Gabriel
Ugh, now wasn’t the time for self-doubt. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to have a piss and brush his teeth. He needed a coffee before he took a shower. In the kitchen he found a note from Bobby, and it made his heart flutter.
Gone to the gym and to do a few bits. You were so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you. Make sure you’re dressed and ready to go by twelve. I’m taking you on our first date. B xx
The door buzzer startled him. He wondered if it could be Bobby and he’d forgotten his key. His note implied he wasn’t due back for another couple of hours.
“Hello,” he said into the intercom.
“It’s Alex.”
What the fuck was she doing here? He buzzed her in and then paced around, panicking about why she would be here.
Did she know something had happened with Bobby?
Maybe talking to his sister was one of the “few bits” he had to do.
Gabriel hated not talking to his family, but he got his stubbornness from both his parents.
He had done nothing wrong, and they needed to come to him and apologise.
Their silence had been too long, but they were the ones in the wrong this time.
Alex knocked on the door, and he opened it. He was shocked to see Dillon with her.
“What the fuck is he doing here?”
“We need to talk,” said Alex, pushing her way in. “Where’s your husband?”
“He’s not here.”
“Good. This will make things easier.”
“Just say what you’ve got to say, Alex, and go. He can wait outside.”
“I ain’t fucking going nowhere, mate,” said Dillon.
“What do you want, Alex?”
“You need to come for Sunday lunch today.”
“Why?”
“Mum and Dad know I’m with Dillon and they’re pissed off. They’re starting to believe what you said.”
“What? The truth?”
“Look, if you come and say we only got together after I broke up with Bobby, I’ll back up your story about getting married when drunk and it was a mistake.”
“That’s not a story. It’s the truth.”
“For fuck’s sake, Gabriel, I know you miss them. Mum hasn’t stopped crying since you walked out that day.”
Well, now he felt like shit. His mum had always supported him, and for her to turn on him like that had hurt more than anything he’d ever experienced, but this wasn’t what he wanted.
If he went back into that house, it had to be because they wanted him there, and not because Alex was trying to stop them from seeing her true colours again.
“I’ll go when they invite me.”
“Gabriel, why do you have to be so stubborn? Don’t you see how this benefits all of us?”
“Look at this, babe,” said Dillon, walking into the room.
Where had he been? He was holding something in his hand, and Gabriel’s heart sank. It was the note from Bobby.
“What the fuck are you doing touching my private things?” asked Gabriel, walking over to Dillon.
He passed the note to Alex. She read it and smiled, and it wasn’t a friendly one.
“Oh my God. You actually turned him. It’s a good job I didn’t marry him.”
Dillon laughed.
“Come to Sunday dinner,” said Alex. “Or I’ll show them this.”
“Give it back.”
“Babes, wait outside. I’ll talk to him,” said Dillon.
Alex smiled at him before glaring at Gabriel. He wasn’t sure what Dillon was about to do, but on the off chance he said something he shouldn’t, Gabriel hit the record button on his phone when Dillon’s back was to him. Once Alex had left, his face told Gabriel he’d probably made the right decision.
“Do yourself a favour and don’t bother coming today. We’ll be showing your little bum chum note to them. Your dad told me he’s ashamed to have a son like you, but he had to accept it because your mum’s a soft touch.”
Gabriel knew that wasn’t true. His dad’s reaction when he came out had been genuine, but it didn’t stop Dillon’s words hurting.
“I hope Bobby’s using a rubber. Fuck knows what diseases you’ve got. I can’t believe he’d stoop so low as to fuck you. I mean, if he is into dick, he should probably stick to his own kind.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“I think you know. They kill poofs where you come from. Bit primitive, but I guess they get some things right.”
“If you feel that way, then why are you with my sister?”
Dillon snorted. “Means to an end.”
“What?”
“You’ll see,” he said with another smile before walking out.
Gabriel was boiling with anger, and he wanted to go after him and punch his face in, the racist, homophobic cunt.
What the fuck did his sister see in a guy like that, and why had Bobby been friends with him?
He remembered the recording and grabbed his phone and stopped it.
Gabriel played it back; it had captured everything.
He saved it and emailed it to himself as a backup.
The temptation to just send it to his parents was high, but would they even believe it?
A voice recording could be faked these days, and he couldn’t think rationally right now.
He was still fuming about what Dillon had said.
He could talk to Bobby when he got back about what would be the best thing to do.
They needed to take a calm approach to this.
“I’ll smash his fucking face in,” said Bobby, after listening to the recording.
“And there I was thinking you’d be the calm one.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. It’s not enough, is it? They could just say it’s a voice clone or something, and they’d probably believe him.”
“If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?”
“Why does that feel like a loaded question?”
“I might have hired someone Daniel recommended to gather evidence that Dillon and Alex were together before we got married. And if he can find anything else on my former best friend as well, then all the better.”
Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh.
“Okay, that’s a better reaction than I was expecting. I paid him for two weeks, so by this time next week we’ll know what he’s found. Maybe we’ll wait until then and decide what to do with that recording.”
“See, I knew you were the sensible one.”
Bobby looked at him and smiled before leaning forward for a kiss.
It was gentle, not like the one they’d shared the night before, but it didn’t take long until Gabriel found himself pushed against the wall as Bobby dominated his mouth.
For someone who had never kissed a man before yesterday, he certainly knew how to bring one to his knees with just a kiss.
“We’d better get ready to go out. It’ll take us a couple of hours to get there.”
“Hours? Where are we going?”
“A country pub for Sunday dinner.”
“There’s a pub across the road.”
“Yes, but people travel for miles for this one. It came highly recommended.”
“From who?”
“Daniel. He sorted the reservation for me. I think I might have disturbed him fucking Josh as he seemed out of breath when he answered.”
Gabriel laughed. “I don’t know the guy as well as you do, but having seen how he is with Josh in public, if he was doing anything like that, he probably would have ignored your call.”
“Let’s be ready to go in ten minutes. I’ll let them know we’re running a bit late.”
“Or . . . maybe we could stay here,” said Gabriel, running his hand over Bobby’s rock-hard chest.
“And do what?”
“Fuck?”
Bobby’s eyes widened.
“Shit, sorry. Did I try to move things too fast again?”
Bobby smiled and kissed him gently, before resting their foreheads together.
“I’d like that, but I want to do things right. Let’s have Sunday lunch, and then we can come back here and see what happens.”
Gabriel was rock hard, and would happily go without lunch, but Bobby wanted to take him out for a meal. This is what he always complained guys never did. They just wanted to jump straight into bed. Now Gabriel was questioning if he was the reason that always happened.
The Stag and Lantern, in the village of Heartwood, was a gorgeous venue. It was like an old-style country pub, but on a large plot. The tables were well spaced out, and the smell of food was making his mouth water. A tall bear of a man greeted them.
“Hello, I’m Gerard. You two are friends of Daniel?”
“Yes,” said Bobby. “Thanks for making space for us.”
“Any friends of Daniel’s are welcome here. Follow me.”
They walked through the restaurant, which was busy.
Gabriel wouldn’t be surprised if it was like this all the time.
Certainly on a Sunday. Glancing at the food on people’s plates, his stomach growled.
He’d only had that bit of toast at nine o’clock this morning, and it was almost three now.
The drive had been longer than expected.
Gabriel had driven, as he’d let Bobby drive his car once and the man didn’t know what a speed limit was, so that was non-negotiable.
They were taken to a secluded table, which seemed to be away from the main hustle.
“Not to be presumptuous or anything, but this is the table Daniel and Josh sat at the weekend they met,” said Gerard.
Bobby smiled, but he was blushing. Gabriel thought it was adorable.
“My husband is the chef, so of course everything is fabulous, but I would recommend the pork. That man’s crackling is better than his . . . well, you get the idea. If you can’t decide, we allow you to double up here. You can never get enough meat, can you, boys?”
Gabriel laughed. Bobby looked as if he wasn’t sure what to say. Before he could open his mouth, Gerard had left them with the menus.
“Are you okay?” asked Gabriel.
“Yeah. I was just a little surprised. I didn’t think people would be so open in a country village.”
“There are nods to the Pride flag all over this place. It’s probably a big part of the community. And to be fair, the most shit I have ever had to deal with is in the city. I know people slag off small towns, but I’ve never had issues when I’ve visited.”
“He assumed we were a couple,” said Bobby.
“Well, you are my husband.”
Bobby chuckled. “Is it weird that I liked him thinking of us as being together?”
Did he really just say that?
All Gabriel could do was shake his head. It wasn’t weird at all. That they’d been put at the same table as Daniel and Josh meant something to him. Gabriel didn’t believe in coincidences. This was fate, and maybe this time it was going to be on his side.