Different Sides of the Same Coin

"How do they know it was you who sprayed Mark's locker?"

"I told a few people who may have mentioned it to few others," he said.

"Why would you do that?" Max snapped.

"It's no use doing it if nobody knows it was you who did it, is it?"

"What did you think the upshot would be, Joey?"

"I was just pissed, OK? You can only take so much humiliation before reaching the tipping point," Joe said.

His friend was on the verge of tears, as a mix of dread and anger spilling over. If anyone could understand, it was Max. But he had to concentrate on keeping his friend safe and avoid him receiving a sound ass whipping from a bunch testosterone overridden jocks.

"Let's just get the hell out here," Max finally said and pushed his friend towards the gym's exit.

"What are we going to do?" Joe said as they walked from the auditorium. His panic was rising, and it wasn't helping the situation.

Luckily, Max's mind performs well under pressure and went into drive.

"Let's just get you to your car and away from here," he said. As they reached the parking lot, he got his friend safely into his car and got him to start the car.

"What about you?" Joe said through the open window, his foot already beating the ignition.

"I'm going back to cover up the shit you wrote. Hopefully they won't be as mad in the morning if they see the stuff's gone. At most they won't have actual evidence to justify any beating they dole out," Max said. He knew he sounded severe, but he needed his to have his friend comprehend the potentially enormous consequences that his spur of the moment idiotic act committed in a spit of anger could have. "You just get out of here and I'll call you later," he said and was already making his way back to the school.

Now that he had a potential killer posse on his trail, every corridor of the school suddenly seemed a lot eerier than it ever had before. Max decided to take a short cut through the gym auditorium to the locker area and make a quick job of getting rid of the crap his friend had misguidedly sprayed on the wrong people's lockers.

As he made his way through the auditorium he heard a group of footsteps coming from the hall and stopped dead in his tracks. He made the instant decision to backtrack and just rather get the hell out of there but was too late. His heart sank as he saw buff shoulders followed by angry bobbing heads come to a standstill inside the gym's doors. He stood frozen in place as he noticed Mark, seemingly leading, with Brian in tow with two other brutes. Mark motioned to the rest of the angry gang to follow him, and smarmy smiles replaced collective scowls.

"Well look here, it's only the friend of the pussy who got it all wrong," he said.

Max knew he was in a corner. If he ran, they would have the satisfaction of seeing him scared and catch up to him anyway before beating him. If he stayed, he was probably getting a beating anyway, so he might as well take it with dignity. He made the decision to not just take it any longer, and puffed his chest out and waited for them to approach.

"I don't think he got it so wrong from what I've been told," Max said as they approached. He could see his remark landed just the way he intended and flustered his foe before turning his opponent's face a dark red. He also noticed Brian standing in between the two other towering guys, looking more awkward than anything else. He decided to give as good as he got, and ignored him coldly.

"Sonofabitch," Mark said in a threatening tone. It sounded as though he was more surprised than anything else at someone actually taking him on to his face.

"What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me, you goddamn sonofabitch," Max said. He knew he was signing up for a big ass whipping, and knew he was probably visibly shaking, but he was finally taking a stand against this pathetic and scared man, who was standing behind the door himself and couldn't face who he was.

"I'm going to enjoy giving what's coming to you," Mark said and moved menacingly towards him.

Max kept his ground and didn't move, maintaining eye contact with Mark all the time, challenging him in front of his friends and challenging him with the truth. They both knew he knew what he gets up to with Joey, forcing him to suck him off at regular intervals then beating him up for his effort.

He saw the fist rise in poise to strike down on his nose and closed his eyes in anticipation, but the hit didn't come. He opened his eyes slightly to see Brian had grabbed Mark's arm from behind and stood frozen in time, Brian's face giving nothing away.

"What the hell?" Mark asked.

"Are you ready to get suspended or even expelled over this guy?" Brian asked reasonably.

"No one's gonna care about a beat up pansy," Mark said.

"Fuck you," Max said. He saw a flash of annoyance flit over Brian's face at his antagonistic outburst.

"It's not worth it man, maintenance will clear it off your locker first thing in the morning."

"It ain't even about that," Mark said, "it's about respect."

"Why the fuck do we have to respect you?" Max said.

"Will you shut the hell up?" Brian snapped. "Just leave it out, man," Brian said to Mark. "All the aggravation that will come down on us, it's just not worth it," he said.

"Motherfucker," one of the other guys said as realization dawned on the group.

"Oh my god," Mark said. "Don't tell me you're sweet on him?"

The question was posed more as an accusation than a question, and Brian's emotions betrayed his face.

"Of course not," Brian said. "I'm just looking out for myself. I want to get to college without a rap sheet," he said.

Mark stared at Brian and back at Max then at Brian again.

"You know Connolly, I knew there was something off about you when you first got here," Mark said. "Angela said you never got with her, and I knew then there was something up with you," he said.

"Don't go making up stuff where there is none," Brian said threateningly.

"The guy's a pansy if I ever saw one," Brute number one said to his right.

"Shut the fuck," Brian warned.

"Why do you care what the hell these sons of bitches think of you?" Max said.

"That's it motherfucker," Mark said and raised his fist but was pushed to the floor by Brian before he could lower it on Max's face.

Brian's eyes told Max in no uncertain terms to just keep his mouth shut, but he was finally on a roll. All the years of just taking it had made him blow his top finally.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Mark said as one of the stunned brutes helped him off the ground.

"What would beating up on him prove anyway? He wasn't the one who sprayed that stuff on your locker."

Mark straightened himself up and smiled coolly. "If you aren't into him, prove it," Mark said.

"What are you on about?" Brian said.

Mark walked over to Max and swiftly punched him in the gut. As he crumpled to the ground, grabbing his abdomen in pain, Mark wrapped his hand in Max's hair and pulled his head back. Staring Brian down, he said; "Make him suck you off," he said.

Brian's horror at what was happening was quite obviously displayed on his face.

"That is fucked up," he said and walked over to where Max was sitting on his hunches breathing with difficulty. "This has gone way too far already," he said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"You better drop your pants, Connolly," Mark warned. "If you don't then I'll fuck him in the ass and make you watch, then punch your teeth out," he said.

Mark let go of Max's hair and let him crumple to the floor.

"And don't look like you're enjoying it neither," he said. A sadistic smile spread over his face as he and the two brutes surrounded Max and Brian.

Brian seemed to size up the group as Max was trying to regain his composure and catch his breath. He came to rest on his knees and stared at the encircling guys around them. He stared up at Brian as if to challenge him to do something, anything. He saw the indecision on his face, still trying to act tough to these worthless people. Why did he want to save face in front of them? Why did he feel the need to fit in with these brutes? It made him so angry, but what made him even more furious was that he still had feelings for the blond boy.

"Don't keep us waiting all day," one of the brutes said impatiently.

Mark moved menacingly closer, and Brian swallowed audibly.

Max was tantalizingly close to Brian's crotch, the face-to-crotch level far more erotically charging than he could handle at the moment. He didn't want to embarrass the blond boy, and didn't want to get him beat up over Joey's misguided attempts at sticking up for himself and his friends. Making a quick decision he shot up his arm in a hook and shot it through Brian's legs and upward towards the sky.

As Brian groaned from a deep place within and his eyes roll backward, he crumbled to the floor in obvious agony. Max made the best use of the element of surprise and shot up and sprinted for the door. The small head start coupled with his adrenaline spike was all the advantage he needed and he made his way out the gym door and to his car by the time any of the other guys could react.

He started his ignition and burned rubber out of the parking lot, feeling a mix of guilt and anger at leaving Brian behind. He at least knew he'd given him a legitimate out and that they couldn't claim he'd tried to be soft on him, so he would be all right. Unlike himself, he thought as he realized tears were making its way down his face.

*****

Chapter 4

After having soaked in a hot tub for about four hours, Max lay sprawled on his bed in his briefs. He'd decided not to tell Joe about the confrontation with Mark and the rest, and had phoned his friend to make sure he got home safe. Afterwards, he'd stripped and scrubbed himself clean from head to toe in the tub before soaking in pitch darkness as he allowed his thoughts to drift.

He knew he had feelings for Brian, and he knew Brian felt something for him. But could he handle being involved with a severe closet case? He was not naïve in the least, and had known going into it that it would be difficult starting something with someone who was at a different place on his journey of self-acceptance than he was, but he didn't think Brian would just stand there and actually allow him to get beat up on. A very dominant piece of him wanted to believe that Brian wouldn't have demeaned him and forced him to suck him off in front of all of them, but a small piece of him wasn't sure what would've happened. He'd balled Brian as much for Brian's sake than his own, giving Brian a legit reason to back out and giving himself the chance to scram.

No, he decided. Brian wouldn't have debased him like that. At the end of the day the boy was just a scared and confused teenager who wanted to fit in somehow. His blond and roughish looks made him seem more mature than his 18 years, but Max was reminded again that he too was just another impressionable teenager. He had to admit though that this justification sounded weak to even his own ears.

Max shivered as a cool breeze blew through his French doors. Walking over to close the doors he noticed movement on his balcony. Frozen in place, he considered the possibility of one of the brutes or even Mark following him home and staking him out for a revenge attack. His mind raced and he decided to sprint to the doors and lock it shut as fast as he could then make a huge fucking commotion waking everyone in the neighborhood and exposing whoever was trying break into his room. Just as he'd made his way to the doors and was about to close it, he heard a grunt and a familiar voice voicing an expletive followed by a thud.

"Brian?" he asked.

"Goddamn brush," the voice said.

"What the...? What are you doing?" Max sounded panicked to his own ears, but wasn't concerned with himself at the moment. He saw the hunched over form of Brian splayed out over his balcony floor and helped him up. "I was about to go all Real Housewives on you," he said as he helped Brian up. As the moonlight illuminated his face, Max saw the true extent of Brian's injuries.

"Oh my god," Max said. "What happened?"

Brian tried to speak but ended up coughing instead.

Max decided to help him into his room and see what the real damage was. He fetched a warm cloth from his bathroom after settling Brian on his bed.

"It looks worse than it is," Brian said through coughs.

"I bet," Max said, having calmed down a bit. He tried to keep it down, lest he had to explain to his parents why he had a beat up boy in his room they didn't know about.

"What time is it?" Brian asked.

"A little past two probably by now," Max said. He put on his bedside lamp and winced at the sight of Brian's swollen face. It did seem to be superficial injuries, much of it anyway. He didn't want to push for details, and he suspected he knew what happened anyway.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened?" Brian said eventually as Max was wiping the dried blood from his face.

"I suppose I could guess the gist of it," Max said.

"I'm sorry I didn't stick up for you today," Brian said eventually.

"Didn't you?"

"Well," Brian said, "only after the fact."

"Still," Max said, and handed Brian a glass of water with some painkillers. "I think you'll need that soon," he said. "Want to tell me what happened?"

"You mean after you incapacitated me and left my balls in my throat?" he winced and downed the painkillers.

"I'm sorry about that," Max said. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

"Yes you did," Brian said.

"Maybe a little," he conceded and laughed as he saw Brian's Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. He couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to watch Brian's Adam's apple bob with his load tricking down his throat... "Lift your arms," Max commanded and pulled Brian's shirt over his head.

"As soon as I got my bearings again, I tried to persuade Mark to let you go and not set out after you. He accused me of being sweet on you, and so I said I was, but I had the guts to fess up to it."

"You never," Max said. He couldn't take his eyes off the toned chest and arms that was sitting on his bed, in his room, Brian seemingly oblivious to his stares.

"He didn't like where it was headed, and wanted to shut me up. So he swung at me, but I anticipated it and avoided his swing."

It sounded to Max as though Brian was playing it up a bit, but he enjoyed seeing the boyish bravado in his blond boy coming to the fore, and let him have his moment.

"So I got in a good first blow at least," Brian said, becoming more animated with his gestures. "I wasn't having any of it, and was going to show him who the boss really is," he said. "But, you know," he said and hung his head. "Three against one and all."

"It never was a fair fight," Max said.

"'Specially not with my bruised nuts and all," Brian said.

"Of course," Max smiled. He got up off the bed and moved over to the bed light. Wordlessly, he pulled the switch and bathed the room in soft light coming in from the street. He had the idea it would be easier for Brian to talk if he didn't have to make eye contact with him all the time.

"I was just so pissed," Brian said as Max made his way over to the bed.

"Now you know how we feel," Max said. He touched Brian's chest and ribcage and tentatively felt for sensitive areas. He was acutely aware of the lithe musculature his fingers were roaming over. "Do you think they bruised any ribs?" he asked.

"I checked, I don't think so," Brian said. "Like I said, it's mostly superficial, not to mention the beating my ego took."

Max motioned for Brian to lay back onto his bed and rest his head on the pillows. He settled in next to him and placed his hand over Brian's large hand and lay stock still.

"Well at least you got one good shot in, didn't you?" Max said.

"Hell yeah. Mark's going to have a proper shiner tomorrow," Brian said.

Max laughed at the self-satisfied tone of his crush's voice, and his boyish smugness only endeared him to him more.

"Thank you for sticking up for me," Max said eventually. "By the way," he said, "how'd you know where I lived? And what you doing climbing up someone's balcony middle of the night?"

"I've been kind of following you home lately," Brian said. "Boy voicing it out loud doesn't sound half as sexy as it does in my mind," he said. "And I could hardly ring your doorbell looking the way I did, could I? What would I tell your parents?"

"I never had anyone stalking me before," Max said eventually. "I feel so French."

"You come up with the strangest metaphors," Brian said, seemingly confused.

"The point is," Max said, "I'm happy you came." He trailed his fingers up Brian's arm and made his way to his toned chest.

*****

Brian turned to look straight into eyes reflecting street lights, filled to the brim with compassion and passion. He bent his head down and tentatively placed a kiss on Max's soft lips. He smelled whiffs of citrus fruits coming from Max's hair and the fresh scent made him crave him even more. He took the lead and tried to deepen the kiss, but winced as his broken lip stretched.

"Is it very painful?" a concerned Max asked.

"Not that much," he said huskily and resumed the deep kiss, stealing Max's breath from his lungs. He broke the kiss out of sheer need for air, but knew at that point that all his self-control had left him by then. Max was lying submissively to his side, only clad in very thin boxers, and his own jeans were starting to strain as his erection grew.

Getting up on his arm, he got up on top of Max and towered over his shorter, compact frame, and took in the view of his slim chest, beautiful collarbone, defined jawline and doe-eyed, large, trusting eyes. Oh how he'd waited for this moment. He was sure they were both fully aware of what was about to take place. Bending down, he started a soft trail of kisses starting from Max's tantalizing collarbone and making his way up his neck and chin and eventually coming to his sweet mouth and full lips.

He'd found himself drawing Max's face countless times in his notebooks, on scraps of paper, in his diary. How he'd imagined the full lips locked around his cock, sucking his balls dry. His thoughts caused him to moan, which Max must've thought was due of discomfort or pain, and he wasn't entirely wrong.

"Do you hurt?" Max asked concerned.

"No, just need to get out of the jeans," he said and nearly jolted off the bed as Max's hands was already unbuttoning the jean and coming very close to his already erect penis. He recovered quickly and was soon sucking Max's tongue into his mouth as he kicked the jeans off his legs. The relief he felt as his six inch dick was free to expand was liberating and he was soon pulling his briefs down, along with Max's, exposing both of their furious cocks. Initial inspections told him Max was about an inch and a half smaller than him, which would make a quite snug fit in his mouth he thought as their sexes meshed together in precum as they continued exploring each other's mouths.

Brian couldn't take it any longer and wanted to taste his lover. He trailed his way down Max's body with soft kisses, and came face to face with the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Immediately Brian was overwhelmed with the urge to swallow Max's sex and engulfed it in his mouth. The hot precum stuck to the back of his throat and he torturously slowly closed his lips around the shaft, letting the taste wash over his tongue.

He hadn't ever done this before, but from what he'd read and the videos he watched online every night he had learned that the most important thing is to guard against brushing his teeth against the flesh. Somehow, though, he looked forward to learning the rest by trial and error with his Max.