Denial

	"...What?" Mike's lips curved into a frown.
	"What's wrong?" His mother asked concerned.
	"Why?"
	"I already told you, his dad isn't going to be home for a few days, so he asked if I'd be willing to take care of him for a few days."
	"And you said yes?"
	"Yes, what's wrong wrong with that?"
	"Ugh!" Mike grunted. "I can't believe this!"
	"Michael, will you just tell me why this is such a problem."
	"It's a problem because Paulo is an idiot, and I don't want to waste the weekend... with..." Mike had an idea of what he wanted to say, but he couldn't find the words.
	"Come on, honey, I'm sure you'll have fun; just give him a chance!"
	Mike sighed in defeat as he stormed out of the kitchen and up to his room. For some unknown reason, Paulo's dad was needed out of town, and while he was away, he wanted somebody to take care of his son. This was much to both Mike's and Paulo's displeasure, but how they felt was irrelevant, since the descion came down to the adults.
	Mike sat down on his bed and sighed once again.
	"This is gonna suck," he complained to himself.
	Blur caught wind of his distress. "What's wrong?"
	"Paulo is coming over and he is going to be here all weekend."
	"I thought Paulo was a friend of yours." Blur, remembering how complicated their relationship was, regretted the words.
	"He is... I guess." He paused a moment. "It's-"
	"Then-"
	"-It's just that... I don't know, he is an asshole, and I don't want to spend the whole weekend with him. Honestly, even a few minutes with him sounds stressful. What are we going to do? What are we going to talk about? It's just gonna be one, long awkward mess."
	"I don't think it's gonna be that bad, Mike. You said it yourself, you are friends with him. He couldn't possibly be that unbearable, right?"
	Mike paused for a second, and then he laughed. "Yeah, whatever you say."

	Blur had already left for Lucy's before Paulo's arrival, so Mike was free to spend his time sulking in peace. 1:21PM. There was still a full day to enjoy with Paulo.
	"How delightful." He thought.
	Ten minutes after Mike had looked at the clock, there was a knocking on the door. Mike stood up from his bed and entered the hallway outside his room. He heard Paulo's dad talking to his mom, and when Mike moved a bit closer to the stairs, he saw Paulo standing awkwarly by the door, looking as downtrodden as he was, a stuffed bag in his hand.
	"Thanks a lot. You're really saving me here."
	"Oh, it's really no problem at all! I know how it is, not wanting to leave him alone!"
	"You're too nice!" Paulo's dad exclaimed politely, before shifting his attention to his son. "Look, you be good, alright? Use your manners, don't be an idiot, and don't do anything I wouldn't do - hell, don't do anything I WOULD do."
	"Okay."
	He then kissed his son on the cheek and left, waving back, regretfully, as if he was leaving forever and it was a secret sorrow only they shared. The door closed.

	They both sat in Mike's room, silent. Occasionally, they would share an awkward glance.
	"So, uh, what do you... normally do around here?" Paulo asked.
	"... I sometimes read, watch TV, play games... stuff like that."
	"Oh."
	There was another momentary silence.
	"Do you wanna play a game?" Mike offered.
	"Yeah, sure." Paulo felt so tense in the situation that he wasn't even sure if his answer was true; he merely wished for the tension to dissipate.
	After a quick debate on the game of choice, they sat down on Mike's bed and let the hours fly by. The transition from tense to fun was seemless and quick. Soon, they had gone from dead silence to casual conversation - occasional jabs filling the spaces where there was nothing to say.

	When the clock read 3:26PM, they were both sitting on the carpet, their interest in the game morphing into hunger.
	"Ha!" Paulo yelled out in excitement. "Finally got you!"
	"Yeah, only took you two-thousand times."
	Paulo scoffed in response.
	"You hungry?" Mike set his controller on the floor.
	"Hmm? Oh, well, I didn't want to say anything, but yeah, kinda."
	"'I didn't want to say anything'" Mike thought to himself.
	"Let's go down stairs and get something to eat, then. This is starting to hurt my eyes."
	They made their way into the kitchen where Mike's mom was in the process of preparing for them a freshly cut watermelon. After only a couple of minutes, she was finished. She gave them both bowls, each filled to the brim with bite-size pieces of the sanguine goodness.

	It was a hot and dry, spring day. It was nearly unbearable, but the occasional gust of wind and the various areas of shade helped make it surviable. Mike and Paulo sat on the back patio, a large, red umbrella protecting them from the sun. With the inital awkwardness of the visit gone, they more easily made conversation, and the unavoidable moments of silence were far less jarring.
	"I dunno," Paulo said before taking a bite out of a particularly large piece of watermelon. "I didn't think he was that hard."
	"It's just his speed. You literally have a second to heal before he starts wailing on you again... You have a..." Mike pointed towards the left corner of his mouth.
	Paulo wiped at his mouth and removed a small seed. "Oh, thanks. But, yeah, I know what you mean, I guess. What I always did..."
	Mike did his best to focus on the words coming from Paulo's mouth, but he had found an odd attraction in the mouth itself. His lips were moist, with a slight mixture of watermelon juice and saliva. He imagined they were soft. A quick image passed through his head; it was of them kissing passionately, Paulo nibbling on Mike lips, as well as the reverse. Mike quickly stifled his thoughts.

	When they had both finished, they continued to converse - not wanting to intterupt the traditional-pleasure of conversation with the fleeting-pleasure of technology. They both stood up and paced back and forth, kicking around rocks, wondering around the yard, staying within reach of each other's voice. Paulo had wondered over to an old tree and he grabbed on to a branch.
	"Hey, can I climb this?" Paulo asked, dangling from the branch.
	"Yeah," Mike answered, walking back. "If you can, go ahead."
	Paulo, feeling a sudden burst of energy, lifted himself up and over the branch. Mike watched as he reached for the next one. He once again found himself transfixed by Paulo's person - or more specifically, his body. His broad shoulders, dominating hips, powerful arms, firm butt, and that small bit of white fur inbetween his legs; it all captivated Mike. He tried to divert his thoughts, to focus more on the feat of climbing rather then the beauty of his form, but it all happened so fast. Mike found himself staring intently at Paulo's crotch, hoping to maybe see a glimpse of his manhood through the fur. Before Mike had a chance to correct himself, he felt a tingling sensation begin at the base of his penis. He yelled up to Paulo that he was going to the bathroom and that he would be right back. Mike did his best to move inconspiculously, but he had to be quick. He didn't want his mother seeing him walking through the house with an erection, even more so while his guy friend was over. Fortuntly, he managed to control himself long enough to get to the bathroom, and as soon as he walked in, he allowed himself the pleasure of flexing.

	He looked at himself in the mirror, his exposed genitalia just high enough to be in sight. He looked down at it, confused and worried. Surely it was an exception, an unavoidable lack of judgement on the part of his... penis? He didn't know what it was, but he denied that it had risen from his admiration of Paulo's body, and instead told himself that he had been thinking of bodies and of sex in general, and the excitement of the thought had gotten him aroused. It had happened before... But had it happened with other guys? Mike felt his heart flutter. No, he wasn't gay, it didn't make sense, it was impossible. He didn't have anything against homosexuality, and he had often thought that if he was one, he would be honest about it to everyone, he would be unashamed of it, but it didn't matter. He was not gay. He was straight. He masturbated to thoughts of Lucy; to the voice of Sandy; as well to the countless features of many girls that had entered his sexual thoughts. He had never masturbated to the thought of a guy, at least when there wasn't a girl present.
	Mike touched himself momentarily out of compulsion, but quickly stopped. It wasn't the time or the place for it. Paulo was outside waiting for him, and he needed to be focused on making the erection dissipear. After a few minutes of pacing and forcing morbid thoughts, Mike's excitement finally died down. He left the bathroom and went back outside, only to see Paulo nearly at the top of the tree, sitting.

	Later that day, they were both back in Mike's room, playing games.
	"You know," Paulo began talking, breaking a silence. "This has actually been a... pretty cool day."
	"Ha, yeah, I was initally dreading it."
	"You were...?"
	Mike felt regret turn his blood cold. Paulo had been worried because he was sleeping over, but why was Mike validated to dread anything?
	"Oh, I... I just felt it was gonna be boring, you know."
	There was a brief silence.
	"Yeah," Paulo gave a forced laugh. "I know what you mean."
	It was only then that Mike became aware that Paulo had been acting off all day. He had seemed less inhibited. Would Paulo have acted differently if David, or Lucy, or Daisy had been there?

	After a few more hours of playing games, they both went downstairs for dinner. They sat at the kitchen table while Mike's mother and sister sat in the living room. They talked inbetween bites of food. They joked around, both very comfortable with the other's presense at this point. Finally Mike understood why they had been friends; it was for the rare moments that Paulo acted like a fun and civilized person.
	Paulo lifted a chunk of spahgetti up on his fork and engulfed it.
	"You have a little..." Mike said, pointing to the left-corner of his mouth.
	Paulo looked down, curiously. He licked the bit of food off. "Thanks."
	"Heh, you're a really messy eater, aren't you?"
	"Hey, you can't judge me on a couple of mistakes!"
	Mike continued to tease Paulo, finding it oddly satisfying. Although, it seemed that all communication with Paulo was becoming an absolute pleasure. Everytime he made Paulo laugh, he felt his heart flutter and he felt his mind glaze over. He could think of nothing more than making Paulo smile. He had such a warm smile.
	Mike felt himself once again grow aroused. He hid his shame under the table, basking in the beckoning. He no longer fought the urge, and instead of confronting the issue of his questionable sexuality, he choose to ignore it.

	After dinner, they both went back up to play games. It wasn't until after 1 o'clock that Paulo pointed out his exhaustion. Paulo jumped on Mike's bed and stretched out. He buried his head in Mike's pillows and breathed deeply.
	"Boy, this sure is a nice bed."
	"... Uh-huh."
	"Yep. So, where are you gonna sleep?"
	"I was thinking my bed..."
	"Hmm, I dunno. I'm kind of liking it."
	"Yeah, think again, you're not getting my bed."
	"Ohhh, but I think I am."
	Paulo hugged a pillow tightly and closed his eyes, a mocking smile on his face.
	"Alright, fine." Mike crawled under the covers and laid next to Paulo, forcing him over.
	"Playing hardball, eh? Fine, we'll both sleep here."
	And there they were, laying side by side in the same bed. After clicking off the lamp, it only took Paulo minutes to fall asleep, but Mike couldn't be as lucky. He laid there, tense and aroused, his lustful tendencies urging him to do something he would regret. He looked over and looked at Paulo's soft expression. He imagined that his fur was soothing to the touch, both soft and freeing. Mike let his leg slide over a few inches, just close enough to feel the warmth of Paulo's body. He swallowed hard.
	"What is wrong with me?" Mike thought to himself in sudden confusion. "This isn't right. I'm not gay. I don't want Paulo."
	"But that's a lie. I do want him, no matter what I say to myself I want him so badly."
	"No, I'm not gay."
	"I am gay. I've always been gay."
	"I've masturbated to girls."
	"I've masturbated to guys. They've always been in my fantasies. I'm gay."
	"Okay, what if I just test it?"
	"If I test it? What am I even thinking anymore?"
	"There is nothing wrong with a test; in fact, it makes more sense! I'll check if I'm gay, and I'll know for sure."
	"What will I do?"
	"Just once. A quick kiss."
	"Just really quick. He's asleep, he won't have any idea."
	"What if he wakes up?"
	"I need this."
	"What if he catches me?"
	"I'll risk it. I love him."
	"No, I don't."
	"I don't care."

	Mike sat in the darkness of the room for several moments, his heart beating wildly, unable to get the courage to go on with his plan. He moved an inch, and then a minute later he moved another inch. Steadily, his face neared Paulo's. He eventually got so close he had to cover his nose with his hand so Paulo wouldn't feel his breath. It was at that point he knew there was no more delay.
	Mike leaned forward and gingerly placed his lips on Paulo's cheek. He let them stay for a few seconds before pulling back. It had been exactly what he had wanted. The warmth, the soft fur, the-
 	Paulo's eyes opened.
	Mike could feel his heart beating painfully in his chest as he stared in terror at Paulo. Tears of terror formed in his eyes and he waited for Paulo to say something.
	"...Mike?" Paulo lifted his head off the pillow, confused.
	"I... I...." Mike chocked on his words.
	"Did you just... kiss me?"
	"I... I'm... sorry." Mike whispered, beginning to shake, feeling slightly sick to his stomach.
	The resulting silence was short, but painful.
	"I'll sleep on the floor." Mike whispered pitifully. "You can have the bed. I don't care."
	"No! Wait!" Paulo whispered back to him. "You can stay... here... with me."
	"... You don't want me to sleep on the floor?"
	"Um, actually... I was wondering... if..." Paulo stopped for at least five seconds. "...if I could try that on you, maybe."
	Mike stared at him incredously for several seconds.
	"You know, no, nevermind. It was stupid. Let's just forget it ever happened."
	"...You can, if you want." Mike joined Paulo in the bed.

	Paulo took a few seconds to build up his courage. His head moved forward, slowly and steadily. He felt Mike's breath enter his agape lips. Finally, their lips touched, and they stared into each other's eyes, deeply confused. When Mike felt Paulo's tongue touch his lips, the fur on the back of his neck stood at it's ends and his member throbbed. He opened his lips and let Paulo's tongue slide inside.
	Mike didn't have much experience kissing, but somehow it seemed obvious that Paulo knew what he was doing. Mike tried to follow along, but his lack experience showed, and he wished for a way to make up for it. He placed his hand on Paulo's side and carressed his soft fur. Paulo returned the gesture by repositioning himself on top of Mike, much like he had with his prior "love" interests, but what he had never counted on with them was another appendage - barring the breasts - so when their members brushed against each other, he let out a quick, unsuspecting moan.

	Several minutes went by. They remained locked in a kiss as their members touched repeatidily, each collision another wave of pleasure. Mike's hand steadily started to drift lower and lower until it was just above Paulo's manhood. He had planned to break the ice, to tear down the wall that seperated their hands and their privates, and in the process to practice subtly and patience, but Paulo had other ideas. It only took a second for him to free up a hand and wrap it around Mike's testicles. Mike's entire body grew more tense than he had ever imagined possible. His heart fluttered over and over again, and each time a little more pleasure leaked into his bones and paralyzed his body further.
	"You're too tense. Try to relax." Paulo's voice chimed in Mike's ear. The comment was intended to calm him down, but it only made Mike more excited. Hearing Paulo's voice made him feel closer to him, and closer to the event at hand.
	Paulo's hand eventually left Mike's testicles and moved up to the shaft of his penis. Mike couldn't think of anything except what was happening then and there. He couldn't feel anything other than the electric surges of delight tranversing his memeber. Doing his best not to be too loud, he defaulted into a fit of quiet moaning. Paulo loved the sound of Mike's purring, and it only made him more aroused.

	It only took a minute for the supple carressment of Paulo's hand to overwhelm the Korat's humble sex drive. Mike arched his back as he grew closer and closer to orgasm. His breathing increased, his moans became more frequent, and he started to slowly move his hips up and down in syncopation with Paulo's hand. Finally, the moans became a steady hum and Mike's member grew as hard as ever. He felt the first bit of cum shoot out, soaking his penis as well as Paulo's hand. Paulo quickly touched the tip of his member against Mike's and just in time for the second involuntary release of ejacualte. He felt the wamrth splatter against his penis, sending divine pleasure up the shaft. Mike felt another wave of cum, and then another, and finally it ended with just a slight bit more leaking out of the tip. They were both breathing heavy, but Mike was breathing heavier. Paulo laid down next to him, still quite aroused, but feeling somewhat accomplished.
	"Was it nice?" Paulo asked, seeking reassurance.
	"...Very." Mike said, inbetween breaths.

	After taking a minute to catch his breath, Mike sat up and looked at Paulo. Without asking permission, he pulled the blanket down and looked at Paulo's sweaty exposed body - particularly his still throbbing and slightly wet member. Mike positioned himself at the end of the bed, while Paulo looked on with curiousity. His face neared Paulo's penis as he took a few more seconds to prepare mentally. He wrapped his hand around the appendage, making Paulo the tense one ths time. He then licked the tip of the head, his own ejaculate mixing with Paulo's precum. As Mike's lips wrapped around his head, Paulo brought up his hand and bit down on the side of his finger. As Mike went deeper and deeper, up and down, the fire burning in Paulo's loins grew more intense. There was a single, thin line of drool going down Paulo's penis, and he felt every inch of its way down to the base. Mike's head bobbed up and down as he varied his suction. He allowed his tongue to carress all areas of the manhood, at the best of times stimulating the very tip.

	Despite his experience in bed, Paulo didn't last much longer than Mike. He made it only a couple minutes before his back arched, his breathing increased, and he started to let out quiet moans of defeat and delight. Both of Paulo's fists rose into the air as his member tightened almost painfully. He felt a powerful shot of cum leave him and splatter against the inside of Mike's mouth, mixing with his saliva. He could feel Mike attempting to swallow, but before he finished, another shot of cum escaped. This "shot" persisted into a stream, Mike unable to catch it all with his mouth. Paulo felt his own warm juices running down his member, getting caught in the coarse fur around his testicules.

	Mike laid next to Paulo, swallowing any remaining cum in his mouth. At first swallowing was difficult, but he quickly learned to appreciate the taste, and the second time wasn't quite as bad. They looked at each other, both of them out of breath, this time Paulo more so than Mike. They both laid in a puddle of their own juices and love, neither of them minding. They hadn't yet begun to consider the complex job of cleaning up. It wasn't time for such a burden.
	"Was it nice?" Mike spoke up.
	"It was unreal."