Blue Ch. 02

If Blue was honest with himself, he knew what he would choose if it were possible. He would choose to stay here with Harley. That was a recipe for disaster if ever there was one. Things were fine with the two of them working opposite shifts, but in another two weeks, Harley would return to days at the animal hospital where he worked. If he could try out a week with the two of them home at the same times, it would let him make a more informed decision.

Not that Harley had asked him to stay, of course. He probably wouldn't, either, after the whole aborted blowjob thing, Blue snorted to himself.

Blue finished his shower and got dressed before leaving the bathroom. He always made sure he was decent before going into the main sections of the apartment. Nobody wanted to see his scrawny, damaged body, and he'd already made Harley look at it once.

He'd just decided to make spaghetti and salad when he caught sight of someone moving around in the kitchen. Fear made his heart pound for a moment and then he berated himself. It was just Harley and he hadn't heard the man get up because he was in the shower. Even after two weeks, he still wasn't fully at ease with sharing a place to live. Just because Harley usually poked his head in the bathroom, or knocked if the shower wasn't running, didn't mean anything.

Only it wasn't Harley in the kitchen. It was a young woman, who stopped in the middle of putting eggs on the counter at his appearance. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Um, I-I'm, uh, my n-name is Blue. I was going to make supper for when Harley wakes up. Who, um, who are you, if you don't m-mind me asking?"

"I do mind, but I'm Laura. Harley's sister. Listen, Harley is too nice to say anything, but he really doesn't want you hanging around. It's best if you just leave now."

Harley's sister. Blue could see it now, since Laura had the same black hair and blue eyes. Harley had been too nice to make him leave, so he'd called his sister in to do the job. Did Harley think he wouldn't understand? "Sure, um, yeah. I-I'll just get my things and go then. Thanks for, you know, letting me know."

Thank God I did my laundry last night, Blue thought as he quickly put his things into the backpack. He'd have clean clothes for a while. He kept his mind a careful blank while he laced up his shoes and left the guest room for the last time. Imagine that he'd been silly enough to wish he could stay here on a permanent basis! The trouble was that he was a glutton for punishment. He let himself get comfortable and complacent when he knew he didn't deserve such a nice place to stay and a friend.

It came as a surprise that he considered Harley a friend. Sure, he considered Jack and V his friends, but he didn't really feel it like he did with Harley. It was so silly and stupid of him to forget that he wasn't worthy of having such a wonderful person as a friend. All this time and Harley just didn't know how to tell him it was time to go. How clueless could he get?

"I'll just leave the key here," he told Laura while he carefully removed the key from his keychain. "Tell him it was really great of him to put me up while my place was being redone and he should have just told me to go if he'd changed his mind. The last thing I wanted was to impose."

++++++

Harley stretched in his bed and smiled. He'd heard faint movement from Blue's bedroom a few moments ago. Even now, after two weeks, Blue was so careful about not making noise to wake him up. If it would make a difference, he would keep telling the younger man to let loosen up a little. That wouldn't accomplish anything but to make Blue more self-conscious.

The few hours they spent together before he had to leave for work were precious to him. The weekend together, after the first week of sharing the apartment had been wonderful, although Harley was sure to give the other enough space. Blue was still too skittish and unsure to really spend too much time together.

Fuck he was attracted to Blue. With anyone else, he would have tried a few moves to test the waters. After what happened their first full day together, however, Harley worried that Blue would think he had to give in to any overtures Harley made.

This weekend he planned on sitting with Blue and talking to him. Harley knew he had to be very careful about how he broached the subject. He needed it to be clear that however much he wanted Blue, he didn't expect anything that wasn't freely offered. Just grabbing the kid and kissing him senseless would be the worst move he could make.

A soft knock on his bedroom door made him frown and jump out of bed to grab his robe. For Blue to come to his bedroom, and wake him up, there had to be something wrong. Very wrong.

Harley was surprised to find his sister standing there, looking very upset, almost like she was going to cry. Maybe it wasn't Blue he'd heard before. "Laura? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"I think I made a big mistake, Harl." Laura twisted her hands in front of her and looked at them for a moment. "There was someone in the apartment when I got here, and I assumed it was someone you'd picked up."

"That's Blue. He's had a hard time lately. His place is being renovated and he was sleeping on the streets. Twice I interrupted guys attacking him so I invited him to come stay here where he would be safe."

Harley moved by Laura and went towards the kitchen to get some coffee and to introduce the two of them properly. There was no sign of Blue anywhere, only Laura who was now biting her lip. She had something in her hands, which she held out after a moment. A key. The key he'd given Blue.

"I thought he was someone you picked up," she said again. "I know how you don't like guys hanging around, making a nuisance of themselves, so..."

"What happened, Laura? Where's Blue?"

His heart sank when his sister related the entire encounter. Damn. Blue probably thought he'd asked Laura to get rid of him because he was in the way. It wouldn't occur to Blue to ask Harley outright, or to tell Laura that he would wait to hear in person. He raked a hand through his hair and, although he knew it was pointless now, ran outside to look on the street. There was no sign of the familiar blue hair anywhere in sight. Well of course not. Blue had about five or ten minutes on him and could be anywhere.

There was time before he had to get into work for him to go looking. Casual conversation had Blue confessing to the places he usually went for sleeping, and those would be the first places he looked. While he dressed, Laura prepared him something quick to eat that he could carry with him.

Harley knew she'd meant well, so he tried not to show his anger to his sister, but he could tell she felt it anyway. Laura promised to help him in whatever way she could if Blue came back.

Although he looked into every alley and park he could by the time he needed to get to the clinic, he found nothing. There were lots of emergencies that night, which kept Harley too busy to dwell on the matter, but worry for Blue still gripped him. All kinds of scenarios paraded through his mind at every opportunity. What if someone attacked Blue again and no one helped him? What if a car hit him? What if...There were too many possibilities.

Harley intended to go home after his shift, shower and eat, and then go back out. Even though Blue spent the night on the street, Harley could at least find him at work and explain things. Tonight, Blue would be back at the apartment where he was safe. That was some small consolation to Harley, but he had a feeling that all the progress made over the past two weeks would be gone.

There was a piece of paper sticking out of the mailbox when Harley arrived home. He snatched it up and found it was little more than a napkin, the words half-formed and smeared. It was from Blue and Harley felt his heart start to pound. In it, Blue thanked Harley for being so kind as to put him up for a while and find a job. Blue also said that he planned on leaving town and would be gone by morning, and asked Harley to make his apologies at work for leaving without notice.

"Oh Blue, why would you leave me? Please be safe, wherever you go."