“Everything appears to be normal. It will be a while before he wakes up—the stress of the situation must have sent him into shock.”

“Is there anything that we can do to make him more comfortable?”

“Nope. It looks like you’ve got the bases covered. As long as you keep him still and in one place, he should wake up feeling fine on his own.”

Hale opened his eyes. He blinked several times, then turned to look at the two paramedics who were standing beside the couch. They hadn’t been there before. “Hello.”

“He woke up,” Michael said, pleased.

One of the paramedics crouched down by Hale and looked him in the eyes. “Hey. Do you know what your name is?”

“Hale McMillan,” Hale said.

“And when were you born?”

“July 19, 1997.”

“That’s right,” Michael said.

“Can you tell me what you were doing here, before you passed out?”

Hale blinked. The memories were a little fuzzy, but he still felt all the emotion, and he traced it back into a dark part of his mind he preferred not to visit. “There was a man who came into the apartment—Kevin. He threatened me and held a gun to my head. I thought he’d pulled the trigger and I passed out, but I guess that didn’t happen?”

“Nope. You’re one hundred percent fine, physically, and you seem to be mentally alert.” The paramedic smiled reassuringly. He stood back up. “It looks like it was just stress. Take it easy for the next day or so and you should be just fine.”

“Thanks.” Hale looked between the two paramedics, then at Michael. “What happened? Did they get Kevin?”

“They got him,” Michael confirmed. “He’s been taken into police custody. The police are grilling Austin right now about what happened. They’ve already spoken to me, and I’ve agreed to step forward as a witness and put an end to everything.”

A lot had happened. “How long have I been out?”

“Not even thirty minutes,” Michael said. He said goodbye to the paramedics, who seemed to be in a hurry to get out the door. When they were gone, Michael sat at the foot of the couch, his thigh brushing Hale’s toes. Somewhere along the way, someone had taken off his shoes. “A lot has happened since you were awake. I’m sorry that I scared you. I knew that if I didn’t try, that something bad would happen. I figured that Austin could use any opportunity I gave him, so I distracted Kevin and let him do the work. I’m sorry that your life was on the line, and that you felt as uncomfortable as you did. I swear that I’d never do anything like that to you. It was a desperate measure, and now that it’s worked, it will never happen again.”

“I… I know. Thank you.” Hale covered his eyes with his arm, not yet ready to face the light of day. He still had a lot to process. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Austin is okay, too? No one got hurt? No one got shot?”

“No bullets were fired, but Austin beat the shit out of Kevin.”

Hale lifted his arm to peek at Michael. “He did?”

“He did. He went apeshit on him. I’ve never seen him lose his cool like that. He did it for you, he told me.”

Hale beamed. He hooked his arm back over his eyes, embarrassed, but also pleased. He wasn’t really in a relationship with Austin, and they were still in a weird gray zone where they were simultaneously together and not, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Austin had gone out of his way to protect him, and then even after that, he’d been so enraged and frightened for Hale’s safety that he’d made sure the threat was made a non-issue. With Austin, Hale felt like he never had to worry again.

“While he’s busy, I wanted to ask you about him, Hale…” Michael trailed off. He stared at his knees. “You two are together, aren’t you?”

“We’re…” Hale frowned. “We’re not officially together, but I have feelings for him, and I hope that we’ll make it official soon.”

“I just wanted you to know that even though Austin and I aren’t on good terms anymore, it won’t affect how happy I am for you. You deserve someone who can treat you right, and I know that Austin is a good man. The bad blood between us is no one’s fault but my own, and I don’t want you needling him about making amends with me or anything. I’m the one who has to go out of my way to apologize and earn his trust back if I want him as a friend… and even then, he might not want anything to do with me. You need to know that it’s okay. Don’t try to force him to do what he doesn’t want to do in regards to me, because he has very valid reasons for it.”

“You stole from him to sell his stuff for poker money, didn’t you?” Hale asked softly.

Michael nodded. He looked ashamed.

“Michael…” Hale carefully sat up. He dropped a hand on Michael’s shoulder and squeezed. “I wish I’d known what was going on with you sooner. This has been going on since senior year at high school, hasn’t it? That’s when you started to pull away and change. I thought it was just because I was a lame freshman, but… but that’s it, isn’t it? The gambling thing?”

“Yeah,” Michael admitted. “I got invited to some private games the summer between my junior and senior year, and it… it changed me. I found something that I was good at, and the thrill of winning and seeing my money multiply from simply playing a game was incredible. I couldn’t stop. It’s this huge swelling joy in my chest when I win, and it’s a feeling like nothing else in life. And losing… losing is the opposite. It’s the worst fucking feeling in the world, and it sends me into a spiral of depression and makes me do stupid shit, like take out a loan from someone with a dubious character.”

“But the important part is that other people know about it, now,” Hale said. “We can focus on getting you the help you need so that it never has to happen again. I know that it’s not going to be easy, but—”

“I don’t care whether it’s easy or not,” Michael said. “This whole ordeal has been an eye opener. I never thought I had a problem, and I didn’t really believe it until Kevin stormed in just now, looking for blood. I want to make sure it never happens again, and I know it’s not going to be like flipping off a switch, but I’m ready to find the help I need. I can’t keep wasting my life away like this. If today had turned out different, I might have died. We all might have died. That’s not a price I’m willing to pay for a card game.”

“I’m proud of you.” Hale smiled at him. He was starting to feel lightheaded again, so he plopped back onto the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I think you’re going to find you have a lot more support than you ever anticipated. Your mom and dad are going to be happy to have you back. That’s why you were disappearing so often, right? To go play games or whatever?”

“Yeah. Lots of impromptu flights to Vegas.” Michael snorted. “I can’t believe how dumb I was.”

“None of us are flawless. We’re all human. I made a huge mess of rescuing you, didn’t I?” Hale smiled at the ceiling. It had been a huge mess, but somehow, it had all turned out okay. He’d saved Michael, and Austin had saved him. “All of us have been dumb today. Well, all of us except for Austin, I’m guessing. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that he’s been cursing us under his breath the whole time.”

Michael chuckled. “I think you’re right.”

“So… um, thanks,” Hale said. “Thank you for being okay, and for letting me rescue you, even though it was a bad idea. Thank you for being honest with yourself and for recognizing that you need help. I’m going to be there for you all the way through, so you don’t have to worry about being alone. And thank you for taking care of me when I was sure that I was going to die. I know that I didn’t get to see you and Austin in action, but I imagine the teamwork between you guys was great.”

“He did most of the work,” Michael said. “All I did was distract Kevin. It wasn’t a planned strategy, but I’m glad Austin read off my energy or came to his own conclusions or whatever it was he did to make sure that you were safe.

“Me too.”

The front door closed. There were footsteps down the hall. Hale sat up and peeped over the back of the couch to find Austin was on his way into the room. He looked ruffled, but otherwise unharmed.

“The police are gone,” Austin said. “I told them what they needed to know and volunteered to come forward as a witness. It’s going to be one hell of an ordeal, isn’t it?”

“There’s no way they’re getting away with it,” Michael said. “I’m pretty sure the police had Kevin, but he got away the first time. They’ll be able to match his physical description to the man they’d caught without issue. I don’t think the trial will last long. They collected some pretty damning evidence, and our testimonies will only sink them further.”

“I hope so.” Austin met Hale’s gaze. “Are you feeling okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. The paramedics said I was okay, and apart from still feeling like I’m in shock after everything that just happened, I’m doing okay. Are you okay? Michael said that you fought Kevin. Did he hurt you?”

“He didn’t even had time to get a single punch in before he was too dazed to fight.” Austin grinned. “I wasn’t about to let him do whatever he pleased. That’s not the way this works. No one threatens the people who mean the world to me and gets away with it.”

“I’m out,” Michael said. He stood up swiftly from the couch. “Good for you guys and everything, but there’s no way that I’m comfortable listening to you come onto my cousin. I’m going to go hide in my bedroom, and if you guys could find your way out before your clothes come off, I’d appreciate it.”

“But Michael,” Hale said with mock innocence, grinning the whole time. “You haven’t even heard what Austin sounds like when he’s coming into me.”

“Aaaaand I’m out.” Michael sprinted the short distance to the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Hale laughed, letting go of all the fear and anxiety of the last few days. The worst was over, and although their nightmare hadn’t been long-lived, it felt like it had gone on forever.

Everyone could be happy again. All of them were back on the road to happiness and success. It was a relief and a pleasure, and Hale didn’t think he’d ever take his boring life for granted again.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Hale asked, turning his attention back to Austin. “Or is that what the hero always says when he swoops in to get some sugar from his love interest, AKA me.”

“I’m being sincere,” Austin said. “I didn’t know what to expect when I started to feel for you, but… but after what I just felt, seeing Kevin threaten you like that? Hearing him treat you like a slut? My heart knew what it wanted, and it sent clear signals up to my brain that didn’t take any work at all to decode. I have feelings for you, Hale. They’re real, and they’re the kind that make me want to tear anyone to shreds who treats you disrespectfully. If he’d hurt you at all, I would have killed him. If I didn’t have such good self-control, I might have done him in right now just for the names he called you and the psychological torment he put you through. I’m sorry that you had to be so afraid. I hope you know that no matter what, I’ll be there for you—whether that means facing danger or taking out the trash.”

“Hold the phone—you want to take out my trash?” Hale laughed. “Marry me.”

“Very funny.” Austin rolled his eyes. He set his hands on the top of the couch and leaned forward so that they were lip to lip. “I want you to know that it’s going to be hard for me, adjusting to… not being straight… but that I think you’re worth it, and I’m willing to give it my all. But I need to know that you’re in this, too. That you want me. I don’t think I could stand putting my heart on the line again only to lose it.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Hale promised. He closed the space between them and kissed Austin sweetly. “I’ve been head over heels for you since high school. I haven’t felt for anyone since. I’ve had a few lovers, but… not anyone permanent, let’s say. My heart was never open, because you were busy filling it.”

“It’s a damn good thing that I figured out I was only straight-ish,” Austin said with a chuckle. He returned Hale’s kiss, and Hale melted for him. “That would have been an awfully cruel life.”

“Isn’t that what life is? Cruel?” Reluctantly, Hale pulled away. “But I guess, together, we can make it into something much more kind and beautiful. Do you want to go back to your apartment and get a head start on the whole ‘making life better’ thing? Because I can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be right now.”

“I’d love that,” Austin said. He held out his hand. Hale hurried around the couch and took it, and they headed for the door together.

It had been a strange and frightening few days, but with this as the end result, Hale wouldn’t have changed them for the world.