Thirty-Seven

 

                                     Two Weeks later

 

Bas felt the sun on his legs and he smiled before he even opened his eyes.  This was going to be a great day.  He was finally healed, his portion of the testifying in the trial was over.  He could get back to being a lawyer again.  And the best part?  He and Ten could finally concentrate on building this thing between them.

For the last few weeks, Ten had been his rock.  He’d coached him to help him get through the grueling ten-hour testimony sessions.  He’d massaged his neck and shoulders when they got home.  He’d jerked Bas off in the tub as they soaked away the day’s stresses.

He’d been beautiful, wonderful, although still hesitant to take it any farther than hand jobs, his excuse always being that they needed to wait until Bas was fully healed.

He was.  Had been for a while now and they both knew it.

His arm moved out to the right, expecting to find Ten’s warm body but he frowned when all he felt were cold sheets.

He blinked his eyes open and found Morgan sitting in the chair by the window.

Fuck.

He was gone.  Ten was fucking gone….again.

He squeezed his eyes shut, dreading the answer to the question that he had to ask.

“He ran, didn’t he?”

Morgan sighed as he leaned forward onto his elbows, “That’s an answer that’s more complicated than a yes or a no.”

Bas angrily shoved the covers back and stood up from the bed.  He didn’t give a shit that he was naked.  He only cared about one thing right then, getting the fuck out of Tenley Pinkerton’s house….and his life.  He couldn’t do this again.  Oh, he realized his hypocrisy, since he’d sworn to Ten that he would come after him.

But damn it, this fucking hurt.

Last time had been hard enough and that was after they’d only hooked up once and had barely known each other. 

Now?  They’d spent weeks living under the same roof, talking, connecting, fucking falling in love.  Or at least Bas had.  Apparently, he was delusional in thinking that Ten had too.

“Where are you going?” Morgan said.

“To take a piss.  You got a problem with that?”

Bas didn’t wait for an answer, just walked into the bathroom, slammed the door shut and did what he needed to do. 

A minute or so later he was back in the bedroom, stomping around as he pulled his clothes on and then shoved what few items he had into the pillowcase that he’d stolen off the pillow.

“Bas,” Morgan said.

“Shut up, Morgan.”

“Bas.”

“I don’t want to fucking hear it, Doyle.”

“Bas.”

Bas threw the full pillowcase onto the bed, “Do you want me to fucking punch you, Morgan?”

“That seems to happen a lot with you two!” Morgan said as he shoved to his feet.  “When you decide to get your head out of your ass, you might want to look at your fucking phone!” he yelled and then he stomped towards the door.

Just before he stepped out he turned back, “Oh, and in case you’re interested, today is the five-year anniversary of the day that Sawyer was murdered.  Not that you give a shit about that or anything.  Fucking stubborn pricks, BOTH of you,” he mumbled as he walked out.

Well, shit.

He picked up his phone and found it dead.  He quickly plugged it in, powered it up and then checked his texts.  He had half a dozen that he hadn’t read yet from friends but there was only one he was interested in:

Behind the cabin is a trail.  Follow it until you find me.

Bas’ heart began pounding in his chest as he slid a pair of Ten’s boots onto his feet.  They were a size too small, but he’d make it work or he’d go barefoot.  Nothing was going to keep him from getting to Ten.

He yanked open the back door, closing it quickly before a gust of wind blew leaves inside.  He pulled Ten’s sweatshirt closed and zipped it up.  He probably should be wearing a coat, but he didn’t have time to look for one.

He quickly found the trail and followed it into the woods behind the house.

After walking through woods so dense it felt like dusk instead of mid-morning, Bas finally spotted a clearing ahead.  When he stepped through he froze.  The clearing was a small meadow filled with yellow, white, blue and purple wildflowers.  The trail cut the meadow in half.  At the far end, the trail, a winding path wove up a small slope and at the top was a bench, a solitary pine tree and what Bas knew without a doubt, was a spectacular view. 

He still couldn’t see Ten, but he knew the man was up there, he could feel him.

Bas walked across the meadow, barely resisting the urge to throw his arms wide, spin around and start singing - he felt that happy, that hopeful. On the other side of the meadow, he walked up the small slope.

When he got to the top, he froze again when he saw Ten squatting down next to a gravestone, talking as he pulled a few stray weeds and brushing off dirt.  Hanging from his other hand was a piece of paper, the envelope was resting on the grass.

Ah, so Morgan had brought Ten the letter that Trent said he had.

Bas silently walked over to the bench and sat down to wait.  When he heard Ten whispering, he almost got up to leave to give the man some privacy but then he remembered that Ten had asked him to come, he wanted him here…..

At Sawyer’s final resting place.

Bas gazed around at the wide-open view of the mountain range beyond and a glittering, crystal blue glacier lake below.

His gaze was drawn back to Ten when the words the man was whispering drifted over to Bas’ ears.

“It’s hard, Sawyer.  It’s so fucking hard.  He’s, he’s not you but I know in my heart that he’s someone special. He’s worth it.  He’s someone I really think I could love, babe.  But I don’t know how to do that without letting you go.”

Bas opened his mouth to say something, to tell Ten that he didn’t have to choose but he quickly snapped it shut.  This was something that Ten needed to do on his own.

He watched as Ten tossed weeds to the side and brushed dirt away from the polished granite stone in the ground.

Ten sighed and stared out at the incredible view beyond.  The sun was now high in the expansive blue sky, dotted sporadically with wispy white clouds.  “I just wish you could tell me it’s okay, babe.  I wish I could know that you’re…..” he froze when a bald eagle soared majestically into the air, releasing a cry that was awe-inspiring and impressive.  Ten dropped down onto his ass with a thump and a gasp.  Bas started to get to his feet, but something stopped him.

He watched Ten as his chest rose and fell with silent sobs, his head and hands hanging down.  After a few minutes, Ten took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his face, stood and walked to Bas, plopping down on the bench next to him.  He clasped their fingers together and dropped his head down onto Bas’ shoulder.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Bas said.  “That’s one hell of a view he’s got.”

“Yeah.  This was our favorite spot.”

“I can see why.”

Ten stared down at the letter, brushing his fingers over the words.

Bas didn’t ask what was in it, didn’t pry.  He didn’t need to know what Sawyer’s final words to Ten were.

He’d listen if Ten wanted to tell him, but he didn’t need to know.

Ten unclasped his hand from Bas’, folded the letter, tucked it into his pants pocket and then re-clasped their hands.

“He’s the only man who’s ever been in that house with me, the only man who’s ever been in that bed.”

Bas glanced over his shoulder, “You two….lived here?  Like, full time?”

“Mostly, yeah.  It was a drive for him to get to work so we had a small apartment that we kept in town for nights when he was too tired, after he opened the restaurant.  But this was our sanctuary, our little slice of heaven.”

“It’s really beautiful, Ten.”

Ten lifted his head and looked at Bas.  “I want to make new memories here, Bas.  With you.  I know you’ve got your own place and your practice and your life is….,” he stopped when Bas put his finger over Ten’s lips.

“Ten?” he said and waited until the man looked him in the eye, “I’d love to make new memories with you here.”

Bas resisted the urge to lean forward and press their lips together.  Kissing Ten when they were sitting by the grave of his, well, his Sawyer, was just plain tacky.

Instead he sighed, pulled Ten in closer to his body and looked out at the view.  After they sat together in silence for a few minutes, Bas said, “So, what happens, now, Ten?”

Ten stood up, turned and held his hand out to Bas, “Now we go home and you make love to me.”

Bas pushed to his feet.  He pulled Ten closer using their linked hands and slid his thumb over Ten’s eyebrow and down his cheek, “That sounds perfect to me, Ten,” he whispered and then he leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, letting his lips rest there for a moment before pulling away.

They turned and, with one final look back over their shoulders at the view and Sawyer’s final resting place, they made their way down the narrow trail together.