Open Hearts

I'd like to take a second to plug my email, openhearts1999@gmail.com and my Tumblr page https://openheartsworld.tumblr.com

You guys can email me anytime, as much as you'd like, and pretty much talk about anything. I've had some really interesting conversations with some amazing people so far.

My Tumblr page just reached 25 followers! Wooh! It's a great milestone for me and our little community.

Also I'd like to thank my friend Danny who is the author of "Even if we tried." You guys should definitely give him a look or at least send him a quick thank you, because he's really been helpful to me and my story.

I'd also like to thank my friend Sage, who has helped me with a lot of the Norwegian parts. Anytime you guys see a character speaking Norwegian, it's because of Sage and his contributions.

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Recap:

Previously on Open Hearts...

After spending some time gazing at the stars, Keaton finally gets Bjørn to open up about his past.

Bjørn tells Keaton about his childhood and his mother. We learned of the death of Bjørn's mom and how it affected him.

Bjørn opened his heart to Keaton, and Keaton accepted.

But now the boys must deal with the consequences of last night after missing curfew. ************************************

Open Heart Part 9:

"I love you, you're the best mom ever." I proclaimed softly while I hugged her tightly.

There was a moment of silence in the room. Partly because I was too afraid to say anything else. My mother didn't speak immediately either however, I guess she must be in shock about how I greeted her.

I just kept hugging her, it seemed like the safest thing to do in the moment. 'You can't yell at someone who's hugging you, right?'

Fortunately for me, I must have been right, she didn't yell at me. Instead, she just placed her hand on the top of my head and pushed back so that I was now forced to look up at her.

When our eyes met I expected to see anger on her face. Unexpectedly though, it wasn't an anger filled expression like I guessed. Her eyes were soft and understanding. She seemed more relieved than anything else.

This was a welcoming sight, but still, I was nervous about what's to come.

"Keaton, go to bed. We'll talk tomorrow." She whispered softly in the dimly lit kitchen.

Her words were short and simple. She pulled herself from my embrace and headed for her room. It was late, I wasn't surprised she was tired and wanting to sleep, I was just surprised she didn't lay into me first.

'Maybe my hug worked. Or maybe she's too tired to be angry tonight. It's best not to look a gift horse in the mouth I guess. I should just be happy that at least tonight I won't be in trouble, there's no telling about tomorrow though.'

With my mom returning to bed, I followed my orders and headed upstairs so I could sleep what was left of the night away.

I've already had two naps today, both with Bjørn. But after that race and all the excitement of tonight, I was still tired enough to catch a few more hours of sleep.

But first things first, I needed to keep to my word and text Bjørn.

I pulled my hoodie over my head and tossed it to the floor. I started to shed my clothing one by one until my body was completely bare. I picked my phone up, flopped onto my bed, back first, and pulled the blanket over my body.

Once I was comfortable, I unlocked my phone and found Bjørn's name in my messages. 'I hope he's not in too much trouble with his dad.'

Sent: "Hey, you there."

A few minutes passed before I got a response.

Received: "Yea. What did your mom say?"

Sent: "She just said we'll talk about it tomorrow and sent me to bed. What about your dad?"

Received: "He's pretty mad. But he'll get over it. I'm in bed too."

Sent: "I hope we don't lose our phones because of this. Hey are you going to bed soon?"

Received: "Yea that'd suck. Probably soon. Why?"

Sent: "Just wondering."

I was tired but I wouldn't mind continuing our conversation for longer, especially since I might lose my phone rights tomorrow as punishment.

Received: "You wanna keep talking for a bit?"

Sent: "Yea, if you want to."

Received: "Sure :)"

At least he wanted to keep talking too. Now I've got to find something to talk about.

Sent: "So what do you want to do on our next date?"

Received: "Ah it don't matter. Movies maybe. Or we could just hangout at your house."

Sent: "Sounds good to me."

Received: "So you ready for school to start?"

I hadn't given much thought to school yet. I was never thrilled to start school again, let alone in a new school where I wouldn't know anyone. Well, anyone except Bjørn. I guess that was one positive about it.

Sent: "Eh, I guess so. You?"

Received: "Yeah I'm excited. You'll like it don't worry."

Sent: "I'll try not to. But what about us?"

Received: "What do you mean?"

Sent: "Do we have to pretend we aren't a thing?"

I was afraid of the idea of being public with our relationship. Especially in front of people our age. I've already seen the way David reacted. Michael on the other hand didn't say anything about us when David was spewing his slurs. Maybe Michael was okay with it, or possibly he just didn't believe it.

This brought up another scary thought. What if David has the same classes as me? Surely he would torment and ridicule me at every available opportunity.

Received: "Nah we don't. It's California. Not everyone is gonna react the way David did."

Sent: "But what if they do?"

I trusted Bjørn. But I wasn't eager to believe that everyone would greet us with cheers and flowers. The adults in California might be a bit more understanding and accepting than the ones in Florida, but I doubt the teenagers are as well.

Received: "You'll be fine."

Received: "You're not ashamed of me are you?"

Bjørn's response threw me off a bit. Of course I wasn't ashamed of him, I'm just afraid of what might happen to us in public.

Sent: "No, of course not, just scared."

Received: "I got ya babe :)"

I couldn't help but smile. I could feel a sense of new found confidence behind his words. It might be scary at first, but I trust Bjørn, he's got me.

Sent: "You're right. Thank you."

Received: "Hey, if you're still scared, I can sneak out and come over ;)"

Sent: "Nice try, but we're already in enough trouble as is."

Received: "Ugh fine. Well maybe tomorrow, if you're allowed."

Sent: "Yeah. 'IF' I'm allowed."

Received: "I'm sure I'll see you soon. You should get some sleep."

Sent: "Yeah I know. I'll be thinking of you. Goodnight Bjørn."

Received: "Goodnight Keaton."

Hopefully he's right and we'll get to see each other soon.

I settled into my bed, I closed my eyes and imagined Bjørn next to me. His arm draped across my waist, holding me from behind and pulling me back into him. In my mind I could feel him. I could feel his strong chest on my back, I could smell his scent, I could even feel his light breathing on my neck. Hopefully the day will come soon, the day when Bjørn holds me like that.

I drifted to sleep with him on my mind as usual, soon my conscience took me to another place, one that wasn't so pleasant.

I could feel the familiar chill that my dreamland usually greeted me with. Only this time, it wasn't the air that was cold, it was the floor beneath me. I wasn't suspended in the air, floating in the darkness as usual. I was standing, no, rather kneeling, on a cold, hard surface. It felt like floor tiles made from ice were underneath me. There was crying again, except I couldn't hear it this time, I could feel it. I was the one crying, I felt truly alone on that cold floor.

I woke up gasping for air, I quickly shot up in my bed and tried to regain my composure. The sun's rays were shining through my curtains and illuminating my bedroom. It was obviously morning time already.

'Just another weird and cryptic dream, I've got too much on my mind' I thought to myself.

I crawled out of bed and headed to the bathroom for my morning routine. I lathered and scrubbed and brushed until I was satisfied that I was completely clean.

Now it's time to face the music and head downstairs to deal with my punishment. I dried my hair with a towel and the started for the door. Before I could open it, I heard a knock on the other side.

"Yeah, come in."

It was my mother who came in through the door. It looks like I'll have to deal with this right now.

She looked over at me and gestured over at the bed for us to take a seat. I crawled onto the bed and put my back to the headboard. I pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on my arms that I had crossed across my chest. In a way, I guess I was trying to make myself look uncomfortable or vulnerable, hopefully this would prevent her from wanting to be too harsh on me.

She took a seat near the foot of the bed and positioned herself to face me.

"You know you should be grounded right now, right."

It was a rhetorical question, I knew better than to answer it.

"What were you thinking, staying out all night and worrying me to death! Your father was going to call the police if you had waited another 5 minutes." She was keeping her composure. I could hear the concern and frustration in her voice but she wasn't yelling yet.

"I didn't mean to. It just happened." I said sincerely.

It was true, I didn't mean to stay out so late, it just happened.

"How can I trust you to go out with your friends if I can't even trust that you won't just fall asleep in the middle of nowhere like that. Do you know how irresponsible that was!?"

"Yes ma'am." I mumbled. It was best just to keep my head down and agree with her.

"I thought you might have been hurt, or worse. And then you didn't even answer your phone-"

"I was asleep."

I knew it wasn't a valid excuse but I was telling the truth.

"It doesn't matter Keaton. I need you to be responsible enough to not put yourself into a situation like that." I could hear my mom almost pleading with me as she spoke.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." I knew it was all I could say in this situation.

My mother looked me up and down and scanned me with her eyes. She didn't say anything else, she just sighed and got up off the bed. It looked as if she was about to leave but then she hesitated.

"Next time you and Bjørn want to go somewhere, I'm driving you two. At least until I can trust you again."

"Is that it?"

"Do you want more because I can think of something!"

"No no no, that's fine." I pleaded

It didn't even feel like a proper punishment. Sure, it would be a bit annoying having my mom drive me around, but I wasn't going to lose my phone and I wasn't grounded either. There's got to be a catch here.

Just like I predicted, there was a catch.

"One more thing Keaton. You and your dad need to talk."

I was a bit worried about how she said it. Her tone was very flat and serious.

"About what."

"About you. And Bjørn. I've covered for you a few times, but he can tell something is up."

I was dreading the day this would come up. I was scared of how my dad would react.

"Why do we need to talk now though?" I whined.

"Come on Keaty let's go. It's time."

She reached out her hand for me to take. It was obvious that I couldn't weasel my way out of this one. I got up and walked with my mom down the stairs. It was a weekend so my dad was home and watching TV in the living room as usual.

I took a seat on the couch a few feet from where he was sitting. My mother took a seat in the chair next to our couch.

I sat there for a few minutes just watching the TV. I wasn't paying attention to it, I just couldn't think of what to say.

After awhile my dad looked over to my mother and noticed her eyeing him, then he looked at me and saw the blank expression on my face as I quietly watched the news. He could tell something was up.

"Is there something y'all want to say to me?"

"Actually there is, Keaton wants to tell you something." My mother chimed in.

My gaze never broke from the television, I didn't know how to get the words out.

"Well alright, Keaty, why don't you tell me what you wanted to say." My dad sounded just as confused as I was scared.

I looked at my mom, she nodded her head and gestured with her eyes, telling me to just go for it.

I guess it's time.

"Yeah. Well I guess I just wanted to tell you that... t-that... uhh.." I stammered. I was starting to get emotional. This felt worse than telling my mother for some reason.

My dad glanced at me curiously, he probably noticed how much I was struggling, because he shuffled across the couch until he was sitting right next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.

"You want to tell me what Keaton?"

"That... uh... I'm... different."

I didn't want to say gay. It felt like a taboo and dirty remark to throw out there. Throughout my entire childhood, gay was always used as an insult. If you were small, or weak, or annoying, you were always called gay. If anything was different about you in anyway, you were a faggot and that's just what everyone said. I wasn't ready to embrace the word so proudly, but I knew I liked Bjørn, and I knew I didn't like girls, there was no escaping who I really was.

"Oh really? Different how." My dad said curiously.

I could tell he was still clueless, or at least he was pretending to be.

"I... like Bjørn. I like him a lot." I was still stammering, trying to find the words.

"And, what about it?" My dad's brow curled up in a confused gaze.

"He's trying to tell you Kyle, that he and Bjørn like each other as more than just friends." My mother chimed in.

"Oh. I see. It's like that huh." His words trailed off again.

I started to tear up now.

It felt different having my father know. I felt like I was disappointing him. I was his only son, he wanted me to be a man, to grow up and get married and be a father. How can I do all this if I'm gay. How could my father ever be proud of his son now.

I kept my head down and avoided his gaze. I felt his arm leave my shoulders, I assumed he was going to get up and leave. He's probably too ashamed to speak to me anymore.

My crying started to intensify.

I heard my father's voice call out to me.

"Why are you crying." My dad said. He spoke in a harsh and commanding voice.

At first I didn't answer, I just kept crying.

I heard him ask again, he sounded almost angry when he said it.

"Keaton, why are you crying."

"Because dad. Because... I'm not normal."

I felt my dad put his hand on my shoulder and grip it tightly.

"Look at me Keaton." My father commanded. His voice was stern and void of its usual soft touch.

"I said look at me." He demanded again.

This time, my eyes finally raised to meet his. He put his hand under my chin to hold my head up.

"No son of mine is going to act like this."

I feared for the worst now. I feared that not only did I disappoint him, but now he was going to try and change me. I tried to hold back my tears, now wasn't the time to be a crybaby, I just stared back at him with big welted eyes.

My father sighed. He spoke again but this time his tone was slightly softer, it was less commanding and now more lecturing.

"I won't pretend that I understand how you feel Keaton. But you are not going to sit here and tell me you aren't normal. You are not going to cry over who you are. You will be damn proud of yourself no matter who you are. That's how we raised you."

My dad held my face with both hands now, cupping my cheeks in each hand, he used his thumbs to wipe the old tears from under my eyes. I wasn't crying anymore. I just sat there and listened to my dad.

Finally, it hit me. My father wouldn't be disappointed in me if I was gay, he'd only be disappointed if I wasn't proud of it.

I don't know how to be proud of it. It's just who I was, it's how I think. It seemed so normal to me, but it still felt taboo to speak about it, let alone be proud of it.

But here I was, my own father telling me to take pride in the fact that I'm different. It didn't feel so strange to me now, it didn't feel like my dirty little secret anymore. With Bjørn, and my parents, I felt like there was a foundation underneath me, a foundation that is strong enough to get me through whatever challenges lie ahead.

I leaped forward and wrapped my arms around my dad in a tight embrace. My mother got up from her chair and made her way over to us, she joined us in our hug, now all three of us were involved in this touching family moment. I guess from the outside looking in, it probably looked like a scene from a movie, too dramatic and mushy to be real. Fortunately for me, this wasn't a movie scene, or a hallmark card, it was my life. My family really surprised me over these past few days, I never could have imagined this kind of support. It seems like my parents, just like Bjørn, have open hearts too.

'This kind of love was indescribable, this feeling of acceptance was unimaginable, this... this... I guess what I'm trying to say is... well... I'm just happy, I couldn't be happier in fact.'

Eventually we all broke the hug and discussed a few things, mainly, my relationship with Bjørn.

I answered my dad's questions, they were similar to my mother's when I first discussed this with her. I could tell he didn't share the same excitement that my mother did. He was accepting, but at the same time, he was trying to come to terms with it all. I think he was still shocked, not from my coming out, but about my new found love interest. Judging from his reactions, he didn't expect me to run into a boy who was also gay so quickly, he probably didn't expect us to hit it off so quickly either.

"Well at least you'll have someone... you know... like you, at school next week." My dad said. He struggled a bit trying to find the right words to use.

He quickly decided he should try and rephrase what he said however.

"You know what I mean right? You won't have to feel... alone or... different." He still didn't sound very confident that he worded it correctly, but I understood what he meant and I agree with him.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I tried my best to sound reassuring, I didn't want him to keep rambling on.

We discussed a few more things about school before my mother declared it was lunch time. She went to the kitchen and started making us some sandwiches. My dad offered to grill, but we were all hungry right then and decided that sandwiches was the quickest option.

"Hey Keaty." My mother called from the kitchen.

"Do you want to go school clothes shopping today? You still need a few things." My mother asked.

I had some new clothes that we bought before the move, but I still needed a few more pairs of shorts, underwear, and maybe a few shirts too.

"Can I invite Bjørn?" I asked enthusiastically

"You know if you guys spend too much time together you'll get burned out on each other quickly." My mom stated matter-of-factly.

My mom might be right about that, but I'm still too obsessed to listen to reason right now.

"Pleeeeeaaasseee!" I whined

"Why won't you just listen to--- fine. You can invite him but don't say I didn't warn you."

I've been very successful with my pleading lately, it's probably best to quit while I'm ahead. But in all honesty, if I get to spend time with Bjørn, there's not much else I could beg for anyways.

I texted Bjørn and asked him if he wants to go shopping with us. After I sent my text I realized that Bjørn might be grounded. If that were true, my mood would definitely be dampened a bit.

When he replied saying he'll ask his dad, I got a little nervous.

I was overjoyed when he finally texted back saying that he could go. The only condition was that his dad needed to talk to my mom first.

We called each other and handed our phones to our respective parents, they talked for a few minutes longer than expected. Judging by my mother's constant apologizing on behalf of her "irresponsible son" I can safely assume that they were talking about the events of last night.

It's not like it's my fault, Bjørn fell asleep too. I don't understand why she felt compelled to apologize, but that's just the way she is.

Finally she handed the phone back to me and delivered the good news.

"We're leaving in an hour so get your dishes cleaned up and fix your hair." She ordered.

And just like a good little soldier, I followed her orders and prepared myself to leave.

Before we left, I ran upstairs and grabbed my money from my drawer. 'Maybe I'll see something I'll want to spend it on at the store today.'

I was all set to go when I heard the doorbell ring, it was probably Bjørn.

I ran downstairs to greet him as my mother let him in.

He looked cute today, actually he looked cute everyday but I still had to do a double take when I saw him.

He was wearing a sky blue beach tank top and some white cargo shorts. He looked really good in bright colors, his clothes complimented his blue eyes and bright smile well.

We didn't waste much time standing around, my mom was always in a hurry when it came to shopping, even though we weren't out the door yet, she still rushed us along. Neither me nor Bjørn complained though. I was excited to get some new clothes and have Bjørn show me around.

The three of us climbed into the rental car, my dad decided he didn't really want to join us, he's not a big fan of shopping.

Me and Bjørn climbed into the backseat together. At first we just sat on our respective sides, but before he buckled up, Bjørn glanced over at me and gave a quick smirk. He then scooted over so that we now sat side by side with him in the middle seat. My mother glanced back at us through the rear view mirror and smiled at the gesture.

Once we were all buckled in, my mom pulled out of the drive and headed for the local mall. She was using her phone for directions at first, but then Bjørn offered to instruct her on how to get there. He is the local after all.

My mother didn't bother turning on the radio, instead she decided to strike up a conversation with Bjørn.

"So, Bjørn, I hope I'm saying that correctly." My mom inquired nervously.

"Yep that's it." Bjørn chuckled.

"Okay good. So you're from Norway right?"

"Yeah. I was born there, I moved here two years ago." Bjørn said in monotonous voice.

He still didn't seem very interested in speaking about Norway, but he tried to fake a smile as he spoke to be polite. I hope my mother doesn't pry too much, I never warned her about this touchy subject. Just in case though, I slipped my hand into his and gripped it firmly to let him know I was here. He squeezed my hand in return and used his thumb to draw circles on top of it.

Luckily, my mother didn't ask too many questions, maybe she could sense how uncomfortable he was.

My mother then asked about the mall and the stores inside, we haven't visited it yet, so this will all be new to us.

Bjørn mentioned a few clothing stores, also one store in particular that he 'needed to take Keaton into.' So it sounds like he already has plans for our shopping adventure today.

"So Bjørn, what is it about my son that made you like him?" My mother asked in a sly tone.

"Mooooom!" I exclaimed loudly.

I knew she would try to embarrass me today. Bjørn just giggled and looked over at me lovingly.

"Well, he's cute, he's got good genes." Bjørn shot my mom a look through the rear view mirror.

'Damn that smooth little- he's gonna be the death of me.' I thought to myself.

"He makes me laugh too. Especially when he's embarrassed."

Bjørn took the opportunity to poke me on my obviously blushing cheek, he was definitely enjoying himself.

"He's also a great kisser!" Bjørn exclaimed with exaggerated excitement.

At this point my mouth was wide open and my ears were burning with embarrassment. My mother on the other hand was now snorting as a result of laughing so hard. Bjørn just kept staring at me with his big goofy smile.

"Shut up! that's not true!" I retorted.

"Yes it is, don't lie!" Bjørn replied.

"Ugh. You're always trying to embarrass me."

"All I said was you're a good kisser, I didn't even mention your butt-"

Before Bjørn could say another word, I had my hand over his mouth, sealing it shut.

"Huusshh!"

Bjørn attempted to speak but it just came out as muffled gibberish. My mom shot me a raised eyebrow look from the mirror.

"I don't know what you're so embarrassed about Keaty. I used to wipe and powder that butt all the time." My mom chided.

"Will you two stop! I don't need both of you ganging up on me." I said in a distressed tone.

I don't know how I'll survive with these two together.

Bjørn was chuckling at my mom's comment while his mouth was still covered by my hand. Suddenly I felt a warm and wet object sliding across the palm of my hand. It was Bjørn's tongue, he was trying to make me release my hand from his mouth but I think it had some different and unexpected consequences instead.

The feeling of his tongue lapping away at my bare skin caused a stir in my shorts. I blushed and quickly let go and let him have his victory. I was staring at the seat in front of me now, with my arms across my lap, attempting to cover up any 'unwanted arrivals'

Luckily my mom didn't seem to notice, her eyes were pointed squarely at the road and not on us. Bjørn however did notice, he looked me up and down from flustered facial expression to my hands covering my lap. Judging by the look on his face, he knew exactly why I reacted the way I did and he was hiding his own excitement.

I can't believe that him just licking my hand was enough to turn me on, I'm so hopeless. I felt even more hopeless when he leaned over and whispered quietly into my ear.

"We'll deal with that later."

His breath on my ear sent chills through my body.

After he said it, he returned to his normal sitting position and continued to give my mom directions like nothing had happened.

I on the other hand, felt as if I was melting in my seat.

'What did he mean by that!? Did he mean what I think he meant!?" I was screaming internally at the thought.

I remember the feelings I had after we went swimming together. I remember jerking off while he took a shower in the bathroom next to me because I was so pent up with sexual frustration. In that moment I was ready for him, I secretly wanted him to come out of the shower and just ravage me. My imagination painted a scene that was similar to a video from Pornhub, in my head it would go down the exact same way.

But now, it felt different. I wasn't as confident, now that the scenario in my head nears reality, I'm nervous. I expected to be driven by lust to just do it as soon as I get the chance to, but now the butterflies in my stomach made me feel more hopeless than ever before.

Bjørn seemed full of confidence, as if he's done it a thousand times. I don't know if I'm ready for whatever he has in mind, but I don't think I can say no either. I'm just as terrified as I am curious.

Finally we made it to the mall, or at least the parking lot I should say. The mall was huge compared to the one where I used to live, it even had multiple stories to it. The parking lot was packed with cars, we had to drive around for a few minutes just to find a spot. It seemed like everyone in California was here, probably because of school starting soon, all the kids and parents were buying new clothes and school supplies.

When we finally found a spot, my mother gave me and Bjørn the rundown of what we're going to do.

"Okay boys, I'm going to trust you two to shop on your own. Keaton, keep your phone on so I can call you if I need to."

My mom handed me some money so I could buy clothes.

"Do not spend that on anything besides school clothes, and I expect change back Keaton." My mom said in a serious tone.

"Yes mom." I said plainly.

"And don't go falling asleep anywhere boys." She snuck in sarcastically.

"We won't." Me and Bjørn said in unison.

The three of us got out of the car and headed for the entrance. My mom wanted to get some things and shop on her own so once we got inside we went our seperate ways.

Finally, it was just me and Bjørn.

"So are you going to show me around?" I asked sweetly, it was my best attempt at trying to be cute.

"Of course Keaty." Bjørn said with a smirk.

I gave an audible and exaggerated gasp at his use of my nickname.

"Don't you dare."

"Whaaat... your mom can say it but I can't!?" Bjørn tried to sound offended but I could tell he was holding back laughter.

"Exactly. You can call me babe, but not that."

"Ugh fine... but I'm gonna come up with my own nickname for you."

"Oh yeah?" I said sarcastically

"Yeah, and you're gonna wish I had just called you Keaty instead." Bjørn chuckled

"Oh lord." I sighed deeply

I don't doubt Bjørn's ability to come up with a terrible and embarrassing nickname for me, this is probably going to come back to haunt me.

Bjørn took me around to a few different stores, finally we stopped in one that he liked to shop at a lot.

It was a clothing store that seemed fit for surfers and skaters. To be honest, a lot of the stores here were like that, but this one had a lot more to choose from.

I picked through a few clothing racks and found a couple nice tees I would wear. I also found a few things that I think would look cute on Bjørn. He must of had the same idea, because he pulled a shirt off of the rack and made me stand still so he could see it up against me.

We spent a few minutes pulling clothes off of the racks and sifting through shirts and shorts that we liked. Once we both had an armful, we headed for the dressing rooms to try everything on.

"I picked some things out for you." Bjørn said casually.

"So did I. Do you want to... maybe... share a dressing room?" I asked nervously.

I don't know what possessed me to ask him that, but I hope he says yes.

Even Bjørn looked a bit taken back by my question. But soon his face lit up and he nodded his head vigorously.

"Yeah that sounds good to me!" He said enthusiastically.

We both picked a dressing room in the back corner of the hall. It was pretty spacious, there was a bench and a mirror inside as usual. The store was playing some old school hip hop over their speakers so it wasn't completely quiet either.

Once inside, Bjørn locked the door and turned back to me. We just stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, Bjørn was the first to break the ice by picking up one of his shirts and handing it to me.

"Here try this on."

I pulled my shirt off and laid it on the bench next to me. I could feel his eyes piercing through me as I changed. I pulled the new shirt on over my head and gave Bjørn a quick smile.

"Whatcha think?" I said, still somewhat nervous.

"Hmmm... I dunno. Pose for me." Bjørn added a quick little smirk at the end of his statement.

"No way. Not happening."

"Come on just do iiittt. I'll give you a reward if you do."

I rolled my eyes and smiled back at him. I struck a pose with my hand on my hip and my leg sticking outwards, I even pursed my lips like a supermodel. It was a weak attempt but it seemed to satisfy Bjørn regardless.

We were both giggling up a storm in the dressing room now.

"Okay okay, I did what you asked, now where's my reward."

He gave another one of his sly grins before turning around and grabbing a pair of shorts from the pile of clothes. At first I wasn't sure what he was planning, but it was pretty apparent once I heard his zipper.

He dropped the shorts he was wearing to the ground and went to put his new pair on. As he stepped into the new pair, he pulled them up his legs very slowly. Once they reached the top of his thighs, he wiggled his butt slightly. The outline of his butt reminded me of how I felt when I first saw it in the bathroom that day. Even though the fabric covered all the most important parts, it was still a great reward, but it wasn't over yet.

Once he had his shorts up over his butt, he turned back to face me and moved in my direction until we were only a foot apart. He looked downwards and I followed his gaze until I stopped at his crotch.

His shorts were intentionally unbuttoned and the zipper was still down. Before I could say anything, Bjørn spoke up and broke the silence.

"Looks like I'm having some trouble. Wanna help me out?"

I looked back up at Bjørn, he was biting his lower lip seductively and looking back at me with anticipation.

My eyes fell back down to his crotch again. I reached out with both my hands, I hooked my thumb into the flap of fabric in his shorts and used my other hand to grab his zipper.

The outline of his bulge was prominent, there was no way I could avoid touching it while zipping him up, not that I wanted to avoid it anyways. I slowly tugged on his zipper, as I made my way up, the back of my fingers grazed against his bulge, this caused him to slightly shudder.

As soon as I reached the top and was about to button his shorts, Bjørn leaned and pressed his lips against mine.

We started kissing pretty passionately in the middle of this store's dressing room. It was kind of exciting, doing something like this in a public place. I could feel him getting more aggressive as time passed, his hands moved to my sides and pulled me into him.

He broke the kiss for a moment to speak between breaths.

"Keaton, drop your shorts." Bjørn whispered.

It was clear that he wasn't asking, we were too caught up in our passion to worry about permissions.

I was nervous, but I was too excited to stop, in more ways than one.

Bjørn dropped his shorts first, but mine soon followed. Now we both stood in just our underwear, still kissing intensely. Before I knew it, both of us were grinding into each other, our prominent boners slid across each other's bulge in a sloppy and passionate dance between our bodies. I could feel how hot his erection was, even through the layers of fabric.

I moaned uncontrollably into his mouth, I couldn't believe how good it felt. We had developed a good rhythm by now and I started to feel weak in my knees. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held onto him, as I did this I felt his hands move to my butt and grab ahold of both my cheeks.

Not even a bucket of ice water could cool us down right now, we were like two dogs in heat, fulfilling our most basic of instincts.

Soon Bjørn's hands found their way to my waistband, I could feel him slowly testing the waters as his fingers traced along the edge of the fabric.

Before it could go any farther I pulled my lips from his and whispered into his ear.

"Let's do that later, someplace more private."

If I didn't stop him now, I would end up losing my virginity in a dressing room and probably get caught in the process. It was extremely difficult saying no to Bjørn, his touch already had me weak and my body was yearning for more. But my mind knew better.

Bjørn seemed a bit disappointed after hearing me say it, he definitely wasn't ready to slow down.

It's a good thing that Bjørn is gay, he'd have every girl in the city pregnant if he wasn't, he didn't seem to have a lot of control once he gets started.

"I understand. But what are we supposed to do about these?" Bjørn whispered back.

Our eyes trailed down between us until we were looking down at our crotches again. Both of us were still as hard as diamonds, there was an ample amount of precum forming wet patches around both of our tips.

"It'll go down, eventually." I said half-heartedly.

Bjørn gave a big sigh of frustration and bent over to pick up his shorts, while he was down there, he looked up at me with a mischievous grin. I wasn't sure what he was up to until he leaned forward and pressed his lips to my throbbing member through the fabric.

I flinched out of shock at the new sensation. Bjørn noticed this and decided to keep going. Using his tongue, he traced the tent in my underwear from base to tip and stopped at the patch of precum, he never broke eye contact while doing so.

His tongue lapped at the spot in the fabric, I could feel it pressing against the tip and hitting all of my sensitive areas. I wasn't sure if he could taste anything, but he showed no interest in stopping. I knew he wouldn't give up so easily. I felt my knees buckle, leaned back and used the wall for support.

"Bjørn, we need to stop." I stammered through exhausted breaths.

"Are you sure? This guy seems to say otherwise."

He was talking, of course, about my penis, which was now twitching wildly and desperate to escape the confines of my underwear.

"Please Bjørn, I don't want to go any farther."

The mood in the room shifted, and I could see the seriousness on Bjørn's face now. He rose to his feet and met my gaze, his expression was firm and his voice was steady but his eyes were still so soft.

"I'm sorry, I went too far. We don't have to do any of this. I just wanted to make you feel good." Bjørns said sincerely.

"It's fine, I do want to do this, just not now. Please?"

Bjørn smiled softly.

"Your wish is my command."

And just like that Bjørn went back to dressing himself in his original clothing. I was still dizzy and flustered, in all honesty, I was moments away from cumming. If he had so much as grabbed it, nothing would have stopped me from erupting.

Eventually I came down from my high and started dressing myself as well. We spent a minute or so going through the clothes and picking the ones we liked for each other. We didn't bother trying them on, we already wasted enough time as is.

Once we made our choices, we headed out to the cashier and made our purchases. The boy at the counter was maybe 19 years old, he was a cute surfer type with long curly blonde hair. When he saw us come out of the back he gave us a wide grin. It didn't seem like the friendly service type of grin either, it was a bit more cheeky and smug.

He didn't say anything to us, he just kept looking up at us with that same grin. Bjørn eventually leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Looks like we have a fan."

It took me a moment to realize what he meant. I was struck with embarrassment at the thought that this boy may know what we did in there. Bjørn didn't seem to mind much though, he even teased the older teen a bit just for fun.

"Great day we're having huh? You staying busy?" Bjørn chided sarcastically.

The teen laughed and handed us our bags and receipts.

"Not as busy as you two! You guys have a great day."

We took our bags and headed out the door, I was still a bit dumbfounded by the situation.

"You see, not everyone is a raging homophobic Keaton."

"Yeah I guess not. But he is older you know. They're not as bad as-"

"Hey don't worry about it, we'll be fine." Bjørn interjected.

"I hope so." I muttered.

We got what we came for, or at least we got some of it. We can always come back another day and pick more stuff out, but for now we should find my mom and head home.

I called my mom up and told her we were ready. She wasn't quite ready to go yet, so she just told us where to meet her.

Once we met up with my mom, we followed her around a bit as she picked out curtains. I swear parents do the most boring things on planet earth and seem completely happy about it.

In the back of my mind I'm doing everything I can to play it cool and not give off the "my boyfriend just licked my dick after sticking his tongue down my throat" vibe.

It seemed to work because my mother didn't give off the impression that she knew anything or ask any questions.

I handed her the change I had after buying the clothes and we made our way to the parking lot.

"So did you boys have fun."

I was about to answer when Bjørn cut me off.

"Yes. Yes we did."

He had that big goofy grin on his face again and I feared that my mother would get suspicious. I reached behind him and pinched his butt to try and signal to him to cut it out. My intention was purely tactical and in no way sexual, but god did he have a nice ass.

While I was busy daydreaming about the butt I just pinched, I felt Bjørn's fingers grab ahold of my own cheek and clamp down painfully. The mixture of pain and surprise caused me to release a very audible yelp.

My mother turned to see what was going on and immediately looked at me.

"Uh... sorry, almost tripped, got scared." I attempted a fake and nervous chuckle to try and prove my story.

Bjørn, on the other hand, was laughing at my expense without hesitation. It seems like my plan had backfired. Luckily my mom didn't ask any more questions and just kept walking to the car.

We made it to the car and made our way home. Bjørn came inside with us, I planned on asking my mom if he could stay the night at our house. Before I could ask however, my mom asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner.

Bjørn called his dad and got permission, before he hung up he asked my mom if he could stay the night as well, my mom didn't show any signs of concern and agreed. After sorting everything out with his dad, me and Bjørn grabbed our bags of clothes and headed up to my room.

"Your mom is really cool for letting me stay over."

"Yeah she is. Doesn't your dad mind though?"

Bjørn's dad was still a mysterious figure to me, I was curious to know how he felt about all of this.

"No not really. We don't talk much honestly, it's not that different whether I'm there or not."

It made me sad to head Bjørn talk like that. Without his mother, I hoped his relationship with his dad would have been strong. There's still a lot I need to learn about Bjørn, there's so much about him I don't understand.

But for right now I'm just happy he's here with me, and more than anything, I'm excited for what's gonna happen tonight. ************************************

Alright guys that's the end of part 9.

Thank you guys so much, I'll see you guys next time on Open Hearts.