Part 2

Todd took a few deep breaths as he climbed the steps. He knew what
the problem was with Matthew, the bigger question remained was did
Stephen know. The phone tree amongst the couples worked too fast
most of the time.

The fact that the door opened before he reached it was a fairly good
indication that the tree was alive and strong and growing far too far
away from home.

"Hi?" he tried, coming up the doorstep with what Matthew and Chris
would have derided as a very poor attempt at nonchalance.

"Hi yourself," Stephen said, kissing Todd before standing aside to
let him in. "Enjoy the game?"

Todd shrugged off his jacket and took his time hanging it up. The
question about the game held ominous undertones, even if it wasn't
said in an ominous tone.

"It was good," Todd said, shutting the closet door. "We won in the
last period after going into it behind by a goal."

"You didn't feel the need to leave when Matthew and Chris did?"

Todd felt himself starting to flush even as he looked swiftly up at
Stephen. He was utterly useless at any kind of deception. Forget
lying: even just mild dissembling would be good.
"Uhm...."

"So you did know," Stephen said in a surprised tone.

"Uhm," Todd said again, rather less hopefully.
:
"I'm surprised at you," Stephen said, looming large in the suddenly
too small living room.

Todd let go of the closet DOOR looking up at him with distinct alarm.
It had been bad enough being abruptly faced with Eric tonight. Who
was also big and loomy when he felt like it.

"I didn't-"

"DON'T make it worse by lying directly to me," Stephen said sternly.

"I didn't lie!" Todd said, sitting down on the end of teh sofa mostly
to get away from the looming. It was a mistake. Stephen looked still
taller.

"I didn't say anything and I didn't lie to anyone-"

"Exactly. You didn't say a word, which means you went along with
something you knew was wrong. You know exactly how we work, and you
know our friends work the same way. Look at me when I'm talking to
you, please." Stephen waited until Todd's eyes came back up to meet
his. "That makes you a responsible party in tonight's event. What
WAS your responsibility?" Stephen asked firmly.

"I couldn't say anything," Todd began, feeling distinctly shaken and
with very little ground left under his feet. "It wasn't fair or any
of my business -"

"Matthew made it your business the instant you knew he was going,
didn't he?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Todd said in what was supposed to be
calm reasonability and was actually approaching a whine. "If I went
and said-"

"If you said what you were supposed to, which is either 'I can't go,
I'll be in trouble too,' or 'you shouldn't go at all,' or 'I need to
alert someone if you can't,' then you'd have gotten to the game,
enjoyed it, and come home without having to worry about anything."

"If I said 'I need to alert someone' I'd get my jaw broken and
rightly so!" Todd protested. "That's ridiculous!"

And who talks like that anyway? he demanded under his breath. He
sometimes wondered if in his teens Stephen had ever had arguments
with people in which he had yelled "I need to alert someone that this
is a completely unacceptable situation which is beyond the bounds of
common courtesy!

Maybe there had been a gang of them. They'd probably relied on Eric
to keep their jaws intact or Rolf for sheer intimidation value- or
possibly no one else in high school had ever understood what they
were saying anyway.

"Matthew couldn't have broken your jaw over the phone," Stephen
firmly. "That IS where you first heard he was going, correct?"

Pulled out of a fantasy of four incomprehensible tops in Grease style
leather jackets, Todd gave him a guilty look.

"I-"

"You," Stephen said, pausing for effect, "may take yourself upstairs
and get ready for bed. When you're done, pick a corner."

oooooooooooooh that was not good. Todd gave him a look from eyes
which Stephen noted had just doubled in size and taken on an
expression that would have made Bambi jealous- and in Todd it was
entirely unconscious too.

"I didn't DO anything- I didn't!"

"And that is exactly where the problem lies. Upstairs, right now,"
Stephen replied, pointing for emphasis. It was hard work to ignore
the expression crossing his partner's face but it needed to be done.

There was no arguing with Stephen in that particular tone - or at
least Todd had never tried it and didn't plan on trying it any time
soon. He slid off the sofa and with as little guilty slinking as it
was possible to manage, took himself upstairs.

Stephen let out his caught breath in long sigh, rubbing one hand
across his forehead and eyes. He really didn't enjoy these
confrontations but in their relationship, it was a fact of life.

Upstairs Todd sat down on the side of the bed and tried to summon up
the will to undress. He hated Stephen to be upset with him. In fact
he hated Stephen being upset full stop; it really wasn't something he
did well at all. On the other hand, he knew perfectly well if Stephen
came upstairs and found him still sitting frozen, things wouldn't get
any better. He slipped his shoes off, unbuttoned his shirt and wished
that he'd never listened to a word that Matthew and Chris had to say.

Stephen listened for the sounds of his partner getting ready for
bed. When the light footfalls ended and the silence began, he waited
a further ten minutes by the clock in the kitchen before he headed
upstairs. That gave his partner plenty of time to think through the
mistakes, but not enough time to make things worse or to get too
upset.

The last few footsteps on the stairs were always the worst to listen
to. Todd half turned and gave Stephen a look of flat out appeal,
twisting his hands together.

"I didn't actually DO anything," he said as one last try. "It isn't
my fault- they're both adults-"

"I didn't give you leave?....."

"Leave?" Todd said, confused.

"I didn't give you permission to leave the corner or to speak. Turn
around, think about that question and what the appropriate answer is."

That was it. Todd felt his eyes start to sting ominously, turned back
to the corner and shut them tightly.

Stephen took a further few minutes to get himself ready for bed,
moving the chair away from the wall before taking a seat. "Come
here," he said gently to his partner.

Todd took a rather shuddering breath and turned around to face him.
He was sure - absolutely sure - that Matthew and Chris never fell
apart like this in similar situations. And God only knew Joe and Rolf
were ten times scarier than Stephen was ever capable of being.
Stephen didn't do scary. He just did sad. And annoyed. And
disappointed. Which was far, far worse.

Stephen put out his hand and waited for what seemed like twenty
minutes for his partner to make his way across the bedroom. Taking
his hand, he pulled him to his right side, keeping his hand in his
own. "If you know someone in our circle of friends is doing
something wrong, you're just as liable as they are for going along
with it. You have a responsibility to keep yourself out of those
situations, and if you find yourself in one, to get out as soon as
you can. Just because you receive discipline in this relationship,
it doesn't mean that you don't have a responsibility to take control
when it's needed with friends."

"It's not up to me to tell Matthew what to do," Todd said with some
outrage despite his position. "He wouldn't take it from me anyway, it
isn't anything to do with me!"

"Whether Matthew listens or not is not your problem. All you had to
do was refuse to go with him, or if you were serious about wanting to
see the game, letting me know that Matthew was going to be there."

"I'm not going to do that!" Todd protested, near to tears. "It's NOT
up to me to do that, it isn't fair!"

Stephen kept his voice calm and reasonable. "Rolf and Matthew use
discipline in their relationship the same as we do. It is morally
wrong for you to support Matthew in breaking their system, not only
because you're their friend and care about their relationship, but
because you understand exactly what's going on. I would be angry
with Matthew if the roles were reversed and he helped you to subvert
our system. Not because he's responsible for your behavior, but
because as a friend he should point out when you're doing something
that you shouldn't."

"It isn't up to him to be responsible for me." Todd said rather less
convincingly, flushing in spite of himself.

Stephen kept the irritation out of his voice, not quite sure whether
Todd just didn't get it or was refusing to get it. "I just said he
wasn't responsible FOR you. You and Matthew are walking down the
street and Matthew for some reason is buried in a book. You look up
and see a post directly in his path. Wouldn't you say 'watch out
Matthew?"

"Yes....." Todd said unwillingly. "But that's different."

"How is it different?"

"It's not making a judgment on what he SHOULD do - I can't be
responsible for him, he's a grown up and he makes his own decisions."

"That argument is pure rubbish, and I'm ashamed you've even tried
it," Stephen said, the calm and reasonable voice abandoned for the
moment. "By that same token, Matthew is also grown up enough to know
he should be watching where he's walking, not buried in a book. So
you'll let him walk into a post, or worse yet, walk in front of a car
and be flattened, just because "he should be grown up enough and be
able to make his own decisions at all times? Is that it?"

"It's not that childish!" Todd snapped back, stung. "It's not
rubbish, either - we're ALL adults, we ALL make our own decisions,
it's up to Rolf and Matthew what they do, not me!"

Stephen pulled Todd face down across his lap, knowing that they'd
reached an impasse while Todd was worried about this spanking. He
made quick work of the pj bottoms, leaving them barely hanging on his
partner's legs. It was at this point that he knew he had a firm hold
on his partner's attention and that it was time for listening, rather
than arguing.

"As a willing member in this relationship, you will NOT choose to
support a friend in doing something you know to be wrong. Support
means participating in an outright lie to others, or simply being
silent. Is that clear?"

"That ISN'T fair," Todd said very unsteadily in a tone that told
Stephen quite clearly that he was in tears. Not with panic or
indignation, what ever he was saying: Stephen knew Todd's voice and
body language well enough to be sure of that. Todd's voice was saying
one thing: his body was saying something very different and it wasn't
indignation.

Stephen landed four very firm swats before stopping again. "I didn't
ask if it was fair, I asked whether I was being clear or not."

Todd burst into tears, too upset now to respond.

Knowing that was as much an answer as he'd get for the time being,
Stephen tightened his hold on his partner's side and spanked him
soundly. It wasn't a spanking that Todd would feel tomorrow, but
there was enough smart and discomfort for him to do some serious
rethinking on his earlier argument. He gave Todd a couple of moments
to collect himself, then helped him upright, standing up himself.
:
"Corner." He watched as Todd made his way over to the corner,
sobbing and far more subdued than earlier. Collecting the pj bottoms
from the floor, he dropped those on the bed and went into their
bathroom, emerging a few minutes later with a cold washcloth which he
put on his nightstand.

Todd leaned against the wall and for a moment gave way to the sobs
choking him. He could hear Stephen moving around the room but at this
moment in time had no interest at all in what he was doing or why,
smarting, sore and extremely unhappy. It took several moments before
he began to get the tears under control, and a few moments more
before he was able to swallow them entirely, rubbing at his eyes and
his wet face as best he could. His eyes were stiff and sore and his
jaw ached with the tension of crying.

"Come here baby," Stephen said softly from the bed.

Todd hesitated, struck to the gut as he always was by that particular
tone of voice. And another part of him shaken, ashamed and right now
not wanting to look his partner in the face.

"Come to bed."
It wasn't easy to turn around. Avoiding Stephen's eye, Todd went to
him, staying at arms length.

Stephen was holding the pj bottoms open so that Todd could step in.
Letting his partner pull them up himself, he waited until they were
in place before sliding over to let him get into bed.

Todd lay down very cautiously, sliding under the covers and turning
on to his side.

"Here," Stephen said, holding out the washcloth for Todd.

Todd accepted it and scrubbed at his face, still gulping slightly. He
turned over, away from Stephen and put the washcloth down on the
bedside table. he would have liked to have turned out the light, save
that it not have been politic to do so.

"Come here, brat," Stephen said, pulling gently at Todd's side.

No, was pretty much the answer. Todd didn't move, not actually
refusing but not helping either.

"Todd," Stephen said a little more firmly. "We need to finish our
discussion.

"I thought we were done." Todd said softly, not wanting to argue nor
to finish any conversation right now.

Stephen pulled until Todd rolled over and settled into his arm,
albeit unwillingly. "You know we're not. Why were you spanked?"

"For going along with Matthew and Chris." Todd admitted, unwillingly.

"What did you leave out of that reasoning?" Stephen persisted.

"I don't know." Todd admitted, still too upset to think in too much
detail about it.

"You're going to need to try harder than that."

Todd tried to slide away from him, tears welling up again in spite of
himself. "I shouldn't have gone along with it. I'm sorry."

Stephen kept Todd where he was, not about to let the conversation be
brushed under the rug. It was too important to let that
happen. "Stop. Todd, stop." He hugged him close for a
moment. "It's okay hon. Shhhh."

That was too hard to resist. Todd turned over into Stephen's arms and
held on to him, burying his face in Stephen's chest for a moment.

"Why were you spanked?" Stephen said softly against Todd's hair.

"For going along with Matthew and Chris." Todd said
unsteadily. "Helping."

"And why was that wrong?"

"I don't knooooooooooww...." Todd pleaded, unconvincingly.

"Yes, you do. Why was it wrong?" Stephen asked, pulling away to be
able to see Todd's face.

Todd squirmed a moment before answering, looking up from underneath
still damp lashes. "Because he's my friend and I didn't try to help
him from being run over by a huge truck."

Stephen couldn't suppress the smile, taking a moment to choke down
the laughter that threatened. "You don't need to stand in judgment
of Matthew. Just as a friend, it's your job to point out something
that's not right, or dangerous or whatever. And as YOUR friend….I
wouldn't let Rolf hear you call him a huge truck…."

The smile he got in return was genuine. He kissed the soft lips and
turned out the light.

Continue to Part 3