Daniel's Dream Read Free Page A

leave before our disgusting lifestyle influences others."
    Josh's green eyes blazed with anger. "What the hell? Is he all right? I thought that school has a no-tolerance policy! Has this been going on long?"
    "He's a little shaken up, but he's fine. We had a long talk with his teacher and evidently Andrew has been picking on him for some time now. Danny chose not to say anything because he wants the boy to like him and he didn't want to get him into trouble. Today is the first time Andrew took it to another level and attacked Danny. Mr Thompson and the principal assured us that bullying is not tolerated at school, and Andrew has been suspended for the rest of the year. They're also going to make sure that Andrew and Danny don't have the same class together next year so this doesn't happen again."
    Josh nodded and pulled Nick close to his warm body. The smell of rubbing alcohol lingered with the fresh scent of his cologne. At first, Nick thought that the aroma was an unusual combination, but since Josh often came home from his job from the hospital in his scrubs, that smell soon became a comfort to him.
    Josh pulled away and looked up into Nick's eyes as he cupped both sides of his face. "It's going to be alright, Nick. We knew something like this could happen. Now that it has, we'll deal with it like we should… as a family." He stood on his tiptoes and pressed his warm lips against Nick's cold ones in a quick kiss.
    "Now, gorgeous, how about you order us a big cheesy, pepperoni pizza and I'll go see how Daniel is doing. We'll watch one of Daniel's favorite movies and maybe pop some popcorn… what do you think?"
    Nick pressed his forehead against Josh's for a moment and nodded slightly. He knew that Josh would put everything into perspective. Nick took a deep cleansing breath.
    Josh was here. Everything would be better.
    "Okay, babe, you make the call for the pizza and I'll go talk to our boy," Josh said and then gave Nick one more quick peck on the lips before he eased himself out of their embrace and walked through the house and out the back door to join Danny.
    Nick took his iPhone out of his front blue jeans pocket and scrolled down until he got to the number to the pizza parlor. After he ordered the pizza and breadsticks to be delivered, he went to the kitchen and tried to busy himself pouring sodas for all three of them. He looked out of the kitchen window and saw Josh sitting beside Danny with his arm around the young boy's slight shoulders. Fred leaned heavily against Danny's other side, and the sight of Danny being surrounded by so much love and support filled Nick with a wave of contentment.
    Nick used to dream of finding a partner and having a family, and ever since Josh and Danny had come into his life, the love that they all shared between them made a happier reality than any dream he had ever had.
    He watched Danny wrap his skinny arms around Josh and hug him tightly.
    God, he loved those two.
    Josh stood up and swung Danny into his arms and started spinning around in circles. Fred immediately joined in the fun and started barking and bouncing around them. He heard Danny squeal with delight as Josh continued to spin around and around. He stopped and set Danny on his feet and both of them wobbled around comically as they tried to get themselves steady on their feet. The scene brought a smile to Nick's face and he began to feel immediately better.
    Maybe everything will be alright.

Chapter Four

    Josh stepped out of the shower and grabbed the blue fluffy towel off of the rack. He hastily dried himself off and slid on his favorite red and green checkered flannel lounge pants, confiscated from Nick a long time ago. Even though they were too long for him, Josh loved them. They had been Nick's favorite pair, but once Josh borrowed them, he never got them back. Wearing his lover's clothes made him feel sexy.
    He quickly ran a comb through his short, dark brown hair and eyed himself critically in the mirror. He saw