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As Max walk down the broad corridor after deplaning at LAX, he pulled out his cell and called home to let them know he'd arrived safely. He thought he'd wait until he was alone to call Joseph.

When he walked into the baggage claim area, he saw his three L.A. buddies waiting for him. They hadn't noticed him yet. Something about them had changed over the holidays - something about the way they were interacting. He slowed and studied them. He couldn't figure out what it was. Deciding that he'd figure it out later, he sped back up.

Jim saw him first, yelled, "Maxy," and grabbed him up in a big hug, lifting him off his feet. As soon as he set him down, Ben did the same thing. Allen took his turn, too, but simply hugged him.

Max stepped back and looked them over as they stood looking back with big grins. Allen stood between the two taller men. After a moment Max shook his head, figured that they were just happy to see him and grinned happily. He headed to the luggage carousel and grabbed his one big bag, which Jim took from him. "So tell us. Did you two guys make up and fuck like bunnies?" He asked.

Max blushed at the blunt question. "Yeah, we did." He glanced at Allen and smiled, receiving a little tenuous smile in return as Jim placed a protective arm around Allen's shoulders.

"You worked out all your problems with Joseph?" Ben asked.

"Most of them," Max answered distractedly as he watched Jim converse quietly - intimately - protectively - with Allen. 'Yes,' he thought, 'something has changed in their relationship.' He wasn't sure what the change was, but he found himself being happy for the serene look that came over Allen's face as Jim spoke. The haunted look in his eyes had disappeared. "Did you guys have a good Christmas?" he asked.

"Yup, had an excellent Christmas - all three of us," Jim answered, heading for the door to the parking garage. Max raised his eyebrows in query, and got guilty-looking grins from all three as he looked from one to the next.

"We need to sit down and talk, Max," Ben said.

"About what?" Max innocently asked, even though he suspected he knew what.

"Let's get you home and settled in and then we'll tell you."

Even though it was only about six miles from LAX to the apartment, the traffic was so heavy that it took them nearly forty-five minutes to get there, but the time passed quickly with all the friendly banter between the four. Allen sat in front with Ben driving. Max noticed how Jim kept leaning forward and touching Allen's shoulder or neck when he spoke, or how Ben patted or squeezed Allen's thigh several times, and the looks that kept passing between Ben and Allen. Max looked at Jim to see if he had noticed, and saw Jim smile as he stared into the rearview mirror at Ben, who glanced back at him and smiled lovingly while maneuvering through the traffic. Something very strange was going on, but Max still couldn't figure out what it was.

When they pulled Jim's four-door F-150 into the driveway, Claire came out to meet them. Max greeted her with a kiss on her cheek and a sincere hug. "I missed you, Claire. How was your Christmas?"

"It was good to have my son home for four days. I missed having you here, but these three," she stepped out of Max's arms and turned to smirk at them, "have kept me well entertained."

Jim grinned impudently. "Yeah, in her dreams."

Claire glared indignantly at Jim and then smiled sweetly. "Yes, in my dreams," she said.

Max laughed at the double meaning of the expression and wondered what she'd dreamed about them. Ben guffawed at Jim's sudden discomfort. Max glanced at Allen, who had flushed a dark red but still grinned.

"Okay, I want in on the secret. Something is going on and I want to know what it is," Max said.

"Take him upstairs and fill him in while I finish getting dinner ready," Claire said.

Ben already had Max's bag in one hand; he placed his other arm around Max's shoulders and guided him to the stairs. Jim and Allen followed. Max glanced down at Claire as he ascended. She had paused at the garden gate and was smiling up at the four of them. Catching Max's eye, her smile broadened. She shook her head and headed into the house.

Ben dropped the bag on the end of the bed. Max wandered over to the picture window and glanced out, then turned to study his three buddies. They were again standing together with Allen between them looking slightly defensive. Max waited without saying anything.

"Max, I don't know how to explain this. And I hope you don't take offense and get angry with us," Ben said.

"Why would I get angry? What have you done?"

"Actually, we're hoping that you will be happy for us," Jim said.

"Okay… what have you done?"

"We both love Allen and he feels the same about us. We've become a threesome."

Max glanced at Ben, then Jim, then stared at Allen. Slowly he started nodding his head. In a flat emotionless voice, he said, "I should have known. First, it was Joze and me, now you're trying to split up my friends. What is it with you, Allen … why?"

Allen slumped, his expression of happiness turned to sad defeat. Ben and Jim stepped closer to Allen; each with a protective arm around him. "It's not like that, Max." Ben said. "Allen is innocent in this."

"Yeah, it was all Ben's fault." Jim said.

"Oh, like it wasn't you that suggested we invite him into our bed since he was already in our hearts." Ben replied.

"Well, you were as eager as I was."

Ben grinned at Jim, then smiled at Allen. "True."

The two forgot about Max as they turned their attention to Allen, who still looked stricken by Max's accusation. Max watched them take him into a comforting double hug. He could hear them murmuring to him, but couldn't hear what was being said. Realizing he'd been wrong, Max pushed between Ben and Jim, and looked Allen in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Allen. I'm obviously wrong. Please forgive me?"

Allen pulled Max into a hug. "Of course I forgive you. I can't blame you for what you thought."

Jim and Ben closed in and included Max in a group hug.

"So, you're okay with us?" Jim asked.

Max looked at his three friends. "I'm more than okay with it. I'm happy for you, especially for you, Allen. You deserve to be loved - and now you're doubly loved. So how did this happen?"

"Actually, it was Claire that got the ball rolling," Ben said.

"Yeah, she had a dream." Jim rolled his eyes. "Well… it was more a premonition."

Max grinned.

"She called us the evening we took you to the airport and told us to go to Allen, he needed our help," Ben said. "We jumped into the pickup and drove like crazy back down to Lido. When we knocked on his uncle's door, they didn't realize that Allen wasn't even in the house, so we all set out to look for him."

"Ben didn't tell you about our conversation before we headed down there. We both admitted that we had a strong attraction toward Allen," Jim injected.

Ben smiled. "Yeah. So we found him on the end of the public boat dock looking all forlorn and dejected."

"Actually, Ben found him. And a couple of minutes later, I came around the corner of the building and found the two of them in a tight embrace."

Allen turned a dark shade of red as he glanced back and forth between Jim and Ben. Even in his embarrassment, Max could see the adoration in his eyes for the two other men. He looked back at Jim. "So what did you do?"

"I ran down the dock and joined in the hug."

"You did not," Ben said. "You pulled Allen out of my arms and into your own, and planted a hot kiss on him."

Max didn't think that Allen could get any more flushed, but he did, then he lost it as his two lovers turned to him and pulled him into another hug. Max heard Ben say, "We love you, Allen." And Jim added, "You're very special to us." They vied in kissing him.

Max was engulfed in a cloud of loneliness as he stood aside watching them. He wished that there was some way that he and Joseph could be together.

The phone rang and Max answered. It was Claire announcing that dinner was ready.

Once dinner was over and the four young men had helped Claire clean up, Max said goodnight, went up to his apartment and tried to get into working on the paper for one of his classes he had returned to L.A. to finish. His thoughts kept turning back to Joseph. Finally he gave up and called him. The phone rang until it went into message mode. Max sighed and went back to reading for his project.

* * *

After Joseph had said good bye to Max in the guest room they'd occupied for the week in the Eyrie, he said his goodbyes to Joe and Dave. He thanked them again, and in a funk, drove back to his parents'. It occurred to him that he no longer thought of it as home. 'No, like the saying goes, home is where one's heart is, and my heart is with Max. I've never been to L.A., but I guess that is where home is now.'

Rence and Miki were in their respective offices catching up on work. Lena and Lexy were out with friends. Joseph went up to his room, flopped on his bed, and stared at the ceiling wishing that time would pass faster. Eventually, he dozed off only to be awakened by his cell ringing. It was one of his high school football buddies, Bill Thompson, inviting him to join in an evening of pre New Year revelry. Joseph eagerly accepted.

Beer and weed were flowing freely in the frat house. Joseph shied away from the weed, but thought nothing of drinking beer. He'd never really liked the taste of beer, but after the third or fourth, he decided he was acquiring a taste for it and drank some more. One thing he discovered about beer was that it quickly made its way through his body. He wandered upstairs looking for a bathroom.

Just as he started to close the door, Bill pushed his way in with him. "Man, I gotta piss, too. You don't mind if we both use the bowl at the same time. Hell, we're ol' football buddies, we've seen each other naked many times," he said, as he locked the door.

Joseph just grinned at him.

Standing next to each other at the bowl, they both pulled out their dicks. Bill's heavy stream started immediately; Joseph's followed. When Bill finished, he continued to just hold his hardening rod. Joseph stared at Bill's long heavy rod, not noticing that he too was getting hard.

Coming to his senses, he glanced up at Bill, who grinned and dropped his eyes down to Joseph's hardon and licked his lips. "I always wondered what that thing would look like hard," he said, pushing Joseph's hand off it, and taking it into his own. Joseph jutted his pelvis forward inviting Bill to play with it.

"Man, I've gotta get a taste of this beauty," Bill said, shaking off the last drops of piss from his hardened cock, undid his own pants and let them fall as he knelt in front of Joseph. He jacked himself a couple of times as he admired the long thick rod staring him in the face. Quickly, he undid Joseph's belt and jeans and pulled them down along with his jockeys. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he plunged Joseph's cock into his mouth, wetting it thoroughly before forcing it on down his throat.

Joseph groaned with pleasure, grabbed Bill's head and started fucking his face. As he neared climax, his cell phone started ringing. He ignored it and filled Bill's mouth while Bill filled his hand with his own man cream. When Joseph started softening, Bill sat back on his haunches, raised his hand to his mouth and licked it clean. Joseph watched in fascination. "Damn, Bill, I didn't realize that you're gay," he said, as he aimed his now deflated cock at the bowl and let go with another steaming stream.

"I'm not. I've got a steady girlfriend. I just like sucking cock and eating cum." He grinned at Joseph and pulled up his pants. "Anytime you want to give me more, just tell me." He reached for the door knob.

Joseph stared at Bill's smirking face. A gob of cum clung in the hair over his lip. "Hey, Man, wipe your moustache off before you go out there."

Bill licked his moustache with his long tongue. "Mmmm. Thanks, Joe." He closed the door as he left.

Joseph pulled up his pants and collapsed against the wall as he zipped up. He slid down to sit on the cold tile floor. 'What have I done? Max hasn't even been gone eight hours. Oh, God.'

The door opened and a fellow he didn't recognize stepped in. Seeing Joseph sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, he squatted beside him and asked, "Are you okay, Dude?"

. "Yeah, I just felt light headed and needed to sit down for a moment."

The fellow laughed. "There're better places to sit."

Joseph grinned and scurried to get to his feet. "True, but I can't fall off the floor." He washed his hands and quickly exited the room. Leaning against the wall in the hallway at the top of the stairs, he pulled out his cell phone to see who had called. "Dammit," he muttered, seeing Max's name. The fellow from the bathroom stopped and asked if he needed help getting back downstairs. "I'm fine, thanks. I'll make it on my own," he muttered. Once alone, he cursed again. He made his way down the stairway, found his coat and left without looking for Bill.

Back home in his own room, he lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. 'It was only a blowjob. I didn't look for it. It just happened. There's no reason to feel guilty. Besides Max said it would be okay.'

Still the guilt lay heavy on his heart. He thought about calling Max, but didn't make a move to do it. Eventually, he fell asleep, still fully clothed.

* * *

Max finally gave up on his attempt at concentrating on his text book, fired up his computer and sent a note to Joseph's laptop.

I've only been back here for a couple of hours, and I wish I was back in your arms. I miss you terribly. I guess your phone needs charging, or maybe you forgot to take it with you. Call me when you get this message. I love you. M

He hit send and stared at the screen for several minutes after the message disappeared. He put the computer to sleep and wandered over to the fridge. Staring at its contents he decided he wasn't really hungry, closed the door, wandered over to the window and stared out at the black sky. One thing he hated about living in L.A. - there were no visible stars.

With a big sigh, he decided that he should get back to his studies. Sitting back at the table, he stared at the opened book, not seeing what was on the page. After several minutes, even though it wasn't even nine yet, he decided to go to bed.

Once undressed and in bed, he stared at the dark ceiling wondering what Joze was doing, and if Joze missed him half as much as he missed Joze. He fondled himself dreaming about making love to Joze. As he hardened, he reached between his legs and tickled his anus. Soon he was near climax. Do you think all these Jozes are necessary?

He'd read about guys shooting into their own mouths. Wanting to see if he could, he threw back the covers, scooted down the bed and flipped his legs over his head as though he was going to do a backward flip. His hard cock dangled just a couple of inches from his mouth. Try as he might, he couldn't get it any closer, so he continued fingering his rear and jacking.

He closed his eyes and imagined Joseph shooting his cum all over his face, and quickly reached a climax. Some got into his mouth, but most of it was on his face. He lay out flat. Still breathing hard, imagining his cum was Joseph's, he wiped some up and licked his fingers clean. Exhausted, he pulled the covers up and was soon fast asleep.

Loud pounding on his door woke him out of a sound sleep. Max rolled out of bed, grabbed his boxers and slipped them on as he scurried to the door. "Damn, are you guys trying to wake the neighborhood?" He asked as he opened the door to his buddies.

Jim took one look at his face and burst out laughing as he pushed his way into the apartment followed by his two lovers. "Damn, Dude, is that dried cum all over you face?" He asked.

"Who came on your face, Max?" Ben asked as he headed into the bathroom, the only place a person could hide in the apartment. "There's no one here," he announced.

Max was still standing at the door. His whole body was a bright red with embarrassment. Allen simply grinned as he closed the door.

Max flinched when Jim flicked a big flake off his cheek. "That is dried cum… isn't it? Or is it some kind of new facial?"

Max fled into the bathroom and locked the door. He groaned as he looked into the mirror and saw several big dried flakes still adhered to his forehead and cheeks.

After thoroughly washing his face and putting on his workout clothes, which were always hung in the shower to dry after each workout, he unlocked the door and went hunting his shoes, ignoring the three men sprawled around his room.

They weren't going to let it go. Jim squatted in front of Max, who sat on the edge of his bed to put his shoes on and closely examined his face. "That really works. Your complexion is so much clearer."

Max glared at him, then batted him on his shoulder with his shoe. "Fuck off," he muttered. Jim fell back on his butt laughing.

Ben sauntered over and set a steaming cup of coffee on the bedside cabinet. "I thought you were true blue to Joseph. Who was your trick?"

Max finished tying his shoe and stood up. "I came on my own face. Alright?"

Jim moaned and said, "Oh, that is one hot image. Could you demo it for us?"

Max turned a dark red as he chewed his lower lip and glared at him. He knew there was nothing he could say that would stop the banter.

Allen, who had said nothing, stepped in front of Jim. "That is enough. Stop - now."

Jim was taken back. He'd not seen Allen be assertive before. He started to bristle and glanced at Ben. Ben slightly shook his head and Jim backed off. "I'm sorry, Max. You know I wouldn't tease you if I didn't like you. And you know that I more than like you."

Allen put an arm around Max and asked, "Are you alright?"

Max glanced at Allen and smiled. "Thanks, those two never know when to stop." He glared at Jim, but couldn't help but smile at the penitent puppy expression on his face. "I love you, too, Jim. You know that."

Jim put an arm over Allen and Max's shoulders and looked at Ben. "Could life get any better?"

Ben walked up to him, put his arms around Jim's neck and kissed him while Jim held Allen and Max tightly. "I don't know how it could," he murmured.

Max thought, 'If Joze was here it would be perfect.'

* * *

Joseph woke with the hangover from hell. He stumbled into the bathroom, and after relieving his full bladder, dug into the medicine cabinet until he found a bottle of Tylenol. After swallowing three tablets and two glasses of tap water, he found his way back to his bed and collapsed.

Through the dull pain between his eyes, he wondered if Max would call again this morning. He told himself, he'd call him later - if Max didn't call first. He then wondered if he would tell Max, or even if he should, and decided that after they got back together and things were again on an even keel he would. That decision made him feel a little better, but only just a little. He drifted into a troubling dream where every turn he made someone was trying to suck his cock, and he woke up muttering, "No. No. It's only for Max."

Giving up on getting any sleep, he rolled out of bed and shuffled into the shower. With the shower head on massage, he turned the water as hot as he could stand it and let it pound his neck and shoulders and then his scalp. At first the heat made him a bit nauseous, but after a bit he realized that his headache was gone. Feeling better, he dressed and headed down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

He was surprised to find his parents sitting at the breakfast table reading the morning paper. His mother smiled at him and said, "Ah, another early bird. Good morning, Son."

Rence lowered his paper and winked at him with a conspiratorial smile.

"Early? What time is it?"

Miki glanced at the kitchen wall clock behind him. "It's only eleven thirty-seven."

"So you two were out late?"

"Not out, but up. We heard you come in. It wasn't very late."

"It wasn't any fun partying without Max."

"Missing your young man already?" Rence asked.

"I was missing him as soon as he left, Dad."

"Well, it won't be long before you're back together. So… I take it you didn't tell him what you're doing?"

"No, I want to surprise him."

Miki studied him a moment, then said, "I hope he likes surprises."

"Oh, I know he'll love this one. But he's, of course, going to lecture me about it."

"Are you going with us to the family New Year's Eve party?"

"Where is it this year?"

"Well, your dad and Dave tossed a coin."

"And Dad won," Joseph surmised, grinning at his father, who returned the grin and bounced his eyebrows.

Miki smiled at her husband. "That's one way to put it. So it's at the Eyrie. Would you like some breakfast?"

Joseph shrugged. "I can get it, Mom. A bowl of cold cereal will be fine."

As he poured milk over his Cheerios, he wondered out loud why Dave and Joe hadn't said anything about it.

"Well, since they knew Max would be leaving, maybe they felt it would be best not to say anything. And you haven't seen them since, have you?"

Joseph shook his head.

"So there you go."