When the man left his apartment, immediately, he felt horrible, and he wanted what Corbin had said.
He wanted someone to tell him he was loved every day, so that he could walk in the light, not the darkness.
“Did you mean it?” he asked. “What you said before you walked out the door?”
He nodded.
“I’ll say it enough for both of us. You won’t wonder. I learned how to be a partner and significant other by watching Gene and Ethan in their younger years. I learned how to be what a person needs. I want to try,” he said. “Because I’m tired of being alone, and I found someone I love being around.”
Alex believed him.
So far, he had no reason not to believe him.
“I want to navigate this with you,” Alex said. “I’m broken and in pieces, but I can give you what I have left. Maybe, I’ll be enough.”
Corbin hugged him again, and let him rest against his body.
“Alex, you’re whole. I see you as that, and not damaged. Let’s just see what we can make before we worry about it not being good enough.”
That sounded good.
He wanted to try.
Oh, he had no idea how to do any of this, so it would be a learning experience. Coming back here, willing to try, had been a huge step for him. Normally, he’d leave.
He left after sex.
He left when it got difficult.
Now, he came back, and that had to mean something.
“I brought you lunch,” he admitted, setting Corbin free and going to his messenger bag. He pulled out a bag with a familiar logo on it.
“Burgers it is,” Corbin said.
Alex was curious.
“Were you working?” he asked.
He held out his hand, and Alex actually reached for him. Yeah, that was a start, and Corbin knew it. There was a foundation there. All he had to do was build on it.
Right?
“Yeah, Elizabeth had me researching someone. I’m just about done. I’m just trying to get the burial location,” he said, telling him what she’d updated him with.
When he was done, Alex was silent.
“What are you thinking?” Corbin asked. “You look worried. Share?”
He did.
As he was toeing off his shoes, to sit on the bed where they could eat, he was honest.
“Do you think she’ll let me have my job back?” he asked. “I’m not sure she will. I’ve burned that bridge so many times, and she has to be exhausted dealing with me.”
In his mind, that was a no-brainer. Corbin believed she would.
But what Alex needed was that reassurance.
