Something Like Winter by Jay Bell

ring the bell, hobbling out to the front porch.
The afternoon was cooling off, the fresh air welcome after being
cooped up inside. Days like today made Tim feel like he could break
into a sprint, running past the neighborhoods, into the wild, and
away from the world he knew. Maybe he’d throw Ben over his shoulder
and bring him along. Of course with his ankle, he wouldn’t be
running anywhere just yet.
    “ Take me for a walk,” he
said instead.
    “ I left Wilford’s leash at
home,” Ben replied, “but I can run back and get it.”
    “ Ha ha. Seriously. I need
some exercise.”
    Ben looked him over. “You
sure?”
    “ Yeah, doctor’s orders.”
The cast had come off last night, a removable plastic brace taking
its place. His ankle was a little stiff and the pain came and went,
but mostly he was okay walking on it.
    “ Okay,” Ben said. “Where do
you want to go?”
    Tim gazed at him. They
hadn’t had sex since those first tumbles on the couch. Since then,
Ben hadn’t made a move. Tim had been glad for that, but now he
wouldn’t mind a relapse. If you had to go to confession, you might
as well enjoy the sin.
    “ Somewhere private,” Tim
suggested.
    “ Ah!” Ben fought down a
smile. “Well, we could walk to my place.”
    “ Are your parents
there?”
    “ Yeah.”
    Tim shook his head. “No
way.”
    “ Okay—” Ben turned this way
and that, as if to get his bearings. “Follow me.”
    Tim followed him down the
street and to one of the bike paths, enjoying the physical
exertion. He hoped he could start jogging again soon. He needed the
release, although Ben might have a different sort for him,
depending on where they were headed.
    “ Think you can handle going
off road?” Ben asked.
    The bike path ran ahead,
the backs of houses to the left and trees on the right. It wouldn’t
be easy, but Tim thought he could manage. He nodded, and Ben led
him into the woods. They walked a fair distance, following a small
winding dirt path before abandoning it. Not much farther ahead was
a tree with low branches, each thick and long, some burdened with a
wooden construct of some sort.
    “ My tree house,” Ben
declared.
    “ How many rooms does it
have?” Tim asked.
    “ One,” Ben said
proudly.
    “ More like a tree shack
then.”
    Ben laughed, then scurried
up a couple of wooden boards hammered into the trunk to form a
ladder.
    “ Unless you’re going to
carry me up there,” Tim said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to join
you.”
    But he tried anyway, using
his good foot to get on the second rung and pulling himself up so
he could at least see over the edge. Forget tree shack! A hobo
would turn up his nose at this place. It didn’t even have a proper
floor, just a bunch of criss-crossed boards. What passed for a roof
strained where rain water had collected. Of Ben’s many talents,
carpentry wasn’t included.
    “ Very nice,” he lied. Then
he lowered himself back down, his ankle twinging, so he took
pressure off it by sitting and stretching out on a bed of fallen
leaves.
    “ I’ve gotten a lot of good
thinking done here,” Ben said, his legs dangling over the
edge.
    “ Oh yeah?”
    “ Yeah. This is where I
figured out I was gay.” Ben watched him from above, waiting for him
to ask more.
    Tim bit. “How did you
know?”
    “ I fell in love. Well, sort
of. I thought it was love at the time. Really it was probably just
a crush, but there were feelings nonetheless.”
    “ Who was the lucky
guy?”
    “ Kevin, a friend of mine.
When he moved away I was heartbroken. I was just twelve at the
time. I guess there had always been guys I liked, but with him, I
took it to a whole new level. I tried to catch a bus to Utah just
to see him, and when that failed, I wrote him a love
letter.”
    “ So did you two ever hook
up?”
    “ I was twelve!” Ben brushed
some leaves down on Tim’s head.
    “ So? I lost my virginity
when I was thirteen.”
    “ Why am I not surprised?”
Ben was quiet a moment.