The Apartment

The twelve boys and Gil crowded the apartment's living room, but with the two couches, two easy chairs (one shared by Andy and Ray, the other holding Pauly with Mikey sitting on the arm and draped partially over the more muscular boy), a few kitchen chairs brought in, and boys flopped on the floor, they made themselves comfortable.

Donny took the lead. "This is the first House Meeting for four of you. And it seems like, every time we have one, it's different. So why don't I run through how we do things first?" There were nods of agreement all around.

"Okay, first: Nobody's obliged to stay here. We'll try to talk you out of leaving, yeah, but if you're determined, we won't stop you. Second: we make our own rules here. Nobody's in charge of us but us. Not Gil, not the judge, and not me."

Mikey spoke up. "I've been here since we started, and we always listen to what Donny has to say, because it always makes sense, but he doesn't make the rules, he just speaks his mind, the same as any of the rest of us can and do." Donny smiled thanks at him.

"Third," Donny continued, "we don't hand out chores, but everybody pitches in and takes their turn, when and as they feel it's right to. We help each other out. If I've got dirty clothes, I throw them in the washing machine. If it looks like close to a load, or if I'm in a hurry for them, I grab other guys' dirty clothes and throw them in, and start the washer. If not, Chay or Andy or somebody'll do the same thing when they've got laundry. Usually, somebody cooks for everybody, and again we take turns. If you don't like what's being made, you're free to make yourself something different. We try to make it friends taking care of friends, not somebody laying down the law on household chores."

"So I don't have to do anything?" Lucas asked.

"Not quite," Pauly said. "You don't have to do anything in particular, but you have to do your fair share of what's needed to keep us going. But you're welcome to bitch about it, if it'll make you feel better doing it. Your partner in crime there" – he grinned at Peewee, who grinned back and shook his own hands over his head in a 'Winner and Still Champion' pose – "is a past master at bitching about work. He's also a pretty good cook." Lucas looked at Peewee, startled and pleased.

"The other big rule," Mikey said, "is that we don't push each other about our pasts. Eventually you'll hear everybody's story, but what happened to you, why you ran, is private until you decide you want to share." He paused. "We had one other rule – nobody asks about how this place keeps going. But I think everybody knows the answer to that, now." There were nods all around, except from Randy and Billy.

"Okay, you two. Basically, we pretended to be a bunch of guys squatting in an apartment, a runaways' crash pad, so that we could reach out to guys who needed help. But the fact of the matter is, Donny owns this building and the one next door..."

"Actually, a trust fund Gil administers in my name owns it. I'll inherit them when I'm 21," Donny filled in.

"Like I said, Donny owns these buildings," Mikey said, sticking out his tongue at Donny, who smiled. "To satisfy the law, the judge gives legal custody of all of us to Gil, but he doesn't meddle – he knows what we're trying to do, and supports it. Besides, as we just found out, he's Donny's big brother." Gil smiled warmly at Donny, who blushed.

"That reminds me," Gil said. "Mother wants you to come up for a visit, Donny, and bring Chay, sometime soon. No rush, though; with the new guys, you'll probably want to stay here for a couple days first."

"Um, how's she going to feel about...?" Chay was nervous about the idea.

"I think you have nothing to worry about," Gil said reassuringly. "She and I were both convinced you and Donny were boyfriends anyway." He paused in thought. "It'd probably be a good idea not to talk about how Donny actually felt, though. That's something neither of us had any idea about, and I have no idea how she'd react to that."

Chay and Donny both nodded, relieved and agreeing. Chay still looked less than convinced, though.

"Basically, we regard my guardianship of you guys as a legal fiction," Gil amplified. "The law requires it, so we've got it in place. But the likelihood I'll ever have to tell any of you what you've got to do – well, let's say it's about as likely as a velociraptor attack on the apartment."

"Less likely," Andy giggled. "After all, Mrs. Schwartz was here this morning." The boys who'd been there all laughed.

"Except," Gil said, "you, Billy. I'll be obliged to make sure you abide by the conditions of your release. But I'll try not to be too much of a hardass about it. Okay?"

Billy nodded tentatively, not quite sure whether to believe it. Gil took pity on him. "Nothing too bad, Billy," he said. "If the judge wants you doing home study courses, or staying away from a bad-news hangout, I'll have to bug you a little about doing what he says. But it won't be the sort of ordering you around that every kid gets and hates. Can you live with that?"

"Okay," Billy said, still unconvinced but mollified some.

Mikey spoke up again. "As far as I can tell, everybody here except maybe the two little ones is gay." Keith, Randy, and Billy looked shocked. "So I don't think that's going to be a problem. But after a couple of misunderstandings, I figured it was a good idea to say it up front so everybody knows." He caught Andy's eye, then motioned to Peewee and whispered to him. Peewee grabbed Lucas's hand and took off out of the room at a dead run. Mikey pulled off his sweatshirt and jeans to relax in his boxers; Andy followed suit, stripping to his favored bikini briefs. Ray saw what Mikey was trying to do, and himself began stripping down to his low-rise briefs. When he finished undressing, he saw that Chay had stripped naked, as Peewee and Lucas came streaking back in. Keith, Randy, and Billy were looking with surprise at Chay's dick.

"We're all guys, and we like to get comfortable around each other," Pauly said, pulling off his own sweatshirt and undershirt.

"You guys, like, have sex with each other?" Randy asked, almost scandalized.

"Not in the sense you probably mean," Chay answered him. "We're mostly couples, committed couples. Two guys will have sex with each other, not sleeping around. We're just very relaxed about being naked, or almost naked, around each other."

"And nobody has any problem with you being turned on by it," Mikey added. "We are; it'd be hypocritical to complain about you doing the same thing. I just figured it was time to make clear that's what we've done, and that we aren't going to change it."

"So, you expect us to find one guy or not do anything?" Billy asked.

"No, I didn't say that," Mikey replied. He went to go on, but Donny interrupted.

"No! I didn't set this place up so anybody could tell other kids what to do! You're free and responsible for yourself. Our rules are stuff we decided on, together, to make living together work, not something laid down by the almighty government or adults. You want to sleep around? Go ahead. Jack does, and the only reason we get on his case is because he's taking unnecessary risks, and we care about him." Jack looked startled at hearing it put that way. "I expect you not to try to get Ray into bed with you, not because somebody declared it evil or sinful, but because if you do it, it'll hurt Andy, because he's in love with him. Talk them both into a threesome with you, and I won't say a word. Except maybe, 'Can I watch?'" Donny grinned.

"Both Andy and I used to fool around together before we got our boyfriends," Mikey went on. "And both of us did with Peewee too. He may want to have some fun with you." Lucas looked like he wanted to say something, but stayed quiet. "Though I do have to say, if you did anything with Peewee that hurt him, you'd have six other guys ready to kick the shit out of you."

"Seven," Ray corrected. "But they're telling you the straight truth, Billy. In the short time I've been here, I had occasion to suck Chay off, with Andy's blessing, and ended up spooned with Peewee. Nobody was upset with me. Andy made a joke back at the restaurant, but what he said was serious: Go ahead and give somebody a blowjob if you want, just leave the billfold alone."

"You'll see fast enough who's committed to who," Pauly put in, "and if you have any doubts, just ask. Nobody's going to be upset by your wanting to have sex with them in this house. Just be ready to take No for an answer."

Billy looked shocked at this – as did Keith and Randy, who involuntarily glanced at each other. Chay waggled his penis. "I promised you a chance on this, and I'm looking forward to it. Just not tonight; I've been looking forward to tonight for four years now." He smiled and looked lovingly at Donny, who smiled back.

"You guys get equal voice on the rules," Andy put in. "Keith, Lucas, you saw me suggest a change earlier, and everybody agreed to it." They nodded agreement.

"Um," Chay said, a bit more hesitantly than his previous contributions had been. "We've been assuming Randy and Billy are staying here. And I'll take the blame for that. I basically handed Andy a hot potato. And he backed me. But we did on our own what we agreed would be a consensus decision made at a house meeting – invited new guys home. And I promised you an explanation."

 

"Go on," Donny said, 'wearing his chairman hat' in his attitude.

"When we got to the diner where they were," Chay began, "Officer Kowalski had Billy in handcuffs and Ray was sitting with him and his wife and daughter. Andy took Randy down to another booth to talk with him while I spent a little time with Liang. She was really looking forward to it, and you know about little kids." This was met with smiles.

"I almost blew it," Andy said, "insisting that Randy tell me why we ought to help him. Fortunately, he forgave me, sorta."

"It's OK, dude!" Randy interjected. "If I was going to invite somebody home permanent-like, I'd have done the same thing, and probably not handled it as good as you did."

"Anyway," Chay went on, "Andy was supposed to find out about Randy, then we'd decide about making the offer, probably after calling you guys."

"What is the story, anyway?" Jack asked. "What he was willing to say, that is."

"His parents got killed in a car accident last night," Andy said, "and Child Services was hot to throw him into a group home and take his parents' place to pay for it."

"Oh, damn, dude, I'm sorry!" Mikey said to Randy, with similar voicings of sympathy from the others.

"My mommy died, so I know how you feel," Peewee said to him, standing up and giving him a hug.

Randy watered up. "'S okay," he said gruffly.

"Randy!" Donny snapped. Shocked, he looked at the older, lanky teen. "You do not have to cover up your feelings and tough it out with us. If you need time alone to grieve, take it. If you need to cry and have somebody hold you, any of us will be there for you. We're brothers, man."

Randy looked through wet eyes at him. "Thanks, Donny," he said warmly.

"Anyway," Chay went on, "while we were finding this out, two – well, I think they were people –" Gil covered an involuntary laugh – "from Child Services showed up with pickup orders for both boys. And the one for Billy called for him to be locked up in Secure Juvy." There were several gulps around the room; Secure Juvy's reputation was ripe.

"That's when the rubber hit the road, and we hadn't covered half what we wanted to yet. So Gil asked Randy if he was willing to stay with us. I called up the judge. And Andy and I decided we'd better get some answers from Billy before we let them haul him away."

"Okay if we tell your story?" Andy asked Billy.

"I get a choice?" he asked.

"Yeah. My advice is to let us explain why we decided to invite you, which means telling what you were doing and why. But I'll only do it with your permission." Andy gave Billy an encouraging smile.

"Um, yeah, okay," Billy said, blushing.

Chay thought a moment before going on. "Let's save Billy a bit of embarrassment, though I've got to embarrass him a little. He was brought up by his mother and his uncle, who were both petty crooks. And they taught him well. But his inner honesty and decency showed through."

"How he supported himself," Chay said, "was picking pockets. But only of rich people – and he had a surefire technique – he'd lift their wallets while they were coming down from coming from the blowjob he gave them." There were a couple of bursts of laughter from this revelation. "When he found out Randy was on the run, and not a spoiled rich kid, he apologized all over himself for having ripped him off. That, more than anything else, clued us in what sort of guy he really is."

"And," Gil broke in to say, "it was essentially a choice between coming here or Secure Juvy. Given the accusation, Jonah had no real choice. If I didn't take custody and put him with you guys, he was headed for the reformatory." He paused. "I didn't know the whole story when I made my choice – but I trusted Chay and Andy to have made the right call, in agreeing to invite him. For my first motion at a house meeting, I move we ratify that decision. They were between a rock and a hard place, and they made what looks to be a good decision."

"Sounds good to me," Mikey said. "Me too," from Pauly. "I'm in," from Jack. Nods and thumbs up were happening around the room. Andy beamed gratitude at Gil for what he'd done; he smiled back.

"A three-bedroom apartment, even with the efficiency across the back hall added in, isn't going to accommodate twelve people for long," Gil commented. "You guys figure out how you want to handle it, and let me know. Money's not a problem; we can remodel or whatever. It's not breaking up what you've got going here that's important."

Donny smiled and agreed. "Anything else anybody wants to bring up?"

"Not during the meeting!" Chay answered with a grin, looking at Donny's crotch and waggling his eyebrows Groucho-style. Donny blushed.

---

Billy reclined on the couch. He was, to be honest, a little nervous about what terms the judge would lay down for him to live up to. But mostly, he was happy. A bunch of guys who were comfortable about liking sex with guys, and where he didn't have to steal to stay alive. This couch was a heck of a lot more comfortable than the blanket on the floor in the abandoned house he'd been sleeping on since Uncle Arnie disappeared. And they'd apologized to him for not having an extra bed for him! And they seemed to actually like him, even knowing about Uncle Arnie and all. He watched Peewee and Lucas engaged in horseplay, over on the floor in front of the TV, thinking how great it was to have kids like them around. He lay there drowsing and comfortable.

A noise from the hall leading to the bedrooms brought him alert. It was Chay, naked, his dick half hard and looking too big for his small frame. His expression was warm but serious.

"Um, Billy? I got the impression earlier that you like giving blowjobs. Right? Now, don't think this is anything you have to do, but...."

"Sure, dude. C'mere!" Billy reached out for Chay.

"No, dude, not me!" Chay was amused. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy a good blowjob, but I've got plans for the night. That's kind of why I'm here." He paused for breath. "Donny and me, we'd got settled down and were making out, when we heard moans of pain."

"It was Jack, over in my bed across the room. He'd been watching us and got turned on, and he was trying to jerk off. What you don't know yet is that Jack got beat up pretty badly a couple of days ago, and he was just let out of the hospital a couple hours before we met you at the diner. And trying to get himself off was hurting muscles and stuff that haven't healed completely yet."

"So I was wondering," Chay went on, "if you would consider coming down and, um, helping him out." Chay blushed a bit. "I mean, you can say no, it's not like it's expected of you. But I put two and two together, and thought it's something you might want to do."

"Hey, sure! What happened to him?"

"Come on back with me, and I'll explain. You know what 'rough trade' means?" They walked on out of the room.

Lucas giggled. "He's really going to go give somebody a blow job?"

"Yep," Peewee giggled back. "You never had one?"

"Nope. What are they like?"

"Here, I'll show you."

 

---

 

"Umm ...Randy?" Andy was a little hesitant as they entered the room they would be sharing and he closed the door behind them.

"Yeah?" Randy's attitude was curious but guarded. It sounded like there was a problem to him.

"Look, Ray and I are boyfriends. And we've only been able to sleep together the last two days. We're going to be sharing my bed while you use his." Andy paused, not quite sure how to say it. "Look, Ray's still a little nervous about sex stuff, and you're going to be in here. Is it going to be any kind of a problem for you if we make out some?"

Randy went to a full-bore blush. "Heck, no! Um... you want me to go somewhere else so you've got some privacy?"

"Well, that'd be nice, but there's nowhere you could go, except maybe the kitchen. I guess what I'm asking is, if my boyfriend and I make love, are you gonna have a problem with it?"

"Hey, I can speak for myself, Andy!" Ray was smiling, a little nervously but with more self-confidence than he'd felt in a long time. "Randy, I love Andy, and I'm not afraid to show that, in front of you or anybody. And three days ago, I'd have rather crawled in a hole and died than admit that to anybody. So – live with it, okay? We'll try not to make it too hard on you."

"Oh, it'll probably get hard all by itself!" Randy quipped, causing all three boys to laugh. "But it's cool – I know I'm in your room, and what you guys want to do is cool."

"Thanks. But you're wrong about one thing."

"Huh?"

"It's our room – yours, mine, and Ray's, until we can get things worked out so you've got your own space. We're brothers; we share." He grinned. "Except boyfriends, that is. You got to get one of those of your own."

"I'll work on that!" Randy said, feeling a sense of freedom in admitting his orientation to somebody else so casually, and more or less for the first time.

"Okay, then let's strip down and get some shut-eye!"

"Sounds good. Good night."

---

Editor's Notes: This story keeps getting better and better. We are learning more and more about all the boys, as they learn more about each other. As always, I am ready for more, lots more! Bring it on!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher