20. Quinn

CHAPTER 20

"I think I'm overwhelming him," Quinn said, leaning against Hunter's kitchen counter as he dug through his cupboards, trying to find his gravy boat. Quinn knew he didn't have one to lend him.

"He's doing fine," Hunter said, reaching for the top shelf. Quinn shooed him away and grabbed the dish himself.

"You don't think we're a little much?"

"I guess I'm used to you."

"Used to us? You're one of us." Part of Quinn had always mourned the fact that they never had romantic feelings for each other, because that meant they couldn't get married. Now that he and Jon were together, Hunter felt a bit more permanent.

Hunter let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagging.

"I thought you weren't sick of us."

"It's not Griffin issues. Just thinking about my own family. Whatever that means. A few weeks ago, I found out my dad died."

"What? A few weeks ago? Hunt," he said, pulling his friend into a hug. "What happened?"

"Heart attack. So that's cool, gotta tell my doctor my family history changed. Tessa—my oldest half sister—sent me an email after they had the funeral. She said that she didn't invite me because she didn't want my presence to upset her mom."

"That fucking sucks, dude. I am so sorry."

"It feels mostly like my sperm donor died. But there's still that layer of didn't want me that I can't shake. It's so dumb."

"It's not," Quinn assured him. Jon peeked his head out of the second bedroom, and when he saw Quinn and Hunter were having a conversation, he ducked back in. He wouldn't have been an intrusion, and he was sure Jon already knew all of this, but it was considerate. Hopefully, he was earning Jon's trust back.

"I wasn't even in his obituary. Under ‘survived by.' Like I didn't exist. It's embarrassing."

"Other people being petty assholes isn't embarrassing for you. It's embarrassing for them. Are you going to do anything to remember him? Or mark the moment?" He knew Hunter had a lot of negative emotions about his dad, but he also knew grief was complicated.

Hunter shook his head. "No. He was never there for me. Not sure why I would show up for him. Thanks for listening, man. It's been eating me up inside."

"I'm glad you felt like you could tell me."

"I miss you," Hunter said, and it echoed in Quinn. They'd been existing in a truce, where they could be around each other and be friendly, but they both still had walls up. Quinn hoped they were coming down. Hunter reached out a pinky and snagged one of Quinn's. A silent pinky swear that they would always be there for each other. Hunter was still his person.

"Same. I guess if we're sharing news, I got laid off."

"Fuck, Quinny."

"I've still got freelance stuff. I know I should have told you earlier, with the mortgage and everything, but we weren't really talking, and I have savings."

"What are you going to do?"

"I did a rebrand for Weston when I was trying to woo him, or whatever, and a few people have hired me for their own rebrands. So that's neat. Might explore that market a little more. I think part of why I'm feeling a little better is that I don't have the pressure of keeping this job anymore. I guess I hadn't realized how much it was holding me down. And I promise I will always be able to pay the mortgage."

"I trust you," Hunter said, his words meaning more to Quinn than he could ever know.

"You're going to have to roll me out of here," Weston said, slumping back in his chair. Hunter's little dining table was completely covered in serving dishes, and each of them had an empty plate in front of them. "This is the best Thanksgiving meal I've ever had, considering I usually just have turkey."

Hunter beamed. Neither Quinn nor Hunter were known for their cooking, but Quinn knew it was important to Hunter for Weston to feel included. Welcome. They may not have made the best version of every dish possible, but they made edible versions, and Quinn was proud of how big Weston's smile was.

"Christmas movie time," Quinn said. They'd eaten on paper plates, so they tossed most of their dishes and bundled the leftovers into Hunter's fridge. Hunter didn't have a TV in his living room, so they took the apple crisp to Quinn's place. Brady and Syd had made sure his living room had a TV and a big couch, and Quinn was fairly confident that this one wouldn't break under the weight of them.

They ate warm apple crisp while watching the animated Grinch, like his family did every Thanksgiving evening, and despite his nap and the Red Bull he'd had earlier in the day, Weston fell asleep snuggled against Quinn. Of course, he would love for his whole family to be together, but these three were pretty solid.

On Friday, Weston was back to his stream, with Quinn at his side. They played a multiplayer racing game with some people in Weston's community, and Quinn thought it had genuinely been fun. They'd had to reconfigure Weston's streaming setup due to the broken futon, so they were back to one computer chair and one dining chair. Still, it was just about the most fun Quinn had ever had on stream.

It didn't make sense to him why Weston seemed so sad when they wrapped up.

"You look thoughtful," Quinn observed, taking Weston's hand and pulling him into his lap. The dining chair would hold them. He looped his arms around Weston's waist and held on. It was heaven to have him so close.

"I'm going home tomorrow," he said, sounding as disappointed as Quinn was. Quinn was trying to keep his feelings to himself. He didn't want to make Weston feel bad for leaving.

"You don't have to. You are always welcome here."

"Thank you. I know. But with all the teardown and setup, Saturday is my only viable travel day. I'd end up staying another week."

"I personally would love for you to stay another week."

"I need to grab my meds. I didn't bring enough for two weeks."

"Alright. If you need to go home, I'm not going to make you stay."

Weston dropped his forehead to Quinn's shoulder. "I'm going to miss you."

He pulled Weston closer to him. The thing about long-distance relationships was that while they didn't live close enough to meet up for dinner, living far away meant they got mini pockets of time where they were practically living together. It was hard to go from seeing Weston every moment and then seeing him only on video chats and on stream.

Still, he knew that his heart was progressing along more quickly than Weston's, so a little time apart would be a good thing. They could pump the brakes a bit.

They got ready for bed and cuddled and watched TV until it was so late it was the early morning. Until they couldn't possibly keep their eyes open any longer. Quinn didn't want to waste a single second.