I got up the next morning, I took a shower and dressed for work, I was trying to be quiet, so I didn’t wake Lucas. Lucy followed me out of the bedroom, I let her outside while I made my coffee. After I let Lucy back in, I kissed Lucas goodbye, he must have been having a good dream, he was smiling and thrashing about as I left for work.
***
Lucas Flashback.
Jace and I were soon spending all our free time together, we had become the school’s token gay couple. Of course, there were those that didn’t approve, but we didn’t care. Our real friends supported us, and we were careful not to show too much affection during school hours. The school administration didn’t bother us, because there were straight boyfriend/girlfriend couples holding hands and kissing in the halls. Jace and I didn’t come close to doing some of the things that they got away with, we did all of our kissing in private.
We met each other’s families, and it went ok, my dad was still trying to come to terms with my coming out. Jace’s were a little more progressive, but the more we spent time together, the more my parents liked Jace, and his parents liked me. Our parents even got along well with each other, and we started to do things together as one big family. I was so proud of my dad for coming around and accepting Jace.
Travis of course was always in my corner and he and Emily soon included us, and we often went out to eat or to the movies together. Drew and Erica were still dating, and we became friends and often did things as a group. Erica would tease Jace about stealing me away from her and Drew would elbow Jace and say thank you.
Our junior year went quickly by and Jace and I both got summer jobs at a grocery store stocking shelves. As we got to the start of our senior year, we were approaching our one-year anniversary. We were at my house watching movies with Travis, Emily, Drew and Erica.
Emily asked, “so are you guys going to the homecoming dance?”
Jace looked at me and shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess we haven’t talked about it.”
I said, “that’s the same weekend as our anniversary.”
Erica said, “we could all go out to eat before the dance and you two could be alone afterward.”
Jace and I both blushed a little as they all sat there grinning at us. Jace said, “I’m not sure all of our classmates would want to see us dance together, I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”
Travis spoke up, “who cares what anyone else thinks, if you guys want to go to the dance, then you should go.”
I smiled at Travis, “we’ll talk about it and let you guys know.
After everyone left, I asked, “what do think about the dance?”
Jace shrugged, “do you want to go?”
I said, “kind of.”
He paused for a moment, “if you want to go, then I guess we can go.”
I sighed, “well not if you don’t want to go. I would be just as happy spending the night with you.”
Jace said, “I know, but you want to go to the dance.”
I shook my head, “not if you’re going to be miserable.”
He said, “I won’t be miserable, I’m just worried about what everyone else will think.”
I chuckled, “everyone knows we are a couple, what difference does it make if they see us dancing together?”
Jace sighed, “I guess you’re right, but I should warn you, I’m not a very good dancer.”
I laughed, “that makes two us. We will probably get made fun of for that, and not two guys dancing together. How about we go and dance just one dance, and if we aren’t having a good time we can leave early.”
Jace smiled, “it’s a deal.”
We let the others know and the six of us made plans to go to an early dinner, then watch the football game and go to the dance. The big day arrived, and dinner was great, we won the football game and now my nerves kicked up as we walked into the gym for the dance. Jace and I sat holding hands as Drew and Erica went out to dance to the first song, Travis and Emily danced the next one. After a couple more songs, both couples were still dancing as Jace, and I looked on. When the next song started, I looked at Jace, it was one of our favorite songs. He smiled back at me, stood, and held his hand out to me. I smiled as I stood and followed him onto the dance floor. We wrapped our arms around each other and started to sway with rhythm of the song, we each had our heads lying on the other’s shoulders. I was so glad that we came, I felt so safe in Jace’s arms and everyone else in the gym just seemed to disappear. I have no idea if anyone even noticed us dancing, and at this point I didn’t care.
As the song ended, we looked at each other and smiled, Jace gave me a quick kiss before we walked off the floor. The others came back and joined us as we sat down, we were still holding hands.
Travis grinned, “see, I told you no one would care.”
Just as the others were agreeing, two of the football players walked near us and said loud enough for us to hear, “I don’t know why those fags have to make us watch that shit.”
The other guy nodded, “yeah, why can’t they just dance in their basement.”
Jace gripped my hand tighter, Travis jumped to his feet, got in their face, and asked, “what did you say?”
The first one said, “you heard us.”
Travis snarled, “what’s the matter, are you jealous that they each have a better-looking date than you two do?”
The second jerk laughed, “a lot you know, we don’t have dates.”
Travis laughed back, “my mistake, I assumed you two were each other’s date.”
They both stared at Travis as they stepped toward him, Drew quickly stood to back Travis up, as did Jace and I. To my surprise, several others that heard what was happening stood behind us as well. The jock’s eyes went wide as they realized they didn’t have any backup, Travis grinned, “I think you two should go finish your date somewhere else.”
They quickly turned away and left the gym and the crowd that had formed started to disperse. We all sat back down as our heartbeats began to return to normal.
Jace said, “thanks Travis, and you too Drew.”
Travis said, “no problem, I will always have your back, and you noticed that those two were the only ones who had a problem.”
I sighed, “yeah, I saw that too.”
We all relaxed again, and Travis and Drew took the girls back out to dance again. Jace asked, “are you alright?”
I smiled, “yeah, I’m good, how about you?”
He nodded, “I’m fine.”
I said, “we don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to.”
Jace asked, “do you want to leave?”
I shrugged, “I got my dance with you, I wouldn’t mind leaving.”
He smiled, “let’s wait until the others come back so we can tell them we are leaving.”
We told everyone goodbye and headed back to Jace’s house. His parents were out of town for the weekend and his brother was staying with a friend.
We went straight to his room as I gave him a kiss, I said, “thank you for going to the dance, all things considered, I had a great time.”
Jace smiled, “I have to admit, so did I.”
We kissed again as we started to pull each other’s clothes off. As soon as we were naked, we fell onto Jace’s bed and began to suck each other’s cocks. I really liked to run my hands through the hair that was growing on Jace’s legs and ass, and that little patch that had formed on his chest was so sexy. I felt Jace work his finger closer and closer to my hole, I spread my legs to allow him access. He pulled me up a bit as he let my dick fall from his mouth, I could feel his warm breath as he was getting nearer to my hole. I shivered when I felt his tongue lick my pucker, then began to dart in and out. I let out a deep breath as I rolled onto my back and pulled my legs up, Jace went back to work on my ass, driving me to pure ecstasy. Once Jace had my hole covered in his slobber, he came up for a kiss and I begged him to fuck me. He reached down and guided his ridged pole to my entrance and locked his lips on mine as he slowly pushed in. I felt him hit my love button just as his nuts were resting against my ass cheeks. I grabbed his ass and pulled him in as tight as I could, he then started to piston in and out. Our eyes remained locked on each other as he picked up speed, and I stroked my cock faster and faster. Jace continued to fuck me until I thought I was going to burst, I panted, “I’m getting close.” Jace leaned in and kissed me again and empaled me completely, once again hitting my sweet spot. I let out a groan and my cock exploded, painting our abs and chests with my creamy white swimmers. A second later, I felt Jace’s cock head swell and then the soothing warmth of his seed filling my insides. Jace collapsed on top of me as we kissed and caught our breath. We took a quick shower to clean up and crawled back into bed holding each other.
I said, “thank you again for going to the dance.”
Jace kissed my cheek, “you are so welcome, I honestly did have a good time. It’s also nice to know that Travis and Drew are looking out for us.”
I smiled, “yeah, I knew Travis was, but now I am sure that Drew is a good guy too.”
The next week at school, we made sure to let them know how much we appreciated them standing up for us. When we saw the jocks in the hall, they both just looked away and they never bothered us again. We were very lucky to be surrounded by such good friends.
When we got to Thanksgiving break, I was going to my aunt’s house out of town with my parents and sister. Jace’s mom was hosting dinner for her family, so we would be spending the long weekend apart.
About a week later, Jace came over to my house so we could do some homework together. He had a slight cold, so we made it an early night and he headed home by 9. He missed the next day of school. I stopped by his house on my way home to give him his homework for the day.
I asked, “are you feeling any better?”
Jace smiled, “yeah, a little bit, I should be back in classes tomorrow.”
He returned to school and after another week, he was still unable to shake his cold. His mom made him an appointment to see his doctor. He was put on some medication, but after another week he was still not feeling any better. When his doctor couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, he sent Jace to see a specialist. Jace spent his entire Christmas break in a hospital on the other side of Miami. I wasn’t able to see him, but we talked every day on the phone. I was starting to worry, he was sounding weak, and he was very discouraged that the doctors were unable to find out what was wrong with him. The week after Christmas break was over, they thought they found out that Jace had an infection in his small intestine, and he began medication to treat it. He was starting to feel better and was able to come back to school. He was still a little weak and looked pale, but he was in good spirits, and I was glad he was back home. By the end of the week, Jace was a little tired, so we didn’t see each other over the weekend, we just talked on the phone and texted each other.
On Monday, I was worried when Jace missed school again. I called him as soon as I got home, his mom answered his phone.
She said, “I’m sorry Lucas, he wasn’t feeling well again yesterday, and we took him back to the hospital today. They are running some more tests.”
I felt a lump in my throat, “will you please call me when they find something out?”
She said, “of course I will, and as soon as he up for company I’ll let you know so you can come visit him.”
I began to cry as I said, “thank you” and ended the call.
Mom asked, “what’s going on Lucas?”
I told her everything that Jace’s mom had told me, and mom and dad promised to take me visit Jace as soon as he was up to having company.
I sent a text every day with words of encouragement, Jace’s only replies were smiley face and thumbs up emojis. Finally on Thursday night, my phone rang, and I saw Jace’s number on my screen.
I smiled as I answered, only to be disappointed when it was Jace’s mom.
She said, “sorry it’s just me Lucas, Jace is sleeping right now. I just wanted to invite you over tomorrow after school, we just brought him home from the hospital and Jace wants to talk to you.”
I said, “of course, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I told mom and dad, and dad smiled, “good, he’s home. I will leave work early and your mom and I will pick up from school and go straight to Jace’s.”
I gave them both a hug, “thanks.” I went to my room and tried to do my homework, with little success. I lay in bed for hours, but sleep wasn’t coming either, but I was so glad that Jace was home and wanted to see me.
The next day, the clock just seemed to crawl, I just couldn’t wait for that final bell. As soon as it rang, I raced out the door and as promised, mom and dad were waiting. I was a bundle of nerves for the entire trip to Jace’s house. His mom answered the door, it was clear she had been crying, but she forced a smile.
She said, “Jace is in his room, go on in. He’s waiting to see you.”
I gave the door a light knock as I pushed it open, I was shocked when I saw Jace. He was so pale and had lost a lot of weight.
He gave me a slight smile, “hey sexy, it’s good to see you.”
I rushed to his bed and took his hand, a tear started to form in my eye, I said, “I have missed you so much.”
His cold hand gave mine a week squeeze, “I’m sorry I don’t look better, but it’s been a rough few weeks.”
I shook my head, “you look fine, you just need a little rest, then you can get out and get some sun and you’ll feel a lot better.”
Jace gave me a weak smile, “that’s why I wanted to see you, I have something to tell you.”
My heart sank, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this, I asked, “what is it?”
He took a deep breath, “the doctors finally figured out what is wrong with me.”
I sighed, “well that’s good, now they can start treating you.”
He shook his head, “Lucas, there is no treatment for what I have.”
I broke down and didn’t hear anything else that Jace told me, I just know that he had a rare blood disease that was 20 letters long and ended in -osis or -itis or something like that. There was no treatment, and he would be gone in three to six months.
We held each other and cried for an hour, I was trying to deny everything that he was telling me, it had to be something else, and he would soon be fine.
Jace smiled, “Lucas, I have already moved on from denial, I am at the acceptance stage right now.”
I was trying to be strong, but the tears wouldn’t stop. We cried and held each other until I saw that Jace was getting tired.
I gave him a kiss on his cheek, “I should let you get your rest, can I come see you tomorrow?”
He smiled, “sure, I would like that.”
I took his hand, “I promise you I will love you for the rest of my life.”
He gave me a weak smile as he said, “just promise you’ll love me for the rest of mine.”
Of course, the tears flowed again as I walked out of Jace’s room. His mom and mine were crying as I walked into the living room. I gave his mom a hug and then hugged his dad, he was also fighting to hold his tears back. We said our goodbyes and drove home in silence.
Over the next few months, I spent every moment I could with Jace. I just told him that he needed to let me know whenever he wasn’t up for company. Somehow, I functioned enough to complete my classes and graduation was a couple of weeks away. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do after graduation, but before Jace got sick, we both applied and were accepted to the University of Miami. Jace was going to study engineering, and I was going to take general education courses until I figured things out.
A week before graduation, Jace’s dad called and asked to me come over, Jace wanted to see me. I rushed over and went to his room, his hospice nurse was sitting in a chair, and his parents were sitting on each side of his bed. I had watched him becoming more frail with every visit over the last few months, he was about half the weight he was before all this started. He gave me a weak smile as I walked in.
He said, “can we have a few minutes, mom and dad?”
They reluctantly stood and left, his mom gave my hand a squeeze. I sat next to Jace and took his hand.
He looked up at me with the saddest eyes, “I think it’s time Lucas.”
I didn’t respond as tears filled my eyes, just as they had done after every one of my visits with Jace.
He said, “I am so tired, I can’t fight anymore. I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and how glad I am that you came into my life. Promise me that you will move on, find someone that deserves you. So are so special, and you deserve someone just as special.”
I croaked through my tears, “how will I find someone that is as special as you?”
He let out a deep breath, “you attract special people.”
His breathing started to become ragged, I gave his cheek a quick kiss and called for his parents. The nurse followed them in as I waited in the living room.
About 20 minutes later, Jace’s dad was holding his mom as they came back into the living room, both were crying. I stood as they walked toward me and wrapped me in a hug.
Through her tears, Jace’s mom sobbed, “he’s gone Lucas.”
***
As I drove to the station, I knew Lucas must have been dreaming about Jace, he always smiled like that when he thought of him. It also broke my heart because I knew how that dream always ended. I knew that Lucas and I were meant to be together, but I wished he could have been spared the pain of losing Jace.
Blake met me at the door as I walked in, I said, “morning Blake.”
He smiled, “Morning Ridge, I was going to go talk to the Grove’s neighbor, you want to go with me?”
I nodded, “sure, let’s see if Ollie has anything new for us first.”
To be continued…
