Chapter 12 #2
For a moment, there was only the sound of the water dripping off Blake’s rag between his fingers as he rested it against the side of the tank.
“Why would it bother me?” he asked, bewildered.
Gabriel steeled himself. It had been so long since he’d had to come out to anyone. “I’m gay.”
After a moment, Blake rolled his eyes, squeezing out the rage and scrubbing at his face with a little more force than his delicate skin needed.
“Congratulations. Hurry up or I’ll use all the water.”
Gabriel stepped forward and dunked his own rag in the cool water, letting it expand in his fingers. Growing heavier, he swirled it around the chain before looking up to meet Blake’s eyes. Unflinching in the face of more of his honesty.
“I’m gay,” he said with a soft laugh, squeezing on the rag so the water ran down his forearm. “And you’re my type.”
Blake paused with his own towel pressed to his ribs. He didn’t look away from Gabriel, but more heat filled his cheeks. He swallowed once and scowled, clearing his throat before finishing the swipe.
“Then you have shitty taste in men.”
That evening, Judd whipped out his deck of cards the moment the atmosphere grew heavy.
He explained that he always kept them on him.
Apparently, in the military, there was a lot of hurry up and wait, so he needed something portable to entertain himself with.
He had lured Phin into a rousing game of Go Fish, but it quickly escalated to the two wrestling on the floor, Judd’s thick thighs wrapped around Phin’s waist as the shorter man tried to choke him out.
Gabriel had let it continue until Judd kicked a hole in the drywall, then he kicked them both in the kidneys and told them to knock it off. Cards were henceforth labeled a non-contact sport.
Phin was relegated across the room to the couch.
He flopped onto the furniture, legs and arms spreading out like he owned the thing.
He looked relaxed, despite having just been in a wrestling match.
Blake figured the guy had to be close to six and a half feet tall of solid muscle.
How he managed to walk as quietly as he did was a mystery.
Judd started in on how country music was the superior genre. No one was really listening, but they appreciated his attempts at levity. On the surface, Judd was a simple loudmouth. But the more Blake got to know him, the more he thought Judd might be someone who saw almost as much as he did.
Food was dwindling, and short of transmitting the Morse code, there wasn’t anything else they could do. What was that saying about idle hands? It was difficult to keep their spirits up when all they could do was think about their situation.
Periodically, the soldiers went out on patrol. They never went far, but they liked to keep an eye on things. Blake wasn’t really sure what they were looking for, but he did see them coming back and counting their ammo, their faces growing darker every time.
“All right,” Judd did a complicated shuffle, the cards bowing until they looked like they were about to flit right off his hand before sliding back into the deck. “Truth or dare.”
Phin snorted. “Are you a fifteen-year-old girl?”
Judd leveled a look at him. “Have you ever met a fifteen-year-old girl? I had three older sisters. Scariest fuckers I’ve ever seen, man. I’d go toe to toe with a FUD before a teenage girl.”
“Why are you hypothetically fighting a teenage girl?”
Judd made a face. “What the hell else are you supposed to do with them?”
Closing his eyes, Blake let Judd’s drawl accompany him to a restless sleep. He wasn’t actually sure if he slept or not. It was all hazy half dreams, woven with reality so closely he wasn’t sure if they were reveries or memories.
He jerked awake when he realized how uncomfortable he was. Easing his legs out, he noticed the room was dark save for a single candle. It snapped and crackled, thick globs of wax melting onto the cabinet. They were burning through the stash of birthday candles much faster than he thought.
Standing stiffly, he took a look around the room.
Everyone was asleep except Phin, who was on watch.
Tommy had his head resting on the soldier’s shoulder, looking comically small beside him.
Phin looked frightened. He glanced up at Blake like he would save him, but Blake just flashed him a thumbs up and stepped out of the room, toward the front of the station.
Venturing to the front of the station, he climbed up a small bookshelf to sit cross-legged.
Leaning his head against the wall, he could look out the crack in the curtains to see the front street.
Dawn was beginning to stir. The harbingers of sunlight crawling across the darkened earth.
Warning for the night dwellers to seek shelter before the real rays of the sun crept over the horizon.
Blake silently watched the moon battle the sun, one last fight for dominance before she lost. It was inevitable, but he found himself rooting for her anyway.
It looked so normal. Like it had a thousand other nights he’d sat up unable to sleep, watching the world slowly wake up.
Things had been relatively quiet. He didn’t know if the aliens slept at night or what they did, but he wasn’t sure he liked it.
Knowing where they were was terrifying, but not knowing was worse.
Glancing down at his watch, he tried to read the face in the low light.
It had stopped sometime in the last few days.
How many days had they been cooped up in this station?
He didn’t know. Sometimes it felt like forever, and others not any time at all.
But what else were they going to do? Judd and Gabriel were taking turns on the telegraph machine, but should that even be their priority? Or should they be focusing on leaving?
Blake knew the answer. He knew he should grab Tommy by the scruff and drag his skinny ass as far away from DC.
as possible. They didn’t need to be here.
Short of saving people—and Blake wasn’t even sure there were people left to save—his priority should be Tommy.
Keeping him safe. Blake was the paramedic.
He was in charge, and as long as Tommy was his EMT, it was his job to protect him.
But the thought of leaving had him frozen. He couldn’t. And why? Because he’d found a semblance of safety in the station? Like a deer in the headlights, unable to move or think.
Or was it the people?
Blake’s head thunked against the glass. Not people. Person.
Gabriel Lennox was gay. He was gay and attracted to Blake, and in no way, shape, or form should that matter right now, but for some reason, it was all Blake could think about.
Blake had never considered men before. Not in a romantic sense anyway.
He’d certainly noticed a handsome man, or one with a good body.
That perhaps he wanted more now wasn’t an abhorrent thought.
He was hardly some blushing virgin. Blake had been with women before, but it had always felt shallow.
Impermanent. A fleeting touch that they both enjoyed but knew it wouldn’t last.
And then there was Gabriel in the bathroom earlier.
He hadn’t done anything, but he hadn’t had to.
His eyes were enough. They watched him like he was the only thing in the world, hanging off his every movement.
Not a touch, and all the blood rushed from his head into his dick.
Just because some guy was looking at him.
Breaking news: Guy has sexual awakening, gets vaporized by aliens.
It had to be the intensity of the situation, the terror and uncertainty.
And maybe in light of that, it wasn’t so wrong to let himself think about it.
To close his eyes and think about the stubble on Gabriel’s cheeks or the way his lips pursed when he was trying to fight a smile, but never could keep it from his eyes.
His broad shoulders and strong hands—the ones that had easily caught him, protected him.
Blake could still feel the tips of his fingers brushing against his skin from where he’d shielded him from the FUD.
You’re my type.
His husky words had been ringing in Blake’s ears since he’d first said them, like the chorus of a catchy song, and he didn’t know what to do with it. Didn’t know why it felt so important when there was so much else going on.
“You should be asleep.”
Blake startled, turning to see Gabriel standing behind him. He was shrouded in shadow, the light from a birthday candle glowing like a halo behind him.
“I’m fine.”
Gabriel’s boots squeaked as he sidled up next to him. “Wasn’t it you who told me we should be honest with each other?”
He huffed. “Maybe honesty is too exhausting.”
“What do you want instead?”
Blake looked over at Gabriel. In the dark, he traced the lines of his face.
The ones that had grown so familiar over the last couple of days, he could find them with ease.
His straight, striking nose. Heavy brows.
The lilt of his lips. Even the smudge of dirt under his ear he’d missed with his quick bath.
“Tell me about the cabin,” Blake whispered, closing his eyes. “The one with the tacos.”
Gabriel huffed, but Blake could hear his smile. “It would be small. Cozy. Built into the mountain, so the big bay windows look out to a big meadow. In springtime, there would be wildflowers. Tons of them. Like a painting.”
Blake sighed softly, letting the spots of color dance behind his lids. “What else?”
“There’d be a lake, too. At the bottom of the mountain. On clear days, the sun would sparkle off the surface like diamonds. And there would be fish. Lots of them. We could go fishing,” he exhaled softly. “We’ll tell Tommy it’s catch and release.”
Blake opened his eyes to find Gabriel close. Sitting on the bookshelf like he was, their eyes were even. With one of his big hands, Gabriel reached out to gently trace Blake’s cheek. It was a hesitant touch. A question. Can I?
Should you?
Gabriel did. His touch lost any hesitation as his finger began mapping out the lines on Blake’s face. From the bridge of his nose across his eyebrows, like a blind man reading braille, he used his hands to see what his eyes couldn’t.
“What else?” Blake sounded breathless.
“Books and movies,” Gabriel answered, his eyes never leaving Blake’s. “All your favorites. We’d watch them together, and you could tell me all about them. Even the behind the scenes trivia.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
Gabriel swallowed. “I would love it.”
Oh, how he wanted that. He longed for it. It felt so possible when Gabriel was touching him, the warmth from his skin like the sun sparkling on the lake. Like a physical thing, it pricked the back of his eyes and sat heavy in his chest.
Blake’s breath hitched when Gabriel tilted his face up. His hand was so big, he could cup his entire face, thumb stroking across his lips. It felt so good. Blake’s stomach swooped. He couldn’t help but feel he was at the top of a rollercoaster peering over the edge of a massive drop.
Gabriel leaned in. His breath ghosted over Blake’s lips, and that was the only nudge he needed. Suddenly he was falling, lashes fluttering shut as he tipped his head.
The station rattled with a massive explosion.
Gabriel moved faster than Blake could think, dragging him off the shelf and onto the floor, where he shielded him with his body.
Face pressed to Gabriel’s shoulder, he couldn’t see anything, but he could feel another series of explosions. Smaller this time.
Jerking free, Blake slid out from under Gabriel to look out the window.
The blinds had fallen with the force of the explosion, and he had an unobstructed view of an old rust colored truck careening around the corner.
Driving erratically on three tires, what paint was left on the side of the door was melting.
Someone was standing in the back, one hand braced on the tailgate, the other popping off rounds from a small handgun.
The driver was trying to keep the truck going, but was having a hard time, the engine sputtering as he popped a curb trying to avoid a pothole in the asphalt.
Two FUDs were chasing the truck, their wicked pinchers snapping together with glee. Tommy saw one big Handler lumbering after them, pausing to take aim as the truck zigged and zagged to avoid those nasty twin guns.
Footsteps lumbered down the hallway, and Blake turned in time to see Tommy staring out the window, wide-eyed. He took one look at the scene before darting toward the door. Phin caught him by the arm.
“Hell no, kid,” he snapped, one hand on Tommy and the other buckling his plate carrier.
“They need help!” Tommy shouted, trying to wriggle out of Phin’s massive hand. “I’m going to help them!”
Phin groaned as he gave up trying to put on his armor, grabbing Tommy with two hands so he could bodily pick him up and put him behind him, away from the door. “No,” he said shortly. “We are going to help them. You’re going to stay here and get ready to treat any wounded.”
Tommy started to protest but Phin crowded him, a hand on either of his biceps. He squeezed. “I need you to stay here,” he whispered low, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear. It sounded a lot like a plea.
Staring up at him in shock, it was all Tommy could do to nod dumbly. With a grunt, Phin turned back to the team and finished putting on his helmet and plate carrier. Gabriel checked them over critically before they muscled out the door. Leaving Tommy and Blake behind.