Dustin laughed when the doorbell rang. The sun was barely up, so that had to be Leo.

The man’s commitment to keeping his word was… well, something he hadn’t experienced before from someone who was interested in him this way.

Sure enough, Leo stood there—in a nice dress jacket, collared shirt, and sweater, no less. He looked every inch the boyfriend who was ready to be introduced to his parents.

“Hi,” Dustin greeted, still laughing.

Leo looked confused for a moment, glancing down at himself and then at Dustin. “Did I forget my pants?”

No matter what the conversation that lay in wait for them, Dustin’s spirits had already soared at just the sight of Leo. His mood and energy lately had been several times better than even a month ago, and he could trace the root cause: Leo.

Leo was doing wonders for him without even knowing it.

“It’s… I can’t believe you’re here is all,” Dustin told him, stepping aside to let him in and keep the heat in. Mid-February wasn’t the best weather to be chatting on the doorstep.

“Is it too early?” Leo looked him over, no doubt noticing that he was already dressed and up for the day, too.

“No, I’ve been up for a while,” Dustin said. The part he didn’t add was, worrying about all this.

“I don’t think I slept great last night either,” Leo said with a quick smile. He toed his shoes off and shrugged off his jacket.

Dustin took the jacket from him to hang it up. “I’m sorry if I worried you. I didn’t mean to.”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“Should we…?” Dustin jerked his chin toward the living room. This conversation wasn’t really a front-hall conversation, either.

“Yeah.” Leo took Dustin’s hand, and Dustin let him. That seemed to relax the tension between them.

By the time they settled down, Dustin was tucked against Leo’s side, Leo’s arm around his shoulder.

Leo smiled at him. “I thought a lot about last night and I kind of… had a guess what I did wrong. But I want you to say what you want.”

Dustin swallowed hard. “I’m bad at that.”

“Asking for things? I’ve noticed.” Leo rubbed his shoulder. “You might be quieter than the other guys, but you can stand up for yourself when you’re with them. With me—you let me call the shots.”

Dustin blew out a quick breath. Leo wasn’t holding back, was he? “Yes and no. I don’t stand up for myself among them enough, either. It’s the same with my parents.”

“You’re tired of having everyone else fight your battles.”

Dustin opened his mouth, and then closed it again and stared at Leo. How can I improve on that?

Leo chuckled at the look he was giving him. He shrugged. “It only makes sense.”

“You’re fucking smart,” Dustin informed him. When Leo tried to shrug it off, he insisted, “No, you are.”

“Nah. I care, that’s all. I want to know what bothers you. And I want to make sure I don’t do it again.” Leo shook his head. “You did ask me not to get involved, and I still couldn’t help myself, because I was annoyed. That was stupid of me.”

It was Dustin’s turn to shake his head. “No, I get it. He was winding you up as much as me.”

“But I took the bait when you didn’t.” Leo rubbed Dustin’s shoulder. “I need to learn that. I admire that.”

Dustin stared. “Really?” He’d spend the night thinking he’d seemed like a coward to Leo, but… Leo was seeing it completely differently.

“Yeah. It makes sense as a strategy to avoid conflict—especially back in our high school days, and in the office when you have assholes like Victor around. We’re all taught things like de-escalation, you know,” Leo chuckled. “Of course I recognize it.”

Dustin nodded dumbly. That was his own fault for assuming Leo was going to escalate the conflict, just because… what? He’d been in the military? No, that was his fear talking. “I just thought, if it got to a fight, I wouldn’t be able to stand up for myself against Victor, who’s trained in… you know. Fighting.”

“Right…” Leo nodded slowly, not following him yet.

“And then you’d have to stand up for me…”

Leo’s expression cleared up instantly. “Ah. Yeah. Babe, if I ever punch him, it’s something I wanted to do,” he told Dustin and grinned. “Believe me.”

Dustin laughed quietly. “Yeah. The timing was just bad. With me realizing that the guys have been trying to shelter me since Bryce—that was my high school ex, who was all about the sex,” he added.

“Bryce. I even hate his name,” Leo grumbled.

A warm, affectionate glow burned in Dustin’s chest as he watched Leo. Having him feel protective did actually feel nice, when he put his ego aside. “And then my parents wanting to set me up with some random asshole just because he’s got money, again… I haven’t been back for lunch in a couple weeks.”

Leo ran his hand down Dustin’s arm and back up slowly. “Like I said, if you want backup, I’m there.”

Dustin swallowed hard. “I need to work on standing up for myself. Without just running away.”

“You’re safe with me,” Leo promised quietly. “I should warn you now: I’ll let you talk things out with them, but I won’t let them be assholes to you.”

Dustin let his breath escape in a long sigh and pressed his forehead against Leo’s shoulder. “I’m ready to tell them to listen to me—and if they don’t… I don’t know. To walk away until they hear the message.”

Leo squeezed him so tightly it felt like his shoulders were pressing together. “I know, baby. I’m proud of you.”

“It would probably help if I have a good reason not to go on any more stupid dates,” Dustin mumbled, before he could talk himself out of it. His heart was pounding. He couldn’t see Leo’s face, but he could feel the hitch in Leo’s breathing.

“Well,” Leo said slowly. “We could say we’re dating. By many definitions, we are.”

Ask for what you want, dumbass. Dustin’s throat felt tight. “Are we?”

“What do you want?” Leo asked softly.

He’s waiting for me to be ready. Dustin’s foot jiggled against the floor as he pressed closer to Leo. “Would you… be my boyfriend?”

“I love you.”

Or was that I’d love to?

Dustin’s heart nearly stopped. Either way, the end result was the same, wasn’t it? He wasn’t about to ask for clarification and ruin the moment. But he certainly knew how he felt.

“You… do want to be?”

“Duh.” Leo pulled away from him and grinned when Dustin looked at him. “That was way too easy.”

Dustin tilted his head. “Too easy? Would you like some more struggle and strife first?”

Leo chuckled quietly, and Dustin knew he was onto something. “It’s like I’m used to living on the edge. I am, I guess. I haven’t had any one big, defining experience like you and that asshole Bryce, but… nothing has been this easy or…” He seemed to struggle for words.

“Good?” Dustin asked.

Leo thought about it, then nodded. “Yeah. Real, I think. Nothing’s been this real.”

Dustin ran his hand along Leo’s leg and caught his hand. “I know.”

“It’s just going to take time,” Leo murmured.

“Of course.” Watching his friends find love had taught Dustin that it was never expected. It seemed to catch each of them by surprise. Hell, some of them had tried to hide it at first, not sure about what they were feeling—or sure, but not confident in their own feelings.

And he’d done exactly the same thing. Just because his heart wasn’t governed by logical rules, and he couldn’t test his feelings or put them under a microscope, didn’t mean it wasn’t worth listening to.

“I want you,” Dustin said simply. “What will take time? Telling everyone? Is it the gay thing?”

Leo laughed. “The gay thing,” he echoed. “Partly, I guess. But partly just… adjusting to having something good that I don’t have to fight to keep. In fact, the more I try to, the worse it’ll be. I learned that last night.”

Dustin paused to think about it. Leo wanted to protect him—and that wasn’t a bad thing. It actually made his heart soar to know that someone wanted to. “And I’m working on letting you hold on.”

Leo laced their fingers. “Good. Because I’m not letting go. Now—when do we leave to see your parents?”

Oh, God. I don’t know if I can do this. I have to get it out of the way with now.

“How about right now?”

Leo smiled, and in that smile Dustin found what he was looking for—not just compassion, but understanding. “Okay. Let’s go.”