Please see Part 1 for disclaimers and archiving information.

"From The Top", Part 3/33
By Clotho (clothomoerae@hotmail.com) and Cathy (huntersglenn@yahoo.com)

*****************************************

After paying John returned to the booth and left a tip for Roxanne, then
raised his eyebrows as he looked down at Dave.  "You ready to go?"

Dave stood up, and drained his beer, thinking it wasn't quite right that
Carter had paid for the both of them.  He pulled out his wallet and handed
Carter a twenty.  "For my share."  Then he remembered he had had a lot of
beer and he pulled out another twenty, also handing that to Carter.

John laughed.  "That's more than the entire tab, Dave.  Keep it."   He
handed twenty back to Dave and grinned.  "Are you ready now?"

"Sure, let's go."  Now that it was going to happen Dave was even quite
looking forward to it - Carter might even do some more new stuff.  Dave
picked up his jacket, and only stumbling slightly made for the door.

John shrugged his coat on, then followed Dave, catching up to him at the
door.  After the warmth of the bar the outside air felt bracing and
invigorating.  John hoped it would sober Dave up a bit.  He paused on the
sidewalk to wait for Dave to get out of the bar.

Dave took a moment to orient himself on the sidewalk before heading off
toward the Jeep.  The night air on his face woke him slightly, and he
turned around to walk backwards.  "Hurry up, Carter.  What's keeping ya?"

John grinned.  "Just giving you a head start, Malucci," he said as he
followed Dave in the direction of the Jeep.  If Dave was drunk, then either
the cold air was working on him or he had a higher tolerance for alcohol
than John had originally thought.  But then, he'd never been in a bar long
enough with Dave to see just how much alcohol he *could* handle.  "You have
the keys.  Hand them over."

Dave pulled the keys out of his pocket, and began tossing them in the air.
"You wan' the keys Carter.  Com'n get them."  He watched the keys going up
and down - the street lights reflected off them -- glittering.  They were
pretty in the night.  Up and down and up and down.

"Dave...quit playing games," John said as he started to walk faster to
reach Dave.  He was a little afraid that the keys would fall through one of
the sewer grates, although that would have been *his* luck had he been the
one tossing them into the air.  Dave was a lucky kind of guy, so something
like that wouldn't happen to him.  Still...they were John's keys.  "Give
them up."

"No."  Dave walked backwards a bit faster -- then lost his footing as the
curb gave way to street.  He stumbled for a second -- then ended up sitting
down hard in a drift of snow.  The keys floated down toward him, and
plopped onto his lap.  Dave looked down at them delightedly.  "See?   They
came back to me!"

John stopped at the curb, laughing.  "Yeah, and you're damn lucky they
landed in your lap!"  He extended his hand.  "Hand over the keys and come
on, it's time to get you home."

Dave looked up at Carter above him, and laughed.  The snow was soft -- it
was also cold, he'd gotten very cold last weekend.  He reached up to grab
Carter's hand.

John tightly clasped Dave's hand and firmly planted his feet on the ground
before trying to pull Dave to his feet.

Carter's hand was warm and soft.  Dave had been half anticipating pulling
Carter down into the snow beside him, but the hand was warm and soft, and
up seemed good.  Somehow Dave found himself facing Carter, and very close
to him.  The keys dropped unnoticed to the sidewalk.

John wasn't sure if he pulled too hard or if Dave had partially jumped up,
but he suddenly found himself face to face with Dave.  Their bodies
touching, separated only by a few layers of material.  John looked down
into Dave's eyes, not sure in the darkness of the night what emotion was in
them.  If only they had been under a streetlight, then maybe John could
have known if Dave wanted to kiss or not.  But they weren't.

And Dave was drunk anyway.  Maybe not very drunk, but drunk nonetheless.
And no matter how much he ached for Dave, John wasn't going to take
advantage of him being drunk in any way.

John took a step back, then knelt down to look for the keys.

Dave wasn't too sure what had happened -- one second he'd been facing
Carter, with his lips tingling in expectation of a kiss, and the next he
was standing alone in the cold night and Carter was in the snow.  "Whach
doin' Carter?"

"Looking for the keys.  Kind of hard to take you home without them."   John
wished he could take the risk of using the cover of night to undo Dave's
pants and show Dave what he really wanted to do while on his knees, but he
was sure that if he even suggested giving Dave a blow job on the sidewalk
that Dave would freak out.  Although, if Dave got too flirtatious, John
might just have to end up pretending to do something like that.  The mere
suggestion would put an end to any and all flirtations.

"You're gonna take me home?"  Dave wasn't too sure what Carter would do to
him when they got home but it sounded like he didn't have an option in it.
Dave carefully knelt and felt around for the keys.

When Dave knelt, John found himself once again tempted to kiss him.  He was
staring so hard at Dave's mouth that he wasn't paying attention to where he
was putting his hands and the next thing he knew, Dave's hand was firmly on
top of his.  John froze, not wanting to break the skin to skin contact.

Carter's hand was soft and dry -- a contrast to the snow surrounding them.
Dave could remember getting very cold in the snow last weekend, and Carter
being warm.  "Ish warm in the car."  Dave moved his hand and felt around
for the keys, finding them a second later.  After you were cold in the
snow, Carter warmed you up in bed and in the shower -- that was what
happened.  "Here, tis."

John took the keys from Dave.  "Thanks."  John straightened, then held his
hand out to help Dave to his feet once more.  "The sooner we get in the
Jeep, the sooner you'll be warm."

Dave stood up, grinning.  Carter was going to warm him up again -- he'd
just said so.  He turned and started walking toward the Jeep again
wondering what Carter was going to do to him this time.

Well, at least Dave seemed to *want* to go home, John thought as he
followed Dave to the car.  John unlocked the passenger door and stood aside
so Dave could get in.  He wanted to make sure his passenger was fully
buckled into the seat and the door properly closed before he drove off.
This cargo was too precious to risk losing.

Dave got in, then abruptly realised that there was no steering wheel.
"Hey, where's the...the..." He made a driving motion with his hands.

"On my side, Dave.  You did enough damage driving when you were sober and
there's no way I'm letting you drive now.  Put your seat belt on."  John
pulled the belt out and reached around Dave's hips to secure it.

Dave lent back -- Carter's arm was reaching across him.  "C'n drive." It
was a formal protest.  He felt himself flare to life as Carter touched
him.  He didn't understand why Carter did this to him -- one man had always
been enough to make it stop for months before.  "You c'n drive too, if you
want."

John tugged on the strap of the belt to make sure it was secure and then he
grinned at Dave.  "Thanks, Dave.  I think I will drive."  John shut the
door, then went to the driver's side and got in.  He remembered where Dave
lived from when he drove him home the previous weekend, but he wasn't quite
sure how to get there from the street they were presently on.  "Do you
remember how you get home from here?"  John asked Dave as he started the
engine.

"Sure."  Dave pointed behind them.  "That way."

John frowned as he remembered they were on a one way street.  He could
drive up to the corner, hang a right, then another right and be headed in
the right direction.  Or he could back his way down the street and hope
that no one turned onto it.  If they did then he could quickly shift into
forward and go in the correct direction.  "Hmm, just how far down that way
do I have to go?"

"Coupla three blocks, then over the bridge."  Dave sat back in his seat,
then leaned forward and turned the heater up.  That was how it worked, the
heater started getting you warm after the snow and before Carter.

John pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to Dave.  Okay, no
backing up.  He'd just have to circle around and hope he saw a street or
landmark that he recognized from before.  He put the Jeep in gear and took
off.  John turned right, then took the next right and drove three blocks,
looking for a sign indicating a bridge somewhere ahead.  There wasn't one.
"Dave, is this a car bridge or a pedestrian bridge?"  John asked as he
remembered then that Dave rode his bike most everywhere he went.

"Bike bridge."  The Jeep was warmer now and Dave sat back in the seat.
"Can't ya find it?"

"No.  And even if I did find it, I wouldn't be able to use it."  John
stopped at the corner and made a snap decision to just take Dave back to
his grandparent's place.  Lord knew there were enough empty guestrooms
there and his Gamma wouldn't mind him bringing home a friend who needed to
sleep off a little too much alcohol.  She was always telling him that his
friends were welcome there, even the ones from County.  Oh, she didn't mean
to sound bitter about his colleagues, but it came out that way every time
she spoke about it.  "I'm taking you home," John told Dave, then he made a
left and headed for the interstate.  The house would be a much different
place this weekend now that his grandparents were back and so was the
staff.  At least Dave knew his way around the place a bit.

"Ya already said that, Carter." Dave grinned, he thought Carter was getting
to sound quite nervy about this whole thing.  He reached over and patted
Carter's leg reassuringly, sure that whatever happened tonight would be
great.

John reached out and grabbed Dave's wrist, firmly moving Dave's hand
aside.  "None of that this time, Dave," he said as he made his way up the
ramp to the interstate.  "I don't need any distractions while trying to
drive."

Dave interweaved his fingers into Carter's.  He was warm, Carter was taking
him home, and going to do things to him there - good things, and there was
a warm glow of alcohol in his stomach.  Life was good.

The road made a steady thrump-thrump beneath the car, Dave laid his head
back against the head-rest.  Warm fingers, warm car, warm Carter.  All was
right with the world.

John gently pulled his hand out of Dave's grasp.  He really didn't want
to.  What John wanted to do was to pull over to the side of the road and
kiss that hand.  Then kiss Dave's mouth.  And then...John shook off those
thoughts.  He was taking Dave to his Gamma's house, only there could be no
sex there this weekend.  John sure as Hell wasn't going to be the family
member who killed off Gamma and Grandfather by giving them both heart
attacks by flaunting a naked Dave in front of them.  Nope.  Not him.  He'd
leave the big scandals to the rest of his family.  Once he had his hand
back, he took a quick look in Dave's direction and saw that his eyes were
closed.  It would be good if Dave could sleep off some of the alcohol, John
thought.

John parked the Jeep in the garage, then reached over to shake Dave's
shoulder.  "Dave, we're here.  Wake up."

"Go 'way."  Dave was warm and comfortable.

"Come on, Malucci.  It's time to go inside."  John shook Dave's arm a
little harder.  "Wake up."

"'side." Carter's voice. It was Carter's voice "Home." Dave forced his eyes
open. "This isn't home."

"No, it's not your place, but you've been here before.  We go in through
the kitchen and up the stairs.  Piece of cake."  John got out of the
vehicle and walked around to the passenger side to open the door.  He
leaned over Dave again and undid the seat belt, then stood aside so Dave
had room to get out.  As John waited, he looked in the direction of the
house, seeing the warm glow of a light on in the kitchen, which meant that
either his Gamma or Corrine was awake and doing something in there.  Maybe
baking cookies?  Dave would like cookies, John thought.

One thing that wouldn't be on the stove would be eggs, bacon, sausage and
French Toast.  And there would be no mess like the one he had made before.
No sitting naked on Dave's lap at the table.  No tending to Dave's wounds.
Nope, none of that.  And nothing happening in the poolroom or his bedroom
either.  Just get Dave inside and tucked into a bed in a guestroom.  Not a
problem, John thought.  Not a problem at all.

Dave got out of the car.  The crisp night air hit his face and woke him
up.  "The gold brick mansion."  He'd been here before, he remembered it
from before.  There had been fun bits and unfun bits.  Dave started walking
toward the doorway.  "Goin' to bed?"

"Yeah," John said as he paused to hit the button that would close the
garage door.  "You're going to bed."  As John walked past his punching bag,
he took a swing at it, suddenly wishing that he had come outside to hit it
around last weekend instead of throwing that damn pan and bringing things
to a slow end.  Well, there was no going back in time to change what had
happened.  That was a lesson they had hammered home in Atlanta.

John intercepted Dave before he reached the side door, then led him to the
kitchen and used his key to open the door.  There was a distinct smell of
oatmeal in the air and John smiled when he saw his Gamma *and* Corrine
seated at the table, a plate of cookies between them and milk in front of
them.  "Hey, Gamma, Corrine.  Gamma, you remember Dave Malucci, don't you?"

Dave looked around.  Yep, this was the kitchen.  He turned to Carter.
"It's clean."

Millicent Carter smiled up at her grandson.  "I remember Dr. Malucci.  I
take it that he's a bit under the weather?"

John grinned.  "Just a bit.  I couldn't make heads or tails of his
directions for his place so I thought I'd bring him here. Is it okay if he
uses one of the guestrooms?"

"Of course it's okay, John.  Pick any one of the rooms you want.  Shall we
plan to include him for breakfast?"  Millicent asked.

John nodded.  "Probably.  He likes breakfast food.  Goodnight, Gamma,
Corrine."  John turned to Dave and grasped him by his elbow.  "The bedrooms
are this way."

"Know the way."  Dave turned back to the ladies and executed an elaborate
bow.  "Goodnight, Gamma and Corralie."

Millicent shook her head, but she was still smiling.  "Good night, you
two.  Sleep well."

"Thank you," John said as he hurried Dave away from the kitchen and toward
the back stairs.  At the rate Dave was going, he'd be telling Gamma and
Corrine about everything that had happened last weekend.  While John didn't
feel uncomfortable with his bi-sexuality, he wasn't quite ready to have his
family know about it.  Not even in a humorous manner.  "And watch what
you're saying, Dave.  For all I know my Grandfather is stalking the
upstairs hallway and I really don't want him to hear how it is that you
know your way around the house, okay?"

"Ya don't?"  Dave stopped on the stairs -- which made the world move
slightly. "Your family's like the guys at work?"  No one at work had even
hinted on Carter liking to fuck guys in all the time that Dave had worked
there -- it hadn't hit the scuttlebutt meter once.  "No scuttlebutt."

"Yeah, no scuttlebutt, Dave." John stopped at the guestroom directly across
the hall from his room.  He opened the door and switched on the overhead
light.  "Will this room be okay?" he asked Dave.

"Here?"  This wasn't the room Dave knew, then a light flickered on in his
head.  "Right, scuttlebutt.  Should talk to the chicks though.  Hafta talk
to the chicks."

"There aren't any chicks here, Dave."  John pushed Dave down into an
overstuffed and very comfortable armchair near the bed, then walked back to
close the door.  John then went to the bed and pulled back the covers.
"The bathroom's through that door," John pointed to the other side of
Dave.  "There should be packets of toothpaste and stuff in there under the
sink.  Gamma keeps the house stocked in case a guest forgets anything."
John fluffed the pillows, then headed toward the door.  "Do you need
anything before I go to bed?"

Dave stood, watching Carter leave.  "You're not going to do me?"  This was
a weird night.

John paused with his hand on the doorknob.  "No, Dave.  I'm not going to do
you.  And you're not going to do me, either.  You're going to brush your
teeth, wash your face and then crawl into bed.  In the morning you'll be
happy that no one was done.  I'll be right across the hall if you need
anything.  Good night, Dave."  John opened the door and then closed it
quietly.  Walking away from a willing Dave was not an easy thing to do, but
John knew he was doing the right thing.  He crossed the hallway to his
room, leaving his door slightly ajar in case Dave needed him in the middle
of the night.

Dave looked at the door shutting in front of him and muttered.  "Why'd I
get drunk then?"


John awoke earlier than he had planned.  He didn't have to be to work until
noon for a twelve hour shift and he had wanted to sleep in a bit.  But the
man in the room across the hall was on his mind and John found himself
awake at an ungodly hour.  He made himself stay in bed, hoping to fall back
to sleep.  But that didn't happen.  John finally gave up on even pretending
to try.  He got up and pulled on socks and shoes, then a fleece jacket.  If
he couldn't be with Dave then he could at least find another outlet for his
sexual frustrations -- and the frustration he was feeling over trying to be
Dave's friend.  John wanted more than friendship.  So much more.

Out in the hallway, John paused by the guest room door.  He put his hand on
it and thought about taking a quick peek inside to check on Dave, but in
the end he kept on walking down the hallway to the stairs.  A few minutes
later the punching bag was taking quite a beating.

Dave woke early.  He rolled over to look at the clock -- but it wasn't on
the usual side.  The clock on the other side said it was a little before
five AM.  He had a mild headache -- but nothing unexpected after a night of
drinking.  On that thought he got up to take a piss.  The bathroom was
elegant and functional -- there was even a glass there so he didn't need to
drink from the spigot.  The water tasted cool and fresh in his
morning-after mouth, and Dave took the time to find the guest toothbrush
Carter had mentioned to clean his teeth.

Dave remembered other things that Carter had said too -- in particular his
refusal to do Dave.  Dave turned hot and cold at the thought that he'd
actually said that to Carter, and that Carter had walked away from it.

On that thought Dave knew he wasn't going back to bed.  He'd woken early so
he wouldn't sleep again, and he really didn't want to lie here in bed in
the Carter mansion -- with or without Carter sharing the bed it was equally
repellent.

Dave also knew that he was on duty this morning -- he had to get into work
before seven.  But that was hours away yet.  He didn't want to stay in this
room, but it was too early to wake anyone -- and he didn't know what he'd
say to Carter anyway.

He also knew after last weekend that he wasn't going to try walking off the
estate -- Dave vaguely remembered a servant from last night.  Maybe she
could call him a cab and arrange to have the gates open when she got up.

Dave dressed himself, and made his way down to the kitchen.  It was silent
and dark.  Dave was suddenly assailed by a vision of a frying pan flying at
him -- he didn't want to stay here, instead he made his way along to the
pool room -- better things had happened there, and if there were towels
about he could do a few lengths until he saw lights appearing in the
corridor.


Millicent Carter propelled her body through the tepid water of the pool.
She was on her last lap of the morning and her old bones and aching muscles
were definitely ready for the whirlpool.  She had cut it on before she
started her laps so she knew the water would be hot now.  She walked up the
steps at the end of the pool and grabbed her towel, drying off her arms and
shoulders as she walked to the whirlpool.  As she settled into the frothing
water, she found her mind considering John's friend, Dave Malucci.  The
young man had indicated that he had been in the house before, and yet,
Millicent had never heard anything from John about that.  She wondered if
Dr. Malucci had any knowledge of the few odd things she and the staff had
found when they returned after New Year's -- soap bubbles in the whirlpool,
a large amount of food missing from the kitchen, even a frying pan was
missing.  Then there were the clothes in the wash that didn't belong to her
husband or her grandson.  Or the men on staff.  Socks and a T-shirt
advertising some odd rock and roll group.  She hadn't gone to John with her
questions.  He had been moody and unusually quiet all week and she was
afraid that things were once again tense at that damned hospital.  Perhaps
Dr. Malucci would know about that as well.

She heard the door open and looked in that direction, half expecting to see
her husband coming in to sit near the whirlpool and drink his coffee while
she soaked.  Instead she saw Dave Malucci walking into the room.

Dave walked a few steps into the room before he realised that the lights
were on.  This he hadn't expected. There was someone in the whirlpool.  He
walked forward toward it.  "Hi there."

"Good morning, Dr. Malucci.  If you'd care to take a swim before breakfast
you can find swim trunks in that storage bin over there."  Millicent
pointed to a bin located by the small refrigerator on the other side of the
room.  "Did you sleep well?"

Dave nodded.  "Uh, yes.  Thanks."  He walked halfway to the bin -- now that
he'd thought of it a swim to get rid of last night's tensions would be a
good thing -- then turned around.  "Mrs. Carter, I'm on duty in a couple of
hours.  I need to get out of the gate, or get a cab in."

"That won't be a problem, Dr. Malucci.  When you're finished with your swim
we'll place a call to a cab company.  By the time you're done with your
shower they should be here.  The fare is not cheap.  Do you perhaps need
assistance with it?"  Millicent stretched her legs in the heated water and
felt the tension slowly seep out of her muscles.

Dave shook his head, he didn't need anyone else to pay for him to get away
from this place.  "Sounds good.  Thanks.  I'll be fine."  He and Carter had
split the tab last night, so there was still money in Dave's wallet.

Dave walked to the bin and found himself looking at neatly packaged new
swimming costumes -- mainly in drab colours.  After a concerted effort he
managed to find some trunks in yellow and red -- okay they were tartan but
at least they were bright tartan.  Dave looked around.  "Where do I
change?"  He wasn't going to strip in front of the old woman that was for
sure.

"There's a bathroom through the door to your right," Millicent informed
him.  "Is John also awake?"  She had seen the look in John's eyes last
night when Dr. Malucci had mentioned being in the house before.  If
Millicent were a betting woman, she would have been tempted to put money on
the likelihood of her grandson and Dr. Malucci spending the night in the
same room.  Of course, she had had her suspicions over the years that John
wasn't strictly heterosexual, but since he seemed to genuinely enjoy women
she had never thought much of it.  She merely trusted that he was being
careful those times when he wasn't with a woman.

"Dunno."  Dave was about to go get changed when he realised that he really
didn't want to see Carter -- not after what he'd said last night.  "I could
go now."  The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded -- but
the old woman was still sitting in the Jacuzzi.  He'd need her to open the
gate and so on.

"Without breakfast?  You certainly need to stay for breakfast, Dr.
Malucci.  We've managed to restock the refrigerator since last weekend.  It
was amazing how much food John went through in just a few days, especially
considering the fact that my grandson doesn't cook.  Did he feed you when
you were here last?"  Millicent knew she was going out on a limb by asking
a question that close to being a direct one, but when Dr. Malucci had asked
about leaving now she had sensed that he was nervous and she was curious to
find out if he was just nervous about being there in general or nervous
about being in the pool room because he knew all about those soap bubbles.

The last thing Dave wanted to talk about was that aborted breakfast and the
pan flying across the room.  Okay, maybe he wanted to talk about the sex
stuff a bit less, but they were still both wwwaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy up there.
Dave shrugged, and attempted to sound cool.  "Uh no.  Not really."   He
didn't think that Carter with the French toast actually counted as cooking
-- burning maybe.  Dave took the easy option, and hurriedly disappeared
into the bathroom, returning a minute later clad in bright swimming
trunks.  He didn't want this conversation to continue, so he hurried to the
deep end of the pool, and made a rather splashy dive.

Millicent smiled as she watched Dr. Malucci rush into the bathroom.  So he
*had* been there.  If he hadn't, then he would have said something to that
effect and not 'not really'.  Which meant that Dr. Malucci did the cooking
because the food obviously went somewhere.  After Dr. Malucci came out and
dove into the pool, Millicent rose out of the whirlpool and quickly dried
off, then pulled on her robe.  She went to sit in one of the lounge chairs
near the pool so she could watch the young man swim.  He was muscular and
obviously athletic.  It was too soon to really judge how nice he was as a
person, but last night he had been charming in a drunk sort of way.  Was he
the right type of person for her grandson?  Or was she perhaps ahead of
herself and that Dr. Malucci and John were nothing more than friends?  You
could have friends over for breakfast.  It didn't mean anything.

Millicent waited until Dr. Malucci's head was well up out of the water
before she asked her next question.  "So, if John didn't feed you, what did
the two of you do last weekend?"

Swimming wasn't Dave's favourite sport.  He was sufficiently muscular that
it took a lot of effort to just stay afloat.  When he heard that question
he stopped kicking in shock, which had the immediate effect of making him
sink, and preventing him from answering.  He wished that he knew what
Carter had told his grandmother about last weekend.  A few seconds and some
concerted kicking later he rose out of the water.  He took a few strokes
without saying anything, and then managed an "ulp.  Not much.  Went into
the snow."

"Out in the snow?  Of course," Millicent nodded.  "Being outside obviously
made you cold and in need of the warmth of the whirlpool.  What I don't
quite understand is how the two of you managed to get soap bubbles in
there.  What did you do, take a bath?"  Millicent couldn't help but smile
at the not so quite innocent expression on Dr. Malucci's face.


To be continued....