***

“How is Darren doing?” Tam asked, as he stood in the kitchen, organising the items he and Giovanni would need for the barbecue later.

His ex-boyfriend shrugged, while grabbing some necessities from the lowest cupboard and piling them into the trolley that came with the cabin; it was for carting the items back and forth between the kitchen and barbecue, which was handy. Tam wouldn't have bothered, but Giovanni had already grabbed it when he'd had his back turned and he wasn't going to ignore the fact that it would save their arms for the volleyball game that night.

“I think he's okay,” he replied, eventually. “He's been kind of quiet since we got here, mostly talking story ideas with Lachlan and catching up with Casen. He slept last night, which is something,” he admitted.

Tam nodded and glanced over to where Darren was nose deep in his sketch book, whispering and conferring with Casen, for his project for the museum. Cormag hovered nearby, discussing the entertainment options with Levi, while evidently eavesdropping on them. “I thought the sleeping was getting better,” he mentioned, recalling something Giovanni had said not so long ago, about how Darren had struggled to adapt when they first moved to Italy.

The new surroundings had disorientated him, the new language he had to learn and the lack of friends and family around had kept him off kilter for months. By the time he admitted that to Giovanni, they'd had to fly back for a face-to-face appointment with Rico. Giovanni was convinced that no phone call could do the conversation justice; they had to see Rico and talk to him, to really delve into the cause of his new troubles.

From what Tam remembered of that conversation, Giovanni's worry about his boyfriend had been keeping him up at nights, as well. He couldn't sleep for second guessing their move, wondering if the business they'd begun was too much pressure and even if their relationship was too much for Darren to cope with.

It had taken a long time for Casen to come home happy, claiming he'd called Darren and Giovanni and that things were settling down. That Darren was sleeping all through the night, without nightmares, and that he'd gone through a whole week without incident more than once. It seemed like such a little thing for anyone else, but knowing what nightmares were like to deal with, Tam knew that Casen had every right to be thrilled by the news. As did Giovanni.

He couldn't understand what had changed since then.

Finally, with a bone-weary sigh, Giovanni stood and leaned back on the counter to gaze at his boyfriend across the room. “Just this past month, since Grayson mentioned the reunion, he's been antsy. Worried about me, about him, about Konnor and you,” he admitted, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “He's scared of someone bringing up a trigger word, of Konnor overloading; not to mention that he's worried about Jaime and wondering if he did the right thing nudging him towards Jean,” he explained.

That made sense. Darren had encouraged an emotionally vulnerable guy into a situation where he'd end up dating someone of a similar stature as an abusive ex-boyfriend. Even knowing that it had been done inadvertently, that he'd had no idea about Jaime's past or even that he just wanted Jaime to be happy, would mean nothing. For Darren, he'd put someone in a vulnerable state into a situation where they'd only feel more vulnerable.

“Right. But, surely he knows that Jaime has to make his own choices,” Tam reasoned, since Darren couldn't be held responsible for what other people did. Even when he'd given them the nudge they needed to head in that direction. “Jaime has to make this move eventually, unless he plans on being a monk. All Darren is doing is trying to help him cope with making this massive decision.”

Giovanni nodded, but his eyes held enough secrets and regret for two people. “Maybe I worry too much, but I have a feeling that I've probably had more to do with Jean and Jaime hooking up than Darren has,” he confessed, all of a sudden. “But how do I tell Darren that, without bursting his bubble? It would make him feel better about Jaime's decisions, but make him feel his matchmaking skills were unsuccessful,” he lamented, finally explaining the real reason he was worried about his boyfriend.

“How much more did you do?” Tam wondered, intrigued by the dilemma. Not only could he tell how upset Giovanni was by inadvertently stealing Darren's thunder, but he also understood that it wasn't a small issue by any means. Not in their relationship.

“Well, I told Jean to keep his distance physically, but that it was okay to make himself emotionally available,” he said, with an uncertain shrug. “You know, the stuff Rico told me to do with Darren. He said it seemed to be working; they could maybe hold hands or whatever when needed, for group and things, without Jaime tensing up.”

“That's good.”

Giovanni nodded his agreement, still looking uncomfortable. “Yeah. But telling Darren could ruin everything or make it better. I just don't know which one to bet on,” he admitted, still staring at Darren as though he could telepathically tell him it was alright.

It was a tough choice to make, but he had to choose. Either way, Jaime and Jean were about to take a step forward and Darren might find out the hard way. Or he could be relieved that it wasn't his doing, if things went badly.

“I think you should tell him. Let him know that all you did was give Jean some direction, so anything he's said to Jaime is still part of his own matchmaking attempts,” Tam suggested, not seeing another way out of it. “That way, if it ends well or gets fucked up, you'll both be equally guilty and he won't have to shoulder the full burden himself.”

“I could do that.” Giovanni nodded thoughtfully. “Either way, I need to do something.”

“Yeah. But maybe not tonight,” Tam agreed, with a smile. He nodded towards their partners sitting together, enjoying themselves. “I think he's got the perk he needed today. If tonight doesn't go well or if you think he needs to know before he tries to sleep, then break it to him gently. Otherwise, I think he's in for an exhausting evening, with the volleyball, so he should sleep fine.” At least, he hoped so. He knew that he always slept better after a long day of hard work or exercise, which somehow made him too tired to have nightmares.

It was the only solution he could think of.