Page 96 of Should the Sky Fall

“Incredible. You are so good at this,” Cal says with wonder, putting the painting down and pulling out the rest, one by one. Dawson’s a little stuck on the gentle, careful way Cal is handling the canvases. “Can we hang them all up?”

Blinking back tears, Dawson snaps back to the present. He must look like an anime character with the way his eyes threaten to pop out of their sockets. “All? No way.”

“Why?”“Just…” He looks around the walls, like an answer will be written on them. “How about we just replace the pieces that are already there?” At least that way the apartment won’t look like a bad art gallery.

Cal looks around the walls too, and Dawson thinks he might be counting how many paintings there are.

“Can I pick?”

“Yeah, sure.

As Cal starts going through them all and setting aside the ones he likes the most, Dawson notices he seems to have an affinity for landscapes, mainly the beach or the ocean. It doesn’t exactly narrow it down, because living on the Gold Coast did result in Dawson painting a lot of the beach. It shouldn’t surprise him that Cal likes them, given how much he likes to go for walks there.

“Have you been to all those places?”

“Most of them, but that’s because you can find them along the Coast.” He points at the painting which Cal seems to be the most enamored with. “This is a spot in Burleigh Heads. It’s a little further south. A bit of a climb to get there and…uh…trespassing?” In his defense, Kieran made him do it. “But the view from the Cock Rock is great.”

Cal’s gaze snaps up, a slightly horrified expression in his face. “A…cock rock?

“Yeah, it’s a…uh, just a rock, sticking out towards the ocean,” Dawson explains with a nervous laugh. For some reason, saying cock to Cal’s face makes him feel embarrassed. “It kind of looks like a cock. Hence the name.”

Cal doesn’t look convinced that Dawson’s not some kind of lunatic. “So, you painted this while you were…sitting on the Cock Rock.”

Oh, Jesus. Can the ground swallow him now?

“It sounds really obscene when you say it like that. And no, I didn’t bring my supplies with me. I have a picture, though.”

“Can I see?”

“The Cock?” Dawson smirks. “Or the view?”

“The view,” Cal deadpans.

Chuckling, Dawson pulls up his phone and swipes way, way down. He doesn’t remember the exact date, but he’s pretty sure about the year. That should narrow it down.

He finds the picture in the pile from October 2017. Wow. Time really flies.

“The resemblance is remarkable,” Cal says when Dawson shows him. He looks between the picture and the painting, taken aback.

Dawson tries his absolute best not to blush. He already has a hard time acting normal when Cal compliments his cooking. When did he become such a sucker for validation and praise?

“Thanks,” he says lamely.

“Could we go together sometime?”

“You wanna see the Cock?” Dawson jokes to cover up his emotional turmoil.

“Yes, Dawson, I want to see the famous Cock,” Cal says dryly.

Dawson would laugh, but hearing Cal say cock makes him flush even harder than saying it to his face did. He has to clear his throat twice before attempting to speak.

“Sure, we can do that. When you’re not—”

“When I’m not stitched up. Yes, I know,” Cal finishes for him. He’s trying to sound irritated but looks more amused than anything.

“Still sassy,” Dawson comments, surprised at how affectionate he sounds.

There are currently three pictures hanging in the living room and one in each of the rooms apart from the storage room. Dawson lets Cal pick six of his paintings and they swap them for the existing ones.