Vince could tell Koby was nervous. But it made Vince’s heart sing that he trusted Vince enough to come along anyway.

It was hard for both of them to go back to the art workroom. But this was Koby’s space and Vince wasn’t going to let Drew take that from him. Besides, Vince had a surprise. Not that Koby knew that.

They held hands walking down the hallways of the college. They got a few looks, but mainly because people knew Vince, and Koby to a certain extent. The Hidden Creek Horn had written an article about the assault and vandalism, which had received an outpouring on online support for Koby.

It had gone a long way to bolstering his spirits and his faith in his art again. But until now, Koby hadn’t managed to face visiting the scene of the crime since that night. Vince was glad he was able to come here with him and support him. He didn’t want Koby associating the place where they met again and fallen in love with one awful night.

Vince stopped them before they got to the door, which was newly replaced and also shut. There was chatter coming from the other side and Vince could see Koby tensing up. Vince gently cupped his hands on either side of Koby’s face and kissed him sweetly. “I’m right here, baby.” He didn’t care if anyone was around to see them.

Thanks to Caterina’s Instagram story going viral, news of Vince’s queerness was just as old as his retirement from the NFL. Being out of the closet was liberating, even though he’d only been in it a very short amount of time.

“Thank you.” Koby rubbed Vince’s shoulders and sighed. “This is good. I want to move on, get back to normal.” He smiled and kissed the tip of Vince’s nose, making his heart melt. “Better than normal,” Koby amended.

Vince couldn’t have agreed more. “After you.” He gestured to the door. Excitement bubbled in his chest.

As soon as Koby turned the handle, the chatter hushed. Vince just saw Koby frown before he pushed the door all the way and stepped through.

Then Koby stopped and gasped, covering his mouth with his hands.

It had been four days since the vandalism and assault.

A lot could be accomplished in four days.

Vince knew the other guys from the art class now. There was Alanna and her little boy, Zane, Yu Yan, Gareth and old Wendell, as well as their teacher, Cecily. They were all gathered around in the middle of the desks, waiting for Koby to arrive, big smiles on their faces. They were all wearing Christmas sweaters and had cups of vegan hot chocolate.

Vince had already sneaked in here early this morning to help with the final preparations, so he just watched Koby taking it all in. Koby’s hands were still over his mouth.

The walls had been cleaned of all the decades-old posters that hadn’t been torn off and the staples and tacks pulled out. In their place was a selection of the best art from the last several years of students, creating a colorful riot of talent in many different mediums, finally being celebrated the way the artists deserved. The shelves had also been cleaned and reorganized so the stock was easier to find and access. Fresh Christmas decorations had been put up and the old, paint-splattered radio replaced with a docking station to play music, radio, podcasts, whatever they liked from people’s phones.

Vince saw Koby take all this in. But then Koby saw his sculpture and he choked back a little sob. Vince hugged him to his side and kissed his hair. “What do you think?”

The art class had worked tirelessly since the assault on Wednesday night. They’d been able to use the spray cans of paint remover Koby had left behind to scrub every spec of red from the metal. It gleamed now. They had also used the photos Koby had been taking every step of the way for reference and done their best to bend, weld, build and reattach the damaged parts back up to what they were. It was pretty much as finished as it had been when it had gotten trashed.

Vince rubbed Koby’s side and searched his face. As excited as he was, he was also slightly anxious. This was Koby’s project, after all. Vince hoped they had done the right thing in lending a hand, but what if Koby felt violated?

“Y’all…” Koby whispered, lowering his hands as twin tears fell down his cheeks. He was smiling so much he was in danger of splitting his lip again. “Y’all did all this in just a few days?”

Alanna nodded, picking Zane up to sit on her hip. He was watching all the adults with a goofy grin on his face. Cecily pressed vegan hot chocolates into both Koby and Vince’s hands.

“You helped all of us,” Alanna said, looking at the small class and their teacher. “So we wanted to help you back.”

Koby’s face became crestfallen. “I didn’t help you,” he said sadly. “I gave you bad advice. I got your work trashed.”

Yu Yan shook her head. “We save most of it.” She beamed. “Wendell help me. And your football man, Hoff. Nice man.” She bunched her fists in glee. “Yes, Wendell?”

Wendell nodded looking at Vince. The whole cleanup had been devised by Vince and Hoffman while he’d still been in the hospital. Hoffman had rustled up some of the Penguins to come fix up the workroom on Thursday morning, only to find the art students already there. Apparently, for the first time in the history of H Triple C, art and sport had gotten along just great.

“Hoffman wanted to help young Russo here,” Wendell told them. “He’s a fine fella. We’ll be going fishing after the holidays. He said I’d be welcome for Christmas too.” Wendell nodded. Vince loved that his coach had hit it off with one of Koby’s friends so well. “You don’t expect to make friends at my age. But, well…” He winked at Gareth. “I suppose y’all ain’t bad.”

Gareth scoffed but there was warmth in his smile. “And it turned out that the really bad trolling on my stuff was the same guy that wrecked in here, too,” he told Koby incredulously. “But thanks to Vince sharing the comic, I’ve had a couple of companies contact me, asking if I’d like to interview for them.” He grinned, brimming with happiness. “Me – making actual comics!”

Yu Yan clapped. “I tell you it’s good.” She punched his arm happily. “And I redo drawing. Better this time. Cecily say very beautiful, good marks.”

“Very g-good marks,” Cecily said proudly.

Alanna let Zane back down to the floor. “Is there something you’d like to show Koby, sweetheart?”

Zane nodded, then ran up to Koby with his hands out in front of him, the fingers splayed.

“I got new nails, Koby!” he cried, showing off the sparkly Christmas red and green polish.

“Who did you get them with?” Alanna prompted proudly.

“My new best friends Lyla Hart and Trooper Hart, although Trooper didn’t actually get his nails done, because he’s a dog, but he waited outside with Lyla’s daddy because he’s a good boy,” Zane said, all in one breath.

“Wow.” Koby’s voice was thick and his eyes glassy. He looked up to Alanna. “And your ex?”

“Will respect Zane’s life choices or not see him at all,” Alanna said like she’d been repeating it to herself. “The court ruling is in my favor for the custody agreement, so that’s it.”

Vince watched Koby look between all the people smiling at him. “I can’t-” he stammered. “I’m so happy to hear y’all are back on your feet. But how much did the clean-up cost? I wanna help pay.”

“No.” Cecily looked at her students with a smile. “I t-told Assistant-D-Dean Galloway the school c-c-could spare a little of the budget to help. I t-told him he owed us after all these years.”

“Hell yeah!” Koby punched the air and making Vince jump. They all laughed as Koby grinned and rubbed the tears from his eyes. “This department has needed some love for so long. Good for you, Cecily. Yes, hell yes.”

Vince’s heart ached with love to see Koby so happy. Vince nodded to the sculpture. “We tried to make it like it was before. Is it any good?”

Koby shook his head, leaving Vince’s side and stepping up to inspect the piece up close. “It’s better than before. It’s got even more life in it. It’s got a little bit of all of you in it, after all.”

The class looked proud. It was heartwarming for Vince to see them coming together like this.

“Can you finish now?” Yu Yan asked hopefully. “You have time before tomorrow?” Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and the official unveiling ceremony.

Koby nodded and beamed at her. “I think so,” he said, as if he couldn’t quite believe it. “What do you say, Vince? Want to get to work?”

“Hell, yeah,” Vince agreed.

Luckily, Vince didn’t need to take any clothes off, as that would have been a bit awkward in front of everyone. But the bulk of the work that Koby had to finish off was the face and head of the sculpture. It was a blessing that Koby hadn’t gotten that far before Drew came and trashed it. This was the most intricate part of the sculpture and Koby didn’t have to try and remake anything that had been lost.

So Vince sat on the desk where he and Koby had first made love, amused when Alanna tried to get him a chair so he’d be more comfortable. He modeled for Koby, relaxed as the class picked up their own projects again for the first time in days. Zane even settled down to do some homework after telling Koby all about how he was going to start school in the new year with his friend Lyla and her other friend Gina who had apparently liked Zane’s nails too.

Wendell teased Gareth about his comics, but then when Gareth teased him about his watercolors, they both decided to have a go at each other’s medium, resulting in much hilarity. Yu Yan broke out of her comfort zone of human subjects and started working on a detailed drawing of a horse running, its mane flying behind it. Cecily decided she was going to make something just for the hell of it and set herself with a pottery wheel, laughing and chatting with her students and she got her hands wet and mucky. Alanna got back to her marketing graphics work, but not before putting on a fun Christmas playlist. Koby whispered to Vince that she wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that before.

These were Koby’s people, but Vince felt honored to have helped them come together to move on from the attack. There was nothing like a good bit of teamwork to unite people. They weren’t letting what Drew did define them. They were stronger than before, and a lot of that was thanks to inspiration from the man Vince loved so much.

“Stop smiling,” Koby said, although there was absolutely no rancor to his words as he grinned at Vince, building up on the sculpture’s lips. “I’m trying to work here.”

“I think you should come over here and make me stop smiling,” Vince suggested.

They obviously couldn’t make out in front of an audience, but Koby leaned over to touch his mouth to Vince’s in a chaste, loving kiss. And no one batted an eyelid.

“I love this town.” Vince grinned, glancing around. Koby understood his meaning, he hoped.

“I love you,” Koby said with a wink. “And this town – and me – are very glad you’re not going anywhere.”

“Damn, right,” Vince agreed. “I’m here to stay.”

And he meant it.