Corey And Noah Ch 10

-Note from the author-

'I apologise profusely for such a gap between the stories. It is amazing how life can sweep you away and distract you. I intend to finish these stories however, as they always had a beginning, middle and end in my mind. I thank everyone for their patients in waiting for this next chapter and further, for all your support. Hearing feedback from everyone has been amazing.'

Thank you all, and I look forward to hearing more from you guys.'

- Shane

*****

I was still reeling. I couldn't believe it, it just seemed so unreal.

Noah is gay. I kissed Noah. ME!

It was like something out of a dream, out of another world. It just didn't seem possible. For months I had thought of nothing but that man, all the while convincing myself that what I longed for was in no way possible. Now it was as if I had entered a completely different reality. I did not have much time to process all this all however, as the sound of many feet pounding up the wooden staircase pulled me out of my trance. It had not occurred to me that I had never really spoken to Noah's friends and most of them considered me as a scrawny person of insignificance. Swiftly, I ducked down, grabbed my white T-shirt and pulled it over my head. Mere seconds later, Noah and four other boys entered the room.

'Hey Matheson, what are you doing here?' said a surprised Nick, observing me with a raised eyebrows.

Nick was perhaps the most attractive of the group, except of course Noah. His smooth skin was dark, as was his hair. He was also far musclier than even Reece, with his pecks being more than visible under his singlet.

'Yeah, what the fuck Matheson?' Nathan followed.

Nathan glared at me, his frown showing hatred beyond what might be expected for someone he had barely ever spoken to. I was stunned into silence for a few moments, given the swiftness of which I had to re-assess my situation. I glanced at Noah who was standing behind his friends, still shirtless and in his favourite rugby shorts, looking at his feet while the other four stared me down.

'I-why don't you ask Noah?' I muttered, still looking at Noah over the others' shoulders.

They all turned to Noah who looked panicked for a second before saying, 'We're just doing some homework, stuff for English. Didn't you know we had an assignment due next week?'

Much to Noah's relief it seemed, his friends appeared satisfied with this answer.

'What's due?' asked Ben, brushing his long golden hair, which made him almost indistinguishable from a girl, out of his eyes.

'Just that shit about Shakespeare isn't it?' Nathan said, throwing himself down on Noah's bed, while Jarrod waddled over to the bookcase and began to look at Noahs comic books.

'What play are we doing again? I don't even fucking know ay.' Said Nick, laughing at what appeared to be his own ignorance regarding the topic.

I simply stood there awkwardly, as did Noah as the four began to talk about how much of a bitch their English teacher was. It wasn't for a minute or so that Ben turned to me.

'You can fuck off now Matheson, we're here to see Noah.' He said.

These words hit me like a blow to the stomach. I couldn't believe it. I had been living at Noah's for three weeks; it was essentially my room too at that point.

With the four of them staring at me however, I decided that the safest thing to do was get the fuck out of there. Glaring at Noah, I swiftly left the room and subsequently, the house.

***

The setting sun was hot on my back as I walked down the street, away from Noah's house. I barely realised where I was going and what I was doing. Unconsciously, I walked towards the beach. With my mind working overtime, I traipsed towards the water and found that the beach was largely deserted. Of course, most people wouldn't be at the beach at this time of the evening. The few people that were at there were a mainly mother with young children and a few older people. I walked some distance from anyone, and sat down on the warm sand, staring out at the crashing wave.

It was still hard to believe that only half an hour or so ago, I had kissed Noah with intense passion. I kept going over the event in my head as if it were a dream that I was determined to remember before its contents slipped away. I had kissed Noah; he had kissed me back; his mates came round to the room I was staying in and Noah let them treat me like garbage and kick me out of the house. It was very difficult to come up for an excuse to rationalise Noah's behaviour. For months I had been making excuses for him and now I was unable to think of any more.

I'm not really sure how long I was sitting there for. The sun was sinking lower and lower over the horizon behind me and the few people who were at the beach when I arrived began to disappear. My comfortable solitude was interrupted abruptly by approaching footsteps in the sand to my right. I waited for the person to pass by but when they didn't, I turned to look. Surprisingly, Reece stood above me wearing nothing but his black speedos again and holding a towel. His muscly body was very defined in the mood lighting created by the setting sun.

'Hey man, what are you doing here?' I asked. I was sure I knew the answer however.

'Hey, I just came down for a swim. I do it pretty much every arvo.' Reece said, putting his towel down next to me and sitting on it. 'What about you, I haven't seen you here before?'

'I didn't mean to come here.' I said truthfully, 'I was just walking and kind of ended up here.'

'Fair enough.' Reece said, smiling slightly, 'Are you okay?'

This is the second time Reece had asked me this and I had considered lying and telling him I was fine. What could I say to him though? I didn't really think it wise to confess my love for Noah and tell him we kissed. Those kinds of stories tended to move like wildfire if you told the wrong people.

'I don't know.' I finally decided to say, 'I guess I'm just annoyed at everything at the moment.'

Reece considered me for a moment. 'You know what I do when I feel like the whole world is against me?'

'What?'

'I don't worry about it.' Reece said, standing up and winking at me.

'Yeah,' I said, smiling up at him, 'unless you get confused about whether you're gay or not then I find you crying in the bushes.'

I wondered for a moment whether he had taken offence to my joke or not, then he laughed and kicked sand at me.

'Hey!' I spluttered, shielding my eyes.

Reece laughed before extending his hand to me and saying, 'Low blow man! Come on asshole, get up.'

Smirking, I took his hand and he pulled me up with surprising strength. Those biceps weren't just for show. I didn't have much time to admire them however Seconds later, I had my shirt pulled up over my head.

'What are you doing?' I almost shouted as he laughed.

Pulling the shirt off me completely he said, 'Come on, let's go for a swim.' With that, Reece bent over and pulled my shorts down in a single tug.

Standing in my undies, I watched as Reece ran into the ocean, diving headfirst into a wave and wanting nothing more than to dive in after him.

***

It was late in the evening by the time I was approaching the front steps of Noah's house again. I had spent hours at the beach with Reece. The night was warm and the water was barely cold at all. We threw each other around, sat on each other's shoulders, and lay on the beach for more than an hour talking about anything from movies to our favourite cars.

I was surprised at how happy I was as I entered the house and was greeting by Mrs Bennett. Declining the offer of dinner, I moved up the staircase towards the bedroom, still thinking about the way Reece's wet hair was plastered to his face and the way his black speedos tried to contain his huge cock. It was only as I entered the threshold of Noah's room that I remembered the events of earlier that day.

Noah was sitting on his bed, comic book in hand. He was wearing green underwear and was of course shirtless due to the heat of the night air. The room was dark, with the only source of light being from the hallway beyond the door and the moonlight through the widow.

Somewhere downstairs, the phone rang briefly but it didn't impact on the two of us. Noah and I were looking at each other intently. I was just remembering how badly I had been treated by Nathan, Ben, Nick and Jarrod. It was difficult to tell what Noah was thinking, he had an odd look on his face, far removed from the warm smile I was often greeted with. Just as it began to get a little awkward, Noah put down his comic book and broke the silence.

'So where have you been man?'

'Why do you care?' I spat these words out with more ferocity than I intended. I didn't even realise that I was angry until I spoke.

'Because I'm your friend?' Noah said, a little taken-aback.

'Are you?' I said, moving towards the window. For some reason, I didn't want to look at him.

'Of course I am.' Noah said simply.

I could tell he was looking at me but I purposefully avoided his gaze. I was instead watching the beach in the distance. It was barely visible in the dark but I kept my eyes fixed the direction I knew it to be in regardless.

'No you're not.' I said softly, but the anger was clear in my voice. It was bubbling inside me, I could feel it somewhere in my chest.

'Don't be stupid.' Said Noah.

I heard him stand up but before he could move, I reeled around to face him.

'Are you gay?' I asked.

Noah looked more than shocked. He stared at me, perfectly still, his face illuminated by the moonlight from behind me.

'Are you?' he asked.

'Yeah, I think I am. Are you?' I repeated.

Noah's expression was blank. He didn't get a chance to respond however. For the second time that day, a set of footsteps making their way up the stairs interrupted me from a sort of trance. Noah's ageing father, Mr Bennett, poked his head into the room.

'Corey that was Mr Jenkins on the phone. You've got that job at the dealership, he wants you there on Monday.'

It took me a moment to register what Mr Bennett had said. He was smiling at me.

'Congratulations son.' He said before leaving Noah and I alone once more.

We stood in silence once again until Noah said, 'Congrats man, now you'll be moving out I guess.'

I wasn't really sure what Noah meant by this. Still caught somewhere between anger at Noah and joy at getting a job for the first time in my life, I said, 'What the fuck do you mean by that?'

'Well you're angry at me for some reason, I don't think I did anything wrong but.' Noah said.

'Are you fucking kidding me?' I couldn't believe it, 'Why did you let your friends treat me like that?'

'I can't control everything they do, what do you want me to do about it?' Noah said, sounding angry for the first time.

'You could tell them off. Tell them I'm your best friend and they can't talk to me like that! I am your best friend aren't I?' I said, barely able to stop myself from yelling.

'Yeah, but-'

'Or better still, you shouldn't be friends with them at all. Just fuck them off, I'm the only friend you need Noah!'

'I don't think you can decide who I'm friends with or not, especially considering the company you keep.' Noah spat.

'What do you mean?'

I had no idea what he was talking about, I didn't have any friends besides Noah. Well except...

'That Reece guy. I saw you two that night in your room, rubbing each other dicks. I was able to let it go then but-'

'You were able to let it go?' I repeated, outraged, 'What do you mean by that?'

'I mean,' Noah said darkly, 'I didn't tell anyone and I didn't treat you any differently.'

'Why would you treat me differently? Because I'm gay? Because I'm a faggot?' Noah didn't say anything so I continued, 'Noah, you're a faggot too!'

Noah moved so quickly, I had virtually no time to react. Before I knew what was happening, I was pinned to the wall. With the wind knocked out of me, it took me a second to realise that the pressure across my chest was Noah's forearm pressing me tightly. His face was inches from mine. I had never seen Noah look so angry. His teeth were clenched tightly, his eyes narrowed sharply. The lines in his young face were so deep, it seemed that his expression would never fade. I stared into his green eyes, his nose millimetres away from my own.

'I am not gay!'

Noah said this very quietly, but his anger was as evident as ever. Before I had a chance to respond, he backed away, relieving the pressure on my chest.

'Get out of here Corey.' Noah said softly, sitting down on his bed once more, 'You've got a job now, you don't need to be here anymore.'

I started at Noah's dark outline on the bed. His head was in his hands and it was impossible to make out his expression. I stood for a moment, my head filled with things to say next. Ways to continue the argument, words of forgiveness and empathy and words of hatred. I stood there by the window for almost a full minute then, finding my feet, I walked across the room. With one last glance at Noah's outline on the bed, I headed down the stairs, across the hall and out the front door into the night air.

End of Book 1.