A day helping his buddies out at the fall festival in town was just what Gabe needed to lift his spirits and keep his mind distracted. He was obliged to do thirty hours a month with the fire department. But when he could count a whole afternoon having fun, it sort of felt like cheating.

He couldn’t be a firefighter twenty-four-seven. The shifts were too unsociable, and the pay wasn’t all that great. But he loved the job all the same. It was rare they got any serious blazes in his district, just the odd grill pan left unattended or vandals causing trouble at the schools. Every couple of months Gabe got called out to big traffic accidents though, giving him enough action to be glad he didn’t see more trauma on a regular basis.

Mostly, he loved volunteering because it gave him a chance to really throw himself into the heart of the community and do some good.

The regular guys were the real heroes though. Gabe was honored they’d let him and the other couple of part-timers come and join in an event that was meant to celebrate their hard work. But they insisted.

So he posed for photos and showed kids and adults around the truck proudly. He understood that all kinds of people found what they did interesting and exciting. It was a joy to share it.

What was even more of a joy though was when he looked up and recognized Joey Sullivan walking towards them, a few dozen feet away. Joey had been distracted by one of the girls manning a game booth. She appeared to be explaining how to play the game to him, holding up several tennis balls.

Joey was smiling easily. For a second, it took Gabe’s breath away. He’d looked so pensive when he’d seen him before. Laden with heavy burdens. To see him happy made Gabe finally connect him with the pictures of the popstar he’d found online.

He hadn’t meant to cave in and search for information on Joey. But after Mitch had told him he was gay, his curiosity had just got too much.

Sure enough, Joey was openly out. Gabe was still getting used to the idea that celebrities could do that and not have it damage their carriers. So it made him sort of proud of the younger guy. Especially when he saw him and his bandmate give a speech from a few months ago at some awards show. His friend had come out at the ceremony and given an inspiring speech.

As much as the Blake guy’s words had moved Gabe, he had replayed the video clip a few times just to watch Joey watching his friend. It had been a very pure, beautiful moment, seeing the pride evident in his eyes. Gabe almost felt bad that it was so public. But then, that was the point. To reach out to other people that were LGBT.

So he didn’t need any more convincing about the newcomer’s sexuality. But until now, Gabe hadn’t been able to reconcile Joey’s public persona with the quiet one he had met himself.

Nothing would have made him happier than to stand and watch Joey being excitable. He had to admit to himself that, even if it was just to do with Gabe’s rebound, he was starting to become attracted to Joey. It was probably just a stupid crush. But after all his heartache, Gabe was okay with entertaining one or two idle thoughts about a gorgeous guy.

He was soon distracted by a small girl with bright red pigtails who wanted to understand how the lights and sirens worked. So with her folks’ permission, Gabe hoisted her up on his hip and talked her through the systems. She asked surprisingly technical questions for a six-year-old.

“First it was cars, then it was trains,” her dad said with a chuckle when Gabe praised her knowledge. “Now everything is firefighters. And Frozen,” he added with a weariness that spoke volumes.

Gabe was happy to help the little girl into the cab with one of his colleagues, who took over explaining what everything did. That meant Gabe turned around just in time to see Joey storming past the truck and away from the fair.

Gabe wasn’t necessarily thinking clearly as he hopped down. “Joey!” he called out.

He didn’t stop, but he looked like he had earbuds in, so Gabe jogged the few feet between them and touched his shoulder.

Joey wheeled around, a look of alarm on his face. But he did pull his earphone out from one ear.

“Whoa, sorry,” said Gabe, throwing his hands up. Joey raised an eyebrow and eased the other earphone free. He didn’t run away at least. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Joey shrugged. “That’s okay.” They looked at each other for a moment. “So,” Joey carried on while Gabe struggled with what to say. “You’re a firefighter?”

Gabe laughed and rubbed his hand through his hair. “Yeah, sometimes. Looked like you were having fun earlier. It’s, uh, nice to see you again.”

Joey chewed on his lower lip. “You saw me.”

It was Gabe’s turn to shrug. He didn’t want to make it seem like it was a big deal. “I just happened to look over. Look, I’m sorry if I chased you out of the library the other day. Next time you come in you can say hi. I’m not that scary.”

“I’m not-” Joey began. Then stopped himself. “You didn’t chase me out. I’m just busy.”

“Oh,” said Gabe. “Sure, of course you are.” He nodded, hoping that didn’t come across as sarcastic in any way.

“Does the library have shitty pay?”

Gabe blinked in confusion. “Uh, no, not really,” he said.

Joey shifted on his feet and looked embarrassed. He was clinging to the backpack over his shoulder like a lifeline. “I just wondered why you didn’t stick with putting out fires.”

“Oh,” said Gabe with a relieved laugh. “Oh, I do all kinds of things. I like being around people.” Joey frowned like that was a strange idea. He probably missed the hustle and bustle of his life from before. Wherever he lived. Did popstars settle down? Have one place they came back to? “I could introduce you to some of the folks around if you’re still finding your feet?” Gabe offered.

That was probably stupid. Joey didn’t need help from some small-town hick like him to make friends.

Sure enough, Joey wrinkled up his nose. “I don’t really think I’ve got a lot in common with the people around here,” he said. Gabe thought that was pretty snobby. “But, thank you. I appreciate it.” Well, at least he wasn’t totally rude.

“Actually,” said Gabe, not wanting to let Joey get away with insulting his town. Sure, Greenwich wasn’t Paris or Tokyo, but it was his home, and he thought it was pretty great. “There’s a small LGBT community if you’d be interested. Some of us got together and helped set up this homeless shelter over the summer. It was pretty awesome.”

“You just do everything around here, don’t you?” said Joey, shaking his head.

Gabe wasn’t fazed though. “Like I said, I like people.”

Joey didn’t have much of a reaction to Gabe coming out. A lot of people generally had something to say about that. Maybe Joey already knew?

He shook his head again. “You don’t owe these people anything, you know?”

Gabe frowned. “The homeless?” He was disappointed in Joey at that. “Someone has to help them. You know around fifty percent of kids on the street are LGBT?”

“No, not them,” said Joey. “That’s great. And I did know that. I mean the others. The well-to-do…” He trailed off as he waved his hand towards the throng of the fair. “They don’t thank you for it.”

Gabe allowed a smile to creep onto the corner of his mouth. “I don’t do it for the thanks.”

He didn’t know why, because this conversation clearly wasn’t going all that well. But he dug in the back pocket of his overalls and fished out one of the shelter’s business cards that he knew would be lurking there. He dusted off the remains of one of Max’s dog biscuits that had obviously found its way in there too a while back and pulled out a pen from a front pocket.

He needed to get back to the truck, but he didn’t want to leave things with Joey when they were so off.

“If you’d like to hang out or meet some of the other guys like us, here’s my cell.”

He handed the card over once he’d finished scribbling his digits on the back. He supposed it could be seen as a come-on. But he simply didn’t like the idea of Joey being alone, like he always seemed to be. He could do with some friends.

Joey eyed the scrap of card for a moment like it was a live grenade. Then he plucked it from Gabe’s fingers and slipped it into his back pocket without looking at it.

“Thanks,” he said. “You’re a nice guy. Just uh…” His eyes flicked back towards the crowd. “Look after yourself sometime, too. Okay?”

Before Gabe could decipher what that might mean, Joey turned on his heel and was gone.