The Returnee

Chapter 6

Despite his concern, nothing happened. A few hours later, he woke up again free from the headache and with the sun now shining outside. Joey bundled Lee up in a coat and scarf before taking him out and into the city. Lee assumed they'd be going to see whatever passed as tourist destinations but instead his points of interest were family based. Occasionally introducing him to a few other family members living in the city in a passing acknowledgement kind of way. No pressure but faces and names to learn if he needed to find help.

Grant must have spilt the beans on some of his hobbies. Well, any of them could have and from how Joey talked there was some kind of file on him, on all of them likely. Bookshops had been considered a place he should see. The first one they went to was a standard run of the mill brand shop that had passionate workers if not boring decor and a tight space. He found a history book that he'd been looking forward to, having followed the author for a while and their research.

The second bookshop was different. Where the first was boring and reeked of standardisation, this was beauty in its own right, full of quirky alcoves and winding staircases lined with more bookshelves where the owner had run out of space. The smell of incense drifted in the air, mixing with the smell of the dust and books. Lee wasn't sure where the smell came from, none burned where he could see but it lingered. He explored the space, dipping in and out of alcoves with books of all topics and ages. The maze of building wound impressively in circles and in the kind of chaos that felt right in a bookshop. The stairs went up and down to half floors, full floors creating a space that seemed bigger than the building looked like it should have. Lee wanted to live there and bury himself in a cave of paper and ink.

Joey laughed up Lee ran his fingers almost longingly over the spines. Without a permanent abode, he had no space for books. The few he collected were dropped off at secondhand bookstores once he finished or left the city. He let himself get two books, one for each week. That seemed fair. He held the books close to his chest as if they were treasures. The history book would stay with him for a while yet.

"Give them here, I'll carry them for you on the way home," Joey beamed, hands sweeping the bag away from Lee as they walked down the dimming street. 

"Joey, I'm not going to yours,"Lee tried to get the books back from the man but the man kept them out of reach. How he'd even fell to sleep in the same room of him was a bit of a mystery. Sure hearing another person breathing let a part of him scared of being alone in the dark settle. That didn't mean he wanted to go to his house.

"I can do this all day and night,"Joey danced out of Lee's reaching hands, body language turning playful even as his outfit made him look serious. "You can trust me. I showed you a good time today, didn't I?" His other arms wrapped around Lee's waist like a chain and held him close, pressing their faces almost intimately close. A grin unfurled on his face, seductive, dark, promising of more if Lee desired it.

"I don't know you," Lee pulled himself out of Joey's grip, face burning and chest pounding. "And you have a husband." He didn't flee or try to walk away but he avoided Joey's hands as the man tried to maintain contact with him.

The man sighed. Lee didn't care. Joey was not the boss of him unless Lee let him be.

"Devon is looking forward to meeting you and he has no issue with having some fun between friends."

"I'm not interested."

"I'm more reassuring you that I'm not a cheater. I love my husband very much," Joey's voice lower to a fond tone. His eyes lit up. "He's the light to my star, the blue to my ocean."

"I don't need a waxing poem of love," Lee couldn't stop the smile on his face though at the sight of the man thinking of his husband. The difference rang clear in the man's tone and body language. Anything he'd promised Lee would be fun and nothing more. His heart belonged to Devon.

Lee's heart clenched as the memory of similar looks appeared. Elric never smiled, but sometimes Lee had spotted him softening when Colin played with Grant and Matt, or when Grant dancing while cooking. Quiet moments when the stoic man didn't realise someone was watching, precious moments that Lee treasured. "I get it, you love Devon very much and you have an arrangement."

"One way to put it," Joey winked, catching Lee again, this time to tug him down a different street to the one they'd been on before releasing him.  "You'll love him too."

Lee stopped on the street, knowing the hotel wasn't this way. "I've had a wonderful day. Why are you insisting that I go to yours?"

"Is there a reason you don't want to meet Devon?"

"I'll happily meet him but not at your house. You can bring him out to dinner. I'm sure he'd appreciate being wined and dined in a nice restaurant," Lee refused to let Joey trick him into staying at his. Caretakers took their job seriously. Their homes radiated warmth and family, carefully crafted to reassure the survivors of abductions and remind them they had been returned. Lee didn't want that. He didn't want to fight against the pull to return home or to stay where he'd be safe and loved.

His phone buzzed. Andrew demanded to know his dinner plans. Damian had sent texts all day. Mostly silly things like memes meant for people a good decade younger than the both. They made him smile. He had a missed call from an unknown number.

"He cooked dinner for you."

Translation, they'd made an effort to ensure to their little trap appealed to him as much as possible. Dinner and some wine, soft music in the background to draw him in further. The temptation burned. The scars on his arms itched. Lee hungered for it and at least for one night, he would receive the affection he craved. What submitting to this desire would mean wasn't something Lee was ready to accept .

"I don't want to give my job." Shame boiled at the weakness of his voice, at the fact he couldn't pull away as Joey pulled him close again to lead him into the night. He had a goal, one that he intended on achieving regardless of what had happened to him.

Another message from Damian, this one a Christmas themed one about a wise man bringing a Frankenstein instead of frankincense. Too much of his life had gone into this now to give it up.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to meet my husband," Joey sounded almost amused by Lee's protest.

The request on its own was reasonable. Lee couldn't think of a reason why he shouldn't meet Devon. He'd be happy to meet Devon. Damian had asked his permission to add him to the family chat and the man's messages on the family char that made Lee laugh during the brief time that he'd been linked into the mess. It would be nice to meet him. It didn't stop the aversion gripping tight.

"He can bring the food to the hotel and we can eat in my room," In the sterile environment of the hotel room, a carbon copy of the rooms either side of it, it would be much harder for them to tempt him; even with delicious food.

"I don't think that will be possible."

Joey offered his phone. It was illuminating.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"Not quite the picture perfect setting I assumed," Lee laughed not quite intensionally but honestly. Joey had a collection of what could best be summed up as a panicked messages from Devon. Including messages suggesting they give up on the meal and resort to fast food. Or toast, everyone likes toast, right? The final message declared that Devon was as ready as he'd ever be.

"He's nervous."

So was Lee.

Joey rubbed the back of his neck, glancing over as a ambulance whizzed passed and into the night. "Can you tell me that eating dinner at my house is worse than eating alone in your hotel room?"

"I don't want to get trapped in the family again."

"Strong word for someone who has never been with the family outside of the farm." Joey hooked the book bag on his wrist and reached out to fiddle with Lee's scarf. "We run by different rules. I have no intension of chaining you down and refusing you from working. I want to get you on solid ground again and tell you how the family works away from the farm."

Lee needed that information. He ignored Joey's beam of pleasure as he started walking in the direction that Joey had pulled him. He went to dinner. The next day he woke up in their bed, buried between them. Damn trap.