The Art of Discovery

Title: The Art of Discovery
Pairing: Shayne/Daniel
Genre: Original, General/Romance
Word-Count: 9400
Rating: NC-17 in later chapters for a male/male relationship, language, and sexual situations.
Other Distribution: Adult Fan Fiction (Temporarily Down),Bent-Fiction, Livejournal , and Original Slash Fiction on Yahoo Groups
Summary: COMPLETE! Daniel has just returned from a weeklong school trip and has a few questions floating around in his brain. Will Shayne, the new kid in town, be able to help answer them?
Author's Notes: None




The Art of Discovery

Chapter Four:

Three days later the dinner plans were made and the Thrasher’s were on their way over at six o’clock. Daniel was nervous, partially because he didn’t think he’d like Shayne’s parents after what the boy had said about them. But then, there was Shayne himself. They had been getting along fine at school, acting almost as if they’d known each other for years. Daniel had even drug Shayne to sit with him and his friends, playing the peacekeeper to James’ jokes.

No, he wasn’t nervous like he had been that first day, worried that the new kid would start something. Or that he would start something. Now he was nervous in the good way. Nervous to see an upcoming friend’s family and wondering if he’d have to dispel his friend’s flirty attitude for the night.

"Mrs. Thrasher! Hello, I’m Daniel."

"Look, Thomas, what a charming young man!" the elder woman said to her husband, "You must be Margaret’s son! Is everything ready? I hope we’re not to early."

"No, not at all. Come in. Mr. Thrasher. The kitchen’s that way."

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Thrasher said as she headed through the doorway followed closely by her husband.

"They don’t seem that bad," Shayne said when he saw Daniel looking at him, "But you don’t live with them."

Daniel let out a small laugh, "I know what you mean. Come on, let’s get this over with." Shayne walked by him, their hands fleetingly touching for a moment.

"Oh, it looks lovely, Margaret! I’m sure everything’s perfect." Mrs. Thrasher said.

"And I assume your Bill?" Mr. Thrasher said, "It’s seems these ladies already know too much about each other and here you and I haven’t even met."

"It’s Thomas, right? Great name, my grandfather had it. Oh, Daniel, won’t you go help your mother."

"Sure, Dad."

By the time dinner was served everyone had been introduced, the weather had been reported, and the news was currently on non-stop. Daniel rolled his eyes and looked to Shayne who was still sitting next to him. "Are we still on for Friday night?" he said over the clatter of the adults conversations.

"If you want. Did you talk to Lizzie?"

"I think I may have just barely have squeezed out of this one. I don’t know if she believes me, though. And I don’t know what I’m going to do next week when James starts it up again."

Shayne laughed and forked the chicken. "This is good, by the way."

Daniel shrugged, "She tries."

"She succeeds," Shayne said, pointing a fork at him.

"Wouldn’t that be fine, dear?"

"Huh?" Daniel looked up, suddenly realizing his mother had been addressing him.

"Wouldn’t that be fine?"

"What?"

"Honestly, Daniel, don’t you ever listen?" He felt his face get red. "The Thrasher’s both have business meetings that they have to attend on Friday. It would be fine if Shayne wanted to stay here, wouldn’t it? We have to be gone too, if you haven’t forgotten. I would feel better if he stayed here anyway. That way you have each other so hopefully nothing will happen to you."

Daniel sighed. "You’re so paranoid." His father raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, I mean, sure! It’s fine!"

Daniel pushed his food around on his plate until the adults had started conversing again before he said, "Is that why you wanted to do something on Friday."

"Maybe." Shayne said with a mischievous smile.

"Well, I do believe THIS merits as an excuse. Although….James is gonna kill me if he finds out I’m not having a party."

"There will be no parties, son." Came the strict voice of his father.

"Oh course not, sir. I was only….uh….making conversation." He bowed his head to his food again.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"At the expense of making this sound like a slumber party, I have movies, popcorn, and tons of gossip." Daniel said as he let Shayne in the door on Friday afternoon.

"Gossip? Gossip isn’t part of a slumber party. It’s just an ill side effect."

"Like you’d know."

"You’d be surprised." Shayne dumped his stuff at the end of the couch. "This is starting to feel like home, since I’m here all the time."

"Ah, why not? Home is where the heart is."

"Really? Then my heart’s constantly walking around nestled in the nether regions of some very attractive males."

"Your problem," Daniel said, taking a bite out of a bowl of popcorn on the endtable, "Is that you leave nothing to the imagination."

"Yes, but it’s also what people find attractive about me."

"I see. You want to go up to my room? Bigger TV."

"Comfortable bed."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Kick-ass computer."

"Which your parents never look at."

"True. So why are we still standing here?"

They raced up the stairs, Shayne settling in what he now called "his chair". "So, I guess you feel better, huh?"

"Better?" Daniel asked, settling in his rolling computer chair to check his email.

"Yeah. About me."

"I didn’t feel good at you?"

"When we first met, dumbass."

"Oh. Yeah. I guess I feel better. Still afraid you might jump me though."

"And I’d bet you’d put up one hell of a resistance."

"Maybe. Maybe not. So what do you want for dinner, because if you think I’m cooking, you’re off your rocker." Silence met him so he turned to look at the blonde and found the other just staring at him.

"Maybe not?" Shayne asked, crossing his arms.

"I was joking."

"Sure you were. And I don’t care. Food is food."

"Alright, well I’ve got a dog in the back. It’s considered food."

Shayne kicked the chair so Daniel rolled a foot across the floor. "Don’t be smart. Anything I would consider food is food."

"That’s egotistically."

"Someone’s got to be."

Just then Daniel’s cell phone rang. "Oh, sorry, it’s James." He flipped open the phone and shrugged as he answered it. "Hey."

"Hey. You’re parents are out of town and don’t you lie. Lizzie said that you stood her up cause your parents are making you hang out with that Shayne kid. That right?"

"More or less."

There was a sigh. "You didn’t tell me."

"You’re not my diary."

"You haven’t told me what happened on that damned trip either. What’s up with you?"

"Nothing’s up with me and whatever happened on that trip doesn’t matter. It wasn’t anything important anyway. I’ll see you on Monday." With that he hung up and shook his head as he turned his cell phone off.

"Trouble in paradise?" Shayne tentatively asked.

Daniel shrugged. "James. He’s a bastard."

"Oh."

"It’s just….I don’t know. There was that trip I told you about-track. Something happened that upset me a little and…I just don’t want to talk about it with him. I don’t think he’d understand."

"Oh."

"He’s my best friend and all, but," Daniel shrugged.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What are you? A cheerleader? You know I was only joking about the gossip."

Shayne rolled his eyes. "Everyone, even jocks, likes gossip. Come on." He threw himself on the bed and motioned for Daniel to come sit with him. "Or is this too personal to talk about with me? Cause I understand. I mean, I’ve only know you for a week."

"No." Daniel sat on the bed and sighed. "Well, it’s…" His heart was beating a thousand miles an hour. He was seriously thinking about telling Shayne that he could possibly be….gay. He’s gonna jump me now, I know it, Daniel thought. "There was this guy."

"Okay. Well, that was really specific and I can understand how you’re so upset. It’s all so clear to me now!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "We were at this club and all of my friends were doing something else and I’d had a few. There was this guy. I thought he was…. well ….attractive."

"Are you trying to tell me you fucked a guy?"

"No! It was just harmless flirting, I guess. But then the guys came and got me. They never noticed."

"So you’re worried about what could have happened?"

"Yeah, I guess." His palms were sweaty and he was fidgeting with the corner of the blanket, waiting for Shayne to say something. Silence met him. He looked up into clear blue eyes that looked a little surprised and interested.

"Did you want something to happen?"

"What? No!"

"Come on. Answer truthfully. At that moment in time, if it had been just the two of you. No one to distract you. No one to care. Did you want it to happen?"

They stared at each other for a moment, before Daniel squeaked out, "Yes."

"So, what you’re saying is that you’re gay?"

"Yes….No!….I don’t know!"

"You’re just confused?"

"Yes."

"And how exactly do you plan to sort this out."

Daniel shrugged and started fidgeting again, "I just….wasn’t thinking about it." He felt the bed shift a little and looked up to realize that Shayne had scooted closer to him. "S-shayne?"

"Yeah," the other whispered. Daniel’s eyes lowered from Shayne’s eyes to his lips and he felt his breath hitch.

Contine to Chapter Five

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