Chapter 7

Sebastian

Fuck,his eyes were really blue. I'd noticed it before, but the lavender shirt he wore highlighted their color and made them look almost purple.

How was I supposed to respond when those eyes were looking up at me, as big as saucers, and twinkling with excitement?

My phone chimed again. Oh, right, the game. For a moment, I considered just grabbing my phone and walking out of the coffee shop. I'd never told anyone, not even my brother, that I played video games. If I did decide to tell someone about my hobby, I definitely would have picked something better than Lemur Conspiracy.

There was nothing wrong with the game. It was a fun mystery solving adventure about a lemur that escaped from a science lab, and solved mysteries using its newly acquired human intelligence and the ability to speak with animal ghosts. One of the selling points about the game was that new mysteries and clues were always being added.

Which was exactly what my phone was alerting about now. A new clue had just dropped, and the colorful cartoon art style was challenging me to come find the next piece of the mystery.

My fingers itched with a desire to start playing. I never could resist a good mystery. The rush I got from solving a difficult puzzle was almost more satisfying than anything else. It was one of the best parts about being a private investigator. There were plenty of real-life puzzles to solve.

Well, that, and the opportunity to help people.

While I hovered in indecision, Newt started scrolling through the game on my phone.

"Wow. You've solved so many of these. You even solved the Haunted Goldfish Bowl. I could never get through that one. Where'd you find the last clue?"

That had been one of my favorite levels since it was particularly difficult. Many people didn't even get past the opening. At first, it seemed like the setting for the level was a kid's bedroom. However, if the player looked inside the goldfish bowl, they would find that the little decorative house inside was actually a fully functioning mansion. The actual mystery took place inside that mansion, which was haunted by all the ghosts of the fish that had lived in that bowl before its current resident.

Blue eyes pointed toward me again, and I had no choice but to answer. "There's a safe behind the portrait in the bedroom. At the beginning of the level, when you're talking to the old lady fish, the date she mentions for their anniversary is different from what was captioned on the picture. The two numbers together are the code for the safe."

"Oh, cool." Newt put down my phone and pulled out his own. A moment later the familiar tune for Lemur Conspiracy started playing. "A new clue just dropped. You're doing the River Maze, right?"

I looked at my phone still sitting on the table, then looked at Newt.

Was that it?

I expected snide comments about how I didn't look like the type to play video games, or maybe questions about why I was playing something meant for children. The few times in the past that I'd even hinted at liking video games, those were always the reactions I got. Newt's unquestioning acceptance caused my brain to short circuit. I stared at him dumbly, my hand hovering halfway to my phone without picking it up.

Newt must have mistaken my confusion for anger, because the light in his blue eyes dimmed. "Oh, sorry. That was rude. Can't believe I just grabbed your phone like that. I get tunnel vision when I'm excited and I forget about everything else. Even manners, apparently."

He laughed, awkwardly tugging at one of the ears on his hat. It was such a cute sight. I couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, I'm doing the River Maze." I picked up my phone and reopened the game. I think there's a hidden room in the bottom of the boat, so hopefully, the next clue will lead us there."

Newt's smile lit up his whole face, so even his freckles seemed to glow.

"A hidden room? Really? I had no idea. No wonder I keep getting lost. I'm missing more clues than I thought."

Over the next half hour, Newt and I sat huddled around the table playing Lemur Conspiracy. We first had to double back and pick up a few clues that he had missed before we could move on to the new stuff, but I didn't mind.

One of the reasons I never told my brother about liking video games is because I didn't want to talk about it. Logically, I knew he wouldn't care and would support my interest, but he would inevitably have questions. That's how Damien showed his support for anything. By asking questions and taking an interest. It was nice, but video games were something I used to relax, and conversation took effort. So, I kept that little secret to myself.

With Newt, it was different. The other man took over the conversation, doing most of the talking. When he asked me questions, it didn't feel like a quiz where I needed to come up with the right answer. He never asked how I felt about something, or what I preferred. He just asked me for information about the game, like where to find a clue or how to solve a puzzle. These questions were easy to answer and took no effort, which left me free to simply bask in our shared passion and excitement over the game.

I wouldn't have even minded starting the whole game over from the beginning if it meant we could keep talking a little longer.

By the end of the first half hour, we sat so close together that we were practically fused together from shoulder to hip. At some point, I'd draped one arm over the back of his chair so that we could see both phone screens at the same time. It was a completely natural action that I hadn't even thought about doing. We must have been sitting in that position for at least twenty minutes before I looked up to find his blue eyes only inches away, and I realized how close we'd drawn together.

He fit so perfectly under my arm, like he'd been designed to be just the right height for an armrest.

I smirked. "I was right."

Newt's gaze tracked the movement of my lips. "What?"

"There was a hidden room."

"Oh." He looked down again. "Yeah. The game."

Our height difference put his head under my chin, giving me a close look at his crocheted hat. So much care had been put into every detail, it was only from this distance that I could see it was handmade and not a mass-produced item.

Curious, I tugged at one of the ears.

"This is a unique design."

Newt's hands shot up to hold the sides of the hat, as if I might yank it off his head. "My grandmother made it. When I was little, she used to call me chipmunk."

The other man was obviously sensitive about it. He'd reacted so quickly as soon as the hat was touched, I wondered how often it had been stolen from him. I could picture the scene too easily. Schoolyard bullies would love to steal such a beloved item so they could taunt him with it. A boy treasuring something so cute and "unmasculine" would inevitably attract the wrong kind of attention.

I removed my hand from the hat and let my arm drape over the back of his chair again. "Chipmunk? Odd nickname. I'm sensing a story behind that."

Tension drained from Newt's shoulders when he realized I wasn't about to steal the hat or insult it. He switched off Lemur Conspiracy to instead scroll through pictures on his phone. Once he found a specific picture way back in his photo album, he held up the screen for me to see.

It showed a picture of a much younger Newt, maybe eight or nine years old. The ginger hair and freckles were the same, but his cheeks were still round with youth and smile was slightly bucktoothed as his front teeth were visible over his bottom lip.

"It took me a while to grow into my face. Especially the teeth."

Almost as quickly as Newt brought out the picture, he immediately took it away.

"Luckily, my adult teeth grew in better proportioned, but the other kids used to tease me about it a lot. I thought I was ugly, until my grandma pointed out that round cheeks and big front teeth are the same features that chipmunks have, and they're considered cute. That must mean I'm cute as well. So, from that day on, I became her chipmunk."

The game on my phone beeped again, asking if I wanted to continue playing.

I turned off the screen and set it aside.

"She was right. You are cute."

As I'd predicted, as soon as the complement left my mouth, Newt blushed bright enough that his freckles nearly disappeared. Since he was bundled up in a rain jacket, I could only see his face. However, the small visible sliver of his neck showed that it also turned red when he blushed.

My gaze trailed downward, mapping each inch of him.

How far down did that blush go?

He was so pale, his whole body probably turned red.

My wandering eyes must have been obvious—I was really trying to hide them—because Newt suddenly started stuttering and tugging at his hat again.

"It's my favorite hat, but I shouldn't have worn it today. So stupid to wear this kind of thing on a..."

His voice suddenly died, like the word had been snatched right off his tongue, and he looked up at me with wide eyes.

I watched him for a moment, silently waiting to see if he would finish the sentence or try to correct himself. His mouth opened a few times, but no words came out.

My smirk deepened. "On a... what? Is there a reason your clothes should matter for our meeting?"

Nervously licking his lips, Newt looked down and shook his head.

I leaned a little closer, and would have been speaking directly into his ear if it wasn't covered by his hat. "Let me guess, there's not actually a rule about delivering medical information over the phone. You just wanted to meet with me." I flashed him a knowing smile.

Like a balloon that had been stuck by a pin, Newt deflated in his chair until his forehead rested on the table.

"Argh! I just... I wanted to ask you out, but I panicked and said the first excuse I could think of."

The little nurse had such over-the-top reactions, it made me want to keep teasing him, but I held back. Teasing could easily become bullying if I wasn't careful, especially since we didn't know each other that well yet.

Hopefully, if I handled this situation correctly, there would be more opportunities in the future to tease him.

I leaned back enough to give him space but didn't move my chair away. "So, is this a date?"

Without raising his head from the table, one blue eye peeked at me between orange bangs. "Maybe. If you want."

That answer wasn't as confident as I would have liked. My personality had often been labeled as "intense," and my life came with a lot of baggage. If someone was going to date me, they needed to be certain.

As I weighed my options, an idea suddenly struck me. Our conversation had been going so smoothly earlier, when we were talking about something we had equal feelings about.

Perhaps that was the key to communicating with Newt. Making sure we were equal.

I laid my head down on the table as well so that our eyes were on the same level. My height made it difficult, and my spine protested the uncomfortable arch, but the effort was worth it when surprise flashed through those beautiful blue eyes.

"I'm more concerned about what you want. But just so you know, if you had asked me out on a date when you called, I would have said yes."

Newt shot up so fast in his seat he looked like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been jerked by an inexperienced puppeteer.

"Really? You're not just saying that out of pity, right? You actually would have said yes?"

"I really would have." My spine popped when I sat up, making me feel momentarily older than my thirty-three years. "You want this to be a date, and I want this to be a date. That makes this a date." I flashed him a grin.

The joy radiating off of Newt could have turned day to night.

Who needed daylight when I had such a little ball of sunshine at my side?

He even tucked himself back under my arm, which brought a genuine smile to my face as well. The man's joy was contagious.

We talked for a little longer, discussing other games that we liked while Newt chewed his way through the pastries he'd bought. We'd been so wrapped up in our conversation, the baked goods had sat forgotten on the table until that moment. I wondered if this was a normal example of his eating habits, and almost asked how he stayed so slim with such an appetite. However, common sense silenced my tongue. We were not close enough yet for such personal questions.

Eventually, our newly named ‘date' came to an end when Newt declared that his nursing shift would be starting soon. The hospital was only a few blocks away—apparently one of the reasons Newt frequented this coffee shop—so I offered to escort him.

I worried that my offer might be taken the wrong way, like I thought he couldn't be trusted to walk on his own. Really, it was just an excuse to prolong our date. It had been so long since I'd found someone other than my brother that I could relate to, and I didn't want the interaction to end yet.

Luckily, Newt seemed to realize the true reason behind my offer and eagerly accepted. Even once we reached the hospital, he didn't try to make me leave. I entered the building with him and even followed him up the elevator to one of the higher floors. It was as though we'd reached a silent but mutual agreement to fight off our separation as much as possible.

As we wound our way through the maze of hospital hallways, we discussed our upcoming schedules to try and find a chance for another date. Next time, it would be a proper one that we both agreed to beforehand.

Eventually, we reached a door labeled "staff only" and ran out of excuses to delay the inevitable.

"I'll call you later," Newt said as he loitered just outside the door. "We need to set up a game night some time."

There were many games that required a second player that I'd never been able to play on my own. The entire multiplayer genre was now open to me and I was filled with excitement.

Yet, before I could agree to Newt's plan, I was interrupted by what amounted to a howl.

"Meehawww!"

The tortured shout came from down the hall, and immediately put me on edge. I'd heard people cry out like that before. I'd even made such noises myself, on the night my parents were killed. The words may have been nonsense, but the tone was unmistakable.

Desperation.

Noticing my reaction, Newt brought me over to a door I'd seen before.

"Sorry. I should have warned you. The John Doe woke up. Well, sort of. He's making noise, at least. Though we still don't know what he's trying to say."

Inside the private ICU room I'd visited before, the unnamed man still lay on his bed. He looked the same. Maybe a few less bandages, but definitely not someone who would be getting up any time soon.

"Eliiiii," the man cried out, barely moving his mouth to form the word. It almost sounded like a name, but maybe that was my own active imagination trying to find meaning in noise.

"That one's new," Newt whispered to me as we stood in the doorway. "At first, it was just the one word. Mehaw? But early this morning, he started saying this second word. We're hoping it means he'll wake up soon."

Although the John Doe wasn't the man I was looking for, I still wished him a speedy recovery. I hated seeing someone in such pain, and felt guilty over the joy I'd found thanks to this unnamed man's misfortune.

After all, without the John Doe lying on that hospital bed, I wouldn't have met the fascinating little man standing beside me now.

Sadness crept into his blue eyes as Newt's gaze sank to the floor. "I hope he wakes up soon. He's held on this long. It would be a shame if he didn't recover after all this."

In a split-second decision, I took a risk and pressed a quick kiss to Newt's cheek.

"With such a dedicated nurse, of course he'll recover." I flashed him a soft, understanding smile.

Just as I'd hoped, the sadness in Newt's eyes disappeared and his face lit up with a smile once again. I decided right then and there that Newt should always be smiling. The world felt brighter when he did, and there was enough darkness in my life already.

I needed a little more light.