"Gavin, this is Dr. Anderson Reed. I need you to call me so we can schedule you to come in for your results."
Gavin sat alone in the waiting room. He had been in class when the doctor had called. He had called them back and had scheduled a meeting after school. Mr. Sampson hadn't asked too much, but he had wondered what was going on. Gavin had said what he knew; it was for his test results. He thought it was simply something to do with his blood glucose and other things so he wasn't too worried.
Zeke had called while they'd been on their way. Gavin had told him the truth, and the older man had asked him to keep him updated. The young man knew he was just going through what had happened at the doctor the first time. He was certain everything was alright, but he wanted to hear the doctor out before he made any changes.
Once Zeke was satisfied, they continued on to the doctor where Gavin was now. He sat beside an older lady and listened to her talk about her grand-kids and what they were up to now. She asked about his major in college and gushed about her son who was a doctor in upstate New York.
He liked listening to her. She reminded him of his grandmother in Louisiana. She was very frank about how her children behaved and whether or not she liked them. Cynthia was the same way. She talked about her child as if she had made the worst decisions known to man, but she gushed about her when she was talking to everyone else. Gavin was the poster child of his family.
He missed his family. Being in the Northeast had changed him and he wasn't certain it was for the good. He was alone, and sometimes he didn't have anyone to talk to. Zeke was always busy, and Gavin knew what he would say. At least he thought he did until the other night. But he didn't talk to his family much. He was an hour ahead and had to turn his phone in each night before bed. He could use his laptop but most of the time he was studying well into the night, or until Zeke came to bed.
Anderson walked out with one patient. He helped check her out and smiled as she made another appointment for a later date. He turned and spotted Gavin. His smile faded, and Gavin knew something was wrong.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Gavin nodded and stood. He followed the doctor to his office. The last time he'd been in Anderson's office had been when he'd come with Zeke. He'd been made to come in and meet the doctor personally as Zeke's newest lover. Anderson had given him a physical in front of Zeke to make sure the older man knew he was in good health. Since then, he had come alone with Zeke being able to see his results online.
Anderson sat behind his desk and pulled a folder from a tier beside him. He set it on the desk before him and sighed. Gavin knew that kind of sigh. It was the same one his mother had given him before she had told him he was moving and transferring schools. That sigh meant Anderson didn't have any good news in that folder.
Their eyes met and Gavin knew he needed to brace himself. Whatever was about to come at him, he could handle it. He'd done a good job this far. Whatever the doctor needed to say, he would not lose his cool.
"This is hard to say but..."
~~~~~~~
Zeke knew something was wrong when Gavin came home and didn't find him. He'd told his assistant to tell the young man to come see him when he got back. He'd seen the car pull up on the security camera and had seen the man get out of it. He knew it took twenty steps to get into the house, and his assistant would meet him just inside the door. He should have been in his office by now.
He fought the urge to go find him when thirty minutes had passed. Maybe he had to go to the bathroom. Maybe he wanted to shower before he came to see him. He gave him some time to do whatever he needed to do before he sought him out. He thought it would be only fifteen twenty minutes, but an hour passed and he didn't hear anything.
He got up and went upstairs. He knocked on the door to the bedroom. When he didn't get a response, he opened the door. The room was dark except for the light coming from under the bathroom door. He heard the shower running so he sat on the edge of the bed and waited.
Gavin didn't usually deviate from his routine. Every afternoon when he came home he went to see if Zeke was in his office. If he was, he would sit and talk for a few minutes before getting a snack and doing his homework. If he wasn't, he would do the last part then talk to Zeke at dinner. But he hadn't done either of those things when he came home. Zeke was concerned.
The shower shut off. He heard Gavin puttering around in the bathroom before he opened the door. Steam rolled out before the man, and Zeke got a good look at him naked.
Gavin wasn't fat. Even before he'd been put on the diet Zeke had concocted with Anderson's approval, he had been very trim. Now that he was eating healthy on a regular basis, he was very lean. He was bigger than Zeke, but he was very proportionate. His shoulders were wider than the older man's by at least three or four inches, and his muscle content was a little more.
He eyeballed him like a hungry lion. Seeing him with only the towel made him want to rip it off and take him where he stood. But Gavin doing things that were out of the ordinary had sparked his interest and his concern. He wanted to know what was going on.
He waited until Gavin was dressed before he pulled him into his lap. Gavin looked down at him, brown eyes wide with questions. Zeke ran his fingers through his damp hair, watching as his curls bounced back to their original forms.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Gavin nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Dr. Reed just called to give me my results. I'm not diabetic yet. He said the diet I'm on has helped keep it at bay."
"That's good. I'll look everything over when he uploads it to your profile." The younger man nodded. "Did you talk to your friends about your birthday?"
"Davis said thank you for sparing his life. He didn't understand how crazy you are until he talked to Jetson about it. Jetson's dad is one of your security guards, so he already knew a bit about your erratic tendencies. He talked some sense into Davis before I even called."
"I'm glad someone has some sense." He patted Gavin's thigh. "Come on. Let's go eat dinner. Mrs. Morgan made pasta tonight. I figured you'd enjoy that."
Gavin stood without a word. Zeke frowned but schooled his face almost immediately. Something wasn't right. He'd known it when Gavin didn't come to the office, but it was more evident now that he was right in front of him.
He followed the younger man downstairs and watched him closely. He watched him sit down in his usual spot and take a drink of water. Mrs. Morgan brought his plate out and spoke to him quietly. He smiled at her with a word of thanks, but the smile didn't meet his eyes.
"When is your family landing?" Zeke asked.
Gavin sighed and looked at him. "They'll be here at seven Friday night. They've agreed to fly out early Monday morning so they can attend your event Sunday night."
"Who's coming? Everyone?" Gavin nodded. "I'll talk to Mrs. Roberts about cleaning up the two rooms down the hall. They can stay with us."
"But they've already booked their hotel rooms."
Zeke waved him off. "Nonsense. They're your family. They'll stay with us. I'll take care of the refunds."
Gavin only nodded at him again. Zeke bit the inside of his mouth to keep from cursing at him. He had never done it before, and he wasn't going to start now. But Gavin was keeping something from him. Something had happened between the time he went to the doctor and the time he came home. It was bad enough that he wasn't able to talk about it.
Zeke knew he had put a lot on his shoulders. Gavin didn't do much without his permission or without him. He was always home when he was told to be, and he didn't go out with others. Was this because of that? Was he upset that he couldn't do more with his life because Zeke was a hard ass? All he had to do was ask like he had a couple of nights ago. Zeke wasn't so much of an asshole that he couldn't compromise.
When dinner was over, he pulled Gavin to a stop just before the staircase. The shorter man looked up at him, eyes full of questions. Zeke framed his face and rubbed his cheeks with his thumbs. Gavin closed his eyes and sighed. He allowed his head to be moved from side to side, almost like he was taking comfort from it.
"If there's anything bothering you, you can tell me," he said.
Gavin smiled and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired today. I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight. I want to be refreshed when my family arrives."
Zeke searched his face. When he didn't find anything, he pulled Gavin to him. He kissed him gently in hopes his guard would drop, but it didn't happen. He blinked at him when he pulled away then Gavin went upstairs to bed.
The older man watched him disappear until he heard the bedroom door close. He couldn't pinpoint where things had gone wrong, but he was going to find out. He would start with the daily itinerary and go from there.
Out of the four past lovers he'd had, Zeke had never paid this much attention to anyone. They did what he asked, and he took care of them. He didn't require them to tell him what they did on a daily basis as long as they didn't blow all his money or cheat on him. The two women he'd been with had spent more money in a day than he made, and the only other man had cheated on him with an escort.
But Gavin had been basically sold to him. Raoul Duquesne had wanted his business so badly that he had offered his only grandchild and heir to make it happen. Zeke had taken the offer and had moved Gavin to New England without a care of what he'd thought. He had done everything to make sure the young man was taken care of with one main request. After their first night, Gavin had to give himself to him whenever he asked.
At first, Gavin hadn't wanted to. He'd thought their first night would be the only one, but Zeke had proven otherwise. He hadn't forced himself on him, but he had made sure Gavin knew how much pleasure he could give him. He was forceful and intense, and he did leave marks all over him, but he never intentionally hurt him. Gavin may have thought he was mean, but they had found where each other's boundaries lay.
He had taken care of him in the last year. He made sure he ate and went to school. He had regular doctor and dentist visits, and he was doing well overall. And he had been honest with him from the beginning. He had told Gavin his expectations, and so far the younger man had done his best to meet them. Until tonight.
He couldn't concentrate on the rest of his work. He put his files away, shut off his computer, and turned off the light. He could finish it all in the morning. His instincts were telling him something was wrong. Gavin's personality didn't just change over the course of twelve hours. Something had happened.
He went upstairs and into the room. The lights were out, but he could make out Gavin in the bed. He was on his back with one knee bent and an arm under his pillow. He was sound asleep.
Zeke saw his phone on the desk. He'd forgotten to ask for it before he went upstairs, but at least he'd left it where Zeke could find it. He picked it up and unlocked it. Gavin was required to give him all the passwords to his electronics and social media accounts. Zeke could access all of his accounts to see what he was doing. The only thing he had privately was his school emails.
He went through the text messages from the day. Most of them were between Gavin and his family or Gavin and his friends. Nothing was out of the ordinary there. His computer was in his bag so he hadn't worked on anything since coming home so he didn't figure it would have anything he would need to see. Next he went through his bag. Again, there was nothing. Whatever he was hiding he didn't bring home.
"What are you doing?" Zeke looked over from Gavin's desk to see the man sitting up in bed. He blinked at him sleepily. "The phone's on the desk."
"I know. I found it," Zeke replied.
"Then why are you going through my bag? I didn't even take it today since the only class I had was a lab."
Gavin didn't usually question him, but Zeke had forgotten that he only had one class on Thursdays. His other two labs were on Tuesday and Wednesday as well as his completely full schedule throughout the rest of the week. On Thursdays, he didn't take his bag because all he needed was his lab book.
Zeke crossed to the bed and sat down. "Something is wrong. You've not been this silent since the first week you came here."
"I told you. I'm just tired. This week has kicked my ass. Between classes and working out and my other appointments, I have been running non stop. I just need a good night's sleep. Just one night," Gavin explained.
Zeke reached out and stroked his head. "You'll tell me if anything happens?"
Gavin smiled. This time it reached his eyes. "Do I have a choice?" No, he didn't, but it was cute that he thought he did.
Zeke watched him roll onto his side and fall back asleep. He knew whatever it was Gavin was processing. He would tell him when he was ready, but it would eat the older man alive until he did. He didn't want Gavin to keep things from him, but whatever was going on was hard enough that he couldn't say anything. For the first time in a year, he would give him the benefit of the doubt and let him keep his secret for now.
Just becasue he wasn't pressuring him, it didn't mean he wouldn't be supportive. He showered and changed before he crawled in the bed with the other man. He pressed his fron to Gavin's back and wrapped his arms around him. Gavin pressed into him but didn't wake up. Zeke didn't expect him to, but he did think he should get something more. But he would let Gavin sleep and relax.