Page 25 of Should the Sky Fall

“You look like crap,” Zeke says in lieu of a greeting. “Wild night?”

“Not the way you think,” Dawson says with a sigh as he approaches the counter. “Flying solo today?”

“Nah. Gabe’s in the kitchen. Wanna say hi?”

“No, no, don’t disturb him from the important task of washing the dishes.”

Zeke laughs. “Baking, actually. What can I get you?”

He gets his usual–an almond milk chai latte with some ‘enchanted’ mushrooms, as Zeke insists on calling them. Dawson’s pretty sure it’s just reishi powder, but he never argues. If you ask him, the whole cafe is magical. He’s already starting to feel better just by being inside.

He pays for his drink and heads over to his favorite corner table by the window. Damn, he should’ve brought a book or something. He has over an hour to kill, after all. Nevermind. He can spend it reminiscing about all his bad decisions. That should entertain him for long enough.

Evidently, the cosmos doesn’t want him to identify all the ways his life has gone wrong, because the door to the kitchen flies open and Gabriel strolls out, a smear of flour on his cheek and pieces of dough stuck to his apron. He makes a beeline for Dawson’s table.

“Hi, Gabe.”

“What’s wrong?” Gabe goes straight to the point. Dawson must look a mess. “You made my head spin over there.”

“I thought that’s a good thing.” He attempts to waggle his eyebrows suggestively, but doesn’t quite pull it off, if Gabe’s unimpressed face is any indication.

“Not quite what I meant.”

“Am I pinging your superpowers?” It’s what Gabe calls it. Dawson calls it ‘being good at reading people’. Yeah, the place sure feels magical, but that’s just because Gabe and Zeke are lovely people.

Dawson isn’t a pure-blooded skeptic. He believes in stuff. He’s scared of ghosts, for one. And when he accompanied Olivia to a fortune telling session the lady who did the reading was scarily accurate—about Liv’s marriage, her work. She even predicted Liv would have two girls. Then again, she also told Dawson that the man he’d marry wouldn’t be from here and he’d be the love of his life, his soulmate.

He found out it was bullshit pretty quickly, considering that Cal is a born and bred Australian. As for him being the love of Dawson’s life…he sure as hell hopes not, otherwise he might as well throw himself off a bridge.

Gabe flings his tea towel over his shoulder and wipes his hands on his apron before folding his arms over his chest. “Joke all you want, I know I’m right and you know it too.” His eyes bore into Dawson, as though trying to stare into his soul. “What’s up?”

Superpowers or not, Gabe does have a penchant for smelling bullshit, Dawson will give him that.

“Cal’s in the hospital. He was drunk driving and crashed. Collapsed lung. Internal bleeding. Something like that.”

Gabe’s mouth falls open. “Shit.” He doesn’t offer any condolences—aside from Kieran and Olivia, he’s the only other person Dawson ever confided in with what’s going on at home. Nothing detailed, just bits and pieces. Just enough to make him dislike Cal without ever meeting him. “When did that happen?”

“Last night. His brother flew over from Sydney. He went to see him today.”

Gabe raises an eyebrow. “Do Cal and his brother have a lot in common?”

Dawson chuckles, hearing the hidden meaning loud and clear. “Well, they have similar looks.” His smile falls at Gabe’s solemn expression. “Ellis is fine. I didn’t really know him before yesterday, and he sure is an entitled prick, but he’s not a bad person.”

“Hmm.” Gabe looks dubious. “Not sure how much I should trust your judgment.”

Dawson rolls his eyes. “Maybe I’ll bring him here and you can use your powers on him.”

Gabe lights up. “That would actually be—”

“I was joking.”

Gabe’s excitement turns into a scowl. “You’re the worst.”

“Yet, here you are.”

Gabe watches him. Slowly, his annoyance gives way to concern. “What is it?”

Dawson blinks at him. “What?”