Page 14

Kennedy

I was brilliant.

Like fucking brilliant levels of smarts.

As the movie started to hit the stressful point where I’d usually ask Francis what he thought would happen and I’d start to get anxious, I was able to watch quietly. I actually managed to study what was going on so I’d have more to tell Anson about.

Fucking brilliant.

“You’re scaring me.” Francis seemed to snap as he grabbed the remote off the coffee table and glared at me as he paused the movie. “What the hell is going on?”

He was insane…and really hard to please.

“Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Grasping at straws for what would help, I looked toward the kitchen. “Let me get you some water.”

If it worked for aftercare, it would probably work for Francis.

Hopefully.

“That’s…” His voice trailed off as I got up and headed for the kitchen, but I knew he still wasn’t happy because he flopped back on the couch and sighed as he rubbed his face. “I’m going crazy.”

Agreeing with that seemed like it might be rude, but I wasn’t going to argue against it…so I stayed quiet and just brought him water.

Anson would’ve been proud of me for finding a Dom-based solution to the problem.

“Here you go.” The pizza had been slightly salty, so maybe that had something to do with his mood swings?

Did subs end up with too much salt during a scene?

Was that why Doms always wanted them to drink water?

Telling myself I’d text Anson later since he wanted me to let him know when I got home safe, I sat down and nodded toward the TV. “Do you want me to start it again?”

That had not been the right question.

His mouth dropped open and he looked like a fish. “What the fuck, Kennedy?”

How was I at fault for whatever his emotional breakdown was about?

Had he always been this insane?

We’d been hanging out for a few years, but I just couldn’t remember his crazy level being so high when we’d first started doing movie nights and going out.

“Are you okay?” I stopped worrying about doing the right thing since that hadn’t helped at all. “Is your battery too high? Too low?”

He was too something.

Francis’s mouth was still hanging open but he started shaking his head. It was progress but not actually enough information to be useful at all. People said I talked too much but at least I’d have been helpful in sorting out the problem.

So I waited.

And waited.

Just when I was at the point where I thought calling Anson might be a good idea, Francis sighed and his mouth closed. That was definitely moving in the right direction, and thankfully I didn’t have to wait much longer for him to get words out. “You’ve been really quiet.”

Huh?

That was it?

I managed not to sigh or roll my eyes, so I was going to make sure Anson knew I deserved a reward. “You don’t like it when I talk too much. You think I’m exhausting.”

I still didn’t understand why or how, but I’d seen enough evidence to know he wasn’t lying.

He was just insane.

“But you talk.” He waved his hand between me and the TV. “We watch a movie and you talk. I don’t even know what you think of the costumes or the bad CGI.”

“You find that exhausting.” Repeating that didn’t seem like it was helping, so I tried again. “Movie night is supposed to be relaxing. Why is me being quiet worse than me being chatty?”

I was starting to think the reason I didn’t have more friends wasn’t all my fault.

“But you talk.” Francis seemed stuck on that point like the computer right before that blue screen hit. “You talk.”

Yep, he was going to blue screen if I wasn’t careful.

At work I’d call IT and let them fix the problem, but there was no IT for people.

Hmm.

“Do you have a therapist?” They were IT for people, right? “I think you need someone to talk to.”

Not me. But someone.

And the fish face was back.

It took him a bit longer to make his brain work that time, but eventually he sighed and closed his eyes. For some reason that seemed to help. “Your way of functioning during a movie is to talk. You’re making me very uncomfortable with your silence.”

There was no pleasing him.

“I make you very uncomfortable with my talking.” Repeating the obvious was all I could do. “Why aren’t you happy?”

That made him pause.

“I don’t know.” He finally sounded like he understood he was being ridiculous. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. The change in your behavior makes me uncomfortable.”

So?

“You do a lot of things that make me uncomfortable. Aren’t we supposed to ignore those things?” I might’ve been a dick but I wasn’t really trying to be a dick. “I’m not sure what to say to you.”

Offering more water wasn’t going to help.

“I…we’re going to come back to what I’m doing later, but for now can you explain why you’re being so quiet?” Something made his eyes pop open and he looked even more stressed. “Are you mad at me? Did something happen on your date?”

Why were those the only two options?

“No and that’s too vague. My dates have been fine, though. Thank you.” The way he silently repeated the word dates said I needed to give him more information. “We had dinner together on Monday night.”

Francis said I couldn’t tell him about our sex life, so I just left the story at dinner.

Since I wasn’t the one who was trying to be rude.

“But no problems, though.” Anson was wonderful.

He was patient.

He liked talking to me.

He liked taking care of me.

He understood helping me with penis experiments was part of the whole taking care of me thing.

Yep, no problems there.

My problems were all right in front of me.

“Would you like to ask me a different question or would you like to explain what’s going on?” I was not going to feel bad for his mental breakdown, but I would be helpful if he could articulate the problem. “Because right now I’m not sure why you’re doing this.”

Francis nodded, closing his eyes again and taking a deep breath. Letting it out slowly seemed to be giving him time to process because he managed to talk without sounding insane. “Can you explain why you’re not talking? Aside from the fact that you’re trying to make me happy by being quieter.”

Okay.

“I watched it on Sunday night with Anson. I got all my talking out there and I was just enjoying watching it this time for little details and to find things to tell him about. Did you realize that someone in wardrobe really screwed up because his shoes have gone from black to brown and back to black again?” His clothes weren’t supposed to change.

Opening his eyes, Francis nodded then shook his head and then nodded again. “That’s what you’re supposed to be doing. You tell me things like that when we watch the movie. But no, I didn’t realize that.”

“Do you realize it sounds like nothing I can do makes you happy?” Reminding myself that I made Anson happy, I tried not to take it personally. “I know you don’t like talking about work, but is something wrong? Are you okay?”

Francis never wanted to talk about work because he said it was stressful and he just wanted to leave all that stress at the hospital, but I was starting to think that was a bad plan.

“Work’s been…” Shaking his head, Francis frowned. “No, that’s not okay, but I’m sorry I’ve been letting it punish you.”

There was no good response to that, so I just did my best. “I’m sorry work has been so stressful.”

“Thank you.” Francis sat straighter, opening his eyes again. “Let’s finish watching the movie. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

“Sure.” I wasn’t sure I could honestly tell him it was okay or I was fine, but I could finish watching the movie.

Then I’d call Anson and he could fix me.

Yep, best plan ever.

****

“I’m sorry I whined so much you had to come over.” That was the best I could do since I was glad he’d overridden my polite responses and had come over anyway. It also didn’t make me more believable when I wiggled closer and tried to bury myself under him on the bed.

“You had a stressful night and needed cuddles.” Anson honestly seemed to think coming over to fix me was his job, so I’d decided not to argue about it.

I liked that rule, so I wasn’t going to try to change it.

“I do.” Inching under him finally made him realize he was supposed to wrap me up like I was the inside of a burrito. When I was bundled up tight, the itchy feeling under my skin finally faded. “Francis was…very not Francis.”

“He actually got angry at you for not talking during the movie?” Anson’s disbelief made me feel better.

“Yeah. I thought suggesting the movie we’d already watched together would be a great idea because then I’d be quiet. I found a few random things I’m going to show you later, but it worked. I was quiet. I wasn’t talking too much or asking questions Francis thought were stupid.” It’d worked. I wasn’t sure how it’d gone badly but that part had worked.

“And he got angry because you were quiet and it was making him uncomfortable?” Anson was still sounding like it was ridiculous, but there was less confusion in his voice. “Well, it seems like Francis doesn’t like change and maybe he thought you were upset with him?”

“Well, he asked me if I was mad at him and then about our date.” I shrugged since it didn’t make a lot of sense. “I told him we were fine and my date went great. I didn’t even overshare.”

I’d tried to follow all his rules so I wouldn’t drain his battery.

Fucking batteries were terrible.

I was really glad I didn’t seem to have one.

“I asked him about work and he said it was stressful but that was where our conversation ended. We finished the movie and then I called you and came home and then you were here.” I sighed as Anson rubbed my back and made my tortilla even tighter. “Thank you for coming even though I said you didn’t have to.”

“I like spending time with you, first of all.” Anson kissed my head and his hand came up to knead my neck. “Secondly, you were not terribly believable.”

Yep, I thought that had been an issue.

Oh well.

“Thirdly, I needed a recharge.” Anson’s long-suffering sigh made me giggle. “I didn’t talk to any humans today and I almost ordered delivery just to talk to the guy who delivers for the Chinese place.”

As I yawned, he chuckled and his fingers gently stroked the back of my head. “He’s straight but very chatty and I like hearing about his relationship with his girlfriend. They’re wonderfully dramatic and make the craziest decisions.”

He was so funny.

“What…” Ugh. Yawns were a pain in the ass. “What did they do?”

Anson scoffed. “Not tell his mother they were dating for one thing. He’s fallen in love with one of his mother’s friends from when she was in high school. Not quite enemies but they were rivals and she’s going to go apeshit when she figures it out.”

Oh dear.

“That’s…” A fucking mess. “She’s going to think it’s…it’s to get back at her, right?”

That was what would happen in a book or a movie.

“I think so, but nothing the delivery guy has said makes it sound like that. He said they met at the grocery store and he didn’t realize who she was until they’d been dating a month.” Anson’s voice said he believed it but I wasn’t sure.

“Is she…did she…” Something. “I think…”

I’d finish my question once I stopped yawning and I could think more clearly.

“The girlfriend? He’s shown me pictures and I thought she was significantly younger too. He also doesn’t look as young as he actually is, so I think the age gap is explainable. But the rest…I don’t know.” Anson might not know but he wanted to find out. “But let me tell you what else he said.”

I was going to tease him about it…

Later, I’d…

There was something…