I woke up the next morning lying on my right side. I looked at the clock on the nightstand. Two minutes after six. We’d have to get up by six thirty so Nate would have enough time to walk to home and dress and get to school. He lay spooned against me, his left arm around my waist, his hand holding onto me. I took a deep breath. I felt happy, happier than I’d felt at any time since I woke up in the hospital in Weatherford.

A few minutes later I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. I could tell Mom came in even though I faced the side of my bed away from the door. I heard her step back into the hall and talk to Dad.

“Greg,” she whispered, “come here and take a look at Brian and Nate.”

I heard Dad walk just inside my bedroom door, then turn and walk back into the hall.

“I guess that answers our questions about them. I think we need to talk to them, both of them together. And maybe Nate’s folks should be here when we have that talk,” he whispered. Usually if they whispered I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but for some reason this morning I didn’t have any problem. I might have been more aware because I’d already been awake.

They left us alone and I fell back to sleep. The alarm went off at six thirty.

“Mmm... how ‘bout you shut that off, Brian, and we can cuddle some more and maybe do a repeat of last night when we....”

I turned over so I was lying on my back, with my head turned to the left so I could look at him. “Nate, it’s six thirty and you’ve gotta get up and get ready for school.”

“I don’ want to get up.”

“NATE!”

“What?” Nate sat up and blinked his eyes a couple times. Then he looked at me. “Jeez, you didn’t have to yell, Brian.”

“Yes, I did. You have got to get up. You were going home to change on your way to school.”

“I can wear what I had on yesterday. Except for my underwear. Can I borrow a T and boxers?”

“Sure. My boxers should be fine, but I’m not sure about my regular T’s fitting you. I have a couple of oversize pocket T’s that Mom bought me. They’re too big, and I think maybe they’ll fit you.”

I got up and got Nate one of the oversize T’s and a pair of solid blue boxers. I saw some white Nike socks and handed everything to Nate.

“Thanks, Brian. I think it’s time for a shower.”

“You go ahead. I’ll shower after you leave.”

“No way. You’re showering with me.”

“It’ll be too complicated. I have to put a bag over my arm so the cast doesn’t get wet. If we take time for me to get ready to take a shower with you, then you’ll end up getting to school late.”

“Damn. I guess you’re right because it makes sense. How about you come in and brush your teeth while I shower and we can talk.”

“That’s good. Let’s do it.”

While Nate was in the shower I looked him over. Alright, I perved him, so shoot me. But mostly we talked. Or more correctly Nate talked and I replied.

“Brian,” Nate called over the sound of the shower, “I think I’m going to be over here a lot since there’s no way we could be at my house. My folks would catch on right away. But I have an excuse coming over here because you can’t go out and working with you is going to be helpful on my college application.”

“That’s fine with me. And I’m sure it’ll be fine with my folks. That brings up something else. My folks want to talk to us about us.”

“What?” He turned off the water.

“I said... my folks want to talk to us, about us.”

“Why? How do you know?”

“I woke up at six and overheard them when they got up this morning. Mom came into my bedroom and saw you spooned into me, and she called Dad to take a look. Then he said something about what we were doing answered some of their questions about us. They want to have your folks come over for that meeting.”

“Oh my god NO! Brian, my folks can absolutely not learn that I’m gay. I told you that my dad would go ballistic if he found out, and Mom would totally freak out.”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me about your folks. Let’s go down to breakfast and begin ‘The Talk’ with my folks this morning by telling them about your folks and how they can’t find out, it that’s okay with you.”

“That’s okay.”

Nate stepped out of the shower and I drew in a deep breath.

“You look so good, Nate Mead. I just want to eat you up.”

He grinned. “I thought you did that last night.”

“Perv!”

“Hey, I’m not the one doing the looking right now.”

“Then cover up so I don’t get all excited looking at you.”

Nate laughed as he pulled his towel around his middle and tucked in the end. Damn, I wondered how he could do that so it would stay closed. I never could, the towel would just fall on the floor. I needed to remember to ask him how he did that.

“Hey, Brian, why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll brush my teeth. Uh... do you have a toothbrush I can use?”

I pulled one of the new tooth brushes out of the drawer where Mom kept them and handed it to Nate. “There’s toothpaste and paper cups in the cabinet. You can use my hair brush, it’s in the top drawer. Do you need to shave?”

Nate ran his hand over his face. “Nah, it’s okay. Besides a lot of the girls at school like guys with five o’clock shadow.”

“What’s five o’clock shadow?”

“That’s what guys who have heavy beards get after shaving in the morning. Girls find it very sexy.” He grinned.

“Girls? You want girls to look at your five o’clock shadow because it’s sexy?”

“Sure. That way no one will figure out that I’m gay.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“You have any cologne I can use?”

“There’s a spray cologne in the cabinet. It’s pretty mild. I don’t like a lot of scent.”

“That’s okay, neither do I.”

“If you need anything else let me know.”

“This’ll be okay, Brian. Thanks.”

I went back to my bedroom and got dressed. Just as I finished Nate came in from the bathroom. He pulled off the towel and put on my socks, the oversize T that just fit him, and my boxers, in that order. I watched his every move, grinning at him. He looked at me and mouthed ‘perv’ and I busted up laughing. Then he put on the shirt and jeans he’d been wearing yesterday, then his sneakers.

“Okay, Nate, let’s go down to breakfast and the first installment of our inquisition.”

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something, Brian?”

I looked myself over. Nothing missing.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, I do!” With that statement Nate pulled me into a long, wonderful kiss. When we finally pulled back to take a breath I felt sort of dizzy. When my vision cleared up I saw Nate standing in front of me, grinning. I grinned back at him.

“I guess I did forget something, a big something. Now, let’s go down to breakfast and ‘The Talk’ we’re sure to have with my folks.”

When we walked into the kitchen, Mom and Dad looked at us.

“I’m hungry. What’s for breakfast?” I asked.

Nate sat across from me. “Good morning, Mrs. and Mr. Anderson.”

“Oh, yeah, good morning Mom, good morning Dad.”

“Good morning, Nate,” Mom replied, then she glared at me, “and oh, yeah, good morning Brian. How about some toaster waffles and bacon?”

We both nodded and agreed that would be just fine. “I’d like some orange juice too, please. And I think Nate would like some too.”

“Yes, please,” Nate responded.

Neither Mom nor Dad said anything. I guess they were waiting for us to bring up the subject. I couldn’t stop grinning, then I started to chuckle, then I broke out laughing and so did Nate. When we finally stopped Mom and Dad were looking at us like we were crazy. Maybe we were.

“What was all that about?” Mom asked.

“I heard what the two of you were whispering about when you came into my room this morning just after six o’clock. I was awake.”

“Oh,” Dad said.

“Oh my,” Mom said.

“It’s okay. Just to clarify, Nate and I are boyfriends. I’m straight, he’s gay. We’re in love with each other. And we mean love, love.” I grinned. They looked shocked and confused, all at once.

Dad sat back and looked at us. “Nate, you’re gay?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Nate answered, “I’m gay. I’ve known that I’m gay since sixth grade when I started middle school.”

“Your teammates know that you’re gay?”

“No, and no one else at school knows either.”

“Are you okay about being gay?” Mom asked him.

“Yes, I’m absolutely okay about being gay. It doesn’t bother me. It’s just the way I am. I believe what scientists say, that being gay is genetic. I was born that way.”

Dad turned to me. “Brian, you said that you’re straight, and that you’re in love with Nate?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied, grinning because Dad said a rhyme.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Sure it does. There’s nowhere that it says a straight guy can’t fall in love with a gay guy, or that a gay guy can’t fall in love with a straight guy.”

“You mean you’re bisexual?” Mom asked me.

I stopped and thought about it for a few seconds. “Yeah, if you really have to put a label on me, I guess you could say that’s what I am since I’m in love with a guy and I’m not gay. So I’m bi, at least for the sexual part.”

“You’re having sex?” Mom almost shouted. “You’re only fifteen. You’re too young to have sex.”

“No! I said the sexual part, like heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, not the sex part.”

“Oh, thank God,” Mom said.

‘Alright,’ I thought, ‘looks like my answer finessed the whole “are you two having sex?” part of the inquisition.’

If Nate and I were lucky the subject of sex would never be brought up again. One of the books I read for Health class said that many parents find it difficult to talk to their sons and daughters about sex. I hoped that applied to my folks.

“So when did this happen?” Dad asked.

“For me,” I answered, “the second day that Nate came over.”

“And for me,” Nate answered, “the first day I came over.”

Dad stared at Nate. “So you’re certain? You’re not going to change your mind and decide that you’re not gay, then tell people at school about Brian?”

Nate’s expression went from shock to anger. “NO!” he shouted, “My feelings for Brian are real. I am in love with Brian.” He turned to me, took my hand, and kissed it, then turned back to my dad. “Mr. Anderson, what I feel for Brian is love. When we’re not together I think about him all the time and I want to see him and hug him and I start to get dizzy. I love talking to him, doing our homework together, listening to music, telling jokes, watching him smile, holding his hand, kissing him, just being in the same room together doing different things. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else, ever. I feel close to him, closer to him than anyone else in the world including my folks.” Nate smiled. “And he’s cute and real easy to look at.”

Oh my god, did that make me blush!

Dad turned to me. And Brian, you’re also certain?”

“Yes, absolutely positively certain. Everything that Nate said goes for me too. Besides all that Nate is smart and kind. He’s handsome and big and strong. When I look at his eyes it seems like I’m falling into him, becoming part of him. I think about him when he’s not with me, I dream about him, I close my eyes and I picture him sitting across from me, looking at me with his great smile. I can hear my heart beating when we’re together, and all I want to do is hold him close and cuddle. Maybe I’m only fifteen, but I know that we’re in love with each other. It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world.”

I heard my folks each take a deep breath and quickly let it out.

Dad turned to my mom. “Who does this remind you of, Phyllis?”

“Hmm... maybe you and me when we were Brian’s age?” she replied.

“Exactly. They have it bad, just like we did. They are in love.”

“It’s the way they look at each other, Greg. Guys, it’s a good thing you’re not both going to school because if the kids at your school saw the way you look at each other they’d quickly figure out that you’re more than just friends. And that could have unfortunate ramifications, especially for Nate since you’re on the football team.”

I noticed the clock on the microwave. “Oh my god! Nate, look at the time. You’re going to be late for school. You’ve gotta get going.”

“Nate, I’ll drive you to school on my way to work. Did you have to stop by your house for anything?”

“Thanks a lot, Mr. Anderson. I don’t need anything from home, but I’ve gotta go upstairs and get my backpack.”

 “I’ll go with you to make sure you have everything,” I said.

We rushed upstairs, okay, we actually ran upstairs and Mom didn’t even shout ‘don’t run!’ Nate checked the contents of his backpack and I looked around my room to make sure he had everything. Nate and I heard a knock at my bedroom door. My Dad stood there, grinning.

“I’ll just bet you two thought you’d gotten away without having an in depth talk about sex, right?” he asked.

I guess he could tell from our expressions that is exactly what we thought.

“That’s what I thought. Well, we are going to sit down and have a discussion, just the three of us, this afternoon when Nate comes over after school, okay? I’ll come home early so we’ll have plenty of time to talk. About sex. I’ll see the two of you at four.

“Come on Nate, let’s get you to school on time.”

Before he could walk out I grabbed Nate in a big hug then kissed him, a quick kiss but a real kiss, on the lips. I peeked at Dad and saw him smirking and shaking his heard. Then I pushed Nate away.

“Get outta here. Get to school. See you this afternoon. Oh. Is it going to be okay with your folks that you’re going to come over tonight?”

As he rushed out of my bedroom he turned and nodded, “No problema!”

******

Unfortunately, it turned out to be ‘muchos más problemas’ for Nate. I discovered that when Nate phoned me.

“Hi, Brian.”

“Uh, hi, Nate. I thought you were on your way over here.”

“So did I. My mom decided that I’m spending too much of my time at your house and that I need to be home for dinner every night with my folks and my brothers. So I’ll come over to help you with your homework, especially the Physics lab experiments, but I’ll have to leave at six fifteen so I can be home for dinner at six thirty. Also, before I can come over after dinner she wants to talk to your mom. She wants to understand why I have to spend the nights helping you with your homework when I have my own homework that I could be doing at home.”

I could tell from the way Nate talked that his mom was listening in to the call, maybe on the line or maybe she was just in the same room when he called me. “When does she want to talk to my mom?”

“Whenever she’s available. I suggested that your mom can call her around five thirty this evening. Do you think that’ll be okay?”

“I think so. I’ll check with her when she’s available and if five thirty is okay she’ll call then, otherwise we’ll figure out a better time and let your mom know. So, will you be able to be here at four with my homework assignments?”

“Sure, I’ll be leaving in a few minutes. I have the equipment for the next set of Physics experiments, so maybe you could clear off the table so we can set it up.”

“I’m way ahead of you. I already boxed up the stuff from the chapter 18 experiments and put it away, so I’m ready for the next group. Thanks for getting the equipment for chapter 19. The experiments on electromagnetic radiation should be interesting. I think they’ll be even more interesting once we get to the more complex topics like radio waves, light, x-rays, and gamma rays. I looked them over and the experiments from chapter 19 will probably take us about five hours. So, I assume that you’ll be here around four so we can get started.”

I heard Nate clear his throat. “Um, yeah, I’ll see you in a few minutes. Bye.”

“See you.” I ended the call.

Nate arrived ten minutes later. Dad hadn’t gotten home yet, so Nate and I sat in the living room with Mom.

“So, you sounded sort of weird on the phone, Nate. I guessed that your mom was listening to your side of the call.”

“Both sides. She was on the other phone. I stopped at home to pick up some clothes before coming over and she confronted me. She wanted to know why I spent so much time at your house, and why I didn’t go home last night. I gave her the story about how you were beat up by Quin Santoni. Turns out she knows the family because they go to her church, and she’s heard about you though she didn’t know who you were or where you lived. I don’t think she believes that Quin and Tom Calloway attacked you. Anyway, I told her that as one of my community service projects I’m helping you with your homework, and we’re doing our homework together with other kids from school, including Rob Langale, and she knows the Langales. I told her that yesterday we worked on the Physics experiments that had to be turned in at school today. They did have to be turned in today, didn’t they, Brian?”

“Uh....”

“Anyway,” Nate interrupted, “I said I spent the night here last night because it got so late and I was totally bushed.”

“So, not tonight?”

“Unfortunately, not tonight. Maybe not any night for a while. I can’t risk it. My mom is suspicious. We need to make her unsuspicious. So, like I said on the phone she wants to talk to your mom.”

He turned to look at Mom. “To you, Mrs. Anderson. We need to talk to you first, sort of prep you for the call. Mrs. Anderson, I can’t be outed to my folks. I told you how homophobic they are. They think gays eat babies, or something almost as stupid. I’ve always left the room when they started ranting about anyone on TV who’s gay. Like there’s a show on the home channel about finding a house to buy, and sometimes they have two guys, obviously gay guys, who are looking for a house to share. They get all upset about that. Just think how upset they’d get if they found out about me and Brian.”

Mom looked unhappy. “I understand. I’ll figure out what to say to your mother based on what you told her. I’ll reword it so it doesn’t sound like you coached me.”

“See, I told you my mom can be pretty cool about things. And you know that my folks aren’t homophobic. My roommate at the hospital, Ron, is gay and they had no problem with me being in the same room, and they were friendly with him and his folks. They don’t have any problem with you being gay. They don’t have any problem with us being boyfriends. Right, Mom?”

“That’s right. But first the two of you have to talk to Brian’s dad when he gets home.”

“Damn, I’d forgotten about that,” I responded.

Nate took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. I guess I’m ready for his talk. It’s sort of like another kind of inquisition, one that’s worse than the one when I had dinner with you the other night.” He grinned to show that he was kidding.

“Mom, Nate and I have to get set up to do our homework, so we’re going up to my room, okay?”

“Yes, that’s okay, Brian. I have to start dinner anyway.”

We went upstairs and I sat on my bed.

“Did you actually bring the chapter 19 Physics experiments stuff? Or did you just think that up when we were on the phone?”

“I didn’t think it up because I do have the equipment for your chapter 19 experiments. Do we have time to take it out and set it up now?”

“Sure.”

So that’s what we did. Mr. Nayak put everything in a canvas bag, and we emptied it out on my experiments table.

“This is a lot of stuff. But most of it is small. It’s going to be interesting to see how these experiments are going to go together,” Nate commented.

“Yup. Not too heavy to carry, was it?”

“For you, Brian, anything is not too heavy to carry.”

“In that case I’m glad you have good muscles, Mr. Mead.”

“I have something else that’s good, too.”

“Ooo!” I whispered, “You can show me that anytime!”

“It’s this,” he said. Then he grabbed me in a hug and kissed me. He pulled back and grinned. “It’s my lips.”

“Oh. I thought it would be something else.”

“You have a dirty mind, Brian.”

I started to tell him just how much of a dirty mind I had when I heard Dad.

“Brian, Nate, you ready for our talk?”

I looked at Nate and he shrugged his shoulders as Dad walked into my bedroom.

“Yeah, I guess we’re ready. Where are we going to have the talk?”

“How about right here, in your bedroom. The two of you can sit on your bed, and I’ll use your desk chair.”

I adjusted the pillows so they were standing up against the headboard of my bed, and Nate and I sat leaning against the pillows. Dad moved my desk chair so he faced us.

“First, I’m not going to sit here and give you a sex talk. What the three of us are going to do is have a conversation. Now, like any conversation, it means you are going to participate. I’ll start the conversation with a statement, then I’ll ask some questions as ice-breakers, and the two of you are going to respond to those questions and, hopefully, ask some of your own. See, that’s a conversation.

“Second, I assume both of you have had the sex education part of your health classes in middle school and last year when you were freshmen at Deer Valley High, right?”

We both nodded, and I said “Uh huh.”

“Well, let’s get right into it, then.”