Chapter 7 – James #2
He accepted the cat back as Leon shoved his feet into his boots and grabbed his keys.
It was probably beyond absurd to say, and definitely pointed at some deep-seated abandonment issues he should talk to his therapist about, but James had missed having the sturdy weight in his arms. The big guy began to purr as James held him close, bracing his arms so he wouldn’t be jostled as they headed for Leon’s car.
What had started off as a beautiful, sunny day had turned into an overcast evening. The clouds were dark and heavy, seeming to press down on them as they pulled out of Leon’s parking garage.
The ball, which had mostly settled, began to vibrate again in his stomach. “Do you think he’s going to be okay? Could it be something simple like a twisted ankle, or maybe something is stuck in his paw?”
“I didn’t see anything in his paw,” Leon said absently as he turned slowly out onto the busy street.
It hadn’t even occurred to James to offer to drive, but maybe he should have.
Would driving to the vet on the same roads they’d used to bring Hailey to the hospital bring back bad memories for Leon?
There wasn’t anywhere near as much urgency in this ride as there had been then.
Leon was going just below the speed limit, checking his mirrors multiple times before switching lanes.
“I’m sorry, I should have offered to drive,” James said, toying with the corner of his button-down farthest from the cat’s hurt leg.
“It’s fine. You have your hands full,” Leon said, tossing James a quick smirk.
“I do, but…you’re more important to me than a cat I rescued today,” James said, blinking back yet more ridiculous tears.
Leon was more important than moving logistics, rushed timelines, and injured stray cats. It had been such a rough year. All James wanted to do was make Leon’s life a little easier, and make him happy, the way he made James so beyond happy.
“You mean the world to me, Leon,” he whispered. “This cat is just—”
“A little sweetheart who I can tell you’ve already fallen for,” Leon said, his eyes fixed on the road, even as his smirk grew. “It’s really okay, darlin’, I can drive when I need to. I drove Aspen all over the fucking universe while you were gone.”
The light ahead turned yellow, and Leon slowed to a stop just as it switched to red. The cat purred softly, and James gently stroked his back until his eyes fell shut.
“Hailey’s mom thinks I might have PTSD,” Leon said offhandedly. “And…I think she might be right. What’s so stupid about that is I think it’s not even just about Hailey’s accident. I've been, uhm…Things have been coming up about my dad dying, too.”
The light turned green, and the hum of the engine drowned out James’ sharp intake of breath. He’d had his own suspicions over the past few months, but Leon had a therapist, and James hadn’t wanted to go against whatever he was saying.
“I guess maybe I should go back to seeing Kaden once a week,” Leon said, his smirk more of a grimace now.
“Our bi-weekly calls have mostly been about my ADHD and meds. I didn’t think…
Well, I guess that’s it, isn’t it? I didn’t think.
If Hailey or you or even Aspen had been through something awful, I would have been fucking relentless that you get help, but I just didn’t think I needed it. ”
That ball slammed down into James’ stomach, and he nearly doubled over.
He should have said something earlier. He should have been brave and voiced his concern instead of assuming everything would work out in the end.
Nothing in life ever just happened. It had to be fought for.
He had fought by his mom’s side to overcome his dad leaving and get her through her cancer treatment.
He had fought for a good job, and once Leon had shown him the error of his ways, he’d fought against his bigoted boss and made their workplace safer for everyone.
He and Leon had gotten through the awkward, beginning stages of their relationship, and now they were in love, but fighting for each other—and for their happiness—never really stopped.
He owed it to Leon and himself to keep fighting for what he wanted. Even if that meant fighting his own fear and doubt.
“That sounds like a really good idea to me. I think I’m also going to go back to seeing my therapist more regularly.
I want to be better at supporting you, and—” Leon opened his mouth as if to protest, but James pushed on.
“There are also some things changing in my life that I want to be better prepared for working through.”
Leon glanced down at the cat, then back at the road as they turned into the vet’s office. James didn’t correct him. For the time being, it was okay if Leon thought it was just the cat he was talking about.
One thing at a time.
Leon wrapped a protective arm around James as they walked into the vet’s office. He steered James over to the farthest spot at the check-in counter where a receptionist with bright pink hair was sitting.
“Well, hello, Leon, and—oh, that’s not Yarmen,” the receptionist said, leaning over the counter to peer at the cat in James’ arms.
James had only been to the emergency vet with Leon once, when Yarmen had an ear infection over a long weekend.
He had sat in the waiting area with Yarmen’s carrier while Leon checked them in at the front desk.
Apparently, Theo had been working the past several times Leon had come in and was well acquainted with both Leon and Yarmen, as well as Yarmen’s bad habit of getting sick over long weekends.
“James found this guy on the side of the road with no tags or anything and decided he was our responsibility now,” Leon said, handing over his credit card to Theo.
James wanted to protest, but he couldn’t pull out his card without making a whole production of it.
He would just have to insist on paying Leon back later.
Despite how the ball in his stomach glowed at Leon saying the cat was “their responsibility,” he didn’t want to saddle Leon with all the bills and labor.
He wanted to be an equal and enthusiastic cat dad.
“We’ll make sure to check for a chip,” Theo said, running Leon’s card before handing it back along with a clipboard full of forms. “If he’s chipped, we’ll do our best to get in contact with the owner.
If he’s not, there’s a five day stray hold before you can officially adopt him.
We have all the necessary paperwork on our website, or I’d be happy to walk you through it. ”
James had never heard of a stray hold before, but Leon nodded easily and thanked Theo before wrapping his arm around James’ waist again.
He led James over to a seat, gently guiding him to sit down before sitting down next to him and taking his hand.
The care was sweet but seemed unnecessary since he wasn’t the one with a possibly broken leg or paw.
“I’m fine,” James said, staring down into big, golden eyes that somehow also seemed concerned for him.
“Okay. But it would be understandable if you weren’t. Especially given whatever is going on up here,” Leon said, gently knocking his head against the side of James’. “You said there’s a lot going on at home right now? Is your mom okay?”
James glanced around at the ten or more folks waiting to be seen.
At the check-in desk, a young man was carrying a large cage with a parrot inside.
The bird was bobbing its head as it held one foot out in front of itself.
To their right, a young girl was clutching a shockingly large rabbit in her arms, and to their left, a middle-aged woman was holding a terrarium with a bright white snake in it.
If the last time was anything to go by, it could be a while before they were seen, especially if any more animals came in with a bigger emergency than an injured paw.
“We don’t have to talk about—” Leon tried to say, but James squared his shoulders and shook his head.
“Mom’s fine,” he said, squeezing Leon’s hand. “She’s actually more than fine. She’s in love, happy, and ready to take the next step in her relationship with Linda and Howard.”
“Like…getting engaged?” Leon asked.
James barked out a short laugh. It was interesting that Leon thought the next step in a relationship would be getting engaged.
Was that…something he wanted? Leon was definitely not the old-fashioned type, so James sort of doubted he would want to be married, or even engaged, before living together.
It was probably something he should know about his boyfriend, though.
“No, not like getting engaged. As far as I know, none of them have any intention of getting married again, especially given that it isn’t legal to marry more than one person at a time.”