Page 86 of Back to You

He looked up when the door opened, and was shocked to see Ethan.

“Hey,” he said, grinning at the sight of Brandon with a lap full of sleeping kittens.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

“I hope you don’t mind. I ran into Michelle and she said you were here.” He sat down on the floor next to Brandon, back against the wall. “She doesn’t seem very warm to me these days.”

“Sorry about that. You know Michelle.”

“Yeah, she’s protective of you. That’s a good thing.” Ethan snagged a kitten as it went running by and snuggled it. “How is Barnabus? I miss him.”

“He’s good. Spoiled. I can’t believe you let him sleep on the bed. Now he thinks it’s his right and yells at the door if I close it.”

“I’m sorry,” Ethan laughed, clearly not sorry at all. “I needed the cuddles.”

Brandon looked down at the kittens in his lap, remembering why Ethan had needed the cat’s comfort.

“So what brings you by?”

“I wanted to ask you something. Please don’t feel obligated to say yes,” Ethan said, clearly nervous.

“This is off to a good start.”

“No, sorry, it’s not bad. I just wanted to ask you if might be willing to join one of my therapy sessions.”

Brandon’s eyes shot to Ethan’s. “You want me to go to therapy with you?”

“If you don’t mind. I know it’s a huge ask, but —”

“Yes.”

Ethan looked nonplussed. “What?”

“I’ll go.”

“That was easier than I expected.”

“Ethan, if it’ll help you, I’ll do whatever it takes,” Brandon said, absently petting a kitten. He felt Ethan’s stare on the side of his face, but couldn’t look up to save his life.

“Thank you, Brandon.”

“You’re welcome. So what do I need to do?”

“Just show up.” He told Brandon where and what time, and Brandon noted it down in his phone. “I really do appreciate this.”

“Seriously, anything you need.” What Brandon needed was Ethan. He could feel the longing down to his bones. He’d do anything for Ethan.

He’d do anything to win him back.

They sat on the floor a while, just chatting about the kittens and the other animals Brandon had interacted with at the shelter. Ethan told him about Chauncey the therapy dog, and how he no longer joined their sessions because Ethan had gotten better.

Brandon felt his ass going numb, but ignored it. This time with Ethan was more important.

Ethan glanced at his watch and made a face. “I need to head out, I have a guitar lesson this afternoon.”

“How is that going?”

“Good! I’m actually really enjoying myself. It’s nice to have a hobby, I never did before.”

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