There was no sign of Jared immediately outside, so Kyrone chose to jog in the direction they’d walked from. Jared didn’t know this area of the city, so it was a safe bet he’d retrace their steps to the bus station to go home. As he reached the corner of the street, Kyrone paused and looked back towards the pub. Jag and Michael were outside as well, though they stood to the side of the entrance. Jag was pressed against Michael’s chest, holding the older man fiercely. Even from a distance, it was clear his shoulders were shuddering and that he was crying. Michael embraced him and stroked his hair. Leaving them to it, Kyrone continued to look for Jared.
He didn’t have to go far. He found Jared a couple of streets away, leaning against the wall, bent over with his hands on his knees. He was breathing heavily.
“Jared?” Kyrone said softly as he got closer. He didn’t want to startle his lover.
Jared looked up at him. His cheeks were tear soaked, and his eyes were large and shimmering. “I can’t run,” he muttered. “I wish I could run.”
Kyrone closed the distance and pulled Jared into his arms. “Are you okay?”
Jared shrugged and then shook his head. “I didn’t recognise him.”
“I know.”
“Hehatesme, Ky.” Jared pushed against Kyrone, wriggling away from his embrace. His stare was wide, his chin trembling. “What kind of person was I that your friendhatesme? He wasscaredtoo. What did Ido?”
Kyrone wanted to be able to tell Jared that he’d done nothing, but he didn’t know what had happened in his and Jag’s past. He frowned. What hedidknow was the brief amount Jag had said at the club, when he’d heard Jared’s name for the first time.
“I think you were friends,” he said. “Friends who lost touch.” Jag had specifically said that hedidn’thate Jared that night, which made his reaction in the pub doubly confusing.
“If that’s true, why did he react like that?” Jared’s desperate stare searched Kyrone’s.
Kyrone shrugged. “I don’t know.” He grasped his lover’s face gently. “Michael suggested we go to the club to talk. I know you probably don’t want to, but you might get some answers.” He raked his teeth over his lip. “I think… I think that note you found in your uni stuff was about Jag.”
The muscles beneath Jared’s eyes twitched. “Are you sure?”
“No,” Kyrone admitted. “But it would make sense. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you ended up in the same city as him or that his name—hisrealname—starts with J. Jag told me you were friends in school and that you lost touch. Maybe you were trying to find him,” Kyrone suggested. “Maybe youhadfound him and then…”
“The accident happened,” Jared whispered. He sagged against Kyrone. “I don’t remember him. I don’t know him, but I don’t want to cause him any pain. If I did something to hurt him, maybe I should stay away.”
“That’s up to you,” Kyrone said. “But for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re capable of hurting anyone.”
“Now,” Jared whispered. “But I don’t know what sort of person I was before the accident.” His brow crumpled. “If I did know Jag, why weren’t there any photos of him in the scrapbook? If there had been, I would have recognised him.Youwould have known we were linked somehow.”
“Up to the uni photos, there weren’t any of your friends, Jared. You must have noticed that?”
Jared nodded slowly against Kyrone’s chest. “I hadn’t questioned it before, but now all I can think iswhy?”
“That’s something you’re going to have to ask your family,” Kyrone said gently. “Maybe they thought if photos of you with them didn’t jog your memory, nothing would.”
“Maybe.”
Jared’s breathing had eased, which was a positive sign as far as Kyrone was concerned, but that didn’t stop him from being worried about his lover. Until that moment, he hadn’t quite realised how hard it would be to not have any memories of the past. It wasn’t just that Jared didn’t know about the people in his life. It was that he didn’t knowhimself. Now he understood what Jared had meant when he’d said his parents wanted their son back. Although Kyrone didn’t believe that Jaredcouldhave been a bad person, there was a chance he was completely different—different hopes and dreams, even a completely different personality. He was literally a stranger to everyone he’d known, including Jag and himself.
“What do you want to do?” Kyrone asked. “Go back to my place, or go to the club to talk to Jag?”
Jared breathed in deeply. “Do I have a choice?” He lifted his head to look at Kyrone. His eyes were still shimmering with tears. “I can’t want to know more about who I was, and then run away from finding out about the past just because I might discover something horrible about myself.”
“Youwon’t,” Kyrone said through gritted teeth. He was pissed off at Jag for making Jared feel this way.
“Imight,” Jared said sadly. He stood tall and held Kyrone’s hand. “We should go.”
Kyrone almost grabbed hold of Jared to talk him out of it, but he knew he couldn’t. Ithadto be Jared’s decision, and he’d made it, even though he didn’t same particularly happy about it.
“I’ll text Michael and let him know we’re coming. Hopefully by the time we get there, he’ll have calmed Jag down. I’ve never seen him behave like that before. I know he had some shit happen in his past, but I don’t know what exactly.”
“It must have been bad if he decided to change his name,” Jared murmured.
“Yeah,” Kyrone agreed. He squeezed Jared’s hand. “But Iknowyou had nothing to do with it.”
