Page 72 of Sweet

Cas flicks the safety back on and nudges my hand with the gun. “Take it. I don’t even want to hold it,” he says to me with a small frown.

“Sure thing, baby.” I tilt his head closer for a kiss and double-check the safety. Then I turn back to Jess. “So, let me get this straight. You broke into my boyfriend’s house and pulled a gun on him, becausehe’sunhinged. Not you.”

“He’s manipulating you.” Jess stares at us like we’ve got two heads each. “Ask him what happened to Riley. Go ahead.”

I wordlessly look down at Cas, who takes a shaky breath before he swallows hard. “Promise you won’t be mad,” he croaks.

“Of course not, baby. You can tell me anything,” I say while hugging him even tighter to my side.

“Riley and I… we never left town.” He pauses for another shivery breath. “My meeting got canceled, so we decided to stick around here. Right before we were supposed to head out together, he told me never mind. He’d been texting Jesse while we pregamed at the house, and since Jesse was already done hanging out with you and we’d never left town, Riley said they were going to meet up at his place. I really did make sure he left here in one piece, but that was the last time I saw him.”

“Why didn’t you tell meanyof this?” I ask.

“Jesse was right there when you asked me and I didn’t know what to say, so I lied. I didn’t want to assume the worst then, but I’m really starting to think he did something to Riley,” Cas says while worrying his lower lip. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve said something sooner, but… Jesse’s your best friend. I thought maybe he was just embarrassed and didn’t want you to know.I didn’t want to accuse him of anything or get him in trouble. When he acted like he didn’t know what happened to Riley, I panicked and lied.”

“That is not what happened. At all. Go ahead and check my phone,” Jess screams.

“Of course, because he’s probably deleted all the messages by now,” Cas whispers beside me.

“Jess, this is pretty fucked. I know you don’t like him, but to try to accuse my boyfriend of something you know he couldn’t have done? That’s pretty extreme,” I yell at him. “Did you think you could get rid of him and have me all to yourself or something?”

“What? No,” Jess snaps. “I literally had no reason to kill Riley.”

“And that’s the other thing. He keeps talking about Riley beingdeadwhen he’s onlymissing,” Cas whispers beside me.

“Jess.” My whole body deflates when I exhale.

“Fuck, I didn’t do anything. You’ve got to believe me,” Jess screams and steps closer to me.

Cas recoils but sticks by my side, so I wrap my arm even tighter around him.

“Unreal. The both of you.” Jess takes a few more steps forward.

“Jess, back the fuck up. Seriously,” I say.

Jesse doesn’t listen. He comes right for me, trying to wrestle his handgun away from me. I don’t think he’ll use it on me, but I also never thought him capable of murder. Now I’m not so sure on either count, and I’m not taking the chance. Not with Cas right here. Then the moment comes when it’s wrenched from my hand and the safety clicks while being turned off. I look at Jess. He looks at me. And he’s got his gun pointed right at me.

That is, for all of half a second. Cas wraps an arm around Jesse’s neck from behind in a firm chokehold. I smack thegun out of Jess’s hand the second it’s pointed away from me. Cas wrestles Jess to the ground, and I have a moment where I wonder how long until he’s considered subdued. Jess keeps fighting, but Cas stays expertly perched atop him, riding him like a rodeo cowboy who refuses to be thrown off a bucking bronco. Exactly the same way he managed to stay on me the one time he wrestled me to the ground. I don’t move. I just watch. And then Jess isn’t moving either.

“Is he…?”

Cas shivers all over and releases a small hiccup while he looks at me, tears streaming down his face.

“Oh, baby,” I say while I rush over to him. I bend down to scoop him right up, and he wraps his legs around my waist while he clings to me. He’s shivering all over and so scared and so… hard. Hard as a fucking rock as his hands cradle my face and he kisses me furiously.

“It’s okay,” I whisper. “I got you.”

“You own me,” he corrects. “Completely.”

“I do.” I rake his hair back with my fingers and his legs squeeze me even tighter. Jess is wrong. Cas cares about me. I know he does.

The Jess Incident, as I shall forevermore mentally refer to it, gets handled by Cas. Mostly because, uh, that’s my best friend. Well,wasmy best friend. And the less I know, the better. I can legitimately claim ignorance on the matter. Not that I’ll ever be telling anyone about this. Yeah, my boyfriend may have flipped out and strangled my best friend in a panic. Said best friend may have pulled a gun on him first and even pointed it at me while loaded. Mistakes were made.

We go away as scheduled, mostly because we agree it would be more suspicious to suddenly stay home instead. The next four days are spent disassociating and repressing the memory. Not that I blame Cas. Fight or flight in a life-or-death situation and all that. It’s not as if I can even claim I would’ve done differently if someone threatened him. And if it had been an open and shut case of self-defense, I wouldn’t have even stopped to think of the consequences. But it’s not. And I’m not letting my boyfriend go to jail over bullshit that’s not his fault.

A month passes. Everything feels chillingly normal despite the obvious differences. Cas is the same. I am the same. Our relationship, the same. Ironclad obsession, unwavering on both ends. Only difference is no Jess, and that kinda hurts but can’t be helped. His absence is noticed right away, of course. His family has reported him missing, but that was the end of it. No twenty-four-hour news coverage and search parties for a missing queer man. Definitely not in this town.

Right before Christmas, I get called down to the police station. Admittedly, I internally panic, but it makes sense they want to talk to me. It’s well known that Jess and I are not only coworkers, but friends. Some people maybe even know we briefly dated, since neither of us were subtle about it. So, here I am, sitting in an interview room and cooperating in good faith, meaning I can leave at any time if shit gets too personal.

---