Author’s Notes: This story is a sequel to my previous story The Eldermoor Chronicles: Book One (surprise surprise). If anyone has found this and hasn’t read Book One, it’s probably not a good idea to start here because there’s a lot you won’t understand.

To those of you who have been reading, a few notes about this book. First of all, it focuses a lot more on Brad and Adrian than the last one did. As it is, Niall and Luke aren’t even in this chapter. Second of all, no one from now on will be gay unless you find out that they are virtually at their first appearance. If you’ve known a character for a few chapters and they still haven’t said that they’re gay, from this point on, they are not gay. Which means that Jesse and Keith are straight. Believe it.

There’s a smut scene in the very first chapter, much for the reason that I feel that the best way for you, the reader, to get to know Brad and Adrian as a couple is through sex. Of course, there’s some lack of it for awhile afterwards in the face of plot (oh no!). I think you’ll see that they’re a lot different about sex than Niall and Luke are…

Also, just to inform everybody: Today, December 16, is the birth date of the person Niall is based off of. Yep. So in honor of him, I’m starting this book today. He’s seventeen today—but in the story, he’s just about to turn fifteen. It’s funny; the timeline right now is at the exact time of year it is now. Creepy…

Claimer: Though all the characters are based on real people, they all belong to me. The town of Eldermoor, Massachusetts, belongs to me, as does (obviously) Eldermoor Academy.

Warnings: This story is rated R and it is YAOI, and may contain any of (though not necessarily limited to) the following: male/male situations, adult content, sexual activities between minors, strong language, self-mutilation, the discussion of eating disorders, underage drinking, drug use, BDSM, and depictions of child abuse. In fact, there’s some male/male smut in the first chapter, so if that scares you, RUN AWAY NOW! You have been warned.

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By: Chantrea Johari

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Brad Collins woke abruptly at the sound of his alarm clock ringing in his ears. He sat up immediately, hitting the button on the clock without even looking, shutting off its irritating sound. The clock read five thirty a.m.

He turned to look at his roommate, Adam, to make sure he hadn’t woken the other boy. The brown-haired boy was still sleeping, however, his face half-buried in his pillow and his hair mussed from sleep. Adam had long ago gotten used to his roommate’s routine, and the early buzz of the alarm clock rarely woke him anymore. Brad was thankful for it.

Getting out of bed briskly, Brad moved over to the dresser across the room, pulling out a running suit. He stripped quickly; the December air affected him even inside, and the cool touch chilled him instantly. He pulled the grey sweats over his slim legs, letting them fall finally just above his protruding hipbones. The jacket was pulled on just as fast and he glanced at himself in the mirror quickly. His hair was a little disheveled, but no one would be up before at least six thirty to see him.

He walked over to the closet and opened the door, grey eyes scanning the floor for his running shoes. The frequently-used articles were located immediately, and he pulled them out and put them on, squatting down to tie them with practiced hands. Once he had finished, he stood up, making his way toward the nightstand, where he had left a bottle of water. He grabbed it quickly, along with his room key, and headed toward the door.

He glanced back at Adam before he left. The other boy was still sleeping undisturbed, the slightest snore emanating from his lips. Brad smiled to himself, turning the knob and heading down the dormitory’s hallway.

He made his way down the hall with a brisk walk, passing room forty-two. There were slight giggles coming from behind the door, sounding distinctly like Luke’s. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who had gotten up early for ‘exercise’. He didn’t blame them; two weeks together, and their relationship was still new. They’d cool it down sooner or later.

Brad kept walking, reaching the front of the building within minutes. He stepped out into the bleak winter air, feeling the harsh wind biting into his skin. The sky was still dark—since it was December, he knew the sun wouldn’t be rising for at least another hour, possibly even another hour and a half.

He turned around the corner of the ninth grade dormitory building, walking in the area between the two walls. Once out from there, he came to a barely distinct path along the edge of the moor. Turning right, he started along the familiar path, beginning at a slow jog.

After a long stretch, he came to the edge of the empty basketball courts. The outdoor courts looked so desolate, empty in the dark such as they were. He passed the building with the indoor courts, picking up his pace to a run. His legs carried him down past the baseball and soccer field, and finally to the teachers’ living quarters—where the teachers who did not prefer to have homes off-campus chose to live, which were mostly those who were unmarried.

He saw a face in the second-floor window of the large building—a dark-haired, dark-eyed man he easily recognized at the track coach and his Biology teacher, Mr. Torres. Putting his head down, he began to run faster, feeling uncomfortable under the coach’s gaze. No matter how much Mr. Torres wanted it, he knew he wouldn’t join the track team, regardless of how many times Mr. Torres tried to persuade him otherwise.

Brad made a quick turn, circling around the other side of the building and running along the barely-forged path past the hockey rink and the indoor pool. He ran along the edge of the football field, grateful for the flat ground of the running path that circled it. He sprinted quickly past the volleyball and tennis courts, seeing the girls’ dorms in his view.

He pushed himself harder, breath starting to come out more labored than before. Brad ignored it, merely picking up his pace once again and letting his feet carry him around the long path two, three, four more times. Finally, when his legs couldn’t take it anymore, he slowed down, finishing with a slow jog to his dorm building. With a quick look at his watch, he saw that he had been running almost an hour. He took a long sip from the water bottle he was carrying.

He walked more slowly back to his own room, trying to calm his hard breathing. By the time he slid his key into the lock, his breathing was almost normal, and he slipped into the room as quietly as he could manage, seeing that it was well worth it. Adam was still resting peacefully in bed, though now he was lying on his stomach, arm sprawled out at an uncomfortable-looking angle.

Without hesitation, Brad headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He stripped off his running suit, leaving it in an unceremonious pile on the floor for the time being. He turned the shower knob, watching as hot water began to spray out from the showerhead. Then, he climbed into the shower, settling himself under the spray as he shut the shower curtain.

He leaned back into the wall of the shower for a second, his legs feeling shaky. Often, he felt like this if he ran for a long time, despite the fact that he did it nearly every day. With the warm spray of the shower splashing into his front, however, he began to feel more human after a few seconds.

Pushing himself off the wall, Brad reached for the shampoo, carefully washing out his hair. His fingers ran through the multi-tonal brown locks as rivulets of water dripped down his neck to his flat stomach, to drip then on the shower floor. Washing his hair out, he lathered his body with soap quickly and turned off the spray, stepping out and onto the shower mat.

He grabbed a towel off the rack, drying off his body. He toweled off his hair, ignoring the fact that it was sticking out at odd angles for the moment. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he stepped into the room, grabbing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a large jacket from his drawer before heading back into the bathroom. He dressed hastily, running a brush through his hair after toweling it off a little more. It wouldn’t take much longer to dry anyway.

Grabbing his running clothes from the floor, he walked back into the bedroom, throwing them into the hamper. He turned to his roommate’s bed, seeing that Adam was finally beginning to stir slightly. Though it was Saturday, Adam tended to wake up at about the same time every day, regardless of whether it was a weekday or a weekend. Brad was like that too, because he had to wake before a certain time to get in a good run and still have time to get ready for class.

“Morning sleepyhead,” Brad greeted the other boy, watching as Adam propped himself up on his elbows. He blinked several times, trying to expel the sleep from his eyes, before reaching over to his nightstand and picking up his glasses case, pulling out black-framed glasses and placing them over his hazel eyes.

“Not all of us can be awake at five a.m. every morning, Bradley,” Adam grumbled. The boy definitely wasn’t a morning person, but he was cute in the morning, with the way his hair tended to stick up. “What time is it anyway?”

“Seven fifteen,” Brad answered jovially.

“Ugh…why can’t I manage to sleep in on Saturdays?”

Brad smiled sympathetically at the boy. Adam didn’t really choose to wake up, like Brad did, but his internal clock always seemed to wake him up too early for his tastes.

“Habit?” he suggested after a moment. “Or maybe it’s your body’s way of reminding you that you need to study for finals this week.”

“Don’t remind me,” Adam complained, throwing his comforter off and walking into the bathroom, the door slamming behind him. He really was a nice guy, and a particularly pleasant roommate—just not before nine in the morning.

Brad knew that he should be studying for finals too, as they were during the coming week—the week of Niall’s birthday, the other boy hadn’t been lax in reminding them. Then it would be winter break, and he could spend it comfortably at Adrian’s house, ignoring the other boy’s father and younger brother, Nathan.

Brad smiled as he heard the sound of the water starting in the bathroom. He walked over to the desk, grabbing the key to Adrian’s room. He knew that Adrian would be mad at him for showing up at his bedroom before eight o’clock at least, unless the prospect of sex was involved—which it probably was. Grabbing a large Christmas bag from the corner where he had put it the previous day, Brad exited the room, but not before grabbing another bottle of water to replace his other one, which was now empty.

Brad made his way out of his own dorm and to Adrian’s at a brisk jog, sighing in relief once he was again inside a marginally warmer dorm building. He followed the familiar path to his boyfriend’s dorm room, pausing in front of it. He shifted his water bottle into the Christmas bag and slid his key into the lock, entering as quietly as he had done his own room earlier.

Adrian, too, was still sprawled across the bed, green-tipped hair splayed out on the pillows. One darkly-tanned leg peeked out from under the comforter, and the top of the blankets were also thrown partially off to reveal Adrian’s silver nipple-ring and the very illegal black panther tattoo on his right bicep. His full lips were pursed slightly in sleep, his lip ring and bar through his eyebrow the only things helping to ruin the sweet image of Adrian’s sleeping face. In slumber, Adrian looked almost innocent.

Brad walked over to the bed slowly, setting the bag he was carrying down next to it. He placed a light kiss upon Adrian’s cheek, but the older boy merely mumbled something and shifted a little. With a small laugh, Brad began laying a trail of kisses along Adrian’s jawbone, meeting his lips finally and pressing a firm kiss there.

Brad pulled away as Adrian finally woke, emerald green eyes opening to regard the boy in front of him. Drowsily, he leaned forward, laying a small peck on his boyfriend’s pink lips before settling back into the pillows. “’S too early,” he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

Brad just shrugged, moving across the room to where he had left the bag he had brought with him. Adrian’s eyes watched him carefully, seeming more awake already. “What’re you doing?” the other boy asked warily, obviously seeing the festively colored Christmas bag sitting on the floor.

“Nothing,” Brad said in a sing-song voice, swaying his hips slightly as he bent over, grabbing a small, fake Christmas tree from the bag.

“Oh no…you’d better damn well not be decorating my dorm room,” Adrian said disbelievingly, his tone slightly annoyed.

Brad smiled. “Yep. That’s exactly what I’m doing,” he replied, moving to the desk across the room and setting the small tree on the corner. He could tell that his boyfriend was getting irritated, but that was half the fun of it. “I have lights, and garlands, and everything.”

“Oh hell,” Adrian muttered under his breath. “I don’t even like Christmas, Brad. Stop.”

Brad laughed again. “We do this every year, Age, and you always end up giving in. You always let me. Just give up already.”

Adrian sighed. “Come over here, Brad,” he commanded.

Brad smiled, knowing he had won. “Will you let me put up Christmas decorations?”

“I’ll let you do whatever you want,” Adrian conceded. “Just come over here.”

Brad shook his head, already imagining what was going through Adrian’s mind. He placed a tiny star on the top of the small tree, coming over to the side of the bed. Adrian grabbed him and pulled him into the bed, his body falling flush against the much tanner one below him. Brad giggled right before Adrian caught his mouth with his own, turning the sound immediately into a small moan.

Brad felt Adrian’s double tongue piercing running over his own tongue, the cold metal of the piercing on his lip also hard against his mouth. Brad ran his tongue over the cool metal, feeling Adrian wind his arm around Brad’s back in a possessive grip.

Brad ran his hand down the other boy’s body as they kissed, meeting the soft skin of his upper thigh—Adrian slept naked. He placed his hand instead flush against Adrian’s toned stomach, feeling his boyfriend’s slightly elevated breathing.

He felt Adrian’s hand moving to the zipper of the jacket he hadn’t bothered to remove when he had come inside. It was discarded with practiced efficiency, and Adrian moved to the other boy’s shirt, sliding it slowly over his head to expose the creamy pale skin of Brad’s thin chest. He deepened the kiss as he moved without hesitation to Brad’s pants, discarding them and his underwear.

Finally, Adrian pulled away, both of their breaths coming out in short gasps. “Come on—I need a shower,” Adrian said, holding Brad by the hand and easing him up.

“But I just took a shower,” Brad protested half-heartedly, knowing that it would accomplish nothing. Adrian always got what he wanted when it came to this.

“Well you can take another,” Adrian insisted, and Brad allowed himself to be lifted up so Adrian could swing his legs off the bed and stand. “Come on.”

Adrian walked in the direction of the bathroom, revealing an expanse of tanned skin. On his back, his two other tattoos showed; one of large, black angel wings that spanned all the way from his shoulder blades to his lower back and the other of a small ouroboros(1) at the base of his spine. Also exposed was Adrian’s perfectly-formed ass and toned legs. Brad smiled. He would never tire of looking at the other boy.

Once reaching the bathroom door, Adrian turned his head, looking at Brad questioningly. “Are you coming?” he asked impatiently.

Brad nodded, standing up and following the other boy into the bathroom. He was a little self-conscious about his own nudity, even in front of Adrian. He didn’t have the perfectly-formed, beautiful body the older boy had, and he thought he was entirely too short and too pale. He scurried into the bathroom as quickly as he could manage.

When he entered the bathroom, Adrian had already started the shower. He turned back to spot Brad and beckoned him forward, to which the other boy came over uncomfortably. Adrian merely stepped over the lip of the tub (only in the single rooms was there actually a double-functioning tub and a shower) and pulled Brad along, waiting for him to step carefully inside as well.

Once Brad was inside, Adrian was immediately kissing him again, and he felt himself being maneuvered to the side of the shower, his body pressed tightly against the wall. The spray was warm and made the places where it hit Brad’s sensitive skin tingle, though Adrian’s body was blocking a significant amount of the falling water. Adrian had to bend over significantly to even kiss him when they were standing, but he didn’t seem to mind it.

They broke apart again, Brad looking up into Adrian’s green eyes to see a lustful look in them. He could already feel the older boy’s erection against his hip, the metal of Adrian’s ladder piercing(2) cool against his skin, a stark contrast to the already forming steam from the shower.

Brad smiled at the look in his boyfriend’s eyes and dropped to his knees on the floor of the shower. This obviously hadn’t been what Adrian had been expecting, but the groan he released at the simple movement showed his clear approval of it.

Brad found himself at eye-level with Adrian’s rather sizable erection, the three bars along the underside of it glinting in the light. Instead of focusing on those, he caught the small, circular piercing near the tip between his teeth and tugged on it slightly, relishing in the small sound Adrian made. He took the head of his boyfriend’s cock in his mouth, tongue laving over the metal as he sucked lightly on the skin.

He took Adrian further in his mouth at the gasping sounds he heard from above, paying careful attention to the sites of all three of Adrian’s other piercings. He relaxed the muscles of his throat as best as he could, something he had taken considerable time learning to do, and let the tip slide down his throat, taking Adrian in fully.

Brad continued this for only a few seconds before Adrian gasped out. “Ah…stop.”

He quickly obeyed, sliding the other boy out of his mouth and standing once again. Adrian pressed their lips together needily. He broke away after a second, turning the other boy around so that his arm was braced against the wall of the shower.

Brad complied to the movement, feeling almost immediately pressure at his entrance. They didn’t need protection, because they had both gotten tested very recently and they had both come back clean—and Brad trusted that Adrian would stay that way because he never injected drugs, and if there was one thing Adrian didn’t do, it was cheat. And Brad rarely needed preparation unless he was particularly tense.

Adrian slid slowly into his boyfriend’s entrance, Brad letting out a heady moan at the sensation. He let out small whimpers as he felt Adrian’s first, second, then third piercing pressing past his tight ring of muscle. Brad’s back arched as Adrian pressed all the way inside, the angle perfect for coming into almost immediate contact with his prostate.

Brad buried his face in his the crook of his arm to keep from moaning out loud as Adrian grasped his bony hips, beginning to rock back and forth. He continued slowly for a few more seconds before Brad was able to gasp out, “harder,” and his thrusts became more forceful. He began to move faster then, coming into contact with Brad’s most sensitive spot with almost every thrust, sending shockwaves of sensation through his body.

With a few more thrusts, Brad moved his other hand to his own hardness, partially because he needed release and partially because he knew how much it turned Adrian on to see him touching himself. It obviously had the same effect that time because Adrian’s grip on his hips tightened to the point of being almost painful and the speed of his thrusts increased. Far from complaining, Brad moaned louder, trying to silence it at the last second.

He began to stroke himself, keeping as best as he could in time with Adrian’s thrusts. It became increasingly difficult as they became even more erratic, both of them getting very close to release. Brad was the first to achieve it, muffling another loud moan against his arm as he came. After a few more thrusts, Adrian joined him, though he was nearly soundless in his own release.

Sighing contentedly, Adrian pulled out of his lover, holding Brad’s body up with one hand as he turned off the shower with the other. Brad’s legs felt like they had turned to jelly as Adrian finally allowed them to sink to the floor of the shower.

Adrian slid an arm around Brad, cradling the other boy to his chest as he leaned back against the wall of the shower, the water almost completely drained under them. Yet neither of them had the energy to move yet. Adrian laid a series of small kisses along Brad’s neck, ending in a single kiss at his collarbone.

“I love you,” he whispered quietly, tightening his hold around the other boy.

“Mm…I love you too,” Brad murmured, closing his eyes as he leaned limply against Adrian’s chest.

They lay their for a few seconds in silence, their naked skin pressed together, before a the sound of someone knocking at the bathroom door snapped them out of their comfortable moment.

“Adrian, are you in there?” called a voice from outside the door. It was Luke.

Adrian groaned in irritation. “Yeah, I’m here,” he called back. “So is Brad.”

They could almost hear the embarrassment in Luke’s voice. “Oh—sorry. I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“Nothing but a peaceful moment,” Adrian called back through the door. “We’ll be out in a second.”

Adrian eased Brad out of his lap, cursing to himself about Luke having a key to his room. He stood up, getting out of the shower and grabbing a towel. Brad followed him, thanking Adrian as he handed him a towel as well.

Brad looked down at his body as he toweled himself dry. There were bruises on his hips where Adrian had grabbed him. Smiling mutely to himself, Brad wrapped the towel around his body, following Adrian out of the bathroom.

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1. An ouroboros is an alchemical symbol of a snake biting its own tail. It symbolizes eternity and continuity.

2. Ladder piercing; in this case, a Jacob’s Ladder piercing, which is a series of frenum piercings (piercings along the underside of the penis that can continue along the scrotum if desired) done in a ladder-like pattern.