Remi never usually paid much attention to The Hidden Creek Horn. For a start, who even read local newspapers anymore when you could find everything much quicker online? Still, every Monday the damn thing ended up flung onto his front yard by some teenager earning less than minimum wage on a bike.

Usually, Remi would grab it before the sprinklers turned the rolled paper into mulch or a neighbor’s dog chewed it up. But then he would just toss it into the recycling. For some reason, that Monday he decided to unroll it and glance at the front cover, perhaps hoping to hear something about the business going on with Hidden Creek Memorial.

What he got was a photograph of Kris.

‘Local bartender, Kris Novak, accused of inside arson job’ blared the headline.

“Fuck,” Remi hissed. His hand tightened around the paper and crunched it up. He stalked back inside the house. “Kris?” he called upstairs to where he’d left his boyfriend lounging with his phone in Remi’s bed. “We have a problem.”

“I know,” Kris called back miserably.

Remi jogged back up the stairs. He had been intending to bring them up coffee and bagels, but his appetite had vanished.

He found Kris sitting in a pool of blankets around his waist, frowning at his phone and chewing his lip. His white-and-purple hair was sticking up at odd angles, making him look adorable. Remi wished he wasn’t so stressed.

“My mom texted,” Kris said as Remi sat on the bed beside him. “And Leon. As well as Chase, Gabe, Hale, Koby and Pete Miele. And I think half the damn bar customers have messaged into the Facebook page. At least there’s only a few of them that are nasty, the others are really sweet.”

“They saw the paper, huh?” Remi asked with a sigh, showing Kris the front page. He winced and Remi put his arm around him. “Fuck this shit.”

Kris let out an exasperated noise and flopped against Remi. “What the hell am I going to do? Everyone thinks I’m guilty.”

“But you’re not,” Remi said firmly, believing it one hundred percent. “How about I call Epstein again and see if they’ve made any more progress?”

Kris sniffed and looked up at him. “Would you?” he asked in a small voice.

“Of course,” said Remi, wrapping Kris up in his arms. “I’ll help you do everything we can to put this behind us.”

It was still before nine o’clock, so Remi wasn’t that surprised he got Epstein’s voicemail. Remi left him a message telling him to get in touch with him or Kris, then he called Bishop. It was his day off as much as Remi’s, but this was important. Unfortunately, the captain didn’t have any new information for him, but promised he would keep in touch. Remi was glad things were okay between him and Bishop after the interview had gotten so heated. He would hate to lose his captain’s respect.

Remi was feeling somewhat in limbo when a text from his mom happened to pop up. Remi raised his eyebrows as several thoughts flashed through his mind at once. “Baby?” he asked Kris, who had been frantically replying to messages trying to assure everyone he was okay. “Do you have any dinner plans tonight?”

“No,” said Kris, immediately smiling. “Why? Are you going to take me out?”

“Actually…” Remi said. Right, this was it, no more fucking around. “My family is getting together. I thought…only if you felt up to it, maybe you would want to come with me and, um…”

“You want to come out?” Kris asked. Remi nodded and Kris put his hand on Remi’s knee. “Only if you feel ready,” he said sincerely.

“I’m so ready,” Remi said, gripping his hand. He sighed, vowing to be as honest as he could with Kris from now on. “I don’t know how my dad will react. He’s pretty traditional. It’s not so much the gay thing, actually. It’s…he has very firm ideas about boys and girls, men and women. I just know he’s going to say I don’t look gay and tell me it’s a phase.” He winced. “Just to warn you.”

Kris shrugged. “Then you tell him you’re bi and have known that for years and you’ll give him time to come around.” He lifted Remi’s hand and kissed the back of it. “No matter what, I’ll be by your side. Okay?”

“Okay,” Remi said back.

For a while, he allowed himself to be distracted by Kris, both of them finding comfort in each other’s arms. But then Remi’s phone starting ringing. He sighed, but then Kris’s phone began ringing too. They looked at one another in confusion.

Remi was being called back by Bishop, so he answered quickly, then left the room so he and Kris wouldn’t be competing to be heard. “Hi, Captain,” he said, loitering in the hall. “Is everything okay?”

“I think so,” Bishop said. “You said to let you know if there was any news. Well, Epstein wants to meet again. Apparently, a witness has come forward.”

Remi’s heart leaped. “Is that good news or bad news?”

“I honestly couldn’t say, son,” Bishop told him. “I just thought I’d inform you as a courtesy.” There was a pause. Remi was fully aware that Bishop didn’t have to tell him any of this. “I assume you’ll want to come to the meeting with Mr. Novak?” he asked.

“If that’s allowed?” Remi said. “And if it’s what Kris wants.”

Again, Bishop paused. “I’ll make an exception,” he said. “We’ll see you boys at midday. Don’t be late.”

“We won’t,” Remi promised.

He frowned as Bishop closed the call. Remi wanted to be hopeful about the witness, but he didn’t trust his and Kris’s luck at the moment. Then there was Bishop’s attitude toward him. Remi licked his lips. He was pretty sure the captain suspected something was going on between him and Kris, but he couldn’t tell if his reaction was good or bad.

He added that to his list of things to worry about later and returned to the bedroom to see Kris looking how he felt. “That was Epstein,” he explained, holding up his phone. “He wants to meet at midday.”

Remi nodded, indicating his own phone. “That was Bishop. He agreed I could come along.”

Kris nibbled his lip. “Should I be worried?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Remi replied truthfully.

They spent the next couple of hours in quiet agitation. At least they were able to comfort each other with regular hugs, but they would both be happier once the meeting was over. Remi drove them over to the station with plenty of time to spare, giving Kris a kiss in the car for good luck before they got out.

“Whatever happens,” Remi promised him. “I’ve got your back this time. I’m sorry-”

“Don’t you dare apologize again for last time,” Kris said sternly. “I should apologize more for jumping to conclusions. There. We’re even.”

Remi grinned and kissed him again. “Come on, you brat. Let’s go see what all this is about.”

Remi didn’t mind so much when they had to walk through the common room this time as he didn’t really know the guys on first watch. He nodded to a couple of them as he and Kris walked past, but on the whole, nobody really paid them much attention.

Bishop had his own office throughout the week. He just usually wasn’t in it unless they were on shift. Remi knocked on the door, waiting for a response before opening it. He allowed Kris to step in before him, trying not to let his guilt over the previous meeting cloud this one.

There were five extra chairs set out this time, two of which were already occupied, with Bishop behind his desk as usual. Remi nodded at Epstein, who rose to greet him with a handshake.

“I’m sorry I missed your call,” Epstein said. “I was in a meeting at my kid’s school.” He sounded preoccupied.

Remi clapped the older guy on his arm. “He okay?” he asked quietly. Bishop was discussing something with the other person seated near him who Remi didn’t recognize, so he hoped they wouldn’t be overheard. Kris was quietly standing in between the two groups, a frown on his face.

Epstein shook his head. “Oh, I don’t know,” he said sadly to Remi. “Suspended, again. Anyway, I’m sorry. It’s not the time nor place.”

Luckily, Bishop rose at that moment. He smiled at Remi and Kris. “So glad you could join us. This here is Harrison Brown. He phoned me this morning, offering to speak to us with information relevant to the fire investigation.”

Kris blew out a breath that sounded like relief, then crossed over the room to shake hands with the black-haired teen in the other chair. “Harrison, right,” said Kris enthusiastically. “Great to see you again, buddy.”

Harrison looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. Remi surmised if he wasn’t in school, maybe he was eighteen and already graduated, so perhaps he just looked a bit young for his age. He looked cut up about something. He was wringing his hands and his eyes kept flitting between Kris and Epstein. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier,” he said anxiously. His voice was higher than Remi expected. “But when I saw the paper this morning, I knew I had to do something.”

“Oh, am I late?” PJ asked loudly as he walked into the room. Then he stopped dead as he spotted Remi and Kris before pointing to them. “What are they doing here?” he asked Bishop incredulously.

“This meeting concerns Kris, apparently,” Bishop said smoothly, taking his seat once more. Remi had only just noticed that, like himself, Bishop was dressed in a shirt and pants rather than the department uniform. It was kind of disarming. “Remi requested to accompany him and I agreed. I hope we can all be civil, Mr. Maddox.”

“Now wait just a minute,” PJ said. “I have the right to be uncivil. My whole business went up in flames. Okay, Kris, I get if we’re still looking into this door code business. But why exactly are you here?” he asked Remi.

“It’s fine, sweetie,” said Kris with over the top sugar. “I asked him to be here.”

“I’m with Kris,” said Remi firmly. “Someone has to help him fight his corner with all these ridiculous accusations flying around.”

“But he’s not your boyfriend,” PJ muttered, rolling his eyes.

Heat rushed over Remi’s skin, but he only paused for a second. “Actually, I am,” he said. He wasn’t able to look at Bishop, but he maintained eye contact with PJ. “Thanks for pushing me to out myself, though. That was really classy of you.”

There was a beat where nobody reacted. Then Kris reached out and took Remi’s hand. Remi smiled at him. He felt dizzy and like he might puke, but also very proud.

“Well,” said Epstein, pushing his glasses up his nose before removing his notebook from his pocket. “Congratulations all the same, gentlemen. How about we take our seats now? Young Harrison here has something pressing he wishes to add to the investigation.”

PJ scowled as he grabbed the nearest chair to him. Remi sat with Kris, who placed himself as close as he could to Harrison and gave him a hug before he sat himself down. Remi glanced at Bishop. His expression wasn’t all that readable, but he did nod at Remi. Hopefully that meant he was okay with the fact one of his guys was queer.

“Hey,” cried PJ abruptly, peering at Harrison from across the room. “You’re that girl who didn’t pay for her cranberry juices the night of the fire, aren’t you?”

Girl? Ohh, Remi thought. That was why he looked younger than he’d first assumed.

“I told you,” Kris replied firmly, “that I would cover that. But then the bar burned down.”

“Yeah and you want to get a witness statement from someone who stole from us that night?” PJ scoffed. “Sounds reliable to me.”

“Okay!” Kris snapped, waving his hands. “Everyone needs to stop yelling right now, okay?”

“Gentlemen,” Epstein cried again. “Can we please calm down?”

“Agreed,” Bishop rumbled.

PJ bobbed his foot while glaring at Harrison, waiting for Epstein to unlock his tablet. “Okay,” PJ said loudly as soon as Epstein was done. “Let’s get this over with. At this point, I don’t care what else happens in the investigation. Kris is no longer with the company and won’t be coming back. I just want to get on with reopening my business, if I even can. The insurance is being a bitch.”

“The bar is my home,” Kris shot back. “Why should I have to leave?”

“Uh, how about, the fact that you’re an arsonist?” PJ replied in mocking tones.

“There’s no proof of that,” Remi interjected.

Harrison raised his hand. “Can I-” he uttered in little more than a whisper.

“We need to hear the witness statement,” Epstein said. “If you gentlemen can’t calm down, I will have no choice but to get the police involved.”

“We don’t need the police and we don’t need any witness,” PJ scoffed. “She’s unreliable. I don’t care what she has to say.”

Bishop and Epstein looked thunderous.

But it was Harrison that spoke.

“You’re trying to discredit me,” he said in a loud voice. His words wobbled considerably and rose in pitch, but he bunched his fists and looked tearfully at PJ. “You keep saying I’m a thief and misgendering me to undermine what I have to say.” He angrily rubbed at his eyes, then turned to Kris. “I…no one knows I was at the bar that night. I shouldn’t have been there. My folks wouldn’t like it.” He scowled at PJ. “But I knew as soon as I’d left, I’d forgotten to pay for my drinks. I hung around until closing to attempt to find a way back in, but the front door was locked by the time I tried it. I went around back, looking for a different way in because I hadn’t seen Kris leave and I knew he would understand. That was when I saw you going back in.”

“What?” Kris said.

“It’s my business,” PJ said, rolling his eyes. “I come and go all the time.”

“What time was this?” Epstein asked Harrison, clearly interested.

Harrison bit his lip and looked around the room. Remi was trying not to show how excited he was by this revelation, but he squeezed Kris’s hand excitedly.

“About two thirty?” Harrison said, not sounding sure.

“I never saw you,” Kris said to PJ.

PJ shook his head and scowled. “I probably just forgot my keys or something.”

“Then why isn’t it your code on the security log?” Epstein asked, glancing over pages in a notebook he had retrieved from his pocket. “Why is it Mr. Novak’s?”

“Look, this is ridiculous,” PJ said, raising his voice slightly. “It’s not a crime to be at my own bar. It is a crime to set fire to the curtains and burn the damn building down.” He flung his hand out toward Kris. “Why hasn’t he been arrested yet? I take it back. Let’s get the police involved already.”

Epstein was flicking back and forth between pages in his notebook, a deep frown on his face. “I don’t believe the start of the blaze was ever disclosed.”

Remi’s heart skipped a beat. Kris sat up straighter in his chair, his grip on Remi’s hand tightening.

“I beg your pardon?” PJ said, blinking a couple of times.

Epstein shook his head. “I purposefully withheld details about how and where the fire began so as not to cloud the investigation,” he said. “How did you know the blaze originated at the back of the dance floor where the curtains hung?”

PJ looked between him and Bishop. Remi felt giddy with glee.

“I – what? I mean, I don’t know. One of your guys must have said something?” PJ gibbered. “How else would I know? Someone must have mentioned it.”

“Or you used Kris’s code to get in the building to throw the blame elsewhere,” Remi said, narrowing his eyes at PJ. “And set the fire yourself.”

“That’s insane!” PJ blurted. “Why would I destroy my own business?”

“I don’t know,” Epstein murmured, scrolling through his phone. “But I would love to talk to your insurance company and your bank. In fact, I think I had someone pull those records already. There was no reason to look at them before. Give me one second…”

PJ had gone incredibly pale. “No, I, wait,” he stuttered. “That’s crazy. You’re taking the word of a teenager over me? I have nothing to gain from this.”

Epstein’s gray eyebrows shot up as he read something from his phone. “I’m afraid your finances say otherwise, Mr. Maddox. You appear to have run this business into the ground. Were you hoping the insurance claim would make you solvent again?”

“That’s crazy,” said PJ again. His voice was weak, though, and he was even paler and sweating now.

“It makes a hell of a lot more sense than Kris burning down his home and his job then staying in a burning building,” Remi said, looking toward Bishop for support.

“It does,” his captain agreed. “I think it is time we got the police involved. Mr. Maddox, if you’ll stay with Mr. Epstein and myself. The rest of you are free to leave.”

PJ continued to splutter and yell about his innocence, but Remi, Kris and Harrison were more than happy to get the hell out of there.

“Thank you,” Kris said to Bishop and Epstein as he rose to his feet. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“It’s all right, son,” said Epstein kindly as Bishop tried to placate PJ. It was difficult, seeing as he more than likely knew he was now facing jail time. But Epstein ignored him for a moment as he addressed those who were leaving. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this whole mess in the first place. I’ll be contacting the Horn as soon as possible so they can retract their article and set the record straight.” He then laid a hand on Harrison’s shoulder. “What you did today was very brave,” he told the young man solemnly. “Thank you for your help. I hope you don’t face too much fallout from this.”

Harrison managed a small smile, although he did wince as PJ yelled at the back of his head again. “I’ll be okay,” he said. He looked fondly at Kris as Remi herded them toward the door and away from the yelling match. “I had to help. Kris has been so kind to me.”

Epstein nodded. “You boys look after each other, now.”

“We will,” Kris promised.

It sounded like Bishop was calling the cops, so Remi steered Kris and Harrison out the office door, leaving it up to his boss to make sure PJ didn’t make a run for it. Once back out in the hallway, the three of them looked at one another.

“Oh my god, my hero!” Kris wailed, throwing his arms around a startled Harrison. “You didn’t have to do that! Oh my god, I can’t believe you would put yourself on the line like that for me! Are you crazy?”

Harrison had gone bright red, but as Kris released him, he was smiling. “Of course I had to,” he said. “I couldn’t let them accuse you like that. I’m just sorry I didn’t do it sooner. But we have to look after our community, don’t we?”

He looked between Kris and Remi. Remi realized with a start Harrison was including him in their community, too. He was the B in the LGBT. “We do,” he said around the lump in his throat. He pulled Kris to him and kissed the top of his hair tenderly. “Thank you,” he said to Harrison.

Harrison wrinkled his nose. “Eww,” he said, showing his teenage years. “Get a room, guys.”

The three of them laughed as Kris lightly punched Harrison on his arm, showing his affection. Remi felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, so he could only imagine what Kris felt like.

This was the start of a new chapter in all their lives. There was just one last thing Remi had to do before they could make it official.