Lost in the Dark
by Sam the Ham
Chapter 6
The third day of school should've felt like a routine Xander thought. For the most part, it was. He met up with RJ and they talked as they walked to class. He sat at his seat and tried to pay attention. It wasn't routine though. He kept thinking about the boy two seats form him. If he glanced out the window, he could see Ryder's reflection in profile. He was cute with his long blonde hair. A couple of times he tried looking over at someone else. He wondered why blonde hair looked so much better on Ryder than on a girl.
When lunch finally rolled around Xander did his best to get in front of the line. He hadn't discussed it with his usual group, but today he sat at the very end of the table where there were usually a few empty spots. When RJ joined him a moment later, he casually swung his leg up on the seat next to him.
"Why are we sitting here today?" RJ asked sitting across from him.
"I invited Ryder to join us today," Xander explained.
RJ just nodded and as everyone else joined them, they asked the same question. As the table filled up, Xander started to wonder where Ryder was. Finally, he spotted him coming down the almost empty lunch line. He waved at him as he started down the table and slid his leg down. Ryder approached but hesitated before taking the vacant seat.
"What took you so long?" Xander asked as Ryder sat down next to him.
"Bathroom," Ryder answered opening his milk.
Xander nodded and went back to the conversation which was about which teams they might be joining soon. Apparently, Xander would have a choice between baseball, basketball or soccer. Xander was interested in joining all of them, but know he couldn't. Jordan turned the conversation towards girls when he mentioned the soccer team would most likely have some girls on it.
Glancing over at Ryder, he noticed the blond boy remained silent for the entire conversation. He lowered his voice and asked. "You join any teams?"
"I don't do sports," Ryder answered.
"Really? Why not?"
Ryder shrugged and didn't elaborate.
Xander's mind cast around for another question to ask but his mind came up blank. Fortunately, his uncomfortable silence didn't last long as people finished up lunch and headed out. That didn't provide much time talking, but Xander was able to think straight. When it came to dating, he was a complete novice. Still, he was pretty sure he should try to find something more in common with Ryder beyond video games. The thing was the more he thought about Ryder, the less he really knew. It wasn't until he started to think about it that he realized how invasive Ryder was. It seemed weird.
As the whistle blew to call them in from recess, he caught up with Ryder. "What are you doing later today?"
"I don't know."
Ryder nodded and decided to dive in. "Well, you want to come over after school? You know just hang out for a bit."
"Yes."
Ryder had answered so quickly that Xander felt like a physical blow. When he looked over at the blond, there was something about him. Xander wasn't sure what but he smiled. "I'll be looking forward to it."
That wasn't an exaggeration. The rest of the day was somewhat dull. He was glad when it ended and was happy to get home. When he got back, he took his shoes off and headed towards the kitchen. His dad was sitting there eating a sandwich.
"Late lunch?"
"I was in a zone." His dad replied. "How was school?"
"Fairly boring. I invited Ryder over by the way." Xander said as he opened the fridge and started looking around for a snack.
"Really? You must like him."
Xander had been reaching for the lemonade when those words froze him. Did his dad suspect? "What do you mean?"
"He's been over a lot." His dad said finishing off his sandwich.
Grateful his head was still buried in the fridge Xander took a few seconds to compose himself. "I guess. Is that a problem?"
His dad shrugged as he turned the water on to wash off the plate. "Not as long as you get your schoolwork done." His dad began wiping the plate down and turned around to look at him. "What did you two fight about the other day?"
"It was just a misunderstanding. We're good now."
"What sort of misunderstanding?" His dad asked.
"Why does it matter?" Xander said becoming annoyed.
His dad nodded and slowly put the plate down. "Xander, I just wanted to bring something to your attention because you may not have noticed it. Ryder's clothes look like they are well-worn. His family may not be as well-off as ours. He might be sensitive about that."
Xander thought back to Ryder's house. It had undoubtedly been smaller, but it had looked nice. Maybe it was a point to argue or perhaps he should just take the easy out. "Okay, dad."
Grateful that his dad occasionally missed the target Xander wandered to the front of the house and waited for Ryder. When he saw him coming up the street, he opened the front door before he turned up the driveway.
"Hey," Xander said.
Ryder smiled at him, and without thinking about it, Xander smiled back.
"Hey. We going downstairs?" Ryder asked stopping at the front door.
"I was thinking I could show you my room first. You haven't seen it yet."
Ryder smiled widened. "All right."
They went upstairs and Xander showed Ryder his room. There wasn't all that much to it. He had a desk with a laptop on it, a bed and a dresser covered with trophies. The last things drew Ryder's attention.
"Wow, you're really into sports," Ryder said. "How many are there?"
"Twenty two but most of them are just for participation." He moved a little closer and pointed to smaller ones. "I got that one last year. I was on the All-Star team. We came in second." He pointed to another slightly larger one. "This one is actually for flag football. It's one of my first trophies from when I was seven. It was the first year any team went undefeated."
"What's that one for?" Ryder asked pointing to the largest.
"Basketball, two years ago we won a tournament. Most of the others are just participation stuff. I even have an academic one for showing up every day." He smiled to himself. He had won enough trophies to realize some have more value than others.
"If you play sports this year, you might need a bigger dresser," Ryder said.
"Yeah." Xander agreed. "So you were never on the team or anything?"
"My parents don't believe in sports."
"Oh, did you ever want to play a sport?"
Ryder shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not exactly built for it."
Xander looked over at Ryder. His clothes were baggy on him today, but he could remember lifting the shirt up seeing his ribs. "I don't know. I used to have a friend who did wrestling. I don't think he was much bigger than you, but he was pretty good at it. You're always matched up with someone in your weight class so you wouldn't have to worry about that."
"Maybe, but I said my parents don't like sports. Did you try wrestling?"
It was hard for Xander to wrap his head around parents so firmly putting their foot down on an activity like that. "I did for a few weeks. I quit."
"Why?"
Xander grimaced. "Well, would you like to know the truth or what I told everyone?"
Ryder brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Both."
Xander sat down on his bed, and Ryder sat next to him. "My official reason was it started interfering with basketball. My unofficial one was I kept getting hard every time I would wrestle someone. I mean it wasn't bad for practices because I could hide it, but for competitions, you wear something that doesn't leave much to the imagination."
"So you quit because you were getting a Boner? Didn't you try to get rid of them beforehand?"
Xander let out a little sigh. "Wrestling tournaments can last for hours." He hesitated and then added. "It was the first time I started to suspect that I might be gay. I mean the tournaments sometimes practice you knew other people were getting them, but." He stopped himself and saying more. It was hard to explain and before Ryder could ask he posed a question to him. "I guess it's kinda stupid to ask but are you or do you think you're gay, bi or what?"
"Gay," Ryder said without hesitation. "I've always had crushes on boys."
Xander looked at Ryder. "So you always knew?"
"I guess."
"Do your parents know?"
Ryder's face went blank for a moment and then he just fell back onto the bed. "They don't care."
"You told them?" Xander asked twisting around so he could get a better look at Ryder.
"They don't care about… That stuff."
Xander nodded. "Yeah, I think my parents would be the same way."
When Xander had asked Ryder if he wanted to come over, it was the closest thing he had ever felt to divine intervention. Usually, he was eager to get off Brendan and Kevin, but this thing with Xander was weird in a good way. He hadn't wanted to see the other two today and now he had a place to hide or at least a bit. Then when Xander had invited him to his room he figured the relationship developed along the same lines.
Then they had started talking. Xander had opened up to him. Ryder didn't know how to deal with that. He had almost said his parents don't care about him. He had just managed to catch himself.
Ryder realized Xander was looking at him. "What?"
"You zoned out."
"Sorry. Did you ask me something?"
"I was just saying it's weird having someone to talk to about these things."
Ryder tilted his head forward letting his hair cover his eyes. "I guess."
"Speaking of parents, my mom asked me a question about yours. What kind of store do they run?"
Ryder felt himself tense up. Unfortunately this time he didn't see a way around answering the question. He hoped Xander's family would support it. "They run a marijuana dispensary."
There was what felt like a very long pause before Xander responded. "Oh, I hear those are doing well."
"Yeah," Xander said looking down at his own clothing. His shirt which was maybe 3 inches above his knees and was frayed at the bottom.
"Are you okay with that?"
"I guess," Xander replied. "I mean it doesn't really matter."
Ryder relaxed a bit. "Good."
"Honestly, I never cared that much. I remember out my old school a while back they tried to have us discuss it. It doesn't affect me either way. Is it a problem sometimes?"
He hesitated and then nodded. "At first. People would joke that I could hook them up. It was annoying."
Xander was silent this time it looked like he was struggling with a question. "Is that why you don't have that many friends?"
Ryder thought of denying it at first, but it was true enough. "Part of it I guess."
"What's the other part?"
Ryder felt himself smiling, but it was a nervous smile. "I'm not sure. I… Have trouble sometimes. I don't know how to… you know... make friends."
"Well, I know Jessie seems to like you. She says you're great to have in a group."
Ryder shifted uncomfortably. "I'm good with school work."
"Well, I like you," Xander said smiling.
"That's because I let you kiss me," Ryder said smiling back.
"Hey, I kissed you like, once."
"That's not my fault," Ryder said turning towards Xander.
Xander started leaning towards him and Ryder met him halfway. Their lips met, and Ryder enjoyed his second kiss. He turned his head slightly this time letting his lips move against Xander's, their noses touching side to side. When Xander started to push against him, Ryder let him slide him back onto his bed.
Ryder felt Xander's arms come up to his shoulders, pushing him back until his head was resting on the mattress. Xander stared down at Ryder and slowly sat up on his knees. "What about your dad?" Ryder asked.
"He's working. Usually, I can hear him coming up the stairs and he knocks too." Xander said looking down at him.
Ryder smiled and slowly squirmed away so he could get to his feet. Taking a few steps away from the bed he turned around. "Would you like me to undress?"
Xander twisted around to watch. He slowly smiled and nodded.
Looking down at his feet, Ryder carefully put his heel over the tip of his sock and slowly pulled it off. He did the same for the other one. He was wearing shorts so his feet weren't obscured by pants. He slowly twisted them around. "You like these?"
"Yeah, they're nice."
Ryder didn't really understand that but whatever. He casually pulled his shirt off and let it drop to the side. He twisted around not sure if he was being sexy or not. Trying to jiggle his butt as he had seen on TV but he was pretty sure he failed at that.
"Take off your shorts," Xander said softly but loud enough for Ryder to feel the thrill of the words.
Unzipping his shorts, he hooked his fingers in the waistband making sure to get a hold of his underwear too. He turned around so his back would be to Xander and pulled them down. He stuck his butt out so Xander would get a good view. He bent over before standing up and turning around. He had sprung a boner when he turned around. He stood there waiting for Xander's next command.
To his surprise, Xander got up off the bed and walked over to him. The difference in their height required Ryder to look up at him. He felt his long hair sliding down his head and when Xander lifted a hand to run his fingers through it, it sent a little tingle through him. When Xander's arms went around him and held him close Ryder felt things he had never felt before. It wasn't just physical but something else.
Ryder pushed his body against Xander's wanting to feel as much contact as possible. As he did, he could feel Xander's erection trapped by his clothing. He pressed his stomach against it wanting to see how it would feel and then slowly started to lower himself to his knees. Xander's hands stayed in contact with him slowly sliding upwards towards his shoulders as he slid down.
When he was on his knees, he started to work on Xander's clothing. The shorts were unzipped. Ryder pulled them down a bit but not all the way. Xander was wearing white underwear and his erection was clearly straining against it. He stared at the fabric covered erection. It didn't compare to Brendan and Kevin, but it was good. When his fingertips reached up and pulled the waistband down, he smiled at what he saw.
Slowly, he pressed his lips against Xander's ball sack than along the underside of his erection. He cracked his lips and let it slide into his mouth. It felt like forever since he last had one in there and while this one might not be as filling as others, it was okay. Gently, Ryder started to suck, grateful that Xander had some pubic hair. He slid his lips back and forth on Xander's dick inhaling something from his scarce patch of hair, a slight smell but such a pleasurable one. He continued to move his mouth back and forth. Xander was quiet at first, but his breathing started to increase and the grip on his shoulders while not becoming too tight definitely became firmer.
"Ryder, going to cum."
Ryder forced down as far as he could and sucked all the air out. Xander lasted all of a few seconds after that. Ryder felt the warm liquid smack against the top of his mouth. He waited a few seconds, but that seemed to be all that was coming and he slowly slid his mouth off. He swallowed the load and Xander stared down at him with his cheeks tinted red.
"Wow," Xander said after a minute breaking into a huge smile.
Ryder smiled up at him proudly. "I'm glad you're not a screamer."
Xander chuckled nervously taking half a step back and peering down between Ryder's legs. "I guess it's my turn."
"You don't have too," Ryder said starting to stand up, but before he could, Xander's hands stopped him. Ryder rolled onto his back while Xander knelt down.
The boy waited for a moment and just paused between his spread legs. It happened as if in slow-motion. Xander grasped Ryder's private parts. He fiddled with them for a bit rubbing them as Ryder moaned. Despite everything he had done, he had not really been touched there at all. Ryder couldn't remember the feeling of fingers caressing his privates. He rolled his head back staring at the world upside down as Xander's fingers explored new territory.
When Ryder felt two fingers on either side of his shaft, he rolled his head back to see what was going to happen, just in time to see Xander's mouth going over his dick. Xander was careful at first slowly sliding down. A couple of times, Ryder felt teeth but only briefly. Ryder swung his arms up to cover his eyes and his mouth. He moaned as Xander started to move up and down his shaft. He had never received anything like this before and Ryder wanted to close his legs, keeping Xander's head there forever, but he resisted.
When his orgasm came, Ryder opened his mouth and immediately filled it with his arm, so the half gasp half moan was muffled. Afterward, when he took his arms away, uncovering his eyes, he saw Xander looking at him and then slowly moved up and lay down next to Ryder on the floor.
"That was awesome," Xander announced.
"Yeah." Ryder agreed.
The stayed silent for a few seconds because Ryder really didn't care right now about time. Xander began to talk about what he always thought it would be like. He told Ryder how he always thought it was a bit disgusting, but when the time came and Xander looked down at Ryder's erection he hadn't been disgusted at all. Ryder didn't know what to say to that really.
When Xander's father called up that dinner would be ready soon, Ryder quickly got dressed as Xander fixed himself. They had been upstairs for about two hours having lost track of time. As they started down the stairs, Xander's mother appeared at the bottom.
"Ryder, will you be staying for dinner?"
Ryder stepped on Xander's foot who was behind him and suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I should go."
Xander's mother nodded. "All right, but just remember you're always welcome too."
Ryder went to retrieve his shoes and Xander came next to him. With his parents being so close though they didn't feel comfortable talking nor did they kiss goodbye when Ryder left.
Ryder started down the street the sun still in the sky. He went to the convenience store and hung out. He bought himself a candy bar and very slowly ate it. His parents weren't reliable enough to come home at a set time and he didn't want to get there too fast in case Brendan and Kevin were hanging out there. When he knew that even his parents would be home that was when he left the convenience store. He realized now that he was trying to avoid the other two. He was going to have to do something about that.
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