Tommy's Second Year at College

They returned to Camford in time to see their exam results posted in the University Aula. Martin had got a first and Tommy had comfortably managed an upper second. This was no surprise to him, but it disappointed Dr Featherstone. He arranged an appointment for Tommy to see Dr Lorenzo Cagliari of Buckingham College just before the beginning of the Pentecost term.

Chapter 47 Tommy meets Dr Cagliari

The visit to Dr Cagliari took the form of an half-hour conversation in Italian and a half-hour test paper. Dr Cagliari gave him an immediate evaluation. "Your conversational skills are excellent, Mr Singleton-Scarborough, your vocabulary good with a few gaps, your grammar and syntax rather less good, but still intelligible. I don't get many students coming into the honour school of Italian after five terms of classics, and you have a lot of reading to catch up with, especially since you are going on Erasmus in your third year. There's no question of part-time jobs in the summer, you need to read and READ! You must come on a reading and conversation party that I am holding in the summer vacation. It lasts three weeks and we will be staying in a student hall of residence at Buxton University. I will give you some special books on grammar practice. Your knowledge of Latin has helped you so far, but Italian is a bit treacherous because it has significant grammatical and lexical differences. Considering your family background (I still exchange E-mails with your brother occasionally), I think that your Italian is not as good as I would expect, and you are going to have to work extra hard in the next 18 months if you are to do well in your final year."

"I think my academic progress has been slowed down by spending too much time with my boyfriend," confessed Tommy. "But now that we are studying different subjects, I hope that we will not distract one another."

"You need less sex and more study! Buxton and your stay in Italy should keep you away from one another, which will be a good thing. You have the rest of your lives to shag but you cannot repeat the Camford experience! Where are you hoping to study on your Erasmus year?"

"Padua," replied Tommy.

"Better to call it Padova. It helps in Italian conversation if you use the Italian place names. I think that's a good choice. Moreover, I know an academic in Padova who could probably help you. Italian universities are very impersonal compared with how we do things at Camford and Oxbridge. There is no time to lose to get the Erasmus application in. I can help you with that. Here are the forms. Get them filled in and put the completed forms in my pigeonhole in the Buckingham lodge, or send them to me through the University internal delivery system. I'll see you for your first tutorial on Monday and then we'll decide which lectures I recommend."

It was clear to Tommy that Dr Cagliari was much more hands-on than Dr Featherstone had been. He was sure that his progress in Italian would now speed up. He was advised to sign up for lectures in Italian drama, novelists, poetry, cinema, history, geography/archaeology, general literature and sociology. He chose to concentrate on literature and mass-media and to minimize sociology, and found himself with a timetable of eight or nine lectures per week and an expected reading list of two books per week. In addition to essays and translations, he had group tutorials with other students of Dr Cagliari in which his vocabulary and conversation were tested. This workload was far greater than Martin's, and they agreed to do their private study in their own college libraries and only to meet for lunch when convenient, rather than daily. They still fitted in two swims per week with Ken and some leisure at the weekends, but neither evenings nor weekends were free of study. They continued to dine separately on Tuesdays and Sundays, except for the four black-tie dinners in Boni's. The rest of the time, they tended to eat out. Even punt trips on the river were rare luxuries. Their lectures continued right through the period when first- and final-year students were busy with exams and Tommy's last lecture was at the academic 'graveyard' hour of 4 pm on the last Friday afternoon of term.

Chapter 48 Martin's father gets married

It was clear that holidays abroad were not on the cards that year. The first big event of the vacation was Martin's father's wedding in Sheffield. The boys decided to spend the short time between the wedding and Tommy's reading party in Buxton at Martin's home in Sheffield. Mrs Stephenson, the housekeeper, was happy to stay on and cook for the boys during his father's and stepmother's honeymoon in the Canary Islands. Because they both worked, the bride and bridegroom had asked her to remain as housekeeper after their marriage. The boys would make excursions out into the Derbyshire countryside, visit some attractive pubs in Sheffield, visit its museums and art-galleries and a brewery and generally relax.

The wedding itself, though quiet, was very enjoyable. Guests included colleagues from both Mr Robinson's and Mrs Alderton's places of work, and Mrs Alderton's brother and sister, a total of some thirty persons. The reception was held at a beautiful country-house hotel in the Derbyshire countryside. The Prosecco flowed freely, and there was an excellent sit-down meal. Martin and Dom were the only persons under forty! Although there were no bridesmaids to toast, Martin was still asked to make a speech. He said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Mary as a new member of my family. My wonderful father, who for fifteen years has also been mother to me and as a single parent made a splendid job of bringing me up, has now got some female company and I have a new mother. I was a difficult teenager, getting into trouble at school because I was gay, but my father continued to love and support me. Both he and Mary have welcomed my boyfriend into their new relationship and both Tommy and I are delighted to be part of a new family. So instead of toasting the bridesmaids, I ask you to drink to the health and long life of Theo and Mary!"

After an enjoyable week in which they did most of the things they had planned, on the night before Tommy was due to drive to Buxton, the two men took Mrs Stephenson out for dinner at the local pub. Martin would spend the next three weeks reading and doing odd jobs in the house before he welcomed his father and stepmother back home.

Chapter 49 The reading party

When Tommy arrived in Buxton, his car loaded with books, he signed in at the hall's reception and went to the common room, where about a dozen of Dr Cagliari's students were assembled. They were all given a detailed programme of their time for the next three weeks. It included time to drink in the bar, time to go for walks and 'media time' where they were to watch DVDs of Italian films, TV shows and stage plays. There were three meals each day, and the food turned out to be very good. The big surprise was that all conversation, except with the staff of the hall, was to be in Italian. English was banned.

Of the students, eight were girls and only four were men, all except Tommy from Buckingham College. Buckingham was Camford's only men-only college and in consequence had the reputation of being gay-friendly. But it was also attractive to students wanting to read Italian, as only a few colleges had dedicated Italian tutors. There was a family association with Buckingham, as it was the college where Tommy's brother Luke had studied a few years before. Tommy found to his surprise as well as his satisfaction, that his conversational skills were much better than those of most of the other students, although his knowledge of Italian literature was much poorer. In addition to the students, Dr Cagliari was assisted by two Italian native-speakers, both Ph.D. students in the Italian department.

On the second evening of the stay, Tommy was sitting reading at a table in the library/study room of the hall, and making notes on Manzoni's I Promessi Sposi, when the man sitting next to him got hold of his hand, which he had momentarily rested on the table. He looked up to see one of the Buckingham men smiling at him. The boy was quite attractive, of medium build, fit and energetic-looking. Before he could say anything, the guy lifted Tommy's hand, kissed it and whispered, "You're gay, aren't you?"

As there was no-one else in room, Tommy replied, "Yes, but how did you know?"

The man replied, "My gaydar is very good. I knew you were, the minute that I first saw you!"

"I'm not available," said Tommy. "I'm in a relationship!"

"That's no bar to being friends, said the man. "My name is Adam Williams."

The two boys began to spend time together outside the classroom. Adam's Italian was not as good Tommy's, in spite of him having studied it in Camford for two years. They tended to touch one another more frequently than two straight guys would have done, and exchanged an occasional kiss, but not frequently. Adam confessed that he was in search of a long-term relationship, and Tommy wondered whether he might be suitable for Ken MacAlpin. In their free time, they went walks together and explored the countryside round Buxton.

There was not much time off. Saturday afternoons and evenings and Sunday mornings were free. However, the second Sunday that they were there was an entirely free day. When he discovered this, Tommy arranged for Martin to come from Sheffield by train on the Sunday morning. He told Adam that his boyfriend was coming and that Adam would have to entertain himself that day. He met Martin with the car at the local station, armed with two packed lunches, a 500-ml bottle of beer and a blanket with waterproof backing.

After visiting a well known beauty spot where they parked the car, they set off on a walk through a less well known area, with numerous old limestone quarries, now disused and overgrown by woodland. They found a secluded spot to sit and eat their lunch. When they had finished eating, they shared the bottle of beer. The place was quite isolated, and after a loud burp, Martin said to Tommy, "I've missed you enormously, and I need a fuck as a matter of urgency."

"That's OK," said Tommy, "I chose this place with sex in mind! No-one will disturb us, we can fuck ourselves silly here, we can grunt and shout, and no-one will hear us! However, to be on the safe side, let's only remove our shirts, and keep our pants and underwear round our ankles, so that we can pull them up rapidly if we hear anyone approach." He set the example by undressing quickly, and raised himself up on the blanket on his hands and knees, presenting his sweet rounded arse to Martin, who promptly buried his face in the crack. After rimming Tommy for a few minutes to the accompaniment of grunts of pleasure from his mate as his tongue entered the hairy hole, he opened a tube of gel and began to poke it into Tommy's back passage.

"That's nice!" said Tommy, as three of Martin's fingers, thickly coated in lube, entered his hole.

"You just wait!" said his friend, "The follow-up is on its way." He hastily pulled a condom on to his tool, wiped the gel on his fingers over the rubber surface, and rammed it firmly up Tommy's rear end. Tommy grimaced and then began to grunt happily as his hole adjusted to the solid object. Martin was so driven by lust that he threw gentleness to the winds and slammed hard into Tommy. Tommy, however, was enjoying every moment. Every second or third thrust, Martin hit Tommy's prostate and filled him with absolute ecstasy. After a few minutes of frantic fucking, Martin gasped, "I'm coming!" as he shot his load of man-juice into the latex sheath. He slowly withdrew from Tommy's hole and collapsed on the blanket beside his man. Tommy turned on to his side and began to kiss him, as Martin busied himself with knotting the end of the prophylactic in order to keep the blanket clean. "Do you want a turn?" he asked.

"Of course!" said Tommy, "I'm fed up with wanking. I want the real thing, and I want you!" Martin lay on his back and spread his legs. This meant that he had to remove his lower garments, which he laid within reach. Tommy knelt between his legs and began to poke lube into Martin's arsehole, using his fingers to stretch his friend. He then gently pushed his man-stick into the hole and bent forward and began to nibble Martin's nipples. As he took the adjacent hair between his teeth he could feel Martin shivering with pleasure.

"You've learnt a lot of lovemaking techniques since we got together!" said Martin.

"Yes," replied Tommy. "Instead of reading Ovid and Catullus, I used to spent a lot of time thinking about your body and the things I might do to it!" He then began working on Martin's lower regions with his cock, and before long the male miracle occurred as he shot several days accumulation of seed into the condom inside his friend.

After a long rest, they cleaned themselves up with tissue, and found deep hole under a tree where they were able to dispose of the condoms without any need to dig. They rearranged their clothes and continued their walk. As the day went by, they reached a country pub that was still serving food, and had a cosy meal together. At 5 pm on a Sunday, the pub was not busy, and they were able to enjoy a couple of drinks, Tommy had fruit-juice, Martin beer, before, about 7 pm, having unobtrusively kissed one another goodbye, Martin got a train back to Sheffield and Tommy drove back to Buxton.

The next day at breakfast, Adam said to Tommy, "Did you have a good day yesterday?"

"Yes," replied Tommy, "when you're deeply in love, you enjoy every minute of the other person's company."

"You're a lucky devil. I wish that I was in a proper relationship."

"I know a guy in Camford who's a research student, who's also in search of a partner. I can give you his mobile number, if you like, but if you ring him, be sure to mention my name as a sort of guarantor. I'm not going to be in Camford next academic year. I'm having an Erasmus year in Padova."

"Thanks! I'm quite keen on the idea of an older man."

"Ken's not that much older. He's twenty-six. I think he has quite a lot of sexual experience, though. It would be great if you hit it off with him. He's a nice guy, and the four of us could go out together. But that would be after I get back from Italy. Are you likely to be in Camford before the beginning of term? I go to Italy in the last week of September."

Tommy and Adam spent much of their small amount of free time in each other's company, and although some of their conversation was inevitably in Italian, they got to know one another quite well. Tommy E-mailed Ken, giving him Adam's name and phone number.

Chapter 50 A quick visit to Trabizona and the move to Padova

When Tommy and Martin got back to Camford, they had a blissful few days together before Tommy left for his visit to Trabizona. He took the opportunity to take double the permitted maximum of hold baggage, including many things he would need for his stay in Padua. His brother and Tom would store these things until Tommy had found somewhere to live in Padova. It took the three of them to load them into the car at Valerio-Catullo airport, but they were soon in the house in Trabizona, where Olivia welcomed them.

Tommy got a big surprise. Olivia was pregnant again, and Tom was the baby's father! "Don't tell anyone back in Camford, yet," Tom asked him. "I still need time to adjust to the fact that I can fuck a woman and enjoy it. But it is wonderful to think that we're going to have a baby of our own. Luke and Olivia are over the moon, but I am still just amazed how easy it was. And since it happened, I am beginning to realize how nice a woman can be!"

Tommy's stay in Trabizona lasted two weeks. Tom and Luke did not let Tommy speak English after the first day, and they corrected his grammar and supplied the words that he did not know, which he was quick to remember. Soon Tommy's shyness at speaking Italian wore off as he found that he could speak to strangers quite easily and be understood. He and Olivia would take young Giovanni in his pushchair for a walk in the Parco Emilio Guzzone every day. The little boy could walk short distances if someone held his hand. Tom took time off work to show Tommy the sights of the city. Martin would be very jealous to hear that Tommy saw two of Luke's opera productions during his stay.

Back in Camford, Tommy made his last-minute preparations for his Erasmus year. It was decided that they would give up the tenancy of the flat in Saint Saviour's Street, and that Martin would have Tommy's room at Octavia Avenue when he was not living in college. Tommy had received much useful advice from a group who advised Erasmus students on the processes of registration and finding accommodation at their chosen university. By the end of September, Tommy's arrangements were complete, and Jon drove a sad pair of students to Bristol airport, where after an emotional farewell, Tommy, with a maximum load of hold baggage, boarded the flight to Valerio-Catullo airport. It was not going to be a massively long separation. Tommy would fly home as soon as the Christmas vacation at Padova began.

This brings us to the halfway point in Tommy and Martin's undergraduate life. Tommy has benefitted enormously from Martin's mature friendship. He has developed an adult self-confidence and begun to think and make decisions independently. In the following episode, we shall follow their further progress.

THE END