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You are here: Home > Story Shelf > All Authors > Zustara Orur > The First Son, Arc 2, Part 4

The First Son - Arc Two

by Zustara Orur

PART FOUR: The Agent, Deciding, Farewell.

"Turn off your cell phone!", he immediately ordered me as we were leaving the clinic grounds. "They can track it!"

"Really? Even if I'm not calling anyone?"

"YES! HURRY!" My angel seemed quite stressed so I was quick to comply. I even removed the battery completely just to make him feel more comfortable. He calmed down a couple notches once that was accomplished, then he looked at me. "You've been crying again...", he said quietly. It wasn't news to him of course, he merely wanted to say it I suppose.

I think I blushed just a little at hearing his words. "Yes... I'm such a crybaby, ain't I?", I replied in a shy voice.

His friendly smile meant everything to me. "You do look real pretty when you cry, Sebastian... But I only like it if I'm there to comfort you. And your tears taste so bitter-sweet." He kissed my face, touching it with his lips and tongue. His hot breath came in long, slow puffs, not the short strong ones like when he was all turned on. He was merely enjoying himself now, and the experience tickled a little; it brought a smile to me too. "Makes me want to taste something else of yours too!", he added in that impish voice of his.

"You're such a naughty boy!", I giggled. "No dessert for you! Besides, I got first dibs."

He giggled at first (maybe thinking of what I might mean by 'dessert'!), then sighed deeply all of a sudden. "Oh, I can't wait...", Raphael whispered in my ear. "I wish we were alone right nnooww..."

"Patience, my angel...", I told him firmly. "Patience."

He retaliated by giving me one of his gentleman's kisses, but after about ten seconds it turned into something more akin to a 'horny-teenager-making-out-with-prom-queen' kiss instead. Took me a while to calm him down, and quite frankly I don't know WHAT the heck the cab driver was thinking, really! I mean, we TRIED to be quiet! We really did! But it was almost impossible, I love touching my angel's cute buns when he kisses me and that doesn't exactly make upholding discipline any easier...! But we did calm down, difficult as it was.

"By now they will definitely be looking for me", Raphaél told me once we both had recovered. "At first, they'll swear at themselves for going along with my proposal in the first place, and think I'm being angry and determined to give them a hard time by hiding in some bushes somewhere on the grounds or something. That probably won't last very long. Second thing they'll do is check which cab company picked you up, then they'll know. Well, I HOPE that's the second thing they'll do because if they check right away we might well be screwed right now! They will instruct the driver to keep going and expect police to arrive imminently or something like that. Maybe they'll send the feds, or a helicopter or something like that, I'm not sure. Anyway, I figure Thoreau will decide I've escaped at any minute now, so we have to get out of the cab real quick! I HOPE it's still here...!" My angel kept scanning ahead, alongside the breakdown lane of the freeway. "YEESSS! There it is!"

The old, beat-up, green Chevy Impala stood with its two right wheels in the gravel, the others on the sun-bleached and cracked tarmac. I can't believe that the Detroit car giant had the audacity to name this gas-guzzling monster of a vehicle after one of the most beautiful and graceful creatures on this Earth, but there you have it.

There are owners of vintage 1960:s cars that take care of their cars like it was their own children, this car obviously did not belong to one of those people. The paint was fading, as was the chrome. Rust was busy devouring the bodywork along just about every seam. One of the headlights were broken, and I could see several dents in the vehicle's chromed bumpers, as if the driver had been a really poor parallel parker.

The cab driver was surprised that we wanted to get off here, he thought he was supposed to go all the way back to the city, and was very reluctant to let us off on the freeway. I argued that it was my dad's car, and that he was going to come back with more gas soon. Raphaél was getting more and more nervous by the second as the driver kept bugging us to have him stay with us 'so nothing would happen', but if he was there our next step of the plan was all for nothing! Finally, after me bribing him with all the money I had in my wallet (about seventeen bucks in all after paying the fare) he left, and we breathed a deep sigh of relief!

I was a bit concerned that the cab driver might have wanted to stay for a considerably less altruistic reason than to make sure we didn't get run over or something. He hadn't recognized us (thank goodness!), but he knew we were intimate, and he kept looking at us in the rear-view mirror much MUCH too closely for my own comfort. Feeling his eyes on me, it made me feel yucky, thinking of him putting his undoubtedly unwashed, probably greasy hands on me... It sent shivers down my spine, shivers of disgust. Fortunately, Raphaél seemed unaware of all this, I have no idea what I'd done if he too had picked up on this, if he'd gotten upset and fainted again or something.

"Now, it's our thumbs that have to do all the work", he said to me with a grin once the cabbie had gone. "We have to be quick because that guy will tell them where he dropped us off and they'll swarm in on us like bees on honey!"

"I thought you were going to say, 'like flies on sh...'" We could not stop ourselves from laughing. Our laughter sounded uncomfortably shrill in my own ears, and I realized how incredibly nervous and high-strung I was!

With our hearts beating fiercely of nervosity we kept waving at passing cars but nobody would stop! Some even honked their horns in a taunting manner at us (or that's what it felt like anyway), if they'd known who that dark-haired youth was that they were ignoring... I hoped the person who stopped wouldn't be like that cab driver and made a silent promise to not do ANYTHING intimate with Raphaél until we were safely back in the city again. No hugs, no kisses, not even hold his hand! Besides, it might well have caused us to get thrown out of the car (after all, some people don't like to see guys kissing each other or even touching), so it was probably for the best.

Two minutes of waiting felt more like fifteen, and we were actually getting scared as we stood there, awfully scared. If we got nabbed by the authorities, there was NO WAY the President and his wife would ever allow me anywhere near their son again. Never. I would be deemed a 'disrupting influence'. Maybe they'd even press charges against me or my parents, I worried...! Well, not that I REALLY thought I was in any danger, but I could not stop myself thinking along those lines in any case! Relief flooded through our bodies and minds when we saw the huge trailer tractor start to slow down and move into the breakdown lane. It stopped with a roar of its huge diesel engine and sharp puffs of air from its pneumatic breaks about 20 feet or so beyond the chevy's front end, and we had to run quick to reach it. The driver, a man with as dark a skin as John, leaned across his driver's cabin to open the passenger door. He was much, much older than the agent though and supported a rather large gut as well. A grey-stubbled jaw and shortly cropped, greying hair framed a rather concerned-looking face.

"Hey kids! What the hell are you doing out here on the road?", he growled at us in a gravelly voice (and despite the fact we weren't actually ON the road). "Don't you know it's DANGEROUS? You could get run over, or abducted by some wacko!" I had a nasty flashback of that cabbie again... This man though, he had a heavy east-coast dialect, I'm not familiar enough with them yet to place him precisely on the map, but he didn't seem like a crazy person which was fortunate because I was edgy enough right then to not climb into his truck if he seemed too weird.

Raphael was to handle it, we'd decided. He was the one who was properly dressed AND wearing shoes. I on the other hand looked like some gutter kid in my too short a T-shirt and super-tight jeans-shorts, so I hung back and tried not to attract any attention to myself.

"Sorry Sir! Our father's trying to get more gas for our car, but he called and told us he has no money, so we need to get back to the city on our own..." Raphaél made Bambi-eyes at the truckdriver. "Please, could you give us a lift?"

The man took a look at the beat-up Impala. "You came in that thing? Good lord!" He didn't seem to notice the fact the vehicle was standing on the rims on all but one tire. "Of course I'll give you a lift. I'll give you a lift just so I can give your daddy a beating for leaving you out here like this!" He waved a hand at us to climb in.

"Don't be mad at him", Raphaél said. "It's not his fault."

The truck driver scoffed fiercely. "He still should have more sense than leaving you two alone like that." We could not stop ourselves from grinning at the man's obviously honest annoyance. He wasn't a weirdo we silently decided and climbed up into the truck and settled ourselves inside the cabin. I had to struggle a bit with the heavy door to get it closed, but finally it clanged shut. The big-bellied man looked at us to make sure we were okay, and then shifted the engine in gear and started to pull out from the roadside, keeping a firm eye in the left side-view mirror to watch out for traffic approaching from behind. The big vehicle accelerated fairly quickly despite its large size since it wasn't hauling anything behind it, and I heard the turbochargers whine loudly as the engine revved.

Despite my inner promise I found myself squeezing my angel's hand, patting it softly with my other, free hand (yes, my mental discipline is extremely poor when it is about anything regarding my angel. Besides, I could get away with it since the driver was so preoccupied with driving the truck). My angel smiled at me quickly, then turned and started to have a conversation with our 'savior' as it turned out. His name was Harlan Black we learned, and proud of the name too. He told us a bit of himself after receiving the right questions from my angel, not that it was difficult starting up a conversation with him. He seemed to enjoy talking, maybe it got lonely sitting in that cabin all by himself for days on end or something. Harlan had been driving trucks for most of his adult life. Usually hauling frozen meat from America's heartland to the big cities to be consumed there, but that wass by no means a certainty. He owned his own rig too, and I giggled quietly and thought that was fortunate because the whole interior of the cabin, along with it's sleeping bunk behind our backs, smelled quite strongly of dog! I thought that no trucking company in the world could possibly be very pleased about that! Harlan seemed to be aware of this as well because he soon made excuses for any hairs that might get stuck to our clothes and asked if we're allergic. He obviously felt quite relieved once he heard we're not, and told us his dog had actually died a couple months back, but the smell simply refused to go away despite that. Harlan didn't mind, he said it reminded him of his old friend, and I could understand that.

Not too long after we'd been picked up, we saw five police cruisers roaring past in the opposite direction with their lights flashing and sirens blaring... Me and my angel shared a quick look of concern, but they were going the other direction after all.

"Wonder if they're chasing a bank robber or something", Harlan commented absently. "I see a lot of cop cars sure, but five of 'em at once, that's certainly more than usual."

"I see you have a police scanner", my angel noted, with a bit of well-hidden apprehension.

Harlan grunted. "Yes, but I can't stand the constant chatter. I almost never use it." A quiet sigh from us both. If he had turned it on, he would most likely have caught on who we were quite quickly, if that was indeed us those police were after.

We saw several black vans too in the opposite lanes while Harlan spent the time discussing life on the road. We listened as closely as we could, while also watching the approaching traffic. It was of course difficult to tell if those vehicles were with the government or not, but at least some of them HAD to be we thought silently to ourselves. Anyway, Harlan... He'd been married twice, divorced as many times and had four kids, two with each of his ex-wives. All of whom were upset with him by the way since he'd been away from home so much during their childhood years... They did not understand he had been forced to in order to put food on the table, keep them in school and pay back the bank loan for the truck. They thought he should have gotten another job, he said. But Harlan was a trucker at heart, he felt most comfortable on the road. Freedom, he called it. Said there was no way he could ever work in a factory like his father had done all his life, and his education wasn't enough to get something more advanced. I suppose I could understand that in a way, but more or less abandoning your own kids? That was more difficult to come to grips with. Da would never have understood Harlan's way of thinking, I'm sure... I'm everything to him.

Harlan agreed without me even speaking a single word about it however. Said if he could do it all over again he would probably swallow his pride and take whatever job he could get just to be able to be with them every day. Now he was estranged to his children, and he said it made him angry every time he saw the same thing happen to other kids too, that's why he was so upset with our father. Raphaél, who still did most of the talking (and was sitting in my lap to kind of hide me) tried to do his best by dodging the subject as much as possible. We didn't want to have to lie to Harlan too much, not only because lying's bad, but we'd have to remember everything we'd said in order to not contradict ourselves too. Therefore, my angel made sure he kept the man talking about himself as much as possible.

As time passed, we came back to the city again. It wasn't that long until dusk would start to set in, and our stomachs were growling pretty loudly. French toast can only carry a growing teen so far! We weren't very far from the car service station where Raphaél and I had been reunited, but we had decided to continue. Our destination was the Union Station, the easiest way to leave the city we figured, and trains were reasonably quick. Buying airplane tickets would be too risky. Besides, we weren't sure if they'd even sell them to minors!

Harlan didn't mind to jostle his way through rush-hour traffic to make sure we ended up safely at our destination. It was the least he could do, he said. It was an interesting ride, I'd never been inside a truck before, and neither had my angel. Our chauffeaur was as experienced a driver as any of the Secret Service agents that had shuttled me back and forth across the city, more so probably, and he handled the huge vehicle on the crowded city streets with a casual laid-back calmness that spoke of expert driving skills. I suppose eyes turned our way when twe pulled up near the station and hopped out, after first having thanked Harlan properly of course and hugged him too, which he laughed at and probably blushed a bit too beneath his dark complexion. He told us to be careful, which we promised to be of course.

Harlan pulled out from the side of the road and dissappeared with a roar of that big diesel. That was it. We were on our own... We breathed a collective sigh of relief, we'd made it...! We really made it!

THAT'S when we both felt a heavy hand on one of our shoulders...

"So, where the hell do you think you're going, huh?", a voice asked.

We were both so scared there for a second we almost jumped out of our clothes! I spun around faster than I ever imagined myself able to manage, and so did my angel! Phew, it was just agent Goodheart! I was a little relieved, at least it wasn't Thoreau that caught us! Maybe we could talk him into letting us go, I was thinking...

"How did you find us?", I said with a sigh.

Kiefer shook his head at me. "You think we're stupid or something? We do this kind of thing for a living you know. Every move of yours were anticipated. So you got away from us for a little while, well it didn't last for very long did it." He gave me a dissappointed look. "Did you REALLY think this was going to work?" He looked at my angel also with disappointment in his eyes. "I really expected more of you, Ralph. That was EXTREMELY irresponsible of you, tricking us like that. Do you think we can trust you ever again now?" He pausesd waiting for a reply. He got none. "You have to go back now, of course. Come with me."

I almost start to cry AGAIN! We'd been SO CLOSE to freedom I almost could taste it. So close! "Why are you doing this? I thought you UNDERSTOOD!", I blurted as he lead us over to a dark-blue sedan with government plates.

"I do understand, Sebastian", he said and unlocked the car with a remote control thingy on his keychain. A high-pitched double-beep sounded and I heard doorlocks clicking. "More than you know. Raphaél needs this, and it's my duty to make sure he gets it. I'm not being mean, I only want what's best for him. We all do! Please, you try to understand for once. Now stop this nonsense and get in the fucking car already. You KNOW it's dangerous for both of you to be out here like this without any protection, especially him."

"This is so wrong! You know it is!"

"If you love him, Sebastian, and I know you do, why aren't you the first person insisting he goes back? Instead you drag him all the way back to town without any cover whatsoever, where some wacko nutcase could spot him and put him in serious jeapordy! Both of you actually! I don't understand it." He opened the side door of the shiny government-owned sedan car and motioned. Raphaél got in without arguing, apparantly he had already given up. "Now you too. I've been ordered to take you home to your parents."

I shook my head firmly. "Nuh-uh. We're not leaving with you."

Agent Goodheart's face showed a quick flash of annoyance and frustration. Maybe even anger. "Don't do this, don't make me force you. I'm a law official and you're a minor, you can't refuse. If you do, I'll just shove you into the back of the car no matter what you say."

"Izzatafact?", I said with a playfully mischievous grin and tried to dash away from him. Goodheart was much too fast for me though and siezed me around one of my arms after just a few steps. His fingers clamped on tight, but without hurting me, it was impossible to get away.

The agent sighed. "This is stupid, you know you can't get away. Please try to behave yourself." He started to lead me back to the car, me doing my best to resist but it was all in vain. I'm a small kid, Kiefer Goodheart's a big, strong Secret Service agent! So there was nothing else to do but...

"Help, HELP! CHILD MOLESTOR, HELP!", I screamed. It made people stop and turn, and they saw a big man trying to push a small kid into a car, with another kid already sitting in the back seat.

Kiefer immediately stopped and cast me a sharp look. "What the hell...?! Stop it, you little freak!" He shook me slightly as I continued to scream, trying not to hurt me despite the trouble I was putting him in.

"WE'RE BEING KIDNAPPED! HEEELP!" I filled my voice with as much anguish and distress as I could, and it even clipped over into falcetto on me. Usually I get a bit embarrassed when it happens (because I sound a bit like a girl I think, but Raphaél seems to like it anyway for some strange reason). This time it didn't bother me though; in a way it was actually fitting, it made me sound even more under duress so now people were really starting to react...!

"Kid, for GOD'S sake, shut up!" Poor agent Goodheart, he could only watch as he saw that huge construction worker come running towards him, his right, brick-sized fist raised, arm bent and as tense as a bowstring, ready to deliver a crushing blow. "Halt, I'm with the-", the agent managed and fumbled for either his badge or his gun (thus releasing me in the process). I'm not sure which item he wanted but he never got either out of its holster or whatever. Suddenly he was knocked flat on the ground by the punch, the other man crouching and trying to pin the agent down. There was a huge struggle as they grappled (Kiefer's no pushover, and apparantly well trained in the art of self defense, but the other man was so big and heavy it was hard for Kiefer to overpower him despite that. I grabbed Raphaél and pulled him out of the car as the two men continued fighting, my angel following me blindly as if in a daze.

We ran away as fast as we could, sneaking through the crowd that was forming around Goodheart's car. I was uncertain of how long the agent would be preoccupied, and sure enough. I cast one quick glance over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of the agent hand-cuffing the construction worker to the door handle of the car while holding his I.D. out to the crowd, and then he started scanning for us. It was a very quick glance, but I almost ran into a fat woman who came stumping along with a big bag of groceries in her arms. She grunted at me, but I didn't have time for even a quick apology to her.

"Oh SHIT! Run, RUN!", I told my angel, and even though we were running already we started running even faster! I looked again and now we were completely out of sight of the agent, I don't think he had seen us or which way we ran off in, but I couldn't be certain. Besides, he'd call for backup of course, so soon the place would be swarming with other agents and possibly police too. We steered towards the big station building, hoping to lose ourselves even more in there. We were soon enveloped by a chilly air-conditioned flow as we entered a shopping area. I pulled my angel's arm and dragged him all through that huge place and out the other side. We continued down a street more or less on random and ran as fast and as far as we could, taking a left here and a right there, then we ran some more, me mercilessly harrying and pushing Raphaél along. Neither of us had the faintest idea where we were or where we were going.

Suddenly we noticed we had turned down some alley even without noticing it, and just a short while after we'd disappeared out of sight we saw a police cruiser roar past outside, possibly looking for us and possibly for some other, totally unrelated reason. We both almost freaked however and despite being extremely tired and out of breath, we ran as fast as we could down the narrow street and turned a corner. It was a short dead-end snippet sort of, littered with wet, decomposing cardboard boxes and plastic packing/wrapping material and such. It ended in a loading dock to one of the stores on the main street outside. It was dark, filthy and at nights definitely the bedroom of several homeless people. We were alone now however, which was probably a good thing. I suddenly remembered Goodheart's warning about getting in trouble and realized we were in no kind of shape to defend ourselves should the need arise. Even if we screamed it was unlikely anybody would hear us.

However, we were too damn tired and frightened right then to be able to do anything about it. I dropped the guitar case to the ground, taken completely by surprise I was still carrying around on it. My arm was half-dead and I wondered if I'd ever be able to use it for anything again (and it was my right hand, the one I use not only for writing, but when I want to...ehm...please myself. Yes, that thought actually flashed through my mind and under other circumstances it would have made me smile, but I was too distracted right then to even manage a small grin). So there we stood, leaning on each other, catching our breaths. I was pretty tired as a whole but not completely exhausted (just my arm was almost completely spent). Raphaél wasn't in quite as good a shape as me however and he was wheezing pretty bad. Suddenly I realized his labored breathing kept getting worse rather than better, I shot a glance at his face, and he was pale and looking weak.

"Dammit! DON'T faint!", I yelled as he swayed. I had to catch hold of him so his knees wouldn't give out on him, and a thought of despair flashed through my mind in an instant saying I really had no idea what to do should he pass out again. I couldn't go through with the plan, I'd HAVE to turn us in!

Fortunately, strength quickly returned to my angel's legs and he could stand on his own once again. He was still shaken however, especially after almost having another of those attacks of his!

"That was a bit too close for comfort", he tried to joke. "Sorry about scaring you like that, I... I couldn't help it. It was the police car I think... I was thinking they were on to us."

"Of COURSE you couldn't help it! Do you think I'd ever accuse you, my angel?! Sweet boy, you don't have to apologize, you silly you..." My supporting grip on him changed into a loving embrace, and of course I felt his lips on my neck. First just kissing me, then he started sucking. Putting his mark on me again, re-claiming me. Showing to the world I belong to him... It made me smile. It made me feel proud.

"Now me...", he demanded just like the first time we'd done this, speaking really quietly.

I complied, and when I was finished we kissed. I totally forgot we were standing there in an alley smelling of filth, mildew, urine and general decay, I was with my angel and he loved me. I needed nothing else.

Scientists say kisses transfer chemicals between humans that strengthens the bond between them. They could very well be right I think, because every time I kiss my angel, I realize how much he loves me. It shows in every kiss of his, every single one.

I held him then and made him feel good again. It wasn't difficult, he's all I need, wrapped up in one cute, neat package, so it's easy to be all he needs as well in return.

"So, what's plan B then?", I asked softly while still holding on to him. We couldn't risk going anywhere near the train station. Not after what had happened so recently. So what should we do?

He mulled on that issue for a few moments, considering our options. He's good at that, and he knows more than me about these sort of things anyway, and of Washington DC too as well. I hadn't even lived there for three months by then. I kept holding my angel in a light embrace to help him along. I didn't touch his cute butt though despite really wanting to. It would be distracting to him. "I might have an idea", he finally said. "We have to do some planning first though." I nodded, to show I was ready for it. "First stop: the world-wide web."

I gave a soft "Mm-hmm" to acknowledge. I was almost excited, I had no idea what he wanted to do, but it sounded great anyway. It was a bit like an adventure in a way; no good adventure lacked the element of danger and that we certainly did not lack!

We had more or less recovered by then, so I let go of him and then picked up the guitar case (using my left hand because my right was kind of ruined still), and then we set out. Raphaél told me there was a very good probability the police wouldn't have been alerted at all about him being AWOL (because then everybody and their uncle would know!), if the police had been contacted to keep a lookout for him most likely they would simply be watching for some kid who matched his appearance. Some kid, presumed missing perhaps.

No matter what though, there would still be quite a lot of people looking for us, and we really weren't that far from the place we'd last been seen. Two kids with known descriptions and one carrying a guitar case as well would definitely stand out even in a crowd to trained eyes... We needed to do something about that, my angel said. He couldn't bring himself to suggest I'd dump the guitar though (I would have done it had he asked, but frankly, I'm glad he didn't), so we had to limit exposure as much as possible. We went out to the street again and started walking, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Soon we found a computer shop, that was good. Chances were good they'd have computers with net connections there, and sure enough... We could have tried to find an internet café or such of course, but the less we moved around the better. All we had to do was shake the gangly, glasses-wearing young man/sales person (thankfully not pimply, or the stereotype would have been complete!). I preoccupied him with stupid questions for a few minutes so he wouldn't get a good look at my angel or what he was doing and then I said we'd look around on our own for a while. The gangly young man suggested I should not hesitate to ask if there were any further questions I had on my mind, to which I promised I certainly would.

I let Raphaél do all the work since he would know better which options suited us. I just stood there, looking over his shoulder.

"WHAT! THREE DAYS?!?", I said in a disbelieving voice. "That's...obscene!"

"Yeah, well, a couple hundred years ago you couldn't have travelled the same distance in three months! Would you prefer going back to the train station then? Or the airport? Or hitching a ride perhaps? I'm sure Uncle Bubba will take us as far as into the woods, to his little cabin where nobody can hear us scream and where he'll make it REEAL cozy for us before he has 'fun' with our bodies and cooks soup on our bones...!"

"Eeewww! Don't be gross!" I kept quiet from then on since it was clear I wasn't being very helpful, but the image of Uncle Bubba he'd painted in my mind occupied my thoughts and made me giggle to myself (and my angel saw that and smiled back at me)! Giggled, until the next shock hit me that is! "TWO HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS?! WHAT?!"

"Two hundred fifty-six dollars actually. But that's for both of us, you know."

"Geez! It's still a LOT of money! What about child rebate or something then?!"

He chuckled quietly. "Look at the fine print. Are you six or younger, Sebastian?"

I sighed. "Okay then, we'll take it... You need my credit card info?" He had told me it was likely his card had already been invalidated. Mine would probably work though since at least technically my parents would have to do it, and they most likely would not. ...But that was just guesswork. If the Secret Service wanted my card blocked, they could most likely arrange it without any real difficulty.

"No. We'll pay cash at the ticket office. Even if your card works, they'll trace it and come swarming in on us. Paying tickets over the web would instantly tip them off to our plans. We can only risk using plastic once, and we need money for other things too. How much you got there?"

I wasn't quite sure. "About two thousand dollars, I think..." It was almost all I got, my life savings. All the cash gifts at birthdays, christmases (my grandparents might not like my father much, but they were very generous to me!), the money I'd made washing cars and mowing lawns during summer breaks etc... "But I'm not allowed to touch it, and we can't get that much out of an ATM machine anyway!"

"Not allowed? You think that matters now? Look, we either use the money, or we turn ourselves in right now. What'll it be, mister?" He put his hands at his waist and looked sternly at me, his head slightly tilted to one side.

Well, since he put it THAT way... "Hm, I guess we do what you're suggesting."

His posture softened, and he gave me a smile too. "Thank you. I'll pay you back, every cent, I promise."

"You know you don't have to. In fact, you shouldn't."

He smiled wider. "Why? Are you trying to be cavallier-ish, insisting to buy everything because you believe it's the 'right thing'? I thought were in this together!" He was teasing me a little, but he was serious also!

"We... Uh, we ARE in this together... It's just... I'd like to treat you to this, that's all. Can't I get to do that?"

"Tell you what... If my card doesn't work, then I won't even MENTION paying you back. But if it does, then we share all expenses equally. And I mean ALL EQUALLY. Okay?"

I smiled back at him. "Alright, that sounds fair to me", I said warmly, and then it was settled. "You know... YOU'D make a good President, I think...", I then said.

He grinned wide at me. "Why do you think that?" He seemed genuinely surprised with me!

"You make good compromises", I stated simply in a straight-forward manner.

"There's more to being a President than simply making compromises you know."

"Yeah I know, but most of the time you can't get things exactly your way. You know when to stand firm and when to give in. That's what I meant." He grinned at me again, and patted my cheek tenderly. I blushed really bad...

We finished up, writing down the location of the ticket office and then went outside again. We needed cash, quickly. It was still hours and hours until the bus was scheduled to leave, but we should get our tickets fairly soon anyway so we could be certain to get seats. We almost felt like two criminals as we snuck down the street, hunting for an ATM, always on the lookout for suspicious cars, ready to duck into the closest shop if we felt too edgy. A small shopping arcade seemed promising enough, and we'd be mostly out of sight in there. It was three floors in height, but only stretched from one street to the next and wasn't too crowded with people. Inside, about midway through we found our goal, two ATM machines standing side by side. One was out of order (I saw someone had squashed a wad of chewing gum into the card slot for some stupid reason), but the other was thankfully operational. Raphaél tried his card first. We were both totally amazed when we found it was still working! Maybe that's because they wanted to lull us into a false sense of security that way, hoping to track us or maybe even nab us when we used it. Well, we were already on to their plans! He withdrew the bundle of banknotes and quickly stuffed them into his wallet along with the card itself, then almost pushed me up to the machine.

"Hurry!", he begged me, his whole body radiating nervosity.

I withdrew another 500 bucks just as my angel had done while he stood there looking around for trouble with a hand on one of my arms, barely keeping himself from tapping his feet on the ground. I told him there are only so many agents in the city, and that they can't keep a lookout on every street (which was fairly redundant since he knew that just as well as I did), yet he was still very difficult to reach.

Suddenly we saw a car stop right outside the sliding front doors to the arcade and two men in non-descriptive (ie; not black) suits get out. We knew who they were even without taking a second look. My angel tugged hard at my arm and I fumbled to reach the cash and my card and the withdrawal receipt, then we were running towards the other end of the arcade! Well, I was... Raphaél however pulled me towards the escalators instead and I didn't understand why at first. Then I realized it was the quickest way to get out of sight, and suddenly we're on the second floor as the two agents burst into the place, eyes sweeping the ground level with robotic precision. They spotted the ATM machines almost immediately and quickly headed towards them. Now there was no doubt at all who they were...! However, by the time they reached them, we had already sprinted all the way to the top level of the arcade, three storeys up. "Fire escape!", my angel panted and pointed towards a sign near a door. Upon approaching it, we saw a white-tiled staircase winding down on the other side of the doors just beyond a short corridor.

I took one look over the railing down at the agents. They stood there swearing silently at themselves I suppose from what I could see of their body language. Fortunately, they never thought to look up... We're weird in that regard, us humans. We live in a three-dimensional world, yet we spend so much time simply looking straight ahead, mostly looking at the world in a one-dimensional manner, hardly ever sweeping our eyes to take in a vista. Even more seldom, if ever, do we turn our heads towards the heavens as well to enjoy the clouds in the sky at day, or the stars at night. I try to do that every once in a while, just to remind myself there's more to living than simply look at what's in front of me!

Anyway, we were prepared to flee down the emergency exit, but then Raphaél halted me AGAIN! 'Now what?', I was starting to think when I saw what he was looking at. Some posh hair salon place one level down!

"We should change our appearance", he explained. "All of them have our descriptions and probably pictures of what we look like in their pockets, so let's throw them off a bit!" I was starting to think his brain had overheated or something, if he was completely out of his mind! There were two AGENTS down there after all, and if we sat there having our hair done when they came walking by looking for us we'd be easier to catch than a pair of thanksgiving turkeys! When my angel saw my doubting expression he stopped. "Look", he told me sharply. "You too know there's too few of them to do a door-to-door search of the whole city. They have to follow the law of probabilities, try to anticipate what is most likely we'll do next. And what would you say the more likely thing is for us to do after giving ourselves away by withdrawing money: hang around in the same mall or run like crazy?"

"Uh...", I said slowly. I had to admit though that his argument was a strong one. "...Run like crazy?", I said, and probably looked rather silly too.

"Good boy!", he replied with a smile and scratched me playfully behind an ear. He didn't do it in a patronizing manner at all like I really was a dog, he managed to do it in a totally loving manner and the scratch (of course), became a caress, and the caress turned into fondling as I stretched my neck to give him even better access... With his hands on my face, we leaned in to kiss, not caring that we were in public. The electric feel of that kiss hit me like a real shock, I felt my muscles straining for more and more! The fact we were in public, the fact we had two agents looking for us, and there I stood KISSING the son of the President! The thought was almost enough to reduce me to quivering jell-o, and when I felt his hand on my butt...! I sighed quietly through my nose as my dick stiffened in my shorts, and right then I felt very, very naughty all of a sudden. It was an incredible feeling!

We broke apart to draw more air, and as he did he looked at me with glazed, lust-filled eyes. "Come on, Sebastian...", he sighed. "We should get moving. People are staring." I have no idea how he managed to stop himself at all, but he forced me to calm down as well out of sheer willpower.

I'm not sure if people really did stare or not, but it was enough to get me moving. Personally, I felt rather inclined to stay for a little while, it was most...umm...stimulating for me, letting everybody see one thirteen-year-old that was not afraid to show his love for another boy. But he was right, and it was not safe either. Anybody, everybody could have recognized us, especially since we both were dressed almost exactly like in that infernal picture that had started it all! I wished I'd asked John or Matt who had taken it, they MUST have known that by then!

Anyway, my angel dragged me away towards the hair salon. As we glided down the escalators I looked for the agents. They were nowhere to be seen, and for a few frightening seconds I expected to see them standing at the foot of the moving steps! Then I realized their car was gone too, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. My angel never noticed what went on in my head, he kept looking around with those big eyes of his and a just as big a smile on his pretty face. It was like he thought this was the greatest of adventures...! Well, I suppose our recent kiss did play a part in it too, it is those kind of things that cheer him up the most.

The hair salon was very white, and with lots of mirrors everywhere. Mostly young pretty girls served the customers, I only saw like two guys working there. One wall was taken up by hair beauty products almost in its entirety, and overall it seemed quite crowded. Soon however a girl approached us and for a startling second or two I actually thought it was Janet Jackson...! The similarity was rather striking on first glance, but after taking another look I began to notice the differences. She had the same skin tone and very pronounced cheekbones though, and eyes just as large and seductive as well. Her hair went more than halfway down her chest in large and shiny spiralling curls and she looked really pretty too. Just like the rest of the the staff she was dressed in vertically white-and-gray-striped snug-fitting pants, a white shirt and a white apron-thingy with the company logo printed on it for those of them who were cutting people's hair. I saw one slightly older (but NOT old) woman working behind the counter dressed in a black shirt though, I suppose she was the manager.

"Hi!", the girl with the curls said in a pleasant voice. "Are you both here for a haircut?"

Raphaél took command, which was fine by me. "Yes please", he said politely as I hoped she would not recognize who he was. Maybe she would have under different circumstances, I don't know, but I suppose she never expected the First Son to come for a haircut at the place she worked at so maybe she kind of assumed he had to be someone else even if she thought she recognized him... Then again, some people are almost miraculously ignorant, so maybe she really had no idea at all. I could not see even a glimmer of recognition on her face however when she started asking us what we'd like. "Make him look sexy", my angel told the girl firmly, meaning me of course, and I immediately started blushing!

"Oh wow", the girl replied with a laugh. I noticed she wore a small brass-colored name-tag. 'Jenni', it said. "Sexy, huh? For who, his girlfriend?"

My angel shook his head firmly. "Nuh-uh! For me of course!", he said with a mischievous grin, and Jenni was REALLY surprised for a few moments, to the point of not being able to say anything at all. I was blushing so bad I had to hide my face in my hands, and of course Raphaél had to go and hug me too just to show Jenni he was serious. Well, she recovered, and then laughed more, and asked if there was any particular flavor of sexy we had in mind. Then she and him quickly worked something out for me. I stood there and tried not to blush like a fool TOO much, but it was pretty hard! He then leaned forwards and whispered in her ear what he had in mind for himself.

"Don't cut off his hair!", I blurted out, totally surprising myself! I so like his long page, it suits him really great...

Jenni grinned at me in a friendly manner. "No, we won't. We'll just trim the tops to get rid of any split ends."

"He doesn't have any split ends!", I said indignantly! The very thought was prepostrous! His hair was PERFECT just the way it was! Godly even!

Another amused smile. "Don't worry, he's in good hands. We know our stuff here."

I felt relieved, and I suppose the relief was visible on my face too because my angel smiled too and gave me a quick kiss on my cheek which made me blush again! Then my angel made it worse by patting me tenderly on the cheek he just had kissed. "You'll like it!", he said softly. "You'll see." Jenni looked at us with a bemused smile.

"Okay, I'm going to give you to Stephen...", she said to my angel. "He's good at what you want. Wait here for a little while okay?" He nodded, and Jenni started leading me away. She tugged at the sleeve of a guy who was just finishing with another customer and gave him quick instructions, pointing back at where Raphaél was standing (and smiling encouragingly at me). Stephen, who was maybe a few years older than Jenni and had a narrow, rather handsome elfine-looking face, was also quite tall and VERY blonde, and he had lots of small, frilly locks on top of his head, spoke a few words in return in a voice that had some slight camp overtones to it I thought and then he turned and looked back at my angel and nodded at his colleague.

Jenny sat me down first at a hairwash basin and lathered me up. My hair was clean already, but we'd decided to get us the 'the works' treatment anyway, and it felt nice to have Jenni's skilled hands working away, massaging my hair and scalp. Stephen brought my angel over too and started on him at a different wash basin. After rinsing my head off and towelling me pretty much dry, Jenni took me deeper inside the salon and placed me down at a seat on the opposite side of the room. I tried to look in the mirrors over at Stephen's chair, but I could not see it due to a large displaycase with earrings and such standing in the way! Oh well, whatever they were going to do with him it would be a surprise to me... As long as Stephen didn't cut off his beautiful hair I would not complain!

Jenni covered me up and went to work. She snipped away with her scissors and combed and sprayed my head with water, and I felt a little sad as I saw most of my hair drop to the floor. However, I was excited to show myself to Raphaél as well, to see what he would think of me! Jenni was an excellent hairdresser, she did not pinch my hair with her scissors even once, or scratch my skin or anything! We talked, and I found out she was in college, working extra to help pay her tuition fees. She had a boyfriend too, and they did their best to scandalize people too as best they could, since he was white, and she, obviously, wasn't (though she admitted not many cared in a big city). She said because of her own relationship she felt real happy about seeing us together and being so open and everything, and that just brought a big silly grin to my face. She asked if we really were a couple, and I said yes of course and blushed like a fool, not out of shame but because she saw my hicky on my neck and touched it with her fingers and it tickled me... She kept complementing me too, which was really nice. It felt a little as if she too might want to kiss me, considering all the nice things she said about my hair, and my tanned complexion, and even my face, that she thought I was real pretty. It made me smile!

I watched her cut my hair real short on the sides and back. I felt very strange, because I've had my long-ish hair for many years now, ever since I was little, and now all I had was memories of it! Jenni combed what remained up into a spoiler sort of at my forehead (fixing it in place with a bit of gel, forming my hair with her skillful, supple hands), letting it flow naturally forwards from the back of my head and the twin whirls I had there (and which never showed under usual circumstances).

Cutting it made my hair seem even lighter in color than usual, now it almost glimmered in a deep honey-blonde color which I found really attractive. The gel she'd used gave me a really nice wet-look and I was actually extremely satisfied despite my initial apprehension. I looked...weird... But I also looked sexy! Really, I did! Even I could see it!

I grinned into the mirror like a crazy fool and turned my head this way and that, making it very hard for poor Jenni to keep up with the mirror she used to try and show me my neck! She started giggling, and it caught on to me too...! Finally, she did get to show me a rear view too, and it looked as good as from the front and sides. I felt very satisfied.

"Thank you!", I told Jenni, and gave her my best and brightest smile, the ones I save for really special occations. She could not stop herself, she patted me on my cheek, and that only made me smile even more. She took great care to brush off as much of the loose hair as she could before removing the protective cover/poncho-like thing I'd been wearing. I figured there would still be some microscopic traces left, but that hardly mattered. It would itch for a while and then go away.

Jenni took me over to where Stephen was still working on my angel, holding a light hand on one of my shoulders the entire time. Even though he didn't get a full haircut, what he wanted actually took considerably longer (even though Jenni had worked slowly on purpose). Raphaél had a plastic bag over his head and was sitting with his head inside the hood of a dryer, chatting away. Clearly, by listening to their conversation, it was obvious Stephen was completely oblivious to who it was he was talking to. I think Jenni knew by then though (or at least suspected), but she didn't say anything.

When my angel first laid eyes on me (looking at me in the big mirror in front of him), his big eyes opened up even wider, and then his mouth fell open in a display of total surprise! He really was quite surprised at first, and then he smiled wide. I could see in the look he gave me how much he liked my new appearance, and I struck a pose for him and all of him jerked! It was like he almost jumped out of the chair and came rushing up to me to have me right there on the floor! I batted my eyelids at him in a totally shameless manner and I could see the frustration on him... He wanted me so bad I could tell! That was fun. Real fun! Jenni and Stephen saw it too, and they laughed as well, in a completely friendly manner. I felt very safe with them for some reason...

When the dryer had cooked his head enough, Stephen took my angel over to the wash basins again and rinsed his hair thoroughly (and then it became obvious what Stephen had done to him, but I awaited final judgement until he was all done), then took him back again and brushed and blew his hair with a dryer and primped and sprayed a little and blew and brushed more, and soon everything was all done. My angel had turned into a shiny, ruby-red-headed beauty of a boy! It was just exquisite! I could not stop myself from emitting a high-pitched squeal of joy, and was instantly at his side, hugging him and even kissing him as he smiled back at me! Jenni smiled and Stephen grinned, and I think some of the other staff and customers saw us too... Oh, like I give a darn!

My angel managed to halt my attack on his lips, giggling. I could not tear my eyes off him however. He wasn't a carrot red, or henna red... It was truly shiny-shiny ruby red! And his page was still just as long and razor-sharply defined as it always had been, I wanted to bury my hands in his exquisitely colored hair and kiss him silly, but it would have to wait. (SOO hard to wait!)

"Let's pay and get outta here okay?", he whispered to me, as wishful for more kissing as I was! I nodded, and then he started to take me over to the cash register section before he stopped himself. One quick question to Jenni later and he went off to the large selection of hair beauty products where he picked up a large tube of wet-look hair gel. "For you", he whispered. "Exception from our agreement: let me pay it, okay?" I nodded. How could I deny him anything, especially when he wanted to buy me a present?

I blanched when I saw how much our respective treatments cost, but we had enough money (and lots to spare). The girl behind the counter saw our happiness at being together I think, because she too was smiling at us. She was so pretty when she smiled like that, almost as pretty as my angel! Outside the hair salon he laid eyes on a large girls and boys fashion store on the opposite side. "We need some additional camouflage", he explained and pulled me off in that direction. "They all got descriptions of our clothes, new hair is not enough."

I needed VERY little encouragement. In fact, I was the first one of us to pass over the threshold! I just LOVE to shop for clothes! I could drive even my most avid, shopper-crazed girl friends crazy back home in San Fran, just seeing me LOOKING in the direction of a store made my friends start laughing and pulling me the opposite direction... Mom is the same too, she hates having to have to take me shopping for clothes! It's so funny, often women really are crazy about such things, but mom plain goes crazy... Well, almost. She doesn't like it anyway. When she shops for herself she always knows exactly what she wants, she picks those clothes and ONLY those clothes. She never tries anything on in the store, she knows all her sizes. She wants to buy the stuff and then just get OUT of there...! Da however, he's a lot more patient with me, he lets me roam the store almost as long as I want, he gives helpful advice and generally seems to have a good time whenever we're together.

I love to shop, but it's not because I buy insane amounts of clothes, no. Never! But I want to try on EVERYTHING first, to find THAT particular shirt or THOSE particular pants that hugs my body in just the right way, the right colors that matches my skin and hair tone. I can literally spend HOURS if left unchecked, looking, touching, feeling the fabric to see if it's soft and nice... (And I had no idea I'm gay? Haha!)

My angel had no clue of course that I got this particular fallacy, but I think he quickly got the hint when I started racking up hanger after hanger over my arm, mumbling, "I wanna try THIS, and THIS... And THIS...", to myself. He snatched the entire bundle away from me, to which I protested a rather loud, "Hey!", but he didn't care. He silenced me with a stern look.

"We don't have TIME for you to try on half the store, Sebastian!", he said, still with that rather stern look! Then his expression softened and he grinned at me in an amused manner. "I'll pick out the clothes for you, and you do the same for me. But don't grab fifty shirts and pants for me to wear. Just one of each, okay?"

I nodded, promising I would not go overboard in my search for something suitable. But ooooohhhh...! I REALLY WANTED TO! It was so tempting! He gave me the chance to dress him up, and I wanted SO to see what he looked like in every outfit they had in the store. But he would never go along with it... I sighed. I would just have to find the right setup on my first try... I turned on my Fashion Eagle-Vision™ and began scanning. Both of us were approached by staff, but we declined any help.

I picked out a nice pair of jeans for him, made of that new sparkly denim that looks a bit metallic. That would look great on him I thought! I then thought of what he should wear on his upper body... He looks so good when dressed primly, so some kind of shirt with buttons I was thinking. I found a really nice one with vertical white and blue stripes, and vertical creases down along the front, buttons arranged in sets of three. That would suit him perfectly! It was a bit expensive, but the quality was excellent.

We met up again and Raphaél handed over the pants he had picked for me, a white pair of some nylon fabric I think, with fairly short legs. Each leg, which only reached about halfway down my calves, ended in a drawstring. I am a good judge of sizes after so much practice of trying things on, so I could tell him directly what was wrong with them.

"Umm, Raphaél... These are too small for me."

He grinned. "No they're not. Suck in your gut, I wanna see how you look in them!" He winked at me. "I saw just the right shirt to go along with them too, I'll be right back. When you come back I want you to be wearing them, okay?" He leaned up close and whispered in my ear. "Good thing you're not having any underwear on!"

I blushed a little (not enough for it to be visible beneath my tan I think, but my face got warm all the same), and grinned back at him. He took off and I went into a dressing room. Oh geez! It was a REALLY tight fit! They sat so snugly on me it felt like I almost couldn't move at all in them! Just as I zipped them up, Raphaél came back and tore the curtain aside. If I'd been standing there naked...! Fortunately, only my chest was bared, and when my angel saw me he shone up in a bright smile again.

"TOLD ya they would fit!", he said, looking happy and actually rather turned on too. "Spin around for me!" I complied, feeling a bit rediculous. I heard him gasp as my backside turned towards him. Yes, those pants were as tight as a snakeskin, and I suppose he liked what he saw...!

I was blushing again, more pronounced this time. "Jesus, Raphaél! These things... They'll split a seam if I sit down!" He giggled and shook his head.

"If they do, we'll buy you a new pair. I like them!"

"And my balls are showing!", I hissed quietly to him. Well, it's TRUE! You could see them outlined against the tightly stretched fabric. I haven't got very big ones I think (several guys in gym class has much bigger ones!), but they still showed...! And my dick too actually!

He giggled even louder. "Yes, I know!", he said, then the little rascal took a step into the small dressing room and grabbed me right between my legs with one hand, then put the other on my neck as he placed a kiss on my lips! I felt his cool hands touch me and I jerked at first and as a reflex reaction thought to get away, but then consciously overrode that rash reaction and decided I didn't want to. He could touch me wherever he wanted to whenever he wanted to, it was fine with me... He felt me relax and stepped in closer, grabbing me even more firmly. I stood there and got totally stiff as he continued to kiss me, one long lip-lock, it felt really great. Then he pulled the curtain closed and put one arm around my naked back, the other down so he could touch my butt and kissed me more. I reacted immediately, putting my arms around him as well and grabbing him really tightly. At last we had a few moments to ourselves, yet tantalizingly close to being in full public view as well! "I love you", I heard him whisper to me inbetween kisses. I returned his words to him, feeling so alive right then! I took the chance to touch his new, ruby-red hair, and it was so soft and lovely to feel with my fingers...

We were both almost short of breath when we finally could stop smooching. It's so wonderful just to kiss sometimes, and squeeze your loved one a bit too of course. No tongue, just lips touching, almost wrestling in fact.

"Okay...", I said with a sigh, and a happy smile. "Maybe I should try that T-shirt too that you got for me?"

He smiled back and folded it out and held it up for me to see. It was black, and it had a big printed motif of that well-known Japanese 'Hello Kitty' figure on the chest. Beneath was the word "KAWAII!" printed in big, bubbly seventies-style pink letters with white outlines. It was real short too, it would show several inches worth of my flat tummy!

"It means 'cute'", he explained with a smile, me suddenly remembering he actually spoke some Japanese. "It suits you!"

"Uh... But that's a girl's T-shirt!", I replied.

"Yeeesss...? So what?"

I shrugged. If it made him happy, then I was happy. And I did like the shirt! "Okay then", I merely said and smiled again. I put it on real quick to check if it fit (but taking care not to mess up my new hair), and it did. It was small just like the pants, meaning REAL tight, and you could see my nipples and everything outlined under there...! I didn't have to stretch at all for my belly-button to show, it peeked through quite clearly in the gap between the T-shirt and my new 'snakeskin' pants.

"Yum!", he said just like that first time he'd run away and came to visit me at home, and then ran his hands over my chest. I tensed up and gasped as he brushed past my erogenous zones and that made my angel giggle. Then he told me to get back into my old clothes again so we could pay the new stuff and have them remove the alarms and such. As I got naked again, he undressed too so he could try the clothes I had picked out for him to see if they fit. He said he trusted my instincts, but I still insisted. Of course we had to stop and give each other a firm hug when we both were fully naked (except that my angel still wore his golden chain and white, stretchy bands around his wrists of course). The fact we had to get close, that really goes without saying! I made my angel gasp too, but he managed to do it more quietly, more gracefully than me... Not that I blame him, or him me of course, no! I think I let myself act things out more fully because I know it turns him on. He is more restricted than me in some ways, likes to be more in control of himself, and it's only seldomly he allows himself to lose that control completely (and those times it's so amazingly fantastic of course...).

I looked at Raphaél with a critical eye as he posed for me dressed in the new pair of glittery jeans and shirt. "Not bad. Not bad at all...!", I said.

"I think I could go with a smaller pair of pants", he replied with a miscievous grin. He knew I too liked to look at his nice butt!

I shook my head. "They'll shrink after the first wash you know. Any tighter now and they'll be uncomfortable to wear later on. And the legs would probably be too short too. Better this way."

He didn't argue with me, he knew I was the master in this regard. "Okay", he said happily and I gave him a kiss on his cute button nose (which made him smile a little and look down demurely). Oh he IS so cute!

More money exchanged hands a short while later, and then we had the girl behind the counter remove all the labels and all that, then we went right back into the very same dressing room to change clothes AGAIN. Of course we hugged and kissed once more when we were undressed, and my angel had his hands on my butt and didn't seem to want to remove them at all. I didn't want him to either, though finally he did...

"Get your kit on man! I wanna touch you!", were his rather contradictory words when we had managed to break apart. "Hurry!"

We giggled as we wriggled into our new clothes, me having to struggle a bit more than him but it was okay. My stiff dick was awfully visible through that thin, actually slightly translucent material. The pants were a lot whiter over the zipper and pockets areas where multiple layers of fabric stopped my much deeper skin tone than Raphaél's from showing through. My angel almost drooled just by watching me, and it was impossible to make my hard-ough or I'd start to slime up my new pants and I didn't want that. He gave me an amused yet disappointed look, and I shot him one in return promising more later. We giggled a bit again and quickly packed our old clothes in the bags we'd been given. I pulled the legs up on my new pants and used the drawstrings to fasten them just below my knees, exposing all of my calves. Raphaél would like that, I knew... Raphaél didn't button the shirt all the way up, I could see a little of his almost-pale chest, and the thick golden chain of course. He looked primly, yet casually dressed too somehow. And very, very attractive. He was so pretty with his new clothes and his brightly colored hair!

When we got out of the dressing room I had to cover myself with the guitar case and my angel could not stop giggling because he knew exactly why I felt the need to hide... Staff and customers followed us with their eyes as we snuck out of the store, and when we exited we started laughing madly. My angel chased me all the way down the escalators to the ground level. I let him catch me, and he spun me around wildly, thereby almost sending us both tumbling to the floor! He let the bags drop and threw his arms around my neck, panting deeply as more laughter bubbled up just under the surface, ready to burst forth...!

"Okay, what now?", I asked after we'd calmed down.

"Tickets, then something to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm positively STARVING!" I grinned at him and nodded enthusiastically. Yeah, he was right. He never got that meal that the agents promised, and now it was hours later, a bit into the evening in fact.

"Yeah. Food sounds great to me!"

To be fair, it was a rather uneventful trip to get the tickets even though I managed to spice things up all on my own. We took the bus to the bus station to get our bus tickets, wow, how exciting... I held my angel's hand the entire time on the bus, when we were walking around I had his pinkie hooked around mine. I guess I thought it would be a bit more inconspicuous, but anyone even glancing at us would see we were just about holding hands, and if they looked a bit closer still they would see we were looking at each other frequently too. Looking, sharing the moment between each other, sharing little smiles and being generally very much in love.

I didn't look just at my angel though, I kept looking around for agents in dark suits also, dark-colored cars, suspicious-looking people, sudden movements, everything. Anything that catched my eye made me jerk, and many things did catch my eye, but Raphaél took it easy. He merely squeezed my hand a little harder when I stiffened up to show it was okay. The probability of us being spotted was quite small after all considering how crowded a big city like Washington DC is.

We arrived, got off the bus and started looking for the ticket office. It wasn't that hard to find, and just as we got within sight of it I pulled him to a stop. "What if it's being monitored?", I whispered rather loudly at him (I was so worried I didn't know wether to whisper for real or just speak quietly).

"Oh calm down. They can't stake out the entire town, that's impossible! Besides, they don't REALLY know wether we'll try to leave town, or in which way we'll try to do it. We could just buy tickets on the bus, then it would be a waste for them to watch this place."

"Maybe we should just do that instead?", I asked anxiously.

He smiled at me. "Don't worry so much, Sebastian! Leave that to me, okay?" He caressed my cheek gently, and when my brow was still showing worry-wrinkles he pecked me quickly on my mouth. That finally made me loosen up. "But if you're that concerned, stay here with the guitar. I'll go get the tickets, okay?"

I understood. We may have changed our appearances as much as we could, but I was still lugging around on the Fender, and that pointed us out quite clearly to a determined agent I suppose... I was relieved. On his own, my angel stood a greater chance of success I figured. "You have enough money?", I asked.

He gave me another smile and patted a jeans pocket. "Of course I do, my love. Don't worry. We'll split the bill later when I'm back." He pecked me again real quick and caressed my cheek anew, urging me not to worry. I tried not to as I saw him walk away and get inside. I half expected to see half a dozen agents detaching themselves from the surroundings and come running towards that entrance door, then hauling him out of there kicking and screaming and stuff him into a van that pulled up... But of course none of that happened. I still got nervous, even though the whole process took less than five minutes. Then I saw him emerge again. He took a quick look around that made his ruby-red hair flow, but of course did not spot anything suspicious, then he headed off in my direction. "Phew!", he sighed once we were re-united, and right then it was only just that I managed to avoid taking him in my arms and hug him so hard...! I really CAN'T stand being separated from him even for a short moment. It's as if at least half my heart goes missing whenever he is not right at my side, and I'm sure he feels just the same!

"Food!", I said quickly to help us start thinking about something else. It was definitely getting dark, and our stomachs were growling! We wanted to eat at the Cattleman's, but it was too far away. The bus would not leave for quite a while so even though we had a good amount of time it was not enough. Not unless we took a cab there and back, and neither of us wanted to risk it.

Instead we merely picked a restaurant that wasn't too far from the bus station and went inside. Who knows if it was a good place or not we were both thinking, but it seemed as good a place as any. And we'd be out of sight, we could sit there until it was almost time for us to board the bus.

The setting was fairly relaxed, it was a lunch restaurant catering towards the hoards of office workers that inhabits the inner city during daytime, but it was open evenings too of course. It offered a big buffet with a rather large variety of foods as well as an a la carte menu too of course. Prices were reasonable, but the food was also fairly unspectacular (after all, it was a lunch restaurant). Walls were a medium-yellow tone, and the ceiling was a cross somewhere between lemon yellow and tan. Furniture was made of wood, lacquered in a dark tone to resemble something more exquisite than the humble fir it undoubtedly was constructed out of. On the whole it wasn't particulary crowded, and we sat down at one of the wall tables about halfway into the room (me sighing a soft sigh of relief when my new pants did not rip open like I'd feared they would! Seemed they were made of rather sturdy stuff...). We had both placed ourselves on the sofa section with our backs towards the wall, that way we could look out the windows at the dimming street outside without being spotted too easily from the outside. We got our menus but immediately ordered large cokes and burgers with fries instead without even opening them, thinking there wasn't much of a chance they could screw that one up, despite the unspectacular quality of the food served. We were subconsciously thinking of the Cattleman I suppose, but of course there was little hope this restaurant would ever come even close to THAT level of perfection!

"So, how was Stephen then?", I asked.

My angel smiled at me at hearing my question. "Stephen's a fag", he replied firmly, and upon seeing me start to giggle he continued. "Oh, definitely a fag! And I don't say that just because he's a guy working in a hair salon."

"So it was the camp lisp that gave him away then?" I had difficulty talking because giggles kept bubbling out of me. I hadn't really meant to ask for Stephen's sexual orientation (seemed I got that for free as part of the bargain), I just wanted to know if he had been as good as Jenni had implied!

"Oh, he didn't lisp all that bad really." Raphaél allowed himself to giggle a little too. "Call it a general impression. And yes, he WAS good. I know that's what you wanted to know. How about yours then?"

"Jenni? She's not gay. Well, not that I know of at least, she said she has a boyfriend." We shared a small grin inbetween us. His hand was on one of my knees, sometimes squeezing it, sometimes caressing it. "She was really good! I think she got a bit of a crush on me though... I think it happened when she saw the hicky you gave me."

He gave me a satisfied look. "Yes... Why am I not surprised? Jesus Sebastian, you are the prettiest, sexiest boy ever..." He touched my head just slightly, letting his hand steal up into my newly-done hair. He touched it very lightly to not mess it up, and I just sat there and let him do it, feeling my nipples harden, feeling my dick stiffen. The hand he held on my knee wandered up my thigh, fondling it intently under the table. I wondered when he was going to start kissing me, and I even closed my eyes in anticipation, waiting for it to happen...

"Here you go, guys", a friendly voice suddenly said. I heard glasses being set down on the table in front of me. I jerked and upon opening my eyes again saw a handsome, dark-haired busboy (who was in his early 20s perhaps) straighten his back, carrying a tray in one hand. "Your meal will come along shortly. Enjoy!"

Had he seen what we were doing? I couldn't tell! He smiled at us a little, then withdrew himself back to the bar area, maybe to fetch more drinks for some other customers... I cast a look at my angel who shrugged, then smiled back at me. He didn't know either, nor did he care. He was right. I love my angel too much to worry over if someone sees us expressing that love...! Though I wished for John and Matt to be there for us, to protect us.

Initially I thought them intimidating and almost a bit scary. Now I saw the two agents almost as unseparable parts of ourselves, and I missed them an awful lot whenever they weren't there... Matt's irreverent, almost childish mirth, and John's relaxed, easy-going calmness. They were big and strong and handsome too, and I'm sure they love us both almost as much as my parents do! I was thinking of them and hoping they were ok and didn't miss us too much. Although I suspected they did...

Our burgers and fries came (along with a generous serving of salad and tomatoes and onion slices on the side), and though they were quite good, they simply could not touch the Cattleman's coal-grilled perfection. We still chomped it all down with vigor of course because we were so darn hungry! We kept looking at each other for some reason throughout the meal, and soon our looking evolved into kissing instead. We'd bite, chew, swallow and smooch, in that order! No hands, no touching, because our hands were all greasy and yucky. Again, just lips, no tongue. It was quite enough as it was!

I was sssoo hard in my new pants, I looked down and I could see my own dick as a stiff rod clearly outlined, all pressed in tight against my body. My angel looked too, and giggled, wishing that his hands were clean, wishing that we were alone! He had to contend himself with rubbing his leg against mine, and it was nowhere near enough for him! I could see how he lusted for me and that made me giggle instead!

"You're so beautiful, Sebastian...", he whispered to me. "I can't believe it! Never seen a prettier boy. Never! And you're mine. All mine... I love you."

"Sshh, my angel...", I whispered back. "Love you too. Love you, always."

We kissed again. Now I knew people had taken notice, I saw several looking in our direction. A group of younger kids in the upper teens were chittering amongst themselves, pointing in our direction and trying to make it look like they weren't looking at all (which they all failed miserably at), and an older couple which frowned at us with disapprovement (particulary the man I thought). Then there were a few other people scattered throughout the large room that cast us glances every now and then and generally did their best to look in any direction EXCEPT us. Probably not because they also disapproved, but because they probably thought it impolite to stare. Instead, their studious attempts to ignore us (except those quick glances which generally seemed to coincide with our lips touching) made it even more apparent they too were rather curious of us and our activities. The male busboy which had delivered our drinks stood on the other side of the room behind the bar chatting with a female colleague. Out of pure coincidence, he was standing towards us, she with her back turned, so that the guy could look over her shoulder in our direction while making it seem as if he was looking at her. Oh yes. Pure coincidence. And he did NOT stare right at us the entire time either, oh no!

I kissed my angel hard on his lips just so the busboy would not look at us. Not look at all, only at his work colleague... He was very handsome, I thought. I think my angel knew why I kissed him so fiercely, and he actually did not mind. Maybe he understood I have a slight exhibitionistic tendency (remember the incident at the arcade for example?), and enjoyed that particular character trait in me, what do I know? He allowed me to kiss him like that, and when I did he even hooked his leg around my ankle to bring us into even closer contact!

After we had finished our meal we had to order dessert just so I could cool down. What better for that then than ice cream? Two big scoops of chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge and whipped cream. ...And some red cherries too just to spice things up, ooh! One dessert was enough for us both after our burger meal, and we shared the spoon as well, my angel feeding me with great delight. The busboy had finished his conversation with his colleague, she had gone into the kitchen, maybe to have a break or something, I wasn't sure (as I hadn't been privvy to their conversation of course)... I saw him hovering constantly in the vicinity, stealing glances in our direction whenever he could. When it was time for us to leave I waved at him to bring us the check, which he did extremely promptly so none of the other staffers would pre-empt him... When he stood at our table I could see how young he was. Twenty, twenty-two perhaps, hardly any more. His face was slightly flushed and he seemed very nervous, yet very polite too. I doubt he'd ever given any customer as much politeness and courtesy before... I tried my most charming smile to make him calm down, but it only made matters worse and he started stammering slightly when trying to speak. Then, all of a sudden I understood... I could see it on him, the poor guy was lonely! Lonely and frightened, and here we sat, flaunting our love for all to see wether they wanted to or not. I suddenly felt very bad. Not really for showing our love, because I don't want to hide. No way! But I felt bad for forcing him to see it, and thus for reminding him of his own fear and loneliness...

I suppose I hadn't understood the way most gays have to hide. I'm so young, maybe people cut me more slack because of that. And our agents had of course always been ready to deal with the Carl Ellises of the world up until then as well. I just wasn't aware, I guess. And thus, I was also a bit thoughtless... I never really understood that people like me and my angel can get in real trouble if we don't watch out. It didn't strike me even after Agent Thoreau spoke to me in the limo earlier in the day, not for real. I thought it was an issue mostly for the Secret Service to deal with, not us! I started thinking, maybe I was wrong... But I can't change, I'm not able to. I can't hide my love, I got too much of it inside me, it would come bubbling out of me anyway no matter what I do! Maybe if I'd been older when I first met my angel. Maybe if I'd known for sure I'm gay when I met him then I could have controlled it more easily. Oh, I'm just not sure...

Anyway, after seeing all this in the busboy's eyes, I didn't know what to do! I gave him a look of sympathy and understanding, and then the poor guy blushed almost beet red. I could see how frightened he was of giving himself away to his work colleagues, thus he quickly gathered our money and almost ran off from the table, not looking back. We too decided we should go, my heart aching for the poor guy. But what could I do? If it was within my power to fix every wrong in the world - including his - with a snap of my fingers I would do it in an instant. If it was within my powers just to fix HIS wrongs, I would. But I can't... I don't know how.

I had been offered a small look into the busboy's world, and it scared me, as brief and shallow as it had been. I desperately wished there was something, anything I could do. But there wasn't. My angel understood how upset I was and quickly took me out of there. Once we were outside, a bit down the now completely dark street, he stopped and let me lean up against the wall of a building. I felt full of worry, and my angel looked at me with concern.

"Are you okay?", he asked.

I shuddered a little. "He's so scared!"

My angel nodded. "I know... And I don't know what to do! I feel sad too, but our bus is leaving in a while... We have to go, Sebastian. We have to. I'm sorry."

He was right... We had to go.

I felt a little better once we got inside the bus terminal and made our way to the right exit, keeping a lookout for suspicious characters hanging about, not that we were likely to spot any before it was too late. I was ready to throw the guitar case at anyone that seemed to be approaching us, then grab my angel and run, but we reached our coach without incident. The front door was already open and the bus was taking on passengers, we went inside and presented our tickets to the female bus driver. She had a big curly hair sticking out under her cap, and she gave us both a friendly smile. We smiled back at her as she asked, "Any luggage, boys? Your parents coming along soon? We'll be leaving in half an hour you know."

"No, just us", my angel said smoothly. "And a guitar, I hope that's okay?"

She smiled again. "Well, alright then. We're not too full tonight, but that might change so I can't guarantee you can keep it in the bus all the way." Then she looked at our tickets. "Ooh! You're going all the way? That's some trip there all by yourselves. You sure you'll be okay?"

My angel sounded confident when he replied. "Don't worry. We can take care of ourselves."

The woman winked at us. "Okay then, if you say so." She let us go and then we made our way back. Way, way back! My angel wanted to sit almost right at the rear of the coach, and then he brushed past me real quick and hopped in and took the window seat too! We ended up on the left-hand side, and I decided to humor him. He could have the window seat if he wanted to, I'd still reach him just as easily... I almost tossed the guitar case on the seat right across the isle.

We had hardly had time to sit down before we kissed again. He took my head in his hands as I did the same with him, touching his glorious hair in the process... At last it felt like we were somewhat alone. We felt ourselves immersed in love, our love. We were ALMOST in the clear. Really, we probably were. We'd beaten them. Beaten them all! Two kids against the rest of the world... And we were only at the start of our greatest adventure yet.

END OF ARC TWO

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