TJ did say a prayer as he finished his coffee and Antonio paid the bill. A thousand worrisome thoughts went through Antonio's head watching TJ stare at the sleeping boy. He wasn't accustomed to seeing his confident lover so anxious. Realizing there was nothing he could do about the situation at the moment, Antonio stood up and placed a generous tip on the table. He startled TJ out of his deep thoughts by saying, “Wake up your little charge, unless you're planning on carrying him to the car.”
The waitress gave flirtatious smile as she cleared away the dishes. Despite their differences in coloring, she had assumed Antonio was an older brother or an uncle to the equally attractive younger men.
“ Time to wake up. Let's go, Danny,” TJ said, gently shaking him. When he didn't stir, TJ shoved him a bit harder.
Danny awoke with a start and sheepishly muttered, “Sorry.”
TJ held out his hand to pull Danny from the booth. He loved to see Danny blush, and thought it would be fun to see how red he could get. “Come on sleepy head, time to get you home,” he teased, while ruffling his hair.
Danny stumbled getting out of the booth. His face was warm from sleep, and his heavy eyelids fluttered thick lashes that framed large tired eyes. He resembled a small child in his baggy clothes, his hair sticking up on one side, and the indentation from the wall pressed into his left cheek. Danny scratched his head messing up his hair even more. When he let out a big yawn, flashing a deep set of dimples, Antonio fought every instinct he had not to pick him up and carry him to the car himself.
*****
With heavy traffic, they still had an hour's drive to their townhouse in a quiet residential area, a pulse away from the heart of the city. On the way home, Danny fought not to fall asleep in the back seat like some little kid. Antonio kept watch through the rearview mirror. He was afraid the boy would smack his head against the window every time he bobbed it up to snap himself awake.
“ Why don't you show Danny to his room and let him rest a while,” he recommended once they were home. “When you come back down, I want to see you in the office.”
TJ brought Danny upstairs and showed him around. When they entered TJ’s spare room he said, “I don't want to offend you by suggesting you take a nap, but feel free to try the bed out if you like.”
Danny just nodded. He was too tired to be bothered by the sarcasm, or to put up a pretense about not needing a nap. He crawled into the bed before TJ even left the room. Then, TJ took the long walk downstairs. He hoped he was right about the enchanted sparkle he saw in Antonio's eyes when he was spying on Danny in the car.
“ Have a seat, TJ. We need to talk.”
TJ was unnerved by the harsh edge of his tone. “I know he's a little rough around the edges, but he's a good kid,” he defended.
“ I'm sure he is, but that's kind of the point. Isn't it? He's only a kid. You can't just bring him home because you think he's cute. He's not a stray puppy.”
"It's not like that, Antonio," TJ said hastily. “Let me explain.”
“ Explain? What is there to explain?” Antonio's usually calm demeanor snapped at the weight of having a teenager stowed away in TJ's room. “We cannot be responsible for a sixteen-year-old. You need to find out where he belongs, and send him back!”
“ What? No! That's not fair. I won't do it!” TJ was beside himself. He rarely defied Antonio, and until today it never felt justified.
Antonio was taken aback by his outburst, and even more distressed by his recent behaviors. “Not fair?! What's not fair is you bringing a child into our home without our consent, or more importantly, that of his parents! And, I will tell you something else, young man, I have had it with your impulsive, foolhardy, and thoughtless behavior!” Antonio shouted, bringing TJ’s outrage to bay.
He hoisted TJ off the chair he was sitting on, turned him around and delivered a sound smack to the seat of his pants. He continued swatting him all the way to the corner of the office.
“ You need a little reminder of who's in charge here.” SWAT! “And, you do NOT tell me no!” SMACK! “This is serious, TJ! These are human lives you're playing with!” SWAT, SWAT, SWAT! “Now, you stand in that corner and think about the consequences of your actions that go far beyond any discipline you may receive.”
Antonio left TJ stewing in the corner to retrieve the paddle from the desk drawer. He walked back to TJ, and bent him over his side hip. TJ let out squawk of surprise as Antonio tugged down his jeans, and paddled his upturned bottom a dozen times before straightening him up, and placing him back in the corner.
“ We will continue this conversation when you can remember your place, and can speak to me without being argumentative.”
TJ stood in the corner sniffling. He was angry with Antonio for not giving him a chance to explain, and angrier with himself for losing his temper before he had a chance to. He felt betrayed by Antonio, and worried that he might have to betray the trust Danny placed in him. Most of all he felt scared, afraid that he might lose Danny, and leave him unprotected. He thought for sure if Antonio had given him a chance to explain things, he would have understood why he had to bring Danny home. First, he needed to calm down. Then, he needed to give Antonio time to do the same.
Antonio regretted losing his temper with TJ. He realized it was mostly displaced worry about the boy who was sleeping upstairs, as well as the one sniffling in the corner. He was not looking forward to telling TJ that despite his good intentions, he made an irresponsible decision, and they were not in the position to take in a teenage boy.
Luckily, Mitch came home early from his conference. Antonio was relieved to have his partner to shoulder some of this burden with.
“ Hey, Mitch. How was your conference?” Antonio asked, while giving him a distracted peck on the lips.
“ It was all right,” Mitch said cautiously, sensing the tension behind Antonio's words.
Antonio confirmed his suspicions by saying, “Don't get too comfortable. We have a situation that requires immediate attention.”
“ What's going on?”
“ TJ came home early from his trip, and now we have a teenager living in our house.”
Mitch could hear the ire in Antonio's usually soft-spoken manner, and assumed it had something to do with the antics of their young partner. His irritation surprised Mitch. Antonio was usually the one relied on for his patience and charitable perspective, and to keep Mitch from wearing a strip off of TJ.
“ I warned you that if we let TJ go back to Florida for an unsupervised visit, he would undoubtedly regress back to earlier behaviors.” Mitch couldn't help but show his amusement at Antonio's exasperation.
“ You don't understand, Mitch,” Antonio continued. “Although TJ's recent lack of judgment can be categorized as juvenile, I was being quite literal when I said we have a teenager in our home. TJ brought back a sixteen-year-old who is currently asleep in his bedroom.”
"A what?"
"Correction, sixteen and a half ."
It was Antonio's turn to be amused at the confusion on Mitch's face when he tried to comprehend what he was being told. Antonio finally sighed as the significance of his words to Mitch sunk in.
“ Where is he?”
“ I told you, he's sleeping upstairs.”
“ No, I mean TJ.”
“ In a corner in the office.”
“ Should I assume that has something to do with the acquisition of our new sleeping guest?”
“ That would be correct. I'm afraid our young lover is quite taken with the boy, and is not happy to hear that he will have to return the child to his proper guardians.”
Antonio filled Mitch in about what he knew of the situation before they both headed back to the office.
“ Come out of the corner, TJ, we need to talk.”
TJ quickly pulled up his pants, and turned around apprehensively at the sound of Mitch's voice. Antonio motioned for TJ to sit as he walked over to them. They sat surveying each other, waiting for Mitch to begin.
“ Explain to us, TJ, at what point you thought it would be a good idea to bring a child into our home?”
TJ took a deep breath. He wanted to get this right. “I...he didn't have any place to go. He told me he was eighteen. He needs someone to watch over him.”
“ And, you thought, what? You could keep him? Does this seem like a home for wayward boys?”
“ No, I just thought I… we could give him a place to stay until he got on his feet.”
“ I see, and when exactly did you discuss your plans with us before putting him on an airplane and flying him out here.”
TJ was stumped, and he knew his next attempt would be weak. “I called Antonio, and asked if I could bring a friend home.”
“ Really? He's a friend of yours? How long have you been friends? Because the last time you were in Florida he would have been what? Fourteen?”
“ I met him this weekend,” TJ admitted.
“ So, correct me if I'm wrong. When you chose to call Antonio, deliberately leaving me out of the equation, you were somewhat vague. Or, more accurately, misleading , about the details of who you were bringing home.”
“ I swear I didn't know he was sixteen 'til after I bought the tickets.”
“ That's your excuse? You didn't think you could get a refund, or we couldn't afford to eat the cost of the ticket?”
“ No,” TJ said quietly. “He was so pitiful, I promised I'd take care of him. I didn't know what else to do.”
“ You had a phone. You could have called either one of us.”
“ It was too much to explain over the phone. We didn't have much time.”
“ You didn't want to be told no.”
“ I thought we could figure it out together once I got home. I couldn't leave him there by himself. He was about to cry.”
The mood in the room softened, and Antonio spoke up. “TJ, I understand your intentions were good, but you don't seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.”
TJ felt pitiful himself. They were right. He didn't understand why they were so opposed to letting Danny stay with them.
His heart sank as Mitch explained, “How do you think it would look if it was brought to the attention of authorities that a minor was taken out of his home state, without the permission of his parents, and was staying with three gay men?”
“ He doesn't have parents worrying about him,” TJ said meekly.
“ How do you know that? He lied about his age, he could be lying about everything. What, if anything, do you know about this kid?”
All TJ knew for sure, was that whatever he said, he had to get them to see why he needed to bring Danny home.
“ I met him at a house party at Emmett's. He was sitting with a couple of drunken strangers. It was obvious he was uncomfortable and in over his head.” TJ described how his roommates kept supplying Danny with drinks, and how oblivious he was to all the leers and conspiratory whispers that followed. “I knew something wasn't right when I heard he was brought to a backroom after drinking too much. When I got there he was on a bed half naked. There were several guys on top of him. They were holding him down trying to take off the rest of his clothes...” TJ choked up, unable to finish.
“ Are you telling us if you hadn't have gotten there when you did, he would have been gang raped?” Mitch asked incredulously.
“ Yes, Mitch, that's exactly what I'm telling you!”
“ Some friends of yours,” Mitch said in disgust. “Is this a common occurrence at one of their parties?”
“ I told you, they weren't friends of ours. They were Danny's roommates and their friends. The only reason they were invited was because one of them is the brother of Jerry’s fiancé e, and he wasn’t even there that night. And, no, it is not a common occurrence. After I clocked one of them, Emmett kicked them out...”
“ Why didn't you call the police?” Antonio interrupted.
TJ refrained from rolling his eyes at the suggestion and said, “I let Emmett handle that part. I stayed to comfort Danny. He was a mess.”
“ Well, I would imagine, the poor dear.” Antonio was sickened by the image of an angelic boy being assaulted by monsters.
TJ knew this was his best chance for sympathy. “He was hurt.”
“ Is that where the cut on his mouth came from?”
TJ nodded slowly at Antonio's question. “He was sick and out of it from whatever drug they must have slipped him. He tried to be tough, and he held it together for a while. But after he threw up, he cried in my arms for almost twenty minutes. He eventually pulled away out of embarrassment, even though he was still pretty shaken up, and not just because of what happened. One of the men who tried to rape him was also his boss. The kid not only lost a part of his innocence, he had no place to go, no money, and no job. I offered to take him home to his parents, but he said he had no home to go to. I'm sure he would have taken me up on it if he did. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospects of staying at a stranger's house, particularly when it became obvious people were talking about what happened to him.”
Once he got it all out and was able to take a breath, TJ noticed the concern on both Mitch and Antonio's face, and he began to cry. He hadn't even realized how traumatized he had been until the tears started to flow.
“ Aw, come here, baby,” Antonio beckoned, with open arms. TJ fled to them. Sitting on his lap he tried to describe Danny's gut-wrenching sobs, and how he kept checking on him during the night, how he couldn't fall asleep until he got in bed with him.
“ The little bugger was so humiliated that the next morning he tried to slip out unnoticed. He had less than twenty dollars in his wallet, and no place to go. He didn't even know where he was, he just started walking – in no particular direction.” TJ snuggled in closer and said, “I was so mad, I wanted to spank him.”
His confession elicited empathetic chuckles from the Dominant men.
“ It took me forever to convince him to come back in the house. I kept thinking, I wish Mitch and Antonio was here, they'd know what to do. I had no desire to be there anymore. I just wanted to go home, and take Danny with me.”
“ If you felt that way then why didn't you call us?” Antonio asked.
TJ was quiet for a moment before admitting, “I was afraid you'd say no.”
“ You should have trusted us to make the right decision, whether you agree with it or not,” Mitch reminded him.
“ I couldn't leave him there. The stupid kid thinks he can take care of himself, but he can't. He's at the mercy of strangers, and he attracts the wrong kind of attention. At least with us he's safe.” After TJ finished his full confession everyone fell quiet again. TJ finally broke the silence by pleading, “Please don't send him back. He trusts me. I promised to take care of him.”
“ We can't send him back until we at least know where he belongs. But don't get excited, TJ, we're not keeping him. We will try to keep him safe, but like it or not, we're going to have to find out where his parents are,” Mitch lectured.
“ Did he say why he's not with them?” Antonio asked.
“ Not really, other than his mother is an alcoholic. He doesn't like to talk about them.”
“ We'll sort it all out. In the meantime, you need to remember your place in this relationship. You are not to treat Antonio or me with disrespect. I don't care how upset you are. Understood?”
“ Yes, sir.”
“ Why don't you go check on the boy? W
hile he's here, he is your responsibility. I suggest you fill him in about the expectations we have in this house regarding respectful behavior.”
“ Yes, sir.”
“ And, TJ, don't get too attached. I'm sure the boy comes with a lot of baggage, and you're ill-equipped to be dealing with it,” Mitch warned.
TJ slumped in Antonio's arms.
“ I mean it. As soon as we find an appropriate place for him, he's leaving.”
TJ nodded. He wanted to defend Danny, but thought better of it. Now was not the time to try and convince Mitch to let him stay. TJ had always gotten what he wanted. Even as Mitch and Antonio set limits for him, it was essentially what he craved. He figured it was only a matter of time before he was denied something he really wanted, and he prayed that it wasn't going to be at the expense of Danny. TJ left with a heavy heart to check on the homeless teen. He found him fast asleep curled up in a fetal position. TJ had never doubted Mitch. Today, he prayed he'd know the right thing to do, and was willing to do it.
*****
Antonio and Mitch stayed in the office to process the ramifications of TJ's latest folly.
“ Don't be too harsh with him, Mitch. Danny's a darling little thing. It's easy to see why TJ's so protective of him.”
“ Don't you start, too. I don't care how darling he is, it is not a responsibility I want to have. Besides, I know teenagers. And he's one with a questionable history. If we let him get too comfortable, he's going to be trouble.”
Danny woke up three hours later from his long needed rest, and couldn't remember where he was or how he got there. He would have panicked if he hadn't been in this position far too often. It slowly occurred to him as he studied the clothes he was wearing that they belonged to TJ. It took him some time to orient himself and find the stairs. He was hoping to come across TJ along the way. Instead, right before he reached the bottom step, he saw the largest man he had ever seen up close. Towering above him, with shoulders as wide as Danny was tall, and arms the size of tree trunks, the man spoke in a deep booming voice.
Bringing Home Danny Page 10
