Devil's Fate

Echo Park Poker

Chester pulled the pan of M&M cookies from the oven. They smelled heavenly. Twelve beauties with yellow, blue, and orange candy pieces, along with a few extra chocolate chips added in, which had been a request from his boyfriend. Chester grabbed his spatula to pull them off the hot pan and get them onto the cooling rack. He glanced at his watch in the process. They really needed to get going if they were going to make it over to Amir's a little early, before everyone else showed up for the poker game that was meant to double as an opportunity for them to have a serious discussion with Ryan. "Mike!" he hollered over his shoulder as he worked. "Did you get all of Cheese's things packed?"

"Yeah!" Mike yelled back from in the bedroom. The dog bag, which had giant wedges of cheese printed all over it, was stuffed full of everything their little terrier might need for an evening away from the apartment. Mike had managed to get treats, food, her bowls, toys, and even her pink zebra striped bed inside the bag. Cheese was sniffing the corner of the bedroom where her bed usually stayed, and Mike decided if dogs could look concerned, that was the expression on Cheese's face. "Stop worrying," he said to the dog. "You're coming with us. That's why I packed up all your stuff."

He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked toward the kitchen with Cheese following behind. "How close are you? You want me to go ahead and take her stuff down to the car so I can help you with all that food when we leave?" He couldn't see the crackers and cheese spread he was excited about, but he knew Chester had it ready to go, somewhere.

Chester turned around. "Yeah. I think we'll need both hands for all this." He glanced over the snacks they'd be hauling to Amir's, and he smiled. It was a lot of work, but he knew everyone showing up would be grateful. The pinwheels and the cheese spread were in the refrigerator, and the cookies still needed to cool a few minutes before he could transfer them into a travel container. But other than that, everything was done. "If you take that down, I think we're ready. The cookies need a few minutes to cool anyway. And I need to pee before we go."

"You always need to pee," Mike teased. He dropped the dog bag for a moment to hook Cheese's harness around her body. "She probably does, too. I'll take her out on the way." He picked up the end of the leash and then the bag and stepped over Cheese, who was now excited to go out. "We'll be back in a minute."

Chester was already headed out of the kitchen. He stopped long enough to plop a kiss to Mike's cheek before he made his way to the bathroom. He flipped on the light and stepped in front of the vanity rather than the toilet. He pressed his hands down hard onto the cheap countertop as he stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes looked bright, his hair in order. It had been over a week since he'd had the nightmare about Mark. He'd wrestled with it in his journal, and again in his last therapy session, but the memory was fading to the background as life continued.

I saw Ryan yesterday at work. He looked okay. Still not like he used to, but he seemed alright. We talked. We laughed. He apologized again. I think we're okay. I hate that this intervention is happening so soon after what happened in New York, but it's important. I just want him to be happy and he's not. He's hurting himself. Amir will see it tonight. He said he hasn't actually seen Ryan in awhile. He'll know right away what I'm talking about the moment he sees Ry.

Chester let out a long breath, his fingers smoothing over the surface of vanity. He needed to be in a good headspace before they left. He needed to get his thoughts in order. Tonight was going to be about Ryan. He wanted to go to Amir's and spend time with his friends and play poker and eat and have a good time, and hopefully between them all, they could let Ryan know how much they all cared about him.

"It's going to be fine. Even Talinda said she'd come. Ryan likes her. She'll make a difference." Chester cracked a smile. It was funny to think about Talinda at Amir's. They were both such strong personalities. It was going to be interesting to see how they liked each other.