“Oh, you have got to be kidding.”

They weren’t even home yet, and the phone was already ringing again. By now, all Dustin wanted was a shower and change of clothes and good, long cuddle with Leo to make the most of his day off work. Enough of this meeting the parents bullshit. Hell, neither of them even spoke to their families that much.

What mattered—what was supposed to matter—right now was the two of them.

“Who is it?” Leo asked, frowning at him from the driver’s side.

“My parents.” Leo snorted, but refrained from comment. Dustin could tell he was trying not to say anything that he wouldn’t like to hear about his parents. “I know,” Dustin added. “God knows what they want now.”

Leo was suddenly busy looking for parking outside Dustin’s house.

Dustin hesitated, then answered the phone. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetpea. Aren’t you at work?”

Hearing the affectionate nickname after the tension of that family visit made him smile until he remembered their weekend visit. Just different kinds of bad. He’d forgotten how hard it was to come out, it had been so long since he’d done it in family situations, and he’d been so afraid for Leo, unsure of how to help…

“No, I have the day off,” he said.

“Well, that’s just perfect. You know what? We’ve got dinner arranged this weekend with one of our friends. You should come by.”

Dustin’s brow crinkled. What? “This… weekend?”

Leo looked at him but didn’t comment as he shut off the car.

“Why?” Dustin asked when his mom didn’t say anything else. “With whom?”

“With that fellow your father mentioned, the nice accountant.”

Dustin shook his head, sliding out of the car now that they were parked. “Why?”

“Your father and I just think you would get along so well.”

“Is this… no. I know what this is. He’s handsome and single and gay, isn’t he?”

“He happens to be, yes,” his mom answered, still perky. “But no pressure. If you’re free, I’m sure he’d be delighted to meet someone closer to his own age. That’s all.”

Dustin shut the door harder than he meant to. “And if we happen to fall for each other, so much the better, right?”

“Now, I don’t know where this is—”

“Mom. Seriously. You’re trying to get me to… what, upgrade? I’m happy with the choices I’ve made.”

“A man with a steady job shouldn’t be underrated…” his mom trailed off. “That’s all I’m saying.”

“He—hang on.” Dustin’s mind clicked into an awful realization the way some paintings came into focus by stepping back to look at them from twenty feet away. “No. Mom.”

“What is it, Dustin?”

“You and Dad… did you call the police department?”

“I don’t know anything about that. Dear? Did you call the police this weekend?” she called out. Then she paused. “Certainly not,” she concluded.

His father’s voice in the background.

“Oh,” she added. “We did run into that retired sheriff, Kane Frank. You know, you would have gone to school with his son, Victor.”

“And you just so happened to mention that your son was dating a man. Both of whom were employed by a bunch of people who think he’s a god,” Dustin murmured. He was leaning against the car hood, even though it was warm. He didn’t care if he burned his palm—he needed the support.

“Well, we were talking, and it just came up…”

“Mom.” Dustin’s voice cracked, and Leo was suddenly there by his side, his arm wrapped around his waist. “Mom, he got fired. Or left before they could fire him, whatever. Same difference.”

“Oh, honey. That’s such a shame.” She sounded far less surprised than she should have been, and Dustin’s face went as numb as if he’d been slapped.

Leo seemed to have figured it out from his end of the conversation. He drew Dustin away from the hood and into him, supporting his weight as he hugged him.

“No,” Dustin muttered into the phone. “That’s not good enough. I can’t believe you—broke my trust like that. When you’re ready to respect me, call me. But I’m not coming to lunch every week to… to give you chances to plant doubts in my mind and find some better guy than him. I love him. Respect me, respect him… or don’t talk to me. That’s your choice.”

Dustin hung up, his hands shaking with anger. He could barely see straight.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Leo murmured. “I was starting to suspect… but I didn’t know for sure…”

“I thought they were—I didn’t think your parents would end up being better about it than mine,” Dustin mumbled as Leo led him to the house.

“Keys,” Leo prompted. On autopilot, Dustin unlocked his door, and Leo steered him inside. “I know,” he said once they were inside. “My parents wound up being kind of okay. Confused, but okay.”

“And mine tried to get you fired—did get you fired. Not because we’re gay—bi, same-sex, whatever the word…”

“A blissful romantic partnership between two men,” Leo supplied with a gentle smile.

Dustin chuckled and leaned into Leo for a hug, then pulled back to get his jacket and shoes off. “Yeah. Not because of that, but because they think you’re not good enough. Well, fuck that and fuck them.”

Leo growled under his breath. “I like this Dustin.”

“This Dustin is normally kept under wraps,” Dustin answered, kicking his stuff to the side and pulling Leo in for another hug. “It’s… disconcerting to be this Dustin.”

“I love this Dustin as much as every other Dustin,” Leo murmured into his hair, his hands rubbing Dustin’s back gently. “And I’m sorry your parents aren’t respecting you and your choices—still. I can’t say it’s out of the blue for me, but it has to be a shock for you.”

When Dustin was calm enough to think straight, he led Leo to his room so he could pick out new clothes to change into. Yesterday’s were getting old in a hurry. “Thank you for being here through… all that. I’m sorry I wasn’t more help with your parents.”

“What? No, you were there with me,” Leo shook his head. “And you filled in a lot of answers before I could figure out how to phrase them.”

“Voice of more experience.” Dustin half-smiled at Leo. He picked out a t-shirt and jeans, which was about all he felt like wearing.

“So much more.” Leo was watching him with a smile. “Gonna take a shower?”

“I will in a sec.” Dustin came back to the bed and sat next to Leo again, leaning into his arm one more time. “Are you sure, though?”

“That you were enough?” As always, Leo cut through the bullshit. “You are, baby.”

Dustin wasn’t sure he was ready to believe that, but what choice did he have? He drew a breath and let it out, then nodded as he leaned in to hug Leo with all he had.

This had to be enough.

“That explains Victor feeling kind of responsible but not really,” Leo murmured after a minute, then tensed up.

Dustin winced. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I got angry at you for trying to be friends with him.”

Leo glanced at him quickly, pulling away to do so. “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to be friends with him anymore. I get why you were pissed off. He was trying to get between us.”

“So was everyone. Fuck ’em,” Dustin snorted. That attitude was here to stay. “I don’t mind that you were friends. I forgive you for hanging out with him instead of me this time around, too. You’re not responsible for whatever he or his dad did.”

“Thank you for saying that. But I object. Fuck everyone? I prefer to fuck the one gorgeous guy who made me smile throughout all of that,” Leo murmured, rubbing his hand down Dustin’s arm. “Come on. You know what I want.”

Dustin managed a smile for him, and then found himself even laughing at Leo’s thumbs-up in response. “I love you, you goof.”

“I know you do.” Leo winked. “Go on, shower. And then… I have an idea to make the most of our day off. You’ll want something nicer than a t-shirt on, though.”

“Oh, will I?” Dustin’s spirits were creeping slowly up. Goddamn it. How did Leo do it? Must be love.

“We’re shutting off our phones and going on that date. You know how we said we would? And then life got in the way? Like a clever, gorgeous, sweet man just told me… fuck ’em. Tonight is for us.”

A date sounded utterly ridiculous—like hell they could shut off the world after the last few days they’d had. But the more Dustin thought about it, the more perfect it sounded. It was exactly what they needed. They had to find a way to leave the rest of it behind somehow, and let it be just them.

Dustin beamed and grabbed a towel. “Be right back.”