George couldn't think straight as he stood outside of Davin's apartment. He could barely see straight either as the tears that he struggled to keep at bay blinded him.

When Davin opened the door, George raised his hand in a shaky greeting. “Hey. Can I stay with you?”

“What the fuck happened?” Davin exclaimed as he stepped back, allowing George in. “Of course you can stay.”

“I think I just broke off the fake marriage with Nick,” George said, his head still ringing and light as he stepped inside and set his bag aside. Even though the wedding ring had barely been on his ring for just over twenty-four hours, he already felt naked without it.

George had been in Davin's apartment a few times before to nerd out and play games. It was larger than his own apartment, but nowhere as neat. All that clutter was a real pet peeve of George's, but he could care less about the stuff he shuffled through on the way to the couch.

“What happened?” Davin asked, setting the bag by the couch and sitting down with George.

“Things were going really well,” George said faintly as he gazed aimlessly around the room for something to settle his gaze on. Nothing really seemed to stand out or make sense to him. “We had a wonderful dinner date tonight to make up for that weirdness at the store earlier, and when we got home, we sat down and really started talking...”

George's throat started closing up as he thought about it again, replaying those tender moments on the couch. With how attentive and sweet Nick was being, George had felt incredible.

“And then his mother showed up,” he continued. Dislike swelled up inside, although he tried to fight it. She was only watching out for her son. He couldn't blame her completely. Sometimes he wished he really could just wholeheartedly blame people as much as others seemed able to.

“Ohh...” Davin sounded with a frown. “Bad, huh?”

“It wasn't pleasant, no,” George stated, wishing he could say things much more cruelly and bluntly. He just didn't have it in him. “She doesn't like us being married. I understand she's worried about this being Nick's second marriage... Things went bad in Nick's last marriage when his husband cheated on him. I'm sure things must've been starting to go downhill before then. Now he's married again, but it's only because of money...”

“Is that what you truly believe?” Davin gently prodded.

George paused and blinked as he now focused his attention on Davin. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, you're like my best friend, but Nick is also a friend of mine, too. Neither one of you are idiots or gluttons for punishment. Do you think maybe the reason why you agreed to get married so easily might be because you guys really do care about each other?”

“We've admitted we cared about each other, yeah,” George said, although his heart rate was picking up as he wrung his hands.

“I think you more than care for each other to agree to this arrangement,” Davin pointed out.

George's throat was dry as the weight of Davin's words settled on him. “I've always loved him,” he blurted. “I even kissed him when I was drunk at our high school graduation afterparty. I just... do you think he loves me, too?”

“I can't tell you that,” Davin said, “but it's definitely something you guys should talk about.”

George fidgeted, then shook his head. “I don't know... I think what hurt me more than his mother doubting us was the fact that Nick didn't stand up for us. There was this perfect moment where he could've said he loved me, but he didn't, so maybe he's not there yet. Maybe I'm just fooling myself.”

George swallowed hard to try and will the nausea creeping up on him away. When Hazel had voiced her concern about Nick being in a loveless marriage, it would've been only too easy for Nick to say that they were in love. But he didn't. It was that pivotal moment that broke George's heart the most.

But then George himself had run out when he could've stayed and fight, too, and that gutted him beyond belief as well. He hated that his reactions to confrontation of most kinds was to just break down or get out of there. “I screwed up by not standing up, too, though...”

“What do you mean?” Davin gently asked.

George almost wanted to throw up. “I could've said more, too, you know? I could've stood up, but I ran away. I'm such a coward. Maybe I'm not ready for all of this either.”

“Now, don't be too hard on yourself,” Davin asserted. “I don't think you're a coward—not at all. No offense, dude, but you're just not that great at handling stressful situations. I've seen you fighting back tears when customers are particularly cranky. It doesn't mean you're a coward. Just... sensitive.”

“I don't know if that's any better,” George muttered.

“I read this thing once about the different kinds of responses people have to stress and conflicts. You can't help what yours is. If you're worried it makes you somehow cowardly or weak, it doesn't.”

“I just... I don't know. I need time to think about everything,” George said, overwhelmed again.

“Yeah, sure. Take what time you need,” Davin agreed as he patted George's knee. “But I wouldn't take too long, if I were you. Because when I stood there and watched you two get married, none of it felt fake to me. You were glowing—you both were glowing.”

“Then why didn't Hazel see that or feel that?”

“I can't speak for her. All I can say is that what I witnessed was truer than anything I've ever seen before. I think it's worth fighting for.”

“Oh, you sap,” George laughed, the sound coming out higher because of his stress. Still, even that little sound took some of the weight off him. “You should consider writing romance.”

“I'm only good at editing romance—not writing it,” Davin laughed, then grabbed the remote and handed it to George. “Let's just chill now, huh?”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” George agreed as he leaned back into the couch more and made himself comfortable. He had a long night ahead.