Page 44 of Love Language

He started walking away, but a sudden pain sprang up in his foot. He’d twisted his ankle. So now he was hobbling, cold and dripping, toward the exit while faceless people tried to help him but only slowing him down.

A voice he didn’t recognize called his name. He ignored it.

Sir would be so disappointed in him. And he would be disappointed in himself because with the time difference he might be missing their only chance to talk today.

He could see the exit.

But then, it turned out that they’d re-arranged the tables and done some construction or something, and now the only working exit was out the back, through the demonstration room, and he had to turn around and start again.

“Greg!” The unfamiliar voice was louder now, closer. Someone grabbed his elbow, and he shook them off, but looked up.

And it was Marco. Standing there, tugging at him, with concern in his eyes.

I have to call Sir, he signed frantically.

And Marco looked disappointed, but he took hold of Marco’s hand and tugged him efficiently toward the exit, which had been right there all the time.

He knew Marco would take care of everything, and started to calm down.

Except that the guy at the front desk was the same bartender who’d been so unhelpful to Marco before.

Marco was explaining that he needed Greg’s phone, and the guy was saying that they hadn’t checked out properly and only Greg could get his own phone, even though that had never been a rule before.

And Marco was getting frustrated because the guy wouldn’t look at him so he could speech-read and then Greg had to step in to interpret.

And it felt exactly like being a little kid again, having to translate for his parents about things that he didn’t really understand when they were at the bank or the grocery store or whatever, and he hated that.

And then Marco was tugging at his arm again, and he heard that odd, unfamiliar voice again. “Greg! Greg, wake up!”

He jerked awake, heart pounding. He was… he was in a hotel. With Marco.

Those were Marco’s strong arms wrapped around his sweaty chest. It was Marco’s unfamiliar voice that had jolted him awake.

Stripes of dim light slanted over the walls from the window blinds, but it was too dark to see. The clock read almost 4AM.

Turn on the light? he requested.

Marco complied, then wrapped around him again, his smaller body nuzzled up against his side.

Do you want to tell me about your dream?

With shaking fingers, he related what he could remember.

You really miss him, don’t you?

Every day. It was true. Even if it wasn’t the same way he’d missed him before, not a day went by when he didn’t think of him.

Marco kissed his forehead. And even though he missed Richard with an ache that tore through his chest, he knew that Marco would take good care of him.

Eventually they went back to sleep as the sun began to lighten the sky.

When he woke up, he felt groggy, but Marco washed him gently in the shower. He’d become accustomed to Marco wearing his boxers all the time, and now it just seemed normal when they showered together.

Marco also stopped to pick up an overpriced coffee on the way over to his family’s house. He wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve such a caring man in his life.

The party was a low-key brunch with family friends and his parents’ colleagues, some of whom he hadn’t seen in years. It was nice, but a bit overwhelming.

Greg made a point of talking with his hearing brother-in-law, since his signing was adequate but not always up to the family conversations. Since his wife, Greg’s sister, was hearing, though, it was impressive that he’d learned at all. He liked the man, and appreciated his commitment to keeping the language alive with his children.