2 comments/ 135434 views/ 13 favorites Camping It Up By: Funk You PART 1 “So who’s coming on this little trip again Richie?” Paul asked as he continued collecting bags from the front doorstep and hurling them into the back of the navy blue station wagon that was parked a few metres away. Rich carried the last bag out of the flat and then helped transport the last few from the pile and into the car as well. “Wil, Rove, and Gatesy,” he replied. Paul frowned. He didn’t know any of Richard’s friends, even after knowing him for a few years now. He had only a scarce few friends himself and they were all from the Uni. course he and Rich were in, and to tell the truth he felt that they were more like acquaintances than friends. He hadn’t had to make new friends for quite a while now so he was a bit uncertain as to how things would go over the next two weeks with these complete strangers. “Do you go camping with them often?” Paul asked as they walked back inside and into the kitchen. Rich sat down at the table and Paul turned the kettle on and leant back against the bench while he waited for the water to boil. “Yeah, we usually go two or three times a year; whenever we can all manage it really. They’re all pretty eager to meet you.” Paul didn’t know about that. “I don’t know a thing about these people. You hardly ever talk about them or anything.” The kettle boiled and Paul produced two mugs of tea and brought them over to the table, sitting down opposite his friend. “Ah well, you’ll get to know them in no time. You’ll get along just fine, I can tell.” How could he tell? He was obviously blind. “Hmm… How’d you all meet?” Paul asked, taking a large gulp of his tea. It wasn’t long before they would have to leave so it would only be a quick break. Rich copied Paul’s actions before answering the question. “It might sound like a bit of a coincidence, but we were all out camping at the same time in exactly the same place. We hit it off straight away and ended up sharing our campfire for the whole time we were there. Lots of late night story telling and all that – we were young.” Rich sighed “So from then on we’ve been meeting up in the same place on a regular basis. Since we started Uni. and careers and things it’s gotten a bit more difficult of course, but when we do get together we always have fun.” Paul looked down at his fingers as he slid them up and down the cup slowly, concentrating on the heat coming from it. Richard and his friends certainly sounded like a very close-knit bunch. With each new piece of information Rich gave him he became more and more certain that it was a bad idea agreeing to accompany his friend. “Are you sure you want me to come? I don’t want to barge in on your little clique.” “No, no, you’re welcome to join us. I’m sure they’re sick to death of hearing the same stories year after year – I know I am; they’d love to have someone different in the group!” “Is that a compliment or should I be offended?” Paul mock-frowned. Rich rolled his eyes, gulped down the rest of his tea, and went to rinse his cup in the sink. “Shut the fuck up.” Paul finished his drink and Rich collected his cup and rinsed his as well, leaving them upside-down on the drying rack. “Now have we got everything?” Paul looked around as though he could see into all the rooms in the house from where he was. “Umm…think that’s it.” “Great, let’s go then!” Rich began to bounce out towards the awaiting vehicle. “Shit, hang on!” Paul called out to him. “I’ll be in the car.” Rich answered. Paul yelled back, acknowledging that he’d heard him, then ran into his room and grabbed the leather-bound journal from under his pillow and jogged outside. Richard was sitting in the car, and he smiled and waved to Paul to get a move on. Paul nodded to him to be patient and locked the door to their flat before finally jumping into the passenger seat. He slipped his book into the glove box for safekeeping, but also to keep it close so he could write in it on the way if he had some sort of an epiphany or anything. Rich started the car up and immediately the radio blared to life with the wailing riff of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’. They reversed out the driveway and then they were off. PART 2 “This is it!” Richard announced as he pulled the car to a halt between two towering gum trees. Paul climbed out of the car and stretched, looking at their surroundings. It was a fairly secluded campsite, surrounded by hundreds of native trees and foliage, with the remnants of the last campfire slightly to the left of centre of the clearing. “Isn’t it great?” Rich asked in a dreamy tone, taking a deep breath “I love it out here.” “Yeah, it’s alright,” Paul shrugged “Where are the others?” “Probably late, as usual. I tend to always be the first one here for some reason.” Richard chuckled “But there is an upside to this scenario – it means we can set up our tents wherever we want.” He looked around before his eyes settled on a patch of ground that to Paul looked no different than the rest of the place. “That looks like a good spot, what do you reckon?” Paul shrugged. “Whatever.” “Let’s get to it then.” Rich grabbed his tent from the car and dropped it in the spot he’d chosen, then began to unroll it. Eventually he looked up to Paul. “Well are you gonna just stand there or what?” “Oh, sorry, right…” Paul said, jumping to action and beginning to join the poles together. ***** They’d just finished setting up their tents a few metres apart when Paul heard yells of ‘woo-hoo’, ‘Richie’ and ‘we’re here’ coming from a purplish black coloured four wheel drive as it pulled up near theirs. He watched Richard walk over to greet the group as they emerged from the vehicle. They all exchanged hugs and pats on the back with Rich and Paul turned away and unzipped his tent, pulling the flap across to peek inside. “Hey Paul! Whatcha doin’?” Richard yelled. Paul ducked out of the tent. “Get your arse over here!” Rich beckoned to him impatiently and Paul shoved his hands in his pockets and leisurely strode over to where the small group were waiting. He hadn’t really looked at them since they’d arrived, but now he raised his head and saw the three men for the first time. He took a sharp intake of breath and his whole body seemed to freeze for a moment, except for his heart, which he could hear pounding resonantly in his ears. Finally he gained control again, looking to the ground quickly. He convinced himself that his reaction couldn’t have been avoided. They couldn’t help that they were all absolutely gorgeous! He looked up again and held out his hand to the first of them. “Hi, I’m Paul,” he said, easily regaining his composure and staring directly into the tall man’s eyes as he took his hand. Paul could see the surprise registering on his face already. “Gatesy,” he replied, a slow smile creeping over his face as he gave Paul’s hand an extra squeeze before releasing him. Paul unconsciously wiped his sweaty palm on his jeans before turning to the next of the group. “Nice to meet you Paul. Rove here.” he said, flashing a show-host grin at Paul and gripping his hand tightly. Paul returned the pressure correspondingly. “Hey Rove.” Paul murmured, holding Rove’s eyes in an intense gaze. Before Paul had a chance to do anything else, the last of Richard’s friends took a step forward, easily drawing his attention away from Rove. “Wil Anderson at your service!” he almost barked, doing an extravagant bow. He looked up from his bent over position and grinned cheekily up at Paul, waggling his eyebrows – an obvious comedian. “Well that’s nice to know,” Paul replied quietly, returning the grin as Wil rose back to his full height. He studied Wil’s face momentarily and he was sure that he was blushing just a little. Paul looked around at their little party with newly found interest. Richard caught his eye and gave him a puzzled look, and Paul looked away carefully. He hoped his friend didn’t suspect anything. Rich didn’t know about his homosexuality and he didn’t know whether he was ready for him to know yet. Of course, if things went how he was hoping on this camp, he might have no choice but to tell him. He wondered if Richard knew that all his friends were gay. Paul glanced at Rich scuffing his shoe in the dirt and smirked. This was going to be fun, and not to mention very, very interesting. PART 3 Paul was sitting in the passenger seat of the car with the door open writing down his revelations about Richard’s friends when he heard a voice calling his name. He snapped his book shut instinctively and looked up to see who it was. “Hey Paul, wanna help me put my tent up?” Gatesy called from where he was having a bit of trouble keeping both poles up at the same time. Paul was motionless for a moment before he finally put his journal away and walked over to join Gatesy. “Hey,” Paul greeted him and patted his hands on his legs as he looked at the task at hand before bending over to pick up one of the poles while Gatesy secured the other one. “I thought you might’ve been bored and would appreciate something to do. What were you doing over there? It took ages to get your attention.” “Oh, nothing really. Just writing.” Gatesy raised his eyebrow in interest. “Are you a writer?” “Occasionally,” Paul shrugged. It was true; he did dabble in writing a bit, but it was usually just a series of short personal pieces that he only let the choice few, if any, lay their eyes on. “I guess I’m an artist; I’m doing the same course as Rich.” “Right.” There was silence for a few minutes as they hammered all the pegs into the ground. “That’s one thing I’ve always wondered,” Gatesy continued out of the blue “Just how good is he? I never would’ve thought a straight guy would be all that good at art, especially someone like Rich.” Gatesy looked across the tent at Paul with a quizzical and slightly amused look on his face. It was such a completely obvious attempt to let him know he knew that Paul had to laugh. “He’s quite good really. We tend to major in different mediums, but he’s taught me a few things, and I’d like to think I’ve helped him as well. He keeps me sane. If I didn’t have Rich around I’m sure I’d go out of my mind,” Paul frowned at the truth in what he was saying “That’s just what I’m like I guess.” He shrugged and ducked down so Gatesy couldn’t see his face, and pretended to adjust one of the pegs. Gatesy walked around to stand next to him. “Does he know?” Paul didn’t say anything for a moment and then he slowly rose to his feet. He glanced at Gatesy and saw a slight flicker of uncertainty cross his face. “No, he doesn’t know I’m gay, and I’m guessing he doesn’t know about you three either?” Paul shot a grin at Gatesy, who seemed a little taken back at Paul’s veracity. ‘Well, blame the gay radar for that’ he thought. Paul chuckled and gave Gatesy’s shoulder a quick squeeze before walking over to where Richard and Wil were sitting on one of the logs that surrounded the campfire. ***** “…so that’s basically it.” Wil shrugged and looked up to Richard. When he saw Paul coming towards them his face lit up suddenly. “Hey Paul!” he exclaimed. “Hi,” Paul nodded his greeting as he sat down on a log. Rich got up and stretched, then looked down at his companions. “I’m gonna go get some wood for tonight, you guys wanna come help?” “Nah thanks Richie-boy,” Wil replied “You know I’d really love to, but I think I’ll just stay here for a while with Paul.” He looked up at Rich innocently and Paul snickered at the hurt confused look on his friend’s face. Richard opened his mouth as though he was going to say something but then he simply shook his head slightly and walked away. Wil and Paul watched him walk away, then turned back to each other and broke out laughing. Wil shook his head sadly. “Poor Rich, he’s so naive. Sometimes I wonder what we’re ever gonna do with that boy.” “And you’re such a good friend too!” Paul said mockingly as he moved to sit beside Wil. “Oh, I just love to tease him. He doesn’t mind, honestly. If he didn’t enjoy it as much as I did he’d have beaten the shit out of me long ago!” “Whatever you reckon…” Paul chuckled. “You should try it one day – it’s very refreshing!” Paul was laughing non-stop now and fully enjoying it, as was Wil judging by the rapt expression on his face. Wil sighed and his eyes roamed over Paul’s features. “You look so good when you’re happy.” Wil murmured as he stared straight into his eyes. It was an extremely corny thing to say, but Paul instantly stopped laughing, a smile frozen on his face. It was only then that he noticed that Wil was leaning slightly towards him. His smile widened as their faces moved slowly closer together. He could almost feel Wil’s lips on his already. “Guys! Rich is coming back!” came an alarmed whisper from nearby. Both Paul and Wil jumped back from each other and looked around to see who it was. Rove emerged from the trees and unloaded his pile of wood not far from the campfire. He gave them a knowing nod as he sat down on one of the logs. Rich appeared a moment later, his arms also laden with a stack of firewood, which he added to the pile. Wil snickered and Paul was a bit bewildered for a moment until Rich slapped him on the back and plonked himself down next to Rove. Finally Paul started breathing again. That had been close. Rove and Wil grinned at him. Paul looked up to the cloudless bluish-grey sky. It was getting dark and the stars were coming out. Who knew what the night would bring? PART 4 Paul was sitting on the ground in front of the fire, leaning back against a log with his eyes closed, listening to the murmured voices of his companions. It had been a long night of non-stop questioning as they all got to know each other a bit better, to an extent at least. No one talked about their sexuality, but whenever they mentioned someone they had been with it was always ‘my partner’ or ‘my lover’, never revealing the sex of that person. Despite this, Richard still remained completely oblivious. Paul opened his eyes when he heard Rich raise his voice slightly. “Well I’m going to bed guys,” he yawned “See you in the morning.” He gave a small wave and smiled sleepily at Paul then walked over to his tent and climbed in. Paul turned back to see Gatesy and Rove sending each other a mischievous grin and then they got up and both entered Rove’s tent. Paul smiled. Those two had been flirting all night and Richard hadn’t noticed a thing. Paul glanced at Wil, whose eyes were unashamedly running over Paul’s body, and yawned with a slight smile on his face. He rose to his feet and stretched slowly, watching the hunger in Wil’s eyes grow. “Well,” he began, breaking Wil out of his trance “I think Rich has the right idea, so I’m gonna go to bed too. See ya.” Wil looked seriously confused, and Paul turned away and smirked. Now it was Wil’s turn to be teased instead of Richard! He climbed into his tent and turned on the light. He knew Wil would be watching and his skin tingled at the thought as he slowly began to undress, turning it into a kind of silhouetted strip show. He left his boxers on and got out his journal, lay on his stomach and continued writing the entry he had started earlier. He finished writing about his new ‘friends’ and how the trip seemed to be going so far and then he frowned. He was sure Wil would be here by now. He felt a pang of disappointment that he hadn’t shown up, but then pushed the feeling away and flipped his journal open to a new page. He sat up, then put his pen to paper and began to draw. His hand moved in sharp intense strokes as the black ink infected the previously pure white page. Before long the image of an abstract skull had materialised on the page. He’d been so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn’t notice Wil had come in and was now crouched behind him as he did the last few touch-ups. “Wow,” Wil whispered in amazement. Paul jumped violently and snapped his book shut. “Shit, Wil!” He was sure he’d almost had a heart attack then. “Sorry, I did ask if I could come in but you didn’t answer. I don’t think you heard me.” Wil’s eyes inadvertently dropped to Paul’s groin area and Paul felt his body flush with heat. “Did I interrupt you? It’s just those two are so noisy – it’s impossible to get to sleep!” It was easy to guess what it was they were doing to cause so much noise. “No, no,” Paul laughed “It’s fine, really.” “Um, could I look at what you were drawing?” Wil asked cautiously, indicating to the book Paul was clutching firmly in his hand. “What I saw was really good…” He trailed off as he saw Paul’s face drop. Paul looked down at his journal thoughtfully. Could he show him? Well it was only one picture, it wasn’t like he’d be reading it. He looked up to Wil. “Look, don’t worry. Forget it if you don’t feel comfortable about it.” Wil excused, holding his hands up. He looked hurt, and this surprised Paul a little. “No, you can look at it if you want,” he said, opening the book carefully to the page he had been on and handing it to Wil. “You sure?” “Yeah, no worries.” Wil looked down at the page and Paul watched him anxiously, suddenly realising how nervous he was about Wil’s opinion. He held his breath as he waited, then finally Wil spoke. “It’s amazing.” The words conveyed a fairly typical reaction to Paul’s work, but the way Wil said it made Paul grin with a sudden burst of happiness and maybe even a certain amount of pride. Paul didn’t know why it meant so much, but it made him feel good so he decided it was better not to question it. “I’ve got another one to show you,” Paul said eagerly and flipped back to another page and then handed it back. As soon as Wil saw it he began laughing like a hyena. Paul’s face instantly fell. “No, Paul, it’s really good, honestly…” Wil explained. Paul didn’t seem convinced. “I was just thinking…” Wil giggled “You actually made Rich look quite shaggable, and that’s quite a feat to achieve!” Paul looked up at Wil and saw that he had genuinely been thinking that, and that was why he had laughed at his drawing. Paul looked at the picture with that in mind and couldn’t hold back a snigger. He couldn’t believe he’d never noticed it before. “It’s not like that, truly!” Paul vindicated “I’ve never thought about him like that in my life!” Wil looked at him and burst out laughing. “Well neither have I Paul, but you’ve got me thinking!” Paul pouted and Wil’s face grew serious. It was then that Paul noticed that Wil was dressed in much the same attire as him. He raised an eyebrow and they simply looked at each other in silence, then Wil brought his hand up and ever so gently stroked Paul’s mid-cheek length hair. Paul closed his eyes briefly as Wil cupped his cheek in one hand and ran his thumb across his lips. “You’re so beautiful,” Wil breathed. Paul opened his eyes and their gaze locked. Finally he couldn’t hold back any longer and he leant in, closing the gap between them and running his fingers up and down Wil’s side as their lips brushed together over and over with increasing intensity. PART 5 Wil gasped for breath as Paul ground his now naked body down against Wil, both of them fully hard as Paul’s hands touched every part of his body. Paul moved down and rolled one of his nipples between his teeth and took Wil’s shaft in his hand through the cotton boxers that were still restricting him. He kissed his way down Wil’s stomach and then looked up at him. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be biting his lip rather hard. “Look at me.” Paul ordered, and Wil opened his eyes just as Paul swiftly slid his boxers off and engulfed him totally in one go. Wil moaned and threw his head back, at which Paul stopped what he was doing and moved up to kiss his mouth shut. “Now you have to be quiet Wil, or I won’t be able to do this! We don’t want Rich to hear, do we?” Paul grinned evilly and stroked Wil’s shaft with his free hand, fondling his balls occasionally. Wil shook his head vigorously at Paul’s question and Paul moved down again and stared at Wil’s cock in his hand. He increased the pace and moved in to engulf the head, swirling his tongue around the tip as he ran his fingers along the thick shaft. He could hear Wil struggling to stay quiet and he laughed to himself. The sensation caused Wil to gasp loudly and Paul had an idea. He began humming as he took more of Wil’s shaft into his mouth with each stroke. Camping It Up The combination of Paul’s mouth, tongue and hand driving him over the edge, and the vibration of the humming, was finally too much for Wil to handle and he came, his hips lifting from the ground as he gasped Paul’s name under his breath and tried not to scream. Paul swallowed Wil’s cock again and ran his fingers down his perineum and before Wil knew it he was convulsing again. Paul sucked fervently until Wil was finished and then moved up to capture Wil’s lips with his own, pressing his own throbbing erection against Wil’s thigh, causing him to harden again almost immediately. “I want you,” Paul whispered in between kisses, rubbing his cock up and down the length of Wil’s. In response Wil smiled and wrapped his legs around him, grinding himself harder against Paul. He half growled as he told Wil to roll over, which he did without objection. Paul grabbed a condom out of his bag and fumbled for a few seconds before he finally got it open and rolled it on. He leant down and kissed the small of Wil’s back. “Ready?” he asked. Wil nodded. “Please.” The desperation in Wil’s voice as he said this only served to turn Paul on even more and he slowly guided himself part of the way into Wil, who pressed back against him, silently asking for more. Paul suddenly thrust himself deep and Wil cried out in pain and pleasure, then quickly stifled the sound by biting his lip. They froze for a moment, listening for any stirring from the next tent, but hearing nothing, Paul reached around and wrapped his hand around Wil’s shaft as he thrust deeper inside him. Wil was sucking in gulps of air desperately and they were both covered in a sheen of sweat as Wil moved to meet each thrust. Soon they’d worked up a frantic pace and Paul knew he couldn’t hold back much longer. He stroked Wil’s shaft with increasing speed and then rubbed his thumb over the tip. Suddenly Wil was coming in Paul’s hand, biting his own arm hard and screaming. Moments later Paul threw his head back with a strangled cry, his whole body convulsing as he emptied himself inside Wil. Paul collapsed over Wil, their bodies slick with perspiration, and they lay like that until they both caught their breath a little. Eventually Paul reluctantly withdrew from Wil and disposed of the condom, then Wil rolled over onto his back and pulled Paul close, kissing him gently, both men not having enough energy to do anything else. “You’re amazing,” Wil mumbled, stroking Paul’s back lightly. Paul smiled and closed his eyes. “Thankyou.” Moments later they were both fast asleep. PART 6 “Mmm…” Paul mumbled as he became aware of gentle kisses being planted on his chest and stomach, gradually making their way up his neck and finally to his lips. He moaned softly as his lower lip was sucked into the vaguely unfamiliar mouth and Paul slid his hand up the nape of their neck and into the soft silky hair. He wound his fingers into their hair and pulled them deeper as his other hand trailed down the velvety smooth back, bringing the comfortably toned body closer until it was pressed firmly against his. Finally he pulled back and opened his eyes. Wil. Gorgeous young Wil. He smiled sleepily and squinted at the light illuminating the roof of the tent. “Hey there,” Wil murmured, mirroring Paul’s smile. “Hey.” Paul grinned at the hand that was ever roaming his body. “How you feeling?” “Like doing it again right now.” Wil’s eyes were dark with desire and they simultaneously claimed each other’s lips once more. “Come on Paul, time to get up!” called Richard in a motherly tone from just outside. Wil and Paul froze and stared at the opening to the tent. A moment later the flap was flung open and they both held their breath as a head ducked inside. It was Rove. They sighed in relief and Wil lay his head on Paul’s chest before looking up to Rove. He was grinning like he’d just won a million dollars. Rove dropped a pair of jeans and a t-shirt over their naked bodies and waggled his finger mockingly. “Hurry up Wil,” Rove said in a hushed voice “Get dressed and get out of there now while Gatesy’s stalling Richard.” Wil nodded and stood up as Rove left the tent. He swiftly pulled on his boxers and the clothes Rove had delivered and then stepped towards the exit. “Hey!” Paul protested, sitting up on his sleeping bag. Wil turned and looked down at him questioningly. “Don’t I even get a kiss?” he pouted. A smile of dawning fell on Wil’s face and he dropped to his knees before Paul and pulled him in for a deep probing kiss, automatically running his hand down Paul’s chest. Eventually Paul gently pushed him away. Wil stared at him, obviously not really wanting to leave. “Well go on, get out of here!” Paul insisted, giving him a slight shove, and Wil grinned and scampered off. ***** “Hey Rich, hey guys,” Paul said after sitting down next to Richard near the campfire. He looked up to find Gatesy and Rove grinning at him knowingly. He sent them a mock warning look and then smirked, looking down at his shoes. “Well look who’s here!” Gatesy said in an outrageously exaggerated voice. Obviously Wil had just turned up. “Hi Wil! Have a good sleep last night?” Paul looked up and Wil wasn’t even looking at his friend; he couldn’t take his eyes off Paul. Rich was looking on with a confused look on his face and Paul grinned evilly, making lurid gestures to Wil with his hands but keeping it out of Richard’s line of sight. Wil began blushing a fairly violent shade of red and quickly sat down, avoiding looking at Paul until he had regained his composure. Rove and Gatesy were obviously trying very hard not to laugh, but not having much success. “Uh, guys…what’s going on?” Rich asked, looking completely bewildered. “Nothing to worry about Rich,” Gatesy insisted “We just walked in on Wil last night…oh, how can I put it delicately? Wan-” “I don’t think Richard would really like to hear that information Gatesy!” Wil interrupted, glaring at Gatesy. Rich suddenly caught on and a huge grin spread across his face. Paul smirked. He knew the information they were feeding Richard wasn’t true, but they were putting on such a good act he could almost believe it himself! “Hey Wil, it’s a totally normal thi-” “Fuck off Richard!” Wil snarled. He seriously sounded upset. Well maybe it wasn’t true, but it was obviously embarrassing him enough for it to be getting to him this much. “Wil is-a wan-ker, Wil is-a wan-ker, Wil is-a-” Rove taunted in a singsong voice. “Shut the fuck up!” Wil’s voice was slightly higher now, and he didn’t look at all happy. Paul frowned. “Okay, I think that’s enough guys,” he spoke up finally “I think we’ve given him enough shit to last for the rest of the day.” The group looked at him and then at Wil. “Okay?” he asked. There were mumbles of ‘yeah’ and ‘okay’ all around and Paul nodded, satisfied that he’d done his good deed for the day. “So…what’s to eat?” PART 7 Paul trudged through the bush, his arms laden with plates and cutlery they had used for their baked beans and damper breakfast – not exactly a choice meal of Paul’s but since they hadn’t been fishing or set any traps to catch food there wasn’t much better. Stupidly he’d let Rich talk him into doing all the washing for that day, but he’d seen Gatesy heading into the trees and wanted to see what he was up to so he thought he may as well have something to do at the same time. He was heading vaguely in the direction of the river when he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. He met the waterline and then looked upstream. The river seemed to widen into a kind of water hole – an ideal place for swimming – and on the other side of the river a miniature waterfall streamed down the rocky cliff face towering above them. Finally he saw the movement again and he froze. He crouched and carefully put the dishes down beside him, not taking his eyes off the figure, which was now stripping their clothes off. It was Gatesy, and looking in quite good form too from what he could see, and that wasn’t all that much. He had to see more. He rose back up to his feet and began ever so slowly creeping towards where Gatesy was. Paul’s eyes ran over his smooth agile back and he unconsciously licked his lips. Gatesy, now completely naked, walked slowly into the water until it was up to his waist and then dived under. He stayed down for a few moments and then rose to the surface again, shaking some of the water from his hair. Paul hadn’t realised it but he was now only about 20 metres from where Gatesy was. He also didn’t realise, as he looked at the pile of clothes on a nearby rock, that Gatesy was looking at him with a huge grin on his face. “So you gonna come join me or just stand there?” Paul jumped and swung towards where the voice had come from. “Oh…uh…sorry…what?” Paul was blushing and he was sure Gatesy could tell going by the smug smile on his face. It was embarrassing enough being caught in the act, let alone for the other person to be totally revelling in your discomfort! “Coming in?” Gatesy repeated, raising his eyebrows and unsuccessfully gesturing towards the water. Paul looked at him. Yes he wanted to, but Gatesy was with Rove wasn’t he? What if he got in there and then couldn’t control his urges? Gatesy cocked his head to the side and that was all it took for Paul to make his decision. He rapidly got undressed down to his underpants, then glanced at Gatesy. He was watching Paul intently, a slight smile on his face. Finally Paul couldn’t stand the pressure any longer and he stripped off his underwear and was in the water as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to risk any ‘unwanted tension’ in his body, and also he was feeling a bit weird about skinny dipping, alone, with a guy who was already in a relationship, and was also extremely attractive. He would have to be seriously careful about his actions right now or all hell could break loose. He looked up to find Gatesy grinning at him. “Welcome to ‘The Hole’. Suggestive name, but it doesn’t mean anything of course.” Gatesy winked and Paul ducked under to wet his hair, but also to cool himself down a bit. It helped and he came up shivering slightly. “This is such a beautiful place,” he commented, taking a more detailed look at their surroundings “I’ll have to remember to do a few sketches of it before we leave.” “Right.” Gatesy replied. By now it was obvious to Paul that Gatesy wasn’t an arty type person at all. “Come with me and I’ll show you something.” The way Gatesy was looking at him told Paul he probably shouldn’t, but despite this he followed Gatesy. He swam towards the waterfall and went straight through it. Paul paused for a moment, still contemplating whether he was doing the right thing, before ducking through the rush of water as well. He looked around for Gatesy and it took him a moment to spot him sitting on a rock just inside the opening of the cave. Paul could see everything, and now that he was close up he saw that Gatesy’s body was even more toned than he had first thought, and he had a package to die for. “See something you like?” PART 8 “What!?” Paul exclaimed in shock. “See something you like?” Gatesy repeated, gesturing towards the inside of the cave “I thought maybe you’d like to sketch this too.” He shrugged. Paul felt a rush of relief. He’d thought Gatesy had been meaning something totally different. He looked around, his insides still squirming. Gatesy was right. It was beautiful. The water glistened off the various shaped rocks jutting from the inside of the cave, and a shaft of light through the roof gave it a mystical effect. Maybe he was wrong about Gatesy not being at all interested in art. Finally Paul nodded in response to the question. He felt like a total dick for being sucked in by his overactive imagination, if you could call it that. He heard a small splash, and turned back to find Gatesy in the water before him, standing awfully close. He could feel what was going to happen. ‘Shit!’ he thought, heating up and at the same time trying to force himself to move away. He’d just about gotten up the nerve to move when Gatesy leant in and brushed his lips across Paul’s, his hand twining around and tugging the hairs as the nape of his neck. Out of all the things Paul loved having done to him by a lover, Gatesy had just found one of the most erotic. “Gatesy,” Paul protested weakly, definitely not objective enough to make him stop, rather, to cause him to keep going. Gatesy’s hand trailed down the full length of his spine, pressing gently at the very tip. Paul moaned – yet again Gatesy had found another one of Paul’s weak spots. He seemed to be having no trouble at all in guessing what Paul would like. He was driving Paul wild and he’d hardly even done anything. Paul could feel the guilt rising in his body once more as Gatesy moved in to kiss him again. Finally he pushed him away. “No, Gatesy, we can’t do this.” Gatesy stared at him, his brow knitting slightly. “Why not?” he questioned, seeming clueless as to what the problem could be. “Well…uh… It just feels wrong to be doing this when you’re with Rove. Call me crazy, but that’s just how I am.” Paul looked away and crossed his arms defensively over his chest. “What the…? Ohhh! No, Rove and I aren’t together, we just sleep together sometimes!” Paul looked back at him uncertainly. “Really, that’s all it is. It’s the same with Wil – this is what we always do when we go camping together, not that Rich knows that of course!” Finally Paul let out a smile. The cloud of guilt finally lifted from around Paul’s shoulders. “Okay?” Paul nodded. “Sure.” ***** Gatesy had done all the right things and touched him in all the right places. It was as if he knew his body off by heart before he’d even layed a finger on him. Paul would have happily agreed to spend his whole life with this man, just to get the astounding amount of pleasure that he hadn’t often felt with other lovers. It had been a fairly energetic rumpy-pumpy session and the cool spring water had added to the exhilarating effect. When they finally emerged from the water and lay down on a large rock to dry off, Paul felt utterly refreshed and more relaxed than he had in months. Gatesy stretched out beside him and looked over at Paul. “That was fucking amazing.” “You’re telling me mate.” Paul smiled and closed his eyes, bringing his arms up behind his head. He was just drifting into a daydream-like state when his breath caught in his throat at the feel of Gatesy’s hand brushing gently over his groin area. He opened his eyes and made a soft noise of pleasure when Gatesy tweaked his nipple between his fingers. It was only when the hand moved away that he focussed and realised that Gatesy was now fully dressed and holding Paul’s clothes in one arm. An impish grin spread across Gatesy’s face. “Hey Paul, want your clothes?” Paul frowned. ‘Uh-oh’, he thought. He knew what was coming next. He made a lunge for the clothes but Gatesy was too quick. “You’ll have to catch me first!” he exclaimed, and ran off. “Shit!” Paul growled. He jumped to his feet and bolted after him. “Gatesy, I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you!” PART 9 Paul jogged into the campsite wearing only his shoes and jocks that Gatesy had graciously dropped during the pursuit and came to a stop, bending over to catch his breath. “Gatesy!” he roared. Rove poked his head out from his tent and burst out laughing. Paul sneered at him. “What the fuck’re you looking at!?” Rove stifled a giggle and beckoned to him. “In here.” Paul grudgingly climbed into the tent and looked around, then he spotted his clothes dumped in the corner “So I’m guessing he did it to you too then, eh?” Rove grinned, sitting down on his sleeping bag. “Hmph,” Paul grunted, flopping down beside Rove and carefully examining his clothes for any damage “Where’re the three stooges now?” “Well Gatesy disappeared, for obvious reasons, taking the car with him mind you. I hope you punish him really good for this Paul!” “Oh, you bet I will! You fucking bet!” Paul pulled on his jeans and t-shirt and then tied his shoelaces, which, in his haste to try and catch Gatesy, he hadn’t done yet. “And Rich and Wil are up the river fishing.” “Why are you here by yourself then?” “Oh, I was with Rich and Wil, I just came back to get some more bait – the stuff they’re using is crap. Wanna join us?” “Yeah, sure.” Paul said with a shrug. Gatesy probably wouldn’t turn up for a few hours yet anyway so he could use a bit of time to waste. ***** Paul swung the rod back and cast out a line into the water. So far he’d caught two fish, Rove had caught three, Wil had hooked two puny little midgets which had to be thrown back, and Rich hadn’t had any luck at all. Rove was right about them using the wrong bait, as he was using Rove’s and they were the only ones to catch anything that could truthfully be called ‘fish’. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Camping wasn’t really his thing; back home he constantly had to have something to do, but out here you could actually relax and do nothing – it would take a bit of getting used to. Paul frowned as he heard a rustle from the bushes behind him and he turned to see what it was. “Boo!” yelled Gatesy. Paul jumped. He spun to face him and stabbed the fishing rod into the ground in one movement, then shoved Gatesy stumbling backwards into a bush. By now he’d gotten the attention of the rest of the party and they looked on in amusement. “Shit Paul, calm down!” Gatesy climbed to his feet and stared at Paul’s malicious scowl in shock. He took a few steps towards Paul, his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry, okay?” “Get fucked.” Paul muttered, pushing Gatesy again, but this time sending him flying into the river, the impact causing droplets of water to explode and rain down on them. Gatesy came up looking like a mangy wet dog. His clothes were clinging uncomfortably to his body and he was covered in greeny-brown slime. He looked really upset. Paul sneered proudly. Everyone was laughing, and Gatesy obviously wasn’t impressed. He paddled out of the water and slowly squelched his way back towards the camp. “That was a pisser Paul!” Rove chuckled, slapping him on the back “You got him real good. He’ll know not to mess with you again!” Rich and Wil laughed and shook their heads, not knowing what exactly was going on, but not questioning it– they’d seen how physical Paul had gotten with Gatesy and they definitely didn’t want to get in the way if he happened to get the urge to attack them. PART 10 “Well, I think that’s enough for lunch, and tea if we can’t find anything else.” Richard said, reeling in his line and packing up the tackle box “Did you go set the traps Rove?” “Yeah, I did it this morning. I’ll go check them a bit after dark.” “I’m starving. Hurry up.” Wil urged and began leading the way back to camp. It was only when Richard had wrapped the fish in foil and put them on the fire to cook that Paul remembered something vital. He was meant to do the dishes and instead he’d left them down by the river. Cursing under his breath he told them he’d be back soon and jogged towards where he presumed he’d left them. He came to the water and then slowly began making his way downstream, not wanting to risk standing on the dishes and breaking the only plates they’d brought along. Luckily they were still in the same place and he hastily washed them and then walked back up towards ‘the Hole’. He slowed as he saw Gatesy crouched a little further up in a pair of shorts, washing his slime-covered clothes. Paul frowned. He really had been a little harsh on him. He considered going up and apologising but then changed his mind. Gatesy had deserved it. He turned to walk back to the camp but then Gatesy spotted him and he knew he had to go over and resolve their little grudge. He went over and sat on a rock slightly behind Gatesy, leaving a distance of about a metre between them. Neither of them said anything for a minute or so, but Gatesy kept glancing back at him warily. Camping It Up “Look, sorry about before,” Paul blurted out “I might’ve been a little extreme, I know.” “I’m sorry too. I didn’t know you’d be so touchy about it.” “Well now you do.” Paul said quietly. Gatesy nodded and finished wringing out his clothes, then stood up. “I think the guys will be waiting for those.” He nodded towards the plates stacked in Paul’s lap. Paul smiled and got up. “Let’s go.” ***** “Where’ve you been? We were waiting for you!” Rich asked impatiently when they walked up. “I just went to find Gatesy,” Paul replied, rather unconvincingly “I didn’t think he’d want to miss out on your fantastic cooking.” Richard frowned, obviously not sure whether Paul was telling the truth or just messing with him. It was then that he saw what Paul was carrying. “Hey, I was looking for those.” He walked up and took the plates from Paul, who then reached into his pockets and fished out the knives and forks and handed them over as well. In the meantime, Gatesy had gone back to his tent and made a clothesline between two trees with some rope, and hung his saturated clothes on it. Paul sat down on one of the logs and rubbed his eyes. He was surprisingly tired, but when he thought about it, it wasn’t all that surprising, considering all the sex he’d had of late, but maybe it was just his body learning to relax after being under constant stress and pressure all year from his course. He’d never really had a chance to stop and unwind. Gatesy walked up and sat beside Paul, who shot him a small smile before looking around at the rest of their group. Rove was looking on with interest, obviously more than happy to be a voyeur of their actions. Richard was totally absorbed in what he was doing, smiling slightly as he turned the foil-covered fish with a stick. This really was his scene – out in nature, with not a care in the world. Wil, contrary to everyone else, looked less than enthusiastic. His eyes were downcast and he was aimlessly poking a stick at the hot coals. Paul prided himself in being able to tell how people were feeling and sometimes even what they were thinking by studying their body language, and Wil was definitely not a happy camper, pardon the pun. Wil glanced at Gatesy, and then at Paul. Their eyes locked for a moment before he frowned slightly and looked back to his blackening stick. Paul couldn’t help but smile. Wil was jealous. Rove must’ve told him what had happened and now he was jealous of Gatesy. It was sweet really, and he even felt slightly flattered – to think, two men both wanting him at the same time. He watched Wil tuck his hair behind one ear and smiled. He really was adorable, and the tiny goatee right below his bottom lip made him all the more sexy. Wil looked up to find Paul watching him and Paul raised his eyebrow seductively, causing Wil to shiver and look away quickly. Now Paul was satisfied that Wil thought he was back with a chance, and even though he was already a bit worn out, he couldn’t wait to have Wil again. PART 11 Like clockwork, Wil entered Paul’s tent at exactly the same time as he had the night before and sat cross-legged at the foot of Paul’s bed. Paul closed his diary and put it away, turning to face Wil. They simply looked at each other for a moment. Wil still didn’t look entirely happy and Paul guessed it was still about the Gatesy business, but Wil had no reason to be jealous, he could have Gatesy any time he wanted as well. Paul didn’t see what the problem was. Wil looked exactly like a little boy who’d lost his puppy. “Are you okay?” Paul said finally. Wil shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, I’m alright.” He glanced around at Paul’s belongings, his eyes lingering on the book Paul had discarded in the opening of his bag. “If you don’t want me to be here just say and I’ll leave.” Still he didn’t look back at Paul. “What gave you that idea!? I enjoy your company, I thought that was obvious. Stop being so down, okay?” Wil looked up and gave a slight smile. “Okay.” He glanced at the book again. “Done any more drawing lately?” “Nah, just writing in my journal.” Wil raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t know it was a diary, I just thought it was like a sketch book.” “It’s kinda both.” Paul was becoming a little uneasy with all the talk about his most personal and private item. “So Wil,” he began, his eyes glinting as he grinned at Wil “You must’ve come here to do more than just talk.” Wil smirked. “Oh did I now?” Wil murmured as he moved up to lay beside Paul and leant on one elbow, facing him but not allowing any part of their bodies to touch. Paul nodded. “What did you think I came here for Paul?” The grin on Paul’s face widened even more. “You came here to fuck me.” Wil raised an eyebrow at Paul’s choice of words. “Is that what you want?” Paul’s face grew serious as he stared right into Wil’s eyes. “Fuck me Wil.” Wil didn’t move. Paul studied him hungrily, then suddenly pushed Wil onto his back, slid his fingers under the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down over Wil’s already growing erection. “Fuck me Wil,” he repeated, leaning down to taste him, taking long slow strokes. “Oh God…Paul…” Wil moaned under his breath. Paul removed his mouth and quickly his hands took over, stroking Wil’s throbbing shaft with only a feather light touch, driving him crazy. “Fuck me Wil,” Paul whispered once more, and finally Wil took the bait, pulling Paul to him for a deep drugging kiss, removing Paul’s boxers at the same time. Their eyes met and wordlessly Paul handed him a tube of lubricant. Putting some on his fingers, Wil watched Paul’s face as he slid one finger inside him, massaging gently as he slipped another, then another finger inside him. Sweat was beaded on Paul’s brow and upper lip and his eyes were closed, his face slightly twisted in an expression of pleasure and concentration. “Wil…” Paul breathed, signaling for him to stop. Wil removed his fingers and Paul produced a condom and rolled it onto Wil, stroking him at the same time. Paul pushed Wil onto his back once again and slid up to kiss him. Wil groaned, gripping Paul’s neck gently with one hand while the other explored his body. He slid a finger into his crack and Paul matched Wil’s earlier groan. He straddled Wil and kissed his chest, then paused as they looked at each other. He positioned himself above Wil and then slowly lowered himself down onto him, closing his eyes and almost blacking out at the miraculous sensation. He repeated the movement, gasping at how deep Wil was already. Wil began moving with him, taking Paul in his hand and stroking him in time with their natural rhythm. Their pace quickened and Paul strained to pull Wil up to a half-sitting position and kissed him, sucking his tongue erotically as their movements grew even more frantic. The kisses became increasingly urgent as Wil rubbed his thumb over Paul’s tip with each stroke. Their bodies were moving hard and fast together and finally Paul came, the contractions of his muscles causing Wil to come moments later, both of them gasping each others names as they hit that point of extreme ecstasy. They caught their breath slowly, kissing tenderly and not moving apart. Paul loved the full feeling of Wil being inside him – it felt so right. Wil was slowly stroking his back, raining kisses across his neck and shoulder as Paul leant his head against him. They were both exhausted, cathartic and unable to move. After a while Wil withdrew himself from Paul. Paul had to restrain himself from almost whimpering at the loss, but he didn’t let go, and neither did Wil. He didn’t know what it was, but there was just something about Wil that was different. Something that made Paul feel this way – God, he couldn’t even describe how he was feeling! “Pauly?” Wil asked uncertainly, looking down at his face. That was the first time he’d called him that. Paul looked up at him and kissed him. “And you thought I was amazing. Look who’s talking.” Wil blushed. “Come here.” Paul lay back down on his sleeping bag and pulled Wil down with him so that they were snuggled up together, arms and legs entwined. Paul was still in comfortable bliss as he drifted off to sleep with Wil’s body pressed to his – it felt incredible. PART 12 When Paul woke up early morning it was still partly dark and Wil was stretched out beside him with his arm across Paul’s chest. He looked at his watch and sighed. It was only 5.17 but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep now. He felt the need to be doing something – moving in some way. Carefully he extracted himself from under Wil and got changed into his boxers and a T-shirt and put on his sneakers before kissing Wil lightly on the cheek and leaving the tent. He stood and looked around the silent campsite. Nothing stirred. It was as though time had frozen and he was the only one who wasn’t trapped in it. It was a peaceful but slightly eery feeling. Paul ducked back into the tent and grabbed his book. He felt in the mood to draw something, and who knew? He might get a flash of inspiration. He sauntered off into the bushes, in search of the perfect place to clear his mind. ***** When Paul returned to the campsite he found all of them sitting in silence around the dead campfire. Wil saw him first and jumped up. “Where the fuck have you been!? We were worried out of our minds about you!” This was the most emotional Paul had ever seen Wil and it was a little daunting. The other three came up to stand before him. “I’m sorry, I just went for a walk, that’s all.” “That was really stupid Paul,” Gatesy said, shaking his head. “Well you might not know this Paul, but when you’re in situations such as this, you always let someone know when you’re going somewhere,” Rich said slowly, his hands on his hips “What if you’d gotten lost or something? We wouldn’t have even known which direction to start looking.” Paul hadn’t considered this scenario. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I won’t do it again.” Paul held up a hand to silence them and walked off towards his tent. He ducked inside and flopped down onto his sleeping bag, slipping his journal into his bag with a sigh. A moment later Rove entered the tent and sat next to him. “Hey,” he said softly. Paul grunted in response. “Hey, they were just worried about you, that’s all.” “I know. I just don’t like people telling me what to do. I like to be able to do what I want, when I want.” “But they are right. When you’re out here you have to let people know what you’re doing or they can’t help you if there’s an accident.” Paul nodded. “And Paul?” Paul looked up. “I know you’re trying to keep our little secret from Rich, but I think it might help if you weren’t wearing Wil’s T-shirt.” He grinned at the surprised look on Paul’s face as he looked down at the body-hugging shirt. Rove was right, he never wore those kind of tops – it was a dead give-away! “I thought it felt a bit tight,” he sniggered. “You’re just lucky Rich was too distraught to notice what you were wearing. So…be careful, okay?” Rove asked, patting Paul on the back and moving to leave. “Hey, Rove?” He turned back to Paul. “Thanks.” “No problem mate.” Rove flashed him his show-host grin and winked, then left the tent. ***** When Paul came out of the tent, in his own clothes, Richard was stirring the contents of a billy that was hanging over the campfire and seemed totally intent on the task at hand. The others were seated where they had been earlier and Paul walked up and sat down next to Rove who surreptitiously let his hand touch Paul’s leg as he repositioned himself slightly on the log. Paul raised an eyebrow at him and Rove mirrored the expression when Paul reached behind him and ran his thumb under the back of his top. He even shivered slightly at the sensation before Paul returned his hand to his side with a smug look on his face. At the moment it was two down one to go, and he was certain that pretty soon that would change. “What’s for lunch Richie?” he asked, breaking the silence. He was starving because of their early tea the night before and not having had any breakfast either because he’d been gone for so long. “2-minute-noodles,” he replied, staring into the pot, then he picked up one of the plates from the pile beside him and began dishing it up, with some difficulty, and making quite a mess in the process. After quite a few minutes finally everyone had received their lunch and was wolfing it down hungrily, especially Paul. He finished and looked around to see that he was the first one to finish. He was still hungry, but he glanced in the pot and discovered that there was none left. He frowned slightly and put his plate and fork down in front of him. Rove finished shortly after he did and half-smiled at him. “Wanna come for a walk?” he asked. Rove nodded and they got up and headed into the bushes, Paul leading the way. PART 13 “This morning I found this really amazing place. I want to show it to you.” Paul said eagerly, resting his hand lightly on Rove’s back as they walked briskly through the bushes. Paul was pretty sure he remembered how to get there, and sure enough, he spotted the unusual rock which had led him to the place. It seemed a lot further from their camp than it had earlier that day. He turned in the direction the rock was pointing and slowed a bit, jumping when he felt Rove’s hand touch his arm. He’d almost forgotten he had company. “Paul, do you know where you’re going?” he asked, looking around nervously. “Precisely,” he replied “It’s just a bit further this way,” he reassured, and as they came to the top of the hill Paul stopped and took a deep breath. “There it is,” he almost whispered as he looked down the hill at the rock formation. Rove’s mouth had dropped open slightly in amazement, the same thing that had happened to Paul when he had first seen it. It looked as though someone had purposefully put it together that way to make it perfectly symmetrical and balanced, yet it was completely natural. A mixture of sharp jutting spear-tips and rounded curves; it was beautiful. “It’s- ” “Breathtaking.” Paul finished for him. Rove nodded. “Come on.” Paul took him by the arm and walked him down towards the massive sculpture. They entered a gap in the rocks and walked inside. Rove broke away to explore while Paul lay on his back in the middle of the largest cavern and stared at the patterns that were created on the roof by the direction of the light. After about half an hour Paul went to find Rove, and discovered him standing in the centre of a smaller rounded enclosure, staring up at a small shaft of light streaming in through a hole way above his head. Paul leant against the wall of the cave and watched Rove studying his surroundings, touching the rough walls around him. “Kinda romantic, isn’t it?” he asked eventually. Rove shivered and looked towards him with a nod. Paul took a few more steps until he was standing right before Rove. “It makes me horny,” Rove replied finally, flashing a sexy grin before his face became serious again. “Me too.” Paul’s voice came out thick and deep and Rove suddenly grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in, kissing him carnally as his fingers began to trace their way down Paul’s body. Rove pushed Paul hard against the wall of the cave, both of them groaning as their hardening erections ground together. Rove ran his hands under his shirt and tweaked Paul’s nipples quite hard, causing him to cry out. Rove rapidly stripped Paul of his shirt and leant down to do the same action with his teeth. Paul gasped, his breathing growing heavy, and Rove grinned, obviously loving every minute of it. Rove ran his fingers luxuriously through the smattering of dark hair on Paul’s chest as he kissed and bit his way down his slightly trembling body. Paul was already going weak at the knees in anticipation. Rove licked the straining bulge in Paul’s tight jeans and ran his teeth slowly up and down it, his fingers rubbing between his legs. Paul was moaning, begging incoherently. Finally he made sense: “Rove…please…please…” Finally Paul heard the sound of his fly being unzipped and felt the rush of air hit his legs as his jeans dropped to his ankles. Rove began sucking just the tip of his penis through the thin material of his jocks, and Paul’s knees finally gave, but Rove gripped his hips and held him up, rubbing his thighs and straining to take more of Paul into his mouth through the fabric barrier. The sensation of the restricting material rubbing against him was driving Paul insane but it wasn’t enough. “Rove!” he growled under his breath, gripping Rove’s head and running his fingers through his hair “I need- ” But before he could finish the sentence his jocks had disappeared and Rove engulfed him in one go, his tongue swirling around the tip. Paul bucked his hips out from the wall and threw his head back, moaning loudly as Rove continued pushing him rapidly towards the brink. Rove could tell Paul was getting close and he closed his hand around Paul’s shaft and began stroking him with increasing speed as he sucked and ran his tongue around the tip. Paul’s cries became louder and louder with each stroke and he instinctively began thrusting harder and faster against Rove, gasping and moaning. Rove ran his fingers along Paul’s perineum and stroked his balls with his thumb as he swallowed Paul once more, and suddenly Paul was coming in his mouth, yelling and gasping Rove’s name as his head blacked out at the intensity of the sensations. Rove swallowed his hot seed and licked him clean. “Fuuucckk…” Paul groaned, collapsing into Rove’s awaiting arms. He was sure it took him half an hour to catch his breath again, by which time he was already hard again as he undressed Rove, and his fingers, lips and tongue explored every section of flesh revealed and he proceeded to return the favour. PART 14 Rove and Paul returned to camp a few hours later looking a bit worse for wear. Paul nervously tried to fix his hair as Richard turned to look at them. “Have a nice walk guys?” Paul looked to Gatesy worriedly, and he shook his head that no, Rich didn’t know anything, and Paul relaxed a bit. “Yeah, I showed Rove this cave I found this morning and then we went exploring a bit further.” He unconsciously raised an eyebrow at how true that statement was. “It was fun,” Rove agreed with a nod, unable to keep a smile from creeping onto his face when he glanced at Paul. “So what have you guys been up to since we left?” Paul asked, looking around at his companions whom were seated around the campfire, as usual. Wil hadn’t even looked at them since they’d arrived back. He simply sat there picking dandelion buds from the grass behind him and flicking their heads off with a kind-of slingshot technique. Paul decided he’d ask him what the problem was later that night. “Nothing much,” Richard replied, shrugging “We washed the dishes, and we just got back from the river.” “We were getting a bit smelly,” Gatesy added. “You two could probably do with a wash too. Your hair looks like shit, Paul!” Rich pointed out. Paul self-consciously ran his fingers through his hair again. Well at least Richard still didn’t know the truth, but he just had a feeling that by the time this camping trip was over he would at least have a pretty good idea. ***** Rove and Paul got back from their wash in the river just as Richard was dishing up their tea of baked beans and damper. Wil still wouldn’t look at him but Paul tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling this was causing. After they’d eaten they sat around talking until quite late, then eventually they all went to bed. As usual, Paul wrote in his diary about what had happened since the last time he’d written in it, being quite specific as to what had happened. Sometimes he liked to read back on what his various lovers had done to him and how things happening in his life had affected him, so he wrote in as much detail as he could, in the process getting hornier by the minute. He hoped Wil would come soon. Camping It Up He looked at his watch. 1.24. Where was Wil? He needed him. He’d been waiting in tense anticipation for almost half an hour and it was becoming quite painful, not to mention that he had to talk to him about what was going on and why he was acting weird. Finally he couldn’t wait any longer and he jumped up and made his way out towards Wil’s tent and climbed inside. He crawled up to him and squinted down at the motionless form before him. He was lying flat on his back, fast asleep. Not a problem, he could manage that. His fingers trailed down Wil’s naked chest and leant in so his tongue could follow the same line. He smelt so good, and he tasted wonderful. Paul’s hands moved down further, pushing the sleeping bag off his body as he went. Paul groaned as he realised that Wil wasn’t wearing anything. He began stroking him ever so gently and Wil slowly began to harden, making tiny little noises in his sleep. Paul was so hot already he almost couldn’t stand it. He took Wil into his mouth and massaged his shaft with his tongue. He loved this – he knew he’d never be able to get enough of Wil. He could sense Wil waking up and he increased the pressure slightly as he felt Wil’s hands on his head, his fingers weaving their way into his hair. “Oohhh, Paul,” Wil murmured, already close to orgasm. Paul ran his hand hard and fast along Wil’s shaft, sucking erotically first on one ball, then the other. “Fuck…Paul….oohh God….oooohhhhh Gooodddd!!!” Paul engulfed Wil totally and began deep throating him. He increased the pressure at the base of Wil’s shaft and suddenly he was screaming, louder than Paul had ever heard him before. He knew that Richard might have heard, being only a few tents away, and Gatesy and Rove definitely would have, but frankly at the moment he didn’t care. To be able to give Wil this much pleasure was worth it. Paul swallowed hungrily until Wil had emptied himself entirely and then moved up to lie beside him. Paul went to kiss him but Wil shoved him away. Paul froze in confusion. “Wil?” he asked tentatively. “I can’t do this anymore. It’s too hard,” Wil said in a choked voice, pulling the sleeping bag back over his body. “Wil, what’s wrong?” Paul seriously didn’t know what was going on. “I can’t - ” Wil gulped “I thought you wanted me.” “Fuck Wil! I do! Why else do you think I’m here?!” “I can’t stand you going off with them all the time, it’s just too painful. I can’t keep going on like this. It has to be all or nothing.” “Wil, I- ” “No, don’t say it. I know you can’t say what I want to hear. I’m…I’m falling in love with you Paul, and…it hurts to know you don’t feel the same way, but if I can’t have you totally for myself, then…” Wil took a deep shuddering breath and brought a hand up to his face “Then I can’t have you at all.” Paul hadn’t even suspected, and it seemed so obvious now. How had he been so blind? “Oh God, Wil I’m- ” “No, just leave, okay?” Wil interrupted, his voice wavering with emotion “Please, just go.” Paul studied him briefly, and then left, walking slowly back to his tent with a heavy heart. PART 15 Paul frowned as he stared into his cup. He slowly dunked his teabag in and out of the boiling hot water as his mind wandered. It had only been the previous night that Wil had dropped the bombshell, and honestly, Paul wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Yeah, he loved him, but he didn’t know whether what Wil wanted matched his own ideas. Wil seemed slightly less mature than Paul – what if his feelings weren’t as real as he thought they were? Paul didn’t want to lead him on. Paul watched the darkening tea, his eyes unfocussed, completely absorbed in his thoughts. “Are you okay?” The voice made Paul jump and some of his tea spilt onto the dirt at his feet. He turned to find Gatesy crouched beside him near the campfire. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Gatesy sent him a doubtful look and Paul sighed. “Okay, it’s Wil.” Suddenly he stopped and looked around. Rove and Wil were sitting a short distance away, talking quite privately Paul thought, going by their body language. He got up and beckoned Gatesy to follow him. He didn’t want to risk Wil hearing what he was going to say about him. Inside the tent he sat at the head of his sleeping bag with his legs crossed. Gatesy made himself comfortable at the foot and then looked up to Paul. “Has Wil said anything to either of you guys about me?” Paul asked. Gatesy smirked. “Well, after the first night he said you were a ‘bloody good lay’, but other than that…” Gatesy shrugged with a grin. “Seriously…” “Seriously? He hasn’t said anything.” Paul took a deep breath. He had to tell someone, he couldn’t just suffer by keeping it to himself. Maybe Gatesy would have some advice, tell him the right thing to do. “He…uh…he told me he was in love with me.” Paul looked away momentarily, waiting for Gatesy’s reply. “Really?” Gatesy’s voice was quiet. Paul nodded slightly and looked up. He looked thoughtful, contemplating. “Well?” “Well…well how do you feel about it?” “To be honest, it kinda freaked me out.” Gatesy looked a little confused at this. “Every other ‘serious’ relationship I’ve had never lasted long and for years now I’ve been avoiding being in that situation again. I guess I’m just scared.” Paul shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. Gatesy was silent, waiting patiently for Paul to go on. “I love him, but that’s not the issue.” Gatesy nodded, studying Paul’s face momentarily before he spoke. “What are you gonna do?” “Right now I want to just finish this camp, have some fun and hang out with you guys. I don’t know if I’m entirely ready to risk getting into a relationship, at least, not for a few weeks. I have to let the idea sink in I think.” Paul paused for an extended period of time before continuing, “And right now I really need you here…” Paul’s voice trailed off as he looked Gatesy straight in the eye, his implication clear. Gatesy looked a little concerned at the situation he had been put in, but Paul knew he wouldn’t back down. Paul crawled over to Gatesy and kneeled before him. He gently cupped Gatesy’s face in his hands, pausing before leaning in to gently graze his lips over Gatesy’s. He saw his eyes flicker and then close as he returned the kiss and Paul smiled slightly, deepening the kiss and allowing his tongue to briefly touch Gatesy’s. Gatesy let out a soft sigh as his hand encircled Paul’s neck, stroking lightly as he moved up to meet Paul’s firm body with his own. Paul knew he really shouldn’t be doing this with Gatesy at this particular time, but the urge was just so great. He felt he needed to do it just to help centre himself and his feelings. Soon Gatesy began taking control, undressing Paul and caressing and tasting every part of his body with agonising slowness until Paul was finding it hard to breath. Before long they were both in their underwear, desperate and groping at each other without thought. Paul violently pulled Gatesy’s mouth to his in a deep probing kiss, leaving them both breathless. Gatesy ran his hands down Paul’s body and under the waistband of his pants, stroking his stomach from side to side. He was just about to pull Paul’s remaining clothes from his body when suddenly the tent flap was unzipped and flung open. There was a stunned silence as they stared at each other before a voice pierced the air. “Oh my God, that’s DISGUSTING!” PART 16 “Shit Richard!” “Oh my GOD!!!” Rich repeated as he escaped the tent and started pacing up and down. In the meantime Gatesy and Paul were hurriedly getting dressed. “Well I know you can’t really knock on the door of a tent, but at least give a person some kind of warning!” Paul snapped out the opening of the tent, acting a lot calmer about the situation than he was feeling. Richard had just walked in on him practically naked with another man! This was definitely not good! The two men stepped out of the tent and Rich turned to look at them both with a revolted expression on his face. “Oh my God, that’s just sick guys!” He shook his head, looking as though he was going to throw up. “No, that’s just…urgh!!!” And with that he simply walked away, not even giving them a chance to explain, not that there was much to explain really. It must’ve been plainly obvious by what he’d just seen. Gatesy looked at Paul and shrugged. It was out now – there was no turning back time, even though Paul often wished there was, especially in situations such as this. It was then that Paul realised what he had actually been about to do, and Rich had stopped that from happening. If he hadn’t come in at that moment Paul would have undoubtedly regretted doing it for years to come. In a way, Richard had helped him come to his senses. Once again Rich had saved his skin. Gatesy rubbed his back gently before walking away, leaving Paul standing there dejectedly. There were so many confusing thoughts swirling around in his head that he had to write them down just to sort them out, so he returned to his tent and flicked open his journal to a new page. All his feelings and thoughts easily spilt out onto the pages and by the time he’d finished the entry he felt emotionally drained. He’d written seven pages of the stuff. He sighed and slowly emerged from the tent. He decided he’d read back over it after tea that night and see if any new light was shed on the topic. ***** Paul looked up from his seat on the log to see Rich and Wil emerging from Wil’s tent. He frowned slightly. It just seemed a little strange. As they got closer he could make out that Rich was still a bit thrown by the little incident that morning, and it looked as though Wil was a bit shocked as well, not to mention upset, but he was hiding it rather well – well enough for Rich not to recognise it anyway. Paul smiled at them politely when they sat across from him but they both avoided eye contact, apart from Wil taking the occasional glance. Paul dropped his eyes to the ground. He’d well and truly ruined his chances with Wil now. He shouldn’t have made a move on Gatesy in the first place – it was lucky Rich had stopped them when he did or else it’d really be fucked. When Paul looked up again he almost jumped when he realised Richard was staring at him. The look was one of malice, but he was also pretty sure he saw a hint of sadness, which was slightly confusing. Paul sighed, psyching himself up to apologize to his friend when suddenly Gatesy came up and sat beside him, giving his leg a slight squeeze. This completely zoned Paul out to what he had been doing and he and Gatesy shared a look. They both turned at the sound of a groan from Richard, whose face was contorted, quite deliberately, in an expression of distaste. “Get over it Richard!” Gatesy patronised, rolling his eyes “Okay, so we didn’t tell you, and maybe we should’ve, but now considering your reaction maybe it was right to keep it from you!” “What are you saying?” Rich mocked back at him. “We’re gay Richard.” He glanced at Wil, who sent him a warning look. “Me and Paul, we’re both gay. Of course, anyone with a mind bigger than a baked bean would’ve worked that out long ago.” Rich didn’t look at all impressed. “Fuck off.” “No, you fuck off Richard!” Paul suddenly burst out, jumping to his feet. “You have no right to degrade us like this! Especially seeing as we’re meant to be your friends! You don’t act this way towards your friends – it’s cruel and it’s wrong.” Paul was now gesturing madly, and his emotions were scaring him, searing through his body with an intensity he couldn’t control. The words wouldn’t stop coming. “Shit Paul! I mean, come on…” “Shut the fuck up! This is crap!” Paul glared at Richard and then stalked off into the scrub. He needed some time alone to calm down a bit. ***** Paul returned to camp a few hours later and glanced at Richard, Gatesy and Rove sitting around the campfire before heading for his tent. What he saw when he entered the tent boiled his blood. Wil was sitting there reading his journal! When Paul spoke, his voice was low and sinister. “How could you?” Wil jumped and turned towards him, swiping at his face frantically. “P-paul, it’s not…” “What the fuck were you thinking!? That’s private Wil, that’s the only part of my life I really don’t want anyone to know about, and you go and read it for Christ’s sake!!! Do you know what you’ve done!?” Paul tried desperately to contain himself, but to no avail – tears were already beginning to dribble down his cheeks. “But I didn’t mean…” Wil pleaded. “Shut up!!! This is just too much. Here I was thinking that you were the one who had to forgive me and then you go and do this!” Paul shook his head. “Fuck it, I’m leaving!” Paul grabbed his belongings and stuffed them into his backpack. “Paul, please…let me…” Paul glared at Wil, silencing him. “Goodbye Wil.” And with that Paul slung the backpack onto his shoulders and walked from the camp towards the road, ignoring the puzzled looks and protests from his companions. After half an hour of walking a Ute came past and stopped and he got in, not caring where he was going, just needing to get away. PART 17 Paul sat at the window table in the almost empty roadside café and stared at his journal. He’d been doing this for days – just staring at the brown leather cover, unable to bring himself to open it. It was killing him not to be able to write in it for so long, but he was just terrified. He knew that if he opened it he’d have to read the last entry, and frankly, he was afraid of what would be written there. There was a fairly good chance there wouldn’t be anything of worth, but there was an even bigger chance that it would be filled with emotions and feelings, that once read, he couldn’t deny any longer. “Would you like another cuppa tea sir?” asked a sixty-something waitress dressed in a white and red checked apron, clutching a small writing pad and pen as she stood by his table. “Uh, no thanks,” he replied, not raising his eyes from the cover. Unconsciously he ran a finger down the spine, the action almost tender. The waitress hadn’t moved away. Instead she sat down across from him at the table. “You’ve obviously got something on your mind deary. I’ve got a good pair of ears still, I’m a good listener, and more often than not I tend to give fairly good advice on many issues, so if you want to spill, go for it.” Paul frowned, still not looking away from the book. “I don’t think that’d be a good idea.” “Why do you think that is?” “I don’t know…” Paul paused and shook his head “You wouldn’t understand.” “You won’t know that until you try me.” Finally Paul looked up to see that she was smiling almost impishly at him. “Come on, give it a go. Can’t hurt.” She shrugged and Paul sighed. “I think I really fucked things up with someone I really care about.” “How’s that?” “They told me they loved me and I kinda freaked. It scared me. Love has only brought me pain and anguish in the past, and I guess I’m scared of getting hurt again.” The waitress nodded and Paul continued. “Then I got caught in bed with someone else. It was a mistake. I was upset. I wish it hadn’t happened now. Okay, so we didn’t actually do anything, but the guilt is just as intense. I don’t know why, but I had this feeling they’d forgive me for it anyway, but then I caught them reading my journal and I went totally off. I ran away and haven’t spoken to any of the people involved since.” “And what are you going to do?” “I have no idea.” Paul sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “There’s not much point fighting fate any longer. I’ll just have to come to terms with it and eventually get over it. After all, it’s just more love resulting in pain. I should have learnt to handle it by now. Hell, it’s happened enough times in the past.” “But you still love him?” “Yeah, I’m crazy about him…hang on, how’d you know it was a guy!?” Paul moved back suddenly and almost fell off the chair in shock. “Women’s intuition.” She grinned at him and tapped her nose. “If you love him, which I think it’s obvious you do, then you have to fight to the death. You can’t just give up so early. Go after him. You can say what you have to say, and you can hear what he has to say as well. Listen to him and think about what he’s saying – stay in control and make sure you don’t jump to conclusions, because often those conclusions aren’t correct.” Paul nodded. “Maybe.” “I haven’t heard much, but you sound like you could make a really good couple. Don’t give up after your first lover’s tiff. They’ll be plenty more to come, believe me, but that’s all they are – nothing to get all hyped up over. Just resolve them as soon as possible. After all, the make-up sex is always mind-blowing.” Paul’s mouth dropped open and he stared. He’d never heard someone so old saying anything like that! “Close your mouth boy! I was young once too you know!” She grinned and winked at him. She was right. He had to get over his fear, and when was a better time that the present? “Go on, get outta here!” She waved her hand at him and Paul jumped up out of his seat and grabbed his stuff. “Thanks lady!” he called as he bolted out the door. “That’s Margaret!” she corrected him as she waved him off. He slung his backpack onto his shoulder and ran towards the road, catching a ride almost straight away. It was lucky really – he might have chickened out if he’d had to wait. But no, he was going home. He was going to find Wil. They’d sort things out, he was sure of it…well, almost. Paul relaxed in the passenger seat of the truck, opened his journal, and began to read. PART 18 By the time Paul got home it was dark and he was beginning to have doubts. What if Wil didn’t want him anymore? He told himself not to think about it, but, inevitably, as soon as you try not to think about something, that’s all you can think about, and so Paul became increasingly convinced this was the case until he had totally chickened out. He stood on his and Rich’s front porch and stared at the door. Now he was here, he really had no choice, whether he wanted to or not, he’d finally have to talk it out with Richard. He was terrified Rich wouldn’t allow him to stay here anymore, but he had to at least try. He chewed on his lower lip compulsively as he reached up and opened the door – they never locked it for some macho reason. A dim light was glowing from the entrance to the lounge room and Paul cautiously sneaked over and scanned the room. Richard was sitting on the couch, his arm draped across the back of it as he took a sip of what was most likely coffee. The small table light beside him silhouetted his form, almost making him look attractive. Paul smirked. Nah, Richard could never be attractive! Suddenly Rich looked towards the doorway and Paul froze, too late to hide. “Are you gonna come in?” Paul took a cautious step forwards, nervously walking in and sitting down in his armchair as Richard’s eyes followed his every move. Paul gripped the arms of the chair, desperately grasping for words that wouldn’t come to him. “Where’ve you been?” Richard asked, his voice sounding a little strange. Paul looked at him, kind-of lost as to what had changed in Rich. “Just around. I had to think.” “About Wil?” Paul blinked. Hmm…interesting… “Yeah,” he replied. Rich nodded. “You should talk to him – listen to his side of the story.” Paul frowned. “What does it matter to you? You’re obviously against homosexuality.” “Well…I’ve been thinking a lot over the past couple of weeks, and…I realised how stupid I was being about the whole thing. I was in shock I guess.” He paused and looked over Paul’s shoulder then looked down at his cup again. “I’m really sorry I hurt you Pauly. I was being a fuckwit.” “Hey, it’s okay.” Paul grinned. “At least one problem’s solved. Now there’s just Wil.” Paul glanced down briefly. “I just don’t know what to do.” Camping It Up “What do you want to happen?” “Well…I just wish I had the nerve to talk to him about it. I’ve been in hell for days, just wishing I hadn’t been so stupid. He could never forgive me for what I did.” “With Gatesy?” Paul raised his eyebrow. He really knew everything now! It was slightly daunting and Paul felt a bit strange talking about this stuff with Richard. “You must think I’m a real slut…” Rich simply laughed and Paul continued. “Well, we didn’t really do anything anyway, because you came in, but I still hate that I even got that far. I was upset and wasn’t thinking straight…and God, I really regret it now. When you think about it that’s what caused most of these problems. I’m just glad you stopped me when you did or I’d seriously want to be dead right now.” “You’ve really had a lot of things on your mind.” Paul nodded solemnly. “I love him, I really do, but I’m just so scared. I wish I was strong enough to tell him that but I doubt it’ll ever happen.” “Why not?” “I’m terrified of rejection, terrified of love in itself – it’s only ended up hurting me in the past. I’ve never felt this strongly about anyone before, and that just makes it more scary. What if I get him and then lose him again? I don’t think I could take it if it happened with him as well.” Paul sniffed and rubbed at his nose, only just restraining himself from starting to cry. “I wouldn’t do that to you Pauly,” came a choked voice from just behind him. Paul jumped and turned to see Wil standing there, also close to tears. “I couldn’t…” Paul slowly got up and walked over to him. He was almost trembling from the multitude of emotions that were threatening to surface. “I’m sorry. I was a wanker and I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I just wish you could forgive me for all the shit I’ve been putting you through.” “I’m the one who should be apologizing to you Pauly. It was wrong for me to read your journal. I’ve got no excuse for my behaviour of late, except that my logic was blurred from my feelings for you.” Both men now had stray tears rolling down their cheeks, oblivious to the fact that Rich was sitting there hearing and seeing the whole thing. “I…I love you Wil. I’ve loved you since before you told me.” “I know,” Wil choked out “God Paul, I love you too.” Both of them were crying openly now, but they seemed to be frozen on the spot. “Well get on with it! Kiss for Christ’s sake!” Rich said, breaking the silence. Paul grinned through his tears and tentatively reached out and touched Wil’s chest. Wil smirked and finally slipped his arms around Paul, pulling him in close. “Let’s give him something to look at, eh?” Wil whispered cheekily. Paul nodded slightly, licking his lips. Their faces grew seriously as Paul reached up to stroke Wil’s cheek and Wil stared straight into Paul’s eyes. “I’ve missed you,” Paul murmured. “Me too…” Wil reached up and tugged the hairs gently at the hair at the back of Paul’s neck. Paul gasped silently. “Gatesy told you?” Wil simply smiled and shook his head. “He didn’t have to. I read your journal, remember?” Paul’s face reddened. He’d forgotten about that. Well he wouldn’t be keeping anything from him from now on. “Shut up and kiss me!” Wil grinned and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Paul growled in annoyance and grabbed Wil’s face in his hands and finally closed the gap between them, kissing him with as much feeling and urgency as he could muster. Wil moaned as they both quickly began to lose control and he ran his hands under Paul’s top. A groan rose from the room. “Oh please guys! Kissing is one thing, but remember you’re not the only people in this room!” The two men were oblivious to Richard’s complaint and Wil pulled Paul’s top off and leant down to kiss Paul’s chest. “Oh fucking hell! Get a room!” Finally Rich couldn’t take it anymore and he got up and pushed the entangled bodies into Paul’s bedroom and slammed the door shut with another disgusted groan. “And keep it down!” he yelled through the door. Paul and Wil looked at each other and laughed. “Poor Rich…” Paul giggled. Wil nodded. “Poor Rich…” Wil repeated and suddenly picked Paul up. “Hey!” Paul protested, struggling but not trying too hard. He enjoyed the feeling of Wil’s arms around him too much to complain. Wil gently lowered him down onto the bed and lay down next to him, trailing his fingers down Paul’s chest. Paul mimicked the action and smiled gently at him. “Forget how to do it?” Paul couldn’t restrain an impish grin from spreading across his face. “Me!? Forget!?” Wil gasped in mock horror before rolling Paul under him. Paul moaned as he felt Wil’s hard body against his own. “I’ll show you how much I’ve forgotten!” And with that Wil proceeded to drive Paul wild the only way he knew how. As Wil drifted off to sleep afterwards Paul smiled contentedly and snuggled into Wil’s body. For the first time in his life he finally felt true happiness – it couldn’t get any better than this, and he wasn’t going to ruin it ever again.