Summer
by Robert Symes
Chapter 6
This story is set in rural England in 1982. The cultural references are from that time and place so I hope that references to cars, TV shows or music won't spoil the story for those who don't know them. Follow the links provided for more information or just ignore them. (And yes, I know you can use a search engine just as well as I can. The links are for convenience, not to insult anyone.)
In some chapters controversial opinions will be expressed. Some are opinions I profoundly disagree with but I've tried to state them fairly, not parody them. It is this author's policy to have no opinions about anything, or at least not to state them. Any opinions you see on these pages are those of the characters or the site owner respectively and I neither endorse nor oppose them.
Summer Holiday
David and Tony returned from their family party about five o'clock to find me and Alex waiting. We asked how it had gone. David smiled. "Awkward at times, but okay in the end I think. And I got my brother back, thank God."
"What do you mean, got your brother back?" I asked and he told me the story you just read in Chapter Five. "You've had that on your mind all week? Why didn't you tell me?"
"What could you have done? Anyway I didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it. But it's all okay now, I think. He sounded sincere."
We all had work in the morning so we didn't bother going out, just got our dinner from the village 'chippy' again then talked for a while before getting an early night. Alex opted to go home rather than getting little sleep and then having to leave absurdly early. "I'll see you in a week. Think of me when you're counting your monster pay packet" he said as he started his car.
"I won't get one. They're sending us cheques for the whole fortnight a week Friday. No payroll clerk in shutdown" I replied. I lowered my voice so the others wouldn't hear and added "I've got a feeling I'll think of you when I next have a crap though! But it was worth it." He kissed me and drove off.
Most of August was pretty boring. We had another six long days of drudgery, a normal Sunday, then a week I mostly spent catching up on books I wanted to read while Alex worked in the day and studied for banking exams in the evening. (The Porters were in France, lucky devils.) Then a few days when we could be together, mostly in distant places so our parents wouldn't know. I borrowed more from Dad against my forthcoming pay cheque, repaid Alex's £15 and insisted on paying to fuel up the Austin.
And then our holiday, which as I mentioned was Susan's idea. Despite her sexuality Sue took her religion very seriously (she now laments that if she'd stuck at it she could have been Jayne Ozanne ) and was taking RE as an 'A' level subject in September. She suggested we all go to the Greenbelt Festival, a Christian music festival that had featured U2 the year before but nobody you ever heard of this year. It ran from 27 th to 30 th of August.
I don't know what Alex told his family but it worked. Everyone else's parents were delighted that we were going to attend a Christian festival with our friends. Alice's dad made his usual threats until Tony pointed out that the organisers probably wouldn't accept unmarried teenage couples sleeping together. They would expect boys and girls in different tents. I somehow kept a straight face.
The festival was at Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire, quite a long drive so we set off early Friday morning. Alex and I picked up Sue and Alice but we didn't want such a long drive with six crammed in the car so we took David and Tony's luggage but they themselves would take a train to Stevenage then a bus to Knebworth and meet us there.
We got there quite early and managed to grab a really good spot. It was about as far from the stage as you could get, which I suppose was why nobody else wanted it but we were right in the corner, boundary fences on two sides and an old bus some hippies had converted to a mobile home (literally) on the third. We pitched our tents at the back of this and parked the Austin in front. About as private as you can get in a place like that. We couldn't shout and scream but a bit of noise would go unnoticed.
We enjoyed the festival atmosphere and the music. It wasn't bands we'd heard of but most of them weren't bad if you didn't mind the ostentatiously Christian lyrics. ("Is this supposed to be music or propaganda?" grumbled David.) And then the music ended and it was time for bed. We walked back to our tents, David and Tony with their arms round Susan and Alice, me and Alex careful not to even look at each other.
We passed a couple of stewards near our tents. David whispered something to Susan and she broke free from his arm. "There'll be none of that, thank you very much. You boys just stay in your own tent and don't bother us. There's no room anyway." I was sure they'd be glad to but it reinforced what we wanted the stewards to think.
We got into our tent and with difficulty managed to get undressed and into our sleeping bags, which we had zipped together to make a double. Alex didn't want to be overheard so spoke so quietly I could barely hear him myself. "I've been thinking. I shouldn't have chickened out that night at the mill. I should have let you have your turn. I'm sorry, and I'll make it up to you now."
"Alex, how many more times?" I said patiently. "There isn't any 'should' there's only 'want to' or abuse. I love you and I'd never hurt you, that would hurt me too. And I enjoyed what happened just as much as you did in the end, it was amazing having you inside me and I want it again, as often as I can get it. I'm not sore now. Which reminds me...." I produced the packet of condoms I'd brought. "These will stop us making an awful mess in here. It was a bit embarrassing buying them but then the lady in Boots looked me over and said 'somebody's a lucky girl' and I felt pretty good."
"Somebody is a lucky girl. Me! All right, no 'shoulds' then, I want it. I chickened out before but I want to get over that. I want to feel what you did, and I want you to feel what I did, it was pretty amazing for me too. I want it, will you give it to me?"
That I hadn't planned for. I'd enjoyed what happened at the mill immensely and I wanted it to happen again tonight. But I promise this was sincere concern, not just selfishness, because I said: "Yes, but not this weekend. It really hurt at first and I don't know if maybe anything can go wrong. Maybe it can't but just in case it does I want to be near home where we know where the hospital is, not trapped here with no phone and we probably couldn't get the car out even if I could drive it. Let's just do what we know while we're here."
He wasn't best pleased. I wondered if we were about to have our first real row, ending with one of us sleeping in the car. "None of that worried you at the mill" he pointed out. "And I think I can make my own choices if that's okay with you."
"You make your choices, I'll make mine" I said. "And watching you bleed out in front of me isn't one of them. Sorry if that's selfish. And none of it applied at the mill. There was a phone in the office twenty feet away, a car outside and we knew where the hospital was. And I would have given it to you then if you'd let me. I love you and I don't want to hurt you. Are we really going to fight about it?"
He looked like he was about to. Then something shifted in his mind and he laughed. "If you put it like that it does sound a bit stupid doesn't it? I've been building up to it all day, because I love you too and I wanted to give you something special. So I'm a bit disappointed. But also a bit relieved if I'm honest. Back to being a coward I suppose. But this was the best chance. I don't fancy doing it in the car, so where else is there?"
I thought for a second. "Ah, got it. Let me talk to David. I'm sure he said his parents are away next weekend. He likes us both and he owes you for driving us here, we all do. Maybe we can all spend the weekend with him. They get a car and driver, we get a room. It might be a good test of Andrew's sincerity too. One last glorious weekend then back to work and school. And I'll do what you want, I'd like to try it, but only if you do want it, you can change your mind and I won't think any less of you. And if Andrew's there he can drive if we need him to. How does that sound?"
"It sounds absolutely wonderful! Let's hope they agree."
"Yes, let's hope so." I took two condoms out of the box and handed him one. "Now then," I put my hand on his lap over the sleeping bag and squeezed gently, "do you still want to give me something special?"
"Oh, very well then, if you insist " he joked. "You're so demanding, you know. I don't know why I put up with you." Getting into position to have sex in a sleeping bag wasn't difficult. It was impossible! So we got out and lay on top of them. I switched off the torch we'd been using. "Hey, leave the light on."
I laughed. "Two of the teachers at my school did that once on a school trip. All the kids had a laugh watching their silhouettes screwing through the side of the tent [true story, actually]. We might scandalise a few people if we do that here."
"Oh. I didn't think of that. How embarrassing. But if you want to wear condoms we'll need light for that won't we?"
"It's not so much I want to but it's better than spraying spunk everywhere and then having to sleep in it." We kissed and cuddled and groped each other until we were hard and horny and then lay on our sides facing each other while we put the condoms on by torchlight. No silhouettes, I hoped.
Then I got on all fours with my head an inch from the back of the tent. Alex knelt behind me, leaning forward slightly to avoid hitting the top of the tent. "I think we need a bigger tent next time" he said. But it worked, just about. He started the wet fingers routine and this time there was no discomfort, just pleasure. As he got me loose and lubed I struggled to keep my moans suitably quiet. And then I felt him enter me, in and in and in, but there was no pain, just bliss. It felt so good and right.
And then he started to move. Slowly at first, taking the time to go slow and savour it. And then he gradually began to get faster as his need grew stronger until he slammed into me one last time and spasmed multiple times.
He pulled out of me and we lay back down next to each other. "Did you come yet?" he whispered. I hadn't so he took care of it with his hand, the most practical option in the cramped tent. Then he rubbed his hand on his thigh, I think, it was hard to tell in the dark. "Horrible slimy things, aren't they? But necessary in the circumstances, I agree."
We lay on our sides again and I put the torch between us as we removed and tied the condoms and put them and their foil wrappers in an empty crisp packet I'd saved for that purpose. And then we got back in our sleeping bag and crashed out. It had been a long day.
We woke fairly late in the morning. Both of us were horny and up for another round but we could hear voices outside so reluctantly decided it was too risky. We dressed and I discretely got rid of the crisp packet in a bin en route to the toilets. We bought coffee and cheese rolls from a stall on the way back. We both were hungry for some reason.
We joined the others for a chat and I pitched my idea for a 'last weekend of summer' bash at David's. Everyone loved the idea until Alice pointed out that one guest room and two guest couples might be a problem "unless we could use your mum and dad's room or Andrew's?"
"Not Mum and Dad's room" said David. "They'd absolutely hate that and I won't do it to them even if they don't find out, they've been really good to us. If I tell Andrew two girls want to share his room with him it'll make his day, I don't think he'll say no to you. Alternatively, my parents have a nice big frame tent about ten feet square we could put up in the garden. And we can go on outings together. Can we get six in your car Alex?"
"If there's no luggage we can. Two in the front, three in the back and one in the luggage area if there's a volunteer. If not, Tony could follow on his bike. And bagsey the big tent for us if we're providing the transport."
That settled it and we went off to explore what the festival had to offer which included arts, lectures and discussion groups as well as music. I jokingly asked Alex why he liked tents so much. "I don't especially like or dislike them" he replied, "but I like the idea of you and me in a big empty space out of sight and sound of everyone else. Think about it." I tried not to, it made my clothes too tight.
The rest of the festival was much the same. Culture and intellectual stuff in the day, music in the evenings, alone with our partners at night. We all had a great time. The festival finished on Monday evening but we didn't fancy the bank [public] holiday traffic so we stayed until Tuesday morning. Alex drove David and Tony to the station in Stevenage and returned to collect the rest of us. We drove home tired but happy looking forward to the coming weekend.
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