Page 54 of Find Me Again

Which,ouch, even though it was true.

"I'm sorry," Neil offered quietly, for yet another time, only for Ryan to shove his hands into his pockets and square his shoulders.

"It's after midnight and I'm tired, so I'll simply come out and say it all once again. I'm in this if you're in, but only if it's for real. I can handle paparazzi or whoever, if it's about them finding out about us. What I don't want is to live my life in fear of them learning that I l—like to put my mouth on you as often as possible," he finished on a lighter note, obviously softening the blow, and Neil loved him for that.

Loved.

He inhaled sharply, scrambling for something to say while his mind was blown away bythatbombshell, but then the last boarding call announcement for his flight came over the speakers.

"I've got to go," he blurted out, only to watch Ryan's face shut down as he took a step back.

No, that wasn't right.

"I'll figure out how we can move on from me worrying about this," Neil hurried to add. "I promise."

Lifting his eyebrows, Ryan stared at him for a few long seconds before nodding.

"Great. I'm looking forward to hearing more about that."

"Okay." Neil's heart was still going way too fast because of his revelation, but he was relieved that they were parting on a good note despite his blunder. "I'll text you when I land."

"Right back at you. Unless I'm stuck here for all eternity."

"Then text me to come rescue you."

"You would, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," Neil said with all the conviction he had in him.This, he had no doubts about. "You need me to rescue you from anything, I'm there."

Ryan bit his lower lip and glanced away.

"Go now or I'm kissing you no matter what."

Neil's fingers curled over the straps of his backpack out of their own volition, stopping him from reaching out.

"Okay, okay, I'm going."

He turned and walked towards his gate without looking back, but the image of Ryan standing there, staring after him, was imprinted in his mind now.

They would have to get used to the goodbyes like this if they were going to be together, which sucked, but—

Not if, he corrected himself. They were already together, after all, and since they were going to stay like that, they would have to get used to the goodbyes.

Neil wasn't accepting anything else from this point forward.

He loved Ryan. He'd fallen fast and hard, but the sudden realization actually gave him a clear answer about where he stood.

It was everything else that needed figuring out.

* * *

Money and fame could buy a lot of things, and one of them was a driver waiting for Neil at the airport, courtesy of his management. And it was especially nice after a night flight without any sleep. At first it was the storm they'd encountered, but then he started thinking, and planning, and freaking out over some of his plans, backing out and then coming back to them again and again.

By the time they'd finally landed in Savannah, he was exhausted, so he flopped onto the backseat of the car with a sighof relief. At this hour it shouldn't take long to get him home, where his bed was waiting for him.

It was a few hours later, after he'd showered, napped, and drunk two big cups of coffee, that he was sitting in front of his bosses for the first time since he'd told them about Josh's threats and everything that came with it. There had been a bunch of calls and video conferences since then, but a small part of Neil had been afraid that actually meeting them in person would reveal that his coming out had changed things, after all. He'd expected at least one person would struggle to hide a grimace or refuse to shake his hand or… something.

Nothing like that happened, though.

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