Nick's head buzzed in a pleasant way when their hands touched. In that moment, when he spotted George's hesitation, his protective instinct kicked in again. It was a such a simple joy that George shouldn't have been denied. As soon as their hands touched, Nick felt years of stress roll off his shoulders. He'd been denying himself this kind of affection for so long—too long.

The car ride was filled with off-key singing from the both of them and spirits were high. As they stepped into the apartment, the charge between them was intense. Yet, it wasn't as sexual as Nick expected. No, this was just two people wanting nothing more than to be close.

“Want a beer?” Nick asked as George made himself comfortable on the couch.

“Nah, I'm good, thanks,” George said. “Ahh, as much as I don't want to, I guess we should put down some ground rules for... all of this, huh? We both need to work together as a team if we want to make this work.”

Nick wet his lips and walked over to join George on the couch, taking his hands into his own. “Yeah... But where do we even begin?”

“First off, I'm not interested in dating other people. Even if I were, it really wouldn't be a good idea if we're married as a monogamous couple,” George said with conviction.

Nick nodded. “I agree with that.”

“But can I ask what happened earlier when me and that guy ran into each other? The way you sounded when you walked in... It was harsh. Way more harsh than what was necessary for an accident.”

Nick winced. “It... caught me off guard and stirred something... ugly... inside of me. It was a mix of being protective of you and fearing the whole cheating thing all over again.” It was hard to say, but George needed to hear it. “Just reminded me of how I found Clifton.”

“Ahh...” George said quietly, watching him with such soft eyes. It made Nick feel even more shitty that he'd had that lapse in faith. “You know I'd never do anything like that, right?”

“I know,” Nick said quickly, then cleared his throat. “At least that's what I tell myself. I'm actually going to look into getting some therapy to help let some things go.”

George's eyes softened as he squeezed Nick's hands. “I'm glad you're taking care of yourself. I'll support you in any way you need.”

Nick's breath caught in his throat. George's words were touching and sincere, and only made him all the more drawn to him. When he gazed into George's gentle and caring eyes, it reminded Nick once again that George really wasn't Clifton. “Thanks...”

“Anyway, I also so need a proper bed here,” George continued on, laughing lightly, which helped to lighten the atmosphere again. Nick was sure George had more burning questions about everything, but was thankful that he was seemingly choosing to move on for now.

“Just share my bed,” Nick offered, his heart pounding at the suggestion. “When we were together last night, that was actually pretty nice.”

George perked up, his whole face brightening up. “That... would really be nice. I was actually thinking that, since I was able to break the lease over the whole faucet incident, I could properly move in with you awhile...? Rather than finding another apartment...?”

“Of course,” Nick said so fast that he surprised himself. “It definitely wouldn't hurt paying just half the bills.”

George laughed, beaming like the sun. “Definitely wouldn't hurt at all.” It only intensified the need to be closer to George. In fact, Nick dove in for a kiss, but startled back when someone knocked on his door. “Oh, excuse me.”

He reluctantly let go of George's hands and moved to answer the door. Since people normally needed to be buzzed into the building, he was curious. It could've been the mailman having slipped in when someone else came in. He wasn't expecting any parcels, though.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see his mother standing there. “Hey,” he greeted. Worry set in instantly. It wasn't like his mother to appear unannounced.

“Hi,” Hazel greeted. “I really want to talk with you.”

“Ahh, right now?” Nick asked, sensing that this was going to be a very serious talk. Considering he'd been in a pretty amazing mood up to that point, it wasn't something he was looking forward to. Especially since George was right there in the background.

“Yes, right now,” Hazel said.

“Okay,” he agreed. “George is here, too.”

“Oh? Good, then I can talk with both of you at once.”

Oh, this wasn't good. She’d already voiced to Nick before that she didn't think the wedding was a good idea. Was she really going to let them have it now?

Nick led Hazel to the living room as George rose from the couch. Although it was easy to see that George was nervous, he still offered a friendly smile.

“Hi, Mrs. Morgan,” he greeted.

“Hello,” Hazel greeted in return, then drew in and let out a big breath. “While your wedding was very beautiful, I'm still not comfortable with the whole thing. I thought I could handle it, but I can't.”

Nick tensed. All of the stress that he'd fell roll off his shoulders a few minutes ago was back with a vengeance. “Mom...”

“Don't get me wrong, I love you very much, Nick, and, George, I have nothing but affection for you, but I don't like the idea of you both being in a marriage of convenience. It's just wrong,” Hazel pressed. It was easy to see how worked up she was because of how fast she spoke and the way she waved her hands.

“Mom, don't make such a big deal out of it,” Nick defended. “We're not hurting anyone.” Except the ghost of Great Uncle Jasper, but Nick could care less about that right now.

“It's just that I'm worried about you, Nick. First Clifton, now George...”

“Do not compare George to Clifton,” Nick snapped. The emotional wave hit hard and fast, catching him off guard. He reeled it back quickly since it was his own mother he was talking to. “I'm sorry. It's just not fair to George to do that.”

“I just don't want you to keep finding yourself in loveless marriages,” Hazel insisted. She clearly meant well, although it was a hard pill for Nick to swallow right now.

Who said this marriage is loveless, he wanted to shoot back at her. The words were right there on the tip of his tongue. His whole body was shaking with the desire to let those words fall from his lips.

But he was silent.

It was then that George stepped forward. “You know what? She's right,” he said, his voice trembling as he stood in front of Nick. Right then and there, George twisted the wedding band off his finger and thrust it into Nick's hand. “We can't do this. I can't do this.”

“George, wait—” Nick started, shocked as he closed his hand around the warm ring.

But George ignored Nick as he hurried to the guest bedroom, although Nick was quick on his heels. He stood in the doorway and stared as George grabbed one of his bags and stuffed it with his clothes. His beautiful husband had tears in his eyes, his face tight as he tried not to cry.

“George...” Nick said again, his tone more of a plea.

“I can't right now,” George said, his voice breaking. In doing so, Nick's heart broke as well.

Nick stepped back as George finished jamming things in his bag and pushed by. Without another word, George shoved on his shoes and coat, then left without looking back.

Nick stood there in stunned silence, finally opening his hand to gaze down at the plain ring, still warm from George's love just moments ago.

After a moment or two, he turned to Hazel. “Mom, how could you? Where the hell do you get off barging in like that?”

“Nicholas! How dare you speak to your mother like that!” Hazel remarked.

Nick fisted his hand around the ring, trembling with anger. “Things were going good between us. What makes you think that this is loveless, anyway? You were there at the ceremony! You saw him... You saw us.”

In that moment, reality hit him stronger than he ever could've imagined. Cold fear gripped him tight at the thought of losing George now. He'd never been good at confrontations when he'd known him before—he'd always tear up or run off, just like he'd done just now. It made him angry in that moment that George hadn't held his ground.

They both failed each other when they needed each other most.

“Nick...” Hazel started after a few tense moments.

“You should go,” Nick said as he moved to the door and opened it for Hazel. Even though he knew that his mother only wanted the best for him, the way everything unfolded was just wrong.

Hazel didn't say a word as she moved to the door. When she passed by Nick, she leaned up to kiss his cheek but Nick turned his head away. He wasn't ready to let her gloss over what happened by a long shot. She didn't push it as she pulled back and took her leave while Nick closed the door behind her.

He slowly opened his hand and gazed at the silver ring once more.

No. It wasn't going to end like this.

Resolve and conviction crashed through him like a storm as he grabbed his phone.

“Jett, I need your help.”