Evan nodded and sat down, pushing his glasses up his nose. “On a scale of one to ten…”
“Negative five,” Gage said quickly. It was a system they’d come up with when Gage first started working everything out. His suicidal ideations had been getting stronger the more he ran from everything, and he’d started to scare himself. “It’s not really about all that.”
Evan clicked his gold pen and hummed. He never actually wrote anything down. He’d once told Gage the pen clicking was a more socially acceptable stim that kept him focused. But healso had quieter fidgets for people who couldn’t deal with the pen sounds.
Gage took a breath. “So…remember a few months ago when I told you about the guy I hooked up with?”
Evan nodded. “Lucas’s soon-to-be brother-in-law.”
“And that he ghosted me.”
Evan wrinkled his nose. He didn’t like when his patients used that term. He told Gage once it was because most of the time, when people went silent, it was for a reason. And not because they wanted to ice someone out.
But he didn’t argue this time.
“So the other day, I found out he’s my new neighbor.”
Evan’s brows rose. “Oh?”
“Yeah. I saw someone had moved in, so I went over to meet them and…yeah.” He paused, then gestured at his eye. “That’s how I got this.”
Evan’s eyes flared wide. “Are you worried about him being violent?”
Gage burst into laughter. “Sorry, but oh my God, no. No, I kind of…broke in?”
“Explain,” Evan said, clicking his pen several times.
Gage’s cheeks burned. “I thought someone was stealing my neighbor’s stuff. I knocked on the door, but no one answered, and all the lights were off. Then I saw a flashlight, and yeah.” He flopped his arms at his sides. “Turns out it was him, and his power had gone out.”
Evan licked his lips. “I see.”
“He was defending himself. Trust me, it wasn’t violence.”
“I believe you.” He set his pen down and leaned toward Gage. “So. It was your friend.”
Gage felt his throat go tight at the word, but it was the only one he was allowed to use. They cuddled a lot and had shared abed several times in the last couple of weeks, but nothing more. Even if it felt like more.
“He’s going through something. I want to talk about it, except I’m not allowed to say anything to friends or family. But the secret’s heavy.”
Evan nodded. “Are you comfortable sharing with me?”
“Yeah, just…” He let out a small puff of air. “So, he’s trans. Did I tell you that?”
Evan shook his head. “Not a detail you shared from last time. Is that relevant?”
“Yeah.” Gage’s fingers twisted in his lap, and then he leaned forward and grabbed one of the NeeDoh cubes from the table. He liked them best. They were stiff and difficult to manipulate, so it kept his hands very occupied. “Do you…I mean, you know about trans people, right?”
Evan let out a small laugh. “Yes, Gage. I know about trans people.”
“I just mean…more than from a textbook.”
Evan’s face softened. “My brother’s trans. He came out when I was fifteen, so most of what I know personally is from him.”
“Oh. Well.” That was a relief. He felt a bit safer now. “So the thing is—the guy that he was dating. The one who hit him and then hit Lucas?”
“Yes.”
“I guess he turned up at Fa—at his…can we come up with a code name?”
