Page 62 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

He rounds the counter, giving Donut a quick scratch before turning his attention to Dawson.

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of words, a wrecked sob escapes Dawson’s lips.

Gabe’s eyes widen, and he gets slammed with a wave of grief so strong it makes him waver. He does the only thing he knows to do, drawing Dawson into a hug. “Oh, Dawson.”

Dawson clings to him, muffling his sobs in Gabe’s shoulder. Gabe rubs his back, pulling away an inch. “Here, sit down.” He leads Dawson to a free table, away from the rest of the customers. Not that there are many, thankfully.

“I’m sorry,” Dawson says when they sit down and hides his blotchy face in his hands. “God, this is embarrassing. I didn’t mean to come here and lose my shit.”

“It’s not embarrassing,” Gabe says. “And you’re welcome to lose your shit. We got you.”

“Is this about Cal?” Ash asks, direct as ever.

Dawson ducks his head, his laugh full of self-deprecation. “Am I that obvious?”

“No,” Ash says, regarding him with sympathy. “I just have a hunch for these things.”

Dawson huffs, his mood lighting up a shade. It’s clear Ash’s presence makes him comfortable, and in any other situation it would be amusing. Ash usually has the opposite effect on people, but he and Dawson must have grown close during his therapy sessions.

“What happened?” Gabe asks. “Why were you asking if Cal’s here?”

“Because I didn’t want to bump into him. He…he had a heart attack. Spent two days in the hospital.”

“Shit,” Gabe and Ash say in unison. Gabe follows it with, “Is he okay?” Is this what Jordan meant when he said Ellis was busy with family stuff? Fucking hell. All this time Gabe has been mopey as fuck while Ellis was worrying about his brother.

“Yeah. He went home three days ago.”

“Okay…” That doesn’t really explain why Dawson is avoiding him.

“His memories came back.”

Gabe gapes at him, sure he must’ve misheard. “How’s that possible? It’s been like…two months, no?”

“I don’t know. But he remembers now.”

“What else? There’s something else.”

Gabe doesn’t know all that much about Dawson’s past—about the person Cal was before his accident. But from the little Dawson has told him, Cal wasn’t a good person. Not a good person at all. And yet, he can’t shake the feeling there’s something that’s bothering Dawson even more.

“He said…stuff. Nonsense stuff.” Dawson’s emotions flare up with anger. “Made up this story that he’s not the real Cal, that he’s…” He gives an incredulous laugh. “A reaper, or something, and that he took over Cal’s body when he was in the hospital after his accident. And some other stuff. I packed a bag, took Donut, and got out of there. No reason to stay and let him manipulate the fuck out of me because he can’t handle the truth.” He looks at Ash. “You were right. People don’t change.”

It takes Gabe a second—or ten—to process, but the puzzle pieces slowly slot together. “Oh. Oh!” He taps the table erratically. “Sothat’swhat that was.”

“What was what?” asks Ash.

Gabe almost tells him, then remembers Dawson is there too. He holds up a finger and gives him a pinched smile. “Can you give us a sec?” Without waiting for a response, he slaps Ash’s arm, silently mouthing, “Follow me.”

Confused but definitely curious, Ash trails behind him. They hurry off behind the counter, far enough that Dawson can’t hear. Then Gabe rounds on him, his hands flying through the air as he tries to summarize his huge epiphany.

“Okay, so this is crazy, but hey, what’s new, right?”

Ash blinks at him. “Right…”

“Okay. So, you know that Cal used to be an asshole before, right? I mean, you definitely know more than me. Dawson always kind of hinted and I put two and two together, but he actually talks to you about this. Anyway, when he and Cal came here after the accident, I tried to get a read on him. Amnesia and all that. Pretty fascinating, right? It was the first time we ever met, and it was super weird. Like, I could tell he’s a good person. Or not abadperson. Couldn’t feel anything malicious from him. But there was this…shadow surrounding him. When I felt his emotions, it was like feeling them through a…veil. A barrier.” He snaps his fingers. “Like an emotional condom!”

“Emotional condom.”