Page 54 of Aftermath

"Of us," Austin admitted. It was about damn time to lay it all out there. "Let me start by saying that I don't want to renew my lease in four months." He thought that would give them a good amount of time to get used tomore.

There was only the matter of making things official. Austin had already spoken to Cam's parents on the phone, and while they didn’t know his true label, they weren't stupid. Landon and Jules had figured out the obvious without confirmation. Gale probably had her guesses. His parents knew and wanted to meet Cam.

Yeah, Austin was fucking nervous about it, but he had promised himself not to be content with content anymore. He wanted to take risks in order to get what he yearned for. He wanted to come clean to Riley about the man she only knew as Dad's friend. Not that they'd met yet, but it had been discussed. With both of them. Cam wanted to meet her, and Riley wanted to meet Dad's friend who had a cool dog named Bourbon Mulligan.

"You—" Cam broke off, his mind spinning.

"I promise I won't push you," Austin murmured. "But will you at least think about it?" He paused, reminding himself that Cam wasn’t made out of glass. He could handle the truth. After all, Austin wasn’t the only one who made progress each day. It was clear that Cam loved his work, and he was putting in many hours at Landon's garage. At home, he was at ease. He liked his space, but he didn’t need to have all the lights on anymore. He hadn't had a cigarette indoors in weeks, and…things were just better. "I want there to be a bedroom for privacy," he continued quietly. "We'd need it if…if we weren't alone in the house." He raised a brow.

"Oh." Cam swallowed. "You want—you want more. That way." He hesitated. "What about Riley?"

"I want you to meet her." He lowered his face and kissed Cam lightly. "As my partner. As someone I want in my life permanently."

At last, Austin didn’t have a single doubt about his feelings and intentions.

There was a time everything had confused him, but even then, he hadn't been able to stay away.

"I knew I'd find you here," Austin chuckled, slowly limping toward Cam who was standing just outside the ambulance bay smoking a cigarette. Austin wondered who he'd bribed to be allowed here, and it wasn’t the first time. But they all did everything they could to avoid the press.

Eight days ago when they'd returned to Bakersfield, Austin wasn’t the only one who had collapsed from sheer exhaustion. With news crews camping outside the hospital, the men had been blissfully unaware and sedated. Bullets had been removed, bones had been reset, countless tests had been done, blood had been given, and nutrition was being pumped into them intravenously.

Cam grunted and took a deep drag from his smoke.

They were both wearing protective sunglasses that made them look like freaks, but they were needed. Especially in broad daylight with the sun directly overhead.

"My gums still hurt." Cam ran the tip of his tongue over his front teeth. They felt smooth and clean now, but it was still painful to brush them.

Austin knew the feeling. "Are you nervous?" he wondered as he reached Cam. It felt better now—to be close to his former cellmate. For more than one reason, he was happy to be out of his hospital gown. Now, he tucked his hands into the front pocket of his sweatshirt; it was all he could do before his hands did something else. Something he couldn’t understand or explain.

"Too many people up there." Cam shrugged one shoulder. "You okay?" He eyed Austin behind his shades.

"Under the circumstances," he answered vaguely.

Truth was, he was far from okay. He felt like a ticking time bomb.

Having Riley update him on the news around the world by reading the paper to him was one thing. It was a whole other matter to listen to Jade go on and on about the police investigation and what had happened in Bakersfield while Austin and the others had been missing. Anger kept building up inside him, and he didn’t know what to do with it.

Five months and three days. That was how long he'd been in that basement.

"Don’t bullshit me." Cam took a final pull from the cigarette before stubbing it out under his shoe. "Notme, Austin." He shoved the butt down in his pack, then pocketed it. "Talk. What's up?" He placed a hand on Austin's shoulder.

Austin swallowed, feeling awkward and out of place. "Nothing's up. I'm all right."

"Yeah." Cam's mouth formed a small smile. "I can see that."

"His name was Ben," Austin blurted out. He exhaled harshly and dragged a hand over his clean-shaven face. "Ben Stahl. That—that was his name." And he, that psychotic madman, had been counted as one of the victims. In the papers, he had been reported missing around the same time Cam was. His mother had gone to the police, stating that she hadn't heard from her son in days. Like the rest of the guys, Ben Stahl had had his fifteen minutes of fame while the police searched for clues. "They've done pieces on him—interviews with his family, honorable shit about what a kind man he is…was."

"I know." Cam had heard about it, too.

"It pisses me off," Austin whispered, looking down. "I'm so fucking angry, Cam."

"Whoa, dude. Did you just drop the f-bomb?"

Austin smiled weakly.

Cam sighed and stepped closer, his other hand touching Austin's elbow. And Austin felt how the fingers curled to fit the shape of him. He closed his eyes, battling an indescribable yearning inside of him. He didn’t get it. He didn’t understand a thing of what was going on.

"We'll make sure everyone finds out he's not so innocent," Cam reasoned and closed the distance between them. He hugged Austin to him, who in turn hugged Cam back fiercely. "There's no way we'll let the world think he's a victim, all right?"

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