Page 13 of Aftermath #1

13

C am was almost home, having walked Bourbon and picked up two burritos, when he saw a man about to ring the doorbell. Because Austin was asleep inside, Cam sped up.

"Can I help you?" he asked irritably.

He vaguely recognized the man as a neighbor from farther down the street. He was around Cam's age, maybe a few years younger, not very tall, slim, his dark hair a lot shorter on the sides than at the top of his head, plenty of ink and piercings, and looked like a mix between a skateboarder and a punk rocker.

"Sorry," the guy said, sticking his hands down into the pockets of his baggy chinos. "I didn’t mean to disturb. I tried to call you earlier."

Cam raised a brow. Maybe this had been the anonymous caller, and it made sense. His home phone number was unfortunately listed, but his cell phone number wasn’t. Though, if this dude had been calling, he could've gotten the number from the contact sheet that everyone on the block had.

"I live down the street," he went on uncomfortably. "I'm trying to get in touch with Chase Gallardo—"

"Not interested," Cam snapped abruptly. Fucking hell, when were people gonna let this go? Idiots were still trying to contact all the surviving men for interviews, and they despised the attention. These were regular men who just wanted to get on with their lives.

Cam couldn’t say he was close to the other guys, Chase included, but he did see them once every other week for their group session with Gale.

"Please wait," the guy practically begged. "I need to talk to him—to apologize."

That made Cam turn his head. With one hand on the door handle, he stared at the younger guy, who appeared to be fighting tears. He hid behind a stony mask of anger, but Cam saw guilt and desperation there, too.

"I was contacted by the police a few weeks ago," the guy explained, stumbling over his words. "Several people in my family were. But it wasn’t until yesterday that a few details about the investigation were made public." Cam had shut out everything about the case, 'cause he saw no reason to follow the damn investigation. It wasn’t like there'd be a trial or anything. Now they were just trying to piece things together, and regardless of how plausible each theory was, they'd never get solid proof. "I found out who Chase Gallardo was supposed to be when you were kidnapped—" he released a shaky breath "—by my half-brother."

Cam clenched his jaw, willing himself to calm down. It was probably the fury in his eyes that made the other guy take a step back. "Who are you, exactly?" he asked in an eerily calm voice.

"My name is Remy." He said it as if it was a crime to carry that name. "Remy Stahl."

Cam nodded jerkily. Chase had been given the name Remy in that basement. It was Psycho's little brother. "Half-brother?"

"Yes." The guy, Remy, tugged at the piercing in his lip, and now he kept his eyes downcast. "My—our…father had an affair with-with my mom." Perhaps that could explain the age gap, 'cause Remy couldn’t be much older than thirty, and Psycho had to have been in his late forties or fifties; plus, he had an older brother, to boot. "Look, I didn’t come here to start trouble or anything. I barely have any contact with my family, but I wanna apologize to Chase…" He trailed off, still looking guilty.

Cam guessed it was survivor's guilt of whatever-the-fuck he could call it.

"I don’t have his number," Cam said. "Don’t know where he lives, either. But…" He hesitated for a beat. "I'm gonna see him next week." They had a group session on Tuesday. He could mention this to Chase then.

Remy nodded and let out a breath. "I'll understand if he doesn’t wanna see me. Is it all right if I drop off a letter for him?"

Cam didn’t really see the harm in that. "I guess."

Bourbon was quick to run into the kitchen to drink, and Cam went for the fridge to get some drinks, too. They'd only been out for a couple hours, but because Cam hadn't really eaten—he didn’t count the scrambled eggs that tasted like shit—he was fucking starving now.

After leaving Austin's burrito in the kitchen, he took his own and a soda and headed for the patio. But when he reached the living room, he stopped short at the sight of the empty bed. Again, he'd only been gone a couple hours, which meant Austin hadn't slept long. At all.

"Austin?" he called out. He didn’t get a response, but when he walked down the hall toward the bathroom, he heard the shower running. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah." Austin's voice was nearly drowned out by the sound of water. "I'll be out soon."

Cam frowned, then told himself he was worrying for nothing, and went outside.

While he sat at the table, shielded by the umbrella, he ate in silence and mulled over the weird meeting with Remy Stahl. He didn’t really know what to make of it, though, so he just shook it off. Maybe if he'd been closer to Chase, he'd have an opinion. All Cam really knew about Chase was that he was a thirty-six-year-old bartender; he was quiet and reserved.

"Shit." Cam rubbed at his chest, having eaten too fast. Again. More Pepto was definitely coming his way.

Pulling his T-shirt over his head, he dropped it in the chair next to him, then fished out his smokes. Around that time, Austin joined him, too, only wearing a towel around his hips. Cam told him there was food for him in the kitchen, so Austin disappeared for a minute, only to return with his burrito.

"Thank you," Austin said quietly, kissing the top of Cam's head. Then he sat down on the other side of table, and Cam saw that his eyes were bloodshot behind his glasses. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Cam pursed his lips and shook his head minutely. "Couldn’t sleep?"

It was Austin's turn to shake his head. "Nightmares." He unwrapped his burrito and seemed to be struggling to keep his breathing even.

"You can talk to me about it," Cam offered carefully.

"The last night," Austin whispered, looking down at his food. "I can't shake the smell of gasoline."

Cam swallowed hard and turned his gaze to the covered pool.

In many ways, the last night in captivity was the absolute worst.

Cam had pictured his final meal to be a bit more extravagant than the usual chicken soup, stale bread, and lukewarm milk. Not that it really mattered. He had no appetite what-so-fucking-ever.

The newly-added smell in the basement didn’t help. A while ago, Psycho had poured gasoline on the floor. It was slowly seeping inside the cells, and the fumes were making everyone dizzy and nauseous.

"You should eat," Austin mumbled automatically.

Cam shook his head, seated on his cot, and stared down into his bowl. After yesterday's announcement from the goddamn psycho, the only thing he could stomach was water.

"Cam…"

"He's gonna set this fucking place on fire," Cam whispered, not lifting his eyes to face his friend. "We're gonna burn alive."

So far, Psycho had followed through on every goddamn promise. He wasn’t afraid to use his gun, and he seemed to get his rocks off in torturing others. There was no reason to believe this was just a scare tactic. If anything, the heavy odor of the gasoline only proved he was planning to set it all on fire.

"I don’t want to think about that." Austin's voice was thick. "Besides—" he tried and failed to brighten his tone "—first, I have a meeting to look forward to."

Cam set down the bowl of soup. There was no fucking way he'd eat it. He felt sick to his stomach, and his body ached after these months of captivity and torture. "Do you think he'll take you and Tim at once? He only mentioned one 'meeting.' 'Cause if it is the both of you…" He was grasping at straws, but what else was he gonna do? "Maybe you can take him."

Austin's mouth twisted into a small grimace. "Didn’t work when we tried, Cam." He sighed. "I'm not going to give up an opportunity if it presents itself, but I'm not counting on it. He's been too meticulous. He drugged us to get us here, cuffed us to slow us down…he gives out food with only enough nutrition to keep us alive, and he has that gun, which he's used more than once." His eyes met Cam's as they both looked up. "I honestly don’t know how much physical strength I have left. I'm constantly tired, and…" He trailed off and averted his eyes. "I don’t know. I don’t think there's any hope left."

Cam forced a smile. "I'm not sure how to deal with this." As had been stated countless times before, he loathed showing weakness. But Austin had proved to be someone Cam didn’t have to hide for. Austin hadn't treated him any differently just because he knew of Cam's disorders. At least not much. Maybe he'd been a bit more patient and attentive, but he didn’t treat Cam like something fragile, and he still didn’t take his bullshit.

"I only have one suggestion." Austin put his food aside. Then he stood up and motioned for Cam to stand, too. They closed the distance between them and Austin moved his cuffed hands over Cam's head, then cupped his neck and rested their foreheads together. "I think it's time for empty promises."

Cam let out a soft breath and nodded in return, reveling in the sense of comfort all while his heart ached at the obvious surrender. Was this it? Had they come so far past believing in rescue that they had to lie to one another in order to cope and keep breathing?

"We'll m-make it out alive," he rasped. "You'll see your wife and daughter again, and I'll be under the hood of some vintage car." He smiled sadly, not really meaning for Austin to see, and tilted his head. "It'll be okay." His nose and lips brushed against the inside of Austin's forearm.

The tension crackled, both men desperate for any kind of closeness. The moment left them confused, but neither moved away for a long while.

Releasing a shaky breath, Austin dropped his forehead to Cam's shoulder. Cam felt as Austin ghosted his lips over his skin. A slow but forceful shiver ran down his spine, pressing heat closer to the surface.

"I'll try—" Austin's voice was threadbare and almost inaudible. "If I see a chance, I'll fight with all I have left."

Those words both soothed and terrified Cam. "Gun or no gun?"

"Gun or no gun."

Cam squeezed his eyes shut as the "empty" promises echoed through him.

They'd made it out alive, but at that point, they really hadn't believed in an escape.

"Hey." Austin grabbed Cam's hand on the table. "I didn’t mean to push my shit onto you."

"Stop." Cam shook his head and threaded their fingers together. "It's cool. I'm okay. I was just thinking…" That Austin had gotten what he wished for. He was back with his wife and daughter.

It was making Cam antsy as fuck to not know exactly what was going on between them. He trusted Austin with his life, and he knew Austin meant what he'd said—he didn’t take any of this lightly. But that didn’t really offer any answers. Austin was always gonna prioritize Riley, and while Cam could understand that—hell, he wouldn’t have it any other way—it made him question things. For instance, would Austin stay with Jade for Riley's sake?

Even if he didn’t, what was Cam ready for? They'd just returned to freedom; their lives were changed forever. Who knew how long they'd be picking up the pieces to put their lives back together. Cam needed his routines; he needed his stability. Then, on the other hand, he needed Austin, too. He wanted them in the same fucking bed at night.

Merely a few hours ago, he'd let Austin fuck him. And it had been…fucking amazing—no other words for it. He rarely bottomed, but that didn’t mean he preferred to top. Well, he did, but bottoming was more intimate, in his opinion. It wasn’t for casual hookups, which meant he hadn't bottomed since college. It was the last time he'd had a steady partner, and it hadn't ended dramatically with broken hearts or anything, but Cam decided casual was better for him. Opening up to another person wasn’t easy, and it took time for Cam to trust. But with Austin?

Cam would do anything for that man.

I'm probably in love with the bastard .

Austin was about to say something when Cam heard a phone ring from inside. It wasn’t his own, so he concluded it was Austin's. "Your phone's ringing," he said, reeling on the inside from his realization about his feelings.

Could that be it? Had he fallen for Austin?

"Oh. It's probably Riley." Austin stood up and went inside.

Cam sighed heavily and lit up a smoke, then started tapping his thumb together with his fingers.

When Austin grabbed his phone off the coffee table, he was surprised to see his home number as caller ID.

Jade and Riley weren’t supposed to be back from visiting Jade's parents in Delano until tomorrow.

"Hello?" He answered the phone, then immediately held it away from his ear when all he was met by were Riley's sobs. "Riley, what's wrong?" Austin was already heading down the hall to get his clothes from last night. "Talk to me, baby girl."

"I don’t wan-wanna move, Daddy!" she wailed.

"What?" He frowned in confusion and pulled on his jeans. "I don’t understand. Can you explain for me?"

Riley kept crying. "Mom said we're gonna move! I don’t wanna move to Delano! I-I have all my friends here!" Austin froze. A mere second later, the phone was ripped away from Riley, and Jade's voice rang out. "It's not what you think, Austin. Riley overheard me and my mother talking, so we left early—Look, can you just come home? Where the hell are you, anyway?" Now she sounded annoyed.

"I…" Austin didn’t know what to say. He was flabbergasted. "Uh—I'm with Cam." He shook his head as if to clear it. Then his anger was back in full force. "What the fuck is Riley talking about?" He pulled on his shirt, awkwardly buttoning it one-handed.

"It's nothing that should be discussed over the phone—Go to your room, Riley!" she yelled in the background. "Hurry, Aust—"

"I'll be there in twenty," he snapped and ended the call.

His mind was a jumbled mess, as per usual, but now there was a bunch of new shit. Jesus Christ, when was it all going to end? This day was proving to be both incredibly difficult to struggle through and…well, with Cam's presence it was manageable.

"Cam, I have to—" He broke off when he saw Cam standing in the hallway with his wallet and car keys. Austin sighed and walked closer. "Thank you," he said quietly, accepting his personal belongings. "Jade and Riley came home early. I have to go."

"I gathered that." Cam offered a forced smile. "Trouble in paradise?"

Austin snorted and put on his shoes. "More like the final nail in the coffin."

He scrubbed a hand over his face, bone-weary and angry. This was one of those times he didn’t want to be an adult. Closing the distance between them, Austin dropped his forehead to Cam's shoulder.

"Tell me to come back." He needed to hear it—to hear that something was real.

Tension he hadn't even noticed before disappeared from Cam's shoulders. "Come back whenever you can," he murmured. "And, um, it's been a taxing day for you. You should probably take your meds."

Austin grinned tiredly and lifted his head. "We'll see." Leaning in, he kissed Cam but ended it too soon. "I'll call you."