The Returnee

Chapter 23

All five of them fit on the bed. Grant commented on needing one made for the Farm. They all had their own rooms. Space was important, and the Farm had plenty of it.  Before Lee knew the other four were in a polygamous relationship, they'd all slept in their own rooms. After he learned about it, people room-hopped with clues on the doors that they were elsewhere. 

When they dealt with people like Devon, who couldn't sleep alone anymore, they slept in a dorm room. It let group sleepers hear the breathing of others despite separate beds, without the intimacy of sharing with strangers. It helped.

Lee woke in the centre of the bed to the sound of his alarm with Colin holding onto his arm. He pulled out of the hold and clambered over bodies to turn the alarm off before flopping back to the bed. The bodies stirred but remained still as Lee took in the morning. He had no nightmares last night, that was nice. The truth was, he'd been too tired to do much more than collapse on the bed. He'd fallen asleep before he could talk to Colin, so Colin hadn't looked him in the eye yet. He should confront Colin about that, but Colin's relationship with Grant was far more critical to solidify. 

Colin declared he wanted to stay with Lee, but would that be the case with Grant here? Especially after Lee had refused to stop seeing his best friend for him. And in either scenario, what would his new relationship with Grant look like?

Joey curled around Devon, and Grant bracketed Colin, with an arm and a leg hooked over him in a familiar move that left Lee's chest aching. Colin had tear tracks on his cheeks. This wasn't something Lee could fix. Grant loved Colin dearly, and that hadn't changed because Colin picked someone else. 

He couldn't stay in bed forever. Grant got up with him.

"Sleep. Travelling yesterday must have been exhausting."

"It's cute that you think I'm not getting you breakfast," Grant said, kissing his forehead. "Get cleaned and dressed for the day."

Lee obeyed because what else could he do with that statement? He had a brief shower and shave, brushed his teeth, got into a suit of his own and joined Grant in the kitchen. Devon did his best, but he was not a natural in the kitchen. Grant adored cooking and was the main chef on the Farm. Grant loved to cook, and acts of service were Grant's love language.

He fed Lee scrambled eggs on dry toast with a cup of tea and helped him tidy his tie.

"What time do you break for lunch?" Grant asked as he read over the report Andy prepared for the next stage of the process. Grant has a passing interest in this kind of contracting. Many of their clients were business-related, as word of mouth had spread the Farm's reputation. 

"There's not an exact time, but between twelve and one."

"Will you eat lunch together?"

"No, it gives everyone time to have a debrief with their own teams."

"In which case, there's no reason for you not to take a sandwich with you to eat," Grant nodded to himself, moving back to the counter to prepare said sandwich. "Do you think you'll be able to eat some salad too?"

"I can try," Lee said

Grant gave a disapproving look, but sorted out making a lunchbox for him as Lee ate his lovingly made breakfast quietly and texted the company to check they knew the connect location to send a car to pick him up. John arranged it as a thank you for covering at the last minute.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" 

That was not about his plans for the day. Lee pulled the newspaper over and focused on that rather than Grant. "Until Andy got taken, yes. I'm not sure now."