"Stuff" Happens

Sorry I took so long. Still battling with my messed up computer. Anywho! Enjoy!

--Scribbles05

Chapter VIII


Austin returned home and immediately made a beeline to the bathroom to shower. He was so eager to get clean, he passed right by the setup Max had made in the kitchen. Max wheeled into the room and looked at the decorated kitchen table. Before they had left, Regina had put a cover over the salad and placed the lasagna back in the oven to stay warm. Max started to grab a plate.

“What are you doing?” Regina asked as she watched the man grab the tongs and place salad on the plate. Then he moved to the oven and scooped lasagna.

“I’m fixing Austin dinner. If I’m right, he hasn’t eaten since lunch.” He wheeled to the kitchen table and placed the plate there, so he could fix a glass of punch. When he returned to the table with the fixed glass, Regina saw him spot the velvet ring box. It hadn’t moved since it was earlier brought home. He grabbed it and slowly opened it; looking over the two identical gold rings with melancholy eyes. She had decided she had seen enough, and with a gentle squeeze of the shoulder, she said her goodbye and slipped out the house for the day. Quickly snapping himself out of it, he promptly closed the box and slid it in his pants pocket. Max set the glass between his legs, the plate on top his lap, and began to wheel out the kitchen.

The door was cracked open, when Max reached the bedroom. He pushed it open and saw Austin’s back as he laid on his side on the bed. “Austin?” He called out softly. He felt odd as he watched the roles begin to reverse. *Who’s taking care of who now?* He thought. He wheeled further into the room, next to the bed. “Austin?” He called out again.

Austin slowly turned over with a gloomy face. “What?”

“I brought you something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Nonsense. How could you not be hungry? You haven’t eaten since one o’clock.”

Austin closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “I don’t want anything to eat, Max.”

“Well, do you want to talk about it? We can talk, right?”

“No. We can’t talk. I don’t want to talk.” He shot back.

Max nodded in understanding. *Is this how I acted?* “Fine.” He put his hands on the wheels and started to back his chair up to leave the room.

“Max? Wait.” Max stopped moving. “I DO want to be held. Could you just hold me for a while?”

“I’ll hold you as long as you want me to.” Max placed the plate and glass on the night stand and pulled himself on the bed to lie against Austin’s body. When he did so, Austin instantly wrapped his arms around Max’s waist and laid his head on his love’s shoulder. Max wrapped his arms around him.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

“Don’t be. You’ve been through a lot today. And plus, I’ve been an ass to you since I’ve been home. That was nothing.”

The couple stayed quiet, until the exhausting events of the day put them to sleep. Though, when they woke up a few hours later, Max noticed the dinner plate was empty and so was the glass.

The three weeks Austin was at home, the small house was at a constant silence. Though Austin wasn’t mad with Max for anything, he preferred to spend his time alone, in bed. To Max, it seemed like after waiting so long, he and Austin had finally recaptured the love in their relationship. Then in one day, their two steps forward, was sent three steps backward. But Max respected his wishes. He spent his time in other parts of the house, talking with Regina when she was over.

“He still in the bedroom?” Regina asked Max as they sat and watched Family Feud in the den, three weeks after the brutal mugging.

Max nodded, his eyes still on the tv screen. “Yep.”

“Has he talked about what happened yet?”

“Nope.”

“Oooookay. The rings? You gave him the ring, right?”

“Nope.”

“Well, what about the other.........”

“That either.”

Regina looked confused. “Why the hell not? It may brighten his mood.”

Max shrugged. “I don’t know. It just never seems like the right time. When I do catch him awake, he’s either been crying or he asks to be left alone.”

“It’s always the right time, Max. Austin’s been going through some major league shit these past three weeks. He needs some ‘positive’ to come his way.”

Max looked at Regina with a skeptical look. “Are you my psychiatrist or my nurse?”

The petite woman shrugged. “Both.”

************

Austin could feel Max’s eyes on him, while they were in the shower together. He was soaping his lover’s shoulders, when he looked up and saw a look of sincere compassion in his face; particularly around his brown eyes. The “looks” had been going on all that day and he felt a bit tired with it. He half chuckled. “I wish you’d stop looking at me like that.”

“I’m sorry. I just........I just wish you’d tell me what happened.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” He washed his back.

“Why?” Max pushed.

“Because.........because I just don’t, okay?”

Max sighed. “This is such bullshit. Just like the whole thing that went down with your boss, I had to pull teeth practically to get you to open up to me. I didn’t cut your head off when you told me the truth then, why don’t you trust me now?”

Austin stopped the bathing and looked Max in the eyes. “I DO trust you, baby.”

Max slowly made a grab for Austin’s hands, pulled him close to his own body, wrapped his arms around him -careful of Austin’s still recovering ribs- then whispered in his ear, “Tell me.”

Austin closed his eyes, breathed deeply, then related all of what happened in the alley.

“I’m sorry all this shit keeps happening to you.” Max started, still holding on to Austin. “I’m mad that these things happened, but I’m also mad at myself.”

Austin leaned back slightly to look into Max’s face stunned. “Why? You didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly. I’m helpless. I haven’t done anything to...........I’m just here.”

“Max, you’re paralyzed. You’re not supposed to be everywhere. You’re supposed to be at home, getting better. To be honest, I’d prefer it that way. Who knows what that man would’ve done to you, if you were there.”

“Regardless, I should’ve been there. Regina and I could’ve dropped you off this morning and I could’ve been there to watch you when we picked you up. I could’ve started to visit you at work, so that bastard boss of yours wouldn’t have thought twice about approaching you with his little ‘deal’. I should’ve been doing that when I could still walk.”
“If you did that, that would mean you would have to come out about our relationship to my co-workers.”

“Forget them and their opinions. ‘Us’ is all I care about.” He touched a hand to the smaller man’s cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Now get me out of here. I’m starting to prune up.” Austin smiled.

************

Austin’s three weeks off had come and gone, and now it was time to head back to work. Max and Regina both had practically begged to take him to work, but Austin flatly refused, claiming if he didn’t bite the bullet and get back into the groove of things, he’d never get passed the attacking. “I don’t want to be scared of everything that comes near me for the rest of my life.”

So instead, they reached a mutual agreement. Austin would drive himself to work, and Regina would take Max to meet him in the park for lunch. Though, Max DID rush Austin out the house early so he could get a parking space VERY close to the building.

Austin returned to work with hugs and kisses on the cheek from the women and firm handshakes and pats on the back from the men. It was a bit odd for him to be the center of attention, when he was hardly noticed all the times before. But he was still happy and grateful for their generosity. He found out that Mr. Cutlis was at a meeting and wasn’t going to be back until three, and that made his return even better. He made his way to his cubicle to find a large jar of candy and a ‘Welcome Back’ balloon on his desk. With a smile, he sat down to work, feeling relatively good for once in a long time; forgetting the small fact that he had two weeks to leave for good.

Lunch time soon rolled around and Austin grabbed his jacket and keys, and left the building for the city park. The park was a large place, filled with food vendors, paved walkways, stages for plays, kiddie rides-almost like a mini Central Park.

Austin arrived before Max and Regina, so he took a seat on a bench a few yards from the parking lot to wait. He finally saw Regina’s black Altima pull up and he stood up so they could see him. “Hey!” He yelled out smiling. Regina got out and waved back as she walked to the other side of the car and opened Max’s door so she could help him out the car.

Austin started to walk over to them. “No.” Max said. “Stay there. I have a surprise for you. Don’t move.”

The hazel eyed man smiled. “Okay.” He watched Max wait in the seat of the car patiently, as Regina leaned in the backseat of her car for something. But instead of pulling out Max’s wheelchair, she pulled out two crutches. Austin’s hand raised to cover his mouth, as he watched uncertain about what was going on. When he saw Regina give Max the crutches, he found his words. “Oh my God.”

With Regina standing next to him, Max staggered to his feet and slid the crutches under his arms. Taking one step at a time, he slowly walked his way in Austin’s direction. While she held her hands out around Max in case he fell, Regina looked at Austin and he was on the verge of tears-happy tears for once.

Max finally reached his younger lover and stood directly in front of him. After helping him, Regina smiled at them, then walked back to her car to do errands for an hour. “You’re walking.” Austin said with amazement.

Max smiled. “Yeah. Not too shabby, huh?”

“How did this happen?” They both sat back down on the bench together.

“Well, after that fall I took in the den a few weeks ago, I started to feel slight sensations in my toes. I thought that was a normal occurrence for people like me, so I didn’t pay any attention to it. It wasn’t until after our make-up sex, that I felt movement in my legs. From then on, I’ve had Regina taking me to a rehab center to do thorough leg exercises pretty much everyday, while you’re gone to work. The rehab center wasn’t the only place I’ve had Regina take me to.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet jewelry box. “This is the surprise.” Without a word, Austin grabbed the box and opened it. His mouth dropped. “Despite what other people think, I believe we are like any other married couple. We live together, confide in each other, love each other, do anything for each other. We make each other whole. This is just a symbol of that. I wanted to show to people that we belong to one another. And since I don’t care too much for branding, I went with the next best thing; rings.”

Austin’s eyes began to water. “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

Max smiled and shrugged. “They’re just rings. Not even expensive rings.”

“I don’t care. Ever since I found out I was gay, I never thought I would be able to wear one of these. I thought these were saved only for the straight people. Do you really think of us as married?”

“We ARE married, Austin. But, if you wanna go through the little process, I’ll do it.” Max grabbed Austin’s ring, then carefully stood up. Austin stood up too and Max held out his own left hand. “Slip it on me.” Smiling, Austin slid the gold ring on his ring finger. “Do you, Austin Evans, take Max to be your husband? To have, to hold, in sickness, and in health, for as long as you both shall live?” Overwhelmed, Austin started to laugh. “Well, do you?” Max repeated.

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

Max took Austin’s ring and slipped it on his finger. “Go on. Say the words.”

Austin was still laughing. “This is crazy.”

“Humor me.”

“Okay. Do you Max Garner, take Austin to be your husband? To have, to hold, in sickness, and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Well, what now?”

Max spoke incessantly. “Bythepowerinvestedinme,Ipronounceyoulifepartners. Youmaynowsoluteeachother.” He leaned forward and kissed Austin deeply. Austin wrapped his arms around Max and turned his head to the side.

“I love you.”

“And I love you.” Max finally broke away and said, “Now I’m starving. They’ve got polish dogs at that vendor over there. Two for $1.50.”

“I’m guessing this is the reception?”

“You’d be right.” Max smiled. “Come on. I’ll even treat you.”

“Wow. Mr. Big Spender.” Austin joked as they walked down walkway of the park.

“And you know it.” They laughed.

************

Austin was on cloud nine when he returned to work. After practically begging him not to, Max insisted on walking him back into his building. “I appreciate you walking me all the way back to my office, Max. But really, it was unnecessary. That’s too long of a walk back for you to take by yourself.”

Max brushed it off. “Don’t worry about it. Once I reach the elevator, I’ll be fine. Besides, I wanted to be sure you got to work okay.”

“But ALL the way to work?” Max cocked an eyebrow. “Okay. Okay. Not another word about it. I’ll see you at home?”

“Yep.” Austin nodded, then turned to walk away. Max, careful not to knock over his crutch in haste, grabbed his elbow. “Wait a minute. You’re forgetting something.”

“What?” Max leaned in and kissed him on the lips in front of his co-workers. A couple eyes popped and a few mouths dropped, but nothing too bad. It was a shock for them to see it displayed in front of them, but majority of them figured Austin was a bit to the left anyway. Except Jamieson. The klutz walked into the copy machine. “Right. How could I forget that?” Austin said.

Max shrugged. “See you later.” And he left.

Austin felt silence all around him, like he was being watched. It wasn’t until he quickly turned around and faced his co-workers and noticed them all of a sudden jump back into work, that he knew they had been watching. He found himself smiling at it. He dealt with so much shit these past few weeks, his co-workers finding out he was gay was the least of his worries. For a while, Austin was in an ‘unbreakable’ mode, in that nothing throughout the rest of the afternoon seemed to bother him. Not even when Jamieson came to his cubicle and questioned him about the kiss.

“You never told me you were gay, Evans.” Jamieson started. “We’re best friends and you didn’t tell me?” *He’s jumping the gun on that ‘friends’ thing, isn’t he?* Austin thought.

“You never asked.” Austin answered simply with a shrug.

************

It was just after 4:30, when Austin’s ‘untouchable’ spirit, was ‘touched’. Mr. Cutlis walked out his office, after spending all his time inside since he returned from his 3:00 meeting. Austin’s familiar unease around the man he developed from their first meeting returned and his natural high died down.

Austin steady kept his eyes on his work as his boss made his rounds. When he finally approached him, he didn’t come up and ask him “How are you doing?” or “Glad to see you back”, like all the others. No. Instead, he tossed a slip of paper on his desk as he breezed by.

“I believe I owe you this.”

Austin frowned at the big man as he passed by. Then he looked down at the paper on his desk. Turning it over, he looked at it and grew deathly pale. Austin was sick to his stomach. His mouth was gaped open as he looked at the paper through watery hazel eyes; which he held in now shaky hands, that were on the verge of ripping it in two.

It was a check for $75,000.

Dun, dun, dun! More to Come! Please review.