Page 103 of Out of the Storm

Jeff set his plate on the counter.

“Gare,” Jeff said as he took a step toward his too-perfect beau.

Devouring the last bites of his breakfast, Gary had been focused on his plate, his cheeks filled with food and puffed out in a way that made him look a little like a chipmunk. Gary was never not adorable. Mouthful of cheesy scrambled eggs or not, Jeff wanted to kiss him, to thank him for everything. He reached out a hand to cup Gary’s cheek. But then the worst thing in the entire fucking world happened.

Gary recoiled.

Jeff’s stomach leapt up into his throat. What the fuck.

“Uh, Gare,” he said. “I was trying to kiss you.”

“Yeah, I, uhm, figured, but...” Gary swallowed the eggs. “I’m worried. Because of yesterday.”

“Well, I’m fine now, so—”

“Yeah, okay, but...” Gary looked up at the clock. “I only have a minute or so ’til I have to run back into the studio. What if you... I mean, I can’t...”

Right. Gary couldn’t risk Jeff having another episode or whatever-the-fuck that had been last night.

“Deal with my bullshit,” Jeff finished for him, taking a step back. “Of course.”

“No!” Gary fumbled with his plate, nearly dropping it to the floor, but he recovered and set it on the counter. “No, that’s not what I meant. Or, I mean, Jeff, it’s not bullshit. Just—” He looked at the clock. “Ugh,hold on.”

He ran out into the hall, leaving Jeff by himself, feeling like an asshole. Normally, he’d have wanted to clean up to repay Gary for making him such a nice breakfast, even if he hadn’t eaten it yet, but he was too busy being pissed off—at himself, not at Gary—to move. Which was probably for the best. Because part of him wanted to hurl a plate across the room.

Gary returned a couple of minutes later.

“Sorry, sorry,” Gary said. “I should probably end the show early today. But I have, like, twenty announcements and fifteen ads I’m supposed to share, and if I keep randomly stopping the show, I’ll lose my listeners. I mean, who would keep coming back to check to see whether or not there’s static when there should be music? I’m sure a lot of people are already upset that I can’t be on between ten and five because I have to teach or to research little factoids or to try to coerce business owners into kicking in a couple of bucks for advertisements or to try to have a life of my own. Geez, I—”

“Hey,” Jeff interrupted. He snatched both of Gary’s hands and squeezed them. “Radio man, I’m not expecting you to end your show early. I never said that. All I wanted was to kiss you and thank you for the stupid eggs.”

Gary let out a breath and smiled. “Were they stupid because of the cheese?”

“No, I like cheesy things.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah, like you.” Jeff took a step closer. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Yeah, Jeff, of course,” Gary said, now looking like a wounded puppy. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Softly, Jeff touched his lips to Gary’s, keeping the kiss brief and sweet to avoid any possible chance that he’d have some sort of ridiculous freak out.

“See?” Jeff said when they parted. “I’m okay.”

Gary leaned in to touch their foreheads together. “Are you mad?”

“About what?”

“Yesterday. Or this morning. Or anything.”

“No, not... not at you, Gare. I’m mad at me. I’m mad at Don.”

“I wish there was some way I could help.”

“I know. But this ismyproblem.Ineed to fix it.”

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