The Pretender

(Thank you to everyone whose followed Daniel and Michael's story. If you haven't checked it out, Ben and James' story has been started as well (Help Me). A big thanks to my editor, msfexcellent, she's been an excellent resource and has added her eloquence to these stories. As always, please feel free to make comments, and ENJOY!)

The men went to dinner and discussed the events of the previous 2 weeks. Michael shared about the thrill of helping with the Csection, which Daniel agreed was probably one of his favorite parts of the job. They finished dinner, but Michael had told his parents he'd be home late.

"Want to come in for a bit?" Michael asked.

"Your parents won't mind?"

"They'll be asleep, so no funny business. I suspect you'll be a screamer anyway..." Michael teased.

Daniel blushed a bit, but parked the car to follow him in. The boys walked up the few steps to the door. Michael unlocked the door and let Daniel walk through first, then followed him in. The house was dark, Daniel looked at the clock, it was almost 1am. Michael's parents obviously had gone to bed hours ago,

"Here, let's go to my room. I have a TV there we can pop in a movie and talk."

"Okay." Michael led the way through the darkness to a bedroom past the living room.

"My parent's room is upstairs on the other side of the house, so we don't have to worry about being too loud, but we should try to be quiet. Mom's a light enough sleeper. Here, pick out a movie."

Daniel perused Michael's movie selection and picked one up.

"Mmm, Fast and Furious... love that one. Of course, that's because of, well, mostly because of Paul Walker." Michael laughed.

"Ha! I always liked Vin Diesel, course that was just me wanting to be more like him, not that I can recall wanting him sexually. But now..."

Michael laughed harder, until Daniel poked him.

"We're supposed to be quiet, remember?"

"Oh yeah..."

Michael stacked all of his pillows at the head of his bed, and sat in front of them to lean back. He patted the spot next to him, encouraging Daniel to sit near him. Daniel hopped up.

"How's the arm?" Michael asked.

"Good. I get to go back to work Tuesday."

"Oooh, isn't it going to be weird to go back?"

"No, I'm ready. I've found myself staring at the ceiling fan way too much because I'm so bored. It'll be hard because of the weight restriction for the first few days. When do you have to go back to Madison?"

"Next Monday."

"Well, at least that's within driving distance. We'll have to make sure to spend weekends together as much as possible."

"Definitely. Do you want something to drink?"

"Water, or whatever you were going to have."

"Well, I was going to grab a beer, but..."

"Depends on the beer I guess."

"Spotted Cow, what else?"

"Okay, then yeah, I'll take one."

Michael woke up to tapping on the door.

"Hey, what do you boys want for breakfast?" Michael's dad asked.

"Crap... what time is it?"

"Early. 6ish. What time did you guys get in?"

"Um, a little after midnight?"

"Ha! Well, if you want I was going to make omelets or pancakes. Ask your friend there if he wants something specific."

Michael blushed and looked behind him. Daniel was curled in a ball, with his back pressed to Michael. It was definitely not a platonic sleeping position. Although Michael's parents knew he was gay, he hadn't really told them about Daniel yet. Michael's dad laughed as he left the doorway.

He rolled over and spooned up behind a still snoring Daniel. He shifted a bit, mostly to snuggle back into Michael's arms.

"Hey buddy, wake up for a second..." He whispered into Daniel's ear.

"Unn... no." Daniel said, burrowing into the pillow further.

"If you want a great breakfast, you'll want to..."

"What kind of breakfast?"

"Dad said omelets or pancakes. I could talk him into both if you want."

"That would be awesome. I've seriously lived off cereal the last week or so."

"Cool. Let's get up and out of bed then."

Daniel groaned.

After a few minutes of encouragement, Daniel finally rolled out of bed. Michael led the way to the kitchen where his dad was already making pancakes, and had fixings out for omelets.

"Dad, this is Daniel, Daniel this is my dad, David."

David turned around.

"I'd shake your hand, but I've got flour all over... But I think we've met before, you look familiar..."

"Um." Daniel said.

"He helped us with Mollie." Michael said, stealing a piece of green pepper from the bowl next to his dad.

"Ah, yes. You did a very good job, and I never got to thank you for that."

"You're very welcome."

"So, what would you like on your omelet? I couldn't decide between the two myself, so we've got omelets and pancakes."

Michael stepped up to help put together ingredients for the omelets. In no time at all, the four of them sat down to breakfast at the table, Michael's mom pouring orange juice.

"Mom, you might remember Daniel, Daniel, my mom Janice."

"Nice to see you again dear. How long have you and Michael been dating?"

"Um." Daniel hesitated.

"Technically we just did, although we went out a few times before I left for California. Daniel, isn't, well, his parents don't know yet."

"Oh, sweetie..." Janice said sympathetically. "I know that usually means parents that aren't as accepting."

"Well, yeah, we're pretty religious, so I'm not sure how they'll take it. Probably pretty poorly."

"That's too bad. I know when Michael told us it was a shock, but it didn't change who he was. He was still is a good kid, and grew up into a good man." David looked at his son proudly.

Daniel tried to hide his sadness over hearing and watching parents be so accepting of their gay son. He knew that it wouldn't be that way for him. If he had it his way though, David and Janice would be like parents to him anyway. He smiled.

The rest of the meal the family chattered away about Michael's experiences working in California. Daniel couldn't remember having such a great time at a meal with a family.

After breakfast was done, Daniel stood up and helped clear the table and helped Janice do the dishes. As the last plate was dried, Janice turned and shooed Daniel into the living room.

"I know you boys got in late last night, why don't you go take a nap, and we'll wake you up for lunch?"

"Okay. Sounds good," Michael said with a yawn. "Come on Daniel."

Daniel followed Michael back to his bedroom. Michael took off his shirt and crawled under the sheet. Almost before his head hit the pillow he was asleep. Daniel chuckled, and then debated taking his shirt off too. He still wasn't completely comfortable doing it without thinking about it first. Realizing it was now or maybe never, he stripped off his shirt and joined Michael in the bed. Michael was laying on his side, but when they'd slept together before, Daniel had always ended up as the little spoon, so he was curious to see how the opposite position felt. He slid up behind Michael and wrapped his arms around him. The skin to skin contact felt so great, Daniel sighed into the back of Michael's neck, and fell asleep almost as quickly as Michael had.

About an hour later Michael woke up from his nap, and felt bare skin against his back. Daniel had never been this bold before, so he rolled over to make sure it was him. Sure enough, Daniel was pressed up against him, and did actually have his shirt off. Michael, feeling a slight bit guilty, decided to take advantage of the situation. Daniel always thought too much when they'd cuddled before, and when he was sleepy, Michael could get further. He started to rub Daniel's nipples. Daniel made a snuffling noise in his sleep but pressed into Michael's wandering hands. Michael smiled and rolled on top of Daniel, then started to nuzzle into his neck. Still asleep, Daniel brought his hands up to Michael's sides, pulling him closer. Moving his hips, Michael started as sensual motion, grinding their cocks together. He was hard almost instantly, and it didn't take much to wake up the lower half of Daniel. Soon enough, Daniel was arching his back, and rubbing into Michael with enthusiasm. Michael gasped, and shot his load into his jeans, but kept rubbing into Daniel. With a groan, Daniel woke up slightly, and opened his eyes. Michael kept rubbing, even as a slight look of panic took over Daniel's eyes. It quickly disappeared, as Daniel bucked his hips and came. His eyes remained open, and a look of wonder shot across his face.

"There we go..." Michael whispered.

Daniel groaned and pulled Michael into him, as he shuddered with aftershocks of his climax. Michael was extremely happy he'd been able to get Daniel over the hump, no pun intended, of intimacy. He figured from now on Daniel would be able to be more affectionate, now that nothing bad happened to him after having relations with a man.

The boys didn't get to see each other too much that week except for a sleep over at Daniel's apartment on Friday night. Daniel ended up working that weekend, so he wasn't able to see Michael off to Madison. They promised each other Saturday morning, though, that they would call each other once a week and try to visit once a month. Really it was only until that June when Michael would graduate with his DVM, and then it was just trying to find him a job in the area.

About a month after Michael left for school was Daniel heading out to Madison to spend the weekend for their first visit. Late Friday night, Daniel finally reached Michael's apartment. He used his cell phone to call Michael to let him know he was there since he forgot which number apartment Michael was in specifically.

"Hey, is that you that just pulled up outside?"

"Yup."

"Awesome, need help carrying anything in?"

"I just have an overnight bag and my laptop."

"Okay, well, I'll meet you downstairs then."

Daniel gathered his stuff, and then walked towards the building. Michael popped his head out of the door and waved at him. He followed Michael up a flight of stairs and into a modest 2 bedroom apartment. As Michael gave him a tour he took it all in. It was a pretty small apartment, the kitchen and bathroom were quite tiny, but the bedroom held a queen sized bed and a dresser without being too tight. Daniel set his overnight bag on the bed, and stepped back out into the living room then set his laptop bag on the coffee table.

"So, I rented a movie, since it's so late I didn't think you'd want to do anything else tonight."

"Well, I'm also not really a 'going out' person either..."

"Right, but dinner or something?"

"I grabbed fast food on the way here."

"Okay. Well, pick a spot. I'd prefer to snuggle with you on the couch..." Michael teased.

"I'm good with that, except your couch is at on odd angle." Daniel mused. The couch was perpendicular, so if you sat down, you would actually be facing away from the TV

"Ah, wait a second, I'll fix that."

"Um," Daniel said as he watched Michael step into the bedroom and come out with a couple pillows. He stacked them up against the far arm of the couch. He sat down, and leaned back onto the pile of pillows, and motioned for Daniel to join him.

Daniel sat down in between Michael's legs and nestled back against his chest.

"I seriously need a big bath tub so we can do this in a bath..." Michael said.

Daniel laughed.

"That's a pretty random statement."

"But it's true. I would love to do this while in a bath. Or this..." Michael said as his hands drifted down Daniel's front.

"Behave yourself..." Daniel giggled a bit.

"Did you seriously just giggle?" Michael asked.

Daniel looked back at him,

"Well, um. I'm a bit ticklish." He admitted.

"Hmmm, I shall retain that information for further use."

The boys snuggled together watching Die Hard. About halfway through the movie, Michael allowed his hands to drift down Daniel's sides again, this time with a distinct purpose. Daniel was too engrossed in watching Bruce Willis climbing through the ducts to notice Michael's forward hands at first. When they reached his pelvis though, his little head noticed, his cock rising to the occasion.

"Mmm, I'm glad that you've finally been able to enjoy this..." Michael said as Daniel thrust his hips up into Michael's questing hands.

"So am I." Daniel whispered as he leaned back. Michael nuzzled his neck until he turned slightly to share a kiss. He boldly reached into Daniel's pants, past his boxers and finally touched his cock. Daniel jumped up at the slight touch, but settled back into Michael's arms.

"First time anyone has touched you but yourself?" Michael whispered into his ear.

"Um, yeah... holy cow... that feels awesome..." Daniel gasped. Michael pushed his jeans and boxers down to mid thigh to release his penis. Daniel was lost in sensation, and Michael wanted to keep him there so he wouldn't freak out at the last minute. He quickly started to jack Daniel, rubbing the head every few strokes. Daniel slumped back, melting into Michael and rapidly lost control. Michael watched as his balls tightened to his body and pressed his thumb to the sensitive bundle of nerves under the head of Daniel's cock. Daniel cried out as his hips jerked with the waves of his climax. Michael pressed his lips to Daniel's in desperation as Michael lost control with him. Daniel's cum splattered his shirt all over his chest. They panted into each others mouths, and then shared a gentle kiss.

"Wow." Michael said as he came down from the high. Daniel hadn't said anything yet, and Michael became a bit concerned. Daniel had his eyes screwed shut, so it was hard to tell what the man was thinking. Michael didn't want to press, but wanted to know what he was thinking."

"You okay?" he whispered.

"Yeah... just... wow..." Daniel said.

"Speechless? Not freaking out are you?"

"Speechless. I had no idea it could feel this right."

The weekend went too quickly for them, but they parted ways on Sunday, knowing that they were growing closer. It would be hard to be away from each other, but in the end absence makes the heart grow fonder.

It was a Thursday before Daniel was supposed to drive out to Michael's again for the weekend, when he got a phone call.

"So, um... I have a question for you."

"Okay..." Daniel said, not really liking the hesitation and nervousness in Michael's voice.

"Well, I know you were planning on coming out this weekend, but Westley called me. He's having a rough week, and was thinking about driving out here to hang out for a few days. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with that, and make sure you still were coming out this weekend too. I won't be mad if you don't want to come, but I don't want you to think anything bad, or feel jealous, I'm going to make him sleep in the spare bedroom, and..."

"Stop. Seriously, you have to calm down when you're nervous, because you just randomly ramble. It's pretty funny. I was looking forward to this weekend, and I would like to meet Westley at some point."

Michael let out the breath he was holding.

"Good. I'm not sure what happened with Westley, but he sounded upset."

"Hmmm."

"And as far as I knew he wasn't out to his parents, so I hope that's not why."

"I guess we'll find out."

Friday night, Daniel got off work early, around 430pm, so he decided to head for Michael's right away. He had his overnight stuff in his car already. The drive took forever even though he took back roads instead of the highway to avoid rush hour traffic, but he still got to Madison before 7pm. As he pulled up to Michael's apartment he spotted an extra car outside parked on the street. He parked his little car behind it. It was an older Pontiac, rusted a bit. It looked appropriate for a poor college student, so Westley must have arrived already. Daniel grabbed his stuff and went up to the apartment building entrance. He pushed the button for Michael's apartment.

He heard thundering footsteps move towards the door as presumably Michael ran down the stairs.

"Hey big guy!" Michael said, hugging him as he pulled him into the stairwell.

"Hey, how's it going?" Daniel laughed.

"Good. Westley just got here too. I was thinking about ordering pizza unless you ate already, or wanted something else."

"Pizza or Chinese... I didn't stop for anything, but I don't feel like going out."

"Cool, I haven't asked Westley yet if he ate... we'll order something."

Daniel followed Michael into his apartment. A short blond was sitting on the couch. Daniel wasn't too terribly impressed by the young man. Whenever he watched movies with Michael, he always admitted to liking actors that were taller, lean but slightly muscular. Westley didn't fit into anything Michael typically went for. Daniel laughed inside, wondering why he thought he'd be intimated by Westley.

"Westley, Daniel, Daniel, this is Westley."

Westley stood up to shake Daniel's hand. They both seemed to eye each other warily.

"Hey, nice to finally meet you." Daniel said.

"Pleasure's all mine." Westley said.

"So, pizza or Chinese?" Michael said breaking the tension a bit.

"Either... I'd lean towards Chinese a bit more maybe." Westley said.

"I'm good with either." Daniel said.

"Cool, let me get the menu from the kitchen.

Westley looked Daniel over. He was a bit surprised that he looked pretty normal. In fact, he was sad to say, he complemented Michael well. They were both tall and lean, Daniel with broader shoulders. Unfortunately, Westley thought, he was really handsome, and he couldn't hold a candle to that. Too bad, since Michael was such a good guy, and Westley really liked him. Well, if it made him happy, he'd better be sure to be friends with Daniel if he hoped to stay friends with Michael.

"So, Daniel, what do you do for a living?" Westley asked. He heard Michael laugh from the kitchen.

"I'm a tech, actually."

"Huh. Is that how you guys met?"

"Yeah, Michael actually externed at the clinic I work at before heading out to California."

Westley nodded.

"Okay, here's the menu. What do you guys want to do? Order a bunch of things or separate meals?"

"I'd like some sweet and sour chicken." Daniel said.

"Egg foo Young for me." Westley added.

"Hmm, I'd eat both... how about some Lo Mein?"

"I'd eat that too." Daniel said.

"Good, we'll split everything then if everyone's in agreement."

"Sounds good to me." Westley said.

Michael dialed the number on his phone. Daniel wandered into the kitchen to get a drink. As he opened the fridge, Michael motioned for him to grab him one as well.

"Westley, you want a beer?"

"Sure."

Daniel reached into the fridge, to find only two beers remaining out of the box Michael had in there. Shrugging he grabbed the two, and reached into the cupboard and pulled out a glass, and filled it with water. He handed one beer to Michael who was in the middle of ordering, and passed the second one to Westley.

"You went to the kitchen just to grab us drinks?" Westley asked.

"Nah, there was only 2 beers left." Daniel replied.

Michael hung up the phone, and heard the last bit of conversation.

"Hell, I want more then just one beer! I'll run down to the gas station on the corner."

"Alright." Daniel laughed.

Michael grabbed his keys, and handed Daniel a wad of cash.

"In case the delivery guy gets here before I get back." He said as he walked out the door.

"So... where do you go to school?"

"Ohio." Westley said. "You been a tech long?"

"6 years." Daniel replied.

There was an awkward silence. Daniel would normally feel comfortable not talking, but it felt like Westley wanted to say something, but was holding back.

"Look," Daniel started "I want us to be friends, mostly because Michael wants to be friends with you. So, whatever you have to say, say it okay?"