As Seth walked out into the chilly December air, he shivered slightly, pulling up the collar on his coat to keep warm. It was then he noticed that he had forgotten to change out of his school uniform. In all his excitement to finally get to see Roman, he had come straight home to call him, then left pretty much immediately afterward without so much as a thought about what he looked like.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hair elastic, pulling his scruffy dark hair back into a small ponytail. He had been growing it out for the past few months, despite constant protest from his grandmother. In her mind, all of his problems would be easily solved by him just getting a proper haircut and a job. She knew he idolized Roman, but with Seth's much smaller frame, there was no way he would ever excel at football, so she tried to keep him more grounded in reality. Unfortunately, most of the time it ended up sounding like criticism, the words cutting Seth deeply. He sighed, his breath forming an icy cloud that blew past him as he walked, his gait a bit faster than he wanted due to the cold.

Seth found himself slipping into a daydream as he continued on, his mind turning yet again to thoughts of what Roman might have been up to during the last few months at school. He knew that outside of classes and studying, a lot of the older boy's time was usually spent at football practice and in the gym. Seth wondered if there was going to be an obvious difference between what he looked like now compared to the last time they saw each other, late that summer. He felt a rush of sudden heat envelop him as his brain conjured up an image of Roman showering after a workout, water cascading down over inky black hair that was just starting to reach past his shoulders. As he leisurely slid his soapy hands all over, he turned around just in time for Seth to see him closing his fingers around the thick, half-hard piece of meat that hung pendulously between his legs, stroking it slowly.

As the fantasy began to gradually take shape, a dreamy smile drifted across the younger boy's face. He wondered what Roman thought about when he touched himself there, and if anyone else had been touching it while he was away. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy when he thought about all the girls who were probably vying for the attention of the young Samoan stud, but he tried his hardest to stuff that thought away for the time being. All he wanted right then was to be wrapped up in one of those tight, affectionate hugs that Roman always had waiting for him whenever they saw each other after an extended absence. He just knew that all of his worries would be quelled when he felt those powerful arms encircling him once again, ensuring him that all was indeed right with the world.

Just then, Seth rounded a corner, cutting down an alleyway between two buildings. Lost in thought, he didn't even notice when a foot kicked out from behind a dumpster as he walked past, knocking him quickly out of his reverie and into the dirt. He landed face-first, the cold ground grating some of the skin off of his chin as his body pitched awkwardly forward. Tears began to sting his eyes as he tried to collect himself, pushing up off the ground in an attempt to stand back up.

"Aww, did the poor little baby fall down?" a raspy voice chided from behind his back. "Maybe you should just stay down, then."

Seth turned his head to look his assailant in the eye, but he was shoved back down by a kick to the shoulders. He didn't need to look, anyway...he knew exactly who that voice belonged to. He felt an all-too-familiar pang of sickening apprehension as he mentally braced himself for what was about to happen. "What do you want?" Seth asked, trying hard not to let his voice waver.

A menacing chuckle echoed off the walls of the narrow corridor, shaking Seth to the core. "Come on now, don't act like you're not happy to see me."

A boot came down on the back of Seth's neck, pinning him to the ground as he felt hands rifling through his coat pockets. "I don't have any money," he whined, annoyed at the intrusion.

"Well, that's too bad," the voice replied. "Because now I'm gonna have to find something else worth taking."

Seth was roughly kicked over onto his back, and through the haze of dust, he finally saw the pair of icy blue eyes he knew would be glaring back at him. "I don't have anything," Seth implored, propping himself up on his elbow as his other hand reached up to touch his scuffed face. When he pulled it back, the sight of fresh blood startled him and he gasped in shock. "Please...just...leave me alone."

The other boy laughed, a bitter sound, full of malice. He pulled back the hood of his black sweatshirt, revealing a head of tousled, gingery hair that hung haphazardly down over his forehead. Crouching down suddenly, he grabbed Seth by the lapels of his jacket and yanked him up onto his feet. He then shoved him backwards, slamming him against the brick wall and holding him there, forearm pressed against his throat.

Seth's eyes widened in terror, a whimper escaping his constricted windpipe as he stared into the wild eyes of his aggressor. For a long moment there were only the sounds of harsh breathing and the helpless shuffling of Seth's feet in the dirt. Seth couldn't help but notice how the other boy's gaze flicked back and forth between his eyes and his lips as he kept him trapped, as though he was trying to decide what to do next.

He finally moved, his free hand wandering down Seth's chest and into the front pockets of his trousers, feeling around for hidden valuables. When he went to pull it out, it brushed against Seth's stiffening member through the lining, eliciting another pleading whimper.

"You know, it's too bad you have this," he said, gripping it tightly and squeezing until it throbbed in his hand. "I mean, if you just had a nice wet pussy instead of this cock, you'd make a pretty hot girl." His lip curled as he smirked, obviously full of himself.

"I'm not a girl," Seth snarled back, squirming in his grasp. His eyes welled with tears of embarrassment as he felt the thumping of his own heartbeat between his legs. He tried to fight back, clawing at the hands that held him down, but he was no match for the older boy. He was quickly turned around and shoved face-first into the same wall as before, but this time the other's hips insistently ground against his rump, his fingers gripping the hair at the back of Seth's head.

"Go ahead, struggle," the raspy voice said, breath hot against Seth's ear. "Push that cute little girly ass back at me...do it...I dare you," he taunted, thrusting forward and pinning Seth flat against the wall.

Just as Seth started to resist against the force holding him down, a voice from the end of the alley called out, startling them both. "Yo, D- are we goin', or what?"

"Shit," he grumbled in frustration, just barely above a whisper. "This isn't over."

He backed up abruptly, letting go of his hold. Seth coughed and sputtered, clutching his neck protectively, but didn't dare move otherwise. "Yeah, yeah," he answered. "Just shakin' this little punk down for his lunch money. Y'know, business as usual." He dusted himself off, then headed down the alleyway in the direction of his crew, who were waiting there watching with odd interest.

"I don't know why you bother...that kid never has any money anyway," one of the kids said to him as he caught up with his pack of fellow delinquents.

"Yeah, but you never know," he answered, looking back in Seth's direction. "One of these days he might have something I really want."