Building Things

Building Things

Chapter 7

Derrick and Ty pulled into the driveway of the house. Ty got out and walked down the driveway toward the back. He reached his truck and opened the door. He pulled out his cargos and tee, and began to unbutton the shirt Derrick had let him wear. Derrick came down the driveway, in time to see Ty changing at the truck.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm." Derrick said, looking over Ty's beautiful naked body. "You definitely know how to get my attention, don't you?"

Ty smiled out of the corner of his mouth, half looking at Derrick. "I try." Ty said, as he slipped on his cargos. "I'm going to get a few things done on the garage, and then I'll be back in the morning. I wasted enough time today."

Ty sounded matter of fact, which took Derrick by surprise. "Alright." Derrick said softly. "I'll leave you to it, then." Derrick turned and walked into the house, not looking back. He took the plans and lay them on the table, and went to the bedroom. He took his clothes off, and slipped into some shorts and a tee, then some sandals. He went back out into the kitchen, over to the table. He could hear the pounding of the nails coming from outside, as he opened the plans, laying them out. He looked over the notes that he had made at the Van Owens and started to relay them to the plans, making changes here and there.

After a bit, Derrick suddenly noticed that the hammering had stopped. He set his pencil down and walked out the back door. Ty's truck was gone. Derrick walked off the back steps and out to the garage. He looked around at the outside walls. All of the siding was up, the corner boards, tightly joined, the windows, all trimmed out, even the fascia was up and in place. It was absolutely beautiful. He was very happy.

It looked like all that remained was finishing the interior, the plumbing, and the electrical trim. Derrick walked around the inside of the garage. There were a few tools scattered here and there, most of them were in the bathroom area, left by Bart, the plumber. It occurred to Derrick that Bart hadn't come back, hmmm, he'd have to call him to find out what was going on. It was getting dark inside. He walked out, closing the door behind him.

He was bothered by Ty leaving. He didn't even say anything, just up and left, even though he had said he was going to go and be back in the morning, Derrick thought he would at least say goodbye or something. Derrick shrugged it off and walked back into the house. He walked into the kitchen, and there sat Paul, at the counter, waiting.

"Okay, dippy, what'd you do?" Paul asked, swinging one leg back and forth under the barstool.

"What do you mean?" Derrick asked.

"I mean, what did you do? That made Ty leave like that?"

"Leave, like what? I didn't do anything." Derrick was getting his dander up. "Cut the shit, Paul. Leave like what?"

"I watched him put all of his stuff in the bed of the truck, get in, and back out of the driveway. Didn't you hear him? Didn't he say anything?"

"Yeah, he said he was going to take care of a few things outside, and then he would see me in the morning. Are you saying, you think something's wrong?"

"Well, you two haven't been able to keep your hands off each other the past few days, and now, you guys come back here, and then he leaves? Yeah, I'd say something might be wrong. What do you think?"

Derrick thought for a long moment, went over and sat at the table, staring out the window, into space. He put a hand to his mouth, and rested his chin on the palm, tapping his fingers on his upper lip.

"What happened today, Derrick? You two left together, came back together. Did you have an argument or something?"

"No, we didn't. But, you're right, I did something stupid."

"Well, I hope you can fix it." Paul said softly.

Derrick turned and looked at his old friend. "I just hope he comes back."

Paul got off the stool, walked across to Derrick and gave him a hug. "I'm sure he will."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going over to Matt's for the night. I have a shoot tomorrow, early, ugh, and really need to be in town." Paul stood up, placing a hand on Derrick's shoulder. "You gonna be okay?" Derrick looked up and smiled at his old friend, and nodded. "Go to bed, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, late in the afternoon, okay?" Derrick nodded again.

Paul gathered his things and walked out the back door. Derrick heard the car start and drive out of the driveway. He set himself back to the drafting. He decided to work a few more hours and then call it quits. Ty was wearing heavily on his mind. If he didn't show up in the morning, Derrick thought he might go into the office and do the plans formally on the computer system, then produce new sheets. It all depended on Ty.

Darkness enveloped the house, except the kitchen where Derrick worked at the table, over the plans. Several changes had been made to all of the sheets and Derrick had even started some new elevations. Hours had passed, Derrick didn't even realize how much time until he realized how dry his throat was. He looked up at the clock, seeing it was after midnight, he lay his pencils down. He was done.

He walked over to the fridge and opened the door, pulling out a bottle of water. He opened it and drank deeply. He resealed the bottle and closed the door. He turned off the kitchen light and went down the hallway to the bedroom, stripping his clothes and climbing into bed. The sheets felt good on his skin as he settled in, and went quickly off to sleep.

Derrick awoke to movement next to him, feeling a warmth, and then hearing breathing. He rolled over and opened his eyes. In the predawn light, there was a familiar figure, he immediately recognized it, and smiled inwardly to himself.

"What are you doing?" Derrick whispered.

An arm lay over Derrick, then a hand touching his back, pulling him closer. Lips touching his, softly, then pulling back. Warm breath coming across Derrick's face.

"I was missing you." Ty's voice whispered in reply. "I came to apologize."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who should apologize. I never should have drug you into this mess I'm in, with these people. In fact, I don't know why you didn't kick my butt for doing it."

"You did it because you needed help. I understand that. But, I was angry because I thought you were dumping this on me. I finally realized you weren't. So, I want to apologize for being angry at you and taking off the way I did."

"No harm done." Derrick whispered. "I won't let it happen again, though. I don't want to risk harming what we have together."

Ty smiled back at him. "You're not." He kissed Derrick softly again. "Now, go back to sleep."

"Are you sure you want me to? I was hoping we could...?"

Ty chuckled, and then buried his mouth into Derrick's neck, softly nibbling on him, making Derrick moan.

Morning light streamed through the large window at the foot of the bed, bathing them in light. Derrick rolled over, facing Ty, who was sleeping soundly on his side facing Derrick. Derrick reached up and softly traced the outline of Ty's jaw with a finger, bringing Ty out of his sleep.

"Morning." Derrick whispered.

"Morning, beautiful." Ty replied. "I like this."

"What?"

"Waking up next to something as beautiful as you are."

Derrick smiled. "I think you're still dreaming. I haven't shaved for a couple of days..."

"Makes it even sexier." Ty cut him off. "I need to get up and get moving."

"What's your hurry?"

"The boss is picky, and if I'm late...well, he might get bitchy." Ty said, as he pulled the sheet back, rolling off the bed. He stood up and grabbed for his clothes on the floor. Derrick propped himself up on one elbow, watching him.

"I could talk to him and tell him to ease up on you, if you'd like."

"Well, maybe. I hear he's pretty unreasonable." Ty replied as he buttoned his cargos. He didn't react fast enough to the pillow hitting him in the face. "See what I mean?"

"Talk about being unreasonable." Derrick said. "Now, get those shorts off and get back into this bed."

"Bitchy. Guess you need some coffee, huh?"

"Why you..." Derrick said as he rose off the bed toward Ty. Derrick quickly reached out and grabbed Ty by the arms and pulled with everything, shifting Ty toward him. Ty pushed back into Derrick, throwing Derrick off balance, the two hit the bed, Ty on Derrick as Ty broke Derrick's grip and wrapped his arms around Derrick, pinning Derrick's arms to his sides. Ty ground his hips on Derrick as they went face to face.

"Ohh, instantly hard." Ty whispered into Derrick's mouth. "You like it rough, don't you?"

"Only with you." Derrick whispered back, kissing Ty softly.

Ty released his grip on Derrick, and quickly got off the bed, looking down at Derrick, taking in every inch of the beautiful light olive toned skin, the muscular tone, and the thick length he had brought on.

"I'm going to get you some coffee, and then get this day started."

"Uh, you already started it." Derrick replied, slightly shocked, propping up on his elbows. "Now, aren't you going to finish it?"

Ty smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "Yes, I am. But, not the way you think I am. I have a few surprises for you today. And, if you're a good boy, I might finish what we started here."

"You're a tease." Derrick said flatly. Ty shrugged his shoulders and walked around the bed, and then out of the room.

Derrick turned his head slightly right and looked out the large window, looking out across the open areas beyond the house. He could hear the birds singing outside, as he was bathed in the morning light from the window. He lay back on the bed, putting one arm behind his head, propping himself up.

Ty returned a few minutes later, carrying two steaming cups. He held one out to Derrick, who shifted his position, reaching out to take the offering. Ty sat on the edge of the bed, looking Derrick up and down.

"What are you thinking about?" Ty asked softly.

"Today. I have that lunch appointment with Mrs. Van Owen."

"Really."

"She asked me to bring you along as well. But, after yesterday, I don't think..."

Ty perked a little. "I would love to go. I mean, if it's alright."

Derrick looked up at him, bringing his eyebrows together. "Why would you want to go?"

"She seems like she's in pain over all of this."

"Hmmm. That's the impression I got too." Derrick paused for a moment. "Are you sure you would want to go?"

"Yeah, it's for her, right?" Ty asked, and Derrick nodded. "And he won't be there?" Derrick shook his head in answer. "Then, yes, I would like to go."

"Alright." Derrick said, swinging himself up and off the bed. "We'll leave about eleven."

"I'll have to go get some clothes."

"I have a few thing things here." Derrick said, standing in front of Ty.

Ty looked at Derrick's long soft length dangling in front of him, then slowly lifted his gaze to Derrick's eyes. The slow grin crept across Ty's lips. He reached out and touched Derrick's flaccid length, wrapping fingers around it, lifting it up.

"I do have my own clothes, you know. We can stop by my place on our way, can't we?" Ty asked as he opened his mouth and swallowed Derrick fully, burying his nose into Derrick's soft pubes. Derrick moaned as the suction from Ty brought him to full erection. Ty cradled Derrick's balls in his free hand, setting his cup on the floor with the other, bringing it back up the back of Derrick's leg, probing into the crack behind Derrick, slowly finding the opening with one finger. Ty was sliding back and forth on Derrick's full length as he probed deeper with one finger, while the other hand was kneading the full sack in front of him.

"Oh, God." Derrick moaned. "You're gonna make me cum."

Ty squeezed a little tighter and probed deeper into Derrick making him moan louder and lean back a little more, spreading his legs a little wider. Derrick was breathing harder, running his fingers from his free hand through Ty's hair, then he clenched, feeling the wondrous feeling, building up inside him. He cut loose, filling Ty's mouth as he shot out. Ty swallowed twice as Derrick kept pulsing. Slowly Ty pulled off, and let Derrick go, rising to his feet. He kissed Derrick deeply, letting Derrick taste the remnants of himself in Ty's mouth. Derrick pulled back, looking Ty deep in his sparkling eyes.

"Wow." Derrick softly said, catching his breath.

"A small 'thank you'." Ty grinned.

"For what?"

"For letting me be here."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Derrick said, kissing Ty gently. Ty pulled Derrick into a deep hug. "Now, what other surprises did you have in mind?" Ty let Derrick go, taking a step back.

"A few things, all of them outside."

"Really? I think that can wait a while. Why don't you join me in the shower first."

"Tempting. But, I really think I need to get outside."

"What about this?" Derrick asked, rubbing his hand over Ty's cargos and the very large bulge in them. Derrick looked down and could see that Ty was sticking out over the top of the waistline of the shorts. "Are you going outside with that?"

"I see your point." Ty replied, looking down at himself, then back up at Derrick. "What should I do, I wonder?"

"Bury it,..." Derrick whispered as he rubbed it with soft fingertips, "in me...in the shower." Ty kissed Derrick softly.

Derrick could hear the sounds of sawing and hammering from outside as he continued working over the plans at the kitchen table. He smiled to himself hearing it. He reached behind himself and rubbed a hand over one of his cheeks in his shorts. His butt really hurt from the pounding he got in the shower, but it was worth it. Very much worth it. He turned back to his plans, tapping the pencil on the paper. They were done enough for the meeting.

He walked to the back door and looked out at the structure. He could see Ty working, the nail bags around his waist, no shirt, muscle flexing with every movement. Derrick loved watching this, as he leaned against the door frame, sighing lightly to himself. Ty was moving back and forth around the large doorway, checking it over on the trim being all nailed off. He ran his hand up and down over the surface of the wood. Derrick watched intently, wishing it was him that was getting the attention, lucky wood!

"Hey, we should think about getting ready, if we're going." Derrick called out through the screen door. Ty looked back, smiling.

"Alright." He replied. "Give me a few more minutes." Derrick turned slowly away, Ty turning back to his trim.

Derrick was almost dressed when Ty entered the room. He walked up to Derrick quietly and kissed the back of Derrick's neck. "You always look so nice. You have really good taste in clothes, you know?"

Derrick turned around, smiled and then leaned in and kissed Ty. "And you, just taste good." Derrick said, making Ty return the smile. "I have a few things that will fit you, if you'd like to try them."

"Sure. But, I'm a lot bigger than you are in the chest."

"Tight will look hot."

Ty shook his head as he watched Derrick turn and walk into the closet, reemerging with a couple of shirts. He held them out. Ty looked them over and then made a choice. He slipped it off the hanger and then slowly put it on, pulling it together to button it. It was very snug.

"I think it's a little tight." Ty frowned.

"Try and bend in it a little." Ty did as Derrick requested, bending and then twisting a little. "Now bend your arm like you're flexing." Derrick watched carefully. He was satisfied. "I think it's alright. What do you think?"

"It is a little tight. I think you just want to show me off." Ty said, with a wry smile. "What do you think?"

"I think it's incredibly sexy." Derrick answered, giving Ty another light kiss. "And, you're right, I do want to show you off. Now, lets find you some slacks."

Once Ty was dressed, he went in and spiked his short hair, making him look even better. Derrick was impressed. They walked into the kitchen, Derrick rolling up the plans and walked out the back door. They climbed into the car and drove off toward town.

At the restaurant, Derrick parked the Audi and they walked around to the front of the building. There, waiting, was Mrs. Van Owen. She smiled as she saw them approach. Derrick returned the smile, and Ty slid up next to her. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek, making Ty blush. Derrick leaned forward and she wrapped an arm around his neck, giving him a kiss as well.

"My, don't you two look good. I am so glad to see you both." She said brightly. "Shall we go in?"

Once in the doors, the maitre d' looked and gave a smile. "Oh, Mrs. Van Owen." He said, coming from around his podium, "A pleasure to see you." He extended his hands, taking one of hers, smiling even broader now.

"Thank you, Emil. I believe we have a reservation."

"But of course you do." He replied as let her hand go. He turned and raised a hand slightly in the air, signaling to someone. That someone was a tall, slender young man, who slid up next to Emil. He smiled at all of them. "Bradley, show Mrs. Van Owen and her guests to their table, please." Bradley nodded. "Bradley will take very good care of you."

"Thank you, Emil." Replied Mrs. Van Owen, walking behind Bradley, followed by Derrick and Ty. They were seated at a large round table in the center of the room, covered with heavy white linen. The table was already set. Bradley pulled a chair for Mrs. Van Owen, and he slid it in as she sat down. Derrick and Ty sat to each side of her. Menus were already in place on the place settings. Bradley gathered the extras from the empty seats.

The restaurant was full of people. Everyone was looking at them from time to time, smiling, then going back to their conversations. Ty was fidgeting in his seat noticing all of this, feeling very uncomfortable. He picked up a menu, as Bradley said that he would be back in a moment. Ty was annoyed that Bradley hadn't even asked what they would like to drink. Ty looked up over the top of the menu toward Derrick. Derrick caught the gaze, and returned it.

"What do you think everyone is talking about?" Ty asked softly, looking at Derrick.

"Us." Replied Mrs. Van Owen, leaning slightly toward Ty. "Are you alright, dear?"

Ty smiled out of the corner of his mouth at her question. "Yes, I'm fine. What are they looking at?"

"Why, they're looking at you, dear boy. A fine looking man, so striking in his nice clothes, sitting here with an old lady." She leaned closer to Ty, he leaned over a little as well. "They probably are gossiping that I hired a couple of gigolos." She chuckled, Ty blushed, but chuckled himself.

"You are so bad." Ty whispered. Derrick looked lost as he had not heard any of it. Mrs. Van Owen leaned over to Derrick and brought him up to speed. His jaw fell open. Ty laughed out loud.

Bradley returned. He carried and set down an ice bucket on a stand containing a bottle. He turned over glasses at each of their settings upright, and then spun the bottle in the ice, unwrapping it and then carefully popping the cork. He poured a little for Derrick, as Mrs. Van Owen had pointed at Derrick. Derrick sipped it and looked at it through the light. He nodded and then Bradley poured for them all, Mrs. Van Owen first.

"A toast." Mrs. Van Owen said, lifting her glass. All glasses were lifted. "To bringing my son back home, and soon." All glasses touched. "Now, Bradley," Mrs. Van Owen said as she set her glass down, "what would you suggest for lunch?"

"We have a wonderful hot smoked salmon with a white bean and arugula salad."

"Is the salmon fresh?"

"Yes, ma'am. It was flown in this morning."

"That would be fine then, thank you." Mrs. Van Owen answered, closing her menu. "Does that sound alright with you two?"

"That will be fine with me." Replied Derrick.

"Sounds good." Answered Ty. Bradley smiled and walked away after he collected menus.

"Mrs. Van Owen," Derrick began, "I think I have completed the plans to a satisfactory point. I have them in the car. I would like to give them to you, have you and your husband look them over, and then I can submit them for print, then we can submit them to the building department for approval."

"I really don't think that will be necessary to have us review them. We have seen enough to trust what you have done. Do we need to do anything else before they are submitted?"

"Well, if you think it's fine, then all I require is to have them initialed or signed." Derrick said, looking a little worried.

"I would be happy to do that."

"Fine." Derrick said, getting up from the table. "If you will excuse me, I'll just go and get them from the car." Derrick looked at Ty for a moment. "I'll be right back." Ty nodded in reply, watching Derrick walk away.

"Now that we're alone, Evelyn, would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." She replied as she sipped more champagne.

"You know perfectly well what I mean. Why all of this secrecy stuff? You're being so vague about everything. It's driving Derrick crazy. He hasn't slept well the past few nights. He's worried."

"How long have you known him?"

"Not long. He hired me to complete a project at his house. I'm worried about him."

"I would define that as the role of a true friend."

Ty sipped more champagne. He smirked, "I suppose I am at that. And, you're avoiding the question."

She looked into her glass. "I suppose it will come out sooner or later." She gathered her thoughts and set the glass down. She looked into Ty's eyes. "You see...it's my son. It's not what my husband and I want known. You see..." Her voice trailed off as both Derrick and Bradley came back to the table, Derrick carrying plans, Bradley setting plates with lunch.

Derrick sat back down, laying the plans on the other side of the table. Bradley set the plates in front of each of them. It smelled wonderful to Ty. Bradley poured water for each of them. Derrick was shifting his gaze between his two companions.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"Not at all." Ty said, looking down at his plate. "Evelyn was starting to explain all of the facts surrounding her son." Ty dropped his napkin in his lap. "Doesn't this look good? I'm very impressed."

"Really?" Derrick asked, looking at Mrs. Van Owen. "So, what's the big mystery?"

"I really would rather not say." She replied, forking her salad.

"Now, now, Evelyn. We're all friends here." Ty said, leaning toward her a little. "You can't just start something like that and not finish it. I promise, it won't leave this table."

She set her fork down on the plate and put her hands in her lap. Derrick flashed a glance across to Ty, who also noticed what was going on. They both stopped eating, waiting for her. She looked back and forth to each of them and then slowly began.

"My husband began grooming our son at a very early age to take over my husbands interests and holdings. We sent him to the finest schools, making sure that he had the proper education to be successful in what we had hoped would a long and fruitful life, as any parent would do, I suppose. We wanted him to marry, have a family." She cleared her throat softly, lifting her napkin to her lips, then set it down in her lap. "He came home from the boarding school a few years ago, and he was changed. His attitude was different. We noticed it almost immediately. He was more argumentative than what I would consider normal. We, I, pressed him to find out what was going on. That's when he told me..." her voice trailed off.

"Told you what?" Ty asked softly.

"That there would be no marriage in his future, no family." She leaned forward putting her hands on the table. "He wanted nothing to do with it."

"That just sounds like a young man who doesn't know what he wants yet." Derrick said.

"You don't understand." She said softly. "There was a marriage that was prearranged. One of my husbands business associates has a daughter the same age. They grew up together and it seemed natural to have them settle down together. We all made the arrangements years ago..."

Ty smirked a little. "I'm sorry, but, didn't that go out with the Victorian era? He probably just wants to make his own choice."

She turned and looked at Ty. "You don't understand. He did make his own choice, and that's the problem. He has chosen not to marry, because he isn't interested in girls." She tipped her head slightly downward in saying it.

"You're saying he's gay, then?" She nodded slowly in reply to Ty's question. "Well then, I don't..."

She looked up at Ty, her facial expression became one of anger. "My husband and I don't care for it. This has totally changed my husband. He became enraged when he found out and told our son to leave and never return until he could make the right choice."

"I see." Derrick said softly.

"I take it you do not agree?" She asked.

Derrick looked up at her. He rested his elbows on the table, folding his fingers together. "We are not here to judge. Your life and your feelings are your own. It's not up to me to agree or disagree, and quite frankly it's really none of my business." Derrick chuckled a little. "I was afraid that there was something else, like a disability or something that you were keeping a secret. Actually, I'm rather relieved to hear of this."

Her eyes widened at what he said. "Don't you find this...shocking?"

"To be honest, no." Derrick answered, putting his hands back down. He picked up his fork again, and flecked a piece of salmon off and put it in his mouth.

She turned and looked at Ty. "What do you think?"

Ty smiled at her. "Really? I think it's quite alright." He put a hand out and touched the back of hers. "I think you should look at this again. He is your son, after all."

"Yes. But, he has made a bad choice."

Ty pulled his hand back from hers. He leaned a little closer to her. "A bad choice is running a red light. A bad choice is getting into drugs. A bad choice is drinking too much, and then having to go work with a hangover. No, he hasn't made a bad choice. It sounds like he's accepted who he is, and that's a good choice."