“Dustin? I need you in interview room three, please.”

Every one of Dustin’s red flags went up at once: the casual tone Ron was taking as he glanced into the lab, the presence of HR anywhere near the labs, and the immediate nature of the request.

This was not good, and all evidence pointed to the problem: the brand-new relationship. So new he hadn’t told anyone else about it. As far as he was concerned, that was none of their business anyway. Many of his coworkers talked freely about their home lives, but Dustin had always kept to himself that way.

Dustin also saw no other choice but to agree to the request. “Sure,” he answered after a moment, even though he felt dizzy as he rose to his feet and locked his computer.

Why couldn’t it have been a busy day in the lab? He had no excuses not to go.

Slowly, he rounded the corner, trying not to focus on the way his cheeks burned. It would only make him blush more, like he was guilty of anything. And as far as he was concerned, he wasn’t.

“Ah, thanks.” Ron was waiting to escort him—no, accompany him—to the room.

Dustin felt eyes on him as they walked briskly through the office to the interview rooms, all the way on the other side of the place.

God fucking damn it. Why did this have to happen on Monday? Day one of his first work week with a real boyfriend? Right when he was enjoying things getting easier for them?

Ron was trying to chat about his weekend, and Dustin stuck to grunts and nods in response. Ron seemed to take it as normal for him, though, and kept trying all the way until the interview room.

Goddamn extroverts, too. Dustin was already cranky. Being talked at wasn’t going to help matters.

As he dropped into the chair, he realized that that was exactly what he was up for. His boss, Glen, was there. Come to think of it, he was also Leo’s boss.

Dustin held himself straight and proud as he sat opposite the empty chair next to Glen, clearly meant for Ron.

If I wasn’t sure before, I am now. Now I get to answer questions about my orientation to a couple straight old guys. Welcome to gay life, Leo.

“Ah, Dustin. How are things?”

“Pretty good. As you probably know,” Dustin answered with a vague smile.

“Well, uh.” Ron shuffled his papers. “I did—we did hear some rumors we wanted to clear up.”

“Rumors in a department this size. How surprising,” Dustin answered, but he didn’t give them a smile to ease the tension. He was pissed about being dragged in here like a damn suspect.

“Ha ha. Well. We’ve heard… that… there are some rules being broken here. Conflict of interest. That sort of thing.”

“This will probably work better if you actually say what you’re talking about,” Dustin stated, folding his hands in his lap. “You mean you heard I’m dating a coworker.”

“Ah.” Glen cleared his throat and nodded. “That’s what we mean, yes. Something about you and…?” He trailed off as if giving Dustin a chance to supply another name.

Right. Like I want to cover up with some random girl. Dustin gazed back at them. They could goddamn say it, if they wanted to treat this like a police interview.

“Leo,” Ron finally supplied. “Glen, I believe he’s your new hire—”

“Yeah. Yeah, Leo Sanderson.” They both looked awkward and apologetic, not accusatory like he’d expected.

“Yes, he’s my boyfriend,” Dustin answered, now that they’d come out with it.

“Right. As you’re aware, in the employee rules, relationships are discouraged. In this particular case, uh… there could be conflicts of interest.”

“What sort of conflicts?” Dustin asked mildly.

“Well… say you’re working a case that he also worked. The defense lawyer could argue that you two were conspiring to, I don’t know, frame the defendant, or protect each other if one of you made a mistake.”

“As opposed to what they argue every damn time about us trying to cover for each other.” Dustin smiled. “That’s unheard-of, I’m sure.”

Ron laughed awkwardly and looked at Glen.

“I don’t have a problem with the two of you boys…” Glen made an awkward gesture with a hand to the empty chair next to Dustin.

“Why call me in for a meeting alone, then? If you’re worried about the two of us dating?” Dustin asked, raising his brows and looking between them.

“Well, er… we weren’t sure about these rumors. Never like to get involved too early. Make accusations, that sort of thing. You understand. Your good name is worth a lot.”

“My good name being tarnished by… being seduced by the new guy?” Dustin asked drily.

“Oh, no, no. Just—you see how it is,” Glen stuttered.

Dustin propped his chin on his fist, folding his other arm across his chest to support it. “I’m afraid I don’t. I can understand the conflict of interest argument—if a case comes up that affects either of us, we’ll be sure to avoid it. Just like any best friends or spouses already in the department.” He didn’t pay much attention, but he was positive they couldn’t be the only ones dating here.

“Right. Well, it could also be a… a screen for other motives,” Ron said.

Dustin snorted. “Sure. Like homophobia. Where is this suddenly coming from?”

The other two looked at each other for a moment as if deciding whether they should share any more information.

His heart was still racing, but Dustin wasn’t going to back down. In this new, improved era of Dustin, he was standing up for himself, and he wasn’t going to worry about treading on toes when he was being wronged.

Without Leo there to back him up, he had to stand up for them both by himself. He wasn’t going to let Leo down.

“It’s not actually in the rules that it’s not allowed, is it?” Dustin pressed.

“Well, there’s supposed to be a notification… to your supervisors,” Ron said faintly. Clearly, this wasn’t going like he’d envisioned.

“Oh, I should have called on Saturday afternoon. Right after calling our best friends to let them know the good news,” Dustin said drily. “This came up pretty damn fast.”

“Saturday,” Glen murmured to Ron as if it were significant, and Ron waved him off.

“The point is, kid…”

“I’ve been working here for five years,” Dustin reminded him. “And you know I’m good at my job. Leo’s damn good at what he does, too. He’s watertight in court. He’s appeared a few times, hasn’t he?”

“It’s true, but… how the thing looks, is all,” Ron said weakly.

“Someone in the department doesn’t want to be associated with the gays in forensics?” Dustin guessed. “Or someone thinks it’s inappropriate in a public line of employment? If there’s an actual complaint, I’d like to know about it.”

“Not a complaint, exactly.” Ron rose to his feet. “I see there’s—things are already established…”

“I’m not dumping him because someone heard we were dating, if that’s what you mean,” Dustin laughed. “It’s a lab, not a closet.” Even Glen had to smile at that. “But I’d like to know who the hell is saying this is a problem all of a sudden. I mean, if you’ve hauled half of any other new couples into the office for disciplinary action before, I certainly haven’t heard about it.”

“Oh, this isn’t disciplinary,” Ron hastened to assure him. “Those protocols are—no, no. Certainly not.”

“I don’t think this is going anywhere productive,” Glen said with a smile, rising to his feet. “How about we let Dustin get back to his important work while we review employee policies?”

Dustin felt for a moment like Glen was on his side, but for all he knew, he was just trying to escape the incredibly awkward atmosphere in that room.

As he walked back to the lab, his hands shook around his phone. It took effort to compose a text without any extra letters.

They just pulled me into the office to say relationship might not be OK. I pointed out I’ve never heard of this rule.

Leo’s response was quick.

WTF? How did they even know?

That’s what I’m wondering.

There was a pause, and then Leo responded again with just one word.

Victor.