There were times when he’d managed to relax, like when he sank into a good book or a computer game. Some movies had done that for him, too. But it wasn’t until that summer when he realized he could feel completely safe around a person other than his mom.
Charlie and Aaron had become his safety net. Sure, he’d had a crush on the blond sheriff’s kid at school for a while before that party. Hell, he’d come out as bi to his mom before that party, and she’d told him to live his truth in the safest way possible. That meant to never, ever tell his dad.
Quinn had an addictive personality, and now that he was off drugs, his faulty brain was looking for other things to get hung up on. He didn’t like the fact that his heart was jumping onto that bandwagon and showing his brain which way to go.
Nobody that had any ties to Quinn would be safe in this town if shit really hit the fan. Sure, Jimmy had settled for the time being, but Quinn knew his cousin. When they were kids, he’d learned that Jimmy held grudges and would, eventually, lash out, sometimes out of nowhere.
When they were six and seven, Quinn had accidentally broken a part of Jimmy’s fancy Hot Wheels garage. After raging a while, Jimmy had said he forgave Quinn, and Quinn had thought that was it. A few days later they played with the cars again and the bit Karen had taped together for them wobbled and broke. Like a snake, Jimmy pushed Quinn over and punched him in the face.
Of course, being seven, he’d pulled away and looked horrified at himself. When Karen came into the room, it had been Jimmy who needed comforting more than Quinn, who’d had a black eye for a week. But Quinn had never forgotten.
And now, as he put his grocery bags into the backseat of his car, he wondered how this would all end. As if on cue, when he closed the door, his gaze landed on a familiar small figure trudging up the opposite side of the street toward the diner.
Lennox. As much as Quinn tried to rationalize away the fact that Lennox wasn’t his son, not in any meaningful way, he was still Quinn’s flesh and blood. And Lennox needed to be safe, just like his mom and Aaron needed to not get caught with all that was going on.
Sighing, Quinn tried to muster some patience from somewhere. He wouldn’t suggest uprooting a child even from a place as shitty as Spruce Creek was just on the possibility that something was about to happen. Besides, he knew Charlie, or at least the girl Charlie had been, enough to be sure that she wouldn’t leave her dad without a good enough reason.
* * * *
In the next few days, nothing changed.
Each evening, Quinn went to have dinner with Ian and Karen, and on two of those nights, Jimmy and Caroline joined them.
When Karen not-so-subtly joked about it being nice to see the young couple join them for change, Quinn realized that it was Jimmy keeping an eye on him. At some point, he’d stopped going to dinner at his parents which most people did after moving out of the house, and then he’d mysteriously reappeared on two nights in a row after he’d gotten suspicious of Quinn.
That felt…exhausting. Quinn felt emotionally drained after each dinner, and ended up going to Aaron’s every night. They didn’t fuck each time, just once when it was Aaron who’d had a bad day after doing more of the renovations and needed that kind of release to get to sleep.
The undercurrent of “fight or fuck” was there still between them. The fact that they had had that one perfect summer and while they’d never thought it was forever, they hadn’t thought it would end like it had, with a gunshot. Quinn figured they were both still more angry about it than either of them would ever admit aloud, so “fight or fuck” it was. There were times when Quinn came close to admitting to Aaron that he was more hurt than he was angry, but there was always that challenge in Aaron’s eyes, and Quinn was always too proud to admit his weakness.
Quinn met Charlie at the diner too, and they talked some when she had a moment, but never about Lennox. It was a discussion that would have to wait. Every time before Quinn left the diner, Charlie would touch him. Squeeze his arm or hand, and on the third day, she hugged him. He’d missed it.
* * * *
By the next weekend, Quinn felt an itch under his skin. He could feel something brewing even more now. And then Day called him again, late one evening when he was trying to decide whether he should go to Aaron or not so he could sleep.
There were no pleasantries exchanged.
“I have confirmation that your cousin has had contact with Burned Skulls for at least three months, if not longer,” Day said in lieu of a greeting.
Quinn started to pace the length of the trailer. “Shit. Okay, so they’re definitely planning something once Ian dies.”
“Yes, but you said it’s months still, right?”
“Yeah, Ian is more tired now than he was last week, but he’s still holding court and taking care of stuff. It’s not like he’s done yet.”
“Which is probably why they’re not taking risks yet.”
“As ruthless as the Skulls are, they don’t want a fight,” Quinn murmured.
“No. They want to swoop in and make sure the town knows they’re there. They’re all about control. It’s just that if anyone objects, they’re quick to cut down that objection.” Day sighed and groaned. “I wish I was somewhere closer, Q. I’m just held up with the thing with the Snakes and I can’t—”
“I know. Thanks, though. If you hear about them actually making a move, let me know as soon as possible. Even into my main phone if the situation calls for it.”
“Yeah, of course. Stay safe. And start thinking about getting your people out of there, just in case.”
“Yeah.”
They ended the call there, and Quinn felt a slight panic pull at his heart. He needed to make a plan, but he couldn’t do it alone.
