chapter 1

~Ten Years Prior~

"Ashton dear, Donny is going to take you to the playground. Mommy needs to have a drink or two," Mrs. Vandeviere said as she poured a large glass of holiday whiskey. She slurped it down quickly before she called for Donny, Ashton's older brother. "Donald!" she called. "Come into the parlor."

Donny, who at the time was seventeen years old, was home for the summer from Hensley Prep. Hensley was where all wealthy boys went to school. It was a boarding high school, with a long history of educating the best and the brightest. "Yes, mother dear?" he asked somewhat rudely.

"Oh, yes." She set down her second glass of whiskey. "Take your brother to the playground; he needs to make some new little friends." She smiled down at Ashton, who was only eight years old at the time, and tried to flatten his unruly, brown hair. He looked up at her with his large, cat-like, gray eyes.

"No, I'm busy," he said. "Have Percy do it." Percy was the butler. He was also Ashton's closest friend. Ashton didn't have many friends and that worried his alcoholic mother. A friendless child was a poor reflection of her mothering abilities.

"Take him, or you will NOT be using the car at all this summer. Do you understand me?" Don made a noise of anger and looked over at his brother. He didn't care for the kid, and he surely had better things to do than take him to the park. He grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him towards he door. "Be gentler!" called Mrs. Vandeviere.

Once on the lawn, Don pulled his keys from his pocket. "Hey, you know your way to the park, don't you?" Ashton looked up at him nervously. He was afraid to go to the park alone. He didn't know how to get there. He couldn't believe Don was serious. He felt his stomach slosh around and he felt like crying.

"Mother said--," Ashton began, trying to grab Donny's hand. Donald pushed it away violently, never wanting to have anything to do with his baby brother.

"'Mother said'," Don mocked. "I was walking to the park alone when I was your age," he said, knowing he never once went to the park alone. He walked over to the driveway and hopped into his BMW. "You can do it. Mom always said you were a smart kid!" Donny called before he sped down the block.

Ashton grabbed his inhaler from his pocket and began his journey. He made it down the driveway before making the decision to turn right. The park was to his left. He walked and walked. He crossed an intersection and still no park. He became frightened and felt like crying, but Don hit him when he cried, so he kept walking. He started running. His foot caught in the sidewalk and he tripped, dropping his inhaler in the grass.

He had scrapped his knee. He stood up and grabbed his inhaler, using it because it felt hard to breath. He was crying and he started walking again. "Hey, are you alright little man?" Ashton turned and saw a giant. The boy he looked at was so very tall, and he also noted how wide he was. He wanted to run, but the boy seemed so nice.

"I--I fell," he said as he cried a bit harder. "And I--I don't know where I am. I can't fi--find the park and I'm scared." He wiped his face on his t-shirt. "I don't know how to get home."

"Okay, which way did you come from?" asked the giant. Ashton pointed in the direction he came. "Let's go," he said. Ashton trotted along next to him. Every so often he'd ask, "Does this look familiar?" and Ashton would answer yes or no. The giant even let him hold his hand. He was happy and he felt safe. They made it to his house and he ran up to the front door, but not before he turned and hugged the giant who had saved him. "Be safe," he called as Ashton went inside of the large house.

~Present Day~

For years, Ashton dreamed about the kind giant. Having explored his sexuality he came to discover what kind of man he adored. He liked bigger guys and the safe feeling they gave him. The thing was, at Hensley Prep, the big guys were destroying his belief that bigger was better, for at Hensley Prep, they were the meanest, cruelest, and straightest guys around.

But Ashton remembered that day so well. It was one of the best days of his childhood. He sat up in his bed and looked over at the bed across the room. He had arrived at Hensley Prep two days prior. He was going into his senior year. It was the end of summer and he would know who he'd be rooming with once they arrived for the term.