6. Finn

FINN

When Cayson said goodbye, I saw an instant change in Dylan.

The terror on his face came back, and a soft whimper escaped his throat.

I guided him toward the front counter and grabbed the bag of snacks I bought for him and held them in front of my chest as we walked toward the door.

Dylan's thumb popped into his mouth for just a moment, but he seemed to remember where he was and pulled it back out before shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

I glanced at Cayson, and it was clear he caught the movement as well. He leaned close to my ear and whispered, "He's regressing. Are you okay with him? I can help."

I wasn't entirely sure what he was suggesting, but I knew I could handle whatever Dylan needed, so I just smiled reassuringly. "I think I've got this, but thank you."

Cayson looked back at Dylan one more time before walking out of the store with his arms raised in a big gesture, clearly seeking the attention of the media that had gathered in the parking lot. He went in the opposite direction of my car.

As soon as the cameras were turned, I quickly rushed Dylan to my car and opened the door.

"Where are we going?" He looked around as if just noticing what we were doing. "I can walk."

"No way, kiddo. I'll take you home. Hop in." He slid into the passenger seat without further questions, but once he was in, he just stared straight ahead, carefully arranging the sleeves of Cayson's sweatshirt over his lap.

"Can I help you with your seatbelt?"

Dylan continued to stare straight ahead, but he lifted his arms, moving them out of the way as I wrapped the seatbelt across his lap and buckled him in.

Once he was secured, I closed the car door and looked back at Cayson.

He caught my eye and briefly nodded as he continued to talk to the reporters. They were always happy to get a gorgeous man like him on camera, so I knew he would be the perfect spokesperson for our little trio.

Before any of the sharks noticed my car, I drove us out of the lot and onto the street, but quickly pulled over to the curb to get the address. "Dylan, where's your place?"

He shrugged and his thumb slipped into his mouth again, but this time, it stayed there. Clearly, he was done talking. Not exactly what I needed in that moment.

I briefly considered taking him back to my place, but that felt like it would be over the line. If he had regressed to the point of being nonverbal, there was no consent happening, which meant I needed to get him to his own home. "Do you have your ID with you?"

Dylan glanced at me before reaching into his pocket and handing over his phone. The case had a silicone sleeve on the back with his driver's license and a credit card poking out.

I pulled out his license and recognized the address was just a few blocks away. "Dylan?" I held it up so he could see me. "I'm gonna take you here. Is that okay?"

He nodded and closed his eyes as he rested his head against the back of the seat.

"Okay, then. You'll be home in just a few minutes."

I waited a moment for the cross traffic to clear, and then I made a U-turn to head in the opposite direction. When I passed by the minimart, I couldn't help glancing over to see if Cayson was still out there, but I didn't see him talking to the reporters anymore.

They were all set up with their cameras facing the front of the store as they continued their coverage of the attempted robbery that was barely newsworthy at all.

After hitting a few red lights, I pulled up in front of a small apartment building and placed my hand on Dylan's shoulder to get his attention. "Dylan, baby. You're home."

He opened his eyes and held my gaze for a long moment as if connecting my face and my voice to his current situation. With a loud sigh, Dylan looked around and saw where we were. His thumb slipped out of his mouth, and he cleared his throat. "Thank you."

I could see that he was trying hard to pull himself together enough to get in by himself, but I wasn't gonna let him be alone after everything he had been through and was still experiencing. "Just hold tight, kiddo. I'll help you get inside."

He visibly relaxed in the seat and waited for me to go around the car to help him out.

As I did, a truck pulled up behind me, and I recognized it from the lot. It was Cayson.

Instead of taking Dylan out immediately, I waited for Cayson to get out of his truck and approach me. "I followed you when I saw you pass by the store. I wanted to see if you need any help with Dylan. I have some experience with age regression, so…"

I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, that tracks. You've got Daddy written all over you."

He smirked. "Takes one to know one."

I turned back to Cayson and lowered my voice. "He's been sucking his thumb on the ride here, so I'm thinking…pretty young."

"I guessed that based on his…accident." He raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. "And his PJs."

I sucked in a deep breath and met his gaze, allowing myself to briefly get lost in his strong presence. Fuck, he was gorgeous. And big enough that he could even throw me around a little bit if he wanted to. Did he want to?

No, it was absolutely not the time to be getting lost in those kinds of thoughts. Instead, I opened the door and kneeled down in front of Dylan.

His eyes were closed, and his thumb was back in his mouth. Apparently, he'd gotten tired of waiting for us.

I placed my hand on his cheek to rouse him. "Dylan, I'm gonna release your seatbelt and help you into your house, okay?"

He opened his eyes long enough to look at me and nod, but then he closed them again.

I unclasped his belt and slipped my hands under his armpits to pull him out of the car. Just as I got him to his feet, Cayson stepped in and lifted him up against his broad chest, cradling Dylan as if he didn't weigh anything at all.

Dylan sighed then wrapped his outside arm around Cayson's neck and held on, burrowing his face into his shoulder as he continued to suck his thumb. Damn, he's cute.

I grabbed the bag of snacks out of my car and closed it up, looking at the apartment building. I slipped my hand into Dylan's jacket pocket and was grateful when I felt a set of keys in there next to his phone. His license said apartment B, so we went straight to it, and I let us in.

Once we got inside, I turned on the light and took a quick look around. The apartment itself was nice and tidy, but there were a few baskets of stuffed animals and pacifiers that clearly spoke to Dylan's level of regression.

I was almost relieved to see them out in the open and not hidden away. At least we knew what we were working with.

Dylan still wasn't engaging with us, so I turned on the lights as I made my way through the apartment and into the bedroom.

Cayson followed silently behind me and then placed Dylan on the center of his bed.

We both took a step back, waiting to see his next reaction as we looked between Dylan and each other, doing our best to come up with our next move.

After a moment, Dylan opened his eyes and looked at us. He didn't seem scared in the least, but instead of speaking or even pulling his thumb out of his mouth, he reached up for a pillow and covered his face with it.

Cayson stepped closer to my side. "We should get him changed and into bed so he can rest."

I nodded and went to the dresser. The top drawer held socks and boxers, so I grabbed a pair of boxers and opened the next drawer. That one held T-shirts and casual clothes. Sweatpants and shorts that I assumed he wore around the house but didn't seem like the right thing for tonight.

I completely skipped over the drawer that was full of jeans and went to the bottom drawer. That's where I found his Little stuff. Training pants, pajamas, and a baby blue onesie that didn't look like it had ever been worn, but it made my dick get hard at the thought of seeing that sweet boy in it.

There was a pair of Cookie Monster sleep pants that I held up and raised an eyebrow at Cayson.

"Yeah, perfect."

I took the boxers and the pants back to the bed as Cayson was already removing Dylan's socks and shoes.

When it was time to change his pants, Cayson lifted up the corner of the pillow and waited for Dylan to open his eyes. After a few seconds, he glanced between me and Cayson and pulled his thumb out of his mouth, finally ready to speak. "Are you guys leaving?"

"Not yet, sweetheart." Cayson spoke softly, completely the opposite tone you'd expect from such a big and powerful man. "We'd like to get you changed. Is that okay?"

Dylan nodded and then turned to me. "Yes, please." He pulled the pillow back over his face, clearly ashamed to be in this position.

I hadn't personally experienced age regression at this level, but I didn't think shame was supposed to be so prevalent, so I slipped onto the bed beside him and lifted up the pillow. "Dylan, baby."

His eyes immediately opened and locked with mine as if I had said the magic word.

"Cayson and I want to take care of you, and that means taking off your pants and putting you in dry ones. Is that okay?"

"Yes, but I can't look." He scrunched his eyes closed as if that would hide him.

"Can you tell me what you're embarrassed about?"

Dylan put one hand over his eyes and used the other to point to his crotch. "I wet myself."

"That's okay, baby. Everyone has accidents sometimes. You don't have to be ashamed of that."

He spread his fingers apart and peeked through them. "Even you?"

Okay, didn't see that coming. I had talked myself into a corner with that one.

I glanced at Cayson and saw him holding in a smirk. "Yeah, I have lots of accidents. The other day, I tripped over my own feet and scratched up my hand." I held up the palm of my hand to show him the tiny little scabs that still covered it.

"Were you embarrassed?" Dylan asked softly.

"Yeah, I guess I was at first. But I was with people I trust. And even though they laughed, it was because it was funny. They weren't trying to hurt my feelings or make fun of me."

He looked right at me with the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. "Will you laugh at me?"

"No, baby."

Cayson sat on the bed on his other side and placed his hand on Dylan's hip. "Never, sweetheart. We just want to Daddy you for a little while so you can get some rest tonight."

Dylan's breath hitched at the use of the word Daddy, and his eyes locked with Cayson's. "You guys want to take care of me? Even with my accident?"

Cayson's thumb rubbed at Dylan's side, and a bit of skin poked out from under his jacket. "Whatever you need, sweetheart. If you'll let us."

Dylan instantly relaxed and let his hands fall to his sides, fully submitting to us. "Thank you."

Taking Dylan's hand in mine, I stayed beside him as Cayson moved between his legs and reached for the top of his sleep pants. "We'll just get you changed into dry clothes, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy," Dylan said quietly, looking straight at Cayson with so much trust and adoration it kicked up something inside me that made me desperate to see him look at me the same way. With skilled practice that made me positive this wasn't Cayson's first time, he pulled Dylan's pants all the way off and then reached for the white briefs he was wearing underneath. They weren't quite training pants, but not like the boxers I'd pulled out for him.

"Do you want me to get you a pair of underwear like that for tonight?"

Dylan looked at me and smiled. "No, those are fine."

He didn't seem to care much either way, so I did my best to keep my gaze on his face as Cayson pulled off his underwear and slipped on the boxers before sliding his pants into place.

"Let's get you out of this jacket too." I helped him sit up and then unzipped the front of his jacket.

Dylan gave a little shrug but let me and Cayson do most of the work to get him undressed.

I was oddly grateful for that. I had no idea how satisfying it would be to fully take care of someone, especially when they were in such a vulnerable state. In my job, I got to help people who were at their lowest points, but it was always in more practical terms.

A blanket to warm up, a cup of coffee, a list of resources for dealing with the aftermath of whatever situation brought them into my circle.

But I'd never had the opportunity to truly care for somebody so intimately.

And as I watched Cayson with Dylan, I knew I wanted to.