“I dreamt you left,” Mac said. “You walked away. And I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Melvin said gently.
“You were already gone.”
Silence again. Melvin reached out, took Mac’s hand, and brought it to his cheek, right where the scar lived. Warm and present.
“See?” Melvin said softly. “I’m still here.”
Mac swallowed hard, and then the next words came heavy. “Baxter knows.”
Melvin’s breath caught. He kept Mac’s hand against his face anyway and didn’t pull away.
“I told him,” Mac said quietly. “Yesterday. After the morning command brief. In his office.”
Melvin held steady. “How’d he take it?”
Mac’s voice cracked. “Better than I expected. He said I’m a good officer. Said the rest is just humanity.”
Something in Melvin’s chest loosened, anger and relief tangled together. “He’s right.”
Mac stared out into the dark. “I didn’t know if I should tell you.”
“Thank you for telling me now,” Melvin said.
Mac lowered his hand, but he didn’t let go. Their fingers stayed linked.
“I respect him,” Mac said. “More than I’ve said. When I came here, I was carrying things I didn’t think anyone needed to see. He gave me space to lead. To show up without explaining every scar.”
Melvin listened, throat tight.
“And I told him,” Mac continued, voice low and steady. “I told him I’m gay. And that you and I, it’s not just rumors. It’s real. And we’ve done everything we can to stay within regs. But I didn’t want it coming from someone else if it got louder.”
Melvin didn’t blink. Didn’t move. He just kept breathing.
“What did he say?” Melvin asked.
Mac’s mouth twitched once, humorless. “He said, ‘Okay.’”
Melvin let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
“He told me I hadn’t compromised the mission,” Mac went on. “Said I’d led with discipline. Said I’d earned his trust. Said I didn’t owe him that truth, but he was glad I brought it to him.”
Melvin nodded slowly. “And advice?”
Mac’s eyes stayed on the horizon. “Be solid. Be careful. Don’t give them anything they can twist.”
Melvin’s jaw tightened. “And if it stops being safe?”
Mac’s voice was quiet. “He said to go straight to him, no chain of command and no delay.”
That sat between them for a moment, heavy and real. Melvin stayed close enough for Mac to feel, not close enough to give anyone a clean picture if the wrong set of eyes cut across the dark.
Eventually the sky began to pale and the night softened into morning, and they climbed down in silence.
They didn’t talk much on the walk back. They moved in step through the pre-dawn quiet, boots scraping gravel, shoulders brushing now and then, neither pulling away. They were almost back when Mac finally spoke.
“What happens next?”
