---

I pull back in surprise, breaking the hug. Tristan suddenly gets this look of abject fear in his eyes. "Oh shit" is all he says.

"Tristan?"

"Oh shit. I'm sorry man. I'm sorry." He takes off out of his room. I stand there, in shock for a minute before I really realize what just happened. Tristan kissed me! He kissed me! And I liked it! Oh fuck. He's probably thinking I didn't like it. I grab the keys off his desk and head out after him.

Not knowing where he could have gone, I head toward the quad. After quickly searching the quad, I don't see him. I head over toward the practice football field. Maybe he's there.

A couple of minutes later I arrive at the practice field. It's starting to get dark and the place looks deserted. I walk around the field, checking out the benches and the bleachers. Finally I see a figure sitting, on the ground, near a tree.

"Tristan?" I call out as I approach.

"Go away."

"I can't," I say as I get closer. "I won't."

"Why?"

"Cause I want to find out what happened."

"I fucked up, that's what happened."

"Why? Cause you kissed me?"

"Yeah. I thought you might be like me, but after seeing your reaction, I guess not. And now you know about me. And soon everyone will know. I've heard Jay talk. I know what you guys think about gays."

"Why do you assume that what Jay thinks is what I think?"

"Because you guys are identical twins."

"Yeah, so? Just because we look the same doesn't mean we think the same."

He doesn't say anything.

"Why did you assume I'm gay, Tristan?"

"The hug."

"The hug?"

"Yeah, last Saturday night, when you found me out in the west quad. I felt your cock pressing into me when I hugged you. I've liked you since the first minute I saw you Justyn."

"So you did notice."

"Yeah. At first I figured it was just a normal guy thing, or that you were thinking of all the girls at the party. But every time I shook your hand or touched you I got a shock. Something that told me that you were the one for me. Guess that was wrong. Please, Justyn, I beg you. Don't tell anyone about me. I know I can't force you, but please, don't. I've heard the guys on the team talk."

"You don't have to worry Tristan I won't say anything."

He looks up at me, tears flowing down his cheeks. "Thank you. I'll understand if you want to stop helping me, stop hanging around with me."

I reach down and grab his hands and pull him to his feet. "Why would I do that?"

"Cause I'm a fag."

"Well, I've already made my decision about that."

"Ok, I'll go then." He starts to leave. "Thanks for all the help you've given me so far."

I grab his arm to stop him. "Tristan, you've not heard my answer."

"I know what it is."

"Do you?" I grab the back of his head with my free hand and lean in and kiss him. At first he's resistant but then he relaxes. I push my tongue toward his lips. He parts them slightly and his tongue touches mine. We play tonsil hockey for a few seconds before breaking away. "Does that answer your question?"

"You mean?"

"Yes Tristan, I'm gay too. And I've liked you too. Since that day you helped me move into the dorm."

"What about Jayson?"

"What about him?"

"Is he?"

"Oh gawd no. He's straight. Very straight. You've seen him. You've heard him talk."

"But you guys are twins."

"Yeah, we are Tris, but we're different in this way. What about you? Why do you like me and not Jay?"

"Hey."

"What?"

"Do you realize that's the first time you've called me Tris?"

"Yeah, you're right. But I like it."

"Me too."

"You've not answered my question."

"I know. As to why, I don't really know. Yeah, you guys are identical, but there's just something about you. Maybe it's the glasses, or the fact you wear your hair a little bit differently. I look at Jay and I see him and I in a brotherly type of relationship. But you, you. Every time I look at you all I can think about is kissing you, cuddling with you, sleeping with you. Do you know how hard it is to be thinking that and not act upon it. I don't know what came over me in the dorm. I've been dreaming about it for a while now, but I've always been too chicken."

"I'm glad you did. I've been chicken too. Afraid that you'll hit me, or hate me, not want to be friends with me."

Tristan leans over and kisses me again. "I can never imagine hitting or hating you."

"Me either."

"You know something?"

"What?"

"I've never had a boyfriend before."

"Me either."

"And you know what else?"

"What?"

"As excited as I am about dating you, I'm not ready to announce it to the world either."

"No, me either. I'd rather keep this just between us."

Tristan breaks out into a big smile.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just excited. And relieved."

"Relieved?"

"Yeah, relieved that I finally told you, and that you feel the same way. I was so afraid of you finding out, of me slipping up and then you hating me."

"Like you said to me bro, I can't see myself ever hating you or hitting you." I lead him over to one of the bleacher seats and we sit down.

"We do have to be careful though."

"I know. I've been thinking a lot about that too. I've heard some of the guys on the team talk. If they ever find out about me. Or about us."

I look at him, his eyes twinkling in the light from the full moon. "Oh, I've got some cool news, unless Jay already told you."

"Jay hasn't said anything much to me, other then game stuff. What news?"

"Bastian is coming to visit next weekend for homecoming!"

"That's cool."

"Yeah, it is. I can't wait. You've got to meet him."

"I don't know. I wouldn't want to intrude on your little reunion."

"You won't be intruding, besides, I want you to meet him. After all, you are my boyfriend, and mine and Jay's friend."

He gets a look of panic in his eyes again. "You're not going to tell him are you?"

"About us?"

"Yeah."

"No, I'm not. That's between us. Until we're both ready."

"Well, then I'd like that." He looks at his watch. "I should be getting back. I need to start studying for my History test."

"Do you want some help?"

"Nah, I want to try it on my own tonight. How about tomorrow night though?"

We both stand up and start to head back to the dorm. "Tomorrow night sounds good. Library?"

"Yeah, our usual table if it's available. I think it's a lucky table."

"It's not lucky, bro, it's all you."

"And you. If you hadn't helped, I'd be off the team and outta school."

"I couldn't have that now, could I? I want to get to know you better."

"Me too. I wanna learn all about you."

When we get back to the dorms, I follow Tristan into his room, hoping for another kiss, but his roommate is sitting at his desk.

"Hey guys."

"Hi Tom," I say. "I'll see you tomorrow Tristan. Night guys."

"Good night bro," Tristan says. Tom waves from his desk. I walk back to my room, although it feels like I'm floating on air. Jayson's already gone to bed so I get changed, do my nightly bathroom duties and climb into bed feeling like I'm on top of the world.

* * *

Excitement starts building on campus for homecoming during the week and the campus is cleaned up and plants are spruced up. Probably in hopes of impressing the parents and getting them to give more money to the school. I help Tristan study every night for his world history test, while doing my homework as well. By Thursday night he's got a pretty good handle on it and I'm pretty confident that he'll do fine on it the next day. Jayson talks to Bastian a couple of times during the week, usually while I'm out studying with Tristan and they finalize plans for his coming to visit.

Finally Saturday morning arrives and at ten sharp there's a knock on the door. Jayson gets up off the bed and opens it. "Hey little brother!" Bastian calls out grabbing Jay in a hug. He ruffles his hair and lets Jay go.

"Hey bro!" Jay responds enthusiastically also ruffling up Bastian's hair.

"Hey Justyn!" Bastian says to me. I get up off the bed and greet him with a hug. "How's my other little bro?"

"I'm great big brother, and you?"

"I'm doing good." He pulls back from both of us. "Boy you guys have grown a bit since I last saw you."

"Yeah, it's been a while big brother," Jay responds. "What happened anyway?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, not now anyway, ok?"

"Ok."

"How's school going?" I ask him as he takes off his coat and sits down on my bed.

"It's going well. I really like the school and it's a lot of fun. I'm learning a lot."

"Where you living?"

"I'm sharing an apartment off campus with a friend of mine. It's a lot better than living in the dorms."

Jay sits down on his chair, backwards and rests his arms across the top of the back. "I like living in the dorms. It's cool to be with all these people."

"Yeah, it was cool at first, don't get me wrong, I loved it too. But after a while, the partying got to be too much. It was hard to do anything other than that."

"I know what you mean," I reply.

"How's school going for you guys? You enjoying being away from home?" Bastian asks.

"Oh yeah," we both reply at the same time.

"It's cool being on our own," Jay says moving in the chair. "It's so nice not having to worry about Dad and his stupid rules. It's almost like he's forgotten what it's like to be a teenager."

"I miss my friends back home, but I've made some new friends here, and like Jay said, it's cool being on our own." I stretch.

"What time is the game?" Bastian asks.

"It's at 2. I've got to be in the locker room by 12:30 for the pregame stuff. You guys can get over to the stadium anytime after 12:30."

"Cool. I'm a little hungry and thirsty. You guys wanna show me around campus and we'll get a snack before heading over to the game?"

"Sounds good. Nothing for me though, don't wanna ralph during the game." Jay gets up from his chair and grabs and envelope off his desk. He tosses it at me. "Those are the tickets for the game."

I open the envelope. More of the family section tickets. "I can't believe mom & dad didn't come down for this."

"I'm not," Jay responds grabbing his jacket.

"I'm glad," Bastian says. "They and I don't see eye to eye any more. But enough of that. I want to take you guys out to eat after the game."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'm all about free food." Jay grabs his keys and we head out the door.

We spend the next hour showing Bastian the campus and getting something light to eat. We go back to our room and Jay grabs his stuff for the game and we head over to the stadium. The parking area has started filling up and there are a lot of people waiting to get into the stadium.

"Hey bro," Tristan says coming up to us. Like Jay he's got a duffle bag full of his game gear over his shoulder.

"Hey bro," Jay responds as they shake hands.

Tristan gives me a smile as he shakes my hand. "Hey Justyn."

"Hey buddy," I reply squeezing his hand a little and smiling back at him. "Oh, Tristan, this is our older brother Bastian. Bastian, this is Tristan."

"Hi Tristan, nice to meet you." Bastian extends out his hand.

Tristan takes his hand and shakes it. "Hi Bastian, nice to finally meet you. Justyn's told me a lot about you."

Bastian laughs. "Don't believe any of it, I'm really a nice guy."

"Hey!" I push him away. "What makes you think it's anything bad big brother?"

He grabs me around the neck and starts to rub his knuckles across the top of my head. "Cause I know you, little brother!"

I pull out of the headlock and rub my head. "Well, fine, just for that, I will start saying bad things about you."

"Your folks here yet Tristan?" Jay asks

"Nah man, they couldn't make it. Dad's away on some business trip or something."

I touch his arm and my dick starts to stiffen. "That's too bad. You want to join us for dinner after the game?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude."

"It would be no intrusion Tristan. J.J. says you guys are pretty tight."

Tristan looks at me and raises his eyebrows. "J.J.?"

"Yeah. When we were younger Bastian could never tell us apart so he started calling us J.J.. He still does sometimes."

Bastian lets out a small laugh. "What can I say? Old habits die hard I guess."

"We better get going bro. We don't want to make Coach mad."

"No, we don't. See you guys after the game?" Tristan asks as Jay starts to walk toward the locker room entrance.

"Yeah, we'll be out here. Good luck you two," I reply looking at Tristan as he joins Jay. I still can't believe that he's gay like me. And that we're going out. I just wish I could tell someone. Have someone to confide it. But I can't let Jay know. And while Bastian is cool, I doubt he'd understand. Maybe I can tell Cam.

"Justyn, did you hear me?" Bastian says to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? What?" I say turning toward him. But he's not there. I feel a tap on my left shoulder.

"I'm over here."

"Oh, sorry," I say turning to face him. "I was thinking about something."

"Yeah, I gathered. Everything ok?"

"Everything's fine. You got the tickets?"

He pats his jacket. "Yup, right here. Want to go get our seats?"

"Sounds good. The entrance is over there."

He pushes his thumb back over his shoulder toward the main entrance. "What about this entrance?"

"That's the general entrance. Since we've got the player's tickets, we have to use the families entrance over there."

"Wow. That's cool. My school doesn't have anything like this."

We walk over to the entrance and the same cute kid that has been taking the tickets for all the other games is there. Bastian hands him our tickets and he rips them and wishes us an enjoyable game. We stop for snacks on the way to the seats and eventually get down to our seats. The stadium is full, like most games, and the families section is full as well. We watch the band and cheerleaders perform before the game starts.

The game is exciting and real contest. The lead keeps see-sawing back and forth between the two teams. In the middle of the 3rd quarter our starting quarterback gets sacked, and roughly. The game is halted for a good thirty minutes while they check him out. He eventually gets helped off the field, hopping on one leg. Of course the crowd gives him cheers to show that they're happy he's seemingly ok. Jay gets called to play quarterback and he plays well but we're unable to score. Finally in the last five minutes we end up tying the game on a touchdown pass thrown by Jay, to Tony, one of his receivers and the host of the party we went to a few weeks ago.

Our opponent gets possession of the ball and works the clock down. With only a minute left, one of our defensive players ends up intercepting the pass and runs down the field and is tackled at the 35 yard line. We try to advance the ball for a couple of plays but no luck. With only ten seconds on the clock, Tristan comes running in and they get him the ball and he sets up for a kick.

I know I held my breath, and I'm sure everyone else did, cause every single noise in the stadium stopped. It was like a movie. The ball tumbled toward the goal, seemingly in slow motion. All of a sudden, in what seemed like 30 minutes later, although it was only a few seconds, the ball sailed between the uprights and the buzzer sounded the end of the game.

It was like someone hit the mute button on a stereo. The entire stadium erupted in cheers. Tristan's teammates put him and Jay on their shoulders and carried them off the field in triumph. Bastian and I hugged each other and cheered loudly for our brother and our friend.

We waited a few minutes for the stadium to clear before we left. We also wanted to give the guys time to get showered. We started walking toward the exit still talking about the game. We made it back to our meeting point and waited for the guys to join us. It didn't take too long before they emerged from the player's locker room still receiving high fives and pats on the backs from their teammates and others still around after the game.

"Great game guys!" Bastian said slapping Tristan on the back and giving Jay a hug.

"Yeah, great game!" I tell them too, giving Jay a hug. Tristan and I sort of look at each other before deciding, what the hell and giving each other a hug too.

"You guys hungry?" Bastian asks.

"Oh yeah, I'm famished," Jay responds.

"Where should we go? What are you guys in the mood for?"

Tristan looks at me but doesn't say anything. I can think of a couple of things I'm in the mood for, but don't say anything either.

Jay finally speaks up. "Actually, I've been in the mood for some good Italian. I've not found any good stuff around here."

"Yeah, that sounds good," I chime in.

"Yeah, definitely." Tristan nods his head in agreement. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Granny Js?" I say.

"You know Granny Js?" Bastian asks looking a little surprised.

"Yeah, do you?"

"Yup. Been there quite a few times. The best Italian I've ever had."

Jayson looks at us like we've all got three heads. "Granny Js? I've never heard of it."

"It's across town, way across town." Tristan tells him as we start walking toward Bas' car. "How did you find out about it Bastian?"

"My roommate told me about it. A friend of his or something found the place and raved on and on about it. How about you?"

"My best friend's older brother went to school around here. He told us about it, and we went several times. Justyn and I went there a few weeks back."

"Cool. That ok with you Jay?" Bastian asks unlocking his trunk. Jay and Tris throw their duffle bags in.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

"Well, Bastian, as I live and wheeze," Granny J says as we enter the restaurant. "It's been a while sonny."

He bends down and gives her a hug. "I know Granny J, and I'm sorry, but I've been busy with work and school."

"Excuses, excuses," she says punching him lightly in the arm. "Where's Kevyn?"

"He's busy this weekend. He couldn't make it down."

"Busy my ass. You tell him to come see Granny J! I'll give him busy!" She looks at us. "Don't tell me you know these miscreants."

"Yeah, unfortunately I do." He points towards us one at a time. "This is my brother Jayson, his twin Justyn and their friend Tristan."

"I know Tristan and Justyn. Never seen Jayson before. Come here and give Granny J a hug boys." Tristan and I give her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Jay looks a little apprehensive about it but gives her one too. "Let me show you to a table." She brings us over to a table in the corner, not far from where we sat last time. Charlie is cleaning off the table next to us.

"Hey Charlie," I say as we pass him.

"Oh hi Justyn. Hey Tristan. How are you guys doing?"

"Good, how about you?"

"I'm doing ok. Getting worked to death though."

Granny J gives him a playful punch. "I'll give you worked to death! You're lucky I don't make you paint this place! Now get the boys some softdrinks and some garlic bread, with extra cheese."

"Yes Granny J," Charlie grins as he grabs his tub full of dirty dishes and heads off to the kitchen.

"Worked to death my ass. That boy's never had it so good."

"I heard that!" comes from the kitchen and Granny J smiles.

Looking to avoid Tristan's past mistake, I ask Granny J. what she recommends.

"I've got this great chicken parm, a great veal marsala and an excellent four cheese lasagna."

"Cheese whiz does not a cheese make," Charlie says returning with drinks and some garlic bread.

"I'll cheese whiz you into next week you little twerp!" Granny J. turns and looks up at him. Charlie is a tall kid and easily towers over her. "I'm not too small that I can't take out a knee cap or two!"

"I'm just kidding grams. The lasagna is excellent."

"Of course it is. Cheese whiz my ass. Think about what you want boys, and I'll be back." She turns and heads off toward the kitchen. Tristan looks at me and seems as though he's going to say something.

I look at Tristan, "Wait for it..."

"And don't forget to save room for dessert!"

"Woop, there it is." Tristan says smiling at me.

We all look over the menu and end up ordering a couple of large dishes to split between us. Jay spends a lot of the time talking to Bastian about the game and other stuff and Tristan and I talk a lot during dinner as well. Dinner is, of course, excellent and yes, we all saved room for dessert. A few hours later we leave Granny Js and head back to the college. We're all stuffed and tired, Jay and Tris more so than us and we decide to call it an early night.

* * *

The next morning Jay tells us that he's got to meet with a study group for one of his classes and that he can't hang around to see Bastian off. They say their goodbyes and he leaves.

"I want to get some coffee before I leave," Bastian says packing the last of his stuff. "Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah, I could use an orange juice."

I grab my jacket and Bastian grabs his bag. We walk back to his car and throw it in the trunk and head off to the café to get some beverages.

"Tristan seems like a nice guy," Bas says as we walk back to his car after getting our drinks.

"Yeah, he's cool."

"He seems to like you."

"I guess. We seem to be good friends."

He then asks me something I wasn't expecting. "Do you love him?"