Clifton's POV.
I walked behind Xander without saying a word on the way back to our room. My mind was racing. The revelation of his after death experience had been mind blowing. I had read about people experiencing this before and his account didn't seem outlandish or too far fetched. His words were not forced or laboured and were most convincing. His demeanour had made it all totally believable too.
In fact everything that he had said was totally believable, and I was stunned by his honesty and the trust that he was putting on me.
His secret didn't dampen my interest in him one bit or change my opinion that he was definitely gay. It actually fed it. It just confirmed my initial impression that he was an interesting person.
The fears that I had been trying to suppress myself were rising up and filling my thoughts. It was only fair after him revealing his secrets that I should reveal mine too but he was wanting to know about things that I certainly couldn't talk about. Things regarding my twin's death that had to remain hidden.
Was he telling the truth though? There's no way he could have known what happened yet the words he had used, and the manner in which he had said them, was exactly how my brother would have said them.
It had to be the truth.
There was no other reasonable explanation.
We hardly spoke to each other as we settled down for the night.
Xander had previously told me that he thought the rooms were not a safe place to discuss really private things so if we did talk it was often quietly. He seemed paranoid that someone would be listening, outside our door, to what we were saying.
Given the persecution he was subjected to he had good enough reason to be.
I hardly slept that night. I lay awake unable to shake off the words that Xander had said my twin had uttered. I had an awful feeling that he would visit Xander and me again.
When he did I vowed not to do a runner but to embrace the opportunity. My heart ached to be able to speak with him once more. I wanted to hear from him that he really didn't blame me for getting in his way. I wanted to know for sure that he accepted that it wasn't my fault. His accident was just that, an accident, and that I didn't cause it on purpose.
I was woken by a hand shaking my shoulder and Xander's voice calling my name. He was towering over me wearing just a pair of shorts, a towel hanging around his neck, and another over his arm and his wash things in his hand.
"It's 6.30...... I'm going to shower.... Do you want to come with me to beat the rush?"
I rubbed my eyes as I sat up. "Thanks. You go on ahead and I'll be with you in a mo.... Okay?"
Xander nodded and gave a weird sort of smile as he left the room.
I adjusted my morning boner, hoping that it wouldn't show too much, knowing it would subside as soon as I had a pee. I gathered up my wash bag and towels and jogged off to the bathroom with my wash bag discreetly placed in front of me.
I entered the bathroom and made straight for the toilet cubicle rather than the urinal, not even looking to see where Xander was.
Relieved, I exited and paused as I was about to enter one of the many empty shower booths. I looked over at the only booth that was occupied. I could tell it was Xander as his distinctive frame was silhouetted through the opaque glass door.
My boner immediately returned and I rushed into the cubicle opposite and shut the door real quick. I hung my towels over the door in an attempt to hide my body shape and stripped naked. A quick beating off, followed by a cold shower, swiftly cooled my ardour.
Refreshed and with the large towel wrapped around my waist and the small hanging round my neck I opened the cubicle door and found a half naked Xander standing right there looking at me.
I immediately had to cover my groin area with my wash bag.
"Beating the rush means something different to you, I see," Xander remarked, his face expressionless as usual. "Your morning woody is quite a sight first thing in the morning. Thought it best for you not to shower when the others are all here otherwise you won't hear the last of it."
I muttered my thanks and, although rather embarrassed, walked with him over to the sinks to clean our teeth and to shave.
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you," he whispered as we walked back into our room. "It's just that you were lying on your back .... Well...., there's no other word that can describe it more accurately...., displaying yourself this morning. It's natural...., I get that..., but it's most disconcerting for an innocent boy like me to be confronted by.... THAT.... first thing in the morning without any warning!"
I sensed, although he was teasing me, he was trying to be more friendly. Our conversation the previous day about us being friends must have been weighing on his mind and this was his way of breaking the awkwardness that my brother's visit had caused.
I was most grateful for that even though he was teasing me. At least that's what I assumed, remembering he had said about his difficulty in processing his emotions. I knew he liked me but I was pretty sure that he wouldn't dare flirt with me. For a start he hadn't admitted he was gay yet and I was damn sure he didn't know I was.
Doubt crossed my mind. Did he though? Did his Gaydar work regarding me just as mine did about him?
I began to question the real reason he asked me to go shower this morning. Was he not so secretly ogling me? Is that why he knew I had jerked off in the shower?
I decided to try and play it cool and see where this change in his attitude took us.
I was looking forward to this morning's lessons as it was music for both periods. Playing the piano was my first love, not rugby, and I hadn't had the opportunity to play since I had arrived. I was also looking forward to meeting Mr Quick since Xander had said that he was sympathetic towards his situation. I had wondered what he was really like and how good a teacher he was. I was hoping that he would be kind enough and would give me permission to use the piano during the evenings if it wasn't being used.
I didn't get on with the music teacher at my old school at all. She was too traditional, too strict and too controlling. We were never allowed to experiment with different styles of music which made her lessons boring and unexciting. I sincerely hoped Mr Quick's lessons would be very different to hers.
The thought of his nickname, Nessie, made me chuckle.
Xander's POV.
I knew that Cliff hadn't had a good night. He had been restless until the early hours, hardly surprising after what had happened.
I hadn't had a good night either for the same reason but the lack of sleep was soon forgotten on seeing him displaying a morning piss hard anyone would be proud of.
He had been totally unaware of me, leaning against the wardrobe that formed the end of the wall, staring at the form of his hardened manhood, straining against the fabric of his shorts as he lay sleeping,
Overnight I had given more thought to what he had said about us being friends and knew that I should try and treat him differently. I was now prepared to do that.
I was feeling unusually pleased with myself. Inviting him to go to the showers with me had been very rewarding, visually as well as mentally. I had to admit that I had revelled in the unexpected moments it had offered.
Although he had put his towels over the glass door of his cubicle they didn't hang down far enough to totally block his naked silhouette or my vision of his actions. The sight of him wanking away, his head thrown back, and the stifled moan as he ejaculated, had left me with a raging hard on myself.
I teased him to hide my own frustrations and he looked so cute when he blushed. I found teasing him worked for both of us as it dispersed any remaining awkwardness from the previous night.
I was anxious to learn of his brother's accident and how it occurred and I hoped that he would look at my genuine attempts to be more friendly to him this morning in a positive way, so he would feel able to open up and tell me the truth regarding his brother's death.
Cliff surprised me by sitting with me at breakfast for the first time, totally blanking his noisy teammates in the centre of the refectory.
It wasn't the only unusual thing to have happened since we left our room. Not one boy we passed had given me the elongated 'weak', not one. Most boys had simply ignored me and had either smiled or nodded their head in Cliff's direction or had said 'Hello' or 'Hi'.
It seemed with Cliff thumping Trevor and me now being seen as friends with him did have its fair share of perks.
After breakfast and Assembly, Cliff walked back with me to our room so I could pick up my guitar before heading off to the Music block. I was glad that he did as Toad, Kasper, and Fabian were lounging against our door waiting for us.
"Ah! The gruesome threesome!" Cliff muttered in my ear as we approached.
I'm not sure if Toad heard or not but he glared at Cliff. "Rather have brekkie with Alice, would you?"
"Looks like she has a boyfriend now!" Kasper chipped in as the three of them blocked us from going into our room.
"Dickie won't be pleased to hear that or that you ignored us this morning." Toad added, standing as close to Cliff as he could. "Doesn't like poofs or non team players, does our Dickie..... Not by a long chalk.....! Thought you might want to be reminded of that."
Toad gave a sneering laugh as he gently patted Cliff's cheek but before Toad could pat him again Cliff had grabbed Toad's hand near the wrist, bending it forwards and driving Toad's arm downwards at the same time.
The pain Toad felt must have been intense as he screamed like a girl. He clawed pathetically with his free hand at Cliff's grip on him as he adjusted his stance to relieve the pain as Cliff forced him to kneel in front of him. Cliff then eased the pressure slightly.
"Let me go!" Pleaded Toad, almost crying as he tried to prise Cliff's hand off his. "You're hurting me real bad and Dickie will not be happy if I can't play."
Cliff applied some more pressure. "You should have thought about that before you slapped me then, shouldn't you?"
"I'm sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Toad squealed, his voice rising with each word. His bulging eyes revealed the extreme pain that the slightest of pressure had exerted. "Just let me go and I'll leave you guys alone."
"I don't believe for one minute you mean that but take it from me if you don't I will knock you from here to next week. Comprende?"
Toad barely nodded.
Cliff must have again applied more pressure because Toad screamed out 'Yes' in compliance rapidly, numerous times, before he eased the pressure again and allowed Toad to get to his feet.
With an over emphasised gesture Cliff released Toad's wrist and then pushed Toad away from our door.
Toad rubbed his wrist before turning his back on us sharply, and swaggered off down the corridor with Kasper and Fabian following behind like two faithful puppies.
"See you this afternoon at practice....., Poof lover!" Toad yelled out once he was at a safe distance.
Cliff never said a word. Just a reddening of his cheeks and the clenching of his fists relayed his anger and vexation.
I gently placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry......, I did warn you that being friends with me would bring you nothing but trouble."
Cliff shook me by placing a hand on top of mine and looking directly at me. He spoke quietly. His voice, barely a whisper, so that anyone around couldn't hear. "I know...., and I appreciate the warning but quite honestly Xander, I want to be friends with you, not with them. If it means that I have to deal with them physically...., then so be it."
I was trying to analyse the feeling I was experiencing as we walked over to the Music wing. It wasn't just him placing his hand on top of mine that had excited me. Nor was it just the deep, penetrating look right into my eyes or even the actual words that he had said. Nor was it the combination of all three, plus the added large dose of sincerity, that had blown me away.
It was the fact that somebody wanted to be my friend. Someone genuinely liked me and neither Toad nor his sidekicks were not going to dissuade him from being that.
I made up my mind, right there and then, that before tonight there would be no barriers between us anymore.
I was going to dismantle the wall.
Author's Note ✍🏽
Music Video selected for this chapter:-
Something Is Happening by Herman's Hermits (1968)https://youtu.be/wifU4wxObbk
M xx ❤️❤️