Page 74 of Sugar

“Why are you bothered about this right now?” Piper asked. There was no judgment in his tone, and Juno loved him a little bit more for that.

“When I was talking with Oliver, I thought, I’m going to bring my boyfriend to meet him.” Juno smiled. “Then I thought, all these people in the same room and all of them doing so much more than me. So much better.”

Piper scoffed as he turned off the freeway and down a small road. Off in the distance, Juno could see the faint prickle of lights against the darkening sky. “I’m a mall cop. Well, I was a mall cop. Then I quit my job, and now I’m unemployed.”

“You’re a retired astrophysicist, a former astronaut, with a doctorate,” Juno said.

“I’m a man who owns a town house who’s falling in love with a baker that makes the best cupcakes I have ever—and I mean this literally—ever tasted in my life.”

Juno’s whole body flushed. “It’s not magic.”

“No. It’s science. Baking is science. It’s measurements and chemical reactions. It’s flavor profiles that need skill to understand. You can’t just slap two things together and hope it goes well. Juno, I get that you don’t see yourself the way other people do. And I understand why. All I can ask is that you trust me when I say you’re so much more than you realize.”

Licking his lips, Juno couldn’t say anything. He nodded, not quite sure if he meant it, but he could at least give Piper this. The silence between them was a little tense, but Piper made it better when he kissed Juno’s hand one more time.

“We’re almost there.”

Juno squeezed his hand back and continued to say nothing.

Piper found a pizza place, which made life a lot easier. Juno had a small wood-fired veggie lovers and a salad, and he picked off some of Piper’s pepperoni when it came. They laughed a little and stayed quiet a lot, and Juno felt at ease in ways he wasn’t expecting.

They people-watched for a while after the server took their plates, and eventually, Piper stood and held out his hand. “Come on. I just got a text from Adam. He said we can come hang out while he gets the telescope ready.”

Juno followed him out the door, holding Piper’s hand tightly. The darker it was, the harder it was for him to see details, and twice, his foot slipped off the curb, and he turned his ankle.

“So. Are you going to get a cane?” Piper asked.

Juno’s stomach squirmed. “I think I probably have to. Eventually. My eye doctor told me the best thing I can do is learn it all before most of my vision is compromised. But I’m not sure I’ll get the chance since we’re going to be on the road.”

Piper pulled him to a stop. “We can go home, sugar. We don’t need to finish this trip.”

Juno licked his lips nervously, then shook his head. “I really want to meet your brother. I want to go to the wedding. I want to do everything I can before it all changes.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head. “It might make it harder later, but I don’t think I’m going to regret it. I can always take cane lessons. But I can’t always go back and see these things.” Those words sat heavy because while they sounded right, he wasn’t sure he meant them.

Yes, he wanted to head into his future with no regrets, but he was also tired.

Piper lifted his chin and kissed him. “Come on. The planets are waiting.”

The drive out to the observatory was long. It was nearly ten by the time they arrived, and Juno was mesmerized by the dark sky. The observatory was on a tall hill, small lights along the road that were low to the ground but nothing else to illuminate the road.

Juno pressed his nose to the glass. He almost felt like he could see deep into space. “This is amazing,” he whispered, then sat back. “Probably not as cool as seeing from up there, but?—”

“There’s something different about the view of the skies from Earth,” Piper said, cutting him off. “I never realized how much I missed it until I was off-planet.”

Piper stopped his car next to another one on a long gravel driveway, and Juno winced when his feet crunched on the small rocks. Everything was so quiet each footstep sounded like a drumbeat in a marching band. He tried to keep his steps lighter, but his body was too dense and heavy for that.

“Relax,” Piper murmured, taking his hand.

Before Juno could tell him that relaxing was impossible, a door opened with a loud metal creak. Across the drive, Juno could just make out the figure of a person standing in a lit doorway. It reminded him a little of a horror movie, and a chill ran up his spine.

He squeezed Piper’s hand tighter and let him lead the way until the view of the figure became clearer. It had to be Adam. He was tall, a little gangly with a mop of unruly dark curls, and when they stepped into the light, Juno was able to see his very stark, almost icy-blue eyes.

He looked stern and almost terrifying, and then he smiled, and his cheeks caved in with heavy dimples. He extended Juno an unnaturally long-fingered hand that looked like he could have had a great career playing piano.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Adam.”

“Juno.” His voice was rough, and he cleared his throat before taking his hand back. “Thanks for having me.”

“Thanks for coming out. I don’t usually get a lot of visitors this time of year, and it gets a little lonely. And it’s worse because my husband’s over in Switzerland working with CERN.”

---