La Maison 5: Darkness (Complete: mxm BDSM)

Chapter 3.2

A/N: there's a bit of a content warning toward the end here, and I'll put more detail at the bottom of the page in case you're worried. Gabe is about to find something out about himself...

Gabriel's anger, bubbling back the moment his final audition piece had ended, faded instantly when he saw Henry waiting for him. Every thought he'd had; about Henry being full of words but lacking in action when it actually meant something to both of them: gone. Concern about why Henry was suddenly giving one-to-one tuition, which was something he'd given to no one but Gabriel the entire time they'd been at the Conservatory: gone.

He'd come here, for Gabriel, and it made him almost weak with happiness. He couldn't reveal that though. Henry wasn't a fan of neediness, and Gabriel had to keep it bottled up outside the bedroom – and often even there. It wasn't good to be needy.

He managed until they got outside, and walked towards the park, where Henry bought him a milkshake from a vendor with a cart, getting himself a coffee.

"You can relax now, darling. I'm sure you'll get the position, and we can be in London by summer."

Henry sat on a bench and Gabriel collapsed next to him, remembering himself at the last minute and straightening his back.

"What if I don't get it though?"

"Hey, none of that." Henry turned, placing a hand on Gabriel's knee, though he glanced around to be sure no one was looking. "You're an amazing musician, darling. And they will see that. Anyway," he said sternly, before Gabriel could thank him, or lean into the touch, "you'll be okay getting home, won't you?"

"What do you mean? Aren't we going together?"

"I have to go back to the Conservatory. I just sent poor Tommy to have some dinner, but I have to get back."

Gabriel felt his earlier frustration rise again, quicker than before. "What do you mean? You've been tutoring him all day."

"Come now, Gabriel. Don't get silly. He needs my help. You can get yourself home. Be good. You have some chores to keep you occupied, anyway."

Henry stood, dropping his half-finished coffee in the trash, giving Gabriel a brief wave and an even briefer smile before he turned and headed back. Gabriel took several deep breaths, his milkshake too cold in his hand, the air feeling solid in his throat. He wouldn't be jealous – couldn't be. Henry hated it when he was. Said it was a silly and childish emotion. Said only little babies acted out when they didn't get enough attention.

But just who was this Tommy kid? Someone who'd never been mentioned before, and Gabriel wondered just how long Henry might have been giving him personal tuition. Wondered just how talented he was. Henry had always loved how much natural skill Gabriel had, and he wasn't blind to the fact that it was a large part of Henry's attraction to him. Maybe this Tommy was more. And maybe he was better at being good, and doing what he was told, and not pushing against the demands put on him.

It wouldn't do him any good to dwell though. He had things to do at home, and he couldn't sit in a park for the rest of the afternoon, tempting as it might be to simply refuse responsibility for a while. He pulled the strap of his messenger bag securely across his chest and grasped the handle of his case. It was only a few blocks, but his instrument was going to feel very heavy by the time he got back to the apartment.

He wasn't wrong, and he was only half-way there when it was feeling as though the case was pulling his arm from its socket – both arms in fact, because he had to keep switching hands. He wasn't allowed short cuts, because they invariably meant shady alleys, and the long shadows of dusk were beginning to fall. But it was too much. There was an alley on the next block that could cut almost ten minutes from his usual journey. A direction he'd never taken, but as he felt the numbness in his fingers, it felt like a risk worth taking today. A minor rebellion that Henry wouldn't even know about, but Gabriel would, and just maybe it would make him feel better about all of the inconvenient emotions.