Ben & Benji
Brothers Become Lovers

By: Dark Link 2010
(© 2016 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Ben Williams was working through his science assignment one night, when his thoughts were interrupted by his identical twin brother Benji, when he knocked on his bedroom door and asked, "Have you got a spare minute, Ben?"

Ben sighed, swung around on his desk chair, and when he saw that Benji was wearing only his skimpy briefs, showing his ample package, Ben gulped and asked as he returned his gaze to Benji's face, "What's up, Benji?"

"I've got a date with Sandra tomorrow night, and I was wondering if I could borrow your car for the evening? Before you answer, I'll sweeten the pot by replacing any fuel that I use, and give you an extra fifty for the use of the car."

Ben looked at Benji and said, "I suppose that you can use my car."

"Thanks for that, Ben, I really appreciate it," said Benji, as he flashed his cheeky grin.

As Benji turned and walked away, Ben whispered to himself, "I wish it was me." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

Later that night, Ben was having trouble sleeping, because he kept thinking back to Benji's ample package, and wondering how big everything had gotten since he had last seen it all, when they were ten years old and sharing a bath together.

"Fuck this," Ben muttered to himself, as he spat on his right hand, placed it on his hard dick, and as he started rubbing his hand up and down his seven inch shaft, he began wondering what it would be like if Benji was pounding his brains out, and before he knew it, he was coming hard and splattering cum on his chest and abs.

As he came down from his intense orgasm, he thought to himself, 'I shouldn't be thinking about Benji this way; he's my brother for crying out loud; he knows that I'm gay but if he knew I was thinking of him in a sexual manner, he'd tell he where to go and throw me out, like our parents done to me. I wish that I had never seen him having sex with Sandra that time I came home early from soccer practice, but I couldn't keep my eyes off his glistening body, and those cute grunting sounds he made as he pounded Sandra, drove me crazy. I should've stayed just a couple of minutes longer at school and I wouldn't be lusting over Benji, the way that I am now; I wonder what Ryan is doing this weekend, maybe we could get together and have some fun, so I can hopefully take my mind off Benji.' 

(Start of A new Scene) 

The next morning as Ben was drying himself after having his shower, Benji burst into the bathroom, naked as the day he was born, with his dick half hard as he ran to the toilet and began pissing.

"Sorry about that, Ben, but I had to use the toilet in a hurry."

Peeling his eyes away from Benji's dick, Ben said, "No harm done, Benji."

"That's good to know," said Benji, as his piss stream started to slow.

When Benji had stopped pissing, he flushed the toilet, walked over to the shower, got it going, and when it was to his liking, he got in, closed the glass door and said, "Make sure that you close the bathroom door on your way out, Ben."

Ben watched Benji's cute bubble butt for a few seconds, wishing he could play around with it, but remembering what he had thought about last night, he wrapped his towel around his midsection, closed the bathroom door behind him and headed for his bedroom to get ready for another day at school. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben and Benji got out of Ben's Ford XY GTHO Phase III Falcon, Benji's latest girlfriend, Sandra Moore, walked over to Benji, and when she got to him, she hugged him, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then she broke the hug and said, "Morning, Benji."

Benji tapped her butt lightly and said, "Morning yourself, Amanda."

Ben shook his head at Benji's display of affection, as he closed his door loudly.

Sandra looked over at Ben and said coldly, "Morning, queer boy."

Before Ben could open his mouth, Benji said, "Sandra, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped calling Ben queer, as that's not a very nice thing to say to a gay guy; Ben would really appreciate it if you called him gay, instead of queer, faggot or homo."

Sandra shot daggers at Ben, as she said coolly, "Okay, Benji, I won't say those harmful words anymore, because I certainly don't want to be in your bad books for saying the wrong thing to Ben."

As Benji took Sandra's right hand, and shut his door, Sandra looked angrily at Ben, sneered at him and mouthed, "You'd better be careful from now on, Ben, because one of these days, you're going to get what's coming to you, you dirty faggot."

Ben was a little unnerved by Sandra's threat as he locked his car with the central locking remote, hoisted his schoolbag onto his shoulders, and started making his way towards his homeroom. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben settled down into his regular seat at the back of his homeroom, his best friend and regular fuck buddy, Ryan Hanson, sat down beside him, rubbed Ben's right thigh softly and asked, "How are you today, Ben?"

Ben sighed as he replied, "Still the same, Ryan; wishing that things were different."

Ryan looked at his best friend with concern and said, "Ben, you know that I want to see you with Benji, but he's with that homophobic Sandra, and if she finds out that you have the hots for Benji, she won't hesitate to hurt either of you."

Ben looked straight into Ryan's hazel eyes and said, "I know, Ryan, I just need to take my mind off of it somehow; perhaps we can do something this weekend, if you're not too busy with your family."

Ryan smirked as he said, "For you, I'd drop everything I was doing to help you."

"Thanks," said Ben, as their homeroom teacher walked into the room.

Mr Marks, their ancient looking homeroom teacher, walked over to his desk with a limp that he had gotten when he was skiing at Mt Baw-Baw with his nephew and niece, and when he reached his desk, he pulled the leather bound chair out, sat down and surveyed the room with his cold stare.

Just as he was about to reach for his Parker Pen, Benji and Sandra walked quickly and quietly into homeroom, walked over to their desk, took their seats, and Benji looked up at Mr Marks and said, "Sorry we're late, sir, Sandra and me went to get some coffee."

Ben groaned at Benji's grammatical mistake and as if on cue, Mr Marks looked coldly at Benji and Sandra, and when he noticed that both of them had dishevelled hair, a sure indicator that Benji had been lying, he said, "Mr Williams, it is not 'Sandra and me', it is 'Sandra and I', and I really don't appreciate you lying to me in front of your classmates. Just be grateful that I'm in somewhat of a good mood this morning, because if I weren't, you'd both be receiving an afterschool detention."

Benji gulped and said, "Sorry, sir, it won't happen again."

"Be sure that it doesn't happen again, young man," said Mr Marks, as he returned his gaze to the rest of homeroom, grabbed his pen from his shirt pocket and started marking the roll by calling out each name that was on it.

When he reached Ben, he said, "Benjamin, please give Benji some English lessons."

Ben stared him down and said, "Of course, sir."

When Mr Marks had completed marking the roll, he glanced up at the students and said, "The soccer coach has asked me to remind those that are in the senior soccer team, that they are to stay behind after school this afternoon for an extra training session in preparation for the game against our rivals that is being held tomorrow."

"We get to see cute butts this afternoon, Ben," whispered Ryan cheekily.

"And their packages being supported in their jockstraps," whispered Ben slyly. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

When the first period bell rang, Mr Marks got up from his seat, and as he reached the door, his wife, who was their math teacher, walked in, walked over to the desk, placed her books onto it, turned her attention to the students and said, "Please resume your work from yesterday; if you have any trouble or questions, please do not hesitate to come up and ask me for help."

"She sounds a lot better than yesterday ," said Ryan, as he got his books.

"Old man Marks must've given her some," snickered Ben, as he done the same.

"Is there something you'd like to share?" asked Mrs Marks, as she looked at them.

"No, ma'am, nothing to share," replied Ben quickly, as he felt his face flame.

Mrs Marks raised an eyebrow as she sat down and said, "No more talking, please."

"Old hag," muttered Ben, as he began work on his algebra questions.

"Shhh," said Ryan, as he kicked Ben's foot, and started doing the same. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

When the lunch bell rang, there were sighs of relief from all of the students, as they began packing their stuff away, and making their way towards the exits of their homeroom, so they could get to the cafeteria and get something into their stomachs.

"I hate the fact that the school won't change the old battle axe's suggestion that we work right until lunch without taking the morning recess break; there should be a rule somewhere that says that we're being treated inhumanely," complained Ryan, as he and Ben began heading to the cafeteria.

 "Well, it only happens on a Friday, Ryan, so it's not too bad, I suppose."

"You're right, Ben, it's not too bad; besides, we have the weekend to recover."

Ben nodded and said, "Yeah, that's true, Ryan; I wonder what's on for lunch today."

"I'd bet on slops again, Ben, but that's just me," said Ryan, as they entered the cafeteria, got into the line, collected their trays and when they reached the server, they saw that lasagne was being served.

"Hello, Benny, I've got your favourite today," said the server, in her Cockney accent.

Ben put on a puppy dog look and asked, "Double serve for us both please, Agatha?"

Instead of answering him, she smiled as she placed a heaped amount onto both plates, sprinkled a lot of parmesan cheese onto both, sent them on their way, and when they reached their table, they sat down.

"You and your puppy dog look," said Ryan, as he shook his head.

Ben smirked and said, "It's never, ever failed me, besides, that's how I got you."

As Ryan shook his head and smiled, Benji sat down next to him.

"Can I grab your keys off you now?" asked Benji, as he looked at Ben.

Ben sighed, reached into his pocket, pulled his keys out and said, "If I find one scratch on the paint, any bodily fluids on the upholstery or used rubbers on the floor, I'll make you detail the car by hand, and I'll never let you have it again."

"Jeez, Ben, ease up a bit," said Benji, as he stood up, grabbed the keys and left.

Fighting back the urge to cry, Ben watched Benji walk away happily, sit down next to Sandra two tables away, and after showing her the keys and giving her a quick kiss on the lips, he picked up his fork, loaded it up with lasagne, and just as he was about to put it into his mouth, he saw Ben's anguished look, and immediately regretted what he had just said.

Shaking his head, Ben turned his attention back to his lunch, and just as he was about to pick up his fork, Ryan asked, "What's with Benji's attitude towards you car? More to the point, why isn't he using his car?"

"He's just jealous because I got a better car than he did; and the reason why Benji isn't using his Holden is because it's sitting in the garage with some sort of electrical problem; I told him that I'd take a look at it when I have some free time."

Ryan quickly surveyed the room to make sure that there was no one within earshot, then he leaned in close to Ben and whispered, "I have something that will cheer you up immensely; and I can guarantee that it's packed with more protein than a protein bar, and more filling than this lunch."

As Ben smiled, he and Ryan stood up, and headed for the cafeteria exit.  

(Start of A new Scene) 

In the stall furthest from the door, so no one could hear them, Ben and Ryan pulled their jeans and boxers down around their ankles, and as Ben leaned against the wall with his butt sticking out, Ryan got down onto his knees, leaned in, pulled Ben's butt cheeks apart with both hands and started licking the outside of Ben's hole.

"You taste good today, Ben," moaned Ryan, as he kept licking Ben's hole.

Ben moaned as he said, "Damn that feels good, Ryan, keep going with that."

Ryan continued doing this for a couple of minutes, then he stopped, spat on two fingers on his left hand, and holding Ben's butt cheeks open with his other hand, he worked the two moistened fingers into Ben's hole, and started opening Ben up wider, so he would be able to receive his dick.

As Ryan kept fingering him, Ben brought his right hand to his mouth and spat on it.

"Ryan, please fuck me," moaned Ben, as he placed his moistened hand on his dick.

"There's nothing I'd rather do more," moaned Ryan, as pulled his fingers out, stood up, and using the precum that was already leaking from his dick, he rubbed it all over his eight inches, moved closer to Ben, pushed his dick against Ben's hole, and when it yielded easily like it had always done, he pushed his dick all the way inside, and then started to fuck Ben vigorously.

"Harder, Ryan, harder," said Ben, as he started to frantically jack off.

Ryan complied and said, "This is easily the best fuck we've had in a long time."

"Fuck yeah," said Ben, as he felt his orgasm rising.

When Ben was quite close to his climax he said, "I'm getting ready to shoot, Ryan."

"Fuck, so am I, Ben," said Ryan, as he grabbed Ben's hips and started going harder.

"That's it, keep going with that pace, Ryan, I'm almost there."

A few seconds later, as Ben grunted when cum spewed from his dick, his hole clamped down hard on Ryan's dick, and this was enough to take him over the edge, so he began spraying cum deeply inside Ben.

When Ryan pulled his dick out, Ben immediately turned around, sat down on the toilet, and as he pulled Ryan closer to him so he could clean the excess cum of Ryan's dick, the cum that Ryan had deposited inside him, splashed noisily into the toilet.

"That was great," said Ryan as he stepped back, when Ben had cleaned his dick.

"I'll say," said Ben, as he stood up and pulled his jeans and boxers up.

Just as Ryan had pulled his jeans and boxers up, the stall door was kicked open, Ryan was dragged out of the stall violently by Sandra's twin brother, pushed to the ground, and before Adam could start laying into him, Ben overcame his shock and he lunged at Adam, hoping he could spare Ryan.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" thundered Ben, as he punched Adam in the ribs.

Before Ben could get another hit in, Adam turned his attention to him, pushed him roughly back into the stall, and as Ben's head hit the porcelain bowl, the last words he heard before he faded into the black were, "You dirty faggots deserved this." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Benji walked into the toilets, he noticed a battered and bruised Ryan lying still on the white porcelain tiles, so he rushed into the small room, and when he got to him, he noticed that there was someone in the stall next to where Ryan was, so he leaned over to see who it was.

When Benji was able to make out who the second person was, he fell to his knees, crawled over to Ben's still body, and as tears started to fall down his cheeks, he gently placed Ben's bruised face onto his lap and screamed, "SOMEBODY FUCKING HELP ME!"

Within seconds, the small room was filled with both students and teachers.

As Mr Marks looked down into the stall, he asked, "What happened to them?"

Benji looked up at Mr Marks, and replied, "I don't know what happened, sir."

As Benji started to stroke Ben's left cheek with his right hand, Ben moaned slightly.

Turning his attention to the other students, Mr Marks asked, "Does anyone know?"

When all he got was shaking heads, Mr Marks said, "Someone will have to go to the principal's office and let them know what has happened, and also ring for the ambulance and police, as this will not go unpunished."

"I want to rip them a new one," muttered Benji, as his tears hit Ben's cheeks.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Mr Williams," said Mr Marks sternly.

Making sure that no one was looking, Benji leaned in closer to Ben and whispered, "You make sure that you come back to me, Ben, because I don't know how I would live with myself if I'm not able to apologise to you." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

After making sure that Ben and Ryan had been loaded safely into the two MICA Mercedes Benz Sprinters, Benji turned his attention to the senior-constable that was standing beside him and said, "I don't know much about what happened, Kevin."

"Just tell me what you can, Benji."

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Benji began, "Well, I had to go to the toilet, so after telling my girlfriend Sandra what I was doing, I went to the ones near the Science Lab, and when I got there and went in, I saw Ryan lying there on the tiles."

"What did you do then?"

Fighting back his tears, Benji replied croakily, "I walked over to where Ryan was, and then I saw someone in the stall next to him, so I looked over, and after a couple of seconds, I recognised that someone as being Ben."

Looking at Benji with concern, Kevin asked, "Can you go on?"

Nodding, Benji replied, "Just give me a second." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben began to recover consciousness, he could hear the sounds of the sirens of the ambulance that he was travelling in, and he sensed that it was going quite fast, towards Latrobe Regional Hospital.

Suddenly remembering that Ryan was with him in the toilets, he looked up at the MICA Paramedic that was looking after him and he asked hoarsely, "Where's Ryan? How is he? Has something bad happened to him?"

The MICA Paramedic that was treating Ben looked down at him and replied, "The other young man that was with you in the toilets is in a bad way, Ben, and it may take some time for him to fully recover."

Ben's eyes widened in horror as he asked, "What do you mean?"

The MICA Paramedic, whose name was Michael, looked Ben in the eyes and replied, "At this stage I can only tell you that he has a broken nose, a broken left leg, a dislocated left shoulder, one black eye and some very nasty bruising; those are just the injuries that we can see; once he gets to LRH, he'll be assessed to see if there are any internal injuries."

"How am I?" asked Ben, as he looked intently at Michael.

 "As far as I can tell, you only appear to have a bump and bruise on your left temple, and some bruising around your ribs; you'll be checked out properly at LRH," replied Michael, as he looked directly into Ben's azure eyes.

"Poor Ryan copped more than I did," said Ben softly, as tears came to his eyes.

"I'm going to give you something to calm you down," said Michael soothingly.

Before Ben could have a chance to object, Michael grabbed a pre-prepared syringe from his medical bag, unwrapped it, inserted the needle into Ben's IV cannula, pushed the plunger down, and when he saw that Ben was started to go to sleep, he removed the syringe from the line and whispered soothingly, "Get some rest, young man, you need it."

When Ben had completely fallen asleep, Michael leaned over his young patient, and as tears came to his eyes, he said softly, "I don't know why this happened to you and Ryan; I just hope that whoever done this to you, is caught and given the sternest punishment." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

"Where is Ben?" demanded Benji, as he stormed into the waiting room of the Emergency Department, which earned him some very nasty looks from the nurses inside the department, and the patients that were waiting to be seen by a doctor.

"Sir, I'm only going to say this once and once only, I'd appreciate it if you kept your voice at a normal level; in case you haven't noticed, this is the Emergency Department, and I have a lot of sick and injured people waiting to be seen by a doctor, and the last thing they need to see is someone causing a scene," said one of the female triage nurses sternly.

"I apologise, ma'am, but I am really worried about my brother, Benjamin Williams; he was brought here a while ago, and I've only just managed to get here now, because I was held up by the police," said Benji calmly, as he walked over to the nurse.

Seeing that he meant his apology, the nurse said, "You can come in and see him."

Benji sighed with relief, as he said, "Thanks for that, ma'am, I appreciate that."

Once the door had been unlocked from the inside, Benji pushed the door open, walked into the Emergency Department where he was met by the nurse, and she said, "Follow me please, but please understand that your brother is resting at the moment, so don't disturb him; a doctor will be along shortly to talk to you about Ben's condition."

"I understand," said Benji, and when the nurse turned and started to walk, Benji followed her, and when she got to a cubicle that had the blind drawn, she stopped, poked her head behind the blind, spoke to whoever was behind it for a couple of seconds, then she drew her head back and said, "You can go in, the doctor is with Ben now."

Benji opened the blind slightly, walked into the cubicle and when he saw that it was Cameron Harrison, his neighbour from the townhouse complex, he was relieved that Ben would have the best care available, because Cameron was such a caring doctor.

Hearing a noise behind him, Cameron turned, and when he saw that it was Benji, he smiled slightly and said, "Ben is sleeping soundly at the moment, Benji; he's fortunate to not have any internal injuries; the only injuries that he has are a bump and bruise on his left temple and some bruising on the skin around his ribs; but I'd like for him to spend at least a couple of nights to make sure that all is okay."

With the worry and stress leaving him, Benji said, "I'm so glad that Ben is going to be okay, Cameron; I don't know what I would've done if he was seriously injured, or worse; I'm also glad that you're the one looking after him, as I wouldn't have trusted anyone else."

Blushing slightly, Cameron said, "Thanks for the confidence, Benji."

Looking down at Ben, Benji asked, "How is Ryan?"

"He isn't the best at the moment, Benji; besides the nasty bruises, broken nose, black eye, broken left leg and a dislocated left shoulder, his brain is slightly swelled up at the moment," replied Cameron huskily.

Diverting his attention to Cameron, Benji asked, "Why would his brain swell up?"

"From what I was able to gather from the CT results, whoever attacked Ryan, may or may not have intentionally kicked him in the head with enough force to cause the brain to bounce against the skull, hence causing the swelling."

Resisting the urge to vomit, Benji asked, "Will he be okay?"

"By keeping Ryan on a respirator and in a cold environment, his brain swelling will go down eventually, and he is expected to make a full recovery; however, because he has the broken leg and dislocated shoulder, he'll probably need some physiotherapy when the cast and sling come off," replied Cameron.

 "I'm glad that he'll be okay eventually," said Benji softly. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

The next time Ben awoke, he was lying on a comfortable bed, in a one bed room, and once his eyes grew accustomed to the dimly lit room, he noticed a slumped and sleeping Benji on the comfortable blue visitor's chair, next to the large window.

Feeling the need to take a piss, and after checking to make sure that he wasn't hooked up to any IV lines that might have hindered him in any way, he drew the blankets back, swung his feet around to the right side of the bed, and once his feet were safely on the cold vinyl floor, he pushed himself up, and walked, somewhat unsteadily, towards the bathroom door.

When he reached it, he pushed the door, and seeing that the light was already on, he walked into the bathroom, closed the door behind him, walked over to the toilet, and instead of standing, like he usually had done, because of his unsteadiness, he pushed his boxers down as far as he could, sat down and began pissing.

"What a relief," muttered Ben, as the full feeling lessened.

Once he had finished pissing, Ben stood up, pulled his boxers up, flushed the toilet, walked over to the basin, washed his hands, then he walked back to the door, and as he pulled it open and turned the light off, he heard a voice say, "Ben, I'm so glad you're awake."

Ben quickly looked up and saw a dishevelled looking Benji standing there, so he took a couple of quick steps forward, embraced Benji tightly with both arms, and when Benji wrapped his arms around him, Ben started sobbing into Benji's right shoulder, and between sobs he said, "I know that you want to know who done this to us, Benji, but if I tell you, you'll probably tell me that I made it up, just to cause trouble."

Hugging Ben even tighter, Benji said, "Ben, that's not true, so please tell me."

"Okay, if you really want to know, it was Adam that attacked us."

Instead of telling Ben that he was trying to cause trouble, Benji said, "Whatever made Adam go off the deep end like that, it's enough for me to call it off with Sandra; there is absolutely no way that I can keep going out with her, when it was Adam that put both you and Ryan in this place."

With relief surging within him, Ben said, "We need to tell the police what I know."

"As soon as you've been discharged, I promise that we'll go and see them."

Snuggling his head on Benji's right shoulder, Ben asked, "Has Ryan got any internal injuries? I know that he has a broken left leg, and a dislocated left shoulder, but I can't remember what other injuries he has, because I was pretty much out of it when I asked the MICA Paramedic."

Sighing slightly, Benji replied, "Ryan's in the ICU with some brain swelling, Ben; he is expected to make a full recovery from that, but when the cast and sling are removed, he might need to have some physiotherapy."

As Ben started to sniffle, he said, "I hope that he remembers me."

"Why would you say that? I just told you he'd be fine."

"He's the one person that I could share my deepest, darkest, secrets with."

"Ben, what are you talking about? You know you can tell me anything."

"Benji, there is one thing that I can't tell you," replied Ben meekly.

"Please tell me what it is, Ben," pushed Benji, hoping that Ben would take the bait.

Breaking the embrace, Ben walked over to his bed, sat down on it, looked over at Benji, and as he rubbed the remnants of his tears away with his right hand, he said, "If you really want to know what I'm hiding from you, it's the fact that I want to be with you, Benji."

"That's funny, because I feel the same way about you," said Benji, as he smiled.

"What do mean by that?" asked Ben, as he furrowed his brow.

"Well, ever since that you told me that you were gay, the feelings that I had for you, came rushing to the surface, but because I was with Sandra, I had to push those feelings deep down, and not let on to her that I had the hots for you, Ben."

Shaking his head, Ben said, "I always thought that you were straight."

"No, Ben, I'm bi; besides, no matter how many girls I have been with, my mind always turned to having sex with you; when I had trouble getting hard, I thought of you, and it was that that helped me stay hard and eventually come. I'm sorry if you felt that I was paying a lot of attention to Sandra, but I wanted to keep you safe; eventually, she and Adam will be out of our lives, and I will be able to focus on spending the rest of my life with you."

After a few seconds, Ben asked softly, "How did you figure out my secret?"

"Twin intuition," replied Benji cheekily, as he winked at Ben.

"Is this one of your jokes?" asked Ben seriously, as he looked at Benji.

"If this was a joke, I wouldn't be doing this," replied Benji, as he walked over to Ben, helped him to his feet, looked longingly into Ben's eyes, gently brushed away a sheaf of dirty blond coloured hair, leaned in and gave Ben a gentle, yet firm kiss on his lips.

When Benji had pulled back, Ben asked worriedly, "What about society?"

"Ben, I don't care if we're outcast, I nearly lost you, and I never want that again."

"You really care for me, don't you, Benji?" asked Ben, as he rubbed Benji's left cheek.

"I do, Ben, and I really love you," replied Benji, as he done the same.

"I love you too, Benji," said Ben, as he returned the kiss that Benji had given him.

As Ben broke the kiss, there was a knock at the door, and when Ben and Benji both turned their heads and saw their mother standing there, Ben asked, "What are you doing here, Mum? You made it quite clear when you threw me out, that you we're never going to see me again, until I had come to my senses and dropped, as you and dad put it, 'my wicked and sinful ways.'"

"Benjamin, please don't bring that argument up now; when I received that upsetting phone call from your principal, I knew that I would have to come and make sure that you were okay, and judging by the kiss that you just gave your brother, who I had a feeling liked you more than just a brother, I'd say that you're more than okay. I know that what your father and I put you through is inexcusable, and knowing that it's a lot to ask, but can you and Benji please come for a visit, when you're feeling a bit better?"

Benji looked straight into their mother's eyes and replied, "Mum, you and dad hurt Ben very much with your comments; when we moved into the townhouse that Gran had available, Ben wouldn't leave his room for a week; it was thanks mainly to Ryan that got him out of his depression, and back to his old self again."

Fighting back rising tears, their mother walked partially into the room and looking at Ben, she said, "Ben, after your father and I had talked about it and gotten over the initial shock of what you had told us, we started going to meetings in Melbourne, and since we've been going, we've been learning a lot."

Looking warily at their mother, Ben asked, "Can you accept Benji and I as lovers?"

"Given time, I think your father and I can accept that as well, because we certainly don't want to lose our sons. I won't say that we'll change overnight, but we will get there eventually; as I said, give us some time to talk it over, and we'll go from there," replied their mother, as she looked at Ben and Benji individually.

"I'm glad that you and dad are making an attempt to understand that being gay is not a bad thing, and that eventually both of you will accept Ben and me as lovers, but please understand that we won't be moving back home; Ben and I are quite happy to stay in the townhouse."

Nodding slightly, their mother said, "Your father and I can respect that."

As Ben started to yawn, Benji said, "Thanks for understanding, Mum."

"I think I should leave, so you can both get some rest," said their mother kindly.

"That'd be great," said Ben, as he smiled slightly.

"Goodnight, boys," said their mother, as she turned and walked out.

When she was out of sight, Benji grabbed Ben in a hug and said, "That was certainly a surprise; I didn't expect her to show up here, especially after that big fight that happened when you came out to them; I sincerely hope that she and dad are willing to change and be more accepting."

"I hope that you're right, Benji," said Ben softly.

"They'll get there eventually, Ben," said Benji optimistically.

 After a few seconds of silence, Ben looked up at the clock, and after seeing that it was nearly eight o'clock, he said, "I know that it may be a little bit late, but I really want to see Ryan tonight; I don't want to wait until tomorrow."

"Let's give it a try; the worst they can say is no," said Benji thoughtfully.  

(Start of A new Scene) 

When Ben and Benji walked into the isolation room of the ICU, the first thing that Ben noticed was how small and fragile Ryan looked, lying there in a specialised bed, hooked up to a heart and blood pressure monitor, an IV pain relief drip which was running into his left arm, and a nasal cannula.

With tears starting to well in his eyes, seeing his best friend so still and pale, Ben said huskily, "It's a good thing that Adam isn't here at the moment, because I'd probably want to strangle that bastard to death."

"I won't stop you, Ben; I'd probably be helping you with that," said Benji angrily.

Ben left Benji's side, walked over to the bed, leaned down, kissed Ryan's forehead softly, and as more tears formed in his eyes, Ben grabbed Ryan's free hand and whispered, "I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to stop Adam from attacking you; if I could trade places with you, I'd do it in a heartbeat; please come back to us soon, Ryan, because I miss you very, very much."

As Ben watched Ryan's breathing, Ryan gripped Ben's hand and moaned slightly.

Ben let out a little squeak, let go of Ryan's hand, and as he took a step back, Benji rushed over to where Ben was, took Ben's right hand and asked, "What happened Ben? I've never seen you so surprised before."

"Ryan just gripped my hand," replied Ben, as he looked at Benji in surprise.

Looking intently at Ben, Benji asked, "Are you sure about that?"

"It wasn't my imagination, Benji, I did feel Ryan grip my hand; I think he heard me."

"If you're absolutely sure about that, Ben, try saying something else."

Ben furrowed his brow, trying to think of something that would make Ryan respond to them, when he suddenly thought of something that he was sure would make Ryan wake up, so he walked over to the bed, pulling Benji with him, leaned in closer to the bed and started to whisper the words to The Story of My Life.

When Ben reached the end of the song, a single tear ran down his left cheek, and as it fell onto Ryan's forehead, Ryan moaned again, opened his eyes slightly, and when they were able to focus, the first thing he saw was the faces of both Ben and Benji.

"Hey there," said Ryan softly.

Noticing that Ben was having trouble with his emotions, Benji said, "Welcome back."

Turning his attention back to Ben, Ryan asked, "What's the matter, Ben?"

"I wasn't sure if you'd come back," croaked Ben, as his tears ran freely.

Seeing his best friend the way he was, nearly tore Ryan's heart in two, so he said huskily, "I fought like crazy to get back to you, Ben; when I started to hear you and Benji, I fought even harder to get back; then when you started to whisper the song that you knew I liked, that tipped the scales and brought me back."

Kissing Ben lightly on the cheek, Benji said, "You done great, Ben."

Wiping his eyes with his left hand, Ben said, "I'm just glad that I remembered."

"I think I'd better go and tell someone that you're awake," said Benji suddenly.

"That's a good idea," said Ben, as he looked at Benji.

Benji let go of Ben's hand, kissed Ben lightly on the lips, straightened up, turned, and as he started to walk out of the room, he said, "Hopefully I can find someone in this place that'll be able to come here and check Ryan out."

When Benji had left the room, Ryan looked at Ben and asked, "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ben curiously, as he turned back to Ryan.

Raising an eyebrow, Ryan replied, "You and Benji."

"I finally told him that I wanted to be with him," said Ben, as he smiled slightly.

"So he didn't clobber you?" asked Ryan jokingly.

Shaking his head, Ben replied, "No, he didn't; but the real surprise is, when I told him that I wanted to be with him, he told me that he felt the same way that I did; the only reason that he couldn't say anything to me was, he wanted to protect me from Sandra's wrath; now that Adam and Sandra will eventually be out of the picture, Benji and I have a shot at being together."

Smiling slightly, Ryan said, "I'm glad something good has come from today."

Before Ben could comment, Benji walked into the room saying, "After finding a nurse, I told her that Ryan was awake; she was glad to hear that, and she told me that she would get in contact with Ryan's doctor and his parents."

Looking worried, Ryan said, "If my parents show up, please stay with me."

Nodding, Benji said, "We'll stay with you, Ryan; hopefully they won't cause trouble." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Cameron finished his examination of Ryan, he said, "I don't know what it was that made you wake up so quickly, but whatever it was, I'm glad to see you awake and alert, Ryan; I'd like for you to spend a couple of days in hospital to make sure that there are no lasting effects from the attack."

"When will the catheter be removed?" asked Ryan curiously.

"We'll remove it before you go home; you'll need someone to help you to and from the toilet until your left shoulder heals, and then you'll be able to use crutches; for the first few days when on your crutches, it may be an idea to have someone with you, just in case you're a little unsteady."

"I don't want to do anything that'll stuff up my recovery," said Ryan seriously.

Smiling, Cameron said, "That's good to hear, Ryan."

Noticing the catheter bag, Ben asked, "Why is Ryan's urine so dark?"

"Well, there is some pretty severe bruising around Ryan's lower back, and even though the test results showed nothing, one of the senior doctors suspects that there might have been some sort of kidney damage, so for the next few days, Ryan's urine will be a bit darker than usual."

Looking at Cameron, Benji asked, "Why didn't you say something before?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Ben, as he looked at Benji.

"Oh shit! I forgot to tell you that it was Cameron that I had spoken to when I had arrived to see how you and Ryan were; with all that's happened since I've been here, it slipped my mind; I'm so sorry, Ben, you probably think that I had forgotten intentionally."

Seeing tears start to form in Benji's eyes, Ben said soothingly, "I know that you would never intentionally forget to tell me something, Benji, and there is no need to apologise; as you said, a lot has happened in the time that you've been here; I probably would've forgotten as well."

Sniffling, Benji asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Benji," said Ben, as he took Benji's left hand.

As Cameron watched the exchange between Ben and Benji, he started joining the dots, and when he saw Ben take Benji's hand, which confirmed his suspicions, he said, "Ben and Benji, while I can understand the love that you have for each other, others won't, so please don't do anything that would cause problems for either of you."

Turning their attention back to Cameron, Ben said, "We promise, Cameron."

Nodding, Cameron said, "That's good to know; I just want you both to be safe."

"We appreciate that, Cameron," said Benji sincerely.

"Now, getting back to your question, Benji, I didn't want to say anything about Ryan's kidneys, because we were waiting to get back the blood test results, and I didn't want to give you the wrong information," said Cameron seriously.

"Better to have all the proper information first," said Benji thoughtfully.

Smiling at Benji, Cameron nodded and said, "That's right, Benji."

Before Ben could make a cheeky comment, about Benji being smart most of the time, Ryan's parents, Paul and Rachel, walked into the room, and as Paul surveyed those that were there, he looked at Ben and said rather harshly, "I see that Ben the fag is here."

Feeling his cheeks flame up, Ben said, "I don't appreciate your very nasty comment, Mr Hanson; Benji and I are here to make sure that Ryan is okay, after what had happened in the toilets at school today."

"Dad, please don't start that here; Ben was also attacked," said Ryan hotly.

Instead of feeling concern towards Ben, Paul narrowed his eyes and asked, "Exactly, what were you and Ryan doing in the toilets at the time? I have a pretty good idea of what was happening in there, before you two were attacked."

Gulping, Ryan answered meekly, "Dad, what you're thinking happened, is right."

"What do mean by that, Ryan?" asked Rachel, as she looked intently at her son.

"It means that the fag has corrupted our son," said Paul vehemently.

As Rachel started to comment, Benji cut her off and said angrily, "I will not allow you to continually attack Ben like that, just because he happens to be gay; if you keep up with your attacks against Ben or start on Ryan, I'll ask Ryan's doctor to ask you and Mrs Hanson to leave, and to come back another time."

"There is no need for anyone to ask us to leave, as we'll be leaving shortly; I don't want to stay in the presence of these fags for very much longer; they are abominations, and they will certainly burn in Hell," said Paul, as he stared at Benji.

"Excuse me?" asked Benji angrily, as he let go of Ben's hand and walked over to Paul.

"What do you mean, you little shit?" asked Paul, as he poked Benji's chest.

Sensing that Benji was about to get fired up, Ben said, "Benji, just let it go."

Ignoring Ben's plea, Benji kneed Paul in the groin, spat on him and said, "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I didn't want you to continually attack Ben or Ryan; obviously you didn't listen, so that's why you were kneed in the balls, you homophobic prick."

Wiping the spit from his face, Paul caught his breath, raised his right hand, but before he could make it connect, his wrist was grabbed, and Cameron said firmly, "Don't you even think of doing that, Paul; I will not allow you to smack Benji around, just because you got bested by him."

Paul looked angrily at Cameron and said, "I can do what I please, you fag lover."

Keeping his anger in check, Cameron said, "I want you and Rachel to leave now."

Wrestling his wrist free, Paul looked at Rachel and said, "We're leaving, Rachel."

Nodding, Rachel walked over to Paul, took his left hand, and just as they were about to head for the door, two burly security guards walked into the room, and the older of the two looked at Cameron and asked, "Everything alright in here, Cameron?"

"Yeah, Sam, I've just asked Ryan's parents to leave," replied Cameron coolly.

Smiling slightly, Sam looked at his companion and said, "It looks like Cameron is doing our job for us, Dean; I think we should escort these two out of here, before Cameron does that for us as well."

Shaking his head slightly, Dean turned to the door and said, "Let's go, you two."

As Paul and Rachel walked over to Sam and Dean, Paul turned back at Ryan, sneered and said, "We'll pack up all your personal belongings, and have them delivered to the fag's townhouse in the next couple of days; after that, we don't want anything to do with you, you freak."

"Don't make me force you out of here," said Sam sternly.

"Come on, Rachel," said Paul, as he pulled on Rachel's hand and walked out.  

(Start of A new Scene) 

After a couple of minutes of silence, Cameron said, "What a bastard."

Sniffling, Ryan said, "He's always been like that, Cameron; when he found out that Ben was kicked out of his home for being gay, he actually wanted me to stay away from Ben, but I told him to stick it where the sun don't shine."

Giggling, Ben said, "I don't think he would've liked to stick something up there."

Shaking his head, Benji said, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Ben."

"As much as I'd like to stay and enjoy your banter, I've got to get going; my shift ended about twenty minutes ago, and Cody is probably sick with worry, wondering where I am," said Cameron, as he looked at Ben, Benji and Ryan individually.

"Okay, Cameron, that's fine," said Ryan, as he looked at Cameron, and smiled.

"I'll tell Cody what happened today, and I'll get him to come in tomorrow."

"That's okay with us," said Ben, as he walked over to Cameron and hugged him.

Returning Ben's hug, Cameron whispered, "You and Benji are meant to be."

Ben broke the hug, looked into Cameron's eyes and said huskily, "Thanks for that, Cameron; I'm glad that someone understands how I feel about Benji; not a lot of people will be that accepting, but I'm glad that we have you and hopefully Cody to support us, and to guide us through the difficult times."

"Cody will definitely support you both," said Cameron kindly.

Benji walked over to Ben, took his right hand and said, "Thanks, Cameron."

"That's okay," said Cameron, as he turned back and faced Ryan.

Looking at Cameron, Ryan said, "Thanks for all your help, Cameron; I'm glad that you were here to keep my dad from going way over the top; he probably would've been a lot worse if no one was here to keep him in check."

Sighing slightly, Cameron said, "Some people can be really nasty towards others that can't help being different; the world would be a better place if we could all get along; I truly hope that that is the case someday."

"I hope so too," said Ryan softly.

"Anyway, guys, I do need to go," said Cameron, as turned and headed for the door.

"Night, Cameron," Ben, Benji and Ryan said together.

Cameron gave a wave as he walked out of the room, wondering how things were going to pan out for Ben, Benji and Ryan, and hoping that things would get easier for them, not harder.

When Cameron was out of sight, Ben yawned said, "I think Benji and I should go, so we can all get some rest after all that has happened today; I don't think I'm going to be able to stay awake for very much longer."

Nodding, Ryan said, "That's fine, Ben, I think we're all in that shape."

As Ben yawned again, Benji said, "I'd better get him to bed, before he falls asleep."

"You don't want to end up carrying him," said Ryan cheekily.

"Ha-ha," deadpanned Ben, as he stuck his tongue out.

"Come on," said Benji, as he pulled gently on Ben's hand and led him to the door.

"Night, Ben and Benji, sleep well," said Ryan, as he watched Ben and Benji walk out.

"You too, Ryan," called Benji, from just outside the door.

Just as Ryan was about to close his eyes to get some sleep, a young, good looking male ICU nurse walked into the room, looked at Ryan and said, "Good evening, Ryan, my name is Robbie Walker, and I'll be looking after you, until the morning shift takes over."

Gulping, Ryan said, "Hi Robbie, it's nice to have a nice looking guy look after me."

Blushing slightly, Robbie said, "Thanks for the compliment, Ryan."

As Ryan continued to look at Robbie's masculine features, wondering how he looked underneath his scrubs, his gaydar was going off the charts, so going by what that was telling him, he asked boldly, "Are you gay, Robbie?"

With a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, Robbie answered meekly, "Yes, I am, Ryan, and please don't hate me or anything, but when they brought you in earlier, I managed to catch a glimpse of you, and even though you were battered and bruised, I felt my heart skip a beat."

"Wow, I've got a secret admirer, and he feels the same way I do about him."

Walking over to Ryan's bed, Robbie asked, "Are you sure that you feel the same?"

Nodding, Ryan answered, "I'm definitely sure that I feel the same way, Robbie."

Smiling slightly, Robbie said, "I'm really glad to hear that."

Looking into Robbie's soulful brown eyes, Ryan asked, "Can you kiss me?"

Nodding, Robbie took Ryan's free hand, leaned in, and as best as he could to avoid moving the nasal cannula, he kissed Ryan softly on the lips, and after a little while, Robbie broke the kiss and said, "That was better than I ever imagined it to be."

With a tear running down his right cheek, Ryan said, "I think we're meant to be."

"I think so too," said Robbie, as he gently wiped the tear away. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

The next morning, Ben awoke to the sun shining directly into his room, and as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he could feel Benji start to wake up behind him, so he turned over, faced Benji and said, "Morning, Benji."

"Morning, Ben," said Benji, as leaned in and kissed Ben's forehead.

"Good sleep?" asked Ben curiously, as he ran his right hand over Benji's bare chest.

Smiling, Benji replied, "I slept really well, because I was next to you."

"That's good to know, because I slept the same way," said Ben, as he smiled.

Before Benji could say something, there was a knock at the door, and Cody Greene, Cameron's partner, walked into the room, stopped at the foot of the bed, and when he noticed that Ben and Benji were in the same bed, he smiled knowingly and winked.

"Morning, Cody, it's good to see you," said Ben, as looked up at Cody.

"Have you been to see Ryan yet?" asked Benji curiously.

"No, I figured I'd come and see you two first," replied Cody, as he looked at Benji.

"That was nice of you to do that for us," said Ben happily.

"Well, I have to keep the neighbours happy," said Cody, as he looked back at Ben.

"I can see that you're already chatting up a storm with Ben and Benji, Cody," said Cameron cheekily, as he walked into the room, walked up to Cody, took his left hand, and turned his attention to Ben and Benji.

"How do you feel this morning, Ben?" asked Cameron curiously.

"Besides having a bit of a headache, I feel good enough to go home, Cameron."

"Hmm, if I let you go home today, will you promise to behave for Benji?"

"Of course I'll behave for Benji," replied Ben seriously.

"Well, I suppose I can release you from this prison," said Cameron cheekily.

"Yippee, I'm going home!" exclaimed Ben, as he smiled broadly.

Shaking his head slightly, Cameron said, "I'll have a nurse come by soon with some information about not overdoing it for the next couple of days, and some pain medication, that you will need to take, if you're headache gets worse."

"Thanks a lot, Cameron, I really appreciate it," said Ben happily.

"What about school? Should Ben stay home?" asked Benji curiously.

"Well, under other circumstances, I'd advise Ben to stay home and rest up for about a week, but seeing that he's fine, he should take the weekend to rest up, and he should be okay to go back to school on Monday," replied Cameron, as he looked at Benji.

"I'll make sure that he doesn't overdo it," said Benji seriously.

"That's good to know, Benji, because I'm counting on you to keep an eye on him."

"I think we should leave so Ben and Benji can get themselves organised, Cameron, besides, I want to go and check on Ryan, and see how he's doing," said Cody, somewhat impatiently.

"I suppose we'd better go, before I'm dragged out," said Cameron jokingly.

As Cameron and Cody turned around, Cameron led Cody to the door, then he looked back at Ben and Benji and said, "If we don't see you here in the hospital, we'll come by the townhouse later on for a longer visit; anyway, boys, please take care of yourselves."

"We will," said Ben and Benji together, as Cameron and Cody walked out.

When Cameron and Cody were no longer in sight, Benji looked at Ben and said, "I'll be really glad to see the back of this place; I don't know about you, Ben, but I really can't stand being inside hospitals."

Nodding, Ben said, "I can't stand these places either; they're too sterile for me."

"Yeah, I just want to get home," said Benji, as he looked intently at Ben.

"I reckon we should start getting ourselves organised, because the nurse will be here soon, and before we leave, I want to go and check on Ryan, and see how he's doing this morning," said Ben, as he drew the covers back.

"Sounds like a good plan," said Benji, as he leaned in, and kissed Ben's forehead. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben and Benji walked into Ryan's room, they saw that Ryan was wide awake and sitting up, so they walked over to his bed, and when they got to it, Ben asked, "How do you feel this morning, Ryan?"

Looking up at his best friend, Ryan answered, "I'm doing okay, Ben."

Something in Ryan's voice made Ben notice that Ryan was holding back something big, so he looked into Ryan's eyes and asked, "What aren't you telling me? It must be something very big, because you would've spilled the beans to me by now."

"How do you do that?" asked Ryan incredulously .

"I have a knack for picking up things," replied Ben smugly.

"He does, Ryan, you should know that by now," said Benji, as he looked at Ryan.

Huffing slightly, Ryan said, "If you must know, I met someone last night."

Taken aback by that, Ben asked, "How did you meet someone in here?"

Looking sheepish, Ryan replied, "Um, he was my night nurse, and he's really cute."

"Damn, I've never expected that to happen," said Ben, as he looked intently at Ryan.

Looking warily at Ben, Ryan asked, "You're not mad at me?"

Shaking his head, Ben replied, "Hell no! You deserve to be happy, Ryan."

"I second that," said Benji, as he smiled at Ryan.

Sighing with relief, Ryan said, "I'm really glad that you feel that way."

"So, what's his name?" asked Ben curiously.

Smiling at the memory of Robbie, Ryan replied, "His name is Robbie Walker."

"His name sounds vaguely familiar," said Ben, as tried to remember Robbie.

Benji snapped his fingers and said, "I think I know where we've met him before."

"Come on, spill it, Benji," said Ben impatiently.

"He's the Year 12 that stopped those bully Year 11s from giving you a swirly."

"Oh yeah, that happened in our first week," said Ben, as he shuddered slightly.

"I can't believe that I didn't make the connection last night," said Ryan softly.

As Robbie walked into the room and heard what Ben, Benji and Ryan were talking about, he said, "There's no need to worry about that, Ryan, as that happened a long time ago; I only made the connection this morning, as I kept thinking about where I had seen you before, because I noticed that small scar above your right eye, and it looked familiar."

"I got that a day before the swirly incident," said Ryan, as he rubbed the scar.

As Robbie walked to the other side of the bed, Ben looked at him and said, "I don't remember if I ever said thank you for what you done for me that day, Robbie, so I'm thanking you now for stepping in and helping me."

Blushing slightly, Robbie said, "I was only doing what was right, Ben."

"Those Year 11s needed to be put in their place," said Benji, as he looked at Robbie.

Turning his attention to Benji, Robbie said, "You're exactly right about that, Benji."

"Well, I'm glad that we've remembered each other," said Ryan cheerfully.

As Ben, Benji and Robbie turned back to Ryan, Ben said, "Yeah, that's right, Ryan."

Suddenly realising that Ben was dressed in his clothes from the day before, Ryan asked, "Why are you dressed in your clothes from yesterday, Ben? Have you been given the okay to go home?"

Nodding, Ben replied, "Yeah, Cameron came by this morning, and he cleared me."

Looking somewhat crestfallen, Ryan said, "Please come back and see me soon."

"Don't worry about that, Ryan, we will," said Ben reassuringly.

"If not this afternoon, definitely tomorrow," said Benji optimistically.

"I'll keep an eye on him," said Robbie, as he took Ryan's free hand.

Looking at Robbie, Ben said, "Thanks for that, Robbie."

Taking Ben's right hand, Benji said, "I think we should make a move, Ben."

Looking at Benji, Ben said, "Yeah, we definitely do; I wish it was already over."

"What are you talking about, Ben?" asked Ryan curiously.

Turning back to Ryan, Ben answered, "After going home to shower and get changed, we're off to the Police Station to give them my statement about what happened yesterday, so they can get the ball rolling."

"Let them know that I can also give them a statement, if they need it."

"We'll let them know about that, Ryan," said Ben, as he looked intently at Ryan.

"Anyway, we should get going, Ben," said Benji gently. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Benji backed the XY into the double garage of their townhouse, Ben asked, "Are you okay, Benji? You haven't said a word the whole way home; it's not like you to not say anything; usually I have a hard time trying to get you to shut you up, so I can concentrate on my driving."

When Benji had placed the car into park, applied the handbrake and turned off the Cleveland V8 engine, he looked sadly at Ben and replied, "I want to apologise for yesterday Ben; I shouldn’t have said what I said about your car."

"Benji, I’ll admit that I was a little bit upset about what you said, but that’s now in the past, and I want to look forward to the journey that you and I are going to embark on, so in order for us to do that, we have to forgive and forget what we’ve done and said to each other in the past."

Benji looked at Ben in surprise, as he said, "Wow, that's really deep, Ben."

Looking sheepish, Ben said, "Well, sometimes I can come up with that sort of stuff."

Taking Ben's right hand, Benji said, "Please don't be serious all the time, Ben."

"Don't worry about that, Benji, that'll never happen; being cheeky and funny keeps things fresh and people wondering what I'm going to do next," said Ben, as he looked into Benji's eyes and smiled broadly.

Smirking slightly, Benji said, "Looks like I'm going to regret what I just said."

"Well, you did tell me not to be serious all the time," said Ben mischievously.

Shaking his head, Benji said, "I think we should get inside and get cleaned up."

"That sounds good," said Ben, as he let go of Benji's hand and opened his door.

"Want to shower together?" asked Benji, as he done the same.

"Hmm, a shower together sounds like fun," said Ben, as he got out of the car.

As Ben closed his door and headed for the laundry door, Benji grabbed the keys from the ignition, hit the roller door remote that was mounted on the sun visor, got out of the car, closed his door and walked into the townhouse, closing the laundry door behind him. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben was taking off his boxers, Benji walked into the bathroom naked, his dick at full hardness, and looking somewhat bashful, he asked, "Are you sure it's okay if I get into the shower with you, Ben?"

Ben noticed the red tinge in Benji's cheeks, but instead of making Benji feel more embarrassed, he looked into Benji's eyes, and replied lovingly, "Of course it's okay if you want to join me in the shower, Benji."

Benji walked closer to Ben, took his right hand, led him to the shower, got the shower going to how he liked it, got in, pulled Ben gently in behind him, closed the door, and as they both got under the jet coming from the showerhead, Benji let go of Ben's hand, placed both of his hands tenderly on Ben’s face, pressed his lips to Ben’s, and after seeking permission and getting the okay, Benji’s tongue found its way into Ben’s mouth, and he began kissing Ben passionately.

When they came up for air, Benji started giving Ben little love bites on his neck, in an attempt to mark Ben as his own, and while he was doing this, Ben was gently kneading Benji’s butt cheeks and occasionally running his right index finger up and down Benji’s butt crack, and every time that Ben done this, Benji would whimper a little bit, and bite down just that little bit harder on Ben’s neck.

Just as Benji had stopped biting Ben's neck, the doorbell started to ring persistently, and Ben said, "If it's those kids from next door being cheeky, they're going to get a stern talking to, and I'm also going to go off at their irresponsible parents, for not keeping a closer eye on their kids." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

When Benji had opened the front door, he saw their gran standing, and as he looked behind her, he noticed two people that looked vaguely familiar, and as he continued to look at them, Ben walked into the entrance way, dressed in a terrycloth bathrobe, took one look at them, and said cheerfully, "Hi there Uncle Stephen and Uncle Todd; it's so good to see you again, after all these years."

Stephen looked at Ben, and said happily, "I'm glad one of you remembers us."

"What do you mean by 'Uncle Todd'?" asked Benji curiously, as he looked at Ben.

Turning to Benji, Ben replied, "Well, when Uncle Stephen and Todd disappeared just after our sixth birthday, I asked mum one day what happened to them, and she told me that Uncle Stephen had moved because he had chosen Todd over the family, and after thinking about it for a while, I figured out what she had meant by that."

Sensing that Stephen was going to say something to the contrary , Todd said, "I think you had better let us inside, guys, so Stephen and I can explain what really happened that day, and why we had to move away."

As Ben and Benji looked at their gran, and then back at Stephen and Todd, they noticed that both Stephen and Todd had tears forming in their eyes, and their gran, who was trying to keep her composure said, "I think you need to listen to Todd, boys."

When Ben and Benji stood aside, their gran, Stephen and Todd walked into the townhouse, and as they walked to the living area, Benji closed the door, and as he started to walk, Ben followed behind, catching glimpses of Stephen and Todd, wondering what had really happened.

When they walked into the living area, Benji said, "Please take a seat on the couch."

As soon as their gran, Stephen and Todd had sat down on the couch, Ben and Benji sat down in their respective armchairs opposite the couch, and after a few seconds of silence, Ben looked at their gran asked, "What really happened, Gran?"

Looking at Ben and Benji, their gran replied sadly, "At your sixth birthday party, your father and mother overheard Stephen and Todd talking about one day having children of their own, and from that, they worked out that Stephen and Todd were gay and a couple, so they told them that they didn't want them to be around their children, fearing that either of you would be corrupted."

"That is so wrong," said Ben softly, as he looked at Stephen and Todd.

"Where did you go?" asked Benji curiously, as he looked at Stephen and Todd.

Clearing his throat slightly, Stephen looked at his nephews and replied, "After packing some of my things, Todd and I went to his parent's place, because they knew about us and were okay with it; we explained what had happened, and they said that we could stay with them until we had finished uni, gotten jobs and a place to live."

"What were you both studying?" asked Ben inquisitively.

"Well, we both wanted to be lawyers," replied Stephen, as he chuckled slightly.

"Why haven't we seen you around the Latrobe Valley?" asked Benji curiously.

"After we graduated with honours, Todd's father, who was very happy at what we were able to achieve, under very difficult circumstances, was able to secure us a job at his Melbourne office, and as an added bonus, he and Todd's mother allowed us to live rent free in one of their investment properties, as long as we pay the bills and maintain the property for them," replied Stephen, as he took Todd's left hand.

"That sounds like the arrangement we have with Gran," said Ben gladly.

"Now your mother knows about that," said their gran uneasily.

As Ben and Benji looked at their gran, Benji asked, "When did mum find that out?"

"Your mother found out about that last night; she had called me after she had gotten home from the hospital, and after telling me what had happened, she asked about what sort of arrangement that we had, so I told her that I had helped you get a part time job, Benji, and that it was up to you and Ben to keep the townhouse and garden maintained."

Raising an eyebrow, Benji asked, "Did mum buy that?"

"I think she knows that I'm helping you both with the bigger bills, but she never asked and I didn't volunteer that piece of information, so both of you, please don't share that with your parents," said their gran seriously, as she looked at Ben and Benji individually.

"I won't say a word, Gran, I promise," said Ben sincerely.

"Neither will I," said Benji seriously, as he looked into their gran's eyes.

"That's good to know, boys," said their gran, as she smiled slightly.

"Gran, I've got a question for you," said Ben, as he looked at their gran.

"You're wondering why I didn't come to the hospital, is that right?"

Nodding Ben replied, "Yeah, I am wondering that, Gran."

"Well, as much I would have liked to have come last night, Ben, I was too upset to drive after hearing about what had happened to you and Ryan, so I decided to stay home, and I rang Stephen and Todd and told them what had happened; thankfully they arrived early this morning," said their gran, as she looked at Stephen and Todd.

Sniffling slightly, Ben said, "That's okay, Gran, I'm glad that you're all here now."

"How did you know that we were home, Gran?" asked Benji curiously.

Looking at Benji, their gran replied, "I phoned the hospital this morning, and the receptionist informed me that Ben had been discharged, so naturally, I thought that you and Ben would be here, so we decided to come here first, and if you weren't home, I was going to try your mobiles."

After a couple of seconds of silence, Stephen asked, "What's with the bathrobes?"

When Ben and Benji looked at Stephen, Ben replied, "Well, Benji and I were just starting to take a shower to wash off all the grime and stuff from yesterday so we could go to the police station to give them my statement, and just as we were about to start with the soap, the doorbell started to go off, so after stopping the water and getting out, we grabbed our bathrobes, and while I made a pit stop, Benji went to answer the door."

Seeing the pained look on Benji's face, after realising that Ben had implied that they were showering together, their gran said, "Ben and Benji, I know that you two are more than brothers; your mother let it slip unintentionally last night, and even though that I was raised in a different time, I don't mind you and Ben being involved with each other."

"Are you sure, Gran?" asked Benji meekly, as he looked at their gran.

"Yes, Benji, I'm sure; you boys deserve to be happy," replied their gran kindly.

"Thanks, Gran," said Ben, as he looked at their gran and smiled.

"Todd and I feel the same way about it," said Stephen caringly.

Looking at Stephen, Ben nodded and said, "We really appreciate that."

"Now, Ben, I have a question to ask you," said Stephen seriously.

"What did you want to ask me, Uncle Stephen?" asked Ben curiously.

"Do you think you need a lawyer?" asked Stephen, as he looked into Ben's eyes.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Ben replied, "I honestly think that having a lawyer would be a big help, Uncle Stephen, because I have absolutely no idea on what to expect when I go to give my statement, and if it has to go to court."

"I'm glad to hear that, Ben, unfortunately though, because I'm a relative, I'd rather not represent you, just in case it goes to court and the judge makes a big deal out of it, however, Todd technically isn't a relative, and he'd be more than happy to represent you, and ruffle a few feathers along the way," said Stephen, as he chuckled slightly.

"I'm going to enjoy watching this," sniggered Benji, as he took Ben's right hand.

"I'll stay behind and do some cooking for the boys," said their gran, as she stood up. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben, Benji, Stephen and Todd sat down on the plastic chairs around the small table in the interview room, Kevin, the senior-constable that had interviewed Benji, walked into the room, and when he sat down opposite Ben and Benji, he looked at Ben, smiled and said, "Hello, Ben, I'm Senior-Constable Frederix, but you can call me Kevin."

"It's nice to meet you, Kevin; I hope you don't mind, but I asked my Uncle Stephen and my lawyer Todd Radcliffe, to join Benji and I on my mission to give you my statement about what happened," said Ben, as he pointed to Stephen and Todd individually, while introducing them to Kevin.

Looking at Stephen and Todd, Kevin said, "It's nice to meet you, Stephen and Todd."

"Likewise," said Stephen and Todd together, earning an questioning look from Kevin.

Afraid that Kevin was going to ask whether Stephen and Todd were a couple, Ben cleared his throat slightly and said, "I understand from Benji, that you were quite concerned about myself and Ryan, Kevin."

Looking back at Ben, Kevin said, "I was very concerned about you and Ryan."

"Well, I got off lightly compared to Ryan, Kevin; I ended up with a bump and bruise on my left temple and some bruising around my ribs, while Ryan ended up with a broken nose, a broken left leg, a dislocated left shoulder, one black eye, some very nasty bruising, and brain swelling," said Ben softly, as tears formed in his eyes.

Shaking his head slightly, Kevin asked, "How is Ryan doing?"

Brushing away the tears that formed in his eyes, Ben replied, "Ryan is awake now and he's on the mend; once he's healed up enough and on crutches, he'll be coming to live with Benji and I at our townhouse."

Resisting the urge to ask why Ryan would be moving in with Ben and Benji, Kevin said, "I'm very glad to hear that you and Ryan are on the mend, Ben, but now, I'd very much like to know who it was that attacked you and Ryan in the toilets yesterday."

Looking intently at Kevin, Ben said, "Ryan and I were attacked by Adam Moore." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

From the safety of the small viewing room that they had been put in, Ben, Benji, Stephen and Todd were able to see through the one way glass Adam, who was in handcuffs, being escorted into the interview room by two young male constables, and when they made Adam sit down, Kevin walked into the room, sat down opposite him and said, "Adam, I understand that you are the one that attacked Benjamin Williams and Ryan Hanson in the toilets at Traralgon Regional College, yesterday afternoon."

Sneering at Kevin, Adam said, "Those dirty faggots deserved what they got."

Keeping calm, Kevin asked, "How did you know where Ben and Ryan where?"

"Sandra sent me a text telling me that Ben and Ryan had left the cafeteria and were probably heading for the toilets near the Science Lab, because they're often used by the other faggots in the school," replied Adam nastily.

"Are you telling me that Sandra planned all this?" asked Kevin angrily.

"Yes, she's been planning this for some time," replied Adam smugly.

"Why?" asked Kevin furiously, wishing he could slap the smugness out of Adam.

"I'm not telling you," replied Adam hotly, as he stared Kevin down.

"Don't give me that rubbish," snapped Kevin, as he stared back at Adam.

Huffing slightly, Adam replied vehemently, "Well, Sandra was getting sick and tired of constantly being caught out in lies by Ben and Ryan, so she planned the attack, and when the perfect opportunity came up, she and I were going to attack them, but because Sandra was with Benji yesterday, she told me to go easy with Ben and give Ryan the works."

"Why would you go easy on Ben?" asked Kevin quickly.

Smirking slightly, Adam replied, "Sandra wanted to hurt pretty Ben herself."

Fearing he knew the answer, Kevin asked, "Why would Sandra want to hurt Ben?"

"To show Benji that Ben couldn't be protected all the time," replied Adam snidely.

Sickened by what he was hearing, Kevin said, "It's time Sandra was brought in."

Adam burst out laughing and said, "Good luck finding her, you faggot loving pigs."

Turning to one of the constables, Kevin said, "Just get him out of my sight." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben pulled of his slacks and placed them on the bed next to his dress shirt, Benji walked into his room, walked over to Ben, walked up behind him, wrapped his arms around Ben's stomach and said softly, "Gran, Uncle Stephen and Uncle Todd have just left, Ben, and they're a little concerned about how quiet you were, when we got back."

Sniffling slightly, Ben said, "I don't understand why people are so hateful and cruel."

"What are you talking about, Ben?" asked Benji curiously.

"I'm talking about Sandra and Adam," replied Ben, as tears formed in his eyes.

Benji broke the hold he had on Ben, sidestepped to the left, walked to the bed, turned, sat down on it, patted the mattress to the left of him, and when Ben turned and sat down next to him, Benji took Ben's right hand and said, "Unfortunately, Ben, there are many people in this world, that will stop at nothing to make people who are different from leading a normal life."

Ben wiped the tears away with his left hand, looked at Benji and said, "I understand that, Benji, but it would be nice if there was no more hatred in the world towards people who are, as you put it, 'different'; every day I hope that attitudes change towards bis, gays, lesbians and transgenders, because we deserve the same rights as everyone else."

Looking into Ben's eyes, Benji said, "All it takes is one person to start it, Ben."

Nodding, Ben said, "Yeah, that's true, Benji, it only takes one person."

After a couple of seconds of silence, Benji said, "As much as I'd like to talk about how we'd change things, I think we should have a bit of a rest, Ben, because we've had a full on morning and afternoon, and I really could use a snuggle with you, so I can forget about what happened at the police station earlier."

Smiling slightly, Ben said, "A snuggle sure sounds good to me, Benji."

"I'm glad to hear that, Ben," said Benji, as he started to undress. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

While Ben was running hot water over some dishes in the sink, Benji walked into the kitchen, with his longish hair somewhat ruffled, stopped next to the island bench, looked at Ben and said, "I can't believe we slept for over four hours, Ben; my usual naps don't even last that long."

"When I woke up and saw that it was half past six, I got a bit of a shock."

"We must've been really tired, to have slept that long," said Benji, as he walked over to Ben, stopped in front of him, turned off the water, and as he started to run his right hand over Ben's bare chest, Ben shuddered slightly, as his skin started to tingle.

"Damn, that feels good," said Ben, as Benji brushed Ben's left nipple.

"I'm glad you like it, Ben," said Benji, as he directed his right index finger down Ben's defined abs, and as he reached his intended destination, he used both hands to push Ben's boxers down past his knees, revealing a hard, throbbing dick.

"Benji, please suck me off," said Ben pleadingly.

Getting down onto his haunches, Benji pushed the boxers down to Ben's ankles, and after helping him get them off and discarding them next to Ben, Benji leaned in closer to Ben's throbbing dick, and as he steadied himself by grabbing onto Ben's thighs, Benji took all of Ben's seven inches into his mouth, and started sucking.

"Oh fuck, that feels so good," moaned Ben, as he ran his hands through Benji's hair.

As Benji pulled off Ben's dick, he said, "Ben, turn around so I can get to your butt."

When Ben removed his hands from Benji's hair, he turned around, stuck his butt out slightly, and before he knew it, Benji leaned in, pulled Ben's butt cheeks apart with both hands and started licking the outside of Ben's hole.

Ben moaned loudly as he said, "Damn that feels heavenly, Benji, keep doing that."

Benji continued to do this for a couple of minutes, then he stopped, spat on three of his right fingers, and holding Ben's butt cheeks open with his other hand, he worked the three moistened fingers into Ben's hole, and started opening Ben up wider, so he would be able to receive his dick.

While Benji kept finger fucking Ben, Ben spat on his hard dick, grabbed it with his right hand and started to rub slowly, and as Benji started to graze Ben's prostate, copious amounts of precum started to leak from Ben's dick, causing it to become slick.

As Ben continued to jack off, he said, "Benji, please fuck me."

Benji pulled his fingers out, stood up, pushed his skimpy briefs down to his knees,  and using the precum that was already leaking from his dick, he rubbed it all over his dick, moved closer to Ben, and just as he got the tip to touch Ben's hole, he asked, "Would you rather we did this in bed, Ben?"

Nodding, Ben replied, "That suits me fine, Benji." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

After making sure that Ben was comfortable as he could be on the bed, Benji gently pushed Ben's legs toward his stomach, moved as close as he could to Ben, and as he looked lovingly into Ben's eyes, he guided his hard dick to Ben's hole, pressed up against it, and when it yielded, he pushed all the way into Ben, and being amazed at the heat and tightness of Ben's hole, he said, "This is so much better than I ever imagined it to be."

"I'm probably a lot tighter than the girls you've fucked," said Ben cheekily.

"You're right about that, Ben, and I'm also glad that I wore condoms when I fucked them, because I wouldn't be able to fuck you bareback otherwise; bareback sex in my opinion is the best form of sex, it's just you, me and nothing in between," said Benji, as he chuckled slightly and started fucking Ben gently.

As Benji started to get into a rhythm, Ben wrapped his legs lightly around Benji, then he reached up, pulled Benji closer to him, wrapped his arms around Benji's back, turned his head slightly, and he started to give Benji little love bites on his neck, to stake his claim on Benji, and each time that Benji hit Ben's prostate, Ben would moan slightly, bite down a little harder on Benji's neck and dig his fingernails into Benji's back.

Because of what Ben was doing to him, Benji knew he wouldn't last much longer, so he increased his pace, and as he did so, his dick started to hit Ben's prostate harder, and between that and the friction that was being generated by Benji, Ben's dick erupted, coating both Ben and Benji's stomachs with cum, and creating a sticky mess between them.

"Oh fuck!" moaned Ben, as his hole clamped down hard on Benji's dick.

"I'm coming," moaned Benji, as he exploded inside Ben, coating his insides with cum.

"Fuck, I've never come so hard before," said Ben breathlessly, as he let go of Benji.

As Benji wiped some sweat from his forehead with his right hand, he looked intently at Ben and said, "I don't remember ever coming that hard when I've fucked a girl; it might have something to do with the fact that I'm making love to the person that I want to be with, instead of  having sex with someone that just wants it."

"Well, I'm glad that you baited me at the hospital," said Ben tenderly.

"I am too, Ben; and know this, even though what Sandra and Adam in particular, done to you and Ryan, I still would've broken it off with her, because I was getting sick and tired of her constant berating of you, Ben; so basically what I'm saying is, one way or another, you and I would've gotten together," said Benji, as he gently kissed Ben's forehead.

"I'm glad to know that we would've gotten together eventually," said Ben softly.

As Benji's dick fell out of Ben's hole, he said, "We need to get cleaned up."

Nodding slightly, Ben said, "Being covered in cum isn't the best way to sleep."

"That's exactly right, Ben," said Benji, as he rolled off Ben and onto the bed. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

The next morning, as the sun started to filter through the partially opened vertical blinds in Ben's bedroom, the light from the sun shone onto Ben, and as he started to wake up, he looked groggily at the alarm clock on the right bedside table, and groaned slightly, when he saw that it read five minutes past eight.

"It'd be nice to sleep in occasionally," said Ben, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Gently breaking the vice like grip that Benji had on him, Ben drew his part of the blankets back, swung his feet around to the side of the bed, and once his feet were safely on the plush carpet, he pushed himself up, walked over to his desk chair, grabbed his footy shorts and started putting them on.

Once he had them on, he grabbed his Simple Plan t-shirt from the chair, and once he had it on, he turned, started walking towards the bedroom door, and when he got there, he stopped, and glanced over at the still sleeping Benji. Once he was satisfied that Benji was sleeping peacefully, Ben turned back towards the door, resumed walking, walked out of his bedroom and headed in the direction of the garage, because he had an idea on what the problem was with Benji's HSV VQ Statesman. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben was glancing over the massive 5.0L engine of the VQ with a small LED torch, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, so he shone the torch over the negative cable that was bolted onto the engine, and as Ben looked a little closer at it, he could see that it was a little loose.

"I'll be damned," muttered Ben, as he wiggled the negative cable.

"What's the matter with the VQ?" asked Benji, as he walked into the garage.

"Loose cable," replied Ben, as Benji walked over to Ben and stood next to him.

As Benji leaned over the engine to where Ben's left hand was, he could see that the negative cable was loose, so he said, "I can't believe I didn't think of that; I should've checked the negative when the dash and interior lights started to flicker."

"I only thought of that because the XY had the same problem."

"I'm glad it's a simple fix," said Benji, as he pulled back and kissed Ben's right cheek.

"It'll only take about five minutes to fix," said Ben matter-of-factly.

"While you're doing that, Ben, I'll go and check the letterbox," said Benji, as he stood up straight, turned, and as he started to walk towards the outside access door of the garage, he said cheekily, "Hopefully there aren't any bills waiting for us."

"We're only waiting on Ryan's stuff," said Ben, as he finger tightened the bolt.

"No worries, Ben," said Benji, as he opened the door and walked out.

When Ben was satisfied that the bolt was tight enough, he reached up with his right hand, grabbed the appropriate sized spanner from the spanner roll that he had placed on top of the engine, and just as he was about to lower the spanner towards the bolt, a sense of uneasiness came over him. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Benji walked up to the row of letterboxes at the front of their townhouse, he could hear some rustling in the bushes to the right of him, so he turned towards the noise, and as he did, Sandra jumped up from her hiding spot, looking very dishevelled, and with a wild look in her eyes.

Benji jumped back slightly and said, "The police are looking for you, Sandra."

Sneering, Sandra said, "I know they are, because Adam rang yesterday and told me."

"Did Adam get bailed out?" asked Benji, as he looked straight at Sandra.

"Of course he did; our father can afford it," replied Sandra proudly.

Shaking his head, Benji said, "I can't believe that, that is absolutely wrong."

"You'd better believe it, you faggot," said Sandra angrily.

"What did you call me?" asked Benji angrily, as he took a step towards Sandra.

"I called you a 'faggot', because that's what you are," replied Sandra vehemently.

Suddenly remembering that Adam had seen him and Ben holding hands at the Police Station yesterday, as Adam was being escorted out of the interview room, Benji said, "Well, thanks to blabbermouth Adam, I guess  there is no point in denying that Ben and I are in love with each other."

"I can't believe that I had sex with the likes of you," said Sandra nastily.

Keeping his calm, Benji said, "Well, you're the one that wanted sex all the time."

As Sandra was about to comment, she noticed Ben walking out of the garage, and as she smiled to herself, she grabbed a hold of the knife that was in her left jeans pocket, and as she looked at Ben, Sandra started to pull the knife out of her pocket, and when Ben saw the blade, he broke into a run and yelled, "BENJI WATCH OUT! SANDRA HAS A KNIFE!"

Just as Benji was about to turn around, Sandra turned back to Benji, pulled the knife completely out of her pocket, lunged at him, and as the knife entered his upper abdomen, Sandra screeched, "You'll no longer be around to protect your faggot brother from all the hatred and nastiness towards faggots that's in the world."

When Sandra pulled the knife out, she threw it into the bushes, and when Ben got to them, Sandra bolted in the opposite direction, and just as Benji's knees buckled, Ben grabbed him, turned his head back towards the townhouses and yelled, "CAMERON! CODY! I NEED SOME HELP RIGHT NOW!"

Turning back to Benji, Ben gently lowered him to the ground, and once Benji was on the ground, Ben went around to Benji's left side, knelt down next to him, took off his t-shirt, pressed it against the wound, looked at Benji's face and said huskily, "Don't die on me."

Struggling to keep his eyes open, Benji said feebly, "I'll try not to, Ben."

Before Ben could yell again, Cameron ran up and asked, "What's happened, Ben?"

Looking up at Cameron sadly, Ben replied, "Benji's been stabbed, Cameron."

With the colour draining from his face, Cameron asked, "Where?"

"I think Benji's upper abdomen," replied Ben, as tears formed in his eyes.

"Let me take a look, Ben," said Cameron, as he knelt down on the opposite side.

As Ben gently lifted off his t-shirt from Benji's blood soaked white one, Cameron was able to see where the wound was, and as he leaned in for a closer inspection, Cody ran up and asked, "What the Hell happened here? Why do Ben and Benji have blood stains on their t-shirts, Cameron?"

As Cameron ripped Benji's t-shirt in half, he replied, "Benji's been stabbed, Cody."

Looking over at Ben, Cody asked, "Who stabbed him, Ben?"

As tears fell down his cheeks, Ben looked up at Cody and replied, "Sandra did this."

Before Cody could comment, the remaining neighbours from the townhouse complex had started to gather around them, and as Cameron finished his quick assessment of Benji, he grabbed Ben's t-shirt, placed it back on the wound and said softly, "Cody, I need you to go and ring for an ambulance right now, because I'm afraid  the knife may have done some damage to a vein in or around Benji's liver."

Immediately feeling sick to his stomach, Cody asked, "What about the police?"

Nodding, Cameron replied, "Get them too, just hurry, Cody."

When Cody had turned and ran off, Ben looked at Cameron and asked, "How bad?"

Sighing slightly, Cameron looked into Ben's eyes and replied, "It looks bad, Ben."

Looking back at Benji's ashen face, Ben started to sob uncontrollably, and as he leaned in closer, he gently kissed Benji's forehead, his tears falling onto it, and when he pulled back slightly, he whispered between sobs, "I make you this promise, Benji, if I get to Sandra before the police get to her, she's going to wish that the police had found her first, by the time I'm finished with her." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

After making sure that Benji had been loaded safely into the MICA Mercedes Benz Sprinter, with Cameron sitting on the seat beside Benji's bed, hooking up the heart and blood pressure monitor to Benji, Ben turned his attention to Kevin who was standing beside him and said, "Other than what I told you about what I had seen, I don't know what Benji and Sandra were talking about, Kevin."

"Well, from what you've just told me, Ben, and with us having found the knife that she used, and also having the confession from Adam, it looks like that Sandra won't be getting off lightly, and I'll personally make sure of that," said Kevin, as he put his notebook back into his left breast pocket with his right hand.

During the interview, Cody, who had been standing behind Ben, walked up to Ben's right side, stopped, took his hand and said, "Let's go and get you cleaned up, Ben, and then I'll drive you to the hospital."

"Okay, Cody, let's go," said Ben, as he looked at Cody.

"I'm going to head off to the station now, Ben, but I'll come out to the hospital later."

Looking back at Kevin, Ben said, "Thanks for everything, Kevin, and I'll see you later."

Nodding slightly, Kevin said, "That's okay, Ben, just try not to worry too much."

"I'll try my hardest not to worry," said Ben, as he smiled wanly.

"Anyway, we'd best make a move," said Cody, as he gently pulled on Ben's hand.

As Ben and Cody started to walk away from Kevin, one of the male residents of the townhouse complex, a man that had tried more than once to have Ben and Benji forced out because of a heated argument about six weeks earlier, said rather harshly, "I'm glad that someone was able to put the homo lover in his place."

Seeing red at that comment, Ben broke free of Cody's grip, walked over to the man, stood directly in front of him, and said angrily, "I'd appreciate it if you kept your fucking opinions to yourself, Justin, as there is no need for you to say that about Benji; it's because of people like you that has Benji fighting for his life."

"What are you going to do about it, you homo?" asked Justin mockingly.

While Ben stared angrily at Justin, he balled up a his right hand into a fist, drew back his arm, brought his arm forward, hit Justin on his nose, and as he felt the nose break in two different places, he replied, "That's what I'm going to do about, Justin."

As blood started pouring out of his nose, Justin staggered back, and as his girlfriend rushed forward to stabilise him, Justin looked at Kevin and said nasally, "Don't just stand there you pig, you saw what he just done to me, charge him or something, because he doesn't have the right to do that to me."

Shaking his head, Kevin said, "I'm not going to charge Ben, I'm charging you."

"Why me?" asked Justin incredulously, as blood fell onto his white Bonds singlet.

"Because you provoked Ben into hitting you," replied Kevin angrily. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben walked slowly into Ryan's room, he saw that Ryan was sitting up in bed, talking quietly to Robbie, who was sitting on the comfortable blue visitor's chair to the right of the bed, and when Ben stopped at the foot of the bed, he cleared his throat.

Ryan immediately stopped talking to Robbie, looked up, and when he saw an extremely sad looking Ben standing at the foot of his bed, he asked, "Are you okay, Ben? Why isn't Benji with you?"

Hearing Benji's name, Ben burst into tears and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Standing up quickly, Robbie rushed over to Ben, knelt down next to him, and as he started to rub Ben's back with his right hand, in an attempt to comfort him, Ryan sat up as straight as he could and asked, "What's happened to Benji?"

Between sobs, Ben replied, "Sandra stabbed him earlier this morning."

"Oh fuck no," said Ryan, as tears welled in his eyes.

"Where is Benji now?" asked Robbie calmly.

"He's still in surgery," replied a sobbing Ben, as he looked at Robbie.

Looking into Ben's blood-shot eyes, he asked, "Have you told your family?"

As Ben's sobs subsided, he replied, "No, I haven't, because Cody is doing that."

"Who's Cody?" asked Robbie curiously.

Before Ben could answer, Ryan replied, "He's Dr Harrison's partner."

"Ah, now I know who you're talking about," said Robbie, as he glanced up at Ryan.

"Have you heard any news about Benji, Ben?" asked Ryan softly.

"No, I haven't as yet," replied Ben softly, as he looked up at his best friend.

"How long before you hear anything?" asked Ryan, as he rubbed his tears away.

"Cameron said he'd come looking for me in your room, Ryan."

"Hopefully it won't take too much longer," said Robbie optimistically.

Turning his attention to Robbie, Ben said softly, "I hope that's the case."

Before Robbie could say anything, Stephen and Todd walked into the room, and when Ben looked up and saw them there, he stood up straight away, ran over to Stephen, who hugged him tightly with both arms, and as Ben started crying again, he said huskily, "I'm so glad that you're here, Uncle Stephen and Uncle Todd."

Todd joined the embrace, as Stephen said, "We came as soon as we heard."

"How did you know where I was?" asked Ben, as his tears stained Stephen's shirt.

"Your neighbour Cody told us where to find you," replied Todd softly.

"Where's Gran, Uncle Stephen?" asked Ben, as his tears started to subside.

"Well after mum dropped Todd and I off, she said that she was going to go and pick up your parents, because she wanted to tell them that Todd and I were back in town and she didn't want them making a scene," replied Stephen softly.

Hugging his uncle harder, Ben said, "Hopefully they're okay with you being here.

Sighing slightly, Todd said, "I hope that's the case, Ben." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Stephen and Todd sat in silence next to each other on the uncomfortable padded chairs nearest to the entrance of the family room inside the ICU, Stephen glanced over at his older brother and sister-in-law periodically, who were sitting opposite them, and as he gathered the necessary courage, he said, "Samuel, what you and Teresa said to us at Ben and Benji's birthday, hurt Todd and I very much."

Looking shamefully at Stephen, Samuel said, "Ever since Teresa and I found out about Ben being gay, we started going to meetings in Melbourne, and what we learned opened our eyes to the fact that being gay isn't a lifestyle choice but what your genes determine you to be."

"So are you saying that you accept us for who we are?" asked Todd curiously.

Looking at Todd, Samuel nodded and replied, "Yes, we accept you for who you are."

"I've waited a long time for you to say that, Samuel," said Stephen huskily.

Samuel stood up, looked at Stephen and Todd, and said, "Come here, you two."

Stephen and Todd stood up, walked over to Samuel, and when they got to him, they hugged Samuel, and as Samuel wrapped his arms around them as best as he could, he said, "I'm so very sorry that Teresa and I made you stay away for so long, Stephen and Todd."

With tears running down his cheeks, Stephen said, "That's now in the past."

Teresa stood up, joined the hug and said kindly, "That's good to know." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

Inside one of the four operating theatres at LRH, Cameron was on the left side of the operating table, assisting the surgeon that had been trying unsuccessfully since Benji had been brought in to find the damaged vein, and as Cameron quickly glanced up at the heart and blood pressure monitor, he noticed the thready heart rate, so he said, "We need to find that damaged vein soon, David."

Without looking up at Cameron, David sighed heavily and said, "I know you want me to pick up the pace, Cameron, but there's a lot of blood here, and I'm really trying my hardest to find where it's all coming from; that damn knife has made a real mess of things."

"It could be the inferior vena cava," said Cameron suddenly.

As David turned his attention to that particular vein, he in fact could see a tear in the branch just above the liver, so he said, "That was a good call, Cameron, because I think I may have found the problem, and now I'm going to need some suction around the top of the liver, please, so I can see the extent of the damage."

One of the female nurses moved in beside David with the suction tube, and as she started suctioning out the blood that had pooled at the top of the liver, David was able to see that the tear was in fact nearly half a centimetre in length.

"Get me some sutures, stat," said David urgently.

Before the nurse could give David what he asked for, Benji went into cardiac arrest.

"GET ME THE DEFIBRILLATOR NOW!" yelled Cameron, as he moved into position. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

"Do you think your parents and uncles will get along?" asked Ryan curiously.

Looking at his best friend, Ben replied, "I hope that they do, Ryan."

As Ben kept looking at Ryan, he noticed something different about his face, and as Ben looked more closely, he suddenly realised what it was, so he said, "I see that your nasal cannula has been removed, Ryan."

"Yeah, it was removed yesterday afternoon by Cameron; he said that if all went well, I should be able to be discharged sometime tomorrow, so I was wondering which room I'd be getting when I get to the townhouse," said Ryan, as he looked intently at Ben.

"Well, yesterday morning before we came and saw you, Benji and I discussed that we would take my room and give you Benji's old room, that way if Benji and I are a bit load, we wouldn't disturb you too much," said Ben, as his cheeks started to get a red tinge.

Chuckling slightly, Ryan said, "I appreciate you taking me in."

"That's what friends are for," said Ben, as he patted Ryan's right foot.

"There is something that I would like to ask you, Ben," said Ryan hesitantly.

As Ben looked into Ryan's eyes, he said, "Robbie can move in with us."

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" asked Ryan incredulously.

"Have you forgotten yesterday morning already?" asked Ben, as he smiled.

Sighing slightly, Ryan replied, "That knack you have can be annoying, Ben."

Before Ben could comment, Robbie walked into the room, walked over to the comfortable blue visitor's chair, turned, sat down, took Ryan's free hand, looked at Ben and said, "As I was walking past the family room to come back to Ryan's room, I happened to notice that your parents, uncles and gran were talking quietly amongst themselves, and it looked like that they were all getting along."

Turning his attention to Robbie, Ben said, "That's good to know, Robbie, thanks."

Before Robbie could say anything, Cameron walked into the room, and when Ben turned his head to the left and saw him, he got off Ryan's bed, walked over to where Cameron was, and as his heart began hammering inside his chest, he looked into Cameron's eyes and asked, "How did everything go, Cameron?"

Fighting back tears, Cameron replied huskily, "It was touch and go for a while, Ben."

"What do you mean?" asked Ben, as he looked intently at Cameron.

"Well, we had just found the damaged vein above the liver, and as Dr Saunders asked for the sutures to stitch it up, Benji went into cardiac arrest, and it took us three tries before we were able to get his heart started again," replied Cameron, as a single tear ran down his left cheek.

"How is he?" asked Ryan, as he sat up straight as best as he could.

"Benji is still unconscious and we don't know when he'll wake up; Dr Saunders thinks that Benji will remain unconscious until his body has healed itself," replied Cameron huskily, as he looked at Ryan.

"Where is Benji now?" asked Ben, as his eyes filled with tears.

Looking back at Ben, Cameron replied, "He's here in the ICU, in a single room."

"Please take me to him now, Cameron," said Ben, as he looked into Cameron's eyes.

Nodding slightly, Cameron said softly, "Follow me, Ben, and please don't freak out when you see Benji the way that he is, because the last thing he needs is for you to be admitted to the hospital, unable to take care of him or Ryan." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

When Ben walked into Benji's single bed room, the first thing that he saw was how small and fragile Benji looked, lying there in a specialised bed, hooked up to a heart and blood pressure monitor, an IV pain relief and saline drip which were connected together and running into his left arm, and a nasal cannula.

Ben stifled a sob, as he walked over to the bed, and as more tears appeared in his eyes, seeing his brother so pale and still, he pulled the comfortable blue visitor's chair closer to the bed, sat down on it, took Benji's free hand and said croakily, "The last thing that I ever expected was to see that homophobic Sandra come after you to get to me; it should be me on that bed, not you, Benji."

As Ben started to watch Benji's breathing, he began muttering the words to You Make Loving Fun, a song that Benji frequently listened to, and as Ben reached the end of the song, he leaned forward, and as he let his head fall onto the mattress, his tears fell down his cheeks, staining the cotton sheets. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

Ben awoke with a start, and as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes with his left hand, he noticed Cameron standing on the other side of the bed checking the levels in the IV bags, so he cleared his throat slightly and asked, "How long have I been sleeping, Cameron?"

"About five hours, Ben," replied Cameron, as he looked at Ben.

"Damn, I hope I didn't miss anything," said Ben, as Cameron let go of the IV bags.

Shaking his head slightly, Cameron said, "Benji's been asleep the whole time."

"I hope that Benji wakes up soon, Cameron," said Ben quietly.

As Cameron started to comment, he noticed movement just outside Benji's room, and a few seconds later, Kevin and Michael walked into the room, and then Cameron looked back at Ben and said, "Kevin and Michael are here to see you, Ben."

Gently letting go of Benji's hand, Ben stood up, turned around, and when he saw that Kevin and Michael were holding hands, a look of astonishment appeared on his face, and as he looked up at Kevin and Michael, he asked, "Are you and Michael together, Kevin?"

As they walked further into the room, Kevin looked at Ben, smiled and replied, "Yes, Ben, Michael and are together; we've been together for about three years now; a mutual friend of ours introduced us one night at Starbar and we've been together ever since; it's been the best three years of our lives."

"Wow! That's absolutely amazing, Kevin and Michael," said Ben cheerfully.

"I'm glad to hear that, Ben," said Michael, as he looked at Ben and smiled.

"You two make a great couple," said Ben, as he smiled broadly.

"Anyway, Ben, apart from introducing you to my loving partner, I did come here to let you know that we managed to find Sandra, and we charged her with attempted murder after she had confessed to everything; because of that, she'll be staying in the lockup until she goes has to go to court," said Kevin seriously.

Looking at Kevin, Ben said, "I'm glad that Sandra didn't put up a fight."

Chucking slightly, Kevin said, "Sandra didn't, however Adam did."

"What happened?" asked Ben, as he looked intently at Kevin.

"Adam went ballistic when we arrested Sandra; needless to say, that earned him a one way ticket back to the lockup, and that's where he'll stay until his court appearance," replied Kevin, as an evil grin appeared on his face.

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer bastard," said Ben angrily.

"Oh, it gets better, Ben - when I spoke to your principal and filled him in on what Sandra had done to Benji, he informed me that he was going to expel both Sandra and Adam from the school and introduce a zero tolerance policy," said Kevin eagerly.

"That is good to hear," said Ben, as he smiled slightly.

"He also told me that he was going to give you a week off starting tomorrow."

"I was a bit worried about school," said Ben, as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, we're going to go and inform the rest of your family and Ryan about these turn of events, Ben; Michael and I may come by later on to see how things are going with Benji, but if we don't, we wish you and Benji the best of luck, and we'll definitely see you when Sandra and Adam go to court," said Kevin sincerely.

"We appreciate everything that you've done for us," said Ben, as he stepped to the right, walked up to Kevin and Michael, and when he got to them, Ben wrapped his arms around them and drew them into a group hug.

"It's our pleasure, Ben," said Kevin, as he patted Ben on the back with his free hand.

When Ben broke the hug, he stepped back and said softly, "Thanks for everything."

As Kevin nodded slightly, he turned to his left, pulled gently on Michael's left hand, led him to the door, walked out of the room, and when they were no longer in sight, Ben turned back around, looked at Cameron and said, "I'm glad that they stopped by and gave us that information about Sandra and Adam."

Cameron smiled slightly, as he said, "I'm glad that this mess is nearly over, Ben."

"So am I, Cameron, because these last couple of days have been very stressful and trying; I'll be glad when this business of Sandra and Adam is sorted out, and we can all get back to our everyday lives," said Ben emphatically.

"Oh, before I forget, your uncles stopped by just before you woke up to check up on Benji; I told them that Benji was stable, and that he wouldn't need any more blood transfusions for the time being; they were glad to hear that, and Stephen told me that he, Todd, your parents and your gran were all going to head home, and for someone to ring them when Benji woke up," said Cameron, as he looked intently at Ben.

"That's good news about Benji, Cameron," said Ben happily.

Cameron yawned, and then said, "I thought that'd cheer you up a bit."

"It certainly did, thanks for that, Cameron," said Ben, as tears formed in his eyes.

"That's okay, Ben," said Cameron, as he walked around the bed towards Ben, and when he was standing in front of him, Cameron said gently, "I thinks it's best if I give you a ride home, Ben, so you can get a proper dinner and a good sleep."

"As much as I want to stay here with Benji, you're right, Cameron," said Ben softly.

"Give Benji a kiss so we can say goodnight to Ryan and Robbie," said Cameron gently.

Nodding, Ben turned around, walked back to the bed, and when he was standing next to it, he leaned in, kissed Benji's forehead softly, and as his tears started to run down his cheeks, he said, "I'm heading home now, Benji, but I'll be back tomorrow morning, if not sooner; I love you very much." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

When Ben walked into Cameron and Cody's townhouse through the front door, their nephew Mikey, walked into the entrance way, and when he saw Ben, Mikey walked quickly over to Ben, grabbed him in a hug and said, "Uncle Cody told me what had happened to you, Benji and Ryan; it's a good thing that Mitchell and I weren't here when it happened, because we would've done something we would've regretted."

Hugging Mikey tightly, Ben said, "Sandra and Adam have been taken into custody."

"I hope that they get the book thrown at them," said Mikey, as he rubbed Ben's back.

"I'm sure that they will, especially after what they've done to us," said Ben hopefully.

As Mikey broke the hug, he looked intently at Ben and whispered, "Uncle Cody also told me that you and Benji are more than brothers, which I'm okay with, and Mitchell will be the same, so there's no need to hide your feelings for each other in front of us."

"That's good to know, Mikey," said Ben softly.

"Where's Uncle Cameron?" asked Mikey, realising that Cameron wasn't inside.

Just as Ben was about to reply, Cameron ran through the opened door and stopped.

"What's the rush, Uncle Cameron?" asked Mikey, as he looked intently at Cameron.

Turning to face Cameron, Ben saw a glimpse of a smile on his face, and as Ben's eyes widened in anticipation, Cameron replied happily, "Ben, I just got off the phone with the nurse in charge of the ICU, and she told me that Benji is awake and asking for you."

"Oh thank God," said Ben, as tears formed in his eyes. 

(Start of A new Scene) 

As Ben walked quickly into Benji's room, with Cameron, Cody and Mikey walking behind him, he saw that Stephen, Todd, their parents and their gran were standing at the foot of Benji's bed, taking turns at talking to him, and when Ben walked over to the bed and stood next to it, he took Benji's free hand, leaned down, kissed Benji's right cheek, and as fresh tears appeared in his eyes, he said, "I'm so glad that you're back, Benji."

Looking into Ben's eyes, Benji said huskily, "I fought just as hard as Ryan did to get back to you, Ben; there was no way that I was going to let you spend the rest of your life alone; when I heard you say that you loved me very much, that was the inspiration that I needed to bring me back."

"What do you remember?" asked Stephen curiously.

Looking up at Stephen, Benji replied, "I remember confronting Sandra at the letterboxes; she called me a faggot because Adam had told her that he had seen Ben and I holding hands as he was being escorted out of the interview room, and before she came at me with the knife, Sandra said that she couldn't believe that she had had sex with me; I really don't remember that much after she had stabbed me."

"Sandra and Adam will get what's coming to them," said Ben, as he looked at Benji.

Looking intently at Ben, Benji asked, "Has Sandra been caught already?"

"Kevin came by earlier with his partner Michael, who was the MICA Paramedic that looked after me, and told me that when Sandra was caught, she confessed to everything that she had planned and done, and the police also had to take Adam back to the lockup because he went ballistic when they arrested Sandra," replied Ben, as he smirked evilly.

"Well, I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall when the police arrested and charged Sandra for what she and Adam have done to us; I'm also glad that Adam is off the streets and back in the lockup," said Benji gratefully.

"Hopefully the judge we get isn't homophobic," said Todd seriously.

"Why would that make a difference?" asked Benji, as he looked at Todd.

Sighing slightly, Todd replied, "Well, if the judge happens to be extremely homophobic, Sandra and Adam may get a light sentence, as opposed to a sentence that fits the crime that they've committed, and if that does happen, we'll be right within our rights to appeal and take it to the Supreme Court."

"Well fingers crossed that the judge will be on our side," said Benji hopefully.

"I hope that they are, if not, then we'll take it further and get justice."

"They won't stand a chance against Todd," said Stephen admiringly.

As Todd was about to comment, a kind looking nurse walked into the room, and when he saw that there were nine visitors in the small room, he cleared his throat and when Stephen, Todd, Samuel, Teresa, Cameron, Cody, Mikey, Ben, Benji and their gran turned their attention to him, the nurse said, "Unfortunately I'm going to have to ask that some of you vacate the room, because as per our rules, we can only have five visitors in an ICU room at one time."

Nodding his head, Cameron said, "Most of us will be leaving shortly, Andrew."

Doing a double take, Andrew said, "I didn't recognise you, Dr Harrison."

"That's quite alright, Andrew, so don't worry about it," said Cameron kindly.

"Thank you, sir; I'll give you another five minutes," said Andrew cheerfully.

When Andrew had turned around and walked out of the room, with a spring in his step, Stephen, Todd, Samuel, Teresa, Cameron, Cody, Mikey, Ben and their gran turned their attention back to Benji, and Cameron said, "I think that we should leave and let Ben and Benji catch up on things."

Turning his attention to Cameron, Stephen said, "That's a good idea, Cameron."

"We're in favour of that," said Samuel, as he looked at Ben and Benji and smiled.

Fighting back tears, Benji looked around the room and said, "Ben and I appreciate it."

"Just don't do anything that we wouldn't do," said Cody cheekily.

Looking at Cody, Ben smiled and said, "That's for us to know, and you to find out." 

(Start of A new Scene) 

When Ben had finally sat down on the comfortable blue visitor's chair, he looked lovingly at Benji and said, "Despite what has happened to us over the last couple of days, I'm thankful that it has brought us together, and after that scare with you, it's made me even more determined to show you just how much I love you, Benji."

"Just what did you have in mind, Ben?" asked Benji curiously.

"I'd like us to get matching earrings for our left ears," replied Ben softly.

After a few seconds of silence, Benji said, "That sounds like a good idea, Ben."

Smiling, Ben said, "I was really hoping that you'd go for that idea."

"Just remember that means you're married, and you can't play around with other guys," said Ryan cheekily, as he was wheeled into the room by Robbie, and when Robbie stopped the wheelchair at the foot of the bed, he said, "Benji, please tell Ryan that despite what you've been through that you're okay, because Ryan insisted on coming to see you."

As Ben and Benji turned their attention to Ryan and Robbie, Benji looked straight at Ryan and said, "Ryan, even though I crashed on the operating table, and am a bit tender where I had the surgery to repair the vein, I'm doing okay, so there is no need to worry too much about me."

"I know what you're saying, Benji, but I can't help but worry a little bit, because Ben, Robbie and you are now my family, and I've always worried when a member of my family gets injured or sick; I hope that eventually I'll worry less, but for the time being, the worry and stress will always be there."

"I'm sure that we won't mind you worrying now and then, Ryan," said Benji kindly.

"I wouldn't mind that," said Ben happily.

"Neither would I," said Robbie, as he leaned down and kissed Ryan's left cheek.

"Thanks," said Ryan, as he looked at Ben, and then turned his head to see Robbie.

"Now that we have that sorted out, Ben tells me that Robbie will be moving in with us; I have absolutely no problem with that, but we may have to work out some sort of a roster for the bathroom until Ben's en-suite shower is fixed," said Benji seriously.

"Um, there is nothing wrong with the shower in my en-suite, Benji," said Ben softly.

Turning to Ben, Benji asked, "What do you mean?"

With his cheeks turning red, Ben replied, "I wanted to check you out every morning."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Benji said, "You cheeky bugger, Ben."

"You've been so busted," said Ryan cheekily, as he looked back at Ben and Benji.

"Seeing you naked in the bathroom was my thing," said Ben, as he looked at Benji.

"Well, I'm glad that someone was making an effort to check out my attributes."

"I can't wait till you're home so I can give them my attention," said Ben cheekily.

"Our bed will never be the same again, Ben," said Benji, as he smiled.

"Just make sure you keep the noise to a dull roar," said Ryan, as he sniggered.

As Ben looked at Ryan and Robbie, he grinned and said, "We'll keep that in mind."

"That grin means you'll be doing the opposite," said Ryan, as he shook his head.

"He's got you there, Ben," said Robbie cheekily.

"The townhouse won't be the same when we're all there," said Benji thoughtfully.

Turning back to Benji, Ben said, "It's going to be a mad house."

Nodding, Benji said, "You're probably right about that, Ben." 

(4 Weeks Later) 

As Ben, Benji, Ryan, Todd and Todd's father sat on the wooden chairs at the small table on the plaintiff's side of the courtroom, Ben looked over at Sandra and Adam on their side, and as Sandra caught his gaze, she sneered and said, "The judge will see sense and allow us to go free."

"Miss Moore, please refrain from speaking to the plaintiffs."

Sandra looked at their lawyer and said harshly, "Your job is to get us off."

Shaking his head, Ben turned his attention back to his table, and as he did, the bailiff entered the courtroom through a side door, walked to the front of the courtroom, stopped, faced the people present and said, "All rise for the Honourable Judge Adams."

 As Ben, Benji, Ryan, Todd, Todd's father, Sandra, Adam, their lawyer and the others in the courtroom stood, another side door opened, and a tall, slender man, wearing his robes, walked into the courtroom, walked to his bench, sat down on his leather bound chair, shuffled the papers in front of him, then he looked up and said, "Please be seated."

When Ben, Benji, Ryan, Todd, Todd's father, Sandra, Adam, their lawyer and the others sat down, Judge Adams looked at Todd's father, and as he recognised him, he said, "Mr Thomas Radcliffe, it's a pleasure to have someone of your importance in my courtroom for these proceedings."

Nodding, Thomas said, "Thank you, Your Honour, I'm here to support my son."

"Well, we should get to the task at hand," said Judge Adams seriously.

Todd stood up, looked at Judge Adams and said, "Your Honour, my clients and I come before you today to have a very serious matter of assault and attempted murder resolved; four weeks ago today, Adam Moore, on the say so of his sister, Amanda, assaulted Benjamin Williams and Ryan Hanson in the toilets at Traralgon Regional College, and then a couple of days later, Sandra Moore attempted to take the life of Benji Williams, in front of Benjamin's and Benji's home."

"That is a load of rubbish," spat Sandra, as she stood up.

Turning to Sandra and their lawyer, Judge Adams said angrily, "I will not tolerate such an outburst in my courtroom again; Mr Andrews, if you do not regain control of your client, I will have you both charged with contempt."

"You're a pompous old bastard for believing that rubbish," said Sandra angrily.

"Miss Moore, you are close to contempt," said Judge Adams, as he stared at Sandra.

"Just sit down, Sandra," pleaded Adam, as he grabbed Sandra's right hand.

"No, I will not sit down," said Sandra, as she ripped her hand from Adam's hand.

Shaking his head slightly, Judge Adams said, "Miss Moore, thanks to your constant outbursts and these reports and statements from the police, paramedics and hospital staff in front of me, I am ready to pass sentence on you and your brother."

"Your Honour, you can't do that," said Mr Andrews, as he stood up.

"I can and I am, Mr Andrews, so be quiet," said Judge Adams furiously.

"You need stand up, Mr Moore," said Mr Andrews, knowing that they had just lost.

When Adam had stood up, Judge Adams said, "Sandra and Adam Moore, it is my belief that you two are a danger to those that you believe to be inferior to you, case-in-point the attacks that were carried out on Mr Benjamin Williams, Mr Benji Williams and Mr Ryan Hanson, my ruling is this - you are hear by sentenced to fifteen years, which will be served at the Fulham Correctional Centre; there is no possibility of parole."

"Are they able to say goodbye to their family?" asked Mr Andrews softly.

"Yes, they may do so," said Judge Adams, as he banged his gavel.

"Thank you, Your Honour," said Mr Andrews, as he sat down.

 Turning to Todd, Judge Adams said, "Mr Radcliffe, all the costs that your clients have incurred will be paid by the defendants, so I ask you to have your law firm draw up an invoice and present it to Mr Andrews within one week."

Nodding, Todd said, "My father will see to that, Your Honour."

"That will be fine, Mr Radcliffe," said Judge Adams, as he smiled knowingly.

Ben stood up, looked at Judge Adams and said, "Thank you, Judge Adams."

Turning to Ben, Judge Adams asked, "Thank you for what, Mr Williams?"

"For not being homophobic," replied Ben softly.

"That's quite alright, Mr Williams," said Judge Adams gently.

Posted: 04/15/16