Boaz and Jodi

Jodi blushed even more. "Oh dear," he whispered shyly. "I-I'm sorry. It, it's just a little hot in here. I-I need to cool down."

Jodi frowned. "why would I want that?" he asked softly. "stay."

Boaz smiled faintly and nodded. "Alright," he replied. "I'll stay."

The silvery-bluish-haired male leaned against him and sighed, closing his eyes. He was emotionally drained after all of this.

Boaz smiled faintly, wrapping his arms around Jodi and holding him close. He sat with him, lightly stroking his hair and watching him, letting him rest.

Hawthorne bowed his head as he walked down the streets, wrapping his arms around himself. He was miserable. First, Sabriel broke up with him and he didn't want to show his face around any of their friends, and on top of that, some creep was stalking him claiming to be his father. He sighed and bowed his head, biting his lip and looking around, sighing as people kept looking at him, watching him like a piece of meat. He shook his head and froze as he saw a man walk out of a store right in front of him and spot the redhead. Hawthorne froze and stared at the man, his jaw agape. It was the first man he had ever slept with.

The man watched him for a moment before looking back at the door as a small child pushed it open, having some difficulty. He smiled and helped the little girl before lifting her into his arms and resting her against his hip. He paused, waiting for the woman the followed the girl. He smiled warmly at her and kissed her cheek before taking her hand and walking away with her. He hadn't seemed to recognize the male at all.

Hawthorne bowed his head and walked down the streets he knew so well, hoping he didn't run into anyone he knew. Many people here would give him a hard time if they remembered who he was, and he didn't want to end up in the same situation he was in before Sabriel found him.

So... what should happen now?

He felt a pair of eyes on him and froze like a deer in sights of a car, his eyes wide. "Oh no," he whispered, not daring to look over his shoulder as he continued walking.

The man frowned; he thought he recognized the male. Yet, he didn't. It wasn't so much the male he thought he knew, yet he knew he was frighteningly familiar. He leaned against the wall, frowning and closing his eyes, trying to remember. He ran through the faces of the people he had known before and it suddenly came to him. He had known the male's mother; they had been best friends before she had died. He hadn't been able to see the male anymore after that, but he knew now that, that male was the same one he had seen when he was a child. He looked over at him again and watched him. He doubted the male would remember him; he had been very young the last time they saw each other. But at least he looked good, healthy. For the moment anyway. He sighed and pulled out a pack of gum, punching out one of them and putting it into his mouth. He put the package back into his pocket and pushed away from the wall, heading in the same direction as the male was heading; ironically, that was the direction his apartment was in and he had spent long enough away from his new kitten.

The redhead picked up his pace, not liking this area one bit. He had suffered too much here, had too much taken from him. He shouldn't have come back. He kept walking, watching the people he passed and praying he didn't recognize any of them-or that they didn't recognize him. He cast a casual glance over his shoulder and bit his lip as he saw the man following him. He recognized him from somewhere, but he couldn't remember, and it made him all the more nervous. He didn't know what this man was capable of.

The man sighed as he heard his phone ring and he answered it. "Hello?"
"Dude, we need you in at the department," came the reply. The man groaned.
"Why?"
"Cuz David just started vomiting his guts up all over the place and we're one man short. We need you to come in." The man sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
"And there's no one else you can call?"
"Everyone else is busy." The man laughed.
"And you don't think I'm not busy?"
"Dude, I know you're not. You have no life."
"Oh, gee, thanks," the man grumbled and sighed again. "Alright," he mumbled. "But if Smidget has separation issues, I'm blaming you." The man on the other end laughed.
"Yes, heaven forbid a cat should have separation issues. She's probably glad you're not home." The man rolled his eyes.
"Bite me," he grumbled and the man laughed again. "I'll be there in about half an hour, okay?"
"Great, thanks man."
"Ya, ya," the man replied and looked back to Hawthorne before shaking his head. Poor kid was terrified. He hung up and tucked the phone back into his pocket. He continued the way he was going, but after a short while, turned off onto another street and headed down that one, going to his apartment. The little kitten met him at the door and instantly started purring around his feet. He smiled and lifted her into his arms. "Hey, sweetie," he said softly. After a quick visit with the small fluffball, he left again, heading to where he worked and soon became more focused on the job at hand-a massive fire that was quickly gutting a resident apartment building-and the redhead very quickly became the last thing on his mind.

Hawthorne sighed with relief and kept walking, looking around worriedly. Some people recognized him, and he shied away from them fearfully, continuing on his way.

I have no idea what should happen now

The redhead was just deciding to leave the town before he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He tensed immediately and spun around, his heart pounding in his chest and jumping up to his throat as he recognized the tall, attractive man. He blushed despite himself; he had always had a rather large crush on this man and had always been ecstatic for his visits, and looking up into that face again made Hawthorne feel very much like a small child again, staring with wide eyes. Shaking images of his childhood out of his mind, he remembered where he was. "What?" he managed to croak, stepping back and stumbling as he stepped off the curb, making himself even shorter compared to the tall man before him.

The man sighed. "I don't ask anything of you, Hawthorne, I never have and I never will. God knows I don't want you getting into that again. But you and I both know you can't stay out here. It's not safe. And if I don't act now, you will end up right back where you started again," he said to him, watching him and Hawthorne could see truth in his eyes; the man was only concerned for him. There was no secret desire the man had for him, he only wanted to see him safe and protected. "I know this is probably far fetched and you probably don't trust me, like you don't trust anyone else down this street, but if you need somewhere safe to stay, you can stay with me. In fact, I'm hoping you will."