Struck 2
by Redkage and muscl4life
That night, Dan constantly checked himself over and over again. There was no doubt he was bigger than he had been yesterday. The scales had told him that he had some how gained ten pounds in the last 24 hours. Not only that, it seemed that he had gained a quarter of an inch of height as well. How could someone grow so fast? There had to be a logical explanation.
Experimentally, Dan flexed an arm and looked at his reflection. Then he switched to a crab pose and looked at himself from different angles. Whatever was happening to him, it looked good on him! He watched as his muscles bulged and swell under his skin. He looked like a real bodybuilder now.
Just please, stay my friend.
Dan’s hand snapped up and touched his forehead. Shit, no matter what he did he couldn’t get John’s voice out of his head. The image of that wimp’s pathetic face kept on flashing through his mind over and over again. Letting out a deep sigh, he exited the bathroom and crawled into bed.
The next day, Dan was actually surprised when he found out that John was absent from class, though he didn’t know why he was so concern about him. Bullies didn’t usually care if their victims were absent or not, right? Quietly Dan told himself that the only reason he was so concerned about John was because without the little wimp around, no one would be able to do his homework for him. But throughout the day he kept on glancing at the empty desk next to him, and that thought became more and more unrealistic.
A million thoughts raced through his head. Where was John? Was he sick? Or did he decide to ditch school today? What if something happened to him? What if what happened yesterday seriously messed him up and he decided to commit-
He shook his head violently. No, that couldn’t be it. John wasn’t the kind of person who would just throw his life…or was he? Crap, he just didn’t know. Despite spending all those years with him, Dan didn’t know jack about the little guy. He didn’t even know that yesterday had been John’s birthday, despite the fact that the wimp remembered his and always had some sort of gift prepared. John was always so quiet and obedient and rarely spoke out of turn, how could Dan learn anything about him?
Because bullies don’t treat their victims as their equals! Dan growled at himself. And why was he so concerned about him? It wasn’t as if they were really friends or anything.
“Excuse me for interrupting your class, but can I see Mr. Thunderstrike?” The principal said as he stuck his head into the classroom.
“Oh, sure.” The teacher nodded.
Frowning, Dan stood up and went outside into the hallway with the principal. “Is there something wrong sir?”
“It’s about your friend, John.” The principal said. “He’s in the hospital.”
The news hit him like a bucket of ice cold water. “John? What happened? Is something wrong? Is he okay? What happened?”
“Calm down.” The principal told him. “He’s alright. He was found passed out on the street last night. Apparently he had a panic attack and collapsed. He wasn’t found until 2 AM this morning. Fortunately it doesn’t seem like he caught pneumonia, but the doctors want him to stay the night.”
2 AM? That means that right after what happened in the park John had ran off, collapsed and was left on the streets for god knows how long.
“Why are you telling me this, sir?” He asked.
“Well, you two are friends aren’t you? Everyone is always talking about how you two are always together.” The principal said.
“Er, yea…we do.” Dan said. It disturbed him to realize that it was true. He DID spend an unnatural amount of time with John, much more than a normal bully/victim relationship.
Dan spent the next few minutes asking and answering a few questions. When the principal was done, he told Dan to go back to class and left. He had other plans, however. Instead of going back to classroom, he went out into the parking lot and jumped into his truck. Screw getting caught for ditching, he had something more important. He slammed on the gas pedal and with a piercing screech he drove off the school campus.
In a rush to get to the hospital, Dan drove with the speed and skill of a NASCAR race driver. He weaved through traffic, speed down open streets and cut through corners whenever there was a red light. Miraculously, no police siren sounded as he drove like a speed demon. Within moments he was at the hospital, and as soon as he ditched his car in the parking lot, he rushed into the building. After asking around, he took the elevator to the third floor and walked up to the room 301. There, for the first time since he had left school he hesitated.
Should he really be here? After all, bullies don’t visit their victims in the hospital. It defied entire pages of the unwritten bullying code.
However, he had to see John. He steeled his mind, body and will before opening the door and walking in.
Inside, he found John lying on the bed, completely asleep. Silently he came up the bedside. There he got his first real look at John.
John…wasn’t so bad looking as he always thought. Without his glasses, he was actually kinda cute. His soft brown hair hung in short curls around his face, and his shin looked really soft. If the little guy applied himself a bit more, he might’ve been more popular.
That is, if Dan hadn’t fucked him up.
He reached out and gently took hold of John’s hand. “I-I’m sorry, John. I’m…I’m so sorry.”
A faint sound emitted from John’s throat, but Dan didn’t notice. “I’ve been a complete and total jerk to you. You were always so nice and caring, even after everything I did to you. You…you’re such a great person, and I treated you like you were lower than shit.”
Dan bowed his head down just as John’s eyes began to flicker awake. “A lot of people are saying we’re friends or something. Even you say we’re friends, but…but the thing is, I don’t deserve to be your friend. I know that now.”
“That’s not true sir.”
Dan’s head snapped up. “John?”
John was now fully awake and looking straight at him with those sad brown eyes. “You’ve always been a good person. If anyone here doesn’t deserve you, it’s me.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve been the one who’s been mean to you since day one!”
He shook his head. “No, you were never really mean to me. You…you never really put your whole heart into the stuff you do to me, I can tell. Plus you’ve done all sorts of things for me. You protect me from the other bullies, and you always made sure I was alright.”
“Th-that’s…” Dan tried to argue back, but it was true. He did protect him other bullies, and he always checked to see if John was okay after he had done something to him.
“Before I met you, I was always alone.” John continued. “I wanted people to like me and become my friend, but who would be friends with someone as useless as me? And then you came. You…you were the first person to talk to me, to need my help. I finally felt like I was useful, so I tried my best to serve you sir. B-but then, as we got older, I started to b-become attracted to you. Wh-what kind of friend would become sexually a-attracted to his friend? I tried to hide it, but the yesterday you…you hated me because of it, and I realized what a terrible person I am.” To Dan’s surprise, tears were streaming down John’s face.
“It’s not your fault!” Dan reassured him. “Listen, I don’t hate you, alright? I was seriously freaked out when I suddenly grew like that, and I took it out on you. A lot of guys had popped boners around me, so it shouldn’t have bothered me. But when you said we were friends...I realized how completely unworthy I was.”
“But you’re not-”
“Yes I am!” Dan snapped. “I’m a horrible person! It was your birthday and I stuffed you into a locker! I take your lunch money, I force you to walk 3 miles home everyday and I’ve given nothing to you but shit for the last eight god-damned years! You should hate me, but instead you’re saying you’re the one unworthy? Bullshit!”
They stood there, looking at each other, blue eyes meeting brown. Shaking, as if unsure of himself, John moved his free hand and placed it on top of Dan’s. “How could I hate you? You’ve made me happy for all those years, sir.”
The last bit of ice in Dan’s heart melted away at those words. He squeezed John’s hand once reassuringly and took a deep breath. “I…I want to be your friend, John. And I mean a real friend, not like the bully that had been messing with you for years. I’ll treat you right.”
“But sir-”
Dan reached forward and pressed a finger on John’s lips. “Call me Dan.” He smiled.
John blinked rapidly and his skin flushed. “A-alright, Dan.” He said.
All of a sudden the door opened. “-have to get back to the office, otherwise I’ll lose my client.” A medium sized man in a business suit said as he walked in.
“And my schedule is completely booked, so I can’t stay and look after the boy.” A petite woman also in proper business attire followed him inside. “All I’m asking for is…” Her voice trailed off when she noticed Dan. “Oh I’m sorry. And you are…?”
“I’m Dan Thunderstrike.” He straightened up. Somehow it felt important to make a good first impression for John’s parents. “I’m a friend of John’s.”
“His friend?” John’s Mom actually seemed surprised. “I thought he didn’t have any friends. He’s always holed up in his room until the late hours of night doing homework and studying.”
“A lot of good all of that does.” John’s Dad said crossly. “The boy spends all day and night studying but he still can’t break a C average.”
It didn’t take Dan long to put two and two together. He knew for a fact that John was smart, but the poor guy had the workload of two people on his hands. John, being the good soul he is, must’ve always put his best effort into Dan’s work while barely managing to scrap something together for his own before he became too exhausted. That would also explain why John always looked tired and the dark bags under his eyes. How could he have missed it?
“I have a feeling he’ll make a dramatic improvement sir.” Dan said, looking over towards John. John merely hung his head to hide his embarrassment.
“He had better.” Mr. Parsons said. Then he brought up the clipboard he had been carrying and scribbled something on it. “Birthday….birthday…hey boy, when was your birthday again?”
John hung his head lower.
“It was yesterday sir.” John said, beating Dan to it.
“Oh really?” Mr. Parsons said. “Well I guess it’s a little late, but how does twenty bucks sound boy?”
“Fine, Dad.” John said in a low voice.
About then Mrs. Parson’s cell phone began to buzz. She took it out of its holder and looked at the number. “I have to take this.” She said as he walked out of the room without saying goodbye.
“Hey boy, you’re a…senior in high school right? That means you’re 18?” Mr. Parsons asked without looking at his son.
Dan’s opinion of John’s parents was dropping by the second. How could any mother or father treat their son so unimportantly? So far he hadn’t heard a single one of them call John by his name, and they didn’t even know about his friends or even his birthday. And yet, Dan knew that he had been exactly the same way as they were.
Not anymore.
“Excuse me sir,” Dan spoke, “but I was planning on taking John with me up to my folk’s cabin in the mountains, perhaps we could do it as soon as he is back on his feet. Will you be alright with that?”
John’s eyes grew large while his father merely rubbed his chin. “I don’t know…”
“Don’t know what?” Mrs. Parsons asked when she came back into the room.
“I’m thinking about taking John on a trip to the mountains after he gets better.” Dan told her.
“I think that would be a good idea.” She nodded to her husband. “A little fresh air might do him good.”
“He’s starting to fall back in history.” Mr. Parsons argued.
“I can assure you he’ll pass with flying colors.” Dan grinned.
John’s Dad thought it over for a few minutes then gave in. “Alright, have fun on your trip then.”
“Oh I think we will.” Dan turned and winked at John.
John sunk in his bed to hide his blushing, but there was no hiding the faint smile on his lips. Dan just overcame all his embarrassment and gently tussled his hair, tapped his thin shoulders. For one moment, John’s parents exchanged looks; they obviously weren’t used to see their son smiling, and that teenager muscular powerhouse sure wasn’t the image of the guy they imagined hanging along their son, but then again, they had been so sure that John had absolutely no friends at all.
It was a day later that the doctors confirmed John’s condition wasn’t critical or serious. As a matter of fact, John was diagnosed with anemia. The boy simply never paid much attention for proper eating so his body slowly became debilitated over the months and given the stressful situation he had recently suffered his body literally shut down.
Once the doctors realized that this teenager only needed some rest and reinforced feeding they released John from the hospital, recommending a healthy diet and a few supplements; simple measures to be accomplished, but because of John’s behavior and the uncaring methods of his parents they would hardly be followed most likely.
John’s parents had left him some money for the cab, because they couldn’t waste their precious time driving their son home from the hospital. So, the thin lad got out of his room and headed to the reception to check out, then go out and try to catch a cab. When he reached the lobby, however, he was surprised to find no one else but the Dan Thunderstrike, patiently waiting for his new lifetime friend.
“Hey, dude! Welcome back!” the massive jock said and pulled the much smaller boy in a hug in such a vivid way that John thought he would be crushed by those enormous muscles, but as a matter of fact it was a rather tender and delicate embrace. Who knew that the powerful Thunderstrike could be such a gentle fellow after all? John always hoped this was true, but it didn’t make him any less impressed by such nice gesture.
“Dan? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be training!” John said, not worried about revealing that he had Dan’s entire schedule memorized.
“I told the coach I would take you home.” He explained. “Besides, it’s not like I need lots of training. We all know this championship is as good as ours, because of me as usual!” Dan said gently squeezing John’s frail frame. “Now let’s get going, I promised your mom I would drive you home safely…” The powerful jock said grabbing the little bag his friend had brought.
“Did you speak with my mother?” John asked in disbelief.
“Well, she actually phoned me to let me know you would be released today. I told her I would drive you home, but I asked her not to tell you… it was supposed to be a surprise.” Dan grinned, looking even hotter as he slightly blushed.
John really wanted to cry right then, but he managed to seem blasé, mostly because he knew about Dan freaking out about his attraction towards him. “Erm… thanks si- Dan.” He caught himself from calling him ‘sir’ again.
“You’re welcome, buddy.” Dan said as the proceeded to his car, like the previous time, Dan opened the door for the little guy, made sure he was comfortable on the seat and even buckled his seat belt for him.
It was indeed a peculiar scene seeing this massive 2007 Dodge Dakota pickup going down the road like it was being driven by an old granny, especially when everybody knew how much of a speed demon the Thunderstrike was, but Dan wanted to make sure his passenger would be completely safe.
“You didn’t need to drive me home, I could just get a cab…” John insisted but Dan didn’t even pay attention.
“End of discussion buddy, I am driving you home and I already bought all the supplements and vitamins your doctor prescribed…” Dan said picking the pharmacy bag on top of the console and handling it to the stupefied teenager.
“H-how did you know…?”
“Well I heard the doctors telling your folks that you needed to eat better and perhaps take some supplements to help you recover from the shock. I just asked your dad if I could pick up the recipe at the pharmacy and he was more than grateful for my help.” Dan confessed as he carefully turned the corner.
John felt really uncomfortable by Dan’s new attitude. “Listen, Dan…I know you feel guilty about what happened, but it’s not your fault. I had no right to boning up in front of you…”
Dan stayed silent. Instead he looked around for a proper spot then he parked the car before he turned to look directly at him. “John, listen… I can’t tell you I don’t feel guilty, because you ran away scared of me and if anything worse happened to you…shit, I would never forgive myself! But the reason why I am doing all this is much simpler; I finally realized that we’ve been friends all this time, a very weird kind of friends I must say”
John honestly didn’t feel worthy of Dan’s kindness. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell people the things you done with me because I knew you never truly meant those, you don’t… you don’t need to pretend to like me…”
“Dude, how can you say this so you can understand?” Dan asked suddenly surprised “You were the one who truly cared about me despite all the crap I’ve done. I just want to show that I can do the same for you, because no one deserves it more than you…” Dan felt a bit odd about saying things like that since he never had such emotional opening with anyone in a long time.
“I’ve always wanted to be friends with you Dan, but, I can’t change the way I feel about you. I’m…I’m attracted to you Dan, and it’s not fair. I know it is uncomfortable for you…”
Thunderstrike takes a deep breath “John… please be honest with me. Do you just lust after my muscles, or do you actually care about me?”
John suddenly felt angry about that question “What? No… I care about you Dan. You’re such a wonderful person, how could I not care about you?”
The huge Native American teenager rested his hand on John’s shoulder “All my life I’ve been keeping those who care about me at bay. I don’t know why I do it, but I don’t want to lose anyone who truly likes me again…”
John suddenly felt a very strong truth behind Dan’s words. He truly seemed honest about this, maybe some part of him actually wanted to be friends with the skinny ugly nerdy boy, the skinny teenager also noticed that the so called “invincible” athlete carried a serious wound inside him.
“Dan…?”
The muscular stud just nodded “Erm… it is nothing… I just want to make sure that you knew that I have no hidden agendas about you. I just think we deserved a chance to be proper friends, that’s why I wanted to take you to the mountains. It is the place where part of me comes from. I always feel better once I come back from there, and I was hoping it’d do the same for you.”
“Are you serious about this? Do you really think I am worthy to share this place with you?”
“Listen to yourself, John! If there is one thing I feel guilty about is making you believe you weren’t just as good as anybody else in this world! And I will correct my mistake, not because I am afraid of you telling on me, but because you fucking deserve it! You are a great guy, and I should be proud of having as my friend…” Dan says as he hugged John strongly now, feeling his emotions building up inside his muscular chest.
“Dan… I believe you. Thanks… thanks for being my friend…” John replied feeling relieved and so honored. The powerful hug of his enormous friend made him feel complete, protected, sheltered, like nothing could harm him anymore. And that hug would last longer if Dan’s shirts didn’t suddenly tear open in the back. Apparently all that hugging was too much for the flimsy fabric.
Dan just grinned as he knew John would be hard from that. “I guess I need a quick clothes change. But if it’s okay, I’ll drop you at home first. Make sure you get your stuff ready, because tomorrow we have some nasty classes. But that’s nothing you don’t already know!”
They reached John’s house, and Dan was actually surprised to see that he had quite a nice looking home, though it was obvious since John’s parents were such workaholics. Dan made sure to take John’s things inside, he even volunteered to cook something for John’s dinner, but the little guy prohibited him.
“You’ve done too much already. You should go back home and do your homework, unless you want me to do that for you…”
Dan laughed “You’ve been doing my homework for the past eight years. It’s about time I start doing my own work for once. Look, let’s make a deal: if you promise to eat a decent meal, I will do my homework so well that even you will be proud of me, just like you would have done it yourself. Deal?” Thunderstrike offered his huge hand, and John hesitantly grabbed it.
“A-alright, we have a deal…” He said. How could he say no? “But I wish to see you do it in front of me.”
“Of course, because you’re gonna eat while I study.” Dan challenged back at John, and the two friends started their respective chores.
A few moments later, Dan was struggling with an arithmetic problem, while John forced himself to eat a big plate of grilled chicken breast with pasta and a green salad. Dan, having slacked off on his homework for years, was now trying to learn the various formulas and equations he should have memorized ages ago. And John had trouble focusing on his meal because Dan was sitting right across the table, still shirtless. His eyes watched at how Dan’s muscles would flex and tighten up whenever he was focusing on a difficult problem, causing his already huge muscles to bulge out beautifully. John was so entranced by this display of masculine power that he developed a very painful erection and found it hard to keep his appetite for normal food when what he really hungered for was Thunderstrike’s magnificent body.
The results on both ends weren’t very great; Dan still needed a lot of tutoring and John barely finished half of his plate but they were happy for doing something for the sake of the other (even though in truth they were actually doing things for their own sakes.)
“Well, you can do a lot better, but it’s acceptable.” John said as he checked over Dan’s homework, neatly marking the incorrect problems and pointing out Dan’s mistakes.
“And you could have eaten at least a little more, but its okay, because at least I get to eat such delicious food!” Dan said as he cleaned John’s plate without a shadow of embarrassment. “
“I am glad you enjoyed my cooking…” John replied going immediately red.
“You’re pretty good at that, but when we go to the mountains, you won’t be cooking, because you need to rest.” John says gently poking the thin chest of his new best friend.
“S-sure… whatever you say sir…” John said smiling, knowing he didn’t have to call Dan like that anymore, but the joke sounded really appropriated.
“Shit, look at the time, time really flies when we are having fun!” Dan said as he jumped out of the chair and grabbed his stuff. John nodded along and walked him to the door.
“So, I’ll be here to pick you up at 7:30 tomorrow, okay?” Dan said as he got out of the front door.
“What? Why?” John asked surprised.
“I can’t have you walking over 3 miles to the school!” Dan lightly patted John on the shoulder. “So starting tomorrow I’ll be your private driver, mister Parsons!” Dan bowed pretending to be a humble servant to that frail little guy.
“But…” The skinny lad still tried to protest but Dan solemnly ignored all his pleads, at the end he just honked his powerful vehicle and burnt the asphalt.
“See you tomorrow buddy!”
At that moment, John realized that his relationship with Dan was taking a different and unexpected new route. He wasn’t sure about it, but all he knew was that he needed to be as close to Dan as the massive stud would allow, so he could barely wait for the day when his new huge friend would take him to camping on the mountains.