He wasn’t sure what he was.
Maybe he was in a freefall.
Or maybe he was in a spiral.
But coming back here had opened the door to so many emotions that he couldn’t rationalize. Graham had hurt him, but here he was, being gentle with a man who decimated his world for so many years.
With so much that had happened between them, the time and distance hurt his heart.
Beyond.
Repair.
But was it that bad?
He wasn’t sure.
When Michael whispered those words, of his darling in Scottish, the man whimpered like he was in pain.
He moved.
No, he curled up, putting himself in the fetal position in his sleep to protect himself from the war that was raging in his mind.
He was shaking, and Michael covered him with the duvet, so he wouldn’t be cold.
The last thing he wanted was for the man to be chilled and broken.
Both of which he understood.
When he’d left their shit apartment, he’d left everything behind.
His clothes.
His books.
His world.
Instead, he went back to his CO’s office, and asked to head to the States early. He didn’t need to pack, or get ready for his new assignment.
Yeah, he ran.
Far.
And.
Fast.
It wasn’t like he had anything to stay for, and he hadn’t given Graham the opportunity to find him and make it right.
He made it difficult to find him.
After all, Archangels got erased. When they went into the service for the government, their identities were wiped.
Why?
So they couldn’t be bribed and used to harm their assignments. You couldn’t bribe a Marine when he hadNOTHINGto his name.
Since he didn’t exist.
