Page 64

“Mom, Dad, why don’t you go with Tabby and get some food downstairs?” she says, motioning toward the door. Tabby takes the hint too and starts talking about how hungry she is as she comes to give me a hug.

“Oh, my friend Becca made this for you,” she says, slipping a colorful bracelet off her wrist and putting it on mine.

The beads all have little cats and dogs on them, framing the word HERO.

“Ben has a matching one.” He smiles and holds his wrist up, then Tabby kisses me on the cheek and bounces out of the room with my parents in tow.

When they’re gone, Molly lets out a loud sigh.

“You are so fucking dramatic, you know that?” she chides, sinking into the chair beside me. “You pull some stunt like that and then immediately come out to our Catholic parents when you wake up?”

“You wanted me to tell them!” I cough.

“They were gonna fi nd out sooner or later!” she insists. “Anyway, I hope the two of you are ready for a circus.”

“Why?” Ben asks with a frown. “What circus?”

Molly pulls her phone out and swipes a few times, then shows us half a dozen news articles about the shelter fire and the two ‘local heroes’ who saved every single cat and dog inside.

“All of them made it?” I ask, the lump reappearing suddenly in my throat. “Even the kittens?”

“The news stations are having an absolute field day with it. They’ve been calling the hospital constantly asking when they can come and do an interview, so you might want to figure out how you’re gonna play this if you aren’t ready for everyone else to know.

” She motions at our clasped hands. “They also said that, even though the fire started right next to the cat room, there was something keeping the smoke away from them, and something that prevented the explosion from hitting the room. A couple stations called it a miracle, and Mom really latched onto that, especially since…”

She touches my shoulder, where the burn mark is.

“Since what?” I ask. Gently, Ben reaches down and peels back the bandage they’ve laid over top of the wound. It’s shaped like a handprint. Five fingers, and a palm, right over my heart. I look up at Ben and see tears gathering in his eyes.

“Mom thinks it was an angel,” Molly says softly.

“Maybe it was,” I murmur. Ben squeezes my hand hard, and Molly glances between us.

“I’ll let you get some rest,” she says suddenly, standing up. I swear I see her wipe tears from her own face too before she grabs her purse and leaves the room.

“Are you ok?” I ask Ben. “I’m sorry I told them about us without you here, it just…it seemed easier.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” he says, sitting on the edge of the bed. “They took it alright?”

“Well, Dad is afraid of Molly,” I laugh. “Her word is law.”

Ben laughs too, then glances at the door and leans in to kiss me. I melt in his arms, pulling him closer, hoping I never have to let go.

“How do you want to play this?” He pulls away just enough to speak, but keeps one arm around my back and leans his forehead against mine. “I mean…we don’t have to do an interview. We could just say no. Or we can tell them we’re roommates.”

“What would make you comfortable?” I ask him.

He smiles against my lips. “I’m already a local scandal anyway. You’re the hero of the hour, Theo. You went in there to save those animals. I just went in to save you. So, you get to decide how we deal with this. I’ll follow your lead.”

I close my eyes and breathe him in. He stinks, honestly.

Smoke and sweat and that weird, too-clean hospital smell, plus whatever ointment they put on his burns.

But he’s still Ben. My Ben. The love of my life.

I can’t push him into the shadows just because I’m afraid. He deserves more of me than that.

“That interview you did,” I say softly, “at Found Family—when you came out. They asked what people could do to support the kids there, and you said that just being visible and being proud was enough. You said it’s important for the kids to see queer adults being themselves and being happy, so…

that’s what I want to do. I want those kids to see you on the news and see that you’re happy now, and that coming out didn’t ruin your life.

And…I want everyone to know how much I love you. ”

Ben’s warm eyes widen for a second, then his forehead crinkles and he kisses me again. The way he does it makes it feel like it’s the first time, and I suppose, in a way, it is.

Over the next few days, we don’t talk ab out Annie.

I’m not sure how to, and I don’t think Ben even wants to.

Her absence hangs in the air between us like smoke.

We can’t change it, and I think if we talk about it, we both might break down.

Instead, we talk to the doctors, and we talk to the news stations, and we even talk to Ben’s parents when they show up with his sister, Yelena.

It’s pretty clear that she coerced them into coming, that they would rather have spoken to Ben in private, but Yelena is a force of nature.

She might be even scarier than Molly, and she jumpstarts the conversation by introducing me as Ben’s boyfriend.

He explains our relationship to his parents, explains what happened at the shelter, and tells them how happy he is, not letting go of my hand once the entire time.

They reply to him in Spanish, and I can’t tell if they’re angry or not because their voices are so calm and controlled.

All I can do is watch and take in how much Ben resembles them.

His mom, Veronica, looks like a movie star—wearing a designer dress and heels, her sleek, black hair pulled into a tight bun, fiddling with the gold crucifix around her neck.

Mauricio, his dad, looks like what I would call ‘old money’, with a three-piece suit, an impressive mustache, and distinguished streaks of silver through his dark curls.

Ben has their features—the hair, the arched nose, the dark eyes—but he’s wearing beat up jeans and a worn out Nirvana shirt that Mak brought from the apartment when she went to go check on Rex.

He hasn’t left my side for days, and I’m grateful, so when his parents lay into him, I grip his hand tighter.

They argue for a while, and Yelena jumps in every so often, helping Ben hold his ground.

I’m not sure exactly what his parents are upset about, but I think it has more to do with Ben being laicized than with me, or our relationship.

Mauricio, at least, seems to be a bit softer than Veronica.

I can see that they love him, and they’re thankful he’s safe, but they just don’t know how to deal with the whole situation.

Finally, the tension breaks ever so slightly.

Ben’s signature dimpled grin makes a brief appearance when he says, “If it makes you feel any better, Dad, he’s Catholic.”

Mauricio’s eyebrows disappear into his hair, but he laughs and pats his wife gently on the back.

“Ay, alright, Ben,” he relents, then shakes my hand and formally introduces himself. Veronica hangs back slightly, but after a few dirty looks from Yelena, she does the same.

“Thank you for saving my son,” she murmurs.

“He actually saved me, ma’am,” I reply. Before things can become truly awkward, Yelena shoos her parents out of the room and folds her arms.

“Thanks, Yelly,” says Ben, and she rolls her eyes at the nickname. “I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

“Well, they owe it to you to quit their self-righteous bullshit,” she snaps.

“Now, I can’t stick around. I’ve got to get them home on the plane and then be back in Houston by tonight.

Also, Santino told me to tell you that he’s glad you’re alright, but that you need to stop making all these big scenes or you’ll upstage him. ”

Ben laughs loudly. “Tell him I’m–”

Yelena holds her hand up, flashing the nickel-sized diamond weighing down her left ring finger. “He also wants to help rebuild the animal shelter,” she says quickly.

My heart leaps into my throat. Aileen and Mak came to see us and said that all the animals had either been placed in foster homes or sent to other shelters in nearby counties, but they’re upset because our shelter was the only one in the area with a strict no-kill policy.

If it could be rebuilt, and quickly, it would be a dream come true.

“What do you mean, he wants to help?” Ben asks, sounding a little wary.

“Well, you know he does stuff like this back home all the time,” Yelena says dismissively.

“It’s no big deal. He’s always working with street dog charities and things like that.

Anyway, he wants to hold a little fundraising gala, in L.A.

, to rebuild your shelter with all the modern safety features and what not.

Obviously, you two would be the guests of honor. What do you think?”

I’m stunned. Yelena’s husband, Santino Ramirez, is a huge movie star who’s even being eyed as the next James Bond. For him to support us…I can’t even imagine what we might be able to do.

“Yes,” I croak, and Ben looks at me in surprise.

“Really, osito ? You want to do that?”

“Of course. Aileen said the shelter’s insurance money will barely even cover the clean-up costs. Raising enough to rebuild will take awhile, and it’ll be difficult. Grants take time and work, and big donations don’t just…appear out of thin air.”

“They do when my husband is involved,” Yelena says with a wink. She collects her purse, tapping away on her phone as she does. “I’ll tell Santino to go ahead with it, and his people will be in touch with you and the shelter director. Sound good?”

Ben still appears stunned, but I smile at Yelena and tell her, “Thank you.” I hope she understands that I’m not just expressing my gratitude for the charitable support. She comes around the bed, all business, and kisses Ben on both cheeks, then leans down to kiss me on the cheek as well.

“Be good , Benny,” she says, putting on her sunglasses and glaring at him over the rims.

“I’ll try,” Ben laughs. She exits the hospital room, looking like she owns the place in her power suit and heels.

“God, if she and Molly could spend just five minutes in the same room together someday…” I tell Ben.

“I don’t think any of us would survive.” He laughs weakly, then flops onto the hospital bed beside me. I scoot over to make room for him, then move down so we’re side by side, holding hands. After a few minutes of silence, Ben takes a shaky breath.

“She should be here,” he whispers. “She should fucking be here for all of this. I miss her so goddamn much, Theo.”

I p ull his hand up and kiss the back of it, then lean my cheek against his trembling fingers.

“I know,” I tell him quietly. “I do too.”