M/M ROMANCE: BEHIND THE HORIZON

by Marcel Miska

  “It’s not so bad”. He cleared his throat. “The cement floor is nice and cool. At any rate, at least I’m not doing physical labor in this heat like some people”. He made an exaggerated swipe across his forehead with a shake of his wrist and a little tired whew. Julian laughed again, a musical sound. Fabio smiled, the tug of his lips feeling like stretching muscles he hadn’t used in ages.

  His smile faltered a bit when Julian lifted up the hem of his shirt to mop his own forehead, revealing golden, tanned skin and a light smattering of freckles. It was information Fabio most assuredly did not need to know, information he didn’t know what to do with.

  Julian sighed. “It’s mighty fine swimming weather today”. He cocked a conspiring grin. “Maybe you and I can knock off work a bit early, go for a dip in the quarry? It’ll feel great after today”. Fabio found himself nodding without even thinking about it. He’d agree to almost anything Julian suggested, anyway. “Great!”

  It wasn’t until the other boy was most of the way out the door that Fabio’s brain caught up. “But I don’t have a swimsuit with me!” he called at Julian’s back.

  Julian turned around, a toothy grin dominating his face. “Fab, you don’t wear trunks in the quarry,” he replied with a teasing laugh before disappearing in the front.

  However his time in McKinley ended, of one thing Fabio was sure: this boy was going to be the end of him.

  Chapter 6

  “Where are we going?” Fabio asked, watching his feet as he followed Julian down the narrow wooded trail. They’d been ambling their way through the woods for a good few minutes and Fabio was all turned around.

  Julian looked back over his shoulder with a cocky grin. “You’ll see. We’re not far now. You tired already?” he teased, turning forward again. Fabio wasn’t tired, and muttered something to that effect; in fact, he didn’t mind the view of Julian’s nicely-proportioned posterior flexing beneath the light gray athletic shorts one bit.

  A few more minutes passed in companionable silence, and Fabio tried to focus on their surroundings, rather than the siren call of Julian’s shapely ass. It was a losing battle, and when Julian slowed down, Fabio nearly crashed into him from behind.

  “Well, what do you think?” Julian stepped to the side of the trailhead, where it widened into a parched patch of dirt that gave way to staggered, smooth-sided rock shelves slipping cooly into dark, glassy water. The sun was hot overhead and it turned the surface of the quarry’s water into a black mirror, reflecting the white, fluffy clouds and Crayola blue sky. The quarry was ringed by a stand of hemlock and white pine, giving and enclosed sense of privacy. Everything felt hot, close, silent, and still, like a mirage.

  Fabio heard Julian’s clothes rustling and saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to speak, only to be met by the golden, tan expanse of Julian’s bare back as the other boy pulled the shirt off his back. Fabio’s mouth went as dry as the dirt around them.

  Noticing his silence, Julian turned around, hand on the drawstring of his shorts. Fabio barely managed to redirect his gaze out over the quarry in time to avoid being caught staring. “It’s beautiful,” he said past his tongue’s determination to stick to the back of his throat.

  “I know, right? And the water is gonna feel so good after today,” Julian replied, pushing his shorts down his well-muscled thighs. Fabio had to course-correct his line of sight. Again.

  “What are you waiting for?” Julian continued with a teasing lilt to his voice. “Strip!”

  Fabio’s hands felt cold and clammy as he grasped the hem of his t-shirt. He tried to ignore the fact Julian was watching him expectantly, and tugged it over his head. Fabio wasn’t the self-conscious sort, but he felt pale and thin compared to Julian’s warm and well-built body.

  Increasingly, Fabio was finding it more and more difficult to ignore the way his eyes lingered over Julian’s body, the way his chest would catch when Julian’s eyes would lock with his. Those intense moments of eye contact always ended in laughs, but Fabio could feel an insistent tug on his heart-strings that didn’t bode well. Fabio wasn’t an idiot. The sparks that always danced along his skin when Julian’s hand touched his bare arm or shoulder went beyond the mere companionship that had been missing in his life. He was falling in love.

  Fabio could feel the slight, listless breeze cooling the sweat that had suddenly broken out across his shoulder blades at the realization. He couldn’t bear to look at Julian; instead, he fumbled for a moment with the button of his own fly and shoved his khaki shorts down to his ankles. Here he was, stripping down to his skivvies in what was essentially public, in front of the guy he might be falling head over heels for with no hope of his feelings being returned. If it wasn’t so hot already, he’s sure he’d have a tough time explaining his flush away. It’s the flick of a pair of boxers near his feet that finally makes him look up. It’s not without a certain amount of trepidation because he knew what was going to greet his gaze when he did. With a swallow, Fabio shucked his own boxers off and kicked them away, and finally allowed himself to look at his companion.

  His eyes tracked up the long, golden lines of Julian’s legs. The skin at his hips was lighter, hidden away as it had been from the sun, but it darkened again at his waist, turned just far enough that Fabio couldn’t see the choicer parts of Julian’s anatomy, but enticing all the same. Julian’s pectorals and biceps were criminal; it was above them Fabio could see the smattering of freckles the summer sun has brought to the surface. Above that, Julian’s strong jawline was pointed in Fabio’s direction and Fabio hazarded a flick of his eyes up to Julian’s.

  Julian was… Julian’s own eyes were raking over Fabio’s body.

  Fabio blinked and the moment was over, Julian’s eyes resting comfortably on Fabio’s face, easy smile in place. He couldn’t have just imagined the slow way Julian’s gaze had lingered at his hips, at his collarbone, could he? But he must have, because the other boy was already picking his way down a huge, sloping slab of granite toward the water and calling out for Fabio to join him, easy as anything. Fabio blinked a few more times before following, trying to shake the surprise and misplaced momentary jag of hope. He was just curious, like anyone would be. Men especially liked to size up the competition, as it were. Julian was straight, and that was all there was to it.

  Chapter 7

  They spent close to half an hour splashing about in the water before climbing out for lunch. Julian was right; it was such a relief form the pervasive, close, humid heat of the day that it felt like slipping on new skin. Fabio did his best to avoid looking below the waistline, though he caught a glimpse or two of Julian’s manhood between cannonballs into a deep pool of the quarry. He had to stay in the moment and engage with Julian, but he was sure those furtive peeks would have a starring role in his fantasies tonight. He resolutely did not think of the cool, exciting feeling that had shot through him when he thought Julian might have been checking him out.

  They picnic, dry shirts in their laps, in the shade of a tree on a flat quarry rock, drying off in the hot wind that had picked up since they’d arrived. Kathy had made finger sandwiches, potato salad, and chocolate chip cookies from scratch for Saturday lunch, and had sent them off with a large Thermos of iced tea when they’d told her their plans. They enjoyed the ham and cheese sandwiches and accoutrement under the birch tree, listening to the desiccated leaves shiver in the breeze.

  “I bet I can swim down to the bottom of the quarry and back to the surface before you can,” Julian challenged after a few languid minutes in companionable silence, a smug smile stretching across his lips. He pushed himself up, casually holding the shirt in front of his crotch and making as if to fold it. His eyes flicked up to Fabio’s and Fabio knew he’d do anything Julian asked of him.

  “You’re on,” he said instead, getting to his feet.

  “Over there,” Julian pointed to a shelf just a little bit down the edge of the pool. That’s where it’s deepest.”

  Fabio f
ollowed Julian along the water’s edge to an underwater shelf of stone that jutted out into the middle, the top about a foot under the surface of the water and gently sloping out onto dry land. They walk out side by side until the reach the end of the shelf, the bottom of the quarry a dark hole before them. Julian looked at Fabio out of the corner of his eye, smiling.

  “Simple dive down, straight shot, grab a handful of sand to prove you made it, and back up. Whoever puts a hand on this rock,” he tapped the stone beneath their feet with his heel, “wins”.

  Fabio peered over the edge. It looked about fifteen feet deep, from what he could gather. He was a strong swimmer, he wasn’t worried. He looked back to Julian with a smile and a nod, tensing his muscles for a fast dive.

  “Three… two… one!” Julian counted down, punctuating the last with a little whoop as he launched himself headfirst into the water. Fabio followed, only seconds behind.

  The cool water slipped over his sun-warmed skin and he felt like a sleek creature of the sea, given new life. He opened his eyes and the world was painted in ultramarine, light rippling down from the surface above. Julian’s underwater-pale form was below him, slipping down and down, and Fabio dove down after him, hand outstretched for the light patch of sand just visible at the bottom of the quarry.

  Julian hovered at the quarry floor for a moment, rocketed up and away just as Fabio’s fingers dug into the cold sand. He clenched his fist and shot up after Julian, but even before he broke the surface he could see the other boy laying in the shallow water covering the rock shelf like a seal, legs hanging out into the open water.

  With a gasp, Fabio’s head breached the surface. He parked himself next to Julian and, triumphantly, held his fist up and opened it, letting the wet sand fall in clumps to dissolve in the water. Julian, balancing on his elbows so that just his hands stick out of the water, let loose his own handful and leveled a superior grin at Fabio.

  “What took you so long, slowpoke?” Julian nudged him with his elbow. Fabio would lose a hundred times just to keep those brackish green eyes trained on him.

  They were both panting from the exertion, laughing and smiling at each other with hair slicked back and skin glistening in the water, under the white-hot sun. This, this carefree happiness, the first happiness Fabio had felt in so long, was what living was supposed to feel like. Not leaden heartbeats in an empty room, but sun-filled laughter, cheeks and stomach aching with joy.

  Their laughter subsided and for a moment the only sound was the buzzing of a distant summer cicada and the deep breaths they took to even out their breathing. The moment turned just a little bit strange, and Fabio opened his mouth to say something to dispel the light awkwardness. Julian’s eyes tracked down to his lips, and Fabio felt the words die on his lips. All of a sudden, Fabio realized just how close they were, warm and heavy the air was between them. They were close enough Julian’s breaths softly hit his cheek in hot little puffs. Julian continued to stare at his lips and Fabio was frozen, cold all of a sudden in delicious anticipation. For a long moment he helplessly watched Julian’s face; he saw the exact moment Julian’s brow furrowed the slightest bit with determination.

  A breath later the space between them disappeared as Julian leaned forward – rushed, impulsive – and brought his lips to Fabio’s own. It was a hard kiss, unplanned and unexpected, but it sends a melting sort of heat through Fabio’s body, warming his toes in the cool, dark water.

  Julian is… Julian is kissing me! He thought frantically, searching for some reasonable explanation. It had to be more likely that Fabio had blacked out at the bottom of the quarry than Julian was kissing him for real. But the pull of the other boy’s lips against his was all too real, and once his thoughts leveled out into a hissing white blank of incredible static, Fabio kissed Julian back.

  Fabio could feel the floor of his stomach drop all the way to the quarry bed when Julian’s warm hand came up to cradle his jaw. Fabio was breathless with shock and desire. He let himself be pulled into Julian’s orbit, completely intoxicated by the hot, wet slide of Julian’s tongue against his own and the pleasant heat of their skin pressed together. All he could do was open his mouth and let Julian kiss him and hope the little groans that tumbled up his throat were enough to convey how on board with the program he was. For several, glorious minutes they drank in each other. Julian’s other hand migrated to the base of Fabio’s skull and Fabio wanted to purr like a cat at the way Julian’s heat seeped into the flesh there.

  Suddenly, Julian froze. He pulled back, hands still holding Fabio’s face. Fabio’s lips felt swollen and tingling with excitement, but Julian’s fingers were too stiff. Fabio opened his eyes and is met with Julian, breathing hard and getting harder, but not in a good way. He tried to catch Julian’s eyes, but he wasn’t there; he wouldn’t look at Fabio, and his eyes were flitting back and forth, unseeing. Fabio searches to find something to say, something to smooth Julian’s ruffled feathers, but it was only a few more seconds before Julian pulled away completely. He scrambled backwards and pulled himself up out of the water before grabbing his clothes and fleeing back up into the woods. Fabio was helpless, could only watch him disappear into the tree line before finally shaking himself out of his stupor enough to hurry after him, snatching up his own clothes and pulling them on as he went.

  Chapter 8

  He found Julian pacing near a large rock formation off the side of the path they’d come in on, watching his feet as he wore a path through the pine needles and oak leaves littering the forest floor. Fabio approached slowly, careful not to snap any twigs, but Julian had his back to him as he entered the clearing. Fabio watched Julian for a moment, seeing the tension and indecision in the set of his shoulders. For a moment, Fabio felt a surge of bravery course through him. A moment was all he needed.

  “Julian?” he called gently. Julian whipped around and the sheepish, shaken, and flushed look on his face was plain enough.

  “Julian,” he stated, softer, not a question this time. Slowly he closed the gap between them, careful to leave enough distance to be respectable. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Julian off.

  “Hey. I’m—“ he started, a bit unsure how he wanted to field this delicate conversation. “You shouldn’t feel bad, or anything,” he continued, a little lamely. He cleared his throat. “I get it, you know? I… I’ve felt it too. Felt drawn to you, I mean”. He rubs the back of his neck self-consciously.

  And now is the time, the time to finally come clean while they are both so vulnerable in front of each other. He took a deep breath and looked down and away, unable to meet Julian’s eyes. “I’m gay, actually”.

  That’s it – the words are out there, finally, and he can’t take them back. Julian knows and the ball is in his court, but he can’t help but try to qualify. “I wasn’t planning on telling anyone, just keeping my head down until I could get out of here, but you… Well, you happened. And nothing needs to happen, or anything. I value your friendship first. I mean, I liked kissing you. A lot.” He could feel himself blush a bit at the words, at the memory of what had happened mere minutes before, and he can feel Julian’s eyes on him. “But if you just want to leave it here and never speak of it again, I can forget about it. We can forget about it and just be friends.” He said the last with a lump in his throat; what if Julian didn’t want to be friends with a gay kid?

  Julian was silent, watching, and Fabio mustered up one more ounce of courage to look up. He saw Julian’s eyes skitter across the ground. After a moment, he spoke.

  “I’m not gay,” and Fabio could feel his heart clenching. “Not like, completely?” he continued, and it sounded like a question, like Julian isn’t entirely sure himself. “I’ve thought that I might like boys the way I like girls for a while now, but it’s only ever been in the abstract, you know? But now you’re here and… well, now it’s complicated, especially because my parents and this whole fucking town are so homophobic”.

  He finally met Fabio’s careful gaze. There
was a spark there, an answering cautious bravery. “I liked kissing you, too,” Julian continues, the start of a small smile on his lips. He paused. “I don’t want to leave it here. If that’s not what you want. I… I think I can be brave, if you can do it with me”. His dark green eyes were so large looking at Fabio, implored so earnestly.

  Those were the only words Fabio needed to hear before he’s closing the space between them, crashing his eager lips into Julian’s. His arms came up around Julian’s neck and Julian’s settled at his waist, fingers digging into the flesh there, dragging Fabio into the hard planes of his body. Fabio felt dizzy with the thrill of it, dizzy with his feeling for this warm, beautiful boy in front of him who amazingly seems to feel the same.

  They unconsciously shifted further off the beaten trail, bumping along the edge of the rocks until they’re out of sight of the path. Julian’s hands were everywhere, groping and sliding as far as they could reach under Fabio’s clothing, and Fabio can’t help but tangle his fingers in the burnished bronze hair he’d dreamed about for so long.

  They dropped to the ground, cushioned by soft pine needles and club moss. Fabio’s hands slid under the waistband of Julian’s shorts, delighting in the discovery that in his haste, Julian hadn’t put his boxers back on. The firm globes of Julian’s ass were cold from their dip in the water, but warmed wonderfully to the touch. Fabio gave into his desire to squeeze the taut haunches and Julian’s answering buck up into Fabio’s crotch was made his blood rush hot.

  Julian’s own clever hands worked to slide Fabio’s shorts down his hips, while his mouth still worked at Fabio’s jaw. The kissing had made Fabio hard and he hissed when his erection sprung free, meeting the fresh air. Julian paused in his kisses to look down along their bodies to where Fabio’s cock was bobbing between them.