Entwined Sketching of the Heart - 1/? Slash Romance

Author’s Notes: Entwined is a story about two young men who find a mutual love, longing, and understanding. Love is nothing like it is taught. Placing pen to paper has always been an art much coveted. Placing pen to paper for the Heart is an art that only a few can obtain. e was not sure when it happened. He did not even remember who it was that he saw that started it. He only knew that it had. And now he was in trouble. The god in front of him would not stop catching his eye. And he was a god! Loren made himself take his eyes away from him. Gods, but he wanted to know his name! Loren looked over his book at him again. And he was a dark-haired god on top of it. Lighted eyes over a perfect nose and under perfect dark brows. His lips were shaped so perfectly and so kissable! Loren needed to know his name. Loren shook his head, sending bowl-cut blonde hair swaying. He tore his own blue eyes away from the boy again. Smiling to himself, Loren started sketching. He guessed the boy was about 5'9", 5'10". A complement to his own 5'8" height. He glanced up at the boy every other moment, gaining information. Slowly the boy's broad shoulders and well-toned body etched itself in Loren's memory and on Loren's paper. Loren glanced up one last time to finish the last touch on an eye and saw the boy looking at him. Loren's heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. Hoping that his face stayed composed, Loren looked back at the sketch and added the glint to the eyes that he had missed the first time. Loren held it at arm's length and looked at it with his head tilted to the side. Nodding, he reached into his bag and pulled out a sheet of wax paper and a can of setter. Laying the sketch and wax paper on his legs he sprayed the setter on the sketch through the wax. Putting the can in his bag and putting the sketch in a plastic sheet in his portfolio, he stood to throw the wax sheet away. "Hey!" someone called from behind him as he turned toward the door. Loren turned to see his god running across the courts towards him. He smiled as the boy grew abreast with him. His heart was beating so fast he thought that it would burst out of his chest. "Hi," he said to the boy. "Hi," the boy returned his smile. "I have not seen you on the courts before." Loren looked down, blushing. "No. I was only here to meet someone. They never showed, though." "I'm sorry." The boy looked sad at least. "So what's your name?" "Jake." The boy smiled, then looked over his shoulder s the boys on the court called him. "Well, I will see you around. Will you be here tomorrow?" Loren nodded slowly. "I think so. I like it here. A lot of stuff to sketch." Jake nodded, and as Loren looked out over the gym, he bent to tie his shoe and dropped something in Lorens bag. "See you then." Jake said as he waved at another call from his teammates. He turned and jogged back to he basketball court turned volleyball. Jake watched him serve the next ball, then zipped his bag's pockets, and headed out. Jake. By the Gods, he was beautiful. But was he? Lorn shook his head. Friend sat least then. He smiled as he walked out of the gym and headed home. * * * * * * * o," Loren's mother said as he walked in through the kitchen door. "How was your time with Tanya? "She did not show." He answered as close to the truth as he could. "So I say there waiting until a few minuets ago." "Why not? I thought that you two were close." How was he supposed to tell her that he had told Tanya tht he was gay at the beginning of last year? That he and Tanya had not been together for that long? He sighed. She would disown him. "We are, Mom. She probably had something to do at the last minute." "She has been doing that a lot lately, no?" She looked up from her cutting board. Loren nodded. "We see each other at school, in class." "If you say so. I just find it odd." Loren looked for an escape. She was looking at him like that again. None of his friends were home yet. He knew that Tanya was out with her boyfriend. Homework! It sucked but he did have that paper to write. He sighed. "Hey, Mom. I have to write a three-page English paper. I want to get it done," Loren said as he took the Oreoâ cookies and a pint of milk out of the fridge and headed for the stairs at the back of the kitchen. He opened the door to his room and fell on the bed, English paper forgotten as his mind wandered back to Jake. He really wanted Jake to be gay, but his luck did not run that way. He sat up and pulled out his sketch of him. The dark hair with the light eyes was enough to turn Loren's eyes. The body was what had kept him looking. Then the boy took off his shirt. He snapped his portfolio closed as a knock at the door was followed by the door opening. Ciall, his younger brother, stepped in and looked at him. The boy was almost a spitting image of Loren. The only major differences were Ciall's height and his blonde hair was cut short. "What do you want?" Loren loved his thirteen-year old brother but he could get annoying like any other younger brother in the world. Instead of answering right away, Ciall walked over and turned on Loren's stereo and turned it up. He then turned and looked at Loren. He looked nervous but Loren saw determination in his eyes. He shook his head and turned back to the stereo. He pulled out the CD magazine and flipped it open. Looking at the CD titles he chose one and slid the 'zine back into the player. Changing the CD he turned back to Loren. Loren recognized the CD as Pride Logic #6. He looked at his younger brother with a bit of weariness. "Loren," Ciall started quietly, "I have to ask you a personal question." "Sure, twerp," Loren smiled. "Fire away." Ciall took a deep breath and let fly in a rush, "Are you gay?" The question hit Loren like a freight train, even though he was half-expecting it. He just sat there and looked at Ciall for a moment. "Why would you think that?" Loren asked. "I just want to know." "Why?" "Because." Loren looked at him for a second. He looked shy now but the determination was still there. Loren sighed. If he lied, Ciall would know. Ciall had almost always been able to tell when Loren was lying. But he could not swear that Ciall would not run to his Jesus-freak parents if he told him the truth. Ciall thought for another second. "Yes, why?" Loren held his breath waiting for Ciall to run for the door. Ciall heaved a deep sigh and fell into the chair that was behind him. Loren blinked at the look of relief that crossed the younger boy's face. "Have you told Mom and Dad yet?" Ciall asked breathlessly, hope tingeing his voice. Loren shook his head. "No, I don't think they will take it well." "Oh." The disappointment replaced the hope quickly. "Why?" Loren looked at his brother. "Are you?" Ciall nodded. He looked afraid for a second but pushed on. "Yes." "How do you know? I mean, you are so young." "I met Garrett," Ciall said with a dreamy look on his face." "You are not…?" Loren looked mortified. "Gods, no!" Ciall was quick to reassure him." We have kissed and we hold hands." Loren nodded. "Good." He looked at his portfolio and picked it up. He flipped through the pages until he found the one that he was looking for. Checking the back to see if there was another sketch on the opposite side, he popped the rings open. Pulling out the clear plastic, he handed it to Ciall. "When did you do this?" Ciall looked from the sketch of Garrett to Loren and back. "At the last Barbeque." Ciall looked again at the sketch. It showed young Garrett sitting under the tree in the backyard, shirtless. The boy had been looking at something past Loren when Loren had done the sketch, a small, content smile gracing his face. Loren knew now what the young one was looking at. The thought made Loren smile. Ciall jumped up from the chair and dashed at Loren. "Can I keep it?" he asked excitedly. Loren nodded and the young boy threw his arms around him." Thank you. Oh, thank you, Loren." "You just keep that out of Mom's sights. I do not want to answer the questions that she will ask." "I will. Thank you again." And he kissed Loren on the cheek. "Come talk to me before you two start…you know," Loren said as the boy reached the door. "I will." Then he looked slyly at Loren. "Are you?" "I don't have a boyfriend yet." "Oh. Will you tell me when you get one?" Loren nodded. "Now, get! I have a paper to write." Ciall smiled and ducked out the door, leaving Loren to his thoughts. Sighing, Loren unzipped his bag and pulled out his English notebook and opened the smaller pocket of his bag and rummaged for a pen. His hand came out with favorite pen and a small piece of paper. Loren frowned at the paper. He did not remember putting paper in there. He stuffed it back into the pocket and opened his pen. The Construction of a Sentence By: Loren Lyle He begun the paper and totally forgot the piece of paper in his bag. He was mostly finished with the paper when his mother yelled at him for dinner. Ciall smiled at him a few times when his talk turned to Garrett. Loren smiled back and promptly turned his mind to Jake. Was he? No, he could not be. Loren sat through his father interrogating him about his relationship with Tanya and managed to not say that they were no longer together, like he was wanting to. After he finished with dinner he went back to his room and finished his paper. He was halfway through his math homework when he noticed the light on his cell phone flashing. He had left it on vibrate again. He walked over to his desk and sat at his computer. His cellular plan's voicemail allowed him to access his messages from the Internet so he did not waste his minutes on checking it from his phone. He signed into his account and clicked on his voice link. Two messages of the five on the page were flashing as new. One was from Tanya. The other from his best friend Eric. He clicked on Tanya's and listened to her telling him that she was free Friday if he wanted to take her out to keep up the charade. He nodded and clicked the Send note to call later link and then clicked on Eric's. "Dude! You need to check your bag!" Eric's voice came over the speakers, sounding excited. "That…that GOD dropped something in it! I saw it! I did! Honest! Look man, I got to go. Call me and let me know something. Anything!" Loren jumped up from the computer and dashed to his bed. Opening the smaller pocket he pulled out the odd paper and opened it. Call me sometime. If you want to get together sometime, that is. Loren stared at the number on the paper and the name Jake. He reached for his cell phone on his nightstand. Dialing the number on the page, he listened to the ring. "Hello?" Loren recognized the voice from earlier. "May I speak to Jake?" he asked. "Speaking. May I ask who's calling?" Jake said on the other end. "Loren. I met you today at the gym." "Oh, hi man." Jake said. "Umm, now is not a good time. Can I call you later at this number?" "Sure. It's my cell." "Cool. I will call later," Jake said. There was laughter in the background. "Gotta go, bye." "Bye," and Loren hit end. Loren wondered what Jake was doing that he could not talk right then. But then he sighed a happy sigh. Jake had given him his number. Had told him to call. Gods, but why was he so giddy? Loren fell back on his bed, thoughts of Jake running over and over in his mind. * * * * * * * yle and Garrett sat on the steps together, Ciall sitting behind Garrett one step higher. Ciall was leaned over with his chin resting on Garrett's head, his arms wrapped around Garrett's chest. Garrett had his arms up, wrapped around Ciall, and though Loren could not see them, had his hands linked together behind Ciall's back. Loren sat a few steps down with his sketchpad on his lap. Loren was surprised at the genuineness of their smiles at first. When they had not faded in the hour that they had been sitting there, Loren realized that they were truly happy. He looked up at them again and added a line to Garrett's hair here, smudged Ciall's hair there, and added the twinkle that was in the eyes of them both. This was not the first sketch that he had done of them since they had left home but it was the only one they knew about. He was still working on their kissing one; he could do that later from memory, though. The first time he had seen them kiss, down by the river, had branded itself in his memory. He would finish that one at the gym the next day. He had seen Jake the last couple of days at the gym after school. He had told his parents that he had joined an extra-curricular drawing club and would be getting home later in the day from now on so that he could spend time at the gym. Garrett had been shy at first on the trip to the huge park and preserve that Gillington had but after Ciall told him that Loren shared his "interests", Garrett opened up. The two had even started pointing out other boys Loren's age for Loren. "OK," Loren said as he smiled up at them. "Done. I will take this to Kinko's later and have copies made." They smiled back. "We really need to find him a boyfriend, Ciall," Garrett said, giggling. Ciall nodded, as Loren shook his head, and started to scan the walkers on the path at the foot of the stairs. "How about that one, Loren?" Ciall asked, pointing. Loren turned to see Jake walking towards him smiling. His heart jumped into his threat. He was seeing things. He had to be. "Hi there," Jake said as he came up the stairs toward them and stood over Loren. "Hi," Loren smiled back. "How are you?" "All in one piece, so far. And you?" "Good." Loren looked up at him and his heart stopped. There were stitches over Jake's left brow. "What happened?" "With what? Oh, this?" Jake said as he touched the wound. "Well, I'm telling everyone volleyball, but really two guys decided I was too girly for them." "When?" Loren asked as Jake sat down beside him. "Two days ago. I was walking home from church of all places. I would not even go if my parents did not make me." Loren nodded. He knew the feeling. His parents had grounded him for refusing to go to church. Explaining why was not easy. "Does it hurt?" Loren asked as he reached up to the stitches. "Not anymore." Jake allowed him to run his fingers over the cut. "Hurt like hell yesterday, though." They both looked up as giggles erupted from Loren's brother and Garrett. Loren just smiled. Jake looked at him, questioning. "My kid brother and his boyfriend," Loren said and showed him the sketch. "Wow," Jake said as 'boyfriend' left Loren's mouth. "WOW!" he exclaimed as he saw the sketch. "This is good." "Thanks," Loren blushed. He flipped a few pages to show him the unfinished 'Kissing Kids', as he was going to call it. "I will finish this one later." "You can do that?" "As long as I see it." "That's cool." Jake looked back up at the boys. Garrett was now turned to the side and was looking at Ciall. This kiss came a second later. They looked back down at Jake and Loren and blushed cherry red. "Can you do that one too?" Jake whispered without looking at Loren. "I was planning on it. Want a copy?" Loren whispered back. "If you will give me one." Jake turned back to Loren. Still whispering he asked, "So how long has he known?" "You mean Ciall?" Jake nodded. "Since sometime last year. He said a few days ago when he came out to me that he had known since he met Garrett. That was about ten months ago." "That's cool." Jake caught Loren's eye. "And how about you?" "Two years. I think. Not too sure. I just woke up one day and started thinking about men like it was the most natural thing in the world. You?" "Freshman year. Took my best friend this long to convince me." He laughed and Loren joined him. "Have you told anyone?" "Naw. Only my best friend knows for sure. She would never tell a soul. Oh, and now you. How about you? You tell anyone?" Loren shook his head. "Just my ex-girlfriend. And my brother. My parents would flip." "How old is your brother?" "Thirteen. Going on twenty it seems." Loren sighed. "He is growing up so fast." "Yeah, they do that. And he has a boyfriend. That will speed things up." "Too true." Loren sighed again. "What about you? You dating someone?" Jake looked at him again to watch his face. "Nope. Not yet anyway. I have been trying to find one but when you are only allowed to go so far in to the city you can't look too much. And being around here, in this Jesus-freak suburb doesn't help either." Jake sighed to himself, making sure that Loren could not here him. It was a sigh of relief. He looked back at the boys above them and looked at Loren from the corner of his eye. Taking a deep breath he turned back to Loren. "You wanna go to the City with me tonight?" Loren's heart skipped a beat. Could he have heard him right? "I mean, if you can't or don't want to go with me that's cool." Jake added hurriedly. "I was thinking that we could go to Triangles. It is youth night tonight." No, his heart did not skip a beat. It stopped dead. Loren really could not believe his ears. A god, this god, was asking him out. He could only nod. He looked up and saw the young couple's eyes on them. Shining. No doubt. Ciall would take credit for this. "Well," Jake let out heavy sigh. "That was easier than I thought?" "Why?" Loren looked at him and quirked a brow. "I had never asked a guy out before. All my other boyfriends had asked me." Loren nodded. He had not had many boyfriends but they had all asked him. "Do you have a car?" He asked. "Yeah. I was thinking that we could meet, say, here and go in one car." The questioning tone was plain. "Sounds good," Loren nodded. "Mine or yours?" "Yours is cool. Mine is a wreak. School work all over the place." "Sure. When?" "I was thinking about eight. They do not open till nine and that will give us time to get there." "Ok," he looked at his watch. It was almost two. "Look, I have to get these two home for lunch or my mother will kill me. And I have to come up with a good reason for going out at eight. Not that I usually don't. But you have to know my mom to understand." "I might now have to. She is the type that wants you to call in every hour, right?" Loren nodded. "We will figure it out." Loren nodded again and then turned to the boys on the stairs above them. "Ciall, Garrett. Lets get home before Mom kills us all." Turning back to Jake he said, "I will give you a call. Unless you want to walk with us to the car." "I would love to." Jake said as Loren put the finished sketch into his portfolio, making sure not to show the one that he had done of Jake in the gym. The younger boys stood up and linked hands while Jake and Loren walked up to meet them. Climbing to the to, Loren stopped for a second to look at the fountain. Locking that in his memory with the 'Sitting Boys Kissing' image he walked on. Garrett and Ciall had run then had slowed to a walk and interlinked hands again. "Do they always do that?" Jake asked. "As far as I know. I am not sure. I have only known about it for a few days. Ciall just told me Tuesday." He looked at them and smiled, but the smile faded quickly. "I am kind of worried though. About them, I mean. They are so open. I am afraid they will be hurt." "Don't worry about them. They are young enough that people will still see best friends for a while." Jake reassured him. "You and I will have more problems." Loren look at him quickly and then felt a tightening around his hand. He looked down to see his hand in Jake's. He blushed and pulled his hand away. "I am sorry. I did not know that I had done that." "Neither did I. I thought I did," Jake laughed as he pulled Loren's hand back into his. "But I liked it. Do you mind?" Loren shook his head. "If you don't mind me asking, what has kept you so busy these last few days?" "Friends." Jake shook his head. "Friends who don't know and would kick my ass if they did." Loren nodded and then shook his head. He knew that problem. Out of his twenty so-called friends he had only three who knew. Some of them were guessing, but none knew for sure. "But wouldn't you be in trouble if any of them saw you with me now?" Jake shrugged. "Doesn't matter. The two boys who did this were two of them." He sighed. "I am sure none of them are friends now." "That sucks." Loren looked at him and then at the Garrett and Ciall. "That is what I am afraid of for them. And they do not seem to care." "I told you not to care about that. They are still caught up in the feelings of their first relationship." They walked on for a bit more watching the cuteness that was Garrett and Ciall. The two of them were still holding hands, seemingly deep in an intense conversation. Loren watched as an older woman approached them and he and Jake quickened their pace. "…hands." They heard her saying as they came up beside the boys. "People may get the wrong impression." "Its ok, ma'am." Jake said before the younger ones could say anything. "They are our brothers." She looked him and Loren up and down, taking in their own hands interlocked and frowned at them as hard as she had smiled at the younger boys. "Can I talk to you two aside for a moment?" She asked in a hard voice. Jake took in the bible, held to her chest with one arm, and the cross around her neck before responding. "That's ok, Ma'am," he said cautiously but firmly. "We have heard all of that before. We know what we are sinners and that if we do not repent and give up our sin, we will burn forever in a lake of fire and be tortured forever by a red creature with horns and a tail and a pitch fork. I know that you are seeing the Devil's own work happening in us here, thinking that we are tainting these young and impressionable youths. "So, thank you, no. We have to get our brothers to their respective homes for lunch and they are already late as it is. I will ask you something. If your preaching at us more important than the health of these young boys?" "Well, no. But I think - " She started but Jake cut her off. "I am well aware of what you think. If you do not recall, you stopped me outside the high school last Friday. So I bid you good day." Jake took Loren's hand more firmly and, steering Garrett and Ciall away from the woman, walked away from her, leaving her standing there dumb-founded. "I see that you have dealt with them too." Loren said quietly to Jake as the walked away, not wanting to stir the woman up again or worse, make her start yelling the Gospels at them right there. "Too often. Even before anyone but me knew, they were there." "Same here. Its like they can pick you out of the crowd just by looking at you." Jake nodded. He took a quick glance back. The woman was already walking away in the other direction. He shook his head. He did not think that they would ever give up. He looked back to see the parking lot coming into view and the younger boys running for a silver GT. Loren pulled out his keys and clicked the keyless locks open for them. He and Jake reached the car and Loren leaned his back against the driver's door. "Nice car." Jake said as he drew closer to Loren. "Thanks." Loren's heart quickened. "So I will see you tonight?" "I will be here." Loren smiled. "Good" Jake smiled back and leaned over to kiss Loren on the cheek. Loren blushed and returned the kiss. "Tonight then." Jake said as he backed away from Loren. Loren nodded again. "Tonight." Jake opened the car door and Loren climbed in. "Bye," he said. "Bye." And Jake closed the door and backed out of the way from the car. "Loren?" Ciall asked as they pulled away. "Yes, twerp?" "Is he your boyfriend now?" "I don't know. I don't think so. Not yet." "Will he be?" Garrett chimed in. "He might." Loren said to them, and then more to himself, "Gods, I hope that he will be." He glanced down at the clock on the radio and heaved a sigh. Mom was going to kill him. 2:35. He would die today and never know if there might be something between him and Jake. Turning the car onto the interstate, he moved over to the left lane and pushed the little silver Grand Am to over eighty miles-per-hour. ^_^ TBC ^_^