Training Camp

Yet again, I was desperate to get back to training, or more accurately back to Michael. Seeing him again was wonderful, but I kept a check on my urge to hug him this time. I'd spent a week fantasising about him and I didn't want to make it obvious. He was happy to see me too, and we soon settled into the pattern we had before. He still drove me nuts, but I managed to keep any signs of my lust and arousal from him and anyone else.

After a week we were assigned different groups for a lot of the physical training. Again, I had very mixed feelings about this. It probably helped my control that I didn't see him so much of the day, but I spent much of my afternoons desperately waiting to see him again. What I didn't expect was that the longer this arrangement went on, the more withdrawn he became. He still joked with me in the evenings, but it seemed not to reach his eyes the way it did before. If we were alone together it wasn't so bad, but in the dorm room we rarely were. I asked him if anything was wrong but he said he was just tired. My urge to take him into my arms and make it all right became stronger as the days passed.

I noticed a couple of bruises on him too, but he said he'd fallen on the assault course. I might have believed him more if a fresh set didn't appear a few days later. Three weeks into this session I began to wonder quite what was happening to him, and I came to the conclusion that there was someone here who didn't like him. It might not be that much of a stretch given that he was still in a group with Paul and Seb, and I had the nasty feeling that the school bully in Paul might be coming out. I resolved to find out what was wrong, and if Michael wouldn't tell me I was just going to have to find some proof myself.

It took another week, during which I spent as much time as possible but not nearly enough, trying to tail Michael whenever I could, before I discovered his secret. I had finished training early, but not as early as some of the other groups, and as I headed back to the dorm I heard Paul's voice coming from the room. I slowed my pace, wanting to overhear anything that was said and fairly sure if there was anything going on it wouldn't happen right in front of me. Paul might not be my friend, but he didn't seem too keen to take me on.

Paul's voice was clearest, but I heard Seb agreeing with him as he spoke. It was clear that they were in the room with Michael and I doubted anyone else was present. I listened to Paul's statement, my stomach curling with hatred as I listened.

"Glad you enjoyed our little game today Mike. I particularly enjoyed the part when you fell off that log. I'd have thought a poof like you would be better at gymnastics."

Michael muttered something in reply, which I couldn't hear but was probably some sort of threat.

"Oh, I don't think you're going to go telling anyone. After all, you wouldn't want Peter to hear about what I know, would you?"

There was some sort of mutter again, and I wished I knew what Michael was saying. Whatever it was he wasn't really challenging Paul, and he'd clearly been lying to me to avoid me knowing about this situation. Something was making him let Paul get away with this and apparently it was something Paul knew and I didn't. I was jealous that there would be anything I didn't know about Michael and seething that Paul had been hurting him.

I heard a scuffle, and the sound of something scratching on the floor as a thump echoed down the corridor. That sent me running the few more steps to my room. The scene was pretty clear. Michael had fallen half against his bed and shoved it to the side as he went. Paul was looking very pleased with himself, and had obviously pushed him. I glared at him, but he just looked smug. Only Seb was in there, so it would be Michael's word against theirs and I was sure they would say he had fallen over. I couldn't prove otherwise despite what I had heard.

I rushed to Michael's side and helped him up, ignoring the fact that taking his hand in mine sent shocks through my body. He wouldn't look me in the eye, and was obviously embarrassed. A scrape was clearly visible on his forehead too, and I hated Paul all the more for marking my baby.

"Are you okay?"

He just nodded. That wasn't good enough, and didn't wipe the smug smile off Paul's face either. I had to get Michael out of here so he wouldn't get hurt again, so I could talk to him, and so I didn't end up thumping Paul myself.

"I think you should get your head checked out at the infirmary anyway. It looks like you hit it as you fell."

Paul just stood there, still looking very pleased with himself, as I led Michael out of the room. I didn't dare look too carefully at Paul and just concentrated on getting the two of us out of the room and then the block. As soon as we were out in the open I found a quiet spot in the trees where we could sit down. I might still need to take him to the infirmary, but I wanted to talk to Michael first. He didn't seem that keen on the idea and still avoided my gaze and stayed silent. I leant over him and heard him inhale a sharp breath as I pushed back his hair to check the mark on his head. It was swelling a bit but there was no blood. I winced myself thinking I had caused him pain.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

"No, not really."

"I think a bit of fresh air would be a good idea for the moment. I'll take you to the infirmary if you need, in a bit."

He responded with just a nod again. It was going to be up to me to break the silence, and I had a strong feeling he wasn't going to want to talk about what had happened. Tough.

"You going to tell me why Paul pushed you over?" His eyes came to mine then, shocked at what I'd said, but still not saying anything. I pressed my advantage. "Or why you've been letting him bully you and not told anyone? Lied even to me about how you got those bruises."

He looked down again, his face flushing red.

"What does he have on you? What can be so awful you don't want me knowing about and you'd rather get hurt?"

He tried to get up, clearly wanting to get away from me now. I grabbed his arms and backed him into a tree so he couldn't go anywhere. He even tried to fight me rather than talk to me, his face bright red with shame, but I was stronger.

"Tell me Michael. I'm your friend. I care, and I don't give a shit about what Paul says or thinks. I don't want you suffering."

I heard him sniff, but I didn't hear what he muttered and had to get him to repeat it.

"I'm gay Peter."

My mind might have raced off with a thousand thoughts at hearing that, but in the current situation I managed to focus. I must have sounded incredulous.

"That's it? You've let him beat you up because you're gay and you were scared to tell me? Did you think I'd not want to know you any more? Honestly Michael, I have no problem with it. I can't imagine anything that would stop me wanting to be your friend." I could also imagine being a lot more than his friend, but this didn't seem the right moment to tell him that.

He started crying. I didn't know if it was relief or what, but I held him against me as he slumped back down to the floor. My body reacted to his closeness, but thankfully not too much. Even though I'd spent a lot of time dreaming about having him close, this was not a situation I'd ever thought about. Having him so upset helped me stay under control. I held him for a couple more minutes while he let it out, but as he started to recover he stiffened in my arms and I had to let him go. I didn't like it when the warmth of his body moved away from mine, but there was no way I could keep him against me without making things a lot more awkward.

Now the immediate crisis was over, my anger at Paul returned.

"I'm going to go back in there and wipe the smile off his face. Give him a few bruises of his own." I said firmly.

Michael looked horrified. "No, don't."

"I'm not going to let him get away with this Michael. If you don't stand up to him he's going to keep doing it whenever he gets chance. Much as I'd like to, I can't be around you all the time."

"Perhaps nearly getting caught will be enough to stop him."

"Not judging by the look on his face. He knows if you say anything about him pushing you it's your word against him and Seb who will say you fell. That's not good enough. He needs stopping so he won't even think of hurting you again."

"Peter, leave it, please. I'll not let him get to me any more. It won't do you any good to get kicked out of here for fighting."

"I don't want to get kicked out, but I still say we can't let him get away with this. Bullies have no place in training, and certainly not in the real world. They'll get rid of him if they know what he's been doing."

"It's my word against theirs though, like you said. I've got no proof I didn't just fall over, and it's not like I'm the only one here with a few bruises after the training sessions."

I kept working it over in my brain. There had to be some way of sorting this out without me getting into trouble. I needed to sort Paul out, and I needed to put the smile back on Michael's face. Perhaps now though was not the time to deal with it. Michael was right to some extent, it wasn't worth me getting kicked out for fighting, and I was fairly sure if I tried to deal with things right now I was far too angry to do anything other than punch him. My mind turned to other things and I started to wonder how this had all come about.

"Michael, how did he know? You can't have told him anything."

He looked very red and still wouldn't look at me. His answer when it came was very quiet.

"I was in the showers not long after we got back. I thought I was alone and I was... well, you can guess. When I, er, finished, he heard me say a guy's name."

My mind raced with conflicting thoughts and emotions. The mental image of Michael wanking himself off in the shower made me harden and start to lust after him even more. The idea of Paul seeing that when I didn't, and then using it against him made me even more mad. But overwhelmingly I hoped desperately it had been my name. If it wasn't I wouldn't want to know because the jealousy that Michael might have been thinking about someone else pleasuring him needed to be kept under control. I couldn't ask him right then, there was too much information crowding my brain as it was. I decided to change the subject.

"Do you want to go to the infirmary for your head? If not, it's dinner time and I'm starving."

He looked kind of sad when his eyes met mine, but I guess the whole thing had rung him out a little. They were still red-rimmed from his crying too, and combined with the graze on his forehead I just wanted to hold him, kiss him, and make it all okay. I swallowed the huge lump in my throat rather than pounce on him when he was already vulnerable.

"I'd rather sit out here for a bit longer. I'm not that hungry and I know I look dreadful. Go have your meal, and I'll see you later."

I didn't want to leave him but I didn't think I could force the situation. "Okay. I'll eat quick though and come straight back here. Don't go back to the dorm by yourself, please."

He nodded and slumped back down against the tree. My heart was breaking seeing him like this.

"Michael. You have to believe none of this is your fault, and I'm not going anywhere. I'll see you in a few minutes."

I wished I didn't have to go, but I needed to clear my head too. Maybe now I had a chance of something with him, and I desperately hoped that he had not been thinking about anyone but me. I had to control myself and think rationally about the whole situation, and right now it was not going to be easy. My anger started rising again when I got to the mess for dinner and Paul was there. Cheeky bastard even winked at me when he saw me heading to sit down with my food. I sat there seething, despite the fact I knew it was only making him more pleased with himself.

I tried to keep it under control, I really did, but seeing him laugh and joke with those who surrounded him really got to me. I ate quickly, but he'd been there for some time already so we finished at similar times. He followed me out of the dining hall, Seb trailing behind as he usually did. I couldn't go back to Michael just then, not if I was going to have company, so I headed off towards our dorm room, planning to give my tail the slip as soon as I could and not lead him back to my friend because even if he wasn't likely to beat him in front of me there could certainly be some words.

When we were back in the room and I knew we were alone I took a deep breath and span round, steeling myself not to lose my temper. The grin on his face when I looked at him didn't help me.

"What is it Paul? Just say what you want to say."

He smirked. "Just wanted to make sure Michael was okay."

I actually growled at him. I didn't quite know where it came from. Not the best reaction as it just started him laughing.

"Interesting," he said. "Perhaps there's more than one gay boy round here."

"I'm warning you Paul. Leave Michael alone.

"I haven't touched him. It's not my fault he is so clumsy."

"Don't play pretend. You've been making sure he falls over plenty, even if you haven't touched him yourself."

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about."

"Fine. Then I'm sure you'll be keeping an eye out so he doesn't fall again."

He laughed at me. "Are you so keen to have him on your team when we finish here, always having to keep your back to the wall. Especially you."

I growled again. "What do you mean by that?"

He really started laughing then. "Did he tell you how I found out about him?"

I nodded, and tried not to rise to any of his bigoted comments. For the first time, Seb spoke.

"Ohhh.... Peter...."

The way he drew out his words made it clear he was trying to imitate someone in the throes of passion, or more likely what they had heard of Michael. I didn't know whether to believe it, but my heart leapt anyway. I did my best not to let it show.

"It doesn't matter. He's more of a man than you'll ever be, and if it came to the choice of him or a pathetic bully by my side on a mission I wouldn't even have to think about it. You're the one I couldn't trust to turn my back on."

He hissed and I didn't even have time to prepare for his strike. It was only a split second and he knocked me back onto the floor, getting a good punch in to my jaw before I managed to defend myself. I had the satisfaction of hearing something crunch when I got a return strike into his ribs. It was probably only a moment later and after a couple more thumps sent each way, mine more successful than his, before he was dragged off me.

I sat up and shook my head to clear it, then taking note of what had happened. James and Theo were holding Paul, together with one of our instructors. My jaw and my ribs ached, but at least this time there were witnesses. I knew I'd been fighting too, but with any luck it was clear who had started it. Our instructor Dev had called for more bodies, and the sounds of running feet were heard along the corridor. I sat slightly dazed while more of the leaders came in, including the head of the training camp. Men continued to hold onto Paul but he had stopped struggling.

One of the instructors came over to check I was okay. I confirmed I was, although I was a little shaken. I was also pissed at myself for letting Paul jump me in the first place since I was faster and better than him. I figured I was too distracted thinking about Michael in the showers, and I wasn't expecting Paul to make any move on me. He'd seemed to want to take on the weak rather than me, and he'd played on Michael's fear of me finding out about him to victimise him. It was pathetic.

Dev ordered Paul and Seb off to the leader's office, and almost everyone else was sent away. I was left to explain what had happened to the course leader.

"I found out today that Paul has been bullying Michael. I told him to stop. I know I should have come to someone but there were no witnesses and Michael didn't want anything mentioned. I swear I didn't touch him until after he'd jumped me. I did tell him I thought he was a pathetic bully, and then he thumped me."

"Okay Peter. I'll talk to Paul and Seb and we will sort it out. In the meantime you stay out of trouble and get some sleep."

"I need to go find Michael first, he's out in the woods."

He agreed to let me go. I'd never run that fast. I needed to check on Michael and I needed to know whether what I'd been told was the truth. Perhaps today was not the time though. When Michael saw me he just looked worried.

"What happened to you? Please tell me you haven't been fighting with Paul."

I looked at the floor. "He started it."

I heard a groan. "I told you to leave it alone."

"I did. He wouldn't. But the good news is he was found trying to beat the crap out of me, so he's with the camp leader right now. I can't imagine he'll be getting an easy time of it. I said you'd been bullied, but not why."

He sounded dejected. "Paul will tell them anyway."

"It doesn't matter Michael. Anyone who thinks less of you is not worth it. That's pretty much why Paul hit me, when I said I'd have no problem working with you but I would with a bully like him."

He still looked sad, but he followed me back to the barracks and our room. I was glad to see the wolves were already in bed, and I didn't have to deal with anything else tonight, particularly not explaining what had happened and why. I smiled at Michael as we settled down into bed, wanting to keep reassuring him for the moment that I still cared. I needed to let him know how much I cared, but that could at least wait until tomorrow. I felt after the stress of today now was not the time, and since we were not alone I couldn't say what I wanted to say. I was glad I was tired because I was still worried about it. I'd never done anything with a man, but I knew that I wanted to with Michael. I just hoped if I shared my feelings he would want to be with me too.

When the alarm went off in the morning, I woke to see Michael's face as I usually did for a second before he also woke. His eyes opened and met my gaze. Again he smiled at me but it didn't reach his eyes, and I knew I had to put that right. I'd learned a lot the day before and there was something to work on with him. I sighed and stretched, wondering how and when I would be able to talk to him. At the very least I would think he would be moved into a different group for training, and with any luck it would be mine. I needed time alone to say what I wanted though.

I was surprised when Dev and another leader Steve came into the dorm before we'd even got out of bed. They had some food with them and handed this to me and Michael while they asked the wolves to go get breakfast. Obviously this was going to be about yesterday. The two of them sat down on one of the empty beds and Dev started to explain.

"You two have a day off today. Paul spent some time explaining himself and trying to wriggle out of it, but it was clear you were right about the bullying and what happened yesterday. He's out of here. We won't tolerate behaviour like that. Seb is going too. The boss felt it would be best if you were both out of the way when their family arrives to pick them up, and that you could do with a bit of time to recover.'"

I looked across at Michael and he was grinning. I had a sudden pang of disappointment that it hadn't been me to put a smile like that on his face. However, I was really glad to hear Paul was going. I'd never liked the guy so it wasn't much of a loss, and he would be hard to work with. He didn't like following orders but he didn't have the talent to lead either.

"There is one other thing," Dev continued. "We found out why you've been bullied Michael."