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From: "Gymnopedies" <gym@SoftHome.net>
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Subject: {ASSM} My Girlfriend's Brother (5/6) (m/t)
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Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:10:02 -0400
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Copyright of this story is retained by the author and it should not be
reposted to any newsgroup or website without permission. Any form of
commercial use is strictly prohibited without the express permission of
the author. The author can be contacted at gym@softhome.net

The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by
location, are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by
explicit descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not
based on any actual events.


My Girlfriend's Brother - Chapter 5 (of 6)
by
Gymnopedies


Over the next few days, Jez continued to come round every day. He was
always there waiting for me when I arrived home from work and,
strangely, I felt myself actively looking forward to the time that we
spent together. I knew he still had a bit of a crush on me, but he was
always careful to try to keep this hidden, and I no longer felt
threatened by my own feelings towards him. I'd placed him firmly into
the "younger brother" role. Since it's OK to care about your little
brother, it let me accept that it was OK for me to have a certain
amount of affection for Jez.

The only real fly in the ointment was Jez's continued insistence that
Emma was no good for me. He rarely missed a chance to take a dig at
her, and he was especially upset by the fact that she would be moving
in this coming weekend. I'd tried to reassure him that it wouldn't make
any difference to him and me and that he would still be able to keep
coming round whenever he liked, but this didn't seem to convince him.

One thing that hadn't gone down well with me was a call from Emma
telling me that she wouldn't be able to see me at all this week. Not
until the weekend. She said something about exams at school and that
she needed to prepare for them, and I had no choice but to reluctantly
accept this news. The plan now was that we'd go out as usual on
Saturday. Then, on Sunday, it was her eighteenth birthday, and there
was a big get together planned with all her friends to help her
celebrate. I wasn't especially looking forward to the get together, but
knowing that she'd agreed to move in with me on Monday would help me
get through it.

The week seemed to fly by and, almost before I knew what was happening,
it was Thursday. This was a day that I definitely had been looking
forward to.

Jez was there waiting for me, as normal, when I arrived home, and we
went up to the apartment together. I watched him drop his school bag in
the kitchen, as he normally did. Then he froze as he saw what was on
the kitchen table. He flashed me a sudden, surprised and delighted
smile, and then turned his attention back to the card and small,
wrapped parcel that sat on the table top.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"You told me a little while ago that it was your birthday three days
before Emma's. Since Emma constantly reminds me that it's her birthday
on Sunday, I figured it must be yours today. I was hoping I'd got it
right, because you've never mentioned it except for that one time. Go
ahead, they're for you, so get them opened."

Cautiously, as if afraid that it would bite him, Jez reached for the
card. He carefully opened the envelope and pulled the card out.

I found I was holding my breath. I'd spent almost an entire lunch hour
in the card shop trying to choose the right card, vacillating between
whether to get a joke one or a cute one. In the end I'd acted on
impulse and got one with a cuddly bear on the front and the words "To
my very special friend". This now seemed a bit over soppy and I was
wishing I'd gone for the joke one instead.

As Jez looked at the card, he gave a broad grin. His hands were shaking
as he opened it. He glanced at what I'd written inside and then read it
aloud. "To Jez, my number-one boy. Happy sixteenth birthday. Love from
Liam." He looked up at me, his eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, it's only a silly card," I told him, a little embarrassed by his
emotional reaction. "Go ahead and open your present."

He carefully stood the card on the table and picked up the parcel,
pulling at the wrapping paper. His eyes widened as the paper came away.
"Oh, wow," he murmured. "Thanks Liam." It was an mp3 player, identical
to my own. I'd let him use mine sometimes while he sat and did his
schoolwork. It was a pretty good one with lots of memory and so hadn't
been cheap, but I had a friend in the business who could get them for
me at cost price so it wasn't too bad. Besides, the look on Jez's face
made it worth every penny.

"I thought it would be nice if you had one of your own," I told him. "I
know you don't have a computer at home, but you're here almost every
day, so you can use my computer to load stuff into it."

"It's brilliant. It's the best thing ever." His arms went around me in
a hug, and I hugged him back, being careful not to squeeze his ribs,
which I knew were still sore.

"I'm glad you like it," I said. "We can take it through into the lounge
and get some tracks loaded onto it. But first I have one more surprise
for you."

"Something else?"

"Yep." I untangled myself from his arms and went over to the fridge.
Jez gave a delighted laugh as he watched me take out a small cake,
complete with birthday candles, and a half bottle of champagne. "Got to
do things properly," I said.

I put the cake onto the table and then quickly lit all the candles.
"OK, now blow them out and make a wish."

He did, his eyes shining.

All this fuss was perhaps a little bit childish, but Jez was obviously
loving it, and if I were to be honest, so was I.

The cork came out of the champagne bottle with a loud pop and I poured
two glasses. "Happy birthday, Jez," I said raising one of the glasses.

"Thanks, Liam," Jez grinned, and, glass in hand, he hugged me again.

We spent the rest of the evening selecting mp3 tracks and loading them
onto Jez's new player, between times eating slices of cake and
finishing off the champagne. Jez appeared happier than I had ever seen
him and this in turn gave me a thrill of pleasure. At last though, it
was time for him to go.

"I wish it were me moving in instead of Emma," he said, sadly, as we
made our way down to the car.

"You're here so often it's almost like you live here already," I
pointed out.

He went quiet for a moment, then turned and looked at me. "If anything
happens between you and Emma, the two of us can still be friends, can't
we? It will still be alright for me to keep coming round?"

I laughed. "Nothings going to happen. Besides, even if it did, why
should it make any difference to me and you?"

He appeared at least partially satisfied, but he continued to look at
me. "There are things about Emma that you should know," he said.

"Jez, stop it, please. I don't want to hear it. I know you don't get on
with Emma, so let's just not talk about her, OK?"

"I wish you'd listen to me," he said, sulkily.

"Jez, that's enough."

He went quiet. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice very soft. "I love you
Liam. You're my best friend ever, and today has been my best birthday
ever. There were tears on his face as he hugged me and I realised I had
tears in my own eyes.

"I'm glad you enjoyed today," I told him, trying to keep my voice
steady. "Come on, get in the car and let's get you home."

**********

Jez was uncharacteristically quiet on Friday evening. He obviously had
something on his mind and I had a good idea what it was.

"You're worrying over nothing," I told the boy, as we finished our
meal, during which he hadn't spoken more than a couple of words. "I've
told you that Emma moving in won't make any difference to you coming
round. She can go off and do some of the things that girls do, while
the two of us spend some time together." I didn't expect for one minute
that the situation would lend itself to such an easy solution, and I
was prepared for some protests from Emma when I told her that her
brother would be here sometimes. But she was just going to have to get
used to the idea.

Jez looked at me, his eyes clouded. "I need to talk to you about Emma,"
he said.

I sighed. "Please, Jez. I'm trying to sort things out so that everyone
is happy. You're going to have to give a little. You've got to accept
that Emma and I are going to be together. I'm sure that if you both
made a bit of effort, you could get along instead of constantly
fighting all the time."

"Why won't you ever listen to me?" Jez demanded, shaking his head.
"Emma doesn't care about you; she never has. She's just using you."

"I've heard all of this before, Jez, and I'm sick of hearing it. Emma
is moving in with me on Monday and you can either learn to live with
that or you can stay away." I was getting annoyed and my mouth was
moving faster than my brain. That last bit had come out much harsher
than I'd intended.

Jez looked hurt but defiant. "She's not moving in," he said.

I gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, and you're going to stop her, are you?"

"She's not moving in," Jez repeated. "She never intended to move in."

"What are you talking about?"

"She only agreed to move in with you to keep you happy, until after her
birthday. As soon as you've given her those diamond things for her
ears, she's going to dump you."

"What, just like that?" I gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah sure.
She's going to dump me. You really need to grow up, Jez."

"Maybe not just like that," Jez admitted. "She might string it out for
a few days, making excuses why she won't move in with you, but once she
gets her present, you're going to get dumped."

"Oh, and I suppose she told you this."

"No. I heard her and Mum talking. They cooked it up between them. Emma
didn't even want to get back with you after that last bust-up you had,
but Mum talked her into it. Mum said that since you had plenty of
money, Emma might as well stick with you until after her birthday."

"You're just talking stupid."

"Am I? Why do you think she refused to move in with you until after her
birthday?"

"It was because... well, I don't know. Why should it matter?"

"You're not listening to me, Liam." Jez was getting more agitated and
was clearly upset. "She's going to hurt you. I don't want to see you
hurt. I care about you even if she doesn't."

"It's not Emma who's trying to hurt me, it's you." I replied, heatedly.
Jez wasn't the only one getting upset by this exchange. "You can't
accept that it's Emma that I'm interested in and not you. I'm straight,
Jez, not gay, straight. I've tried to be nice to you and be your
friend, but that's not good enough for you and you keep throwing it
back in my face. Maybe it's time you stopped coming round here."

"OK, so you're straight," Jez said, getting to his feet, his eyes full
of tears. "But that doesn't change the fact that Emma is going to hurt
you. She's already seeing someone else. That's where she was last
Friday when she said she was going out with friends. That's why she
said she couldn't see you this week."

"I've heard enough of this," I snarled, now standing up myself. "You'd
better go."

"Please listen, Liam," Jez sobbed. "It's Emma you should be mad with,
not me. That's why I didn't say anything before; I knew you'd take her
side. But she's going to hurt you and I don't want that to happen."

"Get out," I snapped, holding the kitchen door for him.

Jez passed me, the tears rolling down his cheeks. The guilt I felt at
seeing him like this only went to further fuel my anger.

"You don't know what Emma and Mum are like. They're not bothered who
they hurt as long as they get what they want," said Jez as I opened the
door to the apartment. He stopped and looked at me determinedly. "Who
do you think did this?" he asked through clenched teeth, pointing to
the marks on his face. "Who do you think did this?" He lifted his shirt
and pointed to his bruised ribs.

I looked at him incredulously. "You expect me to believe that your own
mother did that to you?" I gave a bitter laugh. "You really have lost
it, Jez. Just go. And please, stay away from now on." I put my hand on
his chest and pushed him backwards through the doorway and then closed
the door in his face.

I was badly shaken by this unexpected confrontation. I'd known that Jez
didn't like Emma, but I'd had no idea that he would carry his vendetta
against her this far. Did he really think I would be stupid enough to
believe all those lies? I went into the lounge and poured myself a
drink of something strong, trying to stop my hands from shaking. Emma
had been right about him when she'd said her brother was weird. How did
I ever come to get so involved with someone like that?

I moved over to the sofa and sat down, tipping my head back and closing
my eyes as I took deep breaths to try to calm myself. Emma would never
do anything like Jez had described, that much I was sure of. Sure, she
was no angel, and she'd done the rounds before we got together, but
since then she'd been completely faithful to me. If she'd been with
anyone else I would have known about it; I would have been able to
tell. Besides, you can't keep anything like that a secret for long;
someone would have said something to me. Yes, I was sure of it. Someone
would have told me. Or at least I hoped they would have told me. I knew
that Emma flirted with a lot of guys, but that was just Emma. There was
never anything in her flirting, it was all just for fun. She'd never
take it further than that.

My mind whirled on, spinning out of control, as I kept telling myself
that there could not possibly be anything in Jez's wild accusations.
True, they would have been quite convincing to anyone who didn't know
Emma like I did. Maybe Jez even believed them himself. Maybe he had
repeated the story over and over to himself until it had become
credible. Yes, I suppose it was credible. Except that Emma would never
do that to me.

But deep down in heart, I knew how wrong that was. Emma was quite
capable of doing that. Slowly, feeling steadily more sick, I allowed
myself to consider the possibility that some of what Jez had said may
have been true. Suppose she did have someone else? There had been
plenty of weak excuses about why she couldn't be with me. And what had
been her real reason for refusing to move in with me before her
birthday? "To make it more special?" What sort of a reason was that?
Could she really have someone else? I had to know. I had to find out
for sure one way or the other. But how was I to find out? I could
hardly ask Emma. I mulled over the problem for a while, sipping on the
neat whiskey in my glass, letting the heat from the alcohol calm my
nerves. And then the answer hit me.

Dino. No one collected gossip like Dino. He always knew every sordid
detail about who was cheating on who. If anyone knew about Emma playing
away, it would be Dino.

With trembling hands, I flipped through my address book and found
Dino's mobile number. I dialled.

"Dino Di Molto." Dino's familiar effeminate tones came through the
receiver.

"Dino, it's Liam."

"Oh, hi handsome. Surely you're not ready yet for me to work my magic
on your beautiful locks. Or maybe that cute little boyfriend of yours
wants to see me again?"

"Dino, I need a favour."

"Ooh, how could I refuse? Ask away."

"I want to know if Emma has been seeing anyone behind my back."

The sudden silence coming through the phone told me all I needed to
know. I felt molten lead settle in my stomach.

When Dino spoke, he sounded strangely masculine; all the effeminate
inflections were gone from his voice. "I'm sorry, Liam. I always told
you she was no good."

"How long has it been going on?" I asked.

There was a sigh. "As far as I know, she's never stopped seeing other
guys.

"Who? Give me names."

"You sure you really want to know?"

"Yeah."

"Recently there has been Dave Morris and Dan Greenwall. I think it's
Dan she's on with at the moment."

I ground my teeth in helpless fury and frustration. I didn't know
anyone called Dave Morris, but Dan was in our immediate circle of
friends; he'd been one of the friends we'd met at the bar the previous
Saturday. I felt like a complete fool. "Thank's, Dino," I managed to
get out.

"I'm really sorry, Liam. You're well rid of her. You going to be OK?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks again, Dino."

"No problem, Liam. You take care."

I turned off the phone and felt it slip through my fingers onto the
floor. I had been so stupid. Why had she done this to me? I'd always
been there for her. I'd given her everything she'd asked for. Why? I
felt a burning rage building in my stomach, ready to explode but with
nowhere to go. "Why?" I screamed out, to the empty room. An
overwhelming wave of self-pity washed over me. I sank to my knees. My
back against the wall, I put my face in my hands and I began to cry.

I don't recall very much of what happened after that, except that I hit
the bottle pretty hard. I do remember ringing Emma at some point and
telling her in no uncertain terms what I thought about her. The
conversation quickly turned into a screaming match over the telephone
and I called her a "stupid bitch" and turned off the phone and flung it
across the room. I then drank some more and somehow made it to my bed,
where I passed out.

I awoke on Saturday morning, sprawled across my bed, still fully
dressed, and feeling like death. Just raising my head was enough to
cause nausea to wash over me in waves and I had to literally crawl to
the bathroom. I used the sink to slowly pull myself to my feet and I
looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I even looked like death. This
analysis of my appearance was interrupted by an extra powerful attack
of nausea and I dropped to my knees, my head over the toilet bowl. It
was several minutes before I felt able to let go of the toilet bowl and
once more pull myself up to the sink to splash cold water over my face.
God, I felt rough. With an effort, I pulled off my clothes and turned
on the shower, making the water as hot as I thought I would be able to
stand it, and then I climbed into the bath, where I lay letting the
scalding water splash down over my body.

Eventually I plucked up the courage to pull myself out of the bath and,
wrapping a towel around my waist, I managed to get into the kitchen. I
poured myself a glass of juice, restricting myself to small sips. I
knew it would be a while yet before I was ready to face life.

Work was definitely out of the question. I normally work for a few
hours on Saturday afternoons, but today I had no choice but to call in
sick. Hell, I was sick, quite literally.

As the hours passed, I started to feel a little bit more human.
Unfortunately, as the physical discomfort eased, the emotional pain of
the previous day was quick to take its place. I was angry. More angry
than I had ever been before. I realised now that I didn't love Emma; I
never had. But she'd made a fool of me, and that hurt. I'd clearly
meant nothing at all to her. I'd just been someone for her to use and
throw away. How could anyone possibly be that callous? Jez had tried to
warn me. He'd told me time and again what she was like, but I'd refused
to listen to him. But if he knew what was going on, he should have told
me; he should have made me listen. Part of this was his fault. I was
well rid of the two of them.

By mid afternoon, I was starting to feel a little bit better and I gave
myself a shave and a proper tidy up and pulled on some clothes. I was
starting to feel almost human. I didn't feel ready to face the world
yet, but at least I was making progress. I realised I hadn't eaten
anything since the previous evening and decided that getting some food
inside me might make me feel better. Looking in the fridge, I came
across the plate containing a small piece of Jez's birthday cake. An
image flashed into my mind of Jez, laughing happily as he'd blown out
the candles on his cake and then closing his eyes to make a wish. I
felt a sudden painful pang of regret that this business with Emma had
caused me to lose Jez as well. Ignoring the lump in my throat, I forced
myself to cross the kitchen and tip the remaining cake into the bin. I
discovered that I'd lost whatever appetite I'd had. I wasn't hungry
after all.

Listlessly, I wandered around the apartment. To pass the time, I tried
listening to music and watching TV, but I really wasn't in the mood for
anything, and for some reason, everything I did reminded me of Jez.
Even when I tried to lose myself in something mundane, like cleaning, I
recalled the time two weeks previously, when Jez had insisted on
helping me with the job. It was hard to believe that it was only two
weeks since I'd found him lying semi-conscious in the park, stinking of
his own piss and vomit. I'd brought him back and cleaned him up and
bedded him down for the night in my own bedroom, never realising that
over the next two weeks he would become such an integral part of almost
every aspect of my life. I knew now that in those two weeks, Jez had
come to mean much more to me than Emma ever had. Emma had been great in
bed, but beyond that, she had been nothing. Jez had been so much more.
I felt my stomach tighten as I remembered some of the things I'd said
to the boy as I'd pushed him out of the door the previous evening. I'd
told him to keep away. I'd laughed at him. Yet everything he'd said had
turned out to be true. I played through what I could recall of that
conversation. It hurt, but I felt the need to punish myself both for my
own stupidity and for the way I'd treated the boy. He'd said that he
loved me, and somehow I knew that he'd meant it. But how did I feel
about him? I really didn't know. I did know that picturing him in my
mind caused my stomach to knot up, and the thought of not seeing him
again made me feel sick.

Almost before I realised what I was doing, I hunted down the phone from
where I'd thrown it the previous evening. Luckily it didn't appear
damaged. If I could just talk to Jez and tell him that I was sorry... I
dialled the number.

"Hello?" It was Janice, Emma's mother.

"Janice, it's Liam."

"Oh. What do YOU want?" There was ice in her words and I couldn't help
but picture the sneer on her face.

"I want to speak to Jez."

She gave a cold laugh. "Why doesn't that surprise me? He can't come to
the phone right now. So go to hell." She slammed down the phone.

I turned off my own phone, feeling my hands shake. I suppose it was the
response I should have expected. Janice would refuse to let me speak to
Jez just to spite me. I decided that maybe I would try again later and
hope that Jez himself would answer. Though thinking back, in all of the
times I'd called the house, I couldn't recall a single occasion where
Jez had answered the phone.

Janice had said "Why doesn't that surprise me?" almost as if she'd
expected me to ask for Jez. But as far as Emma and her mother knew, I'd
never had anything to do with Jez. Even when I'd taken him home I'd
dropped him at the end of his street. Why would Janice be expecting me
to ask to speak to Jez? Unless they had somehow found out that it was
Jez who told me about Emma. I sure wouldn't like to be in his shoes if
that were the case.

Oh shit!

All those bruises. Jez had said he got them from his mother. I'd
laughed at him, not believing it. But what if he'd been telling the
truth? I knew Janice could be a vicious cow; I'd seen it myself. And I
knew what a temper Emma had, and that she'd resort to violence if she
really lost it, since I'd been on the receiving end. What if they had
hurt Jez?

I'd picked up my jacket and was halfway to the door before I managed to
catch myself. What the hell was I doing? I could hardly go barging in
there throwing accusations like that. I threw my jacket aside and
forced myself to calm down and try to think things through. I was
probably letting my imagination run away with itself. And besides,
after the way I'd treated Jez, he probably wouldn't want to see me
anyway. Maybe I'd misunderstood what Janice had said. If I were to go
round there and insist on speaking to Jez, they were bound to realise
there was some connection between us and that would probably make
things worse for him.

No, it was better to wait and see what happened. I'd give things a
chance to calm down, and tomorrow I'd try to find a way of contacting
Jez.

However, as the evening wore on, I found myself unable to think of
anything else. Those bruises that Jez had had on his face, arms and
chest had been pretty bad. Suppose he had been telling the truth and
they really had been caused by his mother? He'd been telling the truth
about everything else. And he'd been beaten on at least two occasions
that I knew of. If she'd done it twice, she could do it again.

I glanced at the clock. It was coming up to 11.00 p.m. It was getting
late.

It was no good. I had to know that Jez was OK. I grabbed my jacket and
headed for the car.

By the time I reached Jez's house, I'd wound myself up into a real
state. I marched up to the door and rang the bell, then, for good
measure, I pounded on the door with my fist.

The door was opened a moment later by Emma. "Lee?" She seemed surprised
to see me.

I pushed her aside and stepped into the hallway. Dan Greenwall was
there. It looked like the two of them had been just about to go out.
They were probably on their way to a club. It was nice to know Emma
wasn't taking our splitting up too hard. At least Dan had the good
graces to look uncomfortable by my arrival.

"Don't worry," I told Dan. "You're welcome to her. I hope you've got
deep pockets though, because she'll only stay with you until she gets a
better offer, and then she'll be moving on to the next poor mug. Though
in terms of pounds per fuck, she probably works out cheaper than
picking up a girl off the street," I added, giving Emma a cold look.

She glared back at me. "What the fuck do you want, Liam?" she asked.

"I want to see Jez."

"What's the matter, can't keep up with the girls so you've decided to
try your luck with little boys?"

"If all the girls were like you, I'd be better off gay," I snapped back
at her.

"What's going on?" Janice had appeared. She looked at me and her mouth
tightened.

"I've come to see Jez," I told her.

"Well you can't. Get out."

I ignored her and stepped towards the stairs, but she moved to
intercept me.

"Jez!" I called up the stairs. Janice got in front of me and tried to
push me back. "Jez!"

"Get out!" Janice was shouting, into my face. "Get out of my house!"

Emma was shouting something from behind me and I felt someone grab my
arm. I shook them off.

"Get out, or I'm calling the police," Janice screeched.

It had turned into quite a tussle. I was fighting to get to the stairs,
and Janice was trying to push me back towards the door. Emma had
grabbed me again and was yanking at my arm. Poor Dan just stood and
looked on, probably wondering what he had gotten himself into.

"Jez," I shouted again.

"Liam?" Jez appeared at the top of the stairs. He was wearing just a
pair of tatty-looking shorts that were ripped all the way up one side
and appeared to be held together by little more than a few threads.
There were obvious fresh bruises on his arms and chest, and what looked
like dried blood on one of his shoulders. There was also a cut on his
face above one of his eyes and bruises on his shins as if he'd been
kicked. He leaned on the stair rail for support.

"Get back in your room," Janice ordered the boy.

"Get out of my way," I snarled at her, grabbing her arm and flinging
her aside. Seeing the state that Jez was in had confirmed my worst
suspicions and no one was going to stand in my way now. I charged up
the stairs.

"Emma, call the police," I heard Janice call out.

"Yes, Emma, call the cops," I shouted down the stairs. "I think they
should see this. In fact, I might call them myself." Then I turned my
attention back to Jez.

The boy was trembling and there were tears on his face. As soon as I
reached the top of the stairs he fell into my arms.

"Oh God, Jez, why did you let them do this to you? Why didn't you tell
me what was happening?" I knew that he had told me, in the end, and
that I'd laughed at him.

He didn't reply, he just pressed his face against my shoulder, crying.

I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to think. I'd had no plan
beyond ensuring that Jez was OK, and so I had no idea where to go from
here. "Jez, you can't stay here," I told him. "You can't let them keep
doing this to you."

Jez lifted his head and looked up at me with blank eyes.

"I'm taking you home with me," I told him, reaching a decision. "You
can stay with me until you decide what you want to do. Let's get your
things." I glanced down the stairs. Janice and Emma were standing at
the bottom, looking furious, but watching in silence.

Jez led the way into his bedroom. Inside the door he stopped. I stepped
up behind him.

"Holy shit!" It looked like a tornado had swept through the room.
Anything that could be broken or smashed, had been. A wardrobe standing
against the far wall, stood open with its door hanging off, drawers had
been ripped out and slung around, and even the curtains had been ripped
away from the window. But that wasn't the half of it. The floor was
littered with torn and shredded clothing, much of it ripped into
several pieces. There was nothing in any better condition than the
shorts that Jez was wearing.

I let out a slow breath. "Who ever did this sure did a thorough job," I
murmured.

"Most of it was Emma," said Jez, his voice trembling. "After I told her
it was me who told you about what she planned to do."

"What did you go and do that for?" I asked him.

"I wanted to get back at her because of everything she's done to me.
And because of what she was doing to you."

"Oh, Jez," I said, shaking my head. I took off my jacket and put it
around his shoulders and then put my arm around him. "Come on, there's
nothing here worth saving. I'll lend you something to wear until we can
get you something of your own." I started to lead him out of the door,
but he pulled away from me.

"Wait." He stepped over to the mattress that lay on the floor,
and lifted a corner and pulled out what looked to be pieces of torn
card. He held these tightly against his chest as he came back to me.
"Right, I'm ready to go."

Janice stood at the bottom of the stairs, blocking our way, a
determined look on her face.

I was equally determined as I walked down towards her. "Jez is coming
with me. You can either get out of my way, or I'll knock you flat." She
looked at me uncertainly for a moment as if trying to gauge whether my
threat was serious and then she gave way. It was a wise move on her
part, because the mood I was in, I probably would have used force. I
glared at her as I walked past, keeping Jez pulled close to me. The boy
was trembling again.

When we reached the front door, I looked back at Janice and Emma. I
dearly wanted to say something to them, but couldn't think of anything
that would show the utter contempt I felt for them. Instead, I spoke to
Dan, who stood back from the scene, his face pale. "I wish you luck," I
told him. "You're going to need it. You're going to need all the luck
in the world." With that, we left the house.

Jez didn't speak during the short drive back to my apartment. He was so
quiet that I wondered if he had fallen asleep. However he was awake
enough when we arrived to be able to give me a smile; it was a bit
forced, but at least it was an improvement on earlier. I put my arm
around his shoulders again and we went up to my apartment. Luckily we
didn't meet anyone else in the building. It would certainly have caused
some raised eyebrows if anyone had seen me sneaking in with a beaten,
near-naked teenager in my arms.

Inside, I led Jez directly to the guest room. It wasn't very big, but
it was comfortable. "You can sleep in here," I told him.

Jez, nodded. "Thanks, Liam," he said.

"You get into bed and I'll find you some clothes for the morning."

"OK. Do you have any Sellotape?"

"Yeah, I expect so. I'll dig you some out tomorrow."

"No. I need it tonight." There was something in his eyes that told me
that for some reason, this was important to him.

"OK, I'll get it for you."

When I returned to the bedroom with the requested Sellotape and some
clothes that I thought wouldn't look too bad on him, Jez was already in
bed. The tattered shorts that he had worn lay on the floor. He'd turned
off the main light and the room was lit only by the dim glow of the
bedside lamp.

"Here you go," I said, as I handed him the tape and put the clothes
onto a chair so that they would be ready for him in the morning. "Is
there anything else you need?"

He shook his head.

"Alright. Get some sleep and we'll talk about all of this in the
morning. Everything will seem a bit clearer then. Don't worry about
anything at all, because you're going to be safe now.

Jez gave me a trembling smile and nodded. "Thanks Liam," he said.

I gently patted his shoulder. "Goodnight Jez."

"Goodnight."

**********

I couldn't sleep. I was too wound up and angry. I'd tried forcing
myself to relax, but it was no good. So many different things kept
going through my head: my relationship with Emma, how I felt about Jez,
what Emma and Janice had done to Jez, what Jez was going to do now;
everything was a mixed up blur. I realised that by bringing Jez back
here, I'd taken on some sort of responsibility for taking care of him,
at least in the short term. But what was going to happen after that?
Was he going to stay with me on a longer term basis? Did he want to? I
recalled Jez saying recently that he wished he could move in with me,
but how serious had he really been? Did I want him here all the time?
So many questions and no answers. Jez was sixteen now, so as long as
his mother didn't cause problems, there was nothing to stop him staying
with me, and if Janice decided to be difficult about it she would be
stirring up a huge amount of trouble for herself.

The more I thought about the idea of Jez moving in with me permanently,
the more I liked it. There would be some problems, of course, but
nothing that we couldn't sort out. He would be completely financially
dependent on me, but even living here full time he'd probably cost me
less than Emma had done in the time I'd been seeing her. I soon managed
to convince myself that Jez staying here would be the ideal solution.
It was definitely what I wanted.

But what if Jez had other ideas? I felt a sudden twist of fear at the
idea that Jez might decide that he didn't want to stay with me. Though
what scared me even more, was my reaction to that thought. Why did the
thought of losing Jez bother me so much? My heart started to beat
faster as I vividly recalled the time that the two of us had almost
kissed, and in my mind the scene continued to its natural conclusion;
this time I didn't pull back, and Jez's lips on mine were soft and
sweet.

Damn! I shook my head to remove the picture and forced myself to think
of something else. Surely this couldn't be healthy; I was becoming
infatuated with a sixteen-year-old boy. Was this some sort of reaction
to my splitting up with Emma? I knew it wasn't. I'd felt this way about
Jez while Emma was still on the scene, even though I'd refused to let
myself think about it at the time. Maybe, considering my confused
feelings towards Jez, the best thing for both of us would be for him
not to stay with me after all. I ground my teeth in helpless
frustration. I was going around in circles. Let him stay, or not let
him stay? I didn't know what the hell to do.

On impulse, I decided to check that the boy was OK. I climbed out of
bed, straightening my white boxers, which had become twisted as a
result of all the restless tossing and turning, and made my way
silently down the short hallway to Jez's room. The door was slightly
ajar, and I could see that the bedside lamp was still on. Pushing the
door open, I stepped inside.

Jez lay half on his side, apparently asleep. The bedclothes were pulled
up around his chest, and both arms lay bare, on top of the sheets.
Quietly, I moved closer until I was standing over him. I could tell now
that he was indeed asleep; his was face relaxed and peaceful. As I
stood watching him, I felt a strange tightness in my chest. He was so
beautiful; even the bruises on his face and upper arms did nothing to
detract from that. He looked so peaceful and innocent, that I couldn't
imagine how anyone could possibly bring themselves to hurt him. Then I
noticed what he held in his hand and my breath caught in my throat. It
was the birthday card I'd given him. This was what he had wanted the
tape for. The card had been torn into pieces, but Jez had carefully
reassembled them and taped them back together. He'd fallen asleep with
the repaired card gripped in his hand, and it lay open with the words
I'd written inside clearly on display. "To Jez, my number one boy.
Happy 16th birthday. Love from Liam."

I turned away, my eyes brimming with tears. "Oh, Jez," I murmured.
"What am I going to do?" I sighed deeply. I had to get a grip. I needed
to get some sleep and maybe things would be clearer in the morning.

Wiping the tears from my face, I moved silently back to my own room and
climbed back into bed. Eventually I fell into a restless sleep.

**********

Feedback is encouraged and always much appreciated. Email me at
gym@softhome.net or visit my discussion board at
http://www.gymnopedies.info for more stories, news and previews.

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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