Mark

I woke up before Mark that Sunday morning. Gently I moved his arm off me and got up to take a leak. When I was finished I ran the water and wiped the sleep from my face and slicked back my hair. While I brushed my teeth I thought how our first weekend together had been thrown a vicious curve. This is so unfair it made me both angry and sad. We were still teenagers for crying out loud! My twentieth birthday was about two months away and Marks about 4 months.

Why were we being punished? We had been friends for months before doing anything sexual. The more I thought about yesterdays news, the way we talked about it, the way we spent the day and night I realized that this was a test. We didn’t blame each other for progressing beyond friendship. There was no seduction involved. We both wanted to add sexual pleasures to our friendship. The only thing that changed was now we had to think about having sex instead of simply following our instincts. I realized that we weren't being punished at all. I was choosing to consider it punishment only because of the things I was taught growing up.

Most of those things were creating divisions in my mind for a long time. In the last few years I was separating myself more from the church services because I was seeing more contradictions. I'm told to love my neighbor, not sexual love but some sort of friendly respect. Why treat my neighbor differently because of his or her sexual orientation, or religious beliefs or skin color for that matter. Until you get to know a person really well you can't know what personal struggles they might have that make them the person that they are. One might like that person a lot or might not like them at all but based on personality not on anything as unchangeable as any of the other attributes. Mark knew all of that about me.

I knew Mark very well. In the last four months we've been talking a lot about everything. I'm a bit more liberal but last year was the first time we voted and neither of us had a whole heck of a lot of faith in politics any way. I knew his competitive nature in sports. I'm a good four to five inches shorter than he is but we always played volleyball as a team. He taught me to play as if I were eight feet tall and the effort alone will make all the difference. He was right.

Returning to the bedroom I turned on the TV and lowered the volume to just above a whisper. I looked at the Long’s Drugs bag on the dresser, opened it up and removed the box of condoms Mark bought last night. I started reading the label. "Use only water based lubricants." That makes sense. I guess Vaseline and condoms don’t coexist without a causing a breakdown in the rubber since they’re both petroleum products. The KY is water based. What about mineral oil? We had some great fun with that stuff Friday night and I’d sure like to do that again with him.

Then it hit me. Christ! Do I need to be a scientist to have sex with my boyfriend now? The whole idea of having a thin layer of rubber between him and me really irritated me. That thought made me laugh at myself.

"Hey doc! I gets a rash from wearing rubbers. Can I gets a note saying I don’t need to wear one?" I’ve watched way too much Bugs Bunny.

Okay, so I wasn’t irritated, not yet anyway but I was annoyed. There’s no way I’m gonna jack him off with a rubber on. I'm not gonna suck him with a rubber on either. The plain truth of the matter is I didn’t want him to ever wear one and I didn’t want to either. Mark stirred in his sleep and made some sounds but he was still snoozing. I’m gonna have to talk with him about this. We’ll try them out during anal sex because they said on TV that we should but there’s no other time I would use them. I hope he’s cool with that. I put the box down on the nightstand and noticed it said "12 each". I sat on the bed and started to quietly chuckle again. Twelve is only enough for Mark for one day! I guess I’m exempt or I’ll have to get another box! Oh well, there's only about another seven hours before checkout time. Maybe we can make do.

I guess I woke up in a really good mood. I looked at the clock and decided to give Mark a little while longer to sleep. If I'm judging him correctly he won't dwell on yesterday's news. I didn't want to spend our remaining hours talking about an illness that had few answers. All of what we've been doing is enough to radically change the course of our lives. The limitations we had to deal with on base were enough of a drag without this new wrinkle added to the list.

I watched Mark sleep. To anyone else he was probably just an average looking guy but to me he was at least as handsome as any movie star. He was sleeping on his stomach. I could see his shoulders on up from under the covers.

He breathed deeply and stirred then turned over on to his side. His arm swung over my legs and his leg was looking to wrap itself over mine. I smiled as he tried to figure out why only half of me appeared to be in bed. His hand reached down to my feet. Inside I was cracking up as his sleepy brain tried to figure out how I had shrunk. One eye opened and he smiled.

"Hey." Mark said in his raspy just woke up voice.

"G'morning, bud." I said.

Mark reached for my shoulder pulling me down, beckoning me, "Come here."

I scooted down and lay on my back beside him.

He pulled me close and kissed my cheek. "I love you, you know."

"Yeah babe, I know. I love you too. Very much."

He pressed his lips against my cheek. I could feel his tongue gliding across my cheek. Between that and feeling his body heat against me I was getting incredibly turned on. I turned my face and kissed him back. Some day I was gonna have to thank his parents for creating such a perfect person. He broke our kiss and leaned against me.

His face was inches above mine. "Tell me something." He whispered.

"Sure. Anything."

"We're like a couple now, right?"

I could see what he was driving at, a commitment. I was sure we had already talked about it so I said, "Yeah, I guess so. I'm not looking around."

"Cool. I feel the same way. And neither of us uses IV drugs."

"Hell no, there's no way I'd even try it once."

"So if we can promise each other that we won't go fooling around with other people then I don't see what we have to worry about."

"I was thinking the same thing earlier. You reminded me of something yesterday." I said.

"What's that?" Mark asked.

I pondered how I could put it into words. "You're my best friend, Mark. Spending the day with you yesterday at my Aunt's place and at Knottsberry was the reminder. I feel great with you, like anything I do is right. The whole day was just as good as laying here with you now."

"I know what you mean. It's such a rush being with you." He said and paused for a minute. I could see him blushing. He rolled off me flat on his back and pulled me on top of him.

I started to chuckle and asked, "Why are you blushing?"

"Cuz you make my blood boil and my mind race. I don't know whether I should take you now or give myself to you first. I want you, only you and I want you all the time. I never thought it would happen to me. Not like this."

I leaned down and kissed him softly and deeply. His lips are so sweet. Breaking our kiss I whispered in his ear, "You've got me. There's no one else that can make me feel as good as you. I'll stay with you." I meant it too. Everything I did with him was fantastic. Even the sadness of yesterday morning was more bearable because he was there and just as sad. No one had ever comforted me like that before and I had never been allowed to comfort someone either. Hugging and crying was just not done in my family. I can still hear the words echoing in my mind, "stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about".

"Well then I have a plan." Mark said guiding me off of him. He got up, picked up the box of condoms and took one then walked into the bathroom, his semi erect dick pointing the way.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "I can help you with that ya know."

"I know." He said turning on the water.

"Now's a hell of a time to brush your teeth." I commented sitting up against the headboard.

The water stopped running and Mark stepped out of the bathroom. He stood naked in front of me at the edge of the bed with his hands behind his back smiling down at me. There was no rubber on his now almost limp dick. "What the hell..." was all I said as his arms swung around and,

SPLASH! I was drenched by an exploding latex water balloon! Mark busted up in hysterics and fell back against the wall laughing his ass off.

I swung my legs off the bed and grabbed the box of condoms. "Right then! Of course you realize this means war!" I said in my best Bugs Bunny voice walking into the bathroom. He grabbed my hands as I was trying to fill the rubber with water and we battled with it for a while splashing water all over each other and the bathroom. This is one of the many things I loved about him. No one else would've done that with the water balloon. While we were in the shower meticulously washing each other I commented, "guess we won't be using the rubbers."

All too simply he said, "Nope. I don't want anything between you and me."

"Cool. How about we leave them here, maybe a few blown up condom balloons left around when we leave."

Mark laughed and said, "Yeah, we won't be coming back here again any way. It's gonna take more then a few hours to clean up the mess."

"At least they never had to call the police or fire department." I laughed.

When we stepped out of the shower Mark took my hand and led me dripping wet into the bedroom. I pushed our stuff off the second dry bed and Mark came over with the bottle of mineral oil. We started slowly massaging the oil into our wet skin working from the neck and shoulders down to the waist standing by the side of the bed. We loved touching each other. Not a word was said until Mark asked me to lie on the bed face down.

He started manipulating the muscles in my neck and shoulders then worked his way down each of my arms to the fingertips. It was so relaxing. This is sort of how everything between us started. Sore muscles and too much day to day stress. A friendly back rub after a game of volleyball that led to the leg massage of a little more than a week ago to the full body massage of today. We were two friends that weren't afraid to show that they cared more than a little bit by breaking apart the invisible shell around our selves in increments and touching.

Mark spent a lot of time massaging my back and buttocks. He used just the right amount of pressure on my thighs and calves then finished my backside with a mind blanking foot and toe massage. He helped me to roll over. Once again he started at my neck and shoulders then worked his way down towards my toes only briefly brushing past my straining cock.

"What's the matter, Dave?" Mark asked while kneading my thigh.

"Hmm? Nothing. Why do you ask?"

Mark said, "You're not talking, you're not even looking me in the eye." The problem was that we almost always talked at least a little bit while we touched.

"I just feel so relaxed. If I look into your eyes I'm gonna loose myself entirely."

Mark finished up the left leg and started on the right thigh working his way down, smiling at me the whole time. "I never thought I’d feel this strongly about anyone." He confessed.

When he finished my leg he crawled over me and kissed me deeply. I confessed to him with my eyes and when he broke our lip-lock I tried to put into words what my eyes were saying. "Before I met you I didn’t know what love was. Sex was just a physical release. I had no idea what it meant to emotionally bond with someone. I thought it was a bunch of poetic rubbish."

He looked down at me with an absolutely blank expression on his face giving me the clear impression that he knew that was only the tip of the iceberg. The pain of my past was so deep and my love for him was so great that I couldn’t say any more. My hands were holding his sides while my feet stroked his lower legs. After a long while of gazing into each others eyes he smiled and whispered, "I still don’t know want I want more, for you to make love to me or if I should make love to you."

I chuckled, "What difference does it make? We’ll both feel great no matter what."

"Your right."

"I’m flat on my back and more relaxed than I’ve ever been. Take me now ya big stud." I said flashing a big devilish grin.

"On one condition."

"What’s that, babe?" I asked.

"That I get a massage and you inside me next."

As if I was giving it careful consideration I said, "I think I can manage that."

Mark grabbed the pillows, I lifted my ass and he slid them underneath me. He rubbed the head of his erection over my hole. Inhaling deeply I prepared my self for his entry. I have to admit that last week I was afraid to submit to him. This was not the case now. The first time I had him inside me was good for both of us. This time was at least ten times better. Every time we made love was better than the last time. His cock felt like it was on fire and I told him so. He told me my insides were hotter. Mark made love to me for a very long time compared to our first experience together. He would grind slowly in semicircles then start a slow deep thrust speeding up until he was just about ready to cum but then he’d stop and rest, remaining motionless inside me for a minute or two then started again. Everything we did was done as equals. When I saw he was really enjoying himself I would tighten my ass to heighten his pleasure. When he did something inside me to make me moan with ecstasy he would do it again and again. During the short breaks we kept moving around. He moved my right leg next to my left on his right shoulder, helped me lay over on my side and he moved behind me on his side. I swung my top leg over and behind his. His arm draped over me holding me in place, teasing my nipple while he nibbled around my neck occasionally whispering in my ear. We had so much fun it was almost a shame we would ever have an orgasm and wind up taking a break! I don't have a clue how long it lasted. If we moved around every five minutes or so we were heading towards a world record again. Our teasing had moved through the foreplay in the shower and the massage right smack into our lovemaking. We eventually lost the willingness to hold back. From behind me Mark took my semi-erection in hand, stroking me in time with his thrusts. His rhythm got erratic. Turning my head towards him he kissed me and sucked my tongue into his mouth. It was all I could bear. My first shot hit the headboard of the bed. The entire bedroom took a light speed trip to nirvana and back. At my third blast of spunk Mark slammed into me and flooded my ass with his hot semen. I could feel it splashing around inside me. The afterglow we shared after that was insane with kissing, laughing and comments of love and lust.

Round two with me massaging him was a rerun of round one with one exception, Mark wouldn’t wait for me to finish massaging his front before demanding me inside him. Naturally I resisted but we were both covered in oil and sweat so slipping away from his grasp wasn’t too difficult. His height and reach won out though when he got my torso in a scissors-lock that I couldn’t slip out of. We were both giggling throughout most of this short wrestling match.

"Do me now!" Mark insisted tightening his leg lock around me.

"Okay, okay," I giggled, "just don’t break my ribs." I looked down at his dick about a foot or so under my chin and reached to fondle it. Mark closed his eyes and let me jack his cock for less than a minute before twisting and body slamming me onto the bed.

I knew he wasn’t upset but was trying to get my attention. "What was that for?" I asked as he crawled over me.

"For stalling you fucking tease." He said smiling.

"I wasn’t stalling, just taking some time to make you feel good."

"My dick already feels plenty good. Now," he said reaching back for my cock, "I want you to feel good." He slowly sat on my hardon until it was buried deep inside his hot ass. Wiggling around he got himself adjusted on top of me. The look of pleasure on his face and his incredibly hot torso had me biting my tongue in half to refrain from loosing control and blowing my load too fast. Mark started to ride me right away and I whined for him to please slow down. Only when I started jacking his cock did he slow and stop for a short breather.

Mark panted, "That was too close."

"You're telling me? I think my tongue is bleeding." I said.

"Lemme see." He said leaning forward.

Even this little movement was sending ripples of pleasure around my body. I stuck my tongue out and Mark inspected it briefly then sucked it into his mouth. What a great kisser he is!

Mark and I continued to make love that Sunday morning until we were too tired to do anything but lay there holding each other and talking. Around two in the afternoon we took our final shower of the weekend together then got dressed, blew up some condom balloons and left Huntington Beach to return to base. Naturally there was no traffic and the ride back was far too quick. We decided since it was almost dinner time to grab a bite to eat off base at a great little Tai restaurant. When we finished dinner and returned to base it was after six. Mark had all of five hours to catch a nap before work. In his room I gave him a deep loving kiss then started to leave him but he held me and asked me to stay. I didn’t argue and watched as he took his clothes off, turned on the TV and got into bed. After all that love making a few hours earlier he had a full erection in his briefs.

"Don’t that thing ever go down?" I asked smiling lewdly.

"Now and then yeah but rarely when you’re around. Come lay next to me while I sleep?"

I turned off the overhead light. "Sure, babe," I said crawling next to him in bed, "if you’re good I may wake you up with a present for Mr. Happy!"

"Never mind Mr. Happy, just let me hold you." Mark said kissing my forehead and wrapping me in his warm embrace. He was asleep and breathing deeply in minutes. After about an hour of alternating between watching TV and watching Mark sleep I thanked God for small miracles then closed my eyes and nodded off.

 

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Epilogue

Mark and I were together between February 1981 and August 1983. We were best friends that became lovers. While what you’ve read is presented as fiction a great deal of it is non-fiction. I’ve taken a few great memories from our relationship and presented them to you as occurring in a single week. Our personality traits are definitely not fiction, the toilet signs are not fiction, the desert sunrise that morning after we first made love, while exaggerated, is not fiction, the condom water balloon is not fiction. We were together when Dr. Koop announced AIDS. The discussions over that lasted way more than a day but our choice was very much as presented here, we stayed together.

We did eventually move off base which made our lives a hell of a lot easier. The state of that apartment was comical the first month or two. Other than bedroom furniture we had Mark’s little TV and my stereo and guitars and a lot of empty space. Little by little it became home and we got some bean bag chairs, acquired the necessities for the kitchen and Mark drew some posters for the walls. He worked nights almost the entire time and my shift continued to rotate monthly. I cooked and cleaned for him and he cooked and cleaned for me. We were always considerate of each others weird working hours and shared everything we had.

I’ve been working on this story now for five months and I was thinking of bringing up some argument we had to put some drama in the story. The truth of the matter is our arguments were never that serious. You may know the kind I mean, the "your a slob, your a clean freak" kind of arguments or the "Who will win World Series/Super Bowl" arguments. I can’t recall a single night in that apartment when we went to bed angry and we always slept in the same bed.

You might ask, "What else did we do?"

We did everything we ever wanted to do. For my 20^th birthday we went to Redondo Beach for the weekend and wrecked another motel room. I still remember that weekend like it was yesterday. We went to Yosemite for the first time together to celebrate his 20^th birthday in June of 1981. Those of you that know me or have been to my web site now know one of the reasons why that place has special significance for me. We went to the Grand Canyon. We must’ve hit every beach in California from San Diego to Santa Barbara at least once. We played tennis and volleyball together and went hiking and camping together.

Mark had his interests separate from me like basketball and I had my interests separate from him like guitar playing. Our screwy shift work meant too much time sleeping alone. You might say that we weren’t exactly attached at the hips. Maybe that’s one reason why when we were together everything was as good as life gets.

Next you might well ask, "Are we still together?"

In the physical sense, unfortunately not. My honorable discharge (hehee! Snuck right past ‘em!) came through first in August of 1983. We had been talking about this for months prior to it happening. I wanted to stay in California but needed to go back to New Jersey for a while to attempt to iron out some family wrinkles. (Every one jump up and down and scream, *S*T*U*P*I*D*) His situation was very similar, only going back to Florida and wanting to stay there. Life events turned and we separated on the best of terms considering the circumstances. The worst part is that we lost contact with each other before Christmas 1983. I was one miserable bastard that Christmas. It took a long time to get over the hurt. All that remains of Mark now are the fondest memories and his love. In that way he will always be a part of me, probably the best part.

Now, almost twenty years after the fact I find that this amazing person did more to make me feel really unique than anyone before or since. He gave me a sense of self worth that no one before had implied I might have. He taught me with his actions that it was good to love someone and good to be loved. I owe him a lot. If I’m lucky maybe I’ll get to tell him that personally before I leave this planet. Hopefully there will be plenty of time between now and then for me to thank him.

Finally, my sincerest thanks to you readers that have been enjoying this story and providing me with encouragement via your e-mails. I have other stories at Nifty and at my web site so don’t be a stranger just because this story has reached it’s conclusion. To those that have just recently tripped into the Nifty archive and found this story I’d like to be among the first to welcome you to the brotherhood.

October 1999
Peace,
TheEggman