New Territories

Beep!

Justin Suarez's cell phone loudly proclaimed that he'd received a text message. Still somewhat half-asleep, he stretched his hand out and grabbed the phone on the nightstand. Yawning, with his black hair disarrayed, he flipped open the lid to check his messages.

Hey Justin, just wondering if you want to walk to school with me today. Your house, in 30? – Austin

Justin smiled as his fingertips danced over the keys.

I'll be there! – Justin

"Oh, that is vile!" he yelped as he threw off the covers to get out of bed, cold air hitting his thin frame as he left the comfort of the still warm blankets.

"Now what to wear, what to wear…" He mumbled to himself as he opened the closet. Fashion obsessed as he was, everything he owned was stylish, but lately he'd been feeling like nothing he wore was good enough.

"Gaga, you've gotta help a girl out" he sighed, and put Lady Gaga's 'The fame Monster' into the cd-player. The music hit him like a wall of fire, instantly waking him up completely. He grabbed as many shirts and pants he could carry, and threw it all down on the chair next to his mirror.

Black shirt's boring, white shirt's too white, green's not my colour today, purple makes me look fat…

"Ugh!" he groaned, rolling his eyes at his reflection. "Why does this dating-thing have to be so difficult, seriously, it's like a crossover between Sweeney Todd and the Little shop of horrors…" he thought angrily to himself, and then suddenly it hit him.

"Checkered shirt it is!"

Satisfied, he put on his outfit while humming the tunes of "Suddenly Seymour".

I

Downstairs, his Aunt Betty was desperately trying to cover up the fact that the bachelorette party she'd planned for his mother Hilda wasn't quite what his flamboyant, street-smart Mom had counted on it to be.

"Uhh, I was keeping the real party a surprise!" Betty reassured her sister, while trying to figure out what the hell she was gonna do now that Hilda thought the champagne tour was a joke.

"Oooh, okay, good!" Hilda called out happily, while her fiancé Bobby was still laughing at the "joke".

"You're gonna love it!" she added nervously, while slipping past her sister who was jokingly hushing at her.

"Oh AB, you've done it again" Justin thought as he watched his aunt fly out through the front door. Eager to meet up with Austin he walked by his mother and his soon-to-be stepfather without paying much attention to them.

"Hey Justin, do you want a ride to school?" Bobby called behind him.

"No sorry, I'm walking with Austin" Justin called back as he disappeared through the back door. Bobby shook his head, wondering why Justin acted so strangely. Either he was busy with his cell phone, sending texts every three minutes, or he stayed in his room with the door locked for hours, or he just plain ignored Bobby. And who the hell was this Austin kid?

"I don't know what is up with that boy lately" Bobby sighed, desperate to please his fiancées son.

Hilda slapped him gently on the chest, and shot him a reassuring smile.

"Ay please, you're gonna be his new step father, that's gotta be hard for the kid. Give him a break" she told him, a bit baffled herself that her son, her son, would voluntarily walk anywhere. Not enough to let it bother her though. She had a wedding to plan.

I

The sun was the colour of lemon as Justin walked out through the door. Austin was waiting by the fence, occupied with his cell phone. "Maybe he's texting me, wondering why I'm taking so long" Justin mused, realizing that he liked the thought of Austin being that eager to see him.

"Hey!" he called out, waving his hand. The sandy-haired boy looked up, and a bright smile emerged on his face. He put the phone in his pocket, and Justin walked up to him to greet him. Smiling nervously, he raked his fingers through his bangs, still not quite sure how to do this.

Austin bit his lip, and giggled nervously. Justin was so adorable, something he'd recently discovered. It would just take some time to handle it.

"Shall we go?" he asked, and made a gesture toward the street with his shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be late" Justin replied, and together they set a course for school, and yet another day of secretly texting each other during class.

It had been almost a week since they'd decided to try dating. Each other that was. Justin had never gone out with anyone before, let alone another guy. Not that they'd actually gone out yet; they'd spent some time at each other's houses, and in between classes at school, but they had yet to have their first official date.

Justin couldn't resist stealing glances of Austin as they were wandering down the streets of Queens. This whole thing was so new, so unexpected, and so confusing. And Austin was… well, he was…

"You're so cute" Justin blurted out, thinking out loud. "Oh… darn" he thought, but there was no going back now.

Austin giggled at the terrified look on Justin's face.

"And you're adorable" he told him.

Both boys looked down at their feet, feeling a sense of warmth spreading through their bodies.

With rosy cheeks, and nervous smiles adorning their faces, they finally reached school. Inside they said their goodbyes, heading for their different classes. Here, they were nothing but friends; both of them knowing what would happen if the word got out about their budding relationship.

I

Justin caught sight of Vicky and Bella, his two best friends in school, and waved at them. Both girls were looking behind him though, not taking notice of their fabulously stylish friend. Confused, Justin looked behind him to see what was going on.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, wondering if they'd decided to ignore him today.

"Who is that?" Bella asked, pointing at Austin who was getting books from his locker. Justin caught the look of appreciation on both girls' faces, and put one arm around each friend.

"That's Austin, ladies, and he's not available. Come on, we're gonna be late" he urged them on, trying to divert their attention from his... whatever Austin was.

I

A week later, Justin was torn between feeling happy for his mother, whom Aunt Betty had surprised with a bachelorette trip to London, and feeling cranky about being left in New York, stuck in mr Jackson's history class.

Mr. Jackson was a terribly bad teacher, because he spent his entire classes lecturing, but in a way he was an amazingly good teacher because this meant he never noticed if you were paying attention or not. Justin certainly had better things to do than to listen to him repeating facts, choosing instead to reply to Austin's text messages.

From: Austin

To: Justin

Science sucks. Wanna play video games after school?

From: Justin

To: Austin

Urgh. I hate science. History's not much better. Your place or mine?

From: Austin

To: Justin

Yours. Let's skip last hour.

Justin felt all giddy as he read that last text. He couldn't wait to see Austin again, and the thought of Austin being prepared to skip class just to be with him was almost overwhelming. He'd had troubles sleeping lately, not being able to get the other boy off his mind. He was slowly coming to the conclusion that he had a crush, but not like when he'd thought he had a crush on Lily. This time it was different. It was a thousand times more difficult than with Lily, and at the same time it was so much easier.

They had been moving slowly, keeping their physical contact down to careful embraces and brief kisses. Not counting that first time, they had only kissed twice; once in the vestibule for about 2 seconds, and once while watching TV in Justin's room. The last kiss had hardly been more than a light peck, but the sheer taboo of it was enough to leave them both completely out of breath.

Knowing that mr Jackson would never notice, Justin put on his headphones and let himself disappear into GaGa land.

I

Austin on the other hand wasn't as lucky. He had to conduct an experiment along with his lab partner Brian, and that certainly didn't leave room for him to keep texting Justin or to listen to music.

As opposed to Justin, who was still struggling with how he should define his new found feelings, Austin already knew that he was crushing hard. "Does that make me gay?" he thought, while working on his hypothesis. Hardly a great combination, but he just couldn't stop thinking about the other boy. He'd been contemplating asking him out on a real date, but wasn't sure when to bring it up.

Austin had always been confident, and the thought of going out in public with Justin didn't scare him nearly as much as he had thought it would. Instead, he couldn't wait to take him out and treat him to something really nice.

"I'll ask him after school" he decided, and returned to his experiment.

I

"Hello! Is anybody home?" Justin called out as he and Austin stumbled into the hallway, while balancing school bags, books, and coats. His grandfather, Ignacio Suarez a.k.a Papi, emerged from the kitchen, wearing his trademark apron. His smile beneath his graying mustache was bright as always, and he opened his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"Hola boys! Why, you're home early today, didn't you have class 'til 4?" he said, looking slightly surprised.

Justin and Austin exchanged looks, and Justin cleared his throat while Austin shimmied out of his jacket.

"Uh, last hour was cancelled, teacher's meeting…" Justin told his grandfather, hoping he'd buy it. Lucky for him, papi was hungry for company, and didn't mind the boys being around.

"Sit down, sit down! I'm working on some new recipes; I need two strong young men to help me eat when I'm finished. You guys want some popcorn?" Ignacio told them in his usual overtly enthusiastic fashion.

Justin waved his hand and ushered him into the kitchen.

"You can bring them out when they're ready, we're gonna play video games. Seriously grandpa, this is not a tavern, you don't need to be at our service" Justin said while fending off his grandfather's protests.

"Alright, alright papito, I'm leaving" Ignacio said and put his hands in the air in an 'I give up' gesture. Austin watched the show that was playing out before him, giggling to himself. This Latin family was so different from his own Irish-American one. The Suarez clan sure enjoyed some good drama.

Papi backed off into his kitchen to continue his work, and Justin turned around and sighed. He slumped down next to Austin on the couch.

"Alone at last" Austin smiled, and nudged the other boy lightly. Justin clasped and unclasped his hands, not forgetting that his grandfather was in the other room, but he returned Austin's smile.

"So it seems" he replied.

The scent of popcorn soon wavered out into the living room, and papi brought them a big bowl along with two glasses of coke. Justin shyly kept the distance between them, not wanting to sit too close to his friend, but the atmosphere was lighthearted. Austin kept kicking Justin's ass though, since Justin refused to play with both hands. "I am graceful at all times" he told Austin, who snorted in amusement. "You are just too much" he muttered, and bashed Justin's character's head in.

"Hey!" Justin protested. Austin laughed triumphantly as he won the game, and then he paused and put the controller on the table before he turned to Justin. "Okay Austin, here goes nothing" he thought to himself, and pulled a deep breath.

"You know I love hanging out at your house. Playing video games and watching movies…but… do you think we should go somewhere else sometime?"

Justin took his eyes off the game.

"What, like your house?" he asked, clearly not getting where Austin was going. Austin shrugged, trying to find the right words.

"Like on a date" he replied, as casually as possible. "Oh hell" Justin thought, his eyes not hiding his shock over Austin's bold move.

"Is that weird…?" Austin added, not really knowing if guys asked other guys out on dates.

"No, no, not at all!" Justin quickly replied, a little too reassuringly. "I love it", he continued, and then realized it was true. "You know, our first real date" he finished, feeling that strange warmth in his chest again.

They both smiled to themselves, not quite understanding that they were slowly losing themselves in the bliss of first love.

Austin, feeling confident once again, decided to cut to the chase.

"How about tomorrow night?"

"What are we gonna do?" Justin asked, trying to show that he was keen on the idea. Austin smiled coyly, and bit his lower lip.

"I'll surprise you" he smirked, and the tone in his voice sounded more adult, more seductive than any he had ever used before. Justin felt something different awaken within him, something he would have called 'desire' if he had been older and more experienced. Now it just resulted in him rewarding Austin with a warm smile, which disappeared into a look of fear and shame as he heard the door slam, and Bobby calling out his name. Faster than lightning he shot up from his position on the couch, and nervously hid his hands behind his back. The moment was gone.

I

"Fuck… I don't wanna go out with grandpa and Bobby" Justin groaned as he lay on his stomach on the bed, lazily browsing through the latest edition of MODE magazine. A couple of days earlier, his mother's fiancé had unknowingly forced the boys to cancel their first date, and Justin was still not quite over it.

David Bowie's "Cat People" was booming out of the speakers, and Austin was busy going through Justin's closet.

"Ah, don't worry about it; we're going to that Beyoncé concert together, remember? Hey, do you think this is my colour?" he asked giddily, turning around and holding out a pink tee in front of him. Justin put down the magazine, and giggled at the other boy.

"I thought you didn't care about fashion?" Justin teased him, and bit his tongue while shooting off a smile.

"I don't, I just thought it would make you happy if I at least tried to care" Austin replied, smiling back while dangling the t-shirt in front of him. It looked terribly silly, and Justin started laughing.

"Well?" Austin continued, not letting it go, even though he had a hard time holding it in himself.

"Put it on then and let me see!" Justin said, still laughing. "Alright then!" the sandy-haired boy said, and started pulling off his own shirt, revealing a nicely toned upper body. The action stopped Justin dead in his laughter, and he suddenly realized that seeing Austin like that awoke that same feeling he'd had before in the living room. Mesmerized, his eyes were glued to the boy's pale skin, and he ran his gaze up and down Austin's body.

Austin on the other hand was eager to get that pink shirt on, as he had quickly realized how his being half-naked had made them both feel – something he wasn't quite ready for yet. He pulled the shirt on, feeling more secure when covered up. He met Justin's chocolate brown gaze, the tension lingering in the air. Slowly, he walked up to the bed, feeling his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Justin was breathing hard, feeling how the mood had suddenly changed. He didn't dare say a word, afraid he magic of the moment would instantly disappear.

Austin climbed onto the bed, not taking his eyes off Justin's. Justin rolled over to his back as Austin lay down beside him, and the Latin boy softly put his hand on the fair-haired boy's arm.

Austin rested his head in his hand, looking down at Justin whose chest was heaving up and down, entirely caught up in what was happening between them. This was new territory. Something had changed.

Slowly, Justin let his hand slide over to Austin's back, pulling him closer. Austin put his hands on either side of Justin, moving so that they came up face to face.

Justin looked up at Austin, his hand sliding up and down the length of his back, tentatively feeling the muscles underneath the pink shirt. He could feel the other boy shivering, and realized he was shivering too.

Austin moved in and softly brushed his lips against Justin's. Justin shut his eyes, not wanting this to end. At first, they gently pressed their lips together in feather-light, almost childish kisses, but at last Justin couldn't take it anymore and put his hand at the nape of Austin's neck. He pulled him in even closer, opening his mouth to let Austin's tongue in, and caressed it with his own.

Austin let out an ever so soft moan, giving in to sensation. Eager to get even closer, he put his leg between Justin's, losing himself in the other boy's kisses.

"Oh lord" Justin thought, as they kept kissing, not able to stop now that they had started. He felt something stiff against his leg, and when he realized what it was he broke away, needing to catch his breath. He caught Austin looking him between his legs, and realized he was hard too.

"Wait, wait, I need to breathe" Justin panted, overwhelmed with what had just happened.

"Yeah, yeah, okay" Austin mumbled, also feeling the need to take it slow for a few seconds.

They rolled over on their sides, still gazing into each other's eyes. Slowly, Austin moved to brush a few strands of hair out of Justin's café-au-lait coloured face. He moved in to kiss him once again, and as much as Justin kept thinking he should stop, he found himself not wanting to. Not just yet.

When he felt soft hands pulling down the zipper on his jeans, he was way too aroused to put an end to the make out session.

Austin wasn't sure what the hell he was doing, but he knew he wanted to, so badly. Justin was so adorable, so funny, so amazing. He wanted to touch him, hold him, kiss him, and tell him things he previously had thought boys could only tell girls.

Justin felt Austin's tentative hand around him, and couldn't stop himself from moaning against Austin's lips. He couldn't talk, only think and feel.

Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God Don't Stop Please Touch Me Oh God Oh God Austin…..

"Ohhhh…." He groaned as waves of pleasure rippled through him. He threw his arms around Austin, clutching him tightly to him, while trying to bring order to his chaotic thoughts.

"God, what just happened?" he thought, while breathing heavily. Austin was still overwhelmed with the realization of what he'd just done, and they both rolled onto their backs, looking up into the ceiling.

For several minutes, they just lay next to each other, quietly thinking through what had just happened.

"Austin?" Justin mumbled at last.

"Yeah?" Austin replied, trying to figure out if this meant they'd just had sex or not.

"I've never done that before" Justin said softly, weaving his fingers together with Austin's. It was the first time they'd ever held hands.

"Me either" Austin breathed, deciding that it hadn't been sex, but not just making out either.

Justin looked up at the stars he'd put in the ceiling as a child. They glowed in the dark, and were totally un-stylish, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to take them down.

"Austin?" he repeated, eyes still glued to the plastic stars.

"Uh-huh" Austin replied, feeling himself smile at his companion, even though he himself was busy trying to comprehend what was going on between them.

"I think I'm in love with you" Justin confessed, in that way only teenagers who have yet not been hurt by a lover do. Scared of their new feelings, but still so young and inexperienced that they aren't afraid of uttering words of love.

"I think I'm in love with you too" Austin replied, and turned to the dark haired boy next to him. Justin turned around as well, silently regarding him from his side of the bed. He frowned, clearly thinking something through.

"Does that mean you're my boyfriend now?" he asked, not knowing what kind of answer he wanted.

Austin thought about it. Did it mean that they were together now? They hadn't been seeing each other that long, and this was the first time anything serious had happened between them. They hadn't really… done it yet. But then again, was that really a requirement?

"Well… I'd like you to be my boyfriend. So… if you want me to be yours… Then I'm in" Austin replied at last.

Justin thought it over. It did make sense.

"Yeah… yeah, I think I'd like that" Justin smiled. Austin smiled back at him, unable to look away from those dark eyes, both boys suddenly aware of the fact that they'd both just entered their first serious relationship.

I

Meanwhile, Bobby Talercio and Ignacio just came back from grocery shopping. Bobby was still mulling over the fact that Justin had rejected him twice that week. First, he didn't wanna come to his bachelor party, even though he had agreed to come at last, only to spend the evening texting his friends. Today, when Bobby had tried to cheer him up by offering to take him to the Beyoncé concert, Justin had once again rejected him for the sake of hanging out with that Austin kid.

"Yeah it's just… I don't get it, he used to like me" Bobby complained while unpacking the groceries, feeling hurt, and at the same time sounding annoyed. "Why am I so bad to hang around all of a sudden?"

"There's no explaining teenagers, brother!" Ignacio chuckled, while putting yoghurt and milk in the fridge.

"I even offered to take his buddy too!" Bobby exclaimed, waving his hands, all caught up in his own annoyance and helplessness. "I don't know why he doesn't want me there…" he asked out to no one in particular, handing over vegetables to Ignacio.

"You're trying to hard Bobby" Ignacio told him, with the knowing tone of an older man who has been through the same thing many times before, and learned that it's just a part of kids growing up.

"Justin will come back to you, when he's ready" he promised him, and put a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Bobby nodded to himself, not entirely convinced, but ready to give up."Yeah, you're right…" he mumbled, almost to himself. Ignacio patted his back, thinking the conversation was over.

All of a sudden Bobby lit up, a new idea popping up in his head.

"Hey, I'm gonna go talk to him!" he said, convinced it was the right thing to do. Ignacio knew it wasn't, but never got around to stop him.

I

"I had a great time today" Austin said as he got ready to head back home.

"Me too" Justin said, smiling at the boy standing in front of him in the vestibule. Both their heads were still swirling from what had happened earlier. Now that they had broken the ice in terms of physical contact, all they could think of was doing it again. Like all people who have just fallen in love, it seemed as if they were the only two people in the world.

Now wasn't the right time, but they just couldn't resist. Still somewhat clumsily, they leaned in to kiss, instantly losing themselves in the sensation of their lips and tongues meeting. Both boys completely forgot there was a window in the door to the vestibule.

Bobby stomped out into the hallway, trying to figure out the best way to approach Justin. Looking up, he saw something he hadn't quite expected to see. Shocked, and unable to take his eyes off it, he watched his soon-to-be stepson kiss what Bobby had thought was his friend, but now instantly realized was probably his boyfriend.

Something wasn't quite right, and for just one second, Justin opened his eyes, and instantly pulled away. Austin had his back to the door and didn't see what Justin saw, until he turned around.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck" Justin thought, his heart racing. He felt himself panicking. He couldn't take his eyes off Bobby, who was still standing there, looking completely taken aback.

"Uh… I should probably go" Austin mumbled, knowing this was something between Justin and Bobby.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll call you later" Justin breathed, still looking at Bobby.

Austin nodded, and let himself out the door. Justin took a deep breath, knowing he couldn't avoid confrontation any longer, and opened the door and slipped into the hallway. Feeling deeply ashamed, he looked up at Bobby, who was still fumbling for words. Seeing this as his chance to sneak out of it, Justin quickly made his way up the stairs, but Bobby finally pulled himself together.

"Hey you know, I was thinking about the concert, I mean, uh, y-y-y-you guys can go" Bobby stuttered, still a bit shocked. Justin stopped dead in his tracks, realizing he wouldn't get away. He turned around, feeling almost desperate, and then nearly ran down the stairs again.

"Just, please don't tell anyone" he pleaded with Bobby, with the look of a sad and scared puppy on his face.

Bobby, who had finally reached a spot where he was comfortable again, knew that their relationship depended on his next sentence.
"No, of course not" he reassured the boy, knowing it was the right thing to say.

"Not even my mom!" Justin told him, ordered him. Begged him.

"Okay, okay, I won't but you know, I think she'd be cool…"

"I just don't want her to know!" Justin interrupted him; feeling like the panic would consume him.

"Alright, it's just between us" Bobby promised him, his voice soft and almost that of a father.

"Okay" Justin breathed, and went upstairs to his room, leaving Bobby feeling like he'd just accepted a way too heavy burden to carry.

I

Justin threw himself down on his bed, fighting the tears and the nausea. He hadn't expected to feel like this at the thought of his family finding out about him and Austin. He'd been so caught up in his crush that he hadn't considered the consequences. He wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready to admit to them he might be gay.

"Uuuuuhhhh…" he groaned into his pillow, wishing he hadn't been so stupid.

Why the hell did he have to kiss him in the vestibule?

Justin didn't get much sleep that night, not even after Austin texted him, asking if they were still together after what happened earlier. Despite his breakdown, the answer was clear to him.

From: Justin

To: Austin

As long as you let me stay at your place when I'm sad, I'm still your boyfriend

TO BE CONTINUED