Chapter 2

"So, what the hell happened?"

Kevin sat against the rock, arm around Bobby. His friend's head lay on his chest, the rest of his body snuggled against the teen. It felt ... well, different, but Kevin couldn't say it was wrong. Bobby needed him. He looked down at the mess of blond hair. Somebody really should comb that. Not him, though. Reaching over, with his free hand, he mussed the hair a bit more.

"Tell me."

Bobby sighed, moving his head against Kevin's t-shirt so he wasn't talking directly into his chest.

"Dad's moving out today." Kevin waited, hand leaving Bobby's hair. "I asked if I could help him move into the hotel, and Mom said no."

"He's going to a hotel?"

"For now. He's going to try and get an apartment nearby, so I can bike there. Mom doesn't like that."

"She can't keep you from seeing your dad. There're laws about that."

"Yeah, but ... she's Mom. I love her, too. I just want to see Dad, sometimes."

They sat in silence.

"Maybe," Kevin suggested, "she's afraid your dad will make you gay."

Bobby broke out laughing. As if that had suddenly fixed everything, he pushed himself up and slid back until he was sitting against the rock in his accustomed place. Their shoulders touched. After a moment, his face turned serious again.

"I can't tell Mom."

"About what?" Bobby gave Kevin a look. "Oh, right. No problem. It'll just be between the three of us."

The idea of not telling Vicky didn't even cross Kevin's mind. They shared everything. Bobby's hand reached for his.

"You're OK with this?"

"I think so," he said, nodding. "It might take time to adjust, but it'll be OK."

"Even ... the kiss?"

Kevin thought. He wasn't gay. He knew that. He passed the boobs make boners test quite well. However ... he shrugged.

"Yeah. I'm OK with it. As long as you stay you."

Vicky rode her bike down Greiner with abandon. Not reckless abandon, no. This was calculated abandon, every move on her dirt bike reasonably safe, no matter how it looked. And it looked reckless. The two lane road had gravel shoulders, often uneven with holes, sticks, and other fun obstacles. She wove between them at speed, facing traffic, so she could see the face of death. Or, at least, the faces of the drivers marveling at her skill.

Same thing.

She had been down this road many times. It connected the neighborhood, that multi street complex of houses they all called home, to the woods, which they also called home. There were other ways to get there. Safer ways, the ways the trio had traveled in their younger days. But, they were almost adults now. About to enter High School. The roads were their highway. They could handle the danger, the oncoming traffic...

Vicky swerved again.

Also the roadkill. That was yucky, though.

She had gotten back home late the night before, tired after long lines at airports. Staying with her Grandma in New York had been awesome, so many things to do, relatives to meet. The trip to Ellis Island had especially been great, those old rooms reminding her of their forest. She hadn't been allowed to just explore, though. You had to stay on the tour path. That sucked. At least at the Naval Park downtown, part of the fun was in fact trying to find the path you were supposed to take through the ships. Even with the repainted lines on the decks, it could be tricky.

As a semi came at her, she saw the start of the dirt path through the tall grass, leading to the start of the woods. With a quick jerk of the handlebars, she wrenched the front wheel onto it, the rest of the bike following as metal death passed behind her. She let the bike coast down the slight incline, timing it so she hit the petals again just as the front tire bottomed out. A few more moments, swerving a bit to avoid a stick some jerk had let fall in her way, and...

She was home.

Vicky let the bike slow, now that she was in the woods, her body relaxing. It had been too long. Five whole days, actually closer to six. She had heard the old saying, that you never know how much you love something until it is gone. That was definitely true. She loved this forest.

She also loved Kevin.

Putting her feet down, she stopped her bike at the first cross path. Love. Love was silly, they had agreed. One need only look at the various pairings around them to see that. The drama, the breakups and heartbreak. Who needed that. They had friendship. What could be better?

Well, kissing, for one. And touching, and more kissing, and ... Vicky sighed. She had been thinking of kissing Kevin forever. Not when they were together, at least not much. No, when the three of them were playing, or just being themselves, it was the same as always. Just a comforting ... oneness of being. It was at night, when she was alone under the covers, that the complications arose. She had been touching herself for over a year, wondering at it all. And ... now, she saw Kevin's face when she closed her eyes, one finger getting wetter. Never Bobby. Bobby was cute, yes. Blond, cute, with nice eyes. But, Kevin ... his short brown hair, part a bit to the left of center, those brown eyes, the way his lips smiled, the bulge he got in his pants when they were at the park surrounded by partly clothed teen girls...

She had a body now. A nice one. Boobs as big as apples, brown apples with pink stems. A triangle of sparse black curly hair was between her legs. Would Kevin get a boner if he saw her nude? Would he want to kiss her? Touch her? More than touch?

She shook her head. It was too distracting. She just wanted to find her friends. They had been gone before she woke, Kevin's phone giving her a recording while Bobby's mom was in a right bitchy mood. Vicky didn't like her, and she thought the feeling might be mutual. Or she was just being silly. That was always a possibility.

The choices of where the boys could be, this early, were few. The fort was the obvious first place to check. For one, she'd pass a few other haunts on the way there. Second, if they WEREN'T there, she could swing around and check other places on the way to the mall, which was opening soon. All in all a good search pattern, one they'd used before in the past while seeking one of their pack. Kicking off, she set petal to the chain and set off down the path.

The relief at seeing two familiar bikes in the hiding spot near the fort was almost orgasmic. They were here. She was here. They would be one again. One from three. Not even bothering to conceal her white bike, thus opening their fort to possible discovery, she let it drop to the ground noisily as she quickly walked down the faint path. The bushes scratched her, leaving red marks on her brown skin, the fort's guards extorting their toll. Finally...

"Vicky!"

The two boys shot to their feet, expressions of pure joy. Her own must have mirrored it, for they just grinned. Opening her arms, she quickly went forward. They met her half way, Kevin on her right, Bobby on her left, the boy's free arms around each other. They stood there, foreheads together, body's trembling.

"I missed you guys," she whispered. "I missed you so much."

"Same here." Kevin squeezed her, Bobby's arm doing the same a moment later, probably reacting to being squeezed himself. She lifted her head. Her friends looked blurry Laughing, she released them, hand going to her jeans pocket for a tissue.

"None of you had better be going anywhere for a bit," she said, wiping her eyes. "I don't know if I could deal." She saw Bobby's eyes were red as well, at least a bit. They both released her. As one, they retreated to the stone. Kevin slid down with practiced grace against it, Bobby on his right. Vicky slid down on his left, her shoulder against his. She looked at them both.

"So, what's been going on?"

"I know a number of gay people. Well, know of them, met them."

Vicky picked up a reddish rock, examining the bottom to see if any worms or other crawlies were there. Seeing none, she walked over to the half built dam and carefully placed it next to Bobby's rock. The fit was good, although some pebbles would fill in the crack better. Even as she thought that, Bobby was there with some good sized ones to try out.

"Where did you meet them?" Kevin asked. He sat on the edge of the small stream, stripping the bark from a stick that looked a bit like a boat. Vicky bent down and rolled up her pant legs a bit more.

"Oh, remember my cousin? The one with the huge boobs?" She slid her eyes to him, saw his widen. She wished her shirt was tighter, so her own boobs were more evident bent over like this.

"Oh! Yes! God, they were big!"

"She and her friends have a guy who hangs with them, who's as flaming as a ... well, flame. I think they do each other's nails and such."

"Dad doesn't do that," Bobby said, frowning. She looked at him apologetically as she straightened.

"I know! I'm just saying, that's one guy I know! Mom knows a couple who shop at her store, too, and I've met them. They don't have nail polish. That I know of, at least."

"I wonder what kind of guy Dad ... likes." Bobby stood up, examining the dam. Vicky moved to stand next to him, Kevin rising to join them. Water was starting to build up behind it. Vicky shrugged.

"Just ask him. Not now, probably, but later. Once everything's settled."

"Yeah," Kevin nodded. "There's no hurry. He'll be gay for a long time."

Bobby looked at Kevin for a long moment. Vicky wondered what was going on. There were no secrets between them, after all, and she had a lot of catching up to do.

"What?" she asked. Bobby sighed, eyes meeting hers.