Running Late

Title: Running Late

Authors: Rolf and Gayspankee

"Brad where are you?" Justin said to himself. "You know how I feel about punctuality!"

In just five short days, Justin and Brad were taking their first trip since moving in together three years ago. There were a hundred things that needed to be done, and they all involved Brad being home. Finally, Justin could wait no longer. He picked up the phone and dialed Brad's cell phone number.

"You better have that thing on!" Justin said as the phone began to ring.

Brad was cruising down the highway, trying his best to make his way home. He grabbed his ringing phone and checked the caller ID.

"Son of a bitch, I thought I was making great timing!"

Just as Brad decided to answer the phone, it stopped ringing.

"Nooooooo! Damnit, Justin, give me a chance to answer! Well I can't very well call him back, so I guess this damn battery has to die."

Brad reached into the glove compartment and pulled out an old battery. He switched the batteries in his phone. Once he was satisfied that it would look in fact, dead, he tossed the new battery into the glove compartment. Within fifteen minutes he arrived home. He gathered up a bunch of items and tossed them into his book bag. He headed into the house, where he almost immediately sees Justin, who is perched against the counter, arms crossed.

"Hi, love. What's wrong?" Brad ventured.

"What time do you have?" Justin asked sternly.

Brad looked and pointed to his bare wrist. "No watch. I'd guess by the wonderful aroma here, it must be about 5:15?"

"Try 5:45. Where have you been?"

"Justin, I told you where I was going to be. I just lost track of time, since I had no way to track it."

"Brad, I'm tired of having this discussion with you! You have a clock in the truck and on your cell phone. You can call and let me know you're late, or you can answer the cell when I call! Why did you not answer?"

"When did you call? I had my cell with me the entire time."

"About fifteen minutes ago."

Brad opened his bag and pulled out his phone. He tried to dial out, unsuccessfully. "Damn phone. The batteries must have died."

"Obviously I see you didn't even try to phone me when you were running late, otherwise you'd have known the phone was dead. You know how I feel about being punctual! I also thought we had a discussion not too long ago about keeping a better eye on those batteries. It doesn't do you any good to carry around a dead phone, and there is a display there that tells you when you're running low. Put your bag in your room, wash up and join me for dinner. We'll finish this discussion after we eat."

"Justin, I told you I didn't know I was running late, so why would I call you? And as for the display, I notice when the phone rings, but by the end of the conversation, I lose all recollection of it."

"Go, wash. We'll discuss this AFTER we eat." Justin said pointing upstairs.

Brad reluctantly agreed, mumbling to himself the entire way up. After about five minutes he returned, a bit refreshed. He joined Justin at the table and served himself.

"Did you get to the bank and pick up those travelers checks at lunch?" Justin asked, making pleasant dinner conversation.

"damnit, no I didn't. I got hung up at the agency."

"Brad, you can stop with the cursing, it is NOT needed. What was the problem at the agency?"

"They were going to increase my premium." Brad replied quietly, not wanting to have the conversation that surely would ensue.

"Excuse me? Increase your premium?"

"Yeah. They had some kind of crap on their records. But it is all clear now. No increase."

"What kind of information did they have on their records?" Justin asked with an intent look on his face.

"You know, stuff that would cause an increase. Would you pass the peas? Everything is delicious." Brad was trying very hard to change the subject.

"No, I don't know what stuff. What exactly are you talking about?" Justin continued questioning while passing the peas.

"Justy baby, it is all cleared up, nothing to worry about. These peas just taste SO good. Did you get all the directions off the 'net?"

"Don't "Justy baby" me young man. Insurance problems are not something to brush off. WHAT was on their records?"

"Um, a ticket was on their records. You know somehow their records got crossed. So DID you get those directions?"

"STOP trying to change the topic. What ticket was on their records, and how did it get taken care of?"

"Can we please not talk about this right now?" Brad asked as he stood to take his plate into the kitchen. "That reminds me, I stopped by the book store and got some books on Florida's beaches. They have some HOT guys there."

"SIT DOWN!" Justin snapped. He waited for Brad to sit back at table. "I'm not going to play games with you anymore. Tell me EVERYTHING about what happened at the agency."

"Justin, love, it was something that happened months ago, and we just don't need to go there. Please. PLEASE drop it."

"I'm tired of these games. Go face the corner, Brad. When I'm ready, I'll ask you again about today, and if I don't get the reponse I'm looking for, you'll be spanked. Go on." Justin stood up, waiting for Brad to move.

Brad shuffled over to the corner. As he stood facing the corner, he tried to think of how to word all this so he would come out looking good.

Justin took his time cleaning up the dining area and kitchen. After about 20 minutes he returned to the dining area and pulled out a chair. .

"Bradley, are you ready to talk now?"

Brad nodded 'yes' without turning away.

"Come here and sit down then."

Brad took a seat in the chair and stared intensely at the floor.

"When was the ticket put on your records?" Justin asked while standing directly in front of Brad.

Brad kept his eyes down and spoke quietly, not wanting to share the information. "About 4 months ago."

"So that puts it in February. What, exactly, was the ticket for?"

"Speeding."

"Now I see why you didn't want to discuss it earlier. The details please."

"You remember that party Josh and I went to?"

"Yes." Justin replied hesitantly, not liking the sound of that.

"Well I had too much to drink. Naturally, there was no way I could drive home. So Josh drove, in my car."

"Naturally. That doesn't explain the ticket on YOUR record."

"I told you it was a mistake. The officer took down MY insurance information."

"And the ticket went under Josh's name? He's the one that paid the fine?"

"Yes he paid the fine."

"Brad, look at me. Brad?" Justin waited for Brad to look up. "I don't like being lied to. If that were a *simple* mistake you wouldn't have refused to talk to me about it. And I don't buy it for a second that an officer took down Josh's information and wrote out a ticket TO Josh, while reading off your insurance card that has YOUR name on it! I want the truth, and I want it right now."

"Josh," Brad paused briefly. "Josh, WAS driving. But he didn't have his license. And when we got pulled over, we swapped seats."

"Brad were you insane?!? No license on Josh versus you who were drunk? The lesser of the two evils was to pretend YOU were driving? You could have been arrested!"

"Josh had already been picked up for driving without a license, twice."

"And you let him drive?!?"

"You were out of town. Everyone else was smashed. He doesn't drink for obvious reasons. What else could we do? We didn't have cab money."

"I am certain, young man, that not every single person you know was at that party and smashed. And if that calamity could somehow occur, you COULD HAVE STAYED PUT! Sometimes Brad, I swear you lose the ability to think! The possible insurance increase pales in comparison to this. We talked about that party when I got home. A party you were told NOT to attend. You were punished, but now I find out there was even MORE I should have been told about? IMPORTANT information I should have been told?"

"Justin it was *4* months ago. You already beat my ass good. Actually MORE than you should have, for the reason you did it. Besides, Josh didn't tell me he didn't have his license on him until we were ALREADY stopped. I did what I had to, to help a friend."

"You were punished because you attended that party AFTER I told you no, AND I had to find out from someone else! And you wouldn't have conveniently forgotten to tell me about the ticket had you not been worried about my reaction to it! And how can you call Josh a friend when he allows you to be subjected to a drunk driving arrest? Do you have ANY idea exactly how much trouble you could have been in? The LAW Brad. It's NOT to be toyed with!"

"Justin I'm sorry. He didn't ask me to do it. I suggested it after he told me he didn't have his license. It never dawned on me about DUI. I may have done things different. It all worked out, the insurance isn't going up. The ticket has long been taken care off. And it was *4* months ago. You were so angry about me going to the party, had I told you all of this, I wouldn't have sat for four days, instead of just two. You laid into me good."

"All of this is due to you not thinking through things. Had you given a moment's thought to the consequences, you'd have never switched seats. Had you thought about it, you would have realized hiding this from me was not the correct action to take either. You know how much I abhor lies, and hiding the truth from me is the same damned thing! And paying attention to your phone battery so I can reach you when I need to! AND remembering to call me when you're going to be late! You obviously need to reminder to THINK before you act. Get the paddle, Brad."

"NO WAY! Justin you are over reacting. You are just mad because I was a few minutes late. It's not like I was screwing around. I had twenty things to do before our trip. I told you a hundred times since I was home that I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS RUNNING LATE. I just changed the batteries last month, not my fault that the stupid thing eats them up. And Justin, I am sorry about not telling you the whole story before, but it was *4* months ago. You can't punish me for that. You just can't."

"Brad, I can and I will. You lied to me. It doesn't matter if it was four minutes ago, four months ago, or for that matter, four YEARS ago. Lying is not, and will not EVER be acceptable. As far as being late, you know the rules. We've discussed the fact that you NEED to pay attention to the time. You refuse to wear a watch, so you had BETTER figure out how to look at your phone or figure out another way to get the time. And two weeks ago, young man, we discussed the fact that you need to continually recharge those batteries in your phone. You have that phone so I can reach you, or vice versa, WHENEVER we need each other. Dead batteries defeat that purpose, and it's NOT a hard thing to do to keep them charged and working! Now I'm not going to ask again. Go get that paddle, NOW."

"Go get it yourself, you're insane. If this is your mentality, when I was 16, I stole a jockstrap from Eric Templeton's locker. When I was 18, I was late to work because of our first rendezvous. And last year, when I told you I didn't have work, I LIED so we could screw all day, FOR HOURS!" Brad jumped up and was heading out of the kitchen.

"Bradley Thomas, step out of this kitchen and you will seriously regret it."

"JUSTIN, you have lost it. I am NOT standing within 2 feet of you acting like this." He looked Justin right in the eyes for the first time. "If you don't leave the room to get air, I AM!"

"SIT DOWN!" Justin thundered.

"Justin, can you hear me?" Brad asked, shouting back. "You aren't listening to what I am saying. You need to cool off. I told you, I REFUSE to be with in 2 feet of you acting like this." He finally realized that yelling wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Love, we are leaving in 2 days for our first romantic getaway EVER. Why can't you drop this?" Tears start to well up. "I know I fucked up. But it was SO long ago. Please, lets just get back to what we were going to do. We STILL have so much left to do before we leave."

Justin took a moment to calm down and realized that Brad was very upset. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Why are you so upset over this?" He walked over to give him a hug.

"It was a stupid incident, and an error of judgment." He hugged Justin back tightly. "I just want to put it behind me, and I had, until I went down there today. Justin, you know I love you, and wouldn't hide anything serious from you. You were really angry about me going, and I didn't want to compound that. I am sorry. Can we just focus on our trip? You, me, and 20,000 gay men in Key West. It is going to be so awesome." He gave Justin a kiss.

"Come here." Justin took Brad by the shoulders and led him over to couch and sat down beside him. "Sweetheart, we're not brushing off punishment just because you want to think about vacation. And I don't appreciate your tone of voice and running off when I tell you do something. You're not usually like that. I realize the ticket came four months ago, but that doesn't mean it's okay to lie. You understand that, don't you?"

"I know, I understand. And I apologize for hollering. But sometimes the only way to be heard is talk louder than the other person. And as far as not doing what I was told, Justin, it's not like you asked me to do the dishes, and I ran away. You asked me to get that bloody paddle, for a paddling I don't deserve." He went to raise his hand to cover Justin's reply, but Justin blocked that move. "Love, we can argue that point all night. I don't want to do that, do you?"

"No, I don't want to argue. But, you're not leaving this conversation unscathed. You are not the one that determines whether or not you deserve punishment. I am. And I very strongly feel that you deserve to be punished. I'll make one compromise with you. I'll not use the paddle. But I want to make sure you think long and hard before you forget to tell me something. Please lower your pants, let's get this behind us."

"Justin, I always trust your judgment, except this time. It was 4 months ago. Its not right Justin. You can't spank me for something that happened that long ago. And to top it off, I was already punished for the crimes that lead up to that incident. Justin I am not trying to be difficult, but I am not going to let you do this."

"Would you have been punished four months ago for this incident?"

"Yes. And I was already OVER punished for the events that led to this."

"Whether or not you feel over punished for the rest of the incident is not in question. The fact that you lied by omission IS what we're discussing. And if you would have been punished then, then you certainly deserve punishment now. Time lapse has nothing to do with it. If I let this slide, then next time if something like this happens and you fail to tell me, then I'm telling you it's fine as long as I don't find out about it. And that's not going to happen. Lower your pants please."

"This is just completely useless. You are not listening." Brad stood up and started unbuckling his belt. "You have been intent on beating my ass since I walked through that door." He unbuttoned his jeans and lowered them to his ankles. "And no matter what I say you are going to find some excuse to do it, so fine." He yanked his underwear down and laid over Justin's lap. "Apparently I am your personal spank toy and whenever you get the itch to spank, I am here to satisfy it. So go to town."

"Good try at a guilt trip Brad. You'll have to try harder next time."

Justin started spanking hard and fast, picking a spot and landing all swats right there. Brad laid there emotionless, Justin's words hurting more than the spanking. Justin continued with a thorough and even spanking, reaching the point that Brad should be sobbing. He regretted that Brad felt so strongly about this as to be so stoic, but continues until he's satisfied that his message has been delivered.

"Alright love. It's over."

Brad squirmed out from under Justin's grip and slowly pulled his pants back up. He headed quietly up stairs.

Justin sighed quietly. He didn't enjoy punishing Brad, and was incredibly upset with Brad's actions. He was allowing the younger man to steer the relationship, and that was going to have to end if they were to remain happy. He got up and did some cleaning and laundry, giving Brad time to calm down. About forty five minutes later he went upstairs to see how he was doing.

Brad heard Justin outside of the bathroom. He had filled himself a bathtub full of water to soak his aching bottom and drown his sorrows. The bathroom is lit only by two candles. He slid farther into the water and closed his eyes.

"Brad, are you alright?" Justin asked outside the closed bathroom door.

"I'm fine," he responded flatly.

"What are you doing in there?" Justin tried the door and found it locked. "Brad. Unlock the door now, you know how I feel about that."

"I'm in the tub, I will be out when I am out. Please just let me be." Then he added a little sass. "Or do I have to come up with a better reason?"

"We do NOT lock doors in this house. Unlock it immediately."

"Justin I am not 12. Leave me alone. I don't want to see you. I want to be alone."

"You have exactly two seconds to unlock this door before I break it down, and should that happen I'll take it out of your backside and your wallet. Open it NOW."

Brad stood up almost instantaneously from tub, sprinted to the door, water dripping everywhere. He unlocked the door and flung it open.

"damnit, Justin. I am sick and tired of this! I asked you to leave me alone. All you do is sprout off threats and I am tired of it. Words hurt! That was a lesson *I* learned when I was 8." He pushed Justin as aside and quickly slid on shorts, running downstairs, still dripping. He grabbed his keys, Justin's hand closing on his.

"You're not leaving until we talk about what's bothering you. Brad, what's wrong?" Justin asked, very concerned, not letting go of Brad's arm.

Brad knocks Justin's hand off his. "Think about it Justin. I will be back, when I am back." He ran out to the car and drove away. He only got about four blocks away before pulling over, tears stinging his eyes.

Justin cursed himself, feeling he should have seen that coming. "And no Bradley, you will NEVER leave me like that again, I won't let you." He said quietly to himself.

He tried to clean up the bathroom but was too upset and distraught. Knowing that Brad didn't have his phone wasn't helping matters. Thirty minutes later he's pacing, trying to phone a few friends to see if Brad showed up anywhere.

Brad is too emotional to drive anywhere. He finally climbs from the car and walks back towards the house in his bare feet. Once home, he elects to sit on the porch, tears still coursing down his face.

Justin called everyone he could think of and no signs of Brad. He finally decided to to just get in the car and take a trip around the town to find him. Once he started backed out of the driveway, he spotted Brad on the steps. He stops in the driveway and runs up to Brad.

"SWEETHEART! Are you alright?" He grabbed Brad's face in his hands and looked him over head to toe. Then he looked directly into his eyes. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

Brad returned the deep look with one of his own. "Well, if you love me half as much as I love you, I am a very lucky guy."

"You scared me half to death! Come on, let's go inside."

Brad took hold of Justin's hands and folded himself into Justin's arms. "Justy, just hold me, I need that most right now."

Justin held Brad tight for several minutes. Then he picked him up and carried him inside, sitting on the couch with Brad in his lap.

"Sweetheart, want to talk yet?"

"I am sorry for running off. I needed to be alone, and I just didn't have that luxury here. You hurt me this afternoon, Justin. And I am not referring to the spanking."

"Oh hon, what did I do?" Justin replied, running his hand alongside of Brad's face. "Tell me, so I don't do it again."

"Do you EVER listen to what I say?" Brad took a minute to calm down. "Your words, Justin. Your words hurt."

"What did I say?"

Brad was frustrated that Justin's comments didn't even phase him. "Earlier, I wasn't trying to get out of a spanking like I normally do, I meant every word I said. I felt that the spanking was unjust, and I truly felt you were being unfair. But instead of listening to my words, you brushed me off and told me to 'try harder next time'. That hurt, A LOT."

Justin took Brad's face into his hands. "Brad, I'm sorry. I never intended to hurt you with my comments, and I'm truly sorry they were so mean. Do you forgive me?"

Brad's answer was a long, passionate kiss. "It's been a long day. Let's go to bed and start fresh in the morning."

Justin takes a moment to think about all that still has to be done. A couple hours wasn't going to make much difference, and Brad needed some comfort. He picked him up and headed upstairs.

~The End~

Copyright Rolf and Gayspankee