Devil's Effect

Odd Couples

Jason was sitting in his Jaguar with the motor still running, several minutes after he pulled into his spot in the loft parking garage. Even though the back half of his day had been relatively smooth and quick, it had been emotionally draining. Relief and grief kept up a vicious cycle through his mind the entire ride home from the law firm where he'd spent the afternoon with Mark's lawyers.

He rested his head on the headrest and closed his eyes, letting the air conditioner continue to blow over his face. It's all finished now, hon. Every last bit of everything that tied us together is through. He felt over his hand, at the promise ring on his finger where Mark's ring had once lived. Jason hadn't been brave enough to wear Ryan's ring into the office where he sat at the end of a table and listened to a team of lawyers and advisors tell him the end result of Mark's estate going to probate, but it was back on his finger now.

It could have been worse, like they said. I could have nothing. It's actually better than I thought it would be. That savings account has a good chunk of money in it, and I've got the loft, and my car, and the royalties. That's huge. Even if it's just from when we married until YRS stopped production, that's better than nothing. That will be a nice bit of extra income each month. And Ry, Chaz, and Mike have their last YRS paychecks coming now. It's good to have that all done.

Jason had taken what he wanted from the house in the hills, and when Mark's lawyer told him Phillip offered to sell it to him, he hadn't even taken the time to think through his answer. It was a resounding no. Despite his guilt and his grief, Jason was ready to move on, to put the big house and his role in everything that transpired there in the past. It wasn't an easy task, letting go, but he was determined to move on now. He knew he had to move on, for Ryan's sake, and for his own. Ry. He'll be so happy that it's over. He'll want me to stop worrying about it. He'll want me to tell everyone we're together now.

He finally reached to turn the car off, lifting his head and looking around. Mike's car was already there, looking shabby compared to others in the garage. Knowing he was home gave Jason an incentive to get upstairs. Talking to Mike about the financial things had become a comfort at times, and a challenge at others. He wanted to share the details of how it had all ultimately turned out with Mike, and see what he had to say.

Mike was at the table when he stepped inside the loft, his back to the bar and the windows open. "Hey," Jason greeted, walking straight to the bar to drop his things, his hand going out to touch Mike's shoulder.

"Hey, I just got the mail," Mike answered, waving an envelope in the air. "You know what that means." They smiled at each other in nerdy excitement. "It's bill day!" he and Jason said in unison.

"I'll get my computer," Jason said automatically. It had become a habit of theirs the past few months. Jason kept a spreadsheet on his laptop with their working budget, and all of their bills, money that was coming in and when, and everything that was going out. He and Mike spent hours sometimes when Ryan and Chester were at work moving numbers around, recalculating and making new formulas. It always made Jason smile when Mike fussed about the colors on the spreadsheet, or the width of the columns. "Do you think we can do this without you stressing over the formatting today?" he teased.

Mike looked at Jason, his face filled with indignation. "Formatting is important, Jay. It helps keep everything organized." He finished sorting the mail into stacks, moving Ryan and Chester's pieces to the side and taking all the bills, which were divided in Jason and Chester's names.

"I know. I like the formatting, too." Jason sat down at the table next to Mike. It was so much easier to work on the budget when they sat side by side. Before he opened up his computer, he flipped through the little stack of bills, mentally counting them up. "So, things are settled with Mark's estate now," he said casually, not looking at Mike.