“Has Jayne been in space recently?”
Everett shrugged. “Dunno.”
“Guess we’ll have to take our chances.”
There were things Jayne was aware that he could be doing, like close the door, say hello, or doanythingother than stand and stare, but he was fairly certain that the force of his mind exploding had left him little more than one of the charred, skeletal husks that crumbled into pieces in old-timey cartoons.
“Judging by the look on your face, we should probably explain ourselves,” Caleb said, trying, but failing, to hide how satisfied Jayne’s reaction had made him. “Everett and I have wanted to help, but we weren’t sure where to start. It’s not like we could help you fill out paperwork, or go to work for you, or follow up with your insurance claim, so we had a discussion, and this is the result.”
Caleb gestured at the table. How a discussion about paperwork and insurance claims had led to the shopping spree of the decade, Jayne had no idea, but he wasn’t about to dispute the validity of Caleb’s story. There were more important things to do, like focus on keeping upright, and trying not to sob with delight.
“We weren’t sure if you’d like it,” Everett admitted in what was probably the biggest lie of the century. “It was a bit of a gamble for us. We know that makeup isn’t as helpful as clothing, but to be honest, neither of us had any idea what your size was, or what teenagers like to wear these days, or how to buy appropriately sized baby clothes.”
“And you’d think that we would, right? Since our brothers have brought two little monsters into the world. But, nope.” Caleb planted his hands on his thighs and leaned forward. “So, since we didn’t know, we went out and bought you some mall gift cards instead. That way you’ll be able to shop for the right fitandpick up things you really need that our dumb asses haven’t even thought of.”
“Like shoes,” Everett offered.
Caleb winced. “Shoes!Fuck. I didn’t even think about shoes.”
“And I don’t know… maybe some toiletries, or a blanket that reminds you of home.”
“Or a motherfucking toolbox and plunger.” Caleb gestured at the makeup. “But since you didn’t show up at Circuit Rush wearing lug nuts on your nipples and literal hammer pants, we thought leaving the choice to you would be a safer bet.”
Jayne laughed, and like a sheet of ice cascading from a cliffside to crash upon the ground below, the emotions he’d kept frozen within himself burst and shattered, unleashed upon the world at last.
Wonder. Excitement. Uncertainty. Love.
So much love.
It bubbled in the sound of his voice and built until tears slipped down his cheeks. His heart, battered by the last three years and worn thin by the events of the prior week, gave up the fight. Its walls fell. Caleb and Everett owed him nothing, yet they gave like Jayne was their everything.
“Whoa, hey, did we get something wrong?” Everett asked, frowning. “Don’t cry. It’s Friday night, so the mall should be open until nine. We can head back over and you can get whatever it is you need. We didn’t mean to make you upset.”
Jayne wanted to correct him, but he couldn’t find the words to say. Thoughts skipped off the surface of his mind like flat rocks across water, the ripples they left behind simple impressions of what had come before. All he knew was what he felt—that he was happy, and that, for once, he was safe.
The tears came on thicker. Jayne tried to brush them away on the back of his hand, but they kept coming. At last, unwilling to let Everett believe they’d done him a disservice, Jayne shook his head.
“I mean, if there is something missing, we can go get it for you,” Caleb added. “It’s no big deal. The guy working the floor told us that this would be everything you’d need, but Everett and I know as much about makeup as we do astrophysics, so it’s not like we’d know. We just went in and asked for everything.”
“The complete package.”
“Both sparkly and subtle.”
“And if he lied to us, so help him, I’m going to go back there and get all Hornet on his ass.”
Everett burst out laughing, then hooked his arms around Caleb’s neck and kissed him deeply. Caleb grunted something into his mouth, laughed, and melted into Everett, returning his kiss with passion that only longtime lovers shared. They collapsed together against the front of the couch, tangled in each other’s arms. The sight of them so happy together tugged at Jayne’s heart and brought heat to his already flushed cheeks. With all the love Caleb and Everett had for each other, Jayne couldn’t imagine they’d have space to love anyone else, yet here they were, treating Jayne with kindness like no one ever had before. It wasn’t a trick, like Shep thought, nor was it a ploy to get into Jayne’s pants. If it had been, they would have already acted on their urges.
Their end goal wasn’t Jayne’s body—it was his heart.
“No, it’s not that.” Jayne wiped away fresh tears. “I could never be upset over something like this, whether something was missing or not.”
Caleb put his hand on Everett’s chest and pushed him away. Everett, who seemed less than pleased that the kiss had ended, made an attempt to grab Caleb’s shirt and pull him back, but Caleb wrangled him onto the floor and pinned him. Both of them were panting, breathless from their kiss, and it made Jayne ache for the lighthearted, playful love that they shared.
“Then what is it?” Caleb asked, climbing off Everett so he could resume sitting. Everett did the same, pushing himself up onto his elbows, then scooting over so he sat close enough to Caleb that they could hold hands, but far enough away that there was space between them.
“It’s you.” Senses slowly returning, Jayne closed the door and made sure it was locked, then closed the distance between himself, Caleb, and Everett. He stepped over Everett’s legs and came to sit between them, his back to the coffee table and his knees tented. “You and Everett. You…” Jayne sniffled, then laughed his tears away. “You don’t know what this means to me, do you?”
Everett laid a hand on Jayne’s calf. His thumb worked small, soothing circles through the denim of his jeans. “I think we might have an idea.”
