Derrick spent his afternoon break in the supply room at the animal clinic. He had discovered that there was a little alcove behind the boxes of medicine, bandages, and supplies that he squeezed past with difficulty. It reminded him of the boiler room at Reddington High. He would sneak down to the basement when he was being bullied in order to get away. It always seemed like he would be there no more than an hour before Ethan would come and find him. He wished Ethan knew about the new hidey-hole here at the vet clinic.

He wondered if maybe he was being too hard on Ethan. He had worked so hard for everything, always making sure they were taken care of. He had supported Derrick when he told him he was going to go away to veterinarian school, and he had waited the four years for Derrick to come back while obtaining his accounting degree. They had lived in separate apartments for a while before moving in together, knocking out the wall between their apartments to make one big space. Derrick smirked at the memory of the landlord’s face when he told them they weren’t getting their security deposit back. They hadn’t cared. They had been so in love with one another it had been worth it.

Derrick wiped the tears falling from his cheeks and looked through blurred vision at the text he had received.

I’m heading to the gym and then I’ll be home. Still my Care Bear?

Ethan had given him that nickname when they were in middle school together. He had called him CB for short, so he wouldn’t be beaten up, but the nickname had stuck. Ethan liked to tease him about which Care Bear he was, depending on his mood. Sometimes he was Grumpy Bear; sometimes he was Funshine. He had been called each and every name at some point in all the time they had been together.

He hadn’t responded to the text, and it was killing him. He always answered Ethan to let him know he was okay. But he felt like he had to stand his ground with this one. He couldn’t keep living his life in fear and looking over his shoulder. He had agreed to the move for Ethan’s sake. Derrick felt like he owed him for all of the care and support he had given him throughout the years, and he knew how badly Ethan wanted this for them. But he would move back to the old neighborhood if the harassment kept up. He simply couldn’t do it anymore.

To top it all off, his patients were being exceedingly difficult today, and his staff was starting to feel the adverse effects of the move. He had spent most of his time in the exam rooms with the animals to avoid the negative atmosphere, and it was the first time in a long time that he hadn’t wanted to be there.

His first instinct was to run to Ethan for a hug and comfort, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Leaving that morning without saying goodbye had been brutal. There were so many things he had wanted to say, the first being that he took it all back, he hadn’t meant what he said, and would never leave. But he knew himself enough to know that he would be miserable if he didn’t stick to his guns and leave if it got too bad. Derrick wondered if he would always be that way, be the type of person who left when the going got tough, but then he realized he was okay with that if it meant he was able to protect himself in some small way. He preferred being lost in his world of animals, where all that mattered was that he loved his patients, and they loved him. He liked finding the corners in life where he could escape and sit down to mull things over. It gave him the briefest of opportunities to escape from the harshness of reality and be at peace in his own head. He had been hoping for that in their new home in the Estates, but he hadn’t found it yet.

As if on cue, one of his assistants paged Derrick over the intercom to disrupt his thoughts and pull him back into reality. His break was over, and he had to get back at it. He squeezed himself out of the corner and glanced down at his phone one last time before he walked out into the reception area to greet the next patient. As much as it hurt, he would stand his ground over the next two weeks, even if he finally stood up to the one person who had been standing up on his behalf for years, the love of his life.

Derrick pushed through the door to the reception area and was greeted with the regular sight of the pandemonium and chaos of a waiting room full of animals that don’t know each other. He smiled and waved to a few of his regulars, who waved back, and leaned over the front counter to look at the lineup for that afternoon’s appointments. He grabbed the morning mail, walked back through the opposite door, which overlooked the large cement parking lot, and pushed through the door to Exam Room One, where the vet tech had laid out the usual tools for an annual physical.

His first appointment of the afternoon was an English Mastiff named Duke. He was a well-behaved animal, even tempered, with stark coloring that was unusual for the breed. His owner was perpetually late, causing all of the following appointments to be late. He hadn’t seen Duke in the waiting room, which meant it would be at least twenty minutes before his harried owner, Betty, managed to get him inside and fill out the reception paperwork.

Derrick took the opportunity to look through the mail. There were the usual bills for the building lease and cards from his patients’ owners. He had a corkboard in the waiting room filled with pictures of the various animals he had treated over the years, hung with the owners’ permission, so everyone could see how proud he was of his patients and their health. Derrick flipped through all of those and noticed the next-to-last letter was strange.

It was addressed directly to him with no return address. Derrick had informed his staff that any such letters were to be handed over. If they were addressed to the clinic, they usually came in a preprinted envelope with the clinic’s address, and most often contained paperwork to be filled out on behalf of the animals or, occasionally, test results that had been sent out to the city’s laboratory. Derrick used the larger lab when he didn’t have the equipment to do the testing himself.

He set the rest of the mail down on the counter, ripped open the envelope, pulled out the single sheet of paper, and began reading the typed message.

If you think last night was bad for Sunshine, Dr. Marlow, just wait and see what I have in store for your clinic if you don’t leave!

Derrick’s hands shook as he turned the letter over to see if anything else was written on it.

When his vet tech, Sarah, poked her head in she asked, “Dr. Marlow, are you alright?” He glanced up at her. “You’re really pale. Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

“What?” He looked at her, confused. What if she was the stalker? What if it was one of his patient’s owners? The thoughts began to cascade through his mind as the walls of the exam room started to close in around him. He sat down and put his head down between his knees, breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down. Not only had the stalker been harassing Ethan and him, they had hurt his Sunshine, and now they were threatening the one place that had been his sanctuary.

“Dr. Marlow!” Sarah cried. She ran over in her animal-print scrubs as Derrick tried to speak,

“I—I need to go. I can’t—” He tried to stand, but his body felt weighted, and he sank back down.

Sarah ran to the door and cried for help. Two more of his staff came rushing in, and they all began crowding him, asking what happened and if he was all right. It was too much.

He stood up and pushed through them to the rear door of the exam room, saying, “Tell Duke I’m sorry. Cancel everything today. I won’t let them get hurt!” And with that, he pushed out the door into the rear kennel area and ran the length of the kennels to the yips and meows of the animals that were in for overnight observation. He grabbed his jacket from his office, let himself out the back door of the clinic, and climbed in his car.

When he started the engine, he realized he was still clutching the note from the stalker, and he shuddered, throwing it down on the seat next to him. He stared at it a moment before fishing his phone out of his pocket to shoot off two texts. The first was to the lead tech, advising her to cancel any appointments that weren’t essential for him to attend that day, and to keep any that she could oversee, diagnose, and treat. He didn’t want to run his new business into the ground, but he also didn’t want to put any animals in harm’s way by being present if the harasser decided to strike.

He then answered Ethan’s previous text, simply typing, The bench. He put his car in gear and drove to the bench where Ethan had proposed to him several months ago. It was in their old neighborhood, and when he got there, the park was almost deserted, a lone red-and-black bicycle on the rack. It didn’t surprise him. Most people would be at work at this time of day, or just getting out to go pick up their animals to take them for a walk. Kids would be in school, so the only people he was likely to run into were the homeless and, apparently, someone who didn’t fancy a bike ride after all. Or a teenager skipping school. He walked the half-mile to the bench that overlooked a small pond, still in his lab coat. The park was in the middle of the city, so it wasn’t very big, but he found it to be a great escape from the noise and bustle of the city around him.

When he got to the bench, he was grateful it was vacant of vagrants and cyclists. He sat, staring down into the murky water. He let frightened tears fall freely for a while. He wasn’t aware of how long he sat there until he heard someone call his name. He looked up to find Ethan jogging toward him in his gym clothes. He was wearing sneakers, shorts, and a fitted t-shirt that clung to his chest and stomach and made Derrick’s mouth water. How many times had he explored those muscles with his fingers and mouth and been in awe of the fact that they were his? He had lost count, but he feared if it came down to it, he was going to miss being wrapped up in the hug that came with them whenever he needed it.

“I can’t do it,” he told Ethan who sat on the bench next to him.

“What do you mean?” Ethan asked him.

“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live like this.”

Ethan reached for him, but Derrick shrugged him away. “Baby, what happened?” Ethan asked softly.

“They threatened the clinic. They sent a note in the mail,” Derrick whispered. He had left it in the car. He didn’t want to touch it again. Last night’s note had been vulgar but this one was abjectly terrifying in its simplicity. Go after the next thing he found comfort in. If he couldn’t make Ethan see reason, and he insisted on putting himself in harm’s way, he couldn’t control that, but he would be damned if he let whoever was doing this harm his animals at the clinic.

“I’m sorry,” Ethan said, and Derrick looked in his eyes and realized he meant it.

“I know you are, but I just can’t anymore,” he whispered. This time he let Ethan pull him into a hug.

“I spoke with a private investigator today,” he heard Ethan murmur into his hair as he held him. “He’s coming to the house tonight to start looking around. He’s a good guy. He’s retired police but he also helps people like us.”

“What do you mean?” Derrick asked, looking up.

“Well, he didn’t come out and say it, but he’s gay. He also has sympathy for gay couples going through hate crimes like ours. I spoke with one of his former clients who he helped out. It’s why I chose him.” Ethan said.

Derrick chewed his lip. He had questioned Ethan’s judgment and stubbornness in a lot of things, but this was an important decision to make. He had expected Ethan to hire any P.I. he could get to take the case. This somehow comforted him.

“He’s coming to the house tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah. I think he wants to talk to you, if you’ll wait long enough to move out to answer some of his questions. Please? Please give me that, Derrick? You promised two weeks, and I can understand how upset and shaken you are by the thought of your clinic being attacked, but please just see the P.I. tonight, and then if you want a ride back across town, I’ll take you myself.”

Derrick stared at him a long moment. He had promised to give him the two weeks. He could see the desperation in Ethan’s eyes, and the torment when he promised to bring him back across town, probably to his mother’s house, made Derrick nod and agree to meet the private investigator.

“When is he coming?” he asked.

“A little after six. I figured that’s when you would be home.”

“You’re out early too,” Derrick observed.

“Yeah, I couldn’t let it go any longer. I get it. You were pissed at me and probably still are, with every right to be. But I can’t lose you. Don’t you get that?”

Ethan’s eyes were pleading with him to understand, so he leaned forward and traced his lips lightly over Ethan’s. He understood what Ethan was saying. What he was having a hard time with was why he wouldn’t give up something as stupid as a neighborhood for him. That’s what burned. But he felt Ethan melt into the kiss, something he rarely did. He was usually the one to take control, threading his fingers through Derrick’s dirty blond hair, pulling him closer, kissing him harder. But not this time. This time, Derrick felt Ethan shudder under the silky slide of his lips. He held perfectly still, as if moving would startle Derrick and scare him away.

Derrick moved closer to him, continuing the kiss and slipping his tongue between Ethan’s lips. He tasted like peppermint, the gum he liked to chew as he worked out so he wouldn’t grind his teeth. He smelled like musk and sweat, and Derrick felt drunk on the scent as he inhaled. He loved that Ethan was so masculine and, despite the put-together accountant’s apparel he wore for work, there were moments like this that he was raw and gritty.

His lips moved down to the hollow at Ethan’s throat, and he felt his pulse jump under his lips. Derrick skimmed over the t-shirt that was sticking to his chest and let his hands press against him, rubbing down as he sank to his knees in his lab coat and khakis in front of Ethan. Ethan’s eyes widened as he looked around to make sure no one was watching them, while Derrick consoled and comforted himself in an act he loved performing for Ethan, relishing the amount of pleasure it brought him.

He reached behind the elastic band of Ethan’s shorts and pulled his dick out, tucking the elastic under his balls. The move made his cock jut forward, and Derrick quickly engulfed it into his mouth, not minding the scent and taste of him. He licked around the head of Ethan’s dick while sliding it into his mouth as Ethan let out a gasp. Derrick let his mind empty of everything except listening to Ethan’s gasps and moans as he worked his lips and tongue up and down the rigid shaft. He felt the veins under his tongue and teased along them as he bobbed his head up and down. He got lost in the sensation of having his mouth full of his fiancé, completely forgetting they were in a public park and could be caught at any moment. He supposed that was half the thrill of it. He wasn’t sure where the idea to do this had come from, or what had given him the spark of courage. He wasn’t normally the one to initiate things like this. He wondered briefly if it was his last-ditch effort to cling to Ethan in an unconventional way, to plead with him to save him. He pushed the worrisome thought from his mind as he felt Ethan groan and shudder under him, lifting his hips off the bench as if offering his cock to Derrick’s willing, open mouth.

It wasn’t long before Derrick felt Ethan’s muscles tighten. He had been toying with the rim of his dick, just around the head, and he knew it was Ethan’s most sensitive spot. He felt the rush of warmth spurt into his mouth just as Ethan’s fingers threaded through his hair. He nipped the inside of Ethan’s thigh as he tucked him back into his shorts and glanced up. Ethan’s eyes were like storm clouds, and Derrick’s breath caught in his throat. He had never dared to be so bold as to initiate first contact, much less to risk being caught in a public place. Ethan leaned forward and brushed his lips over Derrick’s, shuddering as he tasted himself on Derrick’s lips. Derrick groaned and leaned into him, trapped between his legs, taking comfort in the embrace.

He looked up suddenly, as did Ethan, when they heard a twig snap. They gazed down the path towards the parking lot, which was obscured from view by foliage, and saw someone standing in the bushes. The person was almost completely concealed within the trees, but they could just make out the outline of someone’s torso shrouded in a hoodie sweatshirt. Derrick and Ethan jumped up but the person turned away and ran into the woods.

“Hey!” Ethan shouted.

Derrick tugged on his arm. “Let’s go. Let’s just get out of here,” he said. He knew he shouldn’t have done it, shouldn’t have risked such an act out in the open. But hindsight was 20/20, and he had been vulnerable when he had decided to be attentive. He felt the weight of guilt and a twinge of fear in his gut. What would happen? Would the guy report them? What if he was the person stalking them? Derrick felt his skin flush hot with fear and then run cold with panic. His palms felt clammy despite the afternoon breeze.

“Yeah, I’ll walk you back to the car, and we’ll go meet Detective Knott.”

He felt Ethan’s palm on the small of his back. The pressure was reassuring, and they walked down the path together, all the while keeping an eye out in the trees for the person who had seen them.

When he got back to his car, and Ethan shut the door, leaning down to his window, he breathed a sigh of relief. He felt safe again as he checked the back seat, just in case. Ethan kissed his forehead through the open window and Derrick closed his eyes, hoping beyond hope that, somehow, this Detective could help them. If he couldn’t, he was really going to miss his Ethan.

Derrick waited for Ethan to get into his own Mazda Miata and pulled out of the park only when he was satisfied that Ethan was safe and right on his tail. He checked the rearview mirror several times, but only noted that there was no one else in the park as they left. The bicycle had disappeared from the rack, but nothing seemed off or disturbing except the shadows cast by the trees. He wondered if he would always feel insecure and look over his shoulder until the perpetrator was caught, or if someday he would find peace in his and Ethan’s place again. He drove back to the house, chewing his bottom lip in fear and anxiety.