Liberty

Chapter 4 –

After about an hour's work Colton pulled Dave away from the bike and to the back of his dad's truck so they could sit together and talk. Dave grinned a little when Colton twined their fingers together.

"I don't really want to…"

Colton squeezed Dave's hand, stopping his words. "We don't need to talk about that. We can talk about me if you want," he glanced away, blushing, "About us, maybe?"

Dave rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Are you out to your parents?"

"Yeah," Colton replied, voice gentle and understanding, "I've been out for about three years now. Two years to my friends. I don't hide who I am, but I don't exactly advertise it either." He chuckled and shook his head. "Well, at least after I came out. I ended up kissing my best friend when he came out to me. We happened to be in the cafeteria at the time."

"So you kind of shot out of the closet and made a scene, before walking away quietly?" laughed Dave.

Colton chuckled and nodded as silence fell. He looked back to Dave. "Anything else you want to know about me?"

Dave's eyes roamed up and down the entirety of the blonde's body. "Do you always wear stuff like that?"

"Don't you like it?" he asked in return, trying not to laugh.

"Oh I like it," said Dave, nodding and shifting slightly. "I think I might like it too much. Maybe you shouldn't wear it in public."

An arm slipped around Dave's shoulder, pulling him a little closer. "Don't worry, I mainly wore this because it's the coolest thing I have to wear under my jumper for work… and because I was thinking of coming on to you today. I assume it did its work?"

Dave grinned and stole a chaste kiss. "It definitely helped. After all, if the make out session wasn't enough, I'm sure I would have eventually figured out that you were gay."

"And that I'm completely into you?" Colton used Dave's earlier words.

Before Dave could reply though a car drove by and he pulled away, on instinct mostly, but still, there were kids from McKinley that lived in this neighborhood. He smiled apologetically, seeing the momentary hurt on Colton's face.

The blonde recovered quickly and shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about you." He started gnawing on a thumb and frowned. "Well, I'll tell my parents, cause my mom will know there's someone as soon as she walks through that door. But I'll make sure they know you aren't ready yet. Are you okay with that?"

Dave pulled the thumb away from Colton's mouth. "Yeah, I think I can live with that." He looked away, taking a deep breath, "Would you come with me when I tell my parents?"

Colton looked up, eyes wide in surprise. "Tonight? Now?"

Dave's eyes got just as big. "No! I just admitted to myself that I was gay a few weeks ago. Followed closely by realizing I was crushing on a possibly straight guy. I am definitely not ready to come out to them."

"You thought I was straight?"

Dave waved to the boy's tight clothes. "How was I supposed to know what you were wearing under your jumper? Besides, my mom always said that all the good, hot ones are gay or taken. I figured in my case they'd all be straight or taken."

Pulling Dave back to him, Colton grinned, his nose wrinkling in amusement. "Well, that just goes to show how much kids should listen to their mothers."

"Why is that?" Dave asked carefully.

"Because she was right. I am gay… and taken." He leaned forward, stopping with his lips barely touching Dave's. "Aren't I?"

Dave didn't realize he had whimpered until the sound echoed in his ears. "Yes," he whispered, before closing the paper-thin gap between them.

This time the make-out session was stopped before it even began when Dave's cell phone rang. Both boys jumped and Dave actually growled. He pulled out his phone, planning on turning it off or tossing it into the road or something, but then he saw Azimio's name. He hadn't heard from the older boy since the end of school.

He looked at Colton, torn, but decided to find out what Azimio wanted. "I'm sorry, I need to take this," he said softly.

Colton just smiled and grinned. "Go on, I'm not going anywhere."

Opening the phone in relief, Dave tried to sound happy, not annoyed, and definitely not nervous. "What's up, Az?"

"Hey! Dude! What are you up to?" came Azimio's deep voice.

"Nothing much, just…" Dave glanced at Colton, "I'm kind of busy right now. Can I call you back later?"

"Oh come on, man! We haven't talked since the last day of school. Can't we talk a little?"

"Yeah," said Dave, tensing a little. "I just… I don't…" he took a deep breath, "I can't right now. I'll call you back later tonight, I promise."

"Man that's gay! Just call me when you can, okay?"

"Yeah," Dave sighed, "Okay."

It wasn't until he had closed the phone that he realized his hand was clenched, and Colton was rubbing it, trying to calm him down.

"It's okay, Dave," he whispered, "Just ignore him. You're better than him."

Dave nodded and leaned onto the truck. "He's supposed to be my best friend," his voice was soft, but he shook his head and swallowed, his next words coming out louder. "I think I'm going to go home right now. There are a lot of things I need to think about."

Colton stood, reaching for Dave's hands. "A-are you sure?" he stammered, nervously. "You can always hang out here."

Dave leaned forward and kissed the nervous blonde. "Don't worry," he said, once he pulled away, "As much as I'd like to think about only you, there are some other, less pleasant, things I was talking about."

"Oh, well," Colton glanced at his feet before looking back up, "How about Saturday night we go see a movie after dinner someplace?"

"Of course," said Dave, taking out his keys, "I can't wait."

He was almost to his truck when Colton's shout got his attention.

"What about the bike?" asked Colton.

"Same time tomorrow? Just here?"

Colton's response was a thumbs up before waving Dave away and down the road.

For the next two days the boys worked on the bike but they barely got anything done. Partly because some important parts were missing, but mainly because they were more interested in each other. For every half hour spent on the bike, there was at least an hour of making out.

Neither really minded. Dave still wanted to finish the bike. After all, he already had the license and gear. But there was no rush, since he did have his truck. The bike was just another excuse for them to spend time together, whether or not they made progress.

The Saturday night date was interesting. Colton had convinced his parents to leave for a few hours and he ordered pizza in. Then once Dave arrived, they just sat around, eating the pizza and watching a new action movie they both had yet to see.

Dave was constantly reassuring Colton that he didn't mind staying in, not feeling confident enough in going out and possibly meeting someone from school. By the time the movie was over Colton seemed to accept that he had succeeded in making their first date enjoyable.

As they watched late night television, waiting for Colton's parents to get back, Colton decided to bring up an unwanted, but needed, topic.

"Dave?" He spoke gently, not sure if Dave had fallen asleep. They were lounging on the couch, Dave leaning against the older boy.

When his only response was a low hum Colton repeated, louder, "Dave?"

Slowly, Dave sat up, stretching his back in an arch. He recognized the serious tone of Colton's voice and faced him before answering. "Yeah, Colton?"

The blonde looked away, blushing when Dave stopped his thumb before it even reached his mouth. Taking a deep breath, he looked up and just spit it out. "Why did you bully?"

Letting out a sigh, Dave leaned against the back of the couch. He didn't reply right away, but Colton waited, trusting that he would.

"I wanted friends," Dave finally mumbled. "I saw how the un-cool kids were treated and figured if I didn't want to end up like them then I needed to join forces with the cool kids." He shifted nervously before continuing. "I didn't think about the fact that being in football automatically made me cool, or that I subjected others to what I tried to avoid. I just… did it. And apparently I was good, so I kept doing it. Then Kurt showed up."

When Dave didn't continue, Colton took his hand and squeezed. "He's the out gay kid, right?"

Dave nodded. "I freaked out. I started crushing on him and I had no idea what that meant. And when I did figure it out my bullying actions got worse. I was afraid." He took a deep breath. "I was so afraid that, when a chance to redeem myself was all but handed to me, by his step-brother, I threw it away." He dropped his face into his hands, mumbling into them, "I screwed up bad."

After a moment, Colton carefully pulled Dave's hands away from his face. "I understand, babe," he whispered. "I just asked because… I wanted to ask… suggest… that you don't bully anyone this year?" He ended so softly that Dave barely heard him over the television.

Dave smiled, trying to reassure his boyfriend. "That's one of the things I thought about last week. I've already decided to stop. I don't even think I want to hang out with Azimio anymore. It'll make for one hell of a lonely lunch, but I won't let him convince me to make others feel bad just so I can feel good."

Colton smiled in relief and leaned forward for a kiss. "If you ever need some support, or just get too lonely, you have my number. Please, call or text if you need me?"

Nodding, Dave stole another kiss, tensing but not pulling away when the front door opened.

Colton didn't linger long, knowing Dave still wasn't used to showing who he was to anyone else. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"My mom doesn't want me going out tomorrow," sighed Dave. "She wants to make sure I have everything ready for school." He stood, bringing Colton with him, still not wanting to go. "I'll stop by after school on Monday though. And I might call before then."

"Good," said Colton, kissing Dave's cheek. "Now go, or else I won't ever let you leave."

Dave just blushed and walked out the front door, waving awkwardly to Colton's parents as they passed each other in the entrance.

TBC...