Cacapon State Park – Berkley Hills, West Virginia

As they finally reached their destination, Brian slowed down to gaze longingly at the majestic but rustic-looking lodge in the park, nestled among a thick thatch of mature hardwood trees; it was a massive, two-story structure made of solid oak and featured long balconies for each suite on the second floor. He was dreaming of a long, hot leisurely shower combined with a quick fuck for good measure and a nice, pillow-top mattress with sateen sheets for sleeping before he was rudely jolted back to reality by the pushy backseat driver sitting next to him in the passenger seat. "Keep going," he was sternly told, as Justin peered at him over the edge of the park map he was holding. "Our campsite's still two miles up the road."

"Our campsite's still two miles up the road," he parroted. "You know," he growled, "Most civilized people use a GPS nowadays for directions, not a human version of Rand-McNally."

"You're just grumpy because we've been cooped up in this SUV for the last two hours. You'll feel a lot better once we reach our campsite and you can stretch your legs."

"You're half right, blonde boy," Brian retorted. "I'm grumpy because I've been cooped up in an SUV for two hours with an annoying, incessantly-talking, know-it-all twat." He heard a distinctive humpff from the passenger side. "You disagree with that statement, Sunshine?"

"I most certainly do," he was told. "I am NOT annoying."

Brian scowled, clearly not amused. For a few minutes, though, he relished the unusual silence that suddenly permeated the vehicle's interior after his last statement. Realizing how highly odd THAT was, he glancing over at his partner and noticed him seemingly engrossed in studying a brochure he held in his hands. "What are you perusing with such interest? The newest edition of Camping Digest?"

"No…..sorry to disappoint you. It's information the park mailed to me on what to do if you encounter a black bear."

Justin thought he distinctly heard a hitch in the brunet's voice as he tried to sound nonchalant when he answered. "Black bears? As in tall, furry, 300 pound, black bears with razor-sharp teeth?"

"Yep," Justin answered just a little too cheerily for the other man's taste. "But don't worry, Mr. Kinney, this brochure tells you all about what to do if you meet up with one."

"Oh, really. What – you hold out your hand to shake its paw? Ask how the missus is?"

"No…..listen," Justin admonished him sternly, as he read from the pamphlet. "Tip No. 1: Do not feed the bears."

Oh, Come on. This is TOO easy. "Not even twinkies?" he smirked.

"Especially not twinkies. Much too rich and creamy for their taste."

A sudden vision of his own version of a rich and creamy twinkie suddenly invaded his thoughts and he had to clamp down on the rise that comment had suddenly created. In his best intellectual imitation, he replied solemnly, "I see…….Now I almost hate to ask. What is Tip No. 2?"

"If you encounter a bear, do not run."

"Are you shitting me? I hate to tell you this, Sunshine, but if I meet up with Smokey Bear, I'm NOT sticking around to find out how to prevent forest fires. My ass and I are out of there!"

"I guess we don't have to worry about Tip No. 3, then: Do not approach the bear to get a better look."

"Don't worry – not going to happen. That's what zoos are for. I think they look most attractive in confined spaces, don't you?"

"Uh, huh. Well, I especially like No. 4: If the bear obviously knows you are there, raise your arms to let the bear know you are human. Make yourself as big as possible." Justin stared over at Brian. "I guess you could raise your hand and show him your Rolex to prove you're human."

Brian snorted. "And I could stroke your cock to make you as large as possible…..but it still wouldn't be large enough, though," he cracked, as he peered over at the slender blond, who simply huffed in response. "What other words of wisdom does your brochure say?"

"Tip No. 5: If a bear closely approaches you, drop any food you are carrying and continue backing up."

"Well, that won't be a problem, since we won't be eating anything substantial while we're camping….hope the bear likes nuts, berries and granola…..… Are you sure you're not reading a comedy routine from some local vaudeville show? Who makes these things up?!"

Justin bit his lip and smiled. "There's one more…..if the bear does make contact with you, fight back with everything you have."

"Oh, good…..I feel much better now. I'll just throw him a fish and hit him over the head with one of your camping skillets. If that doesn't work, I'll just push YOU out in front. Problem solved."

"Ha, ha……I always knew you cared. Just don't blame me when a large grizzly comes charging at us and you don't get out of the way in time because you didn't take these instructions seriously," he chided the other man. "Remember…..only YOU can prevent a bear from having you for dinner."

Brian rolled his eyes and shook his head. How in the HELL did he let Justin talk him into this?! The sex better be MORE than hot in that sleeping bag – it'd better be SMOKING hot.

"How much farther, mom?" he asked his partner, in his best child's imitation voice. "Are we there yet?" he whined nasally.

Justin smacked him quickly on the arm. "There should be a turnoff coming up on the left……..Yeah, there it is. Turn left."

"Yes, mom," Brian told him dutifully in falsetto. He noticed the heavily-wooded roadway in the park was slowly becoming steeper and more elevated as they traveled each subsequent mile.

"According to the guide here, our site should be the fourth drive up on the right." Brian looked over at his partner, who sat up straighter in his seat, his eyes now shining with excitement. How could this man get so worked up over a patch of grass, some trees, and mosquitoes? But there was no mistaking the anticipation on his face – he was almost glowing with it. Brian sighed softly. The things you talk me into, Sunshine.

Justin grabbed the other man's sleeve in almost a death grip. "Slow down!" He commanded. "We'll miss our turnoff!"

"And that would be a problem how?" Brian asked sarcastically. "Okay, okay," he added as Justin glared at him.

"There……..turn right," Justin instructed him, as a primitive wooden sign announced the name of their private camping site: Waterfall Vista. The unpaved drive was surrounded by mainly pine trees.

"How quaint," Brian observed. "Let's hope bears don't like to bathe under a waterfall."

Justin gave him an exasperated look. "Well, at least you'll be able to stay clean."

"What's the fun in that? I prefer dirty…..very, very, dirty." Of course, the leering look in the brunet's eyes told Justin just what type of dirty fun he had in mind…..Well, he supposed he could be accommodating when the circumstances warranted it, he decided, smiling to himself.

As the two men continued to gaze out the window, the narrow, winding gravel drive took them approximately one more mile, the elevation continuing to steeply rise with each twist and turn. "I hope old Nellie here had her oil changed, or we may be pushing it the last quarter mile," Brian surmised.

Fortunately, their camping site appeared as they rounded the next bend. Looking at the cleared area surrounded by tall white pine trees and adjacent mountain peaks on all sides, even Brian had to admit it was a very impressive and yes, beautiful sight. (Although it was not about to admit that to his partner). He distinctively heard Justin, though, let out an "ooh" of delight as he, too, observed what he no doubt would consider their own private Shangri-La. "Brian, this is beautiful," he murmured, his face enraptured as Brian slowed the vehicle and came to a stop. "I can't wait to do some exploring!"

Brian rolled his eyes; the only exploring he wanted to do on this trip was on his partner's body as they lay rolled up like two fucking larvae inside their own little sleeping bag cocoon. Oh, my God…..Look what he's DOING to me already, he thought with a start. I'm waxing POETIC now. Clearing his throat to try and hopefully also clear up any more lesbionic thoughts, he said aloud, "No exploring, Maw, until you get your tent set up."

Justin opened the vehicle door and stood facing Brian, hands on his slender hips. "Excuse me? Until I get MY tent up? When did this become MY tent?" he complained.

"When YOU decided we needed to go camping," Brian retorted, reaching up to pick a couple of needles out of his auburn hair as his head brushed up against a rather imposing pine tree. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get acquainted with our modern bathroom facilities," he quipped, as he strolled off to find a proper tree to relieve himself behind.

Justin shook his head; was the man going to be this difficult for the entire week? Resolving to not let the man's mood spoil their vacation together, he lifted open the back gate and began to pull the tent box out. Looking around for a good spot to pitch their domed tent, he tugged it over to a cleared area near the stream, but uphill enough to avoid any possible runoff. Dropping the box, he managed to pull the contents out and, after fishing around for it, successfully located the written instructions.

An hour later, the tent did not look anything like the streamlined, domed structure that had stood proudly inside Brian's loft a few days before the Liberty Ride. Instead, it most closely resembled a cake that Brian had attempted to make approximately a year ago for Gus' birthday with similar, disastrous results; like the aforementioned cake, one side of the tent was definitely taller than the other. In addition, Justin inexplicably found himself with an extra support pole. Frowning in puzzlement and annoyance, he crossed his arms and stood in front of the tent, intently trying to ascertain just what he had done wrong this time to create such a lumpy looking configuration.

He whipped around and glared at the man who was not trying very hard to stifle a definite chuckle at his expense. "What's the matter, Sunshine? Did my widdle Boy Scout fail to earn his patch in proper tent construction?"

"Fuck you, Brian!" Justin snarled in irritation. He was tired after being in a car for two hours with a sourpuss and battling with putting up the tent for another hour. "At least I TRIED to put the tent up! And we COULD sleep in it that way if we had to!" he maintained, his lip jutting out in defiance.

"Yeah, if you don't mind getting dizzy and having a tent that resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa!" The words had barely gotten out of his mouth before both men heard a loud crack overhead; they noticed the sky was becoming an ominous shade of gray, and off to the west the clouds were a dark, threatening shade of gray.

"Oh, that's just great," Brian growled. "We've got a tent that looks like a first grader put it together, and it's about to storm."

"Well, I wouldn't want to offend your sensibilities," Justin snorted. "Maybe you'd just better find yourself a nice little cave to crawl into instead." Just then, he literally jumped as an even louder crack of thunder boomed overhead; large globes of water slowly began to fall from the sky.

"Shit!" Brian muttered, just before the rain now starting pouring down from above; making a hasty executive decision, he followed Justin as the two men made a quick run for the tent, reaching it just before the rain became an absolute torrent of water. The brunet managed to get the tent zipped up as the two of them backed away from the front flap toward the more protective part of the structure.

Justin boasted haughtily, "Well, it may not look pretty, but at least it's keeping us dry," just before Brian commented a little warily, "Uh, Oh. What's that?" The wind, which had whipped up substantially once the rain had began to fall in abundance, partially drowned out the hard tapping now reverberating overhead. "That doesn't sound like rain," he observed a little fearfully.

Justin dared to turn and look out of the clear, plastic "window" of their tent to determine why the rain sounded so loud. "That's because it's not rain – its' hail." He had to virtually shout now in an attempt to be heard over the noisy din battering their tent. "Marble-sized hail."

Seconds later, the two men heard another loud clap of thunder, just before their not-so-expertly erected tent sagged and collapsed under the weight of the hail now pelting their bodies instead. "Where's the car keys?" Justin yelled, as the two men took off at a dead run for the SUV. Hair plastered to his face, Brian blinked and shook his head to try and clear some of the water out of his eyes as his hand finally wrapped itself around the keys stuck to his now-drenched pants pocket. Thank God for remote door locks, he thought, as he aimed the key fob and saw the lights of the vehicle flash, signaling the doors were unlocked. Flinging the doors open as quickly as they could, both men finally reached the relative security of their SUV, panting heavily from the exertion and both thoroughly soaked to the skin from the downpour.

As the hail eventually dissolved into a typical summer storm, the rain continued to pummel their vehicle; it was the only sound heard for several seconds as neither man spoke. Finally, Justin ventured to glance over at Brian, who was attempting unsuccessfully to try and wipe the water out of his eyes with his thoroughly wet shirt sleeve. Reaching back behind the seat, Justin pulled out a knapsack that had miraculously not been taken out of the vehicle yet; fortunately, it contained not only some of their clothes, but a couple of towels as well. Zipping it open, he pulled out one of the towels and extended it to Brian, who, despite looking like the proverbial drowned rug rat, still looked absolutely beautiful to him. Of course, Brian always looked that way to him.

Brian peered over at his partner, whose soft, expressive blue eyes were looking at him dejectedly and full of guilt. Staring at his partner's face for a few, tension-laden seconds, he finally accepted the peace offering from the younger man and used it to wipe the water from his face and rub it in his hair to try and dry out. Noticing Justin had another towel out of the bag now, he took it from his hand. As Justin started to utter a somewhat feeble protest over the loss, Brian reached over with the extra towel and began to gently dry the other man's hair and face. He couldn't help using the towel around Justin's neck as leverage to slowly pull him forward and place a slow, gentle kiss on the trembling lips.

Justin sighed in relief and looked at his partner tenderly. Brian twisted his face in resignation. You little shit. You know JUST how to get to me, don't you? "Well," he finally replied softly. "You may not be the best Eagle Scout, Sunshine, but at least you had enough sense to rent us an SUV with fold-down backseats. I don't think I've ever fucked in an SUV before."

Justin smirked. "Well, I'm glad today wasn't a total loss, then. I'd say it's time we christened this vehicle properly. I could get out the John Denver CD again. I could play "Sunshine On My Shoulders."

"How appropriate. But don't even fucking think about it. I can take care of that part without his help."