Happy Campers

Four Happy Campers-

Seth-

I throw a French fry at Bryan, "How dare you? My car is awesome!"

It isn't. Bryan's is. He and Luke share a new BMW that was a joint graduation gift. The six of us are a group of best friends, but we have mini pairs within the group that we gravitate towards. Bryan and Luke are a pair because they are twins. Identical twins. They share the car, they are going away to the same college in two weeks and they are set to be roommates. I'm not jealous of their nice car, of their rich parents or of any of the nice things they've had their whole lives. What I am jealous of is their closeness. Having someone you are always in tune with. They rarely argue, they never fight, they know their majors, their school has been picked out for two years... They have their shit together. They have a plan.

My life is chaos.

I am an only child of a single dad. My mediocre grades led to a mediocre transcript. I am staying local at the community college because we can't afford anything else. I don't blame my dad. My mom died five years ago and he does the best he can. My car was also a high school graduation gift, but it's not a new BMW. It's a ten year old Toyota Corolla. It's reliable and boring. A dad car. That's what Bryan said that made me throw a fry at him. Dad Car.

Bryan was just teasing. He and Luke have never been snobs. They never rubbed their good fortune in our faces. If anything, they're embarrassed by it. And they're generous. All through high school they hosted all of our group sleepovers. They're forever paying for everything - movies, dinners, bowling, tickets to baseball games... Everything.

My dad bought me my car so I can commute to my new school and back as well as to my part-time job, which is with him laying drywall. If I'm honest, I'm glad to not be going away for college. It might be the dream for many, but not necessarily for me. I have no clue what I want to do with my life and my dad needs me. We need each other. I would be afraid to leave him alone. He owns his own drywall and painting business and I might just end up working with him permanently. It could be worse. And as a bonus, it answers the question of what I should do with my life.

While I have no biological siblings like Bryan and Luke, I do have Luis. He's been just like a brother to me. I don't know where I'd be today if I hadn't had him. And I won't have him for much longer.

The other default pairs in our group are Adam & Trevor and Luis & me.

Luis-

I think Seth's car is awesome. But then again, I think everything about Seth is awesome. Losing his mom at just thirteen is horrific. Seth is big and strong and amazing. He thinks he's a failure because he doesn't have the best grades. He's the only one not going away. He has no aspirations. That last one is not true. He is destined to take over his dad's business and he will be awesome at it. He already is. He's been working with his dad part-time for two years, but he's more than hired labor. He helps his dad to make good decisions and keeps the business afloat. And installing drywall several hours a week helps to keep Seth, the only jock in our group, in basketball shape year round.

Seth won't admit it, but he takes care of his dad at least as much as his dad takes care of him. I see it. I know it. Seth is just amazing. And maybe the car scores high on the lame-o-meter as judged by a typical eighteen year old, but it's still a car. And it's still cool.

I am going away in two weeks, but I'll only be an hour away. I'll be home for all breaks and maybe even up to an additional weekend each month. And with his car, Seth can come pick me up. Or maybe even visit me from time to time. We'll see.

The other four guys are my best friends too, but who knows what the future holds? Who knows what new relationships will form in college? Who might not come back home at all? We are so glad that we have this camping trip to close out the summer before we begin our next chapters.

Adam-

We've stopped at McDonald's for lunch on our way to Yellowstone. When Bryan calls Seth's car a Dad Car, Seth throws a fry at him and we all laugh. The six of us have never done anything like this before. Over the last ten months all six of us turned eighteen. Two months ago we graduated from high school. We might not feel like grownups but legally, we are. So our parents allowed us to go on this farewell camping trip.

Bryan and Luke have most of the equipment - of course they do. But seriously, they're sweet guys. All of my friends are. I know as much as anyone. I am one of only a handful of kids from our whole school who is "out." And when I told my five best friends, they hardly even blinked. It didn't matter at all to them. I hope they know how much that "no-big-deal" acceptance meant to me. It helped the rest of the school treat it as "no big deal" as well. I have the best friends.

I also have a boyfriend. This is not information that I have shared with the rest of the world. My boyfriend is the only other person who knows. And as the days countdown to college... we'll see what happens. But right now, I plan to enjoy these days with my friends.

Trevor-

I guess Adam and I are the third wheels this weekend. Adam is riding in Seth's backseat (of course Luis has shotgun) and I am doing the same with Bryan and Luke. With Bryan and Luke being identical twins, and sometimes of one mind, it is obvious why I would feel like a third wheel, though in typical Bryan-Luke fashion they are bending over backwards to make me not feel that way. With Adam... While Seth and Luis are not brothers, it feels like they're best friends. They haven't said that to us officially and they may not have even admitted it to themselves, but it's pretty obvious. They're close, almost like brothers themselves. The official party line is that we are six best friends, and that certainly is still true for at least the next couple weeks, but things will soon change. For now, six friends, two cars and one camping trip.

I am the one going the furthest away. My commute will involve a plane ride. I will only be home for Thanksgiving weekend, three weeks around Christmas and one week in the spring. Oh, and the summer. But that's it. Will these five guys continue to be my best friends as the next four years tick by? Only time will tell.

When Bryan calls Seth's car a Dad Car, Seth flicks a fry at him and we all laugh.

And then Luke's cell phone rings. I can see that it says "Mom" on his screen as he answers. He grips Bryan's shirt by the collar and drags him out of his seat. The two brothers walk to a quiet corner of the dining room as they huddle up to Luke's cell phone.

Whatever she is saying to them, it's not good.

Seth-

We decided to continue our weekend without them. We didn't want to, but they insisted. Their mom called and told the twins that their dad was in a bad car accident. He's going to be okay, but he is in the ICU and Bryan and Luke were summoned home. We offered to just cancel. This was supposed to be a last hoorah for the six of us. As is there style, they both insisted that we continue on with our plans. There was nothing we could do to help anyway. Why just sit at home. They apologized profusely, but we told them to just go. Their dad needed them. Of all of us, I understand a dad needing his kid.

So that's how we find all four of us loaded into my Carolla. Headed to Yellowstone. Luis, of course, up front with me and Adam and Trevor in the backseat. Knowing that the twin's dad will be okay is the only way we were able to continue on. They promised to text occasional updates.

Luis-

I look at Adam who sits behind Seth and I flash him a smile. All five of my friends are awesome people, they wouldn't be my friends if they weren't, but Adam is kind of my hero. When Adam "came out" at the start of junior year, it was the single greatest act of bravery I have ever seen in my young, naïve life. First he told his parents, then he told the group of us and finally he let people at school know. No big official announcement there, but once a few people found out, word spread. He's super brave.

A bravery that I have not yet found within myself.

Adam smiles back at me. He thinks I don't know that he has a secret boyfriend, but I do. A look here, an innocent comment there. It's not like I sought out information that I didn't even know was information. It's not like I snuck into his room and read his diary (I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a diary). I just innocently stumbled upon a few tiny and separate clues that were puzzle pieces that happened to fit together. But I won't tell him that I know. If he wants to tell us (or me) we (or I) will listen. And if he's not ready to tell, well I understand that too. And life is about to change so much for all of us anyway. Maybe whatever it is, it ends soon either way. Who knows. But I wish him the best. I hope it works out long distance. Stranger things have happened.

Adam-

Luis smiles at me from the front seat. I smile back. He's a sweet guy. He's always been there for Seth, whose mom died five years ago. I mean, we've all been there for Seth, but Luis, more so. He brings Seth and his dad Tomales and Enchiladas that his mom makes. He sleeps over at Seth's regularly and he's just always there to listen. Luis is a great guy. I'm glad that even though he's technically going away, he'll only be an hour away from Seth, who is the only one of us staying. How can he leave when his dad needs him so much?

I turn and look at Trevor next to me. He's going the furthest. His family doesn't have much more money than Seth and his dad, but Trevor is brilliant. He has a full-ride for Information Technology. Trevor is probably the guy who will save the whole world from an AI takeover. All of my friends are impressive.

Trevor-

Adam is looking at me in the backseat of the car and I refuse to look back. Once we leave in two weeks, We won't be seeing each other again until Thanksgiving weekend. I won't see any of them until then, but Adam is the most emotional about it. If I make direct eye contact, first I'll smile and then I'll cry. Well, I won't actually cry, but I'll tear up and I don't want that right now. This weekend is supposed to be about celebration and fun. It's bad enough that we lost the twins.

I also can't look right at Adam because of the way he's beaming with pride. He calls me a hero. The maker of my own destiny. Rising above the means of my family and creating my own fate. He makes too big of a deal. And he needs to settle down about this shit or I won't be able to look at him all weekend. I would like to be able to look at my friend.

Seth-

I pop my trunk and my heart sinks. Dammit. We rushed Bryan and Luke out of McDonald's so fast to go be with their dad that none of us thought about the fact that half of our supplies were in their trunk. When we loaded our two trunks this morning, we gave no consideration to how those supplies were divided. What difference did it make then? We were programed for the same destination.

The other guys are only ten seconds behind me in realizing the situation. It seems like a good portion of our food and water are with me. I also see two of our three tents, two of our six sleeping bags and two of our six backpacks. What do we do? Camping is already "roughing it". Do we rough it even more? Or do we slam the trunk shut, climb back in the car and drive back home?

The year ahead is going to be a tough one. All of my friends are leaving. I haven't let on just how hard of a hit these changes will be for me. I was really looking forward to this farewell weekend. I don't want to go back home right now.

Luis-

This weekend means a lot to all of us, but I know how much Seth needs it. It breaks my heart to see him deflate when he peers inside of his trunk. I won't let this setback ruin our weekend. Whatever we have, we will make the most of it. For Seth's sake, I become our cheerleader. We can do this. We will do this. Let's inventory what we have and make a plan.

I say, "We still have two tents. We were gonna be Bryan & Luke, Adam & Trevor and Seth & me. We're still set there. Shelter? Check! And look at all the food and water! We're golden!"

Seth snorts.

Adam-

Seth snorts and I laugh. Golden. Leave it to Luis to put a positive spin on a shitshow. But really, I don't want to go home either.

I ask, "Whose backpacks do we have?"

Luis checks, "Looks like... Oh, crap."

"What?" asks Trevor.

"They're Bryan and Luke's backpacks," Luis sighs. "No offense but I was really hoping one of them would be mine. I'm the smallest of the six of us."

Seth scoffs, "I'm the biggest."

Luis says, "True. But Bryan, Luke, Adam and Trevor are all about the same size. Plus, you three are all wearing your hiking boots. Mine are in my backpack. I'm wearing my DC high-tops. Not the best for exploring the great outdoors."

"That's what you get for putting form before function on a camping trip," I tease Luis.

Trevor says to me, "I guess we can go through both bags and split whatever we can use."

"Says one of the guys who's the same size as both of them," says Seth.

Trevor-

Turns out the Bryan and Luke's backpacks weren't huge scores for any of us. First of all, the contents of each, like the two of them themselves, were identical. Go figure. And second of all, other than two changes of underwear (ew) and one change of socks (ew), there was nothing of practical use. It was mostly card games and travel games. I will try my best to not need them, but I did swipe a pair of underwear.

We hauled all of our stuff to the campsite. Seth and I worked on setting up our two tents while Luis and Adam watched and heckled. When I struggled to insert the poles correctly, Adam told me that he expected more from an Information Technology major. I threw Luke's underwear at him.

I tell the group, "Here's some IT for you all - it might be August but it gets cold here at night. It supposed to be a low of thirty-seven degrees. We don't have our warm beds. There are only two sleeping bags for the four of us; one per tent. Hope you don't mind sharing.

Luis-

I don't mind sharing. I can't speak for Seth, but I'm good with it. I am always cold. All four seasons, it doesn't matter. Even on the hottest summer days, the air conditioning is too cold. Tonight, with two of us in one sleeping bag, big Seth will radiate heat and I will soak it all up.

I am mesmerized watching Seth set up our tent. His well-toned body twists and stretches into captivating positions right before my eyes. When he's done he says, "We need to do some serious hiking tomorrow. I've been lazy all summer and I'm getting fat."

Adam scoffs and I say, "You're crazy."

He shakes his head, "I speak the truth. Basketball season ended months ago and I have not kept up with my workout regimen."

I fold my arms skeptically, "How much weight have you gained?"

"I weigh the same," he says. "But that's the problem. Muscle weighs more than fat. As I've lost muscle mass, I've been gaining too much fat." He lifts his shirt to prove his point. All I see is spectacularness. Seth is like a sculpted god. And if his middle is a tiny bit softer, it works for him. Like it really, really works for him. The perfectly round innie belly button that bullseyes his ridged stomach creates an immediate stirring in my crotch. I have to turn away.

Later, it's just the two of us in our tent and Seth says, "Sorry we don't have your backpack."

I shrug, "You don't have yours either."

"But I'm wearing my hikers. And you probably had either flannel or thermal jammies in yours. Even though it's still summer."

I grin and lift my long sleeve t-shirt revealing a thermal underneath.

Seth laughs, "Oh my god. It was seventy degrees this afternoon. Seriously? How did you not melt?"

"I guess I'm not as sweet as you thought I was."

Seth-

Except he is. He's the sweetest guy I've ever known. I'm dreading two weeks from now when all of my friends leave, but even though Luis will only be one hour away, he'll still be an hour away.

Despite his layers, he shivers. This guy is always cold. It's one of his things. He has lots of "things" and I'll miss all of them.

From under my sleeping bag I pull out a hoodie that I had in my trunk and snuck in just for Luis. I pull it over his head, It's an XL and he's not. He swims in it but he smiles and hugs it to himself. "Thanks."

"Sure. But only until we get in the sleeping bag. There won't be room for both of us and the thick sweatshirt all in there at the same time."

I'm glad one of the two sleeping bags was mine. The odds were against me. Mine has a double zipper so I can have my head poking out of the top and my feet sticking out of the bottom. My feet are the temperature regulators for my whole body. Even on a cold night, my feet need to be unincumbered. Free.

For the first thirteen years of my life, I wished I had a brother. For the last five years, I've had one. In some ways, I've had five, but in a real way, I've had Luis. I don't know how I would have survived these last five years without him. He has two brothers, both older. Before they each left over the last two years, Luis wished he was an only child. He always said his brothers were dicks. I assumed they ganged up on him. Tortured him in stupid brother ways. Not every brotherly relationship can be like Bryan and Luke. I guess it's different when you're twins. But while Luis and I physically could not be less twin-like, emotionally, we're right there.

Adam-

We're getting more use out of Luke's backpack than I thought we would. Or is it Bryan's backpack? Does it matter? Maybe to them it would. Even if he was my identical twin I don't think I'd want to wear my brother's underwear.

We're sitting cross legged on the floor of the tent playing the games from the backpack. Some of these games are meant for more than two people, but it's been a long day and we don't want to bother Seth and Luis. Actually, the truth is that we want to be alone. In our group, Trevor is my best friend. More than that, he's my secret boyfriend. Unlike me, he is not out with his family or with anyone else. I'm not mad at him about it. I'm not even pressuring him to have the talk. Everyone has his own timetable and it's his choice. I'll support him no matter what. And the "secret" part of our boyfriendship is still kind of fun. Like tonight, alone in our tent. I am looking forward to sharing one sleeping bag with him. I'm not sure if it belongs to Luke or Bryan but for tonight it's ours.

Trevor-

We're playing a silly game that we completely made up our own rules to. We don't even know who's winning and we don't care. We're cross legged on the floor and our knees are touching. We each have a handful of cards that we keep laying down in a pile. The box the cards came out of says Five Crowns but Adam says "Uno" every time he lays one down, despite the fact the he's still holding half of the deck. He's just trying to make me laugh and it's working. I lean in and give him a kiss.

"I've been keeping a secret," I say.

He giggles, "I already know. You're totally gay."

I crack up. And then I kiss him again. "Cute and funny. Nobody else has a chance."

"Sorry. You have a secret?"

I take his hand in my own, "I told my family last night."

He doesn't make a joke. "Seriously?"

I nod.

"And...?"

I nod again, "Yes, I told them that I have a boyfriend and yes, I told them that it's you."

"And...?"

"My parents already loved you. Now they know that I do too."

He leaps into my arms and Five Crowns cards spill everywhere.

He yells, "Uno!"

Luis-

There was a lot of discussion as to how to make this work. How do two friends, two guys, two presumably straight dudes best share one sleeping bag? We're presumably straight because I never told Seth or anyone else that I very much am not. That's the assumption, right? Nobody "comes out" as straight.

But with me, the presumption is wrong. Not only that but I'm crushing hard on my best friend. And since he's straight as an arrow, maybe it's a good thing that we're only a couple weeks away from putting some distance between ourselves. Seth is six foot three inches tall, has jet black hair and steel grey eyes. He is strong, athletic and super-hot. All of the girls in school loved him. And so did at least one boy. He still does.

And now I have to cram into a single sleeping bag with him. It's both a dream come true and a nightmare because that dream can't come true.

I let him decide how this is going to work. He lands on the old classic (if not slightly homophobic) head to toe arrangement. With shoes on. Seth is a hot sleeper. Actually, he runs hot all the time. We truly are total opposites. I also know that his feet control his whole body temp so I'm not at all surprised when he says, "I was wrong about the shoes thing. Mine have to come off."

There is absolutely no room for him to contort himself to make this happen and I'll freeze if he opens up the sleeping bag, so I sigh and say, "I'll do it."

I begin the arduous process of unlacing his boots. They won't slide right off so I have to keep working his laces lower and lower. I'm staring at the bottom of his giant boots and I say, "Jeez, how big are your feet?"

He scoffs, "My feet are in perfect proportion to my large frame."

That has me wondering what other parts of him might be nicely proportioned compared to his large frame. And I already know that he wears a size thirteen. I know from group bowling outings when we rent shoes. I might also know from peeking. I may or may not have looked in his shoe once when he was in the bathroom. I may have also stuck my size nine foot in his giant sneaker to see how it felt. It felt good. It didn't feel like a stranger's shoe.

"Uh huh."

I have the first boot off and I'm working on the second when he says, "I appreciate this. You know if my feet are hot--"

I cut him off, "Yeah, yeah. You won't be able to sleep. I know."

We've had a million sleepovers, but never in the same bed before.

He says, "I'm sorry if..." he trails off. "I mean I wore these boots all day long..."

His giant socked foot is mere inches from my face. He's apologizing for his foot odor. Except I wouldn't call it "odor" at all. I would call it a gentle masculine musk that I don't mind at all. But I can't tell him that. Instead I say, "You're fine. I don't smell anything."

I get the other boot off and I start to pull off the first sock.

"Um, you don't have to--"

"Yes I do. Or you'll be waking me up in an hour because your feet are too hot in your socks and you can't sleep."

He chuckles, "You know me well."

Even in the dark, the soles of his feet are beautiful. They are large and smooth and soft looking. It's all I can do to not reach out and touch them, caress them, massage them... lick them.

He says, "Your shoes have to come off too."

Seth-

When I tell him that his shoes have to come off too, he completely stills.

"I'm not you. I'm not a human furnace. If you take my shoes off, my feet will freeze and so will the rest of me."

I say, "Well, we have to figure something out because while your DCs are super cool, they're not super clean. You keep kicking me in the face."

"I didn't realize--"

"I know you didn't. But the occasional foot in the face is better than a shoe."

He sighs, "Fine."

But I don't want him to freeze. "I have an idea." His high-tops are loosely laced and they slip right off. The cold air of the room seems to zero in on his damp socks. I run too hot to sleep in pajamas so I'm just in a pair of boxers. I take his little feet and I press them into my bare chest and hug them tight to me.

He lets out an audible, "Ahhhhh."

Except really, despite being the smallest of the six of us, his feet aren't that small. They look kind of big, especially considering his height.

I squeeze a toe and jiggle his foot, "And what size do you wear?"

"My feet are in perfect proportion to my frame," he mimics my voice as he repeats my response.

"Uh huh," I mimic back. That makes me wonder what other parts of him might be large for his frame. While I ponder the possibilities, I work a finger under the rim of his sock.

He tenses again, "Seth, I don't need--"

"Trust me. Skin to skin will conduct the warmth better. Your socks will only slow down the warming process."

I think I accidentally scrape his arch with a finger while I'm pulling off a sock because he yelps and elbows me in the stomach. That makes me yelp too but he's not done. He swipes his finger up my arch which makes me flail and jerk. I grab both of his ankles in one hand and use five fingers to slow drag down and fast swipe up his soles. He bucks against my hold while full out belly laughing. He might be my captive victim but I forgot that I am his captive too. We're zipped up in this bag like sardines in a can. Instead of trying to free himself from my attack, he renews his own attack on me. His small hands are devilish on my big feet. My eyes are watering from laughter as his fingers scribble and scrabble from my heel to under my toes.

"Okay, okay, okay," I say, trying to catch my breath. "I guess we're both a little ticklish and we both are at each other's mercy. Let's call a truce."

This mini tickle fight might not have lasted long, but it caused a bit of a stirring in my crotch. My crotch which is almost pressing into Luis' back. I have to be careful. If I stab him in the back or anywhere else with my male sword, I'll have some awkward explaining away to do. I mean, the truth is out of the question. The last thing your straight best friend wants to hear is that you're gay and in love with him while you're jammed into one sleeping bag for the night. I mean, I wouldn't expect that Luis is homophobic or anything. He understood when Adam came out; it shouldn't be any different with me. But Adam was not in love with Luis and I am. So I guess there is a difference.

I press his bare feet into my bare chest and hug them tight.

"That's nice," he says.

I keep him warm all night.

Adam-

We roll around on the floor of the tent, all hands and tongues and lips and teeth. Being a secret for six months, we've had so little alone time. But this weekend we were to have a tent all to ourselves and we still do.

I can't believe he came out to his family. I would have waited for him forever, but I'm so happy that he did.

He says, "I was thinking about telling the guys this weekend, but now Bryan and Luke aren't here..."

I say, "It's your call. You can tell Luis and Seth tomorrow and Bryan and Luke when we're back on Monday or you can wait until Monday and tell all four. Whatever you want."

Trevor looks at me sheepishly, "I was hoping we would make the call together. I thought we could tell them about us. If that's okay with you. It's not just about me. Is 'us' something you want our friends to know about?"

I start unbuttoning his shirt, "Do you think they'll think I could do better?"

He laughs and swats my arm. "Jerk."

I spread open his shirt and allow my eyes to take him in. Neither of us think we're anything special ourselves, but each other? A whole other story. He thinks his average build and sandy brown hair are dull and boring while I find him to be sexy and perfect. I think my dirty blond hair and green eyes would be better off lighter and bluer respectively but he sees me as the king of the prom. The prom that we skipped, but going would have been no fun when you can't dance with the hot guy of your dreams.

"Let's tell them tomorrow," I say.

Trevor-

The big problem with both of our backpacks being in Luke and Bryan's trunk is that both Adam and I packed a box of condoms. No such luck finding any in Luke's backpack. Why would we? It's not like the twins thought they'd meet a couple hot chicks and hook up in their tent at night. But if either of them had the fleeting thought, then I'd be holding a condom in my hand right now. Unfortunate.

But not the end of the world. Adam pushes my shirt off my shoulders and I pull his off over his head. Suddenly, I'm cold. Adam either feels it too or he reads my mind because he leads us to the sleeping bag. I'm not sure if it's Luke's or Bryan's sleeper, but it's neither of ours. If this sleeping bag is still a virgin, it's about to see some things.

We strip down to our undies and slip inside. I have never felt cozier in my life. All of the skin to skin contact and the mutual body heat is wonderful. I want to rub our bodies together in unison until we make a beautiful mess together, but Luke or Bryan might not appreciate the beautiful mess in their sleeping bag, no matter how openminded they might be. So instead I kiss my way down Adam's neck, his chest and his stomach. I spend a minute teasing his shallow innie navel - I know that drives him crazy - and then I follow his treasure trail south. I grip his Nike briefs and yank them down so he springs free. We have no condoms, but I don't think either of us will be complaining too much.

I take him in my mouth and he moans. He is the perfect size. He is my big strong man, but not too big that I can't handle taking in his whole length. When I don't gag and choke he says, "You've been practicing."

I look up and grin, "I've been writing "bananas" on the weekly shopping list all summer. I am full of potassium!"

He laughs.

"And I'm about to be full of something else." I dive back down on him again and his back arches. I start slow and gentle and he moans and sighs. Slowly I pick up both the pace and the intensity and his breathing quickens. I'm still learning to cover my teeth, but I do my best ever tonight. As I kiss, lick and slurp his frenulum, he entangles his fingers in my hair. When I continue to slither my tongue up his underside, he begins to squirm. When I don't stop he squeezes my head, curls his toes and lets out a moan. When I take him back in my mouth, balls deep and hitting the back of my throat, he's done. He lets go. Six pulses of hot cum splash the back of my throat and I swallow every drop. Luke or Bryan will be none the wiser. I think. I mean it kind of smells like sex in here already and I haven't even had my turn yet.

Are sleeping bags machine washable?

Adam pushes me onto my back, positions himself between my legs and checks out my silent soldier.

He says, "Hello sailor."

My sailor is saluting him.

He grins at it and proclaims: "Uno!"

We both laugh.

And then he swallows me whole.

Luis-

I awake to the sound of kissing. I'm feeling warm all over. My feet are still being hugged to Seth's chest. Or, one of them is. My other foot is pressed against Seth's face and in a sleepy, dreaming response, he's kissing and licking my foot. While every fiber of my being wants to allow that to keep happening, I slowly and carefully extricate my foot and reposition it with the other foot in his warm chest. Fear paralyzes me as I realize that I have an erection. I guess cozying up to the guy I love all night while he unknowingly worships my bare foot is a recipe for a boner. Of course, I am an eighteen year old boy. Everything is a recipe for a boner. Looking at pictures of rocks is a recipe for a boner.

Seth begins to wake up. As he shifts in the confined space I feel a stab in the back. Oh! Seth has an erection too. I don't want to embarrass him, so I pretend like I don't notice.

But he apologizes, "Hey Luis, I'm sorry about that--"

I try to scoot out the top of the sleeping bag but he grabs me by the ankles and holds me in place. I say, "It's okay. It's just morning wood. It's a natural thing for a healthy young man. And you are certainly that."

He unzips the side of our pod and frees us, but he's still holding me in place by the ankles. We both sit up.

He says, "That's not it." He finds my socks and begins to put them on for me. He continues, "I mean, you're right. It is a natural and healthy response. But it is not unprovoked. It's in response to you."

I'm wearing sweatpants and I didn't think he could see my protrusion, but he must have. "I guess they're contagious," I try a grin as I shift and reposition things.

He chuckles, "Luis, I'm being serious. I've thought about telling you this for a long time now but I always chickened out. And now I know I'm being totally unfair because your leaving in a few weeks..." he trails off.

I've never heard Seth ramble like this before. "You can tell me anything."

"I know. It's just a really selfish thing to tell because, well, you're not... You can't..."

"I can't what, Seth?"

"You've been the best friend I've ever had." He picks up a high-top and slides it on my foot. "I couldn't have done the last five years without you. Thank you."

I pick up his socks and put one on for him, "Hey. I'll never be too far away. And you can call me any time. Seriously. I'll always answer for you."

He sighs, "I'm not saying this right. This isn't a thank you for all you've done or a farewell to the college boy speech. I know we'll still talk all the time and I'll see you a lot too." He sighs again, "I'm trying to tell you that I love you."

"Me too--"

"No. Luis, I really... I'm in love with you. And that's why it's not fair of me to dump this on you right before you leave for school. I know your not--"

He stops talking because I dive at him and tackle him to the floor. Little five foot seven inch me tackles six foot three inch Seth. In fairness, I'm sure he let me, but it was fun feeling powerful for a minute. And then I kiss him, like I've dreamed for the longest time.

We're still kissing and Seth is taking my shirt off when the tent door opens and Adam and Trevor pop their heads in, "Are you guys ready to--"

They stop. Their faces turn as red as mine does. The guys know from a million sleepovers that I never take my shirt off and here in a cold tent, my shirt is off and my tongue is in Seth's mouth. Plus, Seth is still in just boxers and socks and his erection is quite evident. It's the elephant in the room.

Adam grins with flushed cheeks, "Um, we'll see you in a little bit."

Adam-

After sharing texts from Luke and Bryan with each other, and celebrating that their dad is out of surgery and will be okay, the four of us talked over lunch. Really talked. Many secrets were shared. Many faces turned bright red. Even Luis with his natural olive complexion, was ruddy-faced all afternoon. It's strange how as we talked, things became less strange. Once we all said what we had to say, it stopped being weird immediately. Trevor and I, to me, seem like a natural pairing. We are physically so similar in every way. Luis and Seth could hardly be more different in height, weight, muscles, athleticism, ethnicity... But then when they told us, it seemed so obvious so quickly. Like, no duh. Of course they love each other. They always have. They'd do anything for each other.

Trevor and I talked a lot this afternoon about the future. We're gonna give long distance a try. We know it'll be hard. The odds are against us. But we're worth the effort. When we each leave in two weeks, it'll be three months before we see each other again. But I'm betting on us.

It's the second night and we're back in our respective tents. Being night two, we take things much more slowly. We start with lots of kissing. So much kissing. My face is raw from saliva and stubble and I love it.

Trevor-

Since we're soon to part for three months, I need to commit every square inch of my man to memory. I have him lie down on the sleeping bag and I slowly undress him, piece by piece, one item at a time. I examine his hands. Every finger, every knuckle, every vein. The same with his feet. He has cute feet. I smother them in kisses and he laughs like a toddler. I touch every inch of his legs, his arms and his back. His oval of a belly button takes an extra long time to study and memorize. Finally, I get to my favorite six inches of him. It's not quite six inches yet until I make first contact and then it shoots up to full mast.

Such an interesting thing. I have one too. It's the same size, basically, though curved and shaped a little differently. But his fascinates me. I could take a course on it. I begin to touch it and it bobs and throbs in time with his heartbeat. There are parts that are more sensitive than others. I learn them all. It's really just trial and error. I try something and he likes it. I try something else and he likes it. There's not much he doesn't like.

So I begin to massage him. I try different motions, different pressures and different speeds. He still seems to like just about everything. Then I try something involving my thumb and a clockwise motion on his frenulum that he really super-duper likes. So I do it again and again and again. His body starts to quake and quiver. I keep up the circles with one hand and add in a stroking motion with the other. He starts to vocalize his agreement with urgency. I increase the pace and maintain the routine until he can't hold it anymore. And, to avoid making a mess of someone else's camping equipment, I take him in my mouth at the last possible second and catch the shot heard around the world.

That should hold him for a few months.

Seth-

It's night two and neither of us really know what to do. We don't have any condoms, but even if we did, I'm not sure we're ready for that yet. From the time we spoke our truths to the moment the tent door was ripped open, we hardly had one minute to begin to explore each other. And now it's night time and here we finally are. Alone for the first time since admitting what we mean to each other. It's our first intimate moment together. Touching each other. We have to learn how we work together. So, we're in my sleeping bag together, doing just that.

I already know that kissing Luis is my new favorite thing to do. So we're doing it. A lot. And we're doing it naked. With the two of us pressed closely together, skin to skin, Luis isn't so cold tonight. He steals my warmth and I gladly let him.

As our tongues and our lips get acquainted, we begin to rub our bodies together. Luis is on the bottom and I'm trying to not crush him as I glide from above. It's a nice gentle rocking up and down in rhythm with our kissing. When I kiss his neck, I feel him spring goosebumps all over his body. I think he likes that spot. I keep going at his neck, which some way somehow tastes amazing and our bodies keep rubbing. He trails his fingertips up and down my spine and now I get goosebumps too. As we rub our bodies together, we begin to line up a little better. Our penises had been side by side, but now they're on top of each other. Rubbing each other. We are hip to hip, Chest to chest and belly to belly.

I consider kissing him lower and working my way down to explore his cock, but there's not much wiggle room in this sleeping bag. Besides, what we're doing is feeling pretty good. In fact it's feeling really good. I rub against him harder and I can tell that he's liking it too. A lot. He likes it so much that his breathing changes. So does mine.

Luis says, "Oh, Seth? I think you should..." he doesn't finish that thought. But he does gasp and grip me by the back of my neck. He pulls me down and we're kissing again. Our tongues are rubbing together at the same time that our bellies and cocks are rubbing together and then suddenly I know what's about to happen. I wasn't expecting this right now. I mean, what the hell? Mouths have not made the journey below the equator yet. Hands haven't either. Why is this about to happen? But I have no time to contemplate the answer. The countdown has begun and it will not be stopped.

Luis moans into my mouth and pulls me down and in tighter. Is he in the same place I am? Is it happening right now for him too? He pushes against me and lets out a squeal as he spurts hot cum onto our bellies. My first spurt is only half of a second behind. And then we each spurt several more times, mixing our fluids together and never breaking the kiss. This unexpected orgasm has us both shaking and twitching with aftershocks as we cling to each other. Our bellies are a huge mess. A wonderful, sticky, lovely mess of man juice. We are not in the best position to effectively deal with the situation, so for now, we don't. We just roll around in it and embrace the beautiful product of our love.

Next time we will have planned better. And there will be an infinite number of next times.