Although no one felt much like eating after the horror of the package, common sense meant they all sat down with a cuppa and a sandwich. They had just finished eating when the doorbell rang. Dave, rose to answer it.

“Look I'm sorry Harry, it's not a good time at the moment, can she call you…”

His attempted dismissal of Harry was interrupted by Drew. “It's okay dad, I'd like to see Harry.” Dave shrugged his shoulders and muttered, leaving the teens at the door.

“I saw the police earlier, just came to check you were okay. Thought I'd better wait for the olds to calm down first. What happened?” asked Harry as they walked out into the drive. Drew related the incident with the box and the doll. “Yuck, that is so gross;” he said, “I'd like to get my hands on that bastard; next time I'll brain him good and proper.”

“Next time, it's my turn,” said Drew clenching his fist so tightly his long nails left indentations in his palms.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go for a walk or a ride, but I suppose that's out now?” said Harry putting his arm on Drew's shoulder. Drew could feel the warmth through his top. Not long ago that would have freaked him out, but now it offered some hope of strength and protection from Harry. Drew felt reassured by it.

“Yeah,” answered Drew, “I like went for a ride with mum this morning. Got a bit outta breath, but otherwise it was okay. Wanna just sit in the garden?”

“ ‘kay,” said Harry and they walked to a seat in the rear garden, his hand now around his girlfriend's narrow waist. Drew, aware of the wandering hand, again felt reassurance. He didn't want to be alone, the incident had unnerved him; despite his attempted show of bravado he was scared. At the same time, he didn't want his parents around all the time, so Harry made a reasonable substitute bodyguard.

“How's the new bike?” asked Drew, sounding genuinely interested, because he was.

“ ‘kay, I've gotta a different wheel I use for the turbo, takes me two minutes to change it over.”

“Good idea, I usually let dad do all of my mechanics. I mean, I like know how to change a wheel, but I like, let dad do it for me. He enjoys it, or like, seems to, so why spoil his fun? Besides, I'd get my fingers dirty.”

Drew held his long fingers out, palms down. He looked at the long painted nails, thinking he'd have to cut them when he got home. Harry held out his hand in a similar way, it was broader than Drew's and his shorter fingers were tipped with nails that were broken and in places dirty with oil stains. “You have very pretty hands,” he said to Drew.

Feeling embarrassed and a little shy, Drew replied, “I'll bet you say that to all the girls.”

“I've never said it to anyone before, never noticed before,” said Harry, his blush nearly deeper pink than Drew's. Then he clasped Drew's hands in his and said, “Gaby, I really like you a lot, ‘n' I mean a lot!”

Drew suddenly felt very hot, he wanted to pull his hands away but didn't want to hurt Harry's feelings. “Can I have my fingers back?” he managed to half whisper after a minute or so.

Harry suddenly aware of what he was doing, blushed even more deeply, released Drew's hands very quickly and said, “Oh yeah, sorry, I was like miles away for a minute.”

Drew needed to calm things down without hurting Harry and thinking about what Maddy or Jules would say, he rejected it and spoke from what he felt as Gaby. “I like you lots too, but after this mornin' I'm like not exactly in the mood for…..”

“Course not, no I understand. Sorry, do you want me to go?” asked Harry, now absolutely beetroot and sweating profusely.

“No, you can stay, but can we like, just talk?”

“Yeah, course,” said Harry breathing an inaudible sigh of relief.

“Am I the first girlfriend you've had?” asked Drew, wondering why he'd said it.

Harry blushed again and looked at his feet, which he rubbed together. He was about to speak and instead, blushed even more deeply. Drew watched him intensely, he thought he could detect tears forming in the boy's eyes. He rubbed Harry's rough hand and said, “Don't worry, I'm sure there'll be lots, all of them nicer than me.”

Drew was aware of the unevenness in the power of their relationship; Harry was like a puppy dog. It frightened him because it was all based on deception, he wasn't a girl but it was too late for him to tell Harry. If he did come clean, who knows what would happen. Harry could beat him up for starters, then he or his family could inform the press and then there'd be all sorts of problems. The only get out was that he'd told the police and the doctors he was transsexual, so he could say he was becoming a girl.

On one level, he recognised that this might be true, certainly his body wasn't like most other boys of his age, such as Harry. He also found himself worrying about how easily he seemed to adapt to all this girly stuff. Once home he could stop, but he actually liked some of it and the clothes seemed a better fit.

Harry looked Drew in the eye, “I don't want other girlfriends, I just want you.” He blushed again and looked at his feet once more.

Oh poo! thought Drew to himself, this can't go on, he's completely besotted. “You don't know me that well,” offered Drew, seeking some escape from the intensity of the emotions.

“Yes I do,” said Harry, “I know you very well,” he continued examining his shoes as he said it.

“But you don't,” insisted Drew, “I'm horrible really.” He then wondered how he could qualify the statement, he thought of Jules and Maddy, then the answer came to him. “When I'm on, I'm really nasty and irritable; even mum leaves my food at the door of my cage.” He meant this to sound as bad as he could, however, being nasty wasn't really one of his traits and Harry knew it. Instead of being put off, he was chuckling.

“What are you laughing at?” he tried to snap at the boy but as the words left his mouth, he too began to snigger.

“You,” laughed Harry, “trying to put me off. But I do know you and even if it was true that you were kept in a cage when you were on, I still wouldn't believe it. I've like, seen you in all sorts of situations. You are funny, and brave, braver than me; you are determined but generous. You like to win, but not at any price. You are the nicest person I know as well as the prettiest….”

Now it was Drew's turn to blush and tear formed in the corner of his eyes, “But I'm not, I'm not the nice soft hearted girl you think I am. I am ruthless and will win at any cost; I am nasty at times, you ask Jules or Maddy….”

“I don't care, I love you….” Harry paused as he said this, as if the words slipped out without him meaning to let them go; “There, I've said it.”

“Please Harry, I can't listen to this. I shall be going home anytime now, we may never meet again, please don't get too attached; I don't want you to get hurt, I'm not what you think I am.”

“I don't care if you told me you were really a boy, I'd still love you. I can't help it.” He looked imploringly at Drew, who was standing and about to move away.

“That's it, how did you guess?” said Drew, “What gave me away?” He almost felt relief, at the same time an awareness of how dangerous the next moment or two could be.

“It was really easy,” said Harry, “All the boys I know wear dresses and are very pretty, they all have tits and big arses with tiny waists, how much more do you need?”

Drew sighed, his secret was safe but his predicament was the same. “You wouldn't believe me if I said I was, would you?”

“Don't be silly, you are the prettiest girl on the planet with an amazing body. If you really are a boy, then I'm turning gay. Besides, you've like, been in hospital and dealt with the police, if you were a boy, I think they might have noticed.”

“Yeah okay, I'm a girl, but I had you worried; admit it,” said Drew, trying to cut his losses.

“Oh yeah, big time. I may be a bit dull but I'm not like totally stupid. Only someone who'd been dead for three years couldn't fancy you. Since I've known you my life has been like, transformed. Gaby, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you, I can't like, help it.”

Drew began to worry again, there was that little four letter word again. “No, you mustn't, you don't know where I've been; I might have some… no that's it, I've like got some horrible disease. Yeah, don't come to close…you'll catch it…no don't…..mmmph.” Harry walked up to Drew and kissed him on the mouth. Then he held him tightly and kissed him again.

Drew pushed him away, “You'll catch it now, your legs will drop off and…”

“I don't care,” smiled Harry, “I don't give a shit.”

“No Harry, this can't happen. I have a boyfriend back home, we're engaged, I'm going to have his baby, I'm…”

“I don't care, I love you,” said the boy his face beaming with his love.

“But I don't love you, I'm gay, I'm gonna marry Maddy; we're lesbians….”

“It doesn't matter..”

“But it does,” said Drew and seeing Harry advancing again, ran for it slipping into the house and slamming the door and bolting it.

Dave came rushing out, “Everything alright kiddo?”

Drew threw himself into his father's arms and sobbing said, “No it isn't.”

“Did that boy try anything, I'll sort him out if he so much as…”

“No daddy, he didn't,” sobbed the wunderkind.

“So what happened?” asked Dave, hugging his child and rubbing her back.

“He told me he…(sob).. loves me…..I tried to tell him…(sob)… not to, but he..insssissted…(sniff).”

“Do you want me to have a word with him?” said Dave in a tender but firm tone.

“No…(sniff)…I've told him….(sob)…I can't see him again…(sob)…ever.”

“That's probably for the best chicken, let's face it, it was beset by a few problems from the beginning.” Drew clutched tightly at his father's waist, holding as closely as he could. “He doesn't know, does he?”

“I tried to tell him..(sniff)… but…he..(hiccup).. wouldn't believe me.”

“I'm not surprised, I wouldn't believe you either and I'm your dad. Gaby, you are a very pretty girl, no wonder he fancied you.” He continued to hold his sobbing, sniffing offspring.

“That..(sniff)..like, doesn't help daddy.”

“No, I'm sorry sweetheart, it was wrong of me, I'm sorry.” He held Drew very tightly and squeezed gently, rubbing his cheek against the top of Drew's head. “Am I forgiven?”

Drew looked up at his father and said, “Yes daddy, of c…c…course (hiccup) you are.” He clung tightly to his father again. Dave looked down at Drew and wondered how many more times this would happen. Jules, who was a stunner had had lots of boys chasing her over the years; she had found it difficult at times, and she had always been a girl. Gaby was even prettier, and new to girldom, she would have a very steep learning curve to cope with and there would be quite a few more tears.

Jenny wandered out to the kitchen, “Everything alright?”

“Yes luv, just helping with a little misunderstanding amongst young loves.”

“He didn't hurt you, did he?” she asked of Drew.

“No mummy, it wasn't like that.”

“In fact it was the opposite,” said Dave, “he proffered his undying love.”

“Oh dear,” said Jenny, “what we gonna do with you?” She held out her arms and Drew snuggled in them. “This being a girl business has it's tough moments. Still, never mind, what did you say back to him?”

“I told him it was a mistake,” said Drew very quietly.

“And his response?” asked Jenny, an old hand at dealing with boys.

“He said, “It didn't matter,” So I told him I already had a boyfriend back home, he said the same.”

“Oh, that usually works with holiday romances,” said Jenny, thinking that Gaby was getting the hang of this very quickly.

“But it didn't, so I told him I was pregnant.”

“You what?” said Jenny aghast, Dave was heard coughing in the background.

“When that didn't work, I said I was lesbian.” Drew made these statements with a deadpan delivery.

“Gaby, I don't think I want to hear anymore of this conversation!” said Jenny trying to keep a straight face. Dave had had to leave the kitchen to wipe the tears running down his face and couldn't let Drew see him. He locked himself in the small cloakroom and was chewing on the towel in an attempt to stop himself laughing. He knew that both Drew and Jules could be funny in what they said, especially when they were unintentionally so. He wasn't sure if Gaby was taking the proverbial, or genuinely wasn't aware of the effect her statements had on her parents.

“Surely, she must know……” spluttered Dave to himself, before the giggles came back again. Twice more he tried to control himself, each time he lost it again. It was only when he thought of something really sad, was he able to control himself. He let himself out of the cloakroom praying he didn't run into Gaby for at least a few minutes.

Jenny went upstairs after dismissing Drew. Like Dave, she was in danger of losing control, and hurried to the bathroom where she laughed herself silly, disguising the noise by flushing the toilet.

Meanwhile, downstairs Drew was entertaining the two teens with a blow by blow account of his conversation with Harry. They were giggling too, and when he related how his parents had cracked up, they literally rolled about on the floor with laughter. It was a good half hour before adults and teens interacted again.

Harry had sloped off back to his house feeling very dejected. His feelings had been exposed and she had run scared from them. He understood that, he hadn't meant to tell her just yet, but now she knew and it freaked her out. The only mildly amusing bit for him was when she said she was a boy. He chuckled at that and at his response to it. He couldn't think of anyone who was less like a boy. The only thing she did like a boy was race bikes and top female athletes always did train and compete like boys or men, it was okay, provided you didn't get in the way. “Maybe she was scared I'd get in the way of her riding,” he said to himself, “but that's not the case, because I like it too. Surely she can't like, think I'd beat her one day. Nah, she wouldn't think that, would she. Maybe that's what it's all about, can't take the possibility that I might out race her one day. I mean it could happen, as I'll be a man and she'll be a woman, and men are like, stronger.

He walked on, then he recalled something he'd read the day before. He'd been reading about famous cyclists and he came across Beryl Burton, who had been the top British rider for a generation. She even beat a male rider on a twelve hour time trial competition. He thought about what he'd read, that was it, she'd caught and overtaken the bloke who was at the time breaking the men's record, and she continued on for about eleven miles further than him. She was obviously a gifted rider, just like his Gaby. He'd love to break some men's record only to have her do a Beryl Burton to him. But did she believe she could, or was she scared he'd be faster than she?

He needed to find out, but how; seeing as she'd run away from him? How could he show her she was safe or win her hand? Okay, it was old fashioned but something to impress the girls never dated completely, and it would give him something to do instead of mope. He wasn't finished yet, no matter what her reason for giving him the brush off, he'd prove her wrong and his love would conquer all.

Suddenly he felt quite a bit better and to his astonishment he started humming a song by Wet Wet Wet, “Love is all around,” “I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes….dum de dum de dum dum…and so the feeling grows.” He hummed another verse or two and remembered some more words, “You know I love you, I always will my mind's made up by the way I feel…..” He rushed home to find the CD, which he thought was his mother's.

He lay on his bed listening to the track over and over again, by which time he knew the words pretty well by heart. It helped raise his spirits while giving him an unrequited sense of pain, something he had in common with many of the great poets, writers and heroes of all time. He needed something to impress her, then he found his answer, but he'd need some help and it was a fairly high risk strategy on several levels.

He picked up his mobile and called for reinforcements. “Will, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Dunno mate, why?” replied William.

“Need your help.”

“To do what?”

“It's like this…..”, he explained his master plan to his best friend.

“You outta ya mind?” gasped his friend after he'd heard it.

“Desperate situations like call for desperate measures.”

“You are out of your tree, ain'tcha?” commented an unimpressed William.

“No, but I will be if I can't get her back,” confessed Harry.

“Jeez mate, no chick is worth all that, not even one as hot as Gaby.”

“That's your opinion, I happen to disagree. Now, will you help me or not?”

“Dunno, sounds dangerous to me.”

“Don't go chicken on me now Will, think how it'll impress all the babes at the fair.”

“I don't need to impress anyone.”

“Oh yeah, so who you going out with, then?”

“No one at the moment, but I like, have loadsa options.”

“Go on, tell me who?”

“Nah, I'm not tellin' you everythin'.”

“You lying toad, Will. You haven't got anyone have you?”

“Okay, I haven't at the moment, but it's a temporary arrangement.”

“It sure will be if you help me pull this off.”

“I dunno….”

“You'll be fighting them off, I guarantee it,” Harry knew he'd found his friend's Achilles heel, and he continued to push against the opening door. After another ten minutes, William agreed to help him and to go around to Harry's house.

Angharad ap Gwilym 05.11.06 © 2006
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