Fabio was reading the sports section in his newspaper when a small note attracted his attention:

After reading the article, he rests his head on the sofa. "I think that it will worth a visit, perhaps Diogo will be there…"

Fabio's mind wandered back about two years to the time he first met Diogo. Both shared the same room in the São Marcos Hospital. Diogo recovering from a stomach surgery, while Fabio was getting over a car accident.

As Fabio was being consumed by self-pity and misery, Diogo's mood was very happy: his basic worries were about the chance of missing the try outs for the National Championship. All Diogo attempts for establishing a friendship were systematically rejected by his roommate. Fabio couldn't stand the other man's cheerfulness toward everyone and, most of all, he could not stand his lack of sensibility towards him. Fabio could not accept Diogo talking about missing the try out for a run competition when he'd just lost a leg!

On a specially bitter morning, Fabio spat out all his anger and frustration. Diogo listened quietly and, at the end, told him that he was sorry but he couldn't help feeling that way, the competition was very important to him.

"You are less human than an ice block, complaining about spending one month without running while I lay on this fucking bed crippled for life."

That afternoon, two nurses arrived with a wheelchair to take Diogo downstairs for an examination. Fabio watched with interest as both attendants helped his roommate into the wheelchair. While one of them held Diogo by the underarms, the other lifted two thin and apparently lifeless legs. They loaded him up and the taller nurse wheeled him out.

"What happened to his legs?" Fabio asked to the remaining nurse, who was changing the bed sheets.

"Haven't you ever heard of wheelchair racing? He holds the national record for the 100 meter dash."

Fabio was astonished; a full week together and he hadn't noticed Diogo's disability. His girlfriend and other visitors never mentioned it. Even when that guy in a wheelchair had dropped by, they just talked about the race. If Diogo could be so happy being confined to a wheelchair, perhaps life wasn't totally lost for him too. At least he still had one good leg to stand on!

"Crippled? No, if you are talking about cripple I am not one. Being crippled is a state of mind, not of body. I have my limitations, but I don't feel like a cripple."

"What else could I do? You never showed the least interest in talking to me. I would have told you that it was a wheelchair race, but you never asked me about it."

"There is nothing to be forgiven, really; believe it or not, I also have some bad days." He answered with a smile.

That was the beginning of a warm friendship. Diogo helped Fabio overcome the bad moments and even after being released from the hospital they saw each other from time to time. Fabio's only frustration about his friend was that Diogo was a hopeless straight.

Instinctively, Fabio's hand reaches his right thigh and strokes the stump. He uses suction type prosthesis when teaching or going outside, but at home he prefers to rely on his forearm crutches.

Saturday morning, Fabio loads film in his pocket camera and heads to Ibirapuera; the night before he'd found a sore spot in his stump and decided to use crutches and let it rest for the weekend. He arrives by 10:00 and discovers that Diogo will be running at 11:30. Not wanting to distract his friend, he sits and watches the other track and field events. Near the fence that isolates the track from the spectators there's a gorgeous guy with a Mini Video Camera filming the high jump competition, a regular camera is hanging from his neck. Once in a while he turns and films the spectators. Fabio doesn't notice, but the camera stops on him far more than on the others.

Diogo wins by a fraction of a second and Fabio crosses over the low fence to hug his friend. Sweat and tears of joy are mixed on the athlete's face. After the congratulations, Fabio invites Diogo for a lunch together.

"I had planned to go with my cousin, but I don't think that he will object if you come along too." Diogo grins maliciously and calls the guy with the camera, who was still filming them from the fence.

Diogo introduces them and Fabio takes a quick scan of Caio. The two upper buttons of his shirt are open, showing a hint of a hairy chest, a thing that Fabio craves. The tight fitting jeans enhance the young man's perfect legs and his long black hair is held back by a rubber band beautifully framing a childish face.

At the restaurant Fabio and Diogo chat nonstop giving Caio little chance to participate, but he apparently doesn't mind, and makes a good humored remark about it.

"Sorry Caio, this road-runner doesn't let you speak. Perhaps if we gag him, I could at least know something about you." Teases Fabio.

"Yeah, tell him what you do besides filming amputees jumping on one leg. Perhaps he could help you." Diogo teases back.

Totally embarrassed, Caio blushes deeply and sends one 'I'll kill you later' look to his cousin. "I… I'm doing my master's degree in Ornithology; the subject is Turdus Rufiventris, the Sabiá-laranjeira. It's about two thirds done, and I only need to make a field observation of a family from the time the first egg is laid to the moment that the last chick leaves the nest."

Diogo nods to Fabio. "I remember seeing some of them at your country house. You even told me that they used to make the nest on your bougainvillea bush."

Caio's eyes glows as he hears the news. "The place is safe? I mean, for the birds; no cats or other animal that could eat them?"

"They have built their nest there for several years, so I guess they find it quite safe."

"The breeding season is just starting. Do you think that there is any chance for me to study them at your country house? All I need to do is to set up a camera and check their progress daily. I have a tent and I won't disturb you or family in any way."

Fabio looks at Diogo, who shrugs. "My folks are visiting relatives in Europe and will be away at least for the next four months, so the house will be empty. There is no sense you sleeping in a tent while the house has two guest rooms. You can stay there as long as you need, providing that you make your meals and keep the house clean; I usually go there only on the weekends."

"No problems about that; I have a grant for field trips and will pay the expenses."

"Hmmm, what about you paying for the utilities, I mean the phone and the electricity bills?

Diogo opens his mouth to say something but Fabio lifts both hands saying "Just kidding, boy."

After driving them back to Ibirapuera Stadium, Fabio returns home, packs some clothes, and heads to the country house. It takes two hours driving to get there, a cozy house hidden between a lake and the Atlantic Forest. Although it's already dusk, the last sun rays find their way between some dark clouds and tinge the lake in a warm orangey hue.

Fabio sits on a rocking chair by the porch and looks at the water, his body again experiencing feelings that had been sleeping for the past two years. He can still feel the warm touch of Caio's hand on his shoulders. It was a light touch when they were saying goodbye, but it sent such a sensation through him that it is impossible to describe.

His gaydar had been blinking since he first saw the guy filming the competition, and he can't forget the malicious smile that Diogo gave when he first talked about his cousin. That surely seemed to be a hint.

Another point to consider was the fact that Caio had been obviously aroused most of the time! Even in jeans he couldn't disguise it properly. That surely attested that Fabio was still attractive to somebody.

The distant sound of a thunder brings Fabio back to reality. A spring storm is forming on the East and soon will be here. He jumps from the rocking chair and goes to check if the car's windows are properly closed. If there is a thing that he doesn't need at all it is a soaked seat by the morning.

After fixing a light meal, he grabs a big envelope and starts correcting his pupils' papers. Aside from one or two good works, the rest are very boring and very similar. It is past midnight by the time he finishes the task.

Unable to sleep, Caio turns his VCR on for the hundredth time, looking carefully at each frame that has Fabio in it. His body trembles with lust; the guy is beyond his wildest dreams. Diogo had told about him about the amputated leg, even about his being gay. What his cousin hadn't told about was the beauty and elegance he had while walking with the crutches, the smooth movements, the muscles that seemed to dance on each step. But he can't blame Diogo on this; after all, a straight guy would never pay attention to such things. "Too bad that he was wearing jeans," dreams Caio. "I would give anything to see his stump!"

First thing in the morning, Fabio goes to the back garden to check the birds, and indeed, a pair is very busy bringing twigs for a new nest. Returning to the house, Fabio calls Caio with the news.

"I'm leaving right now. I'll bring a few things today and tomorrow I will come back to pick up the rest!"

Fabio hangs up and heads for the swimming pool. The weather is warm enough for him to stay all morning swimming and lying lazily on a lounge chair.

"Shit! I forgot to leave the gate unlocked." Muttering, he crutches along the pathway that separates the gate from the house, not thinking to wear something over his wet swimming trunks.

Caio drives to the indicated spot without taking an eye off the rear-vision mirror, he hadn't expected to be gifted wish such vision.

"I hope that you haven't had lunch yet, says Caio, after the greetings. "I stopped at the supermarket and bought some lasagna. Five minutes in the oven and it will be ready... some red wine too."

After showing Caio his room, Fabio goes to the kitchen to fix lunch. A few minutes later Caio join him and helps to set the table.

Through the kitchen windows it is possible to see the birds working on the nest, and Fabio points them to Caio. He stops still with two dishes in the hand and stares fixedly at them, as in trance.

"Sorry, I was thinking where would be the best spot to place the camera without disturbing them."

"They are so tame that I doubt that they would mind if you put it inside the nest." Jokes Fabio.

After lunch, while Fabio does the dishes, Caio sets up the camera inside a waterproof case on a branch near the nest. After calibrating the focus and aperture, he unfolds the ten meter long cable switch and pitches a small dull green tent at the end of it.

It is about three PM when he finishes the job and joins Fabio, who is reading a book near the pool.

"Yeah. Now I must leave the things there and pray for the birds to get used to them soon and not abandon the nest."

"For observing them. It has a small-screened window where I can watch and press the cable switch to take pictures without being noticed."

"That is no problem; go to the bathroom, and pick one, there are three hanging on the hooks behind the door" Fabio actually wants to check Caio's body without the T-shirt and the jeans.

It doesn't take long for Caio to appear with a small point and shoot camera. To Fabio's disappointment, Caio chose the boxer shorts, but even so he can admire his tanned legs, and the hair on his chest, which forms a nearly perfect cross.

Fabio returns to his reading while Caio is busy shooting apparently everything. Finally he places the camera on a chair in front of Fabio, sets up the auto switch mode and runs beside Fabio hugging him.

The warm contact on Fabio's shoulders makes him arouse instantly and, when he lowers the eyes, he notices that Caio is too.

Caio apparently realizes Fabio's glance and slightly embarrassed, takes his hands off his friend's shoulders and dives into the pool. The water cools him down some, he had been aroused almost constantly since Fabio met him at the gate.

Fabio leaves early Monday morning. His first class is at 2 PM, but he has to arrive by 11 AM for a boring meeting with the Director and some other teachers.

Caio also returns to São Paulo City to pick up the rest of his things, including his PC, a printer, and lots of books. He also has his pictures developed.

As the week goes by, both guys are involved with their own business and have little time to think about each other during the day, but in the darkness of the nights, Caio's image glows like a million watt lamp when Fabio closes his eyes, the same happening to Caio some 120 kilometers away.

In his apartment, Fabio stares at the ceiling. Caio's smiling face and bare torso is so imprinted in his mind that he can remember each minor detail, like the barely visible little scar on the left shoulder.

"I think that I'll use my oldest trick next Saturday." Fabio thinks and grins devilishly.

Fabio wakes up early in the morning and by nine is passing through the gate of the country house. Caio is in the tent and comes out excitedly when sees his friend arriving, telling the news about the birds. Once inside the house, Fabio notices that the kitchen is spotlessly clean. Outside, the garden has had some bushes pruned and all other plants except for the one that hosts the nest were groomed as well.

"Hey! I thought you had come to look at the birds, not to work as a house keeper." Fabio teases Caio.

"I had lots of spare time, so I decided to make a good use of it. I hope that you like it."

"You did an excellent job, that kitchen hasn't been so clean since my mother went to Europe. The garden is striking too. I think that you deserve a reward! What about getting some tan by the pool, after all, today is Saturday."

Although Caio just nods and agrees politely, his eyes tell that he is eager to see Fabio in trunks, the jeans and the artificial leg that he is wearing now cover most of his beauty.

"Did you bring swimming trunks already?" Asks Fabio while they are going inside to change clothes. Caio nods again.

When Fabio arrives at the pool, Caio is already there, sitting on a strategically placed lounge chair, from where he can see his friend coming from the house and descending the steps that lead to the pool.

Fabio sits on the other chair beside him and begins spreading suntan lotion on his chest slowly and provocatively. Through the corner of his eyes he can see that Caio is practically drooling, trying to disguise his excitement, constantly staring at him from behind sunglasses.

Surprised, Caio raises the sunglasses and stares at him, unable to believe in the words that he had just heard.

Caio jumps off the chair, almost turning it over in his haste, and even before Fabio can end the phrase, he already has the tube in his hands. Caio is anxious as he starts spreading the lotion on Fabio's shoulders, but the contact with the warm skin gradually turns the tension into lust. Fabio, with his eyes closed, is savoring each second of the tender massage. As two soft hands begin descending and reach the left thigh, Fabio opens the eyes and smiles. Encouraged, Caio keeps spreading the lotion and massaging the leg, up to the toes. After finishing the left leg, he looks doubtfully to Fabio before starting on the right one.

"May I…?" He asks, looking at the stump. As Fabio nods, he puts some lotion on the stump, carefully and tenderly massaging it, sending waves of pleasure through Fabio as his fingers reach the scar on the tip. This strong sensation is completely new to the amputee; he never thought that he could receive some pleasure from a part of his body that he had been so disgusted about.

Caio is panting lightly as he finishes, and Fabio takes advantage of it. Pouring some lotion in his hands he starts rubbing Caio's hairy chest and slowly reaches his shoulders. As Caio closes his eyes, Fabio places a light kiss on his lips. The response is immediate and in a matter of seconds they are in each other arms.

Splendid is a minor word for the weekend. Caio's gentle lips know how to drive Fabio absolutely crazy, and to Fabio's delight, his stump doesn't turn Caio off. On the contrary, his partner seems to like to touch and fondle it.

On Sunday night Fabio reluctantly leaves the country house. In the last few years it had been part of the many changes that happened in his life. He was coming from it when he suffered the accident that cost his leg, and it was also his refuge for the first months after his accident.

It was there that he learned to look at his body again without repugnance and to accept that he was now different. Diogo had been of fundamental importance to Fabio's psychological recovering. He had stayed there with Fabio for two weeks.

Fabio's mother was hysterical the first few days, not knowing how to take care of two disabled persons at the same time.

Fabio smiles just thinking about the face she made when Diogo first left the wheelchair in the porch and decided to move into the house using his hands and dragging his legs along the floor. The lady almost fainted.

Even Fabio was disturbed by Diogo's attitude. That night he went to Diogo's room. "Can… can we talk a little?"

"Of course, sit down." Diogo pulled his legs out of the way and pointed to the bed.

"Why should I? I didn't choose to get polio. It just happened and I have to deal with it. That is my natural way of moving around. The wheelchair is an artificial help that I use mostly for outside. I feel freer when I am on the ground. If people stare and don't like it, it is their problem, not mine."

As Fabio' eyes were moving from Diogo's legs to his own stump, he decided to give a shock treatment to his friend. He took one withered leg in his hands and let it fall limply on Fabio's lap.

"I'm 27 and I don't remember being able to move so much as a single toe in my life. If I told you that I like being this way, I would be lying. I would trade both my legs for your remaining one at any moment. There were times when I was teen that I would have given ten years of my life for 10 minutes of walking. On those nights I would hit my legs with all my strength and cry until sleep would overtake me.

My first girlfriend helped me a lot proving to me that I didn't need two working legs to be loved and to be a man in every sense of the word. Gradually the fact sank in and I eventually came to accept myself. The sport was the final touch. Practicing wheelchair racing, I learned to respect and be respected for what I am, not for the way I look."

"I… can't stand looking at my leg…it's so… ugly." Fabio's head was down and he kept looking at Diogo's leg, still on his lap.

"The only ugly thing about you is your attitude towards your leg, not the leg itself. It is different, but it is as beautiful as the rest of you.

"Bullshit! You will surely find someone in due time. Now stop acting like a lost kid and raise your head. You know that I stand by you any time you need me.

The warm hug gave Fabio enough strength to kiss his friend lightly on the face before standing up and starting toward to his room. As he was closing Diogo's door he turned and said, "Thanks, you are a real friend." The other man just smiled.

Inside his own room, Fabio started striping and once fully naked, he hopped to the wardrobe and opened its door. The full size mirror reflected his body. He took the elastic sock from his stump and gave a good look at the reflection. Except for the missing leg and some small scars from the accident his body still was in good shape. Even if the stump wasn't completely healed yet, it wasn't swollen and discolored like on the first week. The single horizontal scar on the end of his stump was still bright pink, but the Doctor assured him that it would fade to near imperceptibility in time.

"It is not actually ugly, only different." Thought Fabio, as hopped back to the bed, trying hard to believe it.

The last test came next day, when Diogo wanted to swim and invited his friend, who refused, alleging that couldn't wet his stump sock.

"That is the poorest excuse that I've ever heard! I can't believe that you will let me swim alone in this big swimming pool. I will give you two minutes to join me or I will take my trunks off and swim naked." Diogo defied him.

"No? Just wait." Diogo started counting down the minutes on his watch. When the time was over, he pulled his trunks down.

Diogo was inside the pool holding onto the coping with one hand and swinging his trunks with the other, threatening to throw them away.

Fabio shook his head and crutched inside returning minutes later wearing a white pair of trunks that enhanced his dark hair and colouring. When he was passing through the kitchen, his mother started to say something but was stopped by his father who waved him away.

Embarrassed for the unexpected flattery Fabio smiled awkwardly and sat down on the edge of the pool, gathering the courage to jump in. A few minutes later he had lost his fears and was happily swimming again. Both men looked like kids. The water gave them the freedom they didn't have on the ground and they stayed there until Fabio's mother called them for the lunch.

"They already suspect that I am nuts, so they only would be certain of it!" Snickered Diogo.

When Fabio's car crosses the gate, Caio returns to his room and displays the pictures from the past weekend side by side on his bed. Suddenly, only the Fabio shots can make his heart to beat strongly; the others had lost their appeal. He takes one that shows Fabio sitting and kisses the stump. He still can't believe how lucky he is. Passing his tongue on his lips, he still feels the flavor of Fabio's skin on them.

"Gosh! This guy is too much, I could kiss him forever. I just hope that I wasn't too obvious about his stump."

On Monday morning, Caio calls Diogo and tells about the weekend. His cousin listens to the whole story, then asks: "Did you tell him that you're a dev?"

"That's probably good. He is still conscious about his leg, and would probably react badly if he finds out that you are interested in his stump."

"Hey! I'm not interested only in that! He's a great guy! I'm just lucky he also has a great stump!"

As time goes on, Caio conquers Fabio absolutely. The loving way that he treats him, in bed and out, makes Fabio even happier than he was before the accident. During the day, Caio is a friend that Fabio can rely on; and in the bed he is caring and gentle extracting pleasure from his whole body, even his stump had been turned into an erogenous zone.

One Saturday afternoon, Caio is showing to Fabio some digital pictures he had taken during the week when accidentally Fabio touches a pile of papers and some of them fall on the ground. A white envelope opens and about twenty pictures spread across on Fabio's foot.

Caio freezes and pales as Fabio gets down to pick them up. Two pictures show Fabio by the pool layinglying in a lounge chair, the remaining ones are basically leg stumps and Fabio recognizes himself in seven more. The other ones are of athletes from the high jump competition.

Fabio stares blankly at the pictures trying to understand what is happening, while Caio stares at him paralyzed.

Slowly an idea crystallizes in Fabio's head. 'All those stumps can only mean that he is a pervert like the ones I was warned against when they first took my leg off! He doesn't care about me at all! During almost ten weeks he lied when he said he loved me. All that he really wanted was to touch my stump!'

Fabio tries to speak but he can't articulate the words. Taking a deep breath to recompose himself, he looks right on Caio's eyes. "I have never felt so betrayed in all my life. I gave you love and respect, but to you I am nothing more than a stump to make love with. I won't throw you out right now because Diogo is my friend and I promised that I would help you, but as soon as you finish your job, I want you to disappear! I expect that before leaving, you'll have the dignity to clean the place of every trace that you have been here."

Fabio throws the pictures over the desk and leaves, slamming the door. Caio has remained quiet and still all the time. Two big tears streak his face as he hears the sound of Fabio's car passing through the gate.

Once in his home again, Fabio sits on the sofa and stares at the darkened screen of the turned off TV. He tries to organize his thoughts, but hurt fills every space of his brain. It is past midnight when he decides going to bed, but only his body is more comfortable there, his heart still aching. The pain only seems to worsen as the hours flow by.

It is past ten in the morning when the phone rings. Not in the mood to speak to anyone, Fabio stands on the side of the answering machine.

"Hey, man! What about lunch at Cantina da Mama today? I need to replace the calories I lost yesterday."

"I'll decide about that. Teresa is out of town and I don't feel like eating alone on glorious Sunday like today. I'll be there at noon to pick you up."

Diogo hangs up and Fabio stands with the phone in his hands wondering how his friend found out that he was at home.

Precisely at mid-day Diogo blows the car horn. As Fabio takes his seat, Diogo looks at his friend: red eyes, unshaved, and without his prosthesis. Instead of going to the restaurant, Diogo drives back to his home and his friend doesn't seem to care, only looking straight ahead and answering Diogo's questions in monosyllables.

"What happened between you and Caio?" Diogo asks while he transfers himself from the wheelchair to the sofa where Fabio is sitting.

Feeling the blood flush on his face, Fabio shouts at Diogo. "What did that son of a bitch tell you?"

"It doesn't matter what he said, I want to hear what you have to say about it." Diogo answers without raising his voice. Fabio starts to get up but Diogo holds him.

"Do you really want to know it? Okay I'll tell you: I trusted and gave my love to a fucking pervert."

"But the point is that I've never been more than a stump with an attachment to him. He never really loved me, he just wanted to play with my stump."

Fabio tells in detail the pictures episode and, when he finishes it, his resistance weakens and he sobs on his friend's shoulders. Diogo hugs him and gives him time to calm down.

"Yeah… I was advised that I might find some freaks, but I would never expect Caio to be one of them. That is sick!"

"It depends on how the devotee deals with it. Did Caio touched your stump without your permission, or pay more attention to it than to you?"

"Before you jump to conclusions, let me ask you something. You have known Teresa since the hospital times. You know that I love her, but… do you think that she loves me too?"

"Yeah. The same way I love her round bum, she loves my thin legs and small feet, I'll skip the private details, but when she is caressing my legs and kissing my feet, I hit the heavens in seconds."

"Yes, my friend, what I want you to understand is that she loves my legs, but above all, she loves me. My legs are the icing on the cake, as she says."

"I remember you telling me that you are attracted by men with hairy chests, is that right?"

Fabio nods and Diogo continues. "Now, please be absolutely honest and tell me. What did you first notice on Caio?"

"I don't see any difference. Technically speaking, you are as perverted as Caio. He didn't choose to have a hairy chest and you didn't choose to lose your leg, so both of you are even. Unless Caio meant nothing more to you than a bunch of hairs with something attached on them, I think that you should revise your attitude towards him."

While Fabio rests his head on the sofa and closes his eyes, Diogo picks up the cell phone and dials for a pizza. That is not what he had expected for lunch, but at least they won't starve.

Fabio's mind is a complete chaos. Was it just the furry chest that had attracted him? The idea of being a pervert like Caio terrifies him. On the other hand, Caio does seem to love him, just like Teresa loves his friend. Could his stump be the icing on the cake too?

The pizza arrives and both start eating quietly. Fabio breaks the silence. "Do you think that Caio really loves me?"

"I wouldn't have traded a Sunday lunch at Cantina da Mama with Teresa for a pizza with you if I wasn't sure of that." Fabio answers grinning.

"Well, I needed a good excuse to drag you out of your home, didn't I?" He grins again.

Fabio smiles, defeated. "I owe you far more than just a lunch. I think I've already told you that you are a real friend, haven't I?"

Fabio swallowed the last bit of the pizza. "Would you take me home now?" he asked. "I want to go to the country house and talk to Caio."

"He is not there anymore. He returned last night. I was visiting my aunt when he arrived. After you left, he packed his things and came back. He should be at home now."

"He knows that, and he knows that he probably will lose a whole year, but he told me that he couldn't stay a minute more in a place where the owner didn't trust him. He also told me that losing that observation was nothing compared to losing you."

Fabio feels a knot in his throat and gets up. Before Diogo can say anything, he is already on the street running on his crutches, not stopping until he reaches Caio's home, two blocks away. To his desperation, Caio isn't there. His mother tells him that he had returned to the country house to pick up something that he had forgotten there.

"Shit!" Thinks Fabio and calls Caio from his cell phone. Caio recognizes the voice and stand still, not knowing if he should hang up or keep listening.

Fabio takes a taxi to his home and then flies in his car to the country house. Caio is sitting on a bench on the back porch watching the busy birds look for food to give to the babies in the nest, when he hears the sound of crutches against the floor and turns his head. The expression in Fabio's eyes is far different from the one he saw yesterday afternoon. Instead of anger, now Fabio bears a pleading look. He sighs profoundly, relieved to see that Caio is still there.

He sits and runs the hand through his hair. Although he had thought of about ten ways to begin, now, face to face, the whole thing is far different and the words don't come so easily. Caio sits still feigning attention to the birds with a calculated coolness that doesn't reflect his real feelings.

"Let's change place for a while. Would YOU forgive me if I had judged and condemned you without giving you at least a chance to say a single word? Would YOU forgive me if I had thrown you out of my house like a rotten fruit?"

Fabio lowers his head and tears falls from his eyes. Caio realizes that he has hit hard and puts his hand on his lover's left thigh, establishing physical contact.

"I'm deeply hurt and know that you are also, but if we are to stay together we'll have to lay all our cards on the table now. I was wrong in hiding that I am a devotee. I thought seriously about it and decided to wait until the right moment to tell you. Unfortunately, you discovered it in the worst way.

"I can't help the way I am. Since I was a boy I have felt an attraction to amputees. There is nothing morbid about it. I find a man with a missing leg ten times sexier than one with two legs.

"If you had given me the opportunity to speak, I would have told you that I had other partners before you, but you were the first amputee that I have been involved with. I would have told you that, although I have hundreds of stump pictures in my collection, yours was the first one that I ever touched and caressed.

"If you look at those damned pictures again, you will see that they were all taken the first day I came here. I asked your permission before taking them.

"I can't deny that your stump played an important role in the beginning of our relationship, but even if you had half a dozen legs I would fall in love with you the same way. If I was only interested in your stump, how in the world could I hide it from you for so long time?"

"Diogo called me after you left his home and told me what both of you were talking about. If you really can accept me the way I am, I think that we can put a big stone over what happened yesterday and start it all over again."

Fabio's answer is a deep and ardent kiss on Caio's lips. Slowly they both get up and head to Fabio's room. The late afternoon rays of sunlight hit the bed illuminating the naked bodies. Caio's lips travel down from his lover's mouth, kissing every centimeter of his body until they reach the stump tip.

Fabio's moans softy, his serene face indicating that he will never doubt Caio's love again.

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