Rowan blinked back the tears forming in his eyes as he sucked in a sharp breath. He was trying so damn hard to keep himself together as the painful lump in his throat grew bigger. Quickly lifting a hand to wipe at his eyes, he sniffed and stood. He didn’t even really think about it as he stepped forward and grabbed Kasen by the shoulders, pulling him against his chest again.
“You can love whoever you want to,” He struggled to say in spite of the aching grip his emotions had on his lungs. “You can do whatever you want to….be whatever you want to be, Kase. They can’t take that away from you. Do you hear me?” He pulled back an inch or so to gaze into his eyes. God, why did the kid have to cry like that? Why did somebody have to think it was okay to make him cry like that? “It’s gonna be all right. I promise. We’ll find Houston and everything will get better. It has to.”
Once Kasen had calmed down enough, Rowan convinced him they both needed to get some sleep. He wasn’t sure if he’d actually sleep at all, but he was more concerned for the younger male’s wellbeing than his own. He did care about him, and as Kasen’s breathing evened out beside him, Rowan spent the next few moments watching him sleep.
He lifted a hand to brush the backs of his knuckles against the stubble on Kasen’s jaw. He listened to the steady rhythm of his breathing as his chest rose and fell. He admired the small twitch at the corner of his lips; lips he’d kissed hundreds of times and still wasn’t satisfied. His hunger for Kasen was insatiable, and his need to protect him from the bad in the world steadily grew stronger with each passing day. His desire to make him happy took precedence over everything else, and it was in that moment that Rowan finally realized something.
“I love you,” He murmured, pressing a kiss near the corner of Kasen’s eye. “And I don’t care what they think about it.”
Chapter Twenty One
“Houston!” Kasen called out as he cupped his hands around his mouth and continued walking down the sidewalk. “Houston! Where are you?!”
It was a fat chance, but if Houston was close by, maybe he’d hear his voice and bark. Kasen remained optimistic despite everything that had happened over the last few days. He tried to keep the events from the weekend far from his mind, but it wasn’t easy to do.
He’d stayed at Rowan’s until Monday, which was weird for him. It wasn’t weird because it was Rowan, by any means; but it was because he’d never been to Rowan’s house before then, and he hated that he’d been invited over due to the circumstances.
Rowan meant well-he knew that. Rowan was all around a great person, and Kasen would be forever in his debt for the kindness he’d shown to him since Friday night, but there were some things he needed to do on his own.
The veterinarian was reluctant to head back to the clinic on Monday morning, and even more so reluctant to let Kasen go back home…but they needed this normalcy. Kasen needed the normalcy in order to keep his sanity. If anything was going to get better, it had to start with getting back into a routine.
This wasn’t much of a routine though. Walking down the streets of Chartreuse at 10 AM for the past three days and calling out for his dog was far from the normalcy Kasen wanted. If he had his way, Houston would be back in the safety of his apartment, his posters wouldn’t be ruined, and he wouldn’t be contemplating moving as far away as possible.
“Houston!” He called again, his eyes scanning back and forth from one yard to another. What if Houston was…..
No. He couldn’t and wouldn’t entertain that idea. Houston was fine. Nobody had fed him to alligators, right?
I wouldn’t put it past them, He thought sadly as he rounded the corner. He was on the street that led to the dog park now, and a pain stabbed at his heart as he recalled his happy dog bounding across the lawn. He missed him so much.
He has to be okay.
He saw a familiar head of blond hair seated on the bench where he’d first met Rowan, and he took comfort in the fact he could talk to Jessica. Since that day in the vet’s office, their friendship had blossomed and though he wasn’t used to having many friends, she was definitely a good candidate if he ever considered committing to said friendship.
He closed the gate securely behind himself, letting one foot fall in front of the other as he approached her. Jessica looked up from the book she was reading and then quickly averted her gaze. That was very unlike her.
“Hey, Jess,” Kasen said as he eased down onto the bench beside of her. He turned to stare at her, observing her odd behavior. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Jessica replied softly as she turned the page, clearing her throat. “Have you found Houston yet?”
When Kasen didn’t answer, she lifted her eyes and turned her head in every direction except towards him, “Hm. That’s a silly question, isn’t it?” She sighed. “You wouldn’t be here alone otherwise.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Kasen frowned, studying her more closely as he tilted his head to the side. “What’s wrong, Jess?”
“Nothing,” She replied quickly, shaking her head. She seemed to be deeply engrossed with her book-or at least that’s what she was pretending to do. Kasen couldn’t shake the nagging in the back of his mind as he leaned over and rested a hand against the bench seat.
“Look at me, Jess.”
She was hesitant, but Jessica slowly turned her head to gaze at him. It barely took a millisecond for Kasen to spot the light bruise resting on her right jaw, and upon seeing it, something inside of him stirred. Chills ran down his spine; goose bumps erupted on his skin; and Kasen felt his nostrils burning in warning of angry tears.
“What happened?” He whispered.
Jessica blinked back tears, dropping her eyes to her lap instead of holding his gaze. She sniffled softly and shrugged her shoulders, “Well I ain’t gonna lie and say I fell on something,” She released a disgusted laugh before moistening her lips with a quick swipe of her tongue. “He said I deserved it for back talking.”
His suspicions were confirmed, and it took everything in him to remain seated. He was not a fan of the idea of a man abusing a woman. Nothing ever gave anybody the right to hurt another person.
“That’s bullshit,” Kasen replied hoarsely. “Your husband did this to you? Jessica, you have to-”
“I know what you’re going to say, Kase,” She cut him off, finally meeting his gaze once more. “You’re going to say I have to report it and that I have to leave him…but it’s not that easy, you know? My mama won’t let me come back home. My mama didn’t even believe me when I told her about it,” She sniffled softly, wiping at her eyes with her coat sleeve. “He’s never really done anything like this before. Sure, he’s yelled at me a few times…but he’s never hit me.”
“Why did he hit you?” Kasen asked as he slid closer, wrapping his arm around her trembling shoulders. “I mean, it doesn’t matter because he shouldn’t have touched you in the first place….but what happened?”
She released a shaky breath as she toyed with the golden band on her ring finger. She glanced towards the sky, blinking back fresh tears before speaking again.
“I told him…..that he was a disgusting, narrow-minded prick and I was gonna report his ass for vandalism and harassment.”
His heart may have stopped. Hell, time may have stood still as Kasen stared at her with wide eyes. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? Jessica nodded slowly.
“After I got off the phone with you the other night, you know, after everything had happened and you went to stay with Rowan, he flew off his rocker and started screaming at me for talking to you. He just…he went insane, Kasen. He said I didn’t need to be hanging out with the likes of you, and when I asked him what the hell that was supposed to mean, he went off on this rant of gay people and how they’re going to hell.
“That’s when I asked him if he had anything to do with the prank calls and your place, you know? Or maybe if he knew who was doing it….and he got so mad. He got so mad at me,” She sobbed, burying her face into her hands. “I couldn�
�t let him do that to you. He ain’t got no right to be harassing people, but especially not you, Kasen.”
He was at a loss for words as his arm tightened around her. He felt horrible for the fact he was the reason she’d gotten hurt. And then, it made him angry.
“You have to leave him,” Kasen whispered. “You can come stay with me, Jess. You and Diana can come live at my place until you’re on your feet again.”
“I can’t do that,” She whimpered. Her voice was muffled from between her hands, but he could make out most of her words. She was saying something about ‘scared’ and ‘he’ll kill me’, but Kasen didn’t give a damn about what her husband would –try- to do. He couldn’t let her go back home to that.
“Jess, come on,” He pleaded gently, rubbing his hand up and down her back in a soothing manner. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m sorry he hit you because of me.”
“Don’t you be sorry,” She argued in a stronger voice. She lifted her head and wiped at her eyes again, taking in a deep breath. “I won’t stand by and let this happen, Kasey. You’re not going to fight this fight alone,” Her voice broke on her again and more tears slid down her cheeks. “Everybody should have the right to live in peace and love freely. I’m on your side and I reckon there’s a name for that, too. Toby called me a fag hag.”
Oh, he really didn’t like this Toby character at all. In fact, he could remember Toby from high school. An arrogant, pompous piece of work that had to be an alpha male about everything. He was the captain of the football team and he came from a long lineage of assholes.
“Well, so what if you’re a fag hag?” Kasen asked, though he hardly thought the term was nice at all. “You can be my fag hag and he’s not going to touch you again. You hear me?”
Jessica sniffled again but tried to smile, “I hear you,” She replied softly.
“You have to report him,” Kasen repeated. “And I’m not taking no for an answer. You’re coming to stay with me.”
----------------------
“All right, Sosa, you’re ready to go,” Rowan smiled half-heartedly as he scratched the Dalmatian behind the ears, allowing him to hop off the table. “Just make sure he gets plenty of rest for a small while more and he’ll be as good as new, Chief.”
“Well, we sure do appreciate it,” The Chartreuse Fire Department chief nodded, grinning as he reached down to pat Sosa on the back. “I didn’t really want to take him two towns away to have this done, Doctor Kelly. I’m glad you were here to do it.”
“It’s no problem,” Rowan nodded, guiding him back out to the receptionist’s desk. Natasha was feeling under the weather, so he was handling everything on his own today. Not that he minded, actually. He found comfort in the silent atmosphere; he needed it. After everything that had happened, he just needed a few minutes to collect his thoughts.
“Say uh, Doc,” The chief cleared his throat, leaning against the counter as he glanced at him. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but it’s a popular topic in town at the moment…”
Rowan lifted an eyebrow.
“Well, I know there’s been a lot going on for you here in this last little while, but I was just wondering if they ever caught the little punk that vandalized your clinic.”
Rowan sighed, sliding Sosa’s file back in with the other charts as he shook his head, “Funnily enough, no.”
“Dang,” The chief shook his head. “That’s just a real shame, Son. I’m sorry to hear that. You think they’d do a little more to keep our neighborhoods safe. I couldn’t tell you the last time I heard of anybody destroying somebody else’s property. It’s like with the Reed boy…I swear, that’s just the most reckless thing I’ve ever heard of.”
“Reckless,” Rowan echoed thoughtfully, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. The only thing the cops knew about –and apparently all of Chartreuse, too- was that Kasen’s apartment had been burglarized and his dog was gone. Kasen had decided against telling them about the phone calls, though Rowan was certain somebody must’ve heard him on the air that night. He also refused to tell them about the two dumb-fucks in the parking lot in fear of Rowan getting into trouble. “Yeah, well, the police department doesn’t seem to be too worried about it.”
“What do you mean?” The chief frowned as he stroked the thick beard adorning his chin. “The police worry about everything around here. We pride ourselves in being a safe town. We have a fairly low crime rate.”
“Against your outstanding citizens, I’m sure,” Rowan stated flatly as he stared at him. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, Chief, I really do-but I’m not surprised. I don’t expect your police department to help me, or even one of their own. I’m going to get to the bottom of it on my own. I don’t need the men in uniform to help me.”
“Be that as it may,” The chief leaned over the counter, his piercing green eyes staying on Rowan’s face. “I just want you to know that you’ve got my support.”
Rowan stared at him in surprise. What?
“Son, I know I ain’t no spring chicken, and maybe a lot of my peers might think I’m crazy….but what happened here was wrong. Plain and simple, it was wrong. Now, I don’t have much care for what you do in your off time, but I don’t reckon it’s anybody else’s business or their place to be bothering you. So…I just want you to know that me and my boys will keep an eye out when we pass by here on our way home at night. It ain’t much, but it’s the least I can do since you took such good care of Sosa.”
Rowan didn’t know what to say. Hell, he was still speechless as the fire chief left with Sosa in tow. Long after the fire chief’s cruiser was out of sight, Rowan stood in the lobby with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that a man like that would be on his side.
“Maybe there’s still hope for Chartreuse yet,” He commented as he glanced at Napoleon. The sleepy dog didn’t even bother to open his eyes as he huffed in response.
The rest of his day passed by fairly quickly, and Rowan found it difficult to concentrate on much else because his mind was focused on Kasen. They needed to find Houston, but he didn’t have the slightest clue on where to begin. He’d seen the posters around town. Kasen had printed off at least a hundred of the brightly colored announcements, begging for any information that would lead to the recovery of his canine companion. All Rowan wanted to do was bring him home.
In the short two months that Rowan had been in Chartreuse, he found himself losing his heart to a younger man with beautiful blue eyes and a contagious laugh. He had no control over the situation, and it terrified him. Everything else that was happening only seemed to fuel the fire he felt in his soul for Kasen, and that in itself was saying something.
He was more than aware of the words he’d uttered to the sleeping male a few days before, and he knew that the statement fell upon deaf ears. Kasen hadn’t mentioned anything about it and he had no way of knowing how he felt in return. Sure, he knew Kasen liked him back, but God….it was unnerving. How had he allowed himself to fall for someone so quickly and recklessly? Not to mention how dangerous the situation was for both of them. A missing dog, damaged property, and faceless enemies –save for the two idiots he’d roughed up- still wanted to hurt them; how were they to overcome it?
The fire chief said they would support us, He thought as he closed yet another folder and pushed it aside. He wouldn’t have any more patients today. He could leave early if he wanted to, but he knew that as soon as he walked out that door he’d want to head to Kasen’s.
I can’t do that, He frowned. Kasen needs some space and I have to respect that. It’s what he’d wanted in the first place, wasn’t it? To take a break so people wouldn’t grow more suspicious. Hell, it’s exactly what he’d asked for! But now that he had it, he didn’t want it anymore. He wanted Kasen.
Chapter Twenty Two
“Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here?” Jessica asked as she dropped her backpack onto the couch and stared
at him.
Kasen turned his head to look at her from the kitchen, grinning, “Well duh. I wouldn’t have invited you if I wasn’t okay with it. Make yourself at home, Jess. My house is your house.”
She laughed gently, hugging her arms around herself as she entered the kitchen, “Aren’t you supposed to say that in Spanish?”
“Yep,” He pulled down two of the small plates that had survived the burglary, placing them on the counter. “But I suck at Spanish, so you just got the Kasen version of it.”
“Well, I like the Kasen version,” She smiled warmly before dropping her gaze.
“Are you hungry?” He asked, moving to the fridge to rummage through it. He caught sight of Houston’s food he always stored away and the sadness returned tenfold.
“Hey,” Jessica’s hand was suddenly on his shoulder and he turned to glance at her. “We’ll find him, okay?”
“Yeah,” He nodded, though he wasn’t sure he could hold onto that hope for much longer. If someone had stolen his dog, the chances of them letting him come home were slim to none. Perhaps he needed to start accepting the fact Houston was gone for good.
They ultimately decided to bake one of the many frozen pizzas Kasen kept in stock, laughing over their meal as they reminisced over their high school days. Diana was sprawled out on the living room carpet nearest to the kitchen, snoring softly.
“Do you remember the time Brent Miller stole the remote control to the TV in the cafeteria?” Jessica asked with another laugh.
“Oh yeah,” He nodded, putting down the crust of his pizza so he could get a quick drink. “He kept turning it to MTV and the lunch ladies couldn’t figure out what was happening.”
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