Page 4 of Conflict Conclusion

Chapter Two

LEON

“Iwould say I’m sorry the drive is so long, but it’s not my fault Charlie lives in middle of abso-fucking-lutely nowhere. Really, we should blame Noah for having such a hot, kind, loving, strong, giving, caring…”

Aspen trailed off and paused their incessant bouncing in Leon’s passenger seat. “I sort of lost the plot. What was I saying?”

“You were being fucking annoying and describing Charlie⁠—”

“Oh right!” Aspen said, resuming their bouncing. “We can blame Noah for having such an amazing friend, who turned out to be an even more amazing partner, who just so happens to live on the other side of the universe.”

At no point in the past forty-minute drive had Leon considered blaming Noah. Himself? Many times. James? At least a couple of times, for encouraging him to “have friends” and “leave the house.” He would have been perfectly content barricading the apartment door and hiding out with Yarmen until James returned. Hailey could—and probably would—still visit by climbing onto his fire escape…except she was on yet another college visit this weekend, so Leon would have really been all by himself.

Which was fine. He could have spent a quiet weekend inside with his thoughts and feelings and nightmares and…

“I don’t mind driving,” Leon said, his fingertips going numb as he flicked on his turn signal.

He didn’t need Kaden, his therapist, to tell him what it meant that anytime he thought of the nightmares, or thought of that day, his fingertips started to go numb. It had happened for years, anytime his fight-or-flight response kicked in. Usually, it was in response to an actual threat, like getting in fistfights in the schoolyard or standing up to his mam and her litany of suitors. As he got older, though, it also started happening when he had to give a presentation at work or flirt with the office mensch.

His office mensch.

His office mensch, who was currently on a boat floating into the middle of the ocean for some god-forsaken reason. At least there weren’t any icy patches of road or telephone poles to hit. There were just all the unknown terrors of the deep, dark ocean, waiting to reach up and grab⁠—

A horn sounded from somewhere on the other side of the road, and Leon ran a trembling hand through his hair. Aspen was still yammering about something, but they had stopped bouncing, and their eyes were fixed on Leon’s white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

“So, it should only be a few more days before we can take Gordie home to our new place, but in the meantime I promised Noah I would keep Gordie and Charlie company while he’s away visiting his brother. You’re just an added bonus—with a car.”

Leon huffed and came to a complete stop at the final stop sign before the shelter. “To be clear, no dog will be coming home with you today, right?”

“Nope,” Aspen said, popping the “p” as they began bouncing yet again. “We’ll probably take him home in Charlie's truck next week. You’re welcome to come and sit in the bed with him if you want!”

Leon kept his foot pressed firmly on the brake as he turned to look at his best friend.

Aspen’s smile was so wide, Leon could have counted their teeth if he wanted.

Obviously, he didn’t want to. Just like he didn’t want to sit in the bed of a truck with a massive dog, or go home to his empty house tonight, or go to Hailey’s going away party in two weeks. Unfortunately, he had no choice about the last two. This, however…

“No,” he said.

Aspen’s smile didn’t waver. “Okay, we’ll just invite you over to our new place, and we can make waffles and snuggle.”

“I don’t⁠—”

Aspen’s hand landed on Leon’s thigh, warm and steadying. “It doesn’t have to be with Gordie. You can snuggle with us if you prefer. And James can come too. We can all snuggle!”

Leon opened his mouth to tell Aspen off for being absurd, but a car was rolling up in his rear view mirror, so he opted for staring straight ahead and pretending Aspen wasn’t there.

Which was rather challenging when Aspen launched into a very detailed account of how their move was progressing. Aspen and Noah had decided to move to the other side of the city, closer to Charlie, but still on major bus lines for Aspen to get to and from work and their other partner, Rachel’s, house. Leon had met Rachel plenty of times, and while he wouldn’t say they were close, he liked her and her other roommates, especially Blair. She had the kind of no-nonsense attitude Leon appreciated and an enviable sense of style.

Speaking of style, he had an unanswered text message sitting on his phone from Hailey, asking if he and James wanted to go to the mall to do some college shopping with her and her faefriend, Trina. Obviously, they’d have to wait for James to get back, and by then Hailey may have already done all her shopping and wouldn’t need Leon’s help anymore.

Which was fine. He didn’t want to go shopping for school supplies or clothes, or be dragged around a mall or forced to face the fact that in a few short weeks Hailey would be leaving and⁠—

Aspen squeezed Leon’s leg, and he threw the car into park, staring unseeingly through the windshield at the front of the dog shelter.

“I really do appreciate you driving and coming with me. It’s always nice spending time together,” Aspen said quietly.

Despite the fact that Leon couldn’t seem to keep his head on straight today, it was nice spending time with Aspen. Just like it was nice spending time with Hailey. He should probably respond to her text and volunteer to go to the mall with them on his own. He’d been Hailey’s next-door neighbor, aka babysitter, aka pseudo older brother, for coming up on eight years now. He didn't need James as a buffer.