by HJ Welch
Gabe shook his hand mutely, eyes darting back and forth between the people standing at the front of the audience. Voices hissed and whispered all around them. A man leaned over a whole row of seats to grip Gabe’s shoulder.
“Well done, son,” the guy said.
“This was a sham from the start,” another woman chimed in. Joey recognized her as one of the waitresses that always gave him a sneaky slice of pie with his endless coffee refills.
“I wrote a few words for you,” said another, pointing to Mitch.
Joey’s heart swelled as more people in the room were nodding and calling out words of agreement. They’d not been brave enough to say more than the odd word before, but with Mitch’s testimonials and Richard’s unflinching attack on the council, they were finding their voices now. Joey smiled as he recognized the girl from the stall at the fair who’d given him a free turn, as well as the parents of the little Wonder Woman twins. So many people had come out to support Gabe.
“You did this.”
Joey turned to find Gabe looking at him in a way he was sure no one had ever looked at him before. There was pride and happiness and gratitude and, of course, love. That word that Joey had been getting more and more used to over the past few days.
Joey so desperately wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t want to aggravate the already-noisy crowd. The din was getting louder as more people tried to make themselves heard. Instead, he rubbed Gabe’s thigh.
“We did this,” he said. “It was a group effort.”
Joey looked around again. Maybe people weren’t all untrustworthy bastards, after all? Some of them could actually be amazing when you really needed them.
He suddenly stopped his wandering gaze, his eyes widening in disbelief. He’d spied a timid-looking woman standing at the rear of the room, a familiar backpack clutched in her hands.
“What?” said Gabe, reacting to Joey’s stillness. Richard was still going at it with the council behind them.
“Mom?” Joey said, the word no more than a rasp.
She gave him the smallest of waves. He couldn’t believe it. She was here, she was out of the house. She had his stuff.
Before he could properly process it, his attention was drawn back to the front of the room.
“It seems Mr. Robinson is, by all accounts, an outstanding member of the community,” Richard said, pointing to the testimonials. “Furthermore, in the state of Connecticut, it is illegal for an employer to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, marital status, disability – learning, mental, intellectual or physical – sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.” He looked out at the crowd. “Shall I go on?”
There were several cheers of support.
“Mr. Jackson,” spluttered Mr. Tallis as Mitch handed him the testimonials he’d collected. “This is highly irregular.”
“No,” Richard shot back. “What is highly irregular is putting a man’s livelihood and general well-being at stake because you have petty prejudices. Mr. Robinson will be allowed to return to work with immediate effect, and the Greenwich public library will receive the same funding as this financial year, or you will find yourself buried under a legal landslide. Do I make myself clear?”
Mr. Tallis clenched his jaw. “Yes, sir,” he said.
Mr. Slater slunk back to the audience to sit by his sour-faced wife.
“Excellent,” Richard said cheerfully. He tapped the testimonials in front of Mr. Tallis. “We have our own copies of these. So I’ll just leave those there.” He deftly picked up his coat and briefcase and walked back down the aisle. “Come on,” he said to Blake, his face stony. Joey blinked in surprise at the sudden change in demeanor.
Blake didn’t seem all that surprised though. “Let’s go,” he said, rising to his feet.
They weren’t the only ones. As Mr. Tallis shakily called the next order of business – something to do with parking regulations – half the room must have stood to follow Joey and the others out.
Amidst the throng, Joey craned his neck looking for his mom. She wouldn’t have left without talking to him, especially as she had what looked like all his possessions with her. But it was such a shock to see her on top of what had just transpired, Joey wasn’t sure what to think.
“That was…” Gabe said as they got buffeted from the room.
Richard was up ahead, already on his phone. People were clapping Gabe on the back as they swarmed downstairs, telling him congratulations. Joey recognized some from the firefighter display as they hugged him. A little girl came running up. One arm was in a sling, but her free hand clutched a pink daisy in a Coke bottle to show Gabe. Her mom told him she’d been coming to classes at the library for years and wrote a testimonial without hesitation.
The man and woman who had come in with Elion, Blake and his dad pushed through the crowd to engulf Gabe in a hug. “We got stuck in the snow,” the guy, Mitch, bemoaned.
“He wouldn’t put the chains on the tires,” the woman said. Joey guessed they were married by the way he just rolled his eyes and smiled at her. “Are you all right?”
“Great,” said Gabe, slightly dazed. People were still waving at him and patting him on the back as they left.
Mitch and his wife said they had to run because they had one of their grandkids staying over. They gave Gabe another long hug before they departed. “See you at work,” Mitch said pointedly, tapping Gabe’s cheek fondly.
Joey couldn’t quite believe this was his town. Sure, there had been plenty of shitty people in there trying to tear Gabe down. And fucking hell, in the end they’d tried to pin it on Joey, which given his track record with this place, wasn’t all that surprising. But damn, if the room hadn’t mostly been filled with people there to support him. All those testimonials. Joey would have to ask Blake for a copy from his dad. After all this unpleasantness, he wanted to read the wonderful things that people had had to say about his boyfriend.
Joey was pulled from his musings as he saw his mom standing to the side on the first floor, letting the crowd go by. “Wait up, guys,” he said. Gabe, Blake and Elion stopped, then followed him as he pushed his way through the throng to her. “Mom?” he said again. “What are you doing here?”
He hugged her carefully. Her slim frame wouldn’t withstand the bear hug he wanted to give her.
“I heard about your Gabe’s troubles from Cathy,” she said. Her tone was a little sheepish, no doubt because Joey’s sister-in-law was probably over the moon to hear about a ‘fag getting justice’ as she saw it. “I – I wanted to support you both. And, well, you left this behind.”
She held out Joey’s bag and he had to fight the lump in his throat. Gabe slipped his arm around Joey’s waist and watched over his shoulder as Joey opened the backpack. As far as he could see, everything was in there. His laptop, wallet, clothes and the irreplaceable keepsakes in the front pocket. He placed the bag on the floor.
“I hid them,” said his mom, a tear rolling down her cheek. “So he couldn’t find them. He was so…so mad.”
Joey looked back at his friends, then to her again. “Mom,” he said, wishing they were alone. At least most of the townsfolk had left now. It was just them and Richard talking on his phone in the hall’s grand lobby, with the occasional person walking past. “Did he lose his temper with you?”
She didn’t like it when he asked directly if his dad had hit her. It was too blunt. Joey had learned years ago to dance around the subject to a certain extent. But the way she tried to stop her lip trembling told him pretty much all he needed to know.
“I tried…” she said as he let go of Gabe and hugged her again. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I let you down so badly.” She was choking back her sobs now. Joey’s heart ached.
“No, no,” he said. “You did great. I can’t believe you saved my things.”
“Where did you go?” she asked. They pulled apart enough for her to wipe her eyes. She glanced warily at Gabe and the others then
back at Joey.
Joey pulled Gabe to him and smiled. “I’m staying with Gabe at the moment.” She didn’t need to ever know about his brief jaunt in the E.R.
“For as long as he wants,” Gabe interjected. “I’m taking care of him, Mrs. Sullivan.”
Joey took his mom’s hand, feeling Blake and Elion come a little closer. “Who’s looking after you though, Mom?” he said. He could feel his voice cracking, but he tried to keep it steady. “Don’t you want to get away from him?”
Her eyes widened and she drew her hand back. This wasn’t the first time he’d suggested such a wild notion to her, but he meant it more than ever. She needed to get the fuck away from that asshole.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, I, uh. I couldn’t.”
Gabe squeezed Joey’s side. “Is that what you want, Mrs. Sullivan?”
She rubbed her neck, blinking rapidly. “Tess,” she mumbled, shaking her head. Joey couldn’t help but smile a little, despite the awful circumstances. She only let people she trusted call her Tess. She’d never once asked Cathy to call her that.
“Mom,” Joey said. “I’m not coming back, not ever again. You need to do what’s best for you now.”
“But Michael,” she said with a hiccup. “I don’t want to lose him.”
“So you’re willing to put up with Dad’s bullshit?” Joey asked. He was pushing her, he knew. But he had to try. “Patrick and Cathy are going to move out soon. Then it’ll just be you and Dad again. Is that what you want?”
She looked between him and Gabe. “He needs me,” she said, her voice small.
“No, he doesn’t,” said Joey firmly. “That’s just what he says to keep you there. Please, please Mom. At least think about this. Are you happy with him?” Her lip trembled and more tears leaked from her scrunched-up eyes. Joey hugged her again. “I can help you get out,” he promised.
“How?” she said. “How do you unravel twenty years with someone?”
“Um, Mrs. Sullivan.”
Joey let his mom go and they both looked at Blake.
“Hi,” he said warmly. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. I’m Joey’s friend, Blake.”
“Oh,” she said, a twitch of a smile on her lips. “Joseph’s told me so much about you.”
Blake smiled. “He’s told me lots of lovely things about you too. I’m so sorry to intrude, but I think I might be able to help. If a divorce is what you really want, I think I could introduce you to a lawyer. He’s taking on some pro bono cases right now.”
She blinked. “What?”
Elion rose up on his toes in obvious glee. “Blake’s dad got caught saying some of his usual homophobic bullshit on camera.” He rolled his eyes at Blake. “You’d think he’d have learned by now?” Blake shook his head. “So his firm and Blake’s mom have got him doing all these goodwill cases.”
“He’s an amazing lawyer,” Blake assured her. “Despite his narrow views on…certain things.”
Elion raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Joey’s heart was beating fast. He turned back to his mom. “What do you think?” he asked gently. “You could stay somewhere else while it’s going on, if that’s worrying you.”
“You can stay with us,” Gabe said, rubbing Joey’s shoulder. Joey felt fit to burst with love and pride. Gabe had only just met his mom, for heaven’s sake.
Joey’s mom was shaking her head, looking between them all. “I couldn’t…” she said uncertainly.
“You can,” Joey said. “That’s Blake’s dad, right there.” He pointed to Richard, pacing the tiled floor several feet away. “You don’t even have to go back tonight. You can talk with him now, then come with us after.”
She bit her lip. He couldn’t believe it, but he saw hope blossom in her eyes.
“I never thought…” she said slowly, “he’d really hurt you like that, sweetheart. Or throw you out into the snow. I…I don’t think I can stay with him any longer.”
She was trembling all over, but Joey hugged her again. “You can do this. I believe in you.”
Because sometimes, you really did need other people to believe in you. Joey thought maybe he understood that now.
He held Gabe and his mom while they waited for Richard to wrap up his call. His best friend stood by his side, his own boyfriend holding his hand in support.
Joey had friends. He was loved. These people thought he was important.
From now on, he was going to work harder to show them that he was worthy of their love, and do his best to let them know it was returned. Trusting others was pretty terrifying, but actually, being alone was worse.
He looked at Gabe, and made a vow to try and never push anyone away again.
Epilogue
Epilogue – Six Months Later
Gabe
Gabe was amazed he’d been able to find a spot for his car this close to the park. It was a positive omen for what he hoped would be a good day.
The spring sunshine was beaming down overhead, making even the grumpiest of New Yorkers smile. Despite it being a Saturday, the drive down from Greenwich had been bearable thanks to such lovely weather spurring him on. Gabe twirled his keys before dropping them into his pocket and pulling out his phone.
Joey had given him specific instructions on where to meet him. He only had so long for a lunch break and wasn’t really supposed to slip out of the studio in costume, but since the show hadn’t aired yet, Joey argued that people would be less likely to recognize him.
Gabe was glad. He would be fine to do this by himself, but he would rather share it with Joey.
Joey waved from the subway entrance as Gabe approached. It still made his breath catch sometimes, to see the happy man Joey had transformed into from that troubled guy he’d met last fall. Joey was so full of optimism and light these days.
Gabe had to admit his outfit wasn’t immediately recognizable as being from the eighties. It still brought a smile to his face, thinking how much Joey screamed the house down when he found out he’d got the part on Beat It. Gabe had helped him read through the scripts as he’d got them, and he knew with absolute certainty it was going to be a huge hit once it aired on Netflix.
When he reached Joey, he greeted him with a kiss and a hug. “You ready?” he asked.
“Oh hell yeah,” Joey replied, green eyes sparkling.
They walked hand in hand. Gabe always felt a bit nervous doing that, but today he wanted to be bold. People might have stared or sneered. He didn’t notice. All that mattered was Joey by his side as they entered the park.
Unlike last time, Gabe felt like he had the upper hand as he approached Lewis and his beloved Max waiting on a bench. Lewis had screwed him over, but it hadn’t mattered in the end. Joey had stepped up and saved the day, and that was all that Gabe cared about.
Sure enough, Lewis looked sheepish as they approached, his eyes darting back and forth between Gabe and Joey. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” Gabe replied to be polite. Joey didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow. Gabe did his best not to chuckle.
“So, um, thanks for this,” said Lewis.
He handed over Max’s leash.
It turned out that Lewis loved the idea of having Max a lot more than the reality. When Gabe found out the poor dog was being cooped up in Lewis’s apartment for most of the day and only being walked a couple of times a week, he’d lost his shit. That wasn’t the agreement they’d made, and if Lewis couldn’t keep up Max’s care, then he needed to give him back to Gabe.
A year ago, he wouldn’t have made such a demand. But Joey had taught him it was okay to put himself first from time to time. In fact, Gabe had cut back on several of his weekly activities since Joey had moved in. He’d taken a good, long look at what really made him content after that nasty business with Debbie Slater. Gabe had come to realize that a lot of what he’d done had been to make other people happy, telling himself that made him happy.
To a certain extent, that was still true. For example
, he still volunteered at the homeless shelter. Joey even came with him when he could. That work was important and Gabe loved seeing the people they helped getting back on their feet.
But some of the library groups he was only doing because he’d told himself there was no one else to step in if he didn’t give his time. That might have convinced him when he was with Lewis, but he wasn’t going to leave Joey neglected for the sake of people that Gabe now knew might not always appreciate him.
He had to look after his own heart as well as those around him.
Joey had made it so much easier for Gabe to love and care for him since moving in. Once he’d got the part in New York, Gabe had taken a risk and suggested Joey not get his own place. He could commute from Gabe’s house and they could continue building their relationship together. Building their home.
He’d been stunned when Joey had agreed immediately. Gabe obviously wasn’t the only one learning how to care for himself better. Joey had opened his heart and trusted him.
As Gabe smiled at Lewis and took the leash, he said a silent thanks that they had broken things off when they had. Gabe now knew they hadn’t been in love. It had all been very nice for a while, but love was what he had with Joey.
He watched Lewis’s gaze linger just a bit too long on Joey. Gabe didn’t care if he still thought they’d been fooling around while he and Lewis were still together. Lewis’s opinions no longer mattered to him. Especially after he’d failed to look after Max properly for all these months.
Gabe crouched down. “Come here, boy!” he cried.
Max had been playing with another dog, but at Gabe’s voice he charged over and threw himself into his arms. He and Joey laughed. Lewis sighed.
“Well,” he said, his voice strained. “Good luck.”
With that, he shoved his hands into his pockets and marched off.