Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Old Friends: Part Two

The rest of the day passed in a haze of memories. Gideon told Jason all about Jerry, and remembering the good times had helped temper the grief of his sudden death. Jerry and Jason would have liked each other, if they'd been able to meet for more than those few moments that morning, and every time Gideon felt like he was sinking under a wave of sadness, Jason was there to hold him up. Gideon couldn't imagine anyone else being so willing to listen to endless stories about their husband's ex-boyfriend, but Jason didn't bat an eye.

Later that night, after Jason had fallen asleep, Gideon lay in bed, curled around Jason's warm body, and thought.

You used to have such sad eyes.

Jerry's words went round and round in his head. He wasn't the first man to have said that to Gideon.

Gideon got out of bed. Jason mumbled something but didn't wake up. Jason's phone lay on the nightstand on his side of the bed, and Gideon walked around the bed to pick it up. Jason had been pushing for him to get a phone of his own, but he wasn't there yet. He still got confused trying to work Jason's.

But he'd learned enough to unlock the thing, pull up Google, and search for The White Gull B&B, Brighton.

More than forty years had passed since he'd rescued a mother and son from their abuser and taken them to that B&B, where Paul and Simon had taken them in for the night, and – like Jerry – he'd never imagined he would see any of them again.

But suddenly he needed to.

After what he'd learned from Jerry, he had to know if the AIDs crisis had taken Paul and Simon too, or if they'd lived to see their dream of same-sex marriage becoming a reality.

If they were still out there, Gideon wanted to find them.

Images appeared on the screen, the B&B that Gideon hadn't seen in decades, but recognised in an instant.

The front had been repainted, and there were boxes of flowers arranged on the windowsills that hadn't been there before, but the sign was the same. Gideon scrolled through photos of the B&B's interior – it had been decorated and now looked very different – but when he reached the last photo his heart sank. Standing outside the building, with their arms around each other and bright smiles on their faces, was a young couple – a man and a woman. According to the information on the website, these were the current owners.

Of course Paul and Simon didn't own it anymore – if they were still alive, they'd be in their eighties, maybe more.

How was he ever supposed to find them?

Maybe he couldn't. Maybe this was a dead end and there was nothing he could do about that.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked.

Gideon turned.

Jason had his head propped on his hand, his eyes sleepy, his hair mussed, and he was so beautiful that it made Gideon's chest ache.

He joined his husband, back on the bed, and explained what he'd been trying to do. Jason took the phone and examined the screen.

"When were you at the B&B?" he said.

Gideon thought back. "It was a few years before I met Jerry, so it must have been 1974. I think."

"Do you remember what Paul and Simon looked like?"

"Yes, but I have no idea what they'd look like now."

If they were even still alive.

"Do you know their surnames?" Jason asked.