He was pretty much the opposite of okay, but he didn’t want Reid worrying about him. He’d put him through enough in the past twenty-four hours already. Adding to it wasn’t what either of them needed.
I’m okay,Gabriel lied.
The lie made him itch immediately. He’d never been good at subterfuge.
Or I will be okay. I was just scared. I’ll get over it,he added.
There was a slightly longer pause than normal, and Gabriel wasn’t sure what that meant. He spent the whole time staring at the screen of his phone, tapping it when it tried to turn itself off.
I’m bringing dinner to your place tonight,Reid said.
Gabriel let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, his head spinning with relief. Reid still wanted to see him. So much so that he wasn’t evenasking, he was telling.
Gabriel was still sure he could have said no, but he was glad he didn’t have to say yes, or ask in the first place. He was glad Reid wasn’t making him feel as though he was taking up his time.
Reid probably knew that. He’d understood Gabriel from the moment they’d met.
It was easy to forget that they weren’t that different. Reid had already been through this moment, the scary, first part of coming out, and the part where he realized that maybe his career wasn’t the most important thing in his life, maybe putting everything else on hold was a mistake.
Gabriel had a lot to learn from him, if he could just get Reid to stick around long enough.
Okay, Gabriel responded.I’ll make sure I’m home.
Good. Take care of yourself, okay? I care about you.
Gabriel swallowed. He knew, vaguely, that Reid cared about him, but it was a different thing entirely to see it written down like that.
Reid followed it up with a kissing emoji, which was enough to leave Gabriel grinning broadly at his phone. Maybe things would be okay. Maybe the world wasn’t over.
Heart pounding in his chest, he opened the emoji keyboard and searched for the same one so he could send it back. He never used them, but this seemed like an occasion that called for it.
He was so glad he hadn’t lost Reid over this. The thought of not seeing him again made Gabriel nauseous, his chest tight, his head pound.
He wanted Reid in his life. He’d never wanted someone in his life like this before, but he wanted Reid. He wanted more dates, and to spend more time curled up on couches with him.
Gabriel wanted Reid to be his boyfriend.
He just wasn’t sure he could handle having a boyfriend at all.
