his friend must have been through and how he probably thought he was going to die and he could feel his stomach churn a little bit.
"He had food and water, but from what I have been told, it's been at least three days since he had last had anything to drink and longer since he ate anything, but the main thing is that he is alive Mitch and he's in the best place he can be right now." Hopkins answers as honestly as he could and while it wasn't as reassuring as he wanted it to be, it was all he knew and he could tell that it had at least helped a little bit.
"Is he going to be okay?" Mitch then asks in a vulnerable tone, as he looks at his boss sadly and even though he knew what he was going to say, he was still hoping that there was something else his boss knew, that could at least give him some hope.
"Honestly, I'm not sure Mitch, he wasn't in a good way when they found him and the next few days are going to be critical, at least that is what the doctors say." Hopkins answers honestly again, before frowning slightly as he realises that it wasn't the answer the young man was looking for. "Mitch, he is a fighter, he survived all that time and from what the officers at the scene told me, the food and drink he had, should have only lasted a few days, so he must have rationed it and if someone is strong enough to do that and not give up, then they're strong enough to survive and I do believe that." He quickly decides to add and while he wasn't so sure Simon would ever wake up, he could see that the young man needed reassuring and he wanted to help as much as possible.
"Thank you Sir." Mitch responds with a forced smile, as he looks at his boss and then down at the desk and while he knew he meant well, his bosses words hadn't reassured him that much and after Jim, he couldn't help but worry that Simon may never wake up.
"Mitch, I want you to go home and before you even try to argue, that's an order and I don't like to repeat myself Officer Walker." Hopkins decides to state, after studying the young man's expression and seeing how upset and distressed he was and despite knowing that work could help distract him, he couldn't risk it, not with the work they did and if he made a mistake, than it could be costly and as his boss, it would fall on him as well, so despite not wanting to, he knew he had no choice but to send him home for at least the rest of the day.
"Okay Sir." Mitch responds in a reluctant tone, as he looks at his boss and despite a part of him wanting to stay and work, he also wanted to go and see his friend, even if he was in a coma, he remembered what Matt had told him once and knew that it might help if someone sat with him and talked to him.
"Goodbye Mitch." Hopkins then says, as he watches the young man stand up and then walk out of the room, before looking down at his desk and sighing, as he thinks about recent events and while it wasn't nothing new, it never made it any easier to deal with.
"He's not allowed outside?" Alex asks in a curious tone and while he hated the idea that his former best friend was allowed to go home, his dad had explained it to him and while he still wasn't happy, he understood why and he just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't accidentally see him anywhere, because he knew he would struggle to control himself, especially since he had confessed to what had really happened.
"For the most past Alex, but he can leave for appointments, like the doctors and dentist and when they need him to go to the station or court, but other than that, it would be a breach of his bail and he will end up staying in juvenile detention." Gordon responds with a reassuring smile and while he doubted his son was asking because he was worried, he didn't want to think about why else he would be asking, not that he would blame him for wanting to hurt him, but he wanted to believe he would have more sense than that, especially with what had happened recently.
"Good, I don't want to see him." Alex quickly states in a serious tone, as he looks around the room, before settling back on his dad. "We don't have to stay there long do we?" He then decides to ask in a slightly hesitant tone, as he thinks about where they were going to be going soon and while she was still his mum, he still hadn't managed to decide how to feel around her, she had done a lot of bad things and helped almost kill one of his friends and he wasn't sure if he could ever forgive her for that.
"We can stay for as long as you want to Alex and if you don't want to go at all, I can give your mum a call and we will try again another day." Gordon responds with a sympathetic smile and while he wasn't that keen on seeing his wife again, he did feel like it was important for his son to see her, but he wasn't going to push it and if he didn't want to go, than he wasn't going to force him to.
"I just don't want her to..." Alex then begins to say, before trailing off as he tries to think of the right words to express himself. "Dad, I don't want her to pretend everything is okay, but I don't want her to er... to er... to talk about Matt and what happened or er... well I don't know Dad, I don't..." He then begins to say and although he manages to say most of what he wanted to, he couldn't quite say it all and couldn't help but be a little relieved when his dad starts talking.
"I understand Alex, but while we don't owe your mum anything, I think it's important for you to see her and speak to her and to give her a chance, but like I just told you, if you want to go home at any point, then just tell me and we will go, she knows that she can't just expect either of us to forgive her and she understands that it will take time, so the most important thing Alex, is that you're in control and I'm on your side, okay." Gordon decides to say in a sincere and honest tone, as he reaches out and smiles, as he takes his sons hands into his own and while he could see that he was still unsure, he was happy to see him return his smile.
"I love you Dad." Alex decides to say from the heart, after taking a few moments to let his dads response sink in and enjoy the comforting feeling he was getting from his dad holding his hands and while he felt a little silly holding his dads hands, it was still nice and he appreciated it.
"I love you too Alex and I always will." Gordon responds proudly and while his son still had a lot of growing up to do, he was a good boy and he was genuinely proud of him, even if he did make mistakes, he was still a good boy and he could see that he was trying.
"When do we have to leave?" Alex decides to ask after looking up at the clock and despite being content to stay where he was, he needed to go to the toilet and he was hoping they didn't have to leave right now.
"When you're ready Alex, so if you want to go to the toilet or get changed, then go ahead and we can leave once you're done." Gordon responds with another smile and while he knew his son was still not that enthusiastic about going, he was still proud of him for agreeing to it and not finding some excuse to not go.
"Oh, well er... I will be back in like ten minutes." Alex then says in a slightly awkward tone, as he realises that his dad knew he wanted to go to the toilet and despite knowing he was being stupid, he couldn't help but blush a little bit, after realising by saying ten minutes, he was pretty much telling him that he wasn't just going for a piss and it was embarrassing, even if he was his dad.
"I will make us both a drink and we can leave afterwards." Gordon then decides to say in a slightly bemused tone, as he sees his son blushing and quickly smiles when he realises why and couldn't help but find it amusing. "Don't forget to flush." He then states with a grin, before chuckling at the look on his sons face, as he stops at the door and turns back to him.
"Dad!" Alex responds in an awkward and embarrassed tone, after taking a few moments to really process what his dad had just said and despite trying not to be embarrassed, he couldn't help but blush, especially with his dad laughing and quickly decides to just leave the room and head upstairs pouting.
"What did she say?" Mike asks in a curious and slightly worried tone, after waiting for his friend to put the phone down and sit down opposite him, he knew it was Maggie and he was hoping that it was good news, they had already spoken to the police and received some good news, well as good a news as they could have expected and he was hoping this wouldn't make that irrelevant.
"Long story short, we're safe Mike, she gave her word that we won't have any more problems and while she wouldn't give any details, I believe her and I don't see any reason why she would lie." Sarah answers honestly and while the other woman had sad more, a lot more, she didn't want to go through it all again and was just happy that for the first time in a long time, she felt safe and while she would never take their safety for granted, it was a nice feeling to have again.
"And with the police confirming Conner's involvement and what he confessed..." Mike begins to say in a relieved tone, before trailing off for a few moments to really process what that meant. "We will still have to be careful Sarah, but this is good, with Conner's confession and Maggie doing whatever she did, we don't have to worry." He then states with a smile and while he knew they would still have to be vigilant and never take things for granted, he could feel the stress already easing and he could see it on his friends face as well.
"We should take the boys out tonight, we don't have to tell them why, but we can celebrate and it's been a while since we've been to that karaoke restaurant." Sarah decides to suggest with a smile of her own and while they might have to tell a little white lie to their sons, it would be worth it and she knew they would enjoy themselves.
"I will give Mitch and Erica a call and see if they're free tonight." Mike then decides to say, as he thinks about his eldest son and how happy he will be at the news. "It's been a while since we heard the boys sing and I'm sure they've been missed at the restaurant as well." He then decides to add with a smile, which widens when he sees his friends face and he could tell that she had already been thinking that herself.
"Tobias might want to invite Lily, do you think I should ask if her parents would like to come as well?" Sarah decides to ask, after thinking about it for a few moments and deciding to ask her friend for his opinion, because with the boys, Erica and Lily, it was getting a little crowded and she wasn't sure if the Rose's would enjoy a karaoke restaurant.
"I think it would be a nice gesture Sarah, but honestly, I think we should maybe invite them another time and while Lily and Erica aren't technically family, they're important to our sons, so that's different." Mike responds honestly and while he knew Aster would enjoy the karaoke, he just wanted it to be family tonight and he considered Erica family and if Tobias asked, then he knew that neither of them could tell him that Lily couldn't come.
"I think you're right, but we should invite them around for dinner or to a restaurant soon, because it's obvious that Tobias really likes Lily and it seems mutual, so it will be good to get to know them a little bit more." Sarah then says with a sincere smile and while she knew Daisy a little bit, she hadn't spoken with Aster and that's something she wanted to change, especially since Daisy had told her about his love of music and she thought Matt would especially get a long with him.
"I will give Erica a call now, Mitch is at work so I don't want to bother him." Mike then says with a smile, as he pulls his phone out of his pocket after standing up.
"I will call the restaurant and book us a table, six should be okay, shouldn't it?" Sarah quickly asks with a smile, after seeing her friend walking out of the room and realising that they hadn't agreed a time.
"Yeah, six is fine, it will give us a chance to eat, before the karaoke starts and the boys wait for the turn." Mike responds with a smile, before walking out of the room as his eldest sons girlfriend answers the phone.
"I know I'm not always enthusiastic about the role playing stuff Carter, but when I went to the shop to get these, they had so many costumes and things and er... well if you want to go there sometime, you know er... well to er... have a look, we could go together and see er... well you know." Wesley decides to say and while he felt a little nervous and slightly uncomfortable, he loved his boyfriend and he didn't hate dressing up and the more they did it, the more comfortable he was with it, so while it started out just being about pleasing him, he had actually started to enjoy it himself as well.
"Really?" Carter quickly responds in an excited tone, after looking up at his boyfriend in surprise and while they had the Elven costumes, he had always wanted to get some more, but he knew his boyfriend wasn't that enthusiastic about role playing and he didn't want to force it on him, but if he was being serious now, then it would be amazing and he knew exactly which shop his boyfriend was talking about, because it's the only one nearby and he had been there a couple of times and saw a few costumes that he liked.
"I'm not saying we're going to go over the top and buy loads of stuff Carter, but with... with... well I kind of don't want to waste my life, you know... after Jim and I may feel a bit stupid when we do it at first, but I do enjoy it and it's kind of cool, well maybe not cool, but I kind of do like doing it, so I don't want to er... well..." Wesley answers with a shy smile and while he wanted to say more, he couldn't help but tense up a little bit and trail off, as he thinks about his brother and despite being strong, it was still hard to think about what had happened and when he feels his boyfriends arms around him, he let's out a quiet sniffle and quickly returns the embrace.
"Love you." Carter decides to say in a soft tone, as he holds his boyfriend tightly and despite knowing he was going to be okay, it was still hard to see him break down like this and while it wasn't close to what their friends had been through, it gave him an insight into what it must of really been like for them, especially Ben and he found himself feeling in awe of just how strong they were.
"I love you too Beautiful." Wesley eventually responds in a sincere tone, after spending almost ten minutes in his boyfriends arms and while he wanted to stay like this for longer, he knew they couldn't and gently let go of his boyfriend and leaned back again. "You got what I meant though right, about the costumes and role playing?" He then asks in a vulnerable tone, as he looks at his boyfriend and while he knew he was being needy, thinking about his brother just got to him and he knew his boyfriend understood and thanks to their friends, he had seen them deal with some horrible stuff and not let it embarrass them and he was determined to do the same.
"Yeah, I mean I knew you only did it to make me happy, well at first, but after a few times you seemed to like it more and I know it's silly and it is a little bit Wesley, even I know that, but you did it anyway and the fact you want to go look at some new costumes, that's just awesome, really awesome and I just think you're awesome and sexy and wearing too many clothes right now." Carter responds honestly and while they didn't really have time to do anything, he wanted to show his boyfriend some affection and quickly gives him a series of quick pecks on the lips, while reaching down to unbutton his shorts.
"Fuck Carter, we don't have..." Wesley quickly tries to protest, before being silenced by his boyfriends lips against his own and while he normally wouldn't resist, they really didn't have time for this. "Seriously Carter, we can't." He then says in a reluctant tone, as he rolls over with his boyfriend in his arms and looks down at him.
"We're both hard and if we sixty nine and swallow, we don't even need to clean up." Carter decides to suggest and while he knew they were being a little reckless, well he was being reckless, he really wanted to do this and it wouldn't take long and quickly decides to reach down and push his boyfriends shorts down and smiles when he doesn't try to stop him this time.
"You're so fucking sexy." Wesley responds in a slightly reluctant tone, as he realises that it would be quicker to give his boyfriend what he wanted than argue about it and quickly rolls off him. "Fuck, you aren't messing around are you." He then says in an impressed tone, as he realises that his boyfriend had not only pushed his shorts and briefs down, but his own as well, which was pretty impressive.
"I'm going on top, so lie down." Carter quickly orders with a lustful expression and while he was actually a little nervous about pushing their luck, he was too excited now and quickly moves on top of his boyfriend and turns around, before taking him into his mouth just as he feels his boyfriend doing the same to him.
"Boys, we said be ready for..." Michelle begins to say in a stern tone, after growing impatient and deciding to come up and get the boys, but as she walks into the room and takes in the sight in front of her, she quickly trails off in shock and just stands frozen in the doorway.
"Oh my god!" Carter finally manages to say in shock, after hearing his mum and looking up to see her staring open mouthed at him. "Oh my god!" He then repeats as he realises what she had just seen and while he wanted to move and cover up, he was frozen and he could only stare at her in horror.
"I er... will er... we will er... be down in ten minutes boys and er... oh..." Michelle then somehow manages to say, as she not only struggles to process what she had just seen, but also the sight of Wesley or to be more precise, a certain part of her sons boyfriend, that despite the circumstances and inappropriateness was quite impressive, but as soon as the thoughts entered her mind, she quickly dismissed them and turned away from her sons room and just as quickly made her way downstairs in shock and embarrassment.
"Oh my god!" Carter then repeats for the third time, before feeling his boyfriend moving underneath him and then feeling himself being gently pushed to the side.
"Oh my god? Oh my fucking god doesn't even cover it Carter, fuck!" Wesley suddenly states in a shocked and mortified tone, as he processes what had just happened and as he looked at the door and then thought about how he and he boyfriend were positioned, he couldn't help but blush even more. "That didn't just happen." He then says in a quiet tone, as he realises that his boyfriends mum had not only seen him hard, but had seen her son sucking it and then stared at it, which made him blush even more.
"Oh my god!" Carter then repeats again and while he had heard his boyfriend say something, he hadn't taken it in and could only think about the look on his mums face and while they had been walked in on before, it was never anything like this and they had always been covered, so this was on another level and he couldn't even begin to think about how they were going to get through the next few hours and quickly feels himself shudder a little at the thought.
"Hey! Hey, it's okay Carter." Wesley then quickly says in a soothing tone, after feeling his boyfriend trembling and quickly snapping out of his own thoughts. "Carter, it's okay, well it's not, but it's..." He then begins to say, as he tries to calm him down, but as he struggles to think of anything that would help, he just trails off and pulls his boyfriend into his arms and cuddles him tightly.
"She saw..." Carter tries to say after a few minutes, but as the words leave his mouth, he quickly starts to shake again and tightens his grip on his boyfriend even more and again, while they had been caught doing stuff before, it was never like this and he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to look his mum in the eyes again.
"Sshh, Sshh Beautiful, it will be okay, I promise." Wesley decides to say in a quiet and soothing tone, as he begins to gently rock his boyfriend a little bit, while also thinking about how he could look his boyfriends mum in the eyes again, because he could only imagine what she must think and the idea of sitting downstairs and playing games and watching films with her for the rest of the afternoon, was definitely the last thing he wanted to do right now.
"Do they ever hurt?" Peter asks in a curious tone, as he runs his fingers over his friends bum and while he wouldn't have done this a couple of days ago, he knew they were friends now and this wasn't anything to do with gay stuff or that kind of thing and if his friend was okay with him looking and touching his scars, than he wanted to make the most of it, because they looked really painful and while he had sort of been told what had happened, he still couldn't believe it was real, even as he looked at them and touched them.
"No, they never really hurt, but I guess it would have hurt if I was awake when the cuts were healing, but I was in a coma for ages and when I did wake up, other things hurt more and I was on lots of painkiller stuff." Matt answers honestly and while he was finding it awkward, he was actually proud of how he was handling it, it had been a while since he let someone other than his fiancé see all his scars and even longer since he let someone else touch them, especially the ones on his bum, so this was a big deal in his mind.
"These are really deep, they aren't like the others." Peter then says in a quiet tone, as he suddenly realises what his friend must have been through to get these and how much it must have hurt and he could feel himself shaking a little bit.
"Are you okay Peter?" Ben quickly asks in a worried tone, as he sees his friend tensing up and then shaking a little bit and while he didn't know what was happening, he reaches out and takes one of his hands into both of his.
"Yeah, it's just er... I think I remember talking about this before, I think." Peter responds and while the thoughts about what could cause deep scars like those on his friends bum were scary and upsetting, he had actually remembered talking about them before and while it wasn't a good memory, it actually helped him remember a few other things and he knew that was a good sign.
"Why don't we get dressed and then we can talk about it some more." Matt decides to suggest and while they'd been naked together for a while now, he thought it would be better if they got dressed and then talked some more.
"Yeah, come on Peter let's go get our clothes and bring them in here." Ben decides to say as he gives his fiancé a quick glance and knew that while he could come with them, he was comfortable and he didn't want him to have to get up just to walk to their bedroom and back here, just to get dressed.
"Okay." Peter quickly responds and while he wasn't actually bothered about getting dressed, he wasn't going to argue, which actually surprised him a little bit, because he really wasn't keen on getting naked earlier and now he found himself not being in any rush to get dressed and he couldn't help but smile, as he thinks about what that meant and how comfortable he was around his friends.
"Just shorts and a top for me Ben." Matt quickly says with a smile, after watching them both walking towards the bedroom and thinking about how warm it was and how pointless it would be to put underwear on.
"Sure." Ben quickly responds, before disappearing into their bedroom with their friend and then returning a few moments later with some clothes.
"So, how much do you remember from the last time we talked about my scars?" Matt decides to ask, as he finishes putting his shorts on and seeing his friend and fiancé already dressed.
"I think everything, well I know how you got them and er... who did it and I remember how it made me feel." Peter responds in a slightly hesitant tone, as he thinks about everything and how his friend didn't like talking about what happened, well at least that's what he remembered and he could see by his expression, that it was still hard for him and he didn't want to upset him.
"We all felt the same way Peter and we still do." Ben decides to say, as he looks at their friend for a few moments and knew exactly what he meant and even though David was dead, he still wanted to hurt him and he didn't think those thoughts would ever change.
"When I came back, well when I went to the hospital, Alex's dad came in the room and Jarred said some stuff and Alex's dad pretty much admitted it, but his mum really did hurt you, didn't she?" Peter asks in a hesitant tone again, as he turns to his other friend and thinks about the other boy and while he knew it was true, he was hoping to find out what his friend thought about it and how he forgave Alex.
"She did." Matt answers quickly and while he had done his best to put it behind him, he still didn't like talking about it and although he had expected it to come up, it didn't make it any easier.
"Alex isn't like her though Peter, I mean he's bullied people and has been a bit of a prick over the years, but he's a good person and he's changed a lot and tried really hard to do that." Ben then says in an honest tone and while he wasn't completely sure this was why their friend had brought Alex's mum up, he couldn't see any other reason and he wanted to try and reassure him about his obvious concerns.
"Peter, his mum did something bad, well lots of things and I will never forgive her or want to speak to her again, so I have more reason than anyone to hate Alex, but he is a good person and I wouldn't be his friend unless he proved that and he has, even Carter and Wesley like him and I know you know about what Alex did to Carter, so I know you aren't sure about the whole boyfriend thing and that is up to you to figure out, but he isn't like his mum." Matt quickly adds to his fiancé's words, after noticing the look on their friends face and deciding to try and help answer his a few moments ago more honestly.
"I did have fun with him at his house, well before I hurt myself." Peter then says in a soft tone, as he thinks about his friends words and how obvious it was, that Alex wasn't the person Jarred had convinced him he was and while he still couldn't be his boyfriend, not unless he remembered those kind of feelings anyway, he was starting to open up to the idea of being his friend and giving him a chance, because even though he had actually gone round his house by himself, he was still on guard and didn't let himself relax enough to really enjoy it.
"Like we said before Peter, just be friends, talk to him, hang around him and just do that, don't worry about the other stuff." Matt decides to say honestly again and while he could tell their friend wasn't convinced about being boyfriends with Alex, it was obvious that he liked him as a friend and he still thought that it was the best way for him to remember how he had felt about him before he was attacked.
"Can we talk about something else please?" Peter decides to ask, after thinking about everything his friends had said and how he felt and while he appreciated their advice and it did help, he wanted to try and get his mind off it all for a while, even if he was the one who had brought it up in the first place, several times today.
"Okay, well apart from Alex and all of that stuff, how is everything else going?" Ben decides to ask with a smile and while he felt like he and his fiancé were getting somewhere, he understood why their friend wanted to move on to something else and knew from his own experiences, that it was best not to push him to talk about it.
"Er... well okay I guess." Peter answers in a slightly confused and unsure tone, as he looks at his friend and wasn't quite sure how else to answer.
"He means like your parents, they must miss you and if they are like ours, then you're probably getting a little fed up with them Peter and what about school, I know you aren't going back until next year, but do you miss it, have they sent you any homework, just stuff like that Peter." Matt then decides to say, after realising that their friend wasn't sure what his fiancé had actually asked him and quickly smiles when he sees the understanding on their friends face now.
"Oh right, well er..." Peter begins to respond, before pausing for a few seconds to think about what his friends were asking him and starts to smile as he thinks about how his parents were being a little annoying and begins to tell his friends all about it.
Four Hours Later
"Are you sure about this?" Mike asks in a concerned tone, after finally getting a chance to speak to his eldest son alone and while he knew what his response would probably be, he had to at least try and see if he was really okay.
"Please Dad, not now." Mitch responds in a quiet tone, as he looks around before settling back on to his dad and while he knew he meant well, the others were in the next room and he didn't want to talk about it like this.
"You can still just stay at home, the boys won't mind and Erica knows what happened." Mike decides to say, as he thinks about the best way to handle the conversation, while also remembering that the boys didn't know about Simon yet and he wanted to keep it that way, at least for today.
"If I sit at home, I will just keep going over and over it Dad and I've spent all afternoon doing that." Mitch quickly responds in a frustrated tone and while going to a noisy restaurant probably wasn't the relaxing evening he had in mind earlier, it would be perfect to distract him and hearing his brothers singing, always lifter his spirits and it was definitely better than sitting at home, even if his girlfriend was with him.
"If you're sure Mitch." Mike then says in an unsure tone, as he struggles to really work out where his eldest sons mind was right now and while he seemed okay, well as okay as he could do under the circumstances, he knew he couldn't take it for granted, not after what had happened to his youngest son.
"I'm not sure Dad, not completely, but if Matt and Ben are both going to sing, than I would rather watch and enjoy that, than just sit at home and wondering whether I've lost another friend." Mitch decides to respond honestly this time and while he could see the worry on his dads face, he could tell that he had got his point across and at least for today, he knew he wouldn't bring it up again.
"Okay, but I'm your dad Mitch and it's my job to worry about you." Mike then says with a warm smile, before looking towards the door. "I'll take Matt and Ben with Sarah and you can take Tobias and Erica and pick Lily up on the way, is that okay?" He then decides to ask, after thinking of the best way for them to all get to the restaurant and while he knew his eldest son would want to be close to his little brother right now, he didn't think he would say no to his suggestion.
"That's fine with me Dad." Mitch responds with a smile and while he could have argued against it, it wasn't that long of a drive and he would just make sure that he was sitting next to his little brother at the restaurant, because while he wouldn't know about Simon, they could read each other well and he knew he would know something was wrong and just being near him would help.
"I just have to get my keys, so can you go and tell them we're know leaving." Mike then states in a slightly distracted tone, as he realises that he wasn't entirely sure where his car keys were and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, especially when he sees the amused look on his eldest sons face and knew that he knew.
"They're in your coat dad." Mitch decides to state with a small grin, after quickly working out why his dad seemed distracted and looking around.
"Get going then Mitch." Mike then says with a shake of the head and while he was happy to see his eldest son grinning, it was still embarrassing and as he watched him walk towards the living room, he turns the other way and walks towards his coat.
"We have to go down Carter, we can't spend the rest of our lives avoiding your mum." Wesley decides to repeat, after his boyfriend makes another excuse to not go downstairs and while he wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea himself, his boyfriends parents had let them stay upstairs all afternoon, but he knew they couldn't avoid them forever and it was getting close to dinner time and they were both hungry.
"She saw me sucking your dick Wesley, actually sucking it, how the hell am I meant to look at her, let alone talk to her?" Carter quickly retorts in a mortified tone and while it had been almost five hours ago, he still couldn't get the look on his mums face out of his mind and he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to look at her in the same way again and he could only imagine what she thought about him now.
"Okay, this is creepy and weird to say, but she is an adult Carter and she has had sex, you wouldn't be sitting here if that wasn't true and yeah, it's embarrassing, fucking embarrassing, but we've been walked in on before and while it wasn't the same, because we were pretty much covered up in one way or another, it still happened and yeah, it will be awkward for a while, but we have to just face it and try and forget about it." Wesley decides to state in response and while he wasn't doing as well as he was pretending to be, his boyfriend needed him to be strong and he wasn't going to let him down, even if that meant talking to his mum when he went down, which was a scary thought, he would do it and try and get them all past what happened.
"Fuck it though, how the fuck did we leave the door open, we never leave the door open." Carter then half mumbles to himself, as he takes in his boyfriends words and while he still didn't want to go downstairs, he knew they had to and he just needed to try and find a way to get past what had happened.
"Fuck if I know, but it will never happen again, no way." Wesley responds with a shake of the head and even though he knew his boyfriend wasn't actually asking him, he didn't want them to get into another awkward silence and slowly started to stand up, as he looks over to the clock and sees that they needed to go down now.
"Can't we just hide here?" Carter quickly asks in a half hearted tone, after watching his boyfriend standing up and straightening out his clothes, which made him realise that they were actually going to go downstairs now.
"I'll do as much talking as I can Carter, but you're going to have to talk to her eventually, so you just have to be brave and get it over with." Wesley responds with a warm and loving smile, before holding his hand out and then pulling his boyfriend to his feet after he takes it into his own.
"I hate when you're right." Carter then says with a reluctant smile, as he straightens his own clothes out and then looks up at his boyfriends face. "I swear if you try and make jokes or something like that, I will come up here and lock the door." He then states in a serious tone, after seeing the little smile on his boyfriends face and while he knew he was probably way off, he wasn't going to take any chances and wanted him to know that.
"Jokes? Fuck off Carter, I'm going to struggle to say something normal, let alone trying to string off a bunch of jokes about you and I sucking each other off to your parents." Wesley quickly responds with a grin, while again trying to hide how much this was affecting him inside, because he really wasn't sure what to expect when they went downstairs and if his boyfriends mum wanted to talk about what she had seen, then he would just die inside and probably run out of the house and back to his own to lock himself in his room for the rest of his life.
"Fine." Carter then says in a slightly frustrated tone, as he rolls his eyes at his boyfriends response and despite still thinking about going downstairs, he couldn't help but be amused by it a little bit.
"Come on then, before your dad calls up again." Wesley then says with a half smile, after seeing his boyfriends expression and knew that at the very least, he was trying to hide the fact he found his response a little funny.
"Okay, but you know you can't fool me Wesley." Carter then decides to say in a playful tone, after deciding to let his boyfriend know that he knew he was just as mortified as he was, despite his best efforts to hide it. "I know you're pretending to not be that bothered, but I know you Wesley and you're just as embarrassed as I am." He then adds with a smile, as he decides to try and have a little fun and hopefully make going downstairs a little less scary.
"Well yeah you moron, she saw my dick and it was hard, so fuck yeah I'm embarrassed, but it happened and let's just go downstairs and try to get through this." Wesley responds with a shake of the head and while he was trying to sound fine, he was still dreading actually seeing his boyfriends mum again, let alone speaking with her, but he was going to do it for his boyfriend and as long as they stuck together, then he would be okay and holds out his hand.
"Okay." Carter responds quietly and takes his boyfriends hand and let's him lead him out of his room nervously and he knew if his boyfriend wasn't here, he wouldn't be going anywhere near his parents for at least a couple of years, especially his mum, who he could only pray, wouldn't try and give them some kind of 'talk' about what she had seen.
"They do karaoke?" Lily quickly asks in a surprised tone, after sitting down at the table next to her boyfriend, she had seen some sort of stage area and music stuff as they walked over and couldn't help but be curious.
"Yeah and Ben and Matt will sing when it starts later on." Tobias answers in an excited tone, as he looks at his girlfriend and smiles at her, after realising that he hadn't told her about the restaurant and what his brothers did whenever they came here.
"In front of everyone?" Lily then quickly asks in a surprised tone and while she knew they could both sing and kind of thought Ben would probably be able to do it, she didn't think Matt would have the confidence to, not that he was shy or timid, but singing in front of total strangers in a restaurant seemed like something he would avoid or at least that's what she thought.
"Yeah and they're always the best singers, unless they're doing silly songs and then it's just funny, but it's meant to be funny, so it's still good and the people who come here a lot, know who they are now, so they sometimes come over and say hello to us." Tobias responds in a proud tone and while he thought his girlfriends question was a little weird, he was more than happy to praise his brothers and as he looked over to them, he smiles at how happy they looked when they were together.
"We don't have to sing though, do we?" Lily then asks in a slightly nervous tone, as she wonders if her boyfriends family all did karaoke and that's why they came here and while her family loved music, she really didn't want to sing and was hoping that they weren't expecting her to, otherwise she wouldn't have come with them.
"Nah, only Matt and Ben sing, no one else can and there a plenty of other people who sing, so it's really fun to listen to them all, even the bad ones." Tobias responds with a warm smile, as he reaches under the table and takes his girlfriends hand into his own and feels her squeezing his in response.
"We're going to sing 'Broken Strings' later Lily." Matt then says with a smile, after listening to their conversation and deciding to join in while his fiancé was talking to their other brother.
"Is that the Nelly Furtado and er... James Morrison song?" Lily quickly asks in an excited tone, she really liked the song and while she was actually surprised that they would sing it, she wasn't going to complain.
"Yeah, we've sung it here before and we really like it." Matt responds with a smile and while they had sung it before, other people sung the same song a couple of times and no one seemed to mind.
"Matt sings the girl bits." Tobias then decides to say with a small grin, as he looks at his brother and struggles to stop himself from giggling at his expression and despite knowing he would probably get his own back later, he just loved teasing his brothers and friends and it was always in good spirit.
"Hey!" Matt quickly protests, before seeing the look on his brothers face. "Very funny Duck Boy" He then states with a smirk of his own, which widens when he sees his brother turning red and knew that he was still embarrassed about what had happened at the park and while it was a little mean to bring it up, it was just a bit of fun and he knew his brother knew that as well.
"Matthew, what have I told you about calling him that?" Sarah states in a stern tone and while she was only half serious, she didn't like hearing the boys calling each other names, even if it was just a little bit of fun between them and wasn't afraid to let them know it either.
"Sorry Mum." Matt quickly apologises in response, as he looks at his mum and blushes, although as he glances back at his brother, he couldn't help but want to give him a punch on the arm for the smug look on his face and knew that he was enjoying him getting told off.
"Just don't let me hear you call him that again." Sarah then says in a softer tone and again, while she wasn't really angry, the boys didn't need to know that. "And you can stop looking so smug Tobias, unless you want me to give you that talk right now in front of everyone." She then decides to say in a serious tone, after noticing the look on her other sons face and while it was an empty threat and she felt a little guilty for bringing it up, she didn't play favourites between them and seeing him looking so smug was too tempting to ignore.
"What? No er... no er... please." Tobias quickly responds in a panicked tone and even the feeling of his hand being squeezed by his girlfriend couldn't stop him from blushing and looking at his mum pleadingly, he had so far avoided the talk about skinny dipping and walking around naked in the house and while he knew he couldn't avoid it forever, the last place he wanted to have it was here, especially in front of his girlfriend.
"Then behave yourself." Sarah then says with a firm look, before giving her sons girlfriend a warm smile and little wink. "Now, why don't you boys look through the menu while Mike and I go and order us some drinks." She then states in a warm tone, after deciding to move on and take the opportunity to put her sons and Ben's names down for Karaoke at the same time.
"Don't they have waitresses or waiters?" Lily decides to ask in a quiet tone, after waiting for her boyfriends mum and uncle to leave the table and walk over to the bar, she had been to restaurants where you had to order your drinks and food at the bar before, but this didn't seem like one of those places and she was a little confused.
"It's okay Lily, normally the waiter or waitress comes over, but Sarah wants to put the boys names down for Karaoke so they don't have to wait all night to get their chance to sing and it's easier to order some drinks at the same time." Erica answers with a warm smile, after deciding to let her boyfriend and his little brother carry on talking to each other and while she knew what it was about, she was trying to give them a bit of space and could tell that Matt was doing the same thing.
"Oh okay." Lily responds with a smile, after being a little surprised by the older girl answering, as she had almost forgotten she was there and quickly decides to talk to her and let her boyfriend talk to his brother, after hearing them talking about something to do with Jordan and swimming.
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