by Anna Martin
Scott’s apartment was nice. Really nice. It was only a little smaller than Evan’s house, and he immediately felt a rush of something, shame maybe, in his belly. They’d come out of the same high school with similar grades, and Scott had ended up here, when Evan had only just managed to make it out of his hometown.
A tiny, plaintive cry stole Evan’s attention.
The cat was a beauty—a gray-and-white striped tabby with a white chin and bright green eyes. Evan immediately crouched down and let her come to him, holding his hand out for her to sniff. “Hey, Princess,” he murmured.
After a second, she seemed to decide to trust him and nuzzled her neck against his wrist.
“Let me get out of my jacket, and then I’ll spoil you,” he said.
There was a closet just inside the door, but Evan decided to throw the jacket over his arm and wander through the apartment instead. Princess followed him.
The kitchen was black and chrome, modern and minimalist, and the stack of mail at the end of the breakfast bar told Evan Scott’s neighbor was stopping in fairly regularly. There were two silver bowls on the floor next to the fridge, one with plenty of water and the other full of kitty kibble. So she’d been fed.
Evan checked the cupboards, noting good plates that seemed like they got used, kitchen utensils that also showed signs of wear, and a baffling array of gadgets. It took a few minutes to locate the cat food and treats—in a high cupboard that made sense—and Evan grabbed the little pouch of treats.
He startled when a soft head butted against his wrist. Princess nuzzled him again, and he couldn’t help but grin at her low, steady purr.
The family room had big windows that looked out over the street below, a black leather sofa with a fluffy blanket over the back, and a huge flat-screen TV. The remote for the TV lay on the arm of the sofa, so Evan grabbed it to switch it on, then pulled off his shoes and swung his legs up onto the seat.
“Princess,” he called, feeling stupid.
She immediately appeared and started clawing at his jeans. Evan scratched behind her ears and reached for the packet of kitty treats. He pulled one out and let her nibble at it. He flicked through the TV channels until he found a home renovations show he watched from time to time and settled in to spoil Scott’s frankly adorable pet.
It was one of those days that never seemed to get to full brightness—the sun hidden behind too many layers of thick, dark cloud. Scott’s apartment was warm, his couch comfortable, and the weight of the cat on his lap nudged him into an unfamiliar feeling of contentment. Evan had never considered getting a pet before, but now….
He woke to the sound of his phone ringing and startled, not even realizing he’d fallen asleep.
“Hello?” he croaked.
“Hi, Evan, it’s Annie,” Scott’s mom said. “We just wanted to check you’re okay.”
“Yeah. Sorry.” He stretched. “I came over to check in on Scott’s cat.” Who was still asleep on his lap. He stroked her silky-soft head and grinned. “How’s Scott?”
“He’s good. Let me tell him where you are. He was asking.”
“Sorry, Annie. Do you need me to come back?” Evan asked. He already knew he didn’t want to. This apartment was unfamiliar, exotic and elegant where his own place was run-down and shabby. But it still felt homey.
He could hear her murmuring to someone in the background, and he stretched again, releasing a crick in his neck.
“Scott says you can stay there tonight if you want,” Annie said. “I know you don’t have any of your stuff with you, but you can borrow anything you like. He also says the cat might sleep on your head, so fair warning.”
Evan huffed a laugh. “Okay.”
“There’s no food in the fridge, but there’s a pile of takeout menus in the drawer next to the microwave.” Her tone changed as she addressed her son. “Really, Scott? I taught you how to cook.”
Evan laughed again. “That’s fine. I can order something in.”
“Okay. We’ll see you tomorrow. Call if you need anything.”
“Will do. Thanks, Annie.”
He hung up, feeling strange. Scott was obviously feeling better if Annie was scolding him. So that was good. He was going to stay in Scott’s apartment tonight, though, in Scott’s bed, wearing Scott’s pajamas.
He shuddered a little at the thought.
“Sorry, Princess,” Evan said as he dislodged the cat from her napping spot on his lap. She yawned widely, then plonked herself back down in the warm spot Evan vacated.
He used the bathroom, which was sleek black and chrome too, like the kitchen, then went into the bedroom.
The door was open, so he’d seen into it when he’d walked past. This room wasn’t sleek and black. The walls were a warm sage green, with thick cream carpet on the floor and dark green sheets on the bed. The bed frame was dark wood, sleigh style, and there was another cream-colored blanket folded over the footboard. All the furniture in here was wooden, different types and styles melting together.
It was obvious Scott had left in a rush. There was a book on the nightstand with a pair of reading glasses folded on top. A phone charger cable was wrapped around the stem of a lamp that had a forest on the lampshade.
Evan poked into the closet and found rows of tailored suits, all still in dry cleaning bags. There was a tie rack, holding more ties than Evan knew he’d ever worn in his life, and half a dozen pairs of neat dress shoes.
As the thought occurred to him, Evan tried not to let himself go there. It wasn’t fair or right; it was intrusive and rude.
Still, he went looking for the porn.
In the nightstand with the book on it, he found condoms, just two, Durex brand, alongside three more paperbacks and a box of Kleenex and a handful of loose change. He let his fingers drift over a small pendant on a chain. Saint Christopher. Scott had kept it.
The bottom drawer contained thick socks. Evan guessed they were for wearing in bed when it got cold.
The nightstand on the other side of the bed had nothing in it. Not even loose change. The drawers were slightly sticky, like they hadn’t seen much use. It was obvious no one lived here with Scott.
He went back to the closet and found a safe, but no sex toys and no porn. That was probably normal. In this day and age, who kept physical porn? It was all online.
There had been a MacBook on the counter in the kitchen, but Evan had ignored it. If Scott had porn, it would be on there, right?
He sat down on the edge of the bed and thought hard for a moment, letting his conscience and his curiosity battle it out. In the end, he had to go back into the kitchen for the take-out menus. He opened the laptop and was met with a log-in screen. He had no idea where to start, so he shut the lid again, strangely relieved. His snooping had been curbed by a simple password.
Evan felt better about that.
He flicked through the menus, debated Chicago deep-dish pizza, just so he could say he had tried it, then decided on Chinese. Chinese food was Chinese food, no matter where you lived.
He made the call, put in his usual order, and paid on his credit card. It had grown dark outside—properly dark this time, since it was closing in on seven in the evening. Since he had an hour before the dinner would be ready, he decided to take a shower while he waited for the food to arrive.
Later that night, Evan plugged in his phone to charge next to Scott’s bed. They had the same model phone, by coincidence, so it didn’t matter that he didn’t have his own charger. After his shower, he’d changed back into his clothes, but he didn’t want to sleep in them.
This felt even more intrusive than his snooping earlier, going through the drawers in Scott’s dresser and picking something to sleep in. Scott had several pairs of plaid flannel pajama pants tucked neatly into his chest of drawers, and both long- and short-sleeved T-shirts. Back home, Evan liked sleeping naked in the summer, but he wasn’t about to do that in someone else’s home.
After rooting around in the drawer for far too long,
Evan picked out a light gray long-sleeved T-shirt and green pajama pants and quickly changed into them. He folded his own clothes and left them on the floor next to the dresser. He locked up the apartment, brushed his teeth with a spare toothbrush he’d found in the cabinet under the sink, then turned off all the lights.
Even as far up as the apartment was, Evan could still hear the traffic outside. It was a strange novelty. He’d grown up in a quiet area and was used to being able to hear the waves of the ocean on a particularly quiet night. The city seemed to continue to buzz, even as its inhabitants settled down to sleep.
He wriggled under the thick duvet, preparing to sleep on Scott’s side of the bed. Because he was weak and couldn’t help himself, Evan turned his head and inhaled the scent lingering on Scott’s pillowcase.
He turned onto his side and curled up, facing away from the window. After a few moments, he heard the soft padding he’d come to associate with the cat, who jumped up onto the bed and started to settle herself. When he peeked over his shoulder, she was licking her ass. Evan couldn’t help but crack a smile at that.
It didn’t take long for sleep to start to curl around the edges of his vision, despite the unfamiliar bed and the unusual bedmate. Evan clutched the thick comforter to his chest, thought about Scott sleeping in this very spot like this, and let the comforting vision carry him off to sleep.
The next morning, Evan woke with a start when something soft brushed against his neck.
“Mrow.”
He chuckled softly when Princess butted her head against his shoulder.
“Okay, okay, I’m awake. I’m awake,” he grouched. His throat was dry—that Chinese food last night had been damned salty—but he felt better rested than he had in a long time.
Evan stretched, rocking his neck from side to side, and checked the clock on the wall. Then he startled. It was almost nine thirty. He never slept this late.
“Mrow,” Princess insisted.
“You want breakfast, huh?”
Princess gave him another plaintive little cry.
“All right, let’s feed you.”
The apartment felt warm as he wandered through to the kitchen, his muscles feeling a little sore from sleeping for so long. He poured more cat food into Princess’s dish and topped up her water, then did a few stretches in the kitchen to loosen himself up. No one was watching; it was fine.
Evan’s stomach growled at him, and he rubbed a hand over it absently. It was long past his usual breakfast time. Scott didn’t have a fancy coffeemaker like Evan did, but he did have some okay-ish instant stuff that would do the job of waking him up just fine.
He spent a half hour playing with Princess, finding out quickly that the red yarn he found under the coffee table was her favorite. When she curled up in a patch of weak winter sunlight for a catnap, Evan took the chance to sneak back to the bedroom to get dressed.
There was a small problem.
He hadn’t borrowed any of Scott’s underwear last night, instead preferring to sleep in his own. But he really didn’t want to spend another day in the ones he had on now. That was just… gross. That left him with the choice of going commando or borrowing a pair.
A quick shuffle through Scott’s underwear drawer revealed that they wore the same size. That seemed to make the decision for him, and he grabbed a pair of black boxer briefs and pulled them on, then dumped his own in the laundry hamper. They were the same brand, so Scott would maybe not notice.
Princess was still sleeping when Evan was done making the bed and righting the apartment from the small amount of mess he’d made the night before. He felt guilty about abandoning her like this. She’d wake up and not know where he’d gone.
Still, Evan wanted to get to the hospital and check on how Scott was doing. On impulse, Evan pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of the cat curled up and asleep. There. He could prove to Scott now that he’d done his job and taken care of the little princess.
Traffic was blessedly light, and it didn’t take Evan’s cab driver long to drive the few blocks over to the hospital. It was definitely too cold to walk, even if Evan was used to walking a lot back home.
The late start to his day had knocked Evan out of sorts, and he felt his stomach growl again as he passed a vending machine. Feeling annoyed with himself, he pulled a handful of change from his pocket and bought a granola bar.
When he got to the ward, Scott was sitting up in bed watching a TV in the corner of his room.
“Hey,” he said with a soft smile as Evan walked in.
“Hey. You’re awake.”
“I feel like I’ve slept for a month.”
“Just a week.”
“Has it been that long?”
Evan nodded, taking the seat next to the bed he’d been an almost-permanent fixture in since he arrived. “It’s Thursday.”
“Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
Scott shook his head. “It’s nothing. Stupid. There was a big meeting at work today and I’ve missed it. Stupid.”
“Your employer is going to be okay though, right? I mean, you were pretty touch-and-go back there, Scott. If they’re going to be shitty with you about it….”
“No, I’m sure it’s fine. I’m just really bad at letting go and handing stuff over to other people in my department. They’ll just fuck it up.”
“You’ve cursed twice now. You must be feeling better.”
Clearly too weak to push at Evan’s shoulder like he would have years ago, Scott settled for sticking his tongue out. “I do,” he admitted. “It’s weird. I hurt all over. My ribs especially. Is that weird?”
“I dunno. Maybe you should mention it to the doctor. I can get one for you if you want.”
“No, they’ll be around later anyway. They want to move me to another ward. How’s my cat?”
“She’s gorgeous. We snuggled last night.”
Scott laughed. “Really? She’s usually a bitch to people she doesn’t know.”
“Seriously? She was all over me. She’s the most affectionate little thing.”
“Are we talking about the same cat? My cat?”
Evan grabbed his phone and pulled up the picture he’d taken before leaving the apartment. “This one?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“Maybe she just misses you.”
“Fuck,” Scott said. “I miss her. I wish she could come in here.”
“I don’t think they let cats in hospitals, Cap.”
“Well, they should.”
Scott reached for Evan’s hand and linked their fingers together. Evan was careful of the tubes stuck in the back of Scott’s hand and gently stroked his thumb over Scott’s knuckles.
“I really missed you,” Scott said softly. “I think leaving you after Lacey’s wedding was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
They’d been in contact over the past few months, almost exclusively by text. Exchanging messages back and forth seemed easy, simple. That way they didn’t have to face what they’d done.
“I miss you too. Things aren’t any easier now, though, Scott. We’re still in the same situation. Nothing changed.”
Scott didn’t meet Evan’s eyes, even when Evan gently squeezed his fingers.
“What?” Evan asked.
“A few months back I started talking to my boss about the possibility of a transfer.”
Evan felt his stomach drop. Chicago was already too far away. What if Scott decided to relocate somewhere even farther?
“Where to?”
Scott huffed a tiny laugh. “DC.”
Evan blinked and said nothing while he got his thoughts in order, then decided to say something—anything—because Scott was now looking at him expectantly.
“Why?”
“I’m done here,” Scott said with a shrug. “I’ve achieved a lot, but I want something else now. It’s not just you, by the way. I want to be closer to my parents again. To Lacey and Tom too. My whole family is in Virgi
nia and… I mean, I have friends out here. Good friends. Good colleagues, and I like my job. But I’m twenty-eight, for fuck’s sake, and I have to think about what comes next.”
“What comes next?” Evan asked, almost afraid to know the answer.
“Come here,” Scott said and tugged on Evan’s hand.
Evan let himself be pulled up and sat on the edge of Scott’s bed, their hands still twined together. Scott reached up with his other hand and gently ran his fingers along Evan’s unshaven jaw. He pushed his fingertips into Evan’s hair and used the leverage to pull himself up and drag Evan down into a slow, careful kiss.
It was soft and chaste, just a brush of lips on lips, and Scott smelled like hospital and antiseptic and like he’d been in bed for a week. Evan thought it was possibly the most wonderful thing he’d ever felt.
Evan pressed their foreheads together and sighed deeply.
“If,” Scott started, then shook his head. “If or when I move home, can I stay with you?”
“At my place? That’s a hell of a commute to DC.”
“I don’t care.”
“You want to live with me?” Evan asked. He was so confused.
Scott laughed, a little breathless. “I’m asking you to be my boyfriend, you idiot. I want us to be together.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
“Oh.” Evan paused for a moment while his heart stuttered in his chest. “Oh.”
“Are you going to leave me hanging, King?” Scott said, trying to tease but sounding actually nervous.
“What? No. Shit, I mean yes. Yes. I’ll be your boyfriend. Fuck.”
“Are you sure?” Scott laughed.
“Yeah. Really sure. I’ve only wanted this since forever.”
“Good.”
There was a light knock at the door, and Evan jumped back so fast he almost fell over. Andre, the nurse from the night Scott had crashed, stuck his head around the door.
“The doctor will be ’round in about ten minutes,” he said, smirking. “Your, uh, brother is going to need to wait outside.”
“Sure,” Evan said, gathering up his backpack, knowing he was blushing deeply. “I’ll go call your—uh, call our mom. Call Mom. Let her know how you’re doing,” he stuttered.