Jordan fell into a doze, waiting for Gabriel to arrive.
When a soft knock on the door finally woke him, it was half past three in the morning.
He rolled off the bed, tripped over his boots, and almost head-butted the doorframe in his eagerness to pull the door open.
"Hello again." Gabe smirked at Jordan's dishevelled state. "Hope I haven't kept you waiting."
He was wearing a pair of skin-tight black jeans, tight enough that Jordan could see the muscles of Gabriel's thighs shift as he stepped into the room. His shirt was made of a silvery material, loose about the arms and shoulders, and getting tighter around Gabe's narrow waist. He'd left the top few buttons undone, displaying a few tempting inches of smooth flesh.
"No, not at all." Jordan let Gabriel into the room, and closed the door. "So, when do you need to be back at the club?"
"Not until tomorrow night. We've got plenty of time." Gabe stripped off his coat and hung it over the chair beside the bed.
He glanced at the clock on the wall, and crouched to start unlacing his shoes.
"So, what exactly are you looking for?" He asked, straightening again.
"Oh..." Jordan blinked. "Erm, nothing specifically."
Gabe smiled.
Jordan knew his brother well enough to know he was biting back a laugh.
"You're new at this, aren't you?"
Jordan nodded.
"Well, as you've got me for the next twelve hours or so, I'm going to take a shower first, OK?"
"Sure," Jordan pushed the door to the bathroom open quickly. "Take as long as you want."
He settled back on the bed, listened to Gabe turn on the shower, and smiled when he heard his brother begin to sing quietly.
When Gabe finally stepped out of the bathroom, a fluffy towel wrapped around his waist, his blonde hair dripping down his neck, Jordan handed him a mug of coffee.
"Only the complementary stuff," he said apologetically. "I'm not sure it's even drinkable, really."
Gabe accepted it with a quiet word, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Unable to help himself, Jordan watched as the muscles of Gabe's torso shifted and rippled beneath his smooth skin as he moved.
"So," Gabe said, sipping his coffee. "What's brought on this little visit? You're not at all like my usual clients."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're not middle-aged... balding... portly... To be fair, you could be rich. If you can afford twelve hours at double rate."
"I can," Jordan assured him quickly.
Gabe smiled.
"I didn't buy you for your services," Jordan said quietly.
"Oh?"
"Don't you recognise me?"
Gabe looked at him intently, a faint frown on his lips.
"Well, when I saw you at the club, I did think... I just put it down to the lighting."
"We're not in the club now," Jordan pointed out. "The light's better here."
"True. And you still remind me of him, a bit."
"Who?"
"My brother," Gabe said shortly. "I haven't seen him for years. I have no idea what he looks like now. Bit like you, I'd suppose. Tall, dark eyes, good skin."
Jordan grinned.
"Good skin?"
"He always had really good skin. Last time I saw him, he was fifteen. Most of the friends I'd ever seen him with were spotty little oiks. He was the only one who never seemed to get spots."
Jordan threw his head back and laughed.
"Although, my brother never laughed like that," Gabe said. His smile was sad now. "So maybe you're not so alike after all."
Gabriel drained his mug and leaned over Jordan to put it down on the bedside table.
"So," he murmured, not entirely drawing back. "First time at this. I'm going to assume either, you are or recently were in a relationship which will end or has just ended badly, and you don't have any friends willing to have revenge sex with you. A prostitute is the best you can do at the moment. Although with your looks, that wouldn't make much sense. You could probably have anyone you smiled at. So, I'm favouring the theory where you married young, a woman obviously, and this will be your first dip into homosexual waters. Am I right?"
"Not entirely," Jordan said. "I'm not married, and I'm happy with my girlfriend. And I dabbled a bit with guys, while I was at university. Some overwhelming experiences, some entirely underwhelming."
Gabe laughed.
"Go on then," he said. "What's your story?"
"I came here looking for you," Jordan said quietly. "Specifically for you."
"Word must be spreading," Gabe smirked self-deprecatingly. "I give good head, but not that good."
He swung his legs over Jordan's hips suddenly, taking Jordan by surprise.
"I could show you," he murmured. "If you like."
He reached down and started to loosen his towel.
Jordan's hands shot out and gripped Gabe's wrists, stopping him before he could remove the cloth.
"Don't," he whispered.
"Too fast?" Gabe murmured.
"No," Jordan muttered. "Ten years too late."
"Ten years-?" Gabriel broke off suddenly, his eyes widening in shock. "Jordan?" He whispered.
Jordan nodded, hesitantly meeting Gabe's eyes.
"Hi," he said quietly.
"Jesus, it's you, isn't it?" Gabe said. "It's really you."
"Yeah," Jordan smiled. "Birthmark on my thigh and everything."
Gabriel's arms looped around Jordan's shoulders, and he buried his face in Jordan's neck.
Jordan wrapped his arms around Gabe, holding him as he started to sob.
"It's alright," Jordan murmured.
"Why're you here?" Gabe wept. "Isn't it bad enough that I haven't seen any of you for years, and now you have to come here and see me like this?"
"I won't tell you it doesn't matter to me that you're still doing this," Jordan said. "Because it hurts that you're still stuck doing it. But right now, I'm just really happy to see you again."
"Me too."
Gabe leaned back to look at Jordan. Tears clung to his long eyelashes, and Jordan automatically slid his hands up to cup Gabe's cheeks. He brushed the tears away with the pads of his thumbs.
"What happened?" He asked. "The last thing I knew, I was planning to come back home. When I show up three days later, the kids are in a panic, saying you haven't been around for days. Bailey has no idea where you are, and none of us have heard from you at all. What happened?"
"I had an accident," Gabe said slowly.
*
As he walked out of one shop, which had nothing he liked, and turned towards another, someone bashed into him, hard, a teenager running to catch a bus, and knocked him off the curb with a muffle oath.
A moment later, the world went black.
*
He could hear the steady bleeping of a machine beside his ear.
He opened his eyes blearily, and looked around.
He was in a white room that smelled of disinfectant. A warm blanket was tucked up to his chin. The mattress was thin, and uncomfortable.
The door to the room opened and a nurse came in, carrying a thick stack of paperwork.
"You're awake," she said in surprise. "I'll fetch a doctor." She scurried out immediately, leaving him in the bed.
He tried to call after her, but found his voice wasn't working. He had no choice but to lay there quietly until the doctor arrived.
Finally, a tall man in a white coat strode into the room. He checked the chart at the end of his bed before coming over to look in his eyes and ears.
"How are you feeling? Any nausea? Dizziness?"
"No," he managed to croak.
"Nurse, fetch some water please. Just a little."
He gratefully emptied the glass she brought, and felt his throat loosen a little.
"What's your name, son?"
"Gabriel Tanner."
The doctor wrote his name on the chart.
"We've been trying to find out who you are for three months."
"I've been here three months?" Gabriel asked weakly. "I need to go!"
The kids. What had happened to the kids? He thought desperately.
"Mr Tanner, you've suffered severe injuries. Do you remember what happened?"
"No."
"You were hit by a bus. You've been in a coma for three months. You're very lucky to be alive. We weren't sure you'd ever come around. You broke your right leg, your left arm in three places, and seven of your ribs. One of them pierced your lung. Your liver was lacerated, and your broke your back."
"But-"
"Don't worry, you're on the road to recovery. We put pins and plates in your arms to support the new bone growth, and your leg has healed well by itself. We put rods in your spine to support your vertebrae, and your reflexes have tested very well. We believe you'll still have full use of your limbs, but now that you're awake, we'll be able to complete some more tests and get a better picture of how you're healing."
"I need to go," Gabe said faintly. "I have... people I need to care for."
"I'm afraid you'll be here for the foreseeable future, Mr Tanner. Once we've completed our tests, you'll need some intensive physiotherapy. Your fractures are all healed, but your muscles have been unused for so long, they've started to atrophy. You need time, and a lot of effort, to build them up again. We'll be sending you to a therapeutic centre for some rehabilitation. You'll be there at least another month, possibly longer."
Gabe felt tears spring to his eyes.
"You don't understand. I have to go!"
*
It was almost four months before Gabe was able to walk out of the therapy centre.
His arms and legs were fully healed, as was his back, although he still suffered with back ache and occasional muscle cramps. And he tired easily. He couldn't walk for more than a few minutes before becoming tired, but his therapists assured him this was just down to his reduced stamina, after so long lying in a coma, and he would soon regain his strength.
Every time he'd tried ringing home from the centre, the call had been disconnected.
The first thing Gabe did when they let him leave was return home, although that require two bus journeys that used the majority of the twenty pound note one of the nurses at the centre had kindly given him when he'd walked out the door with nothing more than the clothes on his back.
To his horror, as he walked down the street, he saw a 'For Sale' sign hammered into the front lawn outside the house.
He went up to the front door and knocked loudly. His key wouldn't fit in the lock.
When he realised no-one was home, he walked back into town, ignoring the painful twinge in his back, and went to Bailey's apartment.
As he rounded the corner, he stopped short. Bailey was leaving his apartment with someone else, a few years older than Gabe by the looks of it. Bailey had his arm around him and, as Gabe watched, he leant down the kiss him.
Biting back a growl of anger and frustration, Gabe turned away from the couple.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to go to Florence's house instead. His back protested at the exercise, but Gabe pushed himself on. He was limping by the time he reached Florence's house. He knocked on the front door and waited impatiently, until a woman opened the door.
He frowned. It wasn't Florence's mother.
"Erm... Could I speak to Florence, please?" He asked tentatively.
"Florence?" The woman said blankly. "Oh... The people who lived here before us had a daughter called Florence. Do you mean her?"
Gabe nodded.
"I'm sorry, they moved about a month ago."
Gabe felt like he could cry.
"Did they leave a forwarding address?"
"I'm afraid not, no." The woman gave him a small smile, before closing the door.
Gabe wandered back down the path, wondering what to do.
Finally, he turned back towards the town and went to the Roadside Café. To his great relief, he saw Daisy inside, serving the afternoon patrons. He stumbled inside, his spasms of pain shooting up his spine.
"Gabriel!" Daisy rushed over to him.
He held up his hand to stop her giving him a crushing hug.
She patted his shoulder instead.
He struggled up onto one of the bar stools, and leant forward to rest against the counter.
"I've not seen you for months," Daisy said. "Where have you been?"
"It's a long story," Gabe whispered, before he burst into tears.
Alarmed, Daisy came over and hugged him gently.
He sobbed in her arms, clinging to her for comfort.
"It's alright, Gabe," she said quietly.
Gabe shook his head. He drew back, and dried his tears.
"I was in an accident," he said. "Months ago. A bad one. I've only just got out of the hospital. I broke my back, my leg and my arm... I needed a lot of therapy." He rubbed his eyes. "I went home this morning, and there's a 'For Sale' sign outside. The kids weren't there. Florence's moved house, so I don't know where Jordan is and Bailey..." He swallowed hard. "Bailey has another boyfriend now."
Daisy embraced him again, stroking his hair gently.
"I'm so sorry, Gabe." She patted his shoulder and briskly set about making him lunch. "You can stay with me until we've figured something out. And you'll work here too. I won't have you back on the streets again."
Gabe hesitated, before nodded wearily.
"I just want to know where they are," he said helplessly.