Page 15 of A Case of You
As Stuart stood under the hot water and let it sluice over him, he closed his eyes and thought about his conversation with his sister that morning.
Eileen had sent him an e-mail with the details not long after their phone call. They were holding the ceremony and reception at a hotel the next town over from where his parents and Jake lived, which would be a blessing because maybe Jake wouldn’t come. Slated for the first weekend of December. He and Brandon could stay at the hotel and hopefully not have too much contact with the rest of his family.
Or even stay at another nearby hotel and hopefully miss out on seeing anyone outside of the rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception. That was his preferred option, if they could arrange it.
He heard the bathroom door open and close, then Brandon’s head popped through the front of the shower curtain. “Want company?”
“Always, Master. You never need to ask.”
His head disappeared while he got undressed, then he stepped in with Stuart, pulling him into his arms. “Hey there, stranger.”
Stuart smiled up at him. “Hey there, yourself, handsome.” He almost got swept away by the kiss Brandon laid on him, which was likely to lead to Stuart’s second shower sex episode of the day, until he thought about Jeff.
He rested his palms against Brandon’s chest to stop him before Stuart totally lost his brains. “How did Jeff’s doctor appointment go?”
“He ordered blood work, which we had done as soon as we left there. He basically chewed Jeff out for overdoing it, which we already suspected had triggered the worst of this flare. The weather change contributed, too, I’m sure. The doctor will review the results of the blood work and then call Jeff to let him know if we need to change his medicine or what.”
“Does he have meds to make Jeff stop overdoing it?”
“Yeah, it’s called threatening to put in another PICC line.”
“Oooh. Yikes. Really?
“Possibly. Although that’s not necessarily due to him overdoing it. If he’s having a relapse, he might need a new PICC line anyway. The doc wants to see his blood work first. It’s…” He sighed. “It’s looking more like Jeff’s got the chronic version of this, and he might not get ‘better.’ We need to help him come to grips with this.”
Stuart rested his head against Brandon’s chest. “I wish we couldfixthis.”
“Way ahead of you, buddy.” Brandon rubbed his chin against the top of Stuart’s head, something Stuart loved when he did it.
“Speaking of fixing things, did Tracey’s car get fixed?”
“It’ll be ready tomorrow. Her roommate was able to drive her home today, and they work close to the same hours tomorrow. Tracey’s going to ride in early with her. Mechanic’s going to have the part tomorrow. Some relay or something.”
“That’s good.”
“So what’s bothering you besides all of that? You looked like something was on your mind when you got home.”
Stuart tipped his head back. “It’s spooky when you do that.”
He smiled. “It’s a Dom thing. And a dad thing, but I’d prefer calling it a Dom thing with you, because otherwise, that’s borderline creepy. Do you want to tell me, or make me cane it out of you?”
Stuart told Brandon about his phone call that morning from Eileen.
Brandon didn’t respond at first. “I thought we established you wouldn’t go see them alone.”
“I know, Master. I don’t want to go alone. If you can’t go with me, or if you say I can’t go, then that’s it. I won’t argue with you about it.”
Brandon’s sigh sounded weary and heavy. “You want to go, don’t you?”
“It’s…complicated. You and Jeff heard what Mom said when I came out to her. I’m not looking forward to a confrontation with them.”
“I won’t let you go alone.”
Stuart hadn’t seen his family since he’d left Iowa and moved to Florida early in the year, but Jeff and Brandon had literally sat next to him and held his hands as he’d made the call to his mom to tell her he was gay and living with two guys. He’d had it on speaker phone, so Brandon and Jeff had heard every word.
“If you can’t go with me,” Stuart said, “then absolutely not, I won’t go. I don’twantto go alone. I know Jeff can’t go.”
“No, Jeff willnotgo. I don’t want him traveling this time of year. It’ll likely be cold up there, and I don’t want him trying to defend you if your brother acts like a dickhead.”
