Rebound Pt. 03

"Shhhh." Russell grabbed my shoulder gently. "Nate, dude. You are the only person in this whole mess who's innocent. Please be kind to yourself, little bro. We love you. Even Darius, although his way of showing it needs work..." He sighed. "Tell you what. I guess I have the day off. Can I arrange a counselling session for you? I think it might be good for you to talk. To someone who isn't me."

"Oh." I bit my lip. "Na, I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Russell sighed. "I know you always think you have to be fine, and strong for me. But you're about to start a new job and you can't start it with all this on your shoulders." he looked at me with wide eyes. "It's literally the least I can do." I swallowed.

"Fine." I said. "You pay then." He nodded. "And what the hell do we say to mum?!" I moaned. "We're meant to have family roast this week! Two black eyes, cracked ribs, and an assault charge?!" Russell laughed.

"Uhhhh.... I was walking Biscuit with you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Brioche." I corrected him. "She'll be so disappointed."

"She'll be worried." He said with a frown. "Even more reason to see a counsellor, Nate." He sighed. "She'll get the whole story out of us either way. I guess we come clean." I wrinkled my nose.

"Another I told you so." I sighed. "She always told me I was fucking terrible at choosing a nice guy."

"I know." Russell said. "I remember. The amount of times I heard 'Nate, you can date whoever you like but not HIM. THAT BOY IS BAD NEWS...."

"Blah, blah, blah..." I agreed. "And whenever you brought a girl home it was all smiles and have another serving of potatoes and oh Russell, she's so nice."

"Well I date nice girls." He smiled. "Speaking of which.... In the middle of all that last night... It's really boring waiting in the ED room... I called Sho."

"Oh?"

"We were gonna have dinner tonight." He smiled at me. I raised my eyebrows.

"Tonight? You sure that's... smart timing?"

"I can't wait any longer." He sighed. "I miss her so bad." I smiled.

"Aw. Cute. What's she gonna say about all of..." I gestured at him.

"She's gonna say I'm an idiot." He sighed. "And that she hopes I'm ok." I looked at Russell, and I gently stroked his back.

"She's the one." I said. He looked at me.

"I think so." He said.

----

I wasn't sure what I was meant to be doing, with Jude away, but Ryan showed up just as I was closing the cafe with a big smile and asked if I was game to start with... being inducted I guess. He talked me through the job, which was a step down from what I'd actually been doing. Admin, emails, coffee rounds... absolutely piss easy, boring, and I'd be doing it all for an extra three dollars an hour. Ryan was easy to talk to, easier than Jude actually, although maybe part of that was that I wasn't half in love with Ryan. He was jokey and kind and had this energy about him- like he was kind of moronic- but I could tell from the way he looked at the work I'd been doing with Jude and his advice for me he was deeply smart.

"You're actually wasted interning." He said as he showed me around the empty office. "But it's a great step in the door, and in six months Jude and I will make sure there's a real job for you." I grinned.

"We'll see." I said. "I don't know if Jude mentioned but I'm kind of a hazard. Let's just take it one step at a time." Ryan laughed.

"A hazard? How so?" I opened my mouth but I didn't need to tell him because at that exact moment I tripped on a cord and reached out to stop myself from falling. I grabbed onto someone's tray and covered myself and the desk with an alarmingly big stack of papers which fluttered gently around the office. I moaned as I blinked up at him from the floor. "Oh." He laughed and helped me to my feet. "I see."

"Shit, I'm sorry. Oh, sorry, not shit, um..." Ryan laughed again.

"He did mention you have a filthy mouth." He said. "We probably do need to work on that." I blushed as I started to gather the papers.

"Yeah." I winced. "I'm trying." Ryan helped me and we started to put the giant report back in the right order. "They could have stapled this." I grumbled.

"That's on me." Ryan winced. "I didn't realise that was going to be an issue. I'll tell the team we might need to up the staple budget." He laughed at my face. "It's ok." He reassured me. "This isn't a biggie." I swallowed and continued putting the paper together in silence. My eyes drifted over the pages as I worked, ignoring the 'Classified' sign stamped on every page. But really, if you're gonna leave classified documents in an open office in-tray- isn't that kind of not my fault if I read it?

"Huh." I muttered. "This is what Jude's been working on eh?" Ryan grabbed the stack of papers off me.

"Don't read it." He chastised me. I blushed.

"Don't leave it out in public." I mumbled. My eyes flew open. "Oh fuck, sorry." I winced. Swearing again. "Ah... um...." Ryan cut me off with a huge grin.

"You're going to be an utter delight to work with." He said. "I can see why Jude likes you so much." I blushed.

"He's only here for a few months right?" I asked. Ryan shrugged.

"He's contracting." He said. "Although... I dunno. I think Adrian has a plan for him. If we can offer him the right salary he might stick around. Gonna have to be some salary though, Jude makes three times what I do in six months." He shook his head. "All the overtime isn't worth it though, he barely sees his fiancé."

"Oh yeah." I mumbled. "Well. That might be why..." I cut myself off. Ryan was just too easy to talk to. And also I can't shut up. I swallowed. That was such a bad combination. I wasn't going to last a day in this office. Ryan looked at me shrewdly. He swallowed.

"You and Jude talk a bit then?" He said quietly. I looked at him. Oh. He knew too. Maybe everyone knew.

"A bit." I said quietly. "He wanted to help with..." I gestured at my face. Ryan raised his eyebrows.

"He's like that." He said. "How... is... that, by the way? You know, between Jude and I we could probably really scare the shit out of him." I laughed as I imagined D confronted by two of the tallest, broadest men I'd ever seen working in an office.

"Well...." I winced. "You know Russ? He's my brother, he works with me downstairs." Ryan frowned.

"The dark haired one one?"

"Na, the tall blonde one." I sighed. "Different dads." I explained for the billionth time. Ryan nodded slowly. "He ah... he kind of already... took care of that." I swallowed. "Although taking care of isn't exactly how I'd phrase it... anyway, I won't be showing up at the office with black eyes, I swear." Ryan nodded.

"Nate." He sat down at a desk and I swallowed. Oh no. I'd talked myself out of this before I even started. "You seem very worried you won't fit in here." He said quietly. "Don't be ok? Adrian saw your work and asked Jude to get you to apply, and Jude already thought the sun shone out of your ass. I like you a lot, I'll make sure you get on ok, and you're smart and you got through all that work after hours that would have taken the team months. Don't worry about what people will think of you. It's not like that. Anyway most of them already know you from downstairs. This isn't shark infested waters. This is a small team who want to see you succeed." He sat back and smiled at me, and I tried to ignore the lump in my throat. "And, never ever tell anyone this, but before I met Sam, I was the most useless person on the team. I was late with everything, I half assed any task anyone gave me, and I'm not famed for my coordination either." He chuckled as I went red. "But even at my absolute worst when I fucked up some budgeting really, really badly, the old boss Erin called me in and she didn't dress me down, or fire me, or be a dick. She asked if I was ok, and said I wasn't showing the promise I had when I started the job, and she put a formal warning on my record and gave me monthly check-ins to get me up to speed. No one is going to yell at you or think you're stupid if you can't keep up in your first month- and I think you will keep up anyway. We're on your side, Nate. You'll enjoy this." I blinked. Crap. I didn't trust myself to speak.

"Thanks Ryan." I said huskily. "I am looking forward to it." I coughed, trying to will the tears to retreat into my eyeballs. "I'm just nervous. I should have done something like this straight out of Uni, and now..."

"You'll be a whole lot better because you're not straight out of Uni." Ryan reassured me. "Life experience gives you perspective."

"Thanks." I said again. "You and Jude... you've been so nice. I really appreciate it." Ryan smiled.

"Alright, come on." He said. "Let's conclude the tour and set you free for the night."

----

Friday

----

Jude

----

"Dammit." Levi huffed as he helped me with the boxes to Logan's van. "I didn't realise you owned so much damn shit." I laughed.

"Be grateful I'm not keeping the furniture."

"How dare you, it's all mine asshole! Ugh, your new place is going to be so badly decorated." I laughed.

"Well, if I need an interior decorator I'll call." I sighed as I looked at him. "Thanks for helping."

"Of course." He stuck his hands in his pockets. We looked at each other awkwardly. He sighed and stuck out his hand. "I don't know what to say." He said. His face fell and his eyes started to water. "God. Here we finally are, and it's the right thing, and we've done it the right way, and all I can think is I love you more than ever, and I wish you'd stay." I swallowed. In spite of myself I embraced him, ignoring his hand, and we squeezed each other tight.

"I know." I laughed and wiped my eyes as I pulled away. "I keep thinking the same thing. But...." Levi cut me off, shaking his head.

"I know." He said. "Well. Goodbye Jude. I love you. Be kind to yourself. Please stop smoking, it's really bad for you. And... please, whoever the next guy is, don't you dare downgrade. He better be so much hotter than me or I'll scream." I laughed.

"Goodbye Lee. I love you too. I hope you can find happiness with... as many guys as you need." He laughed and we really did shake hands....

And Logan blasted the horn... and we parted... and I drove away, watching him watch me from the rearview mirror.

-----

His mother had made us do it properly. She made us get dinner together, and talk about everything openly, without alcohol. It hurt like hell. We both cried all night, and we agreed if, in two years, we were miserable, we'd try again. But for now this was it- everything we'd ever shared was split up, and packed in boxes or left in a now bachelor's apartment. I dumped everything I had in a storage unit and booked a hotel for two weeks while I worked out if I could afford to buy my own place. I wouldn't mind renting, but now that I was single my absolute number one priority was getting a dog, and that would be easier if I had my own place.

We agreed we'd just have to not engage with each other for some time. It was too hard, and we knew we'd fall prey to feelings, and memories about good times. Denise put us on rotation to visit her so our paths wouldn't have to cross. Levi told me he really, truly wanted me to be happy, and he would never forgive himself for the pain he caused me, and I told him I felt the same.

And tonight I was getting absolutely fucking wrecked with my friends from Uni.

------

"No ring!" Rita greeted me. "Oh my god Jude. I can't believe you actually did it." I shrugged and reached for my wine.

"Me either." I said with a grin. "I thought I'd never get to bottom again!" I called out to the whole bar, who stared in fascination at me. Ethan hit me.

"Jude, you've only had like two wines!" He chastised me. "Keep it down!"

"No!" I stood up. "Ass for the taking! A bit rusty but game as hell!"

"Jude!" Abby pulled me to sit down again and I gestured to the bartender.

"Shots!" I called. She folded her arms.

"Absolutely not." She glared at the others. "Control your horny gay friend." Ethan blinked.

"Woah." He said. "Weird to hear that not directed at me." I laughed at him and sipped on my wine.

"Tell me about it." Logan said, wrapping his arm around Ethan. I smiled as I looked at them. It made me sad, how happy they were, but only because I envied it. From the second I'd met Logan I knew he was kind, and doting, and so right for Ethan, and I kind of hated them both, and I kind of wished they'd let me in and we could have a soft poly thing. But I knew that wouldn't work. Logan and I are both the jealous type. I stared across the bar and caught eyes with a guy who was definitely grinning at me. I grinned back and raised my wine glass and he beckoned me over. I glanced at my friends, who were arguing about which Star Wars was better, fucking nerds. They wouldn't notice if I.... I felt my wrist in a vice like grip as I slipped off my stool and glanced around guiltily. Logan was glaring at me.

"I'm just...." Logan raised his eyebrows.

"Rebounding." He said. "Which is fine. But you're not in any state to consent."

"I've had two wines!"

"And a broken heart." Rita reminded me. "Just us tonight, Jude." I sighed and slumped back down on the stool. Dickheads. I glanced at the guy who was laughing and he stood up. Ooh. I straightened my back as he walked over and placed his hand on the small of my back. Oooh. I smiled up at him shyly.

"I'm sorry to eavesdrop." He joked. "But I couldn't help overhearing your quiet conversation regarding an ass for the taking..." Rita turned around and batted his arm off me.

"Nope." She said. "Jude is busy tonight. Sorry." He glanced at my friends, who were all glaring at me, and back to me. He raised his eyebrow at me.

"Jude?" He asked quietly. I stuck out my hand with a smile. "Thomas." He said. "Your friends think you're busy tonight." I melted under his soft gaze and opened my mouth.

"Jude!" Abby punched my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Thomas, but we really have to watch out for him tonight." I gently pushed her away.

"No you don't." I said. "Thomas is just gonna buy me a drink, ok? We'll sit right over there." I pointed to the corner he'd been in. I looked Rita pleadingly in the eyes, because she was the softest touch and she winced as she looked at me.

"Fine." She said. She grabbed Thomas' elbow and looked at him firmly. "He's not going home with you." Thomas smirked as he shook her off and offered me his hand. I grinned as he motioned for another drink for me and the bartender poured it reluctantly. He ushered me back to his seat and laughed as we sat down.

"Wow." he said. "A whole team of bodyguards protecting your ass. Must be a great ass." I laughed.

"It has its moments." I sipped on my wine and looked him over. He was roughly the same size as me, maybe a little broader, and a little shorter. He had curly dark hair and was wearing a trenchcoat inside. He had very intense dark eyes, and he was staring at me as I glanced at him. Ugh, I hadn't been properly hit on in so long. This felt so good. I smiled at him.

"So, what are you doing alone in a bar?" I asked. He settled back into the seat and shrugged.

"Drinking." He said. "Same as you." I smiled.

"I'm not alone." I reminded him. He smirked.

"Unfortunately for me, no you are not." He glanced at my friends. "Do they always try that hard to cockblock you?" I sighed.

"I'm just out of a long relationship." I said. "They think my head's not in the right place- they might be right, in their defence." Thomas looked at me thoughtfully.

"Well, I mean. One night stands are meant to be good for breakups aren't they?" I grinned at him.

"Preaching to the choir, buddy." He grinned.

"Well." He said. "Tell you what. I'm actually busy tonight anyway. Why don't you take my number and maybe when your friends aren't around I can help you get over him." I handed him my phone wordlessly and smiled as he handed it back.

"Thanks." I smiled. "You off now then?" He glanced at the bar, where my friends were heatedly arguing over something stupid, no doubt. He looked at me and moved closer.

"I have a bit of time." He said. "Why don't we get to know each other?" I moved closer to him and let his arm fall over my shoulders, and I leaned into him as he asked me what I did, who I was... all the while slowly moving his hands over my body and making me blush. He pressed his lips to my neck and I let myself fall into him. I glanced up, more than ready to start making out in a secluded corner with a guy I'd just met, but his phone started buzzing and he sighed.

"Yeah." He picked up. "Yeah, sorry, I met a hot distraction." He winked at me. "I'm coming. See ya." He hung up and shrugged apologetically at me. "Well that's me." He said. "Text me."

"I will."

I drifted back to my friends with a smug smile on my face and sat next to them, ignoring the rolled eyeballs as I sipped on my wine.

"Hey!" I said, as Abby scoffed. "I behaved! He's gone, I'm back." The girls pursed their lips at each other and Tama shook his head.

"Just... be careful." He pleaded. I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, weren't we going dancing?" Ethan said. The others excitedly agreed and started to pack up their stuff and I reluctantly let myself be led out to a club. Dancing for me usually means sitting outside in the smokers section, chatting up whoever happened to sit next to me. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

----

A few more drinks down and dancing didn't seem as bad. More than that, we'd ended up shedding Tama at some point, which was our straight guy friend gone, and then Abby, which was our mom friend gone, which left three gay men and a total drama queen and that meant Ivy, which meant that dancing was more like foreplay... and even though I never danced I was getting bored of sitting and watching the others as I drank my way through maybe two bottles of wine.... so I slowly found myself pulled into them, and sort of tried my best... but I was a lot more interested in some guy who decided to wrap his arms around me, grinding against my ass and running his hands over my torso. Now that was fun. I closed my eyes and let him tease me, running his hand up under my shirt right there on the dance floor, and gently pulling on my nipple... I was that close to begging him to take me in the bathrooms when I felt the presence of Ethan and Logan on either side and before I could protest, I was frogmarched outside. Logan apparently had the same bad habit as me because he pressed a cigarette into my hand and tried to calm me down.

"You're so wasted Jude." He moaned. "Stop hitting on people, you'll get laid, just not tonight."

"I'm sooo horny." I moaned loudly. "Where did that guy go? He was cute." I looked around and Ethan stopped me from getting up.

"What did he look like?" He asked pointedly.

"Cute." I said. Ethan laughed.

"Ah-huh." He said. "What colour was he?" I glanced at Ethan and bit my lip.

"Ummmm.... White?" Ethan shook his head.

"Nope. Good guess, this club is like seriously lacking in pigment." He glanced around. "But your guy was brown."

"Good, that's hotter anyway. We'll make beautiful brown babies. Where did he go?" Ethan sighed.

"Not the point, Judey. Baby boy, you're wasted." I sighed.

"Ok, fair point. I probably can't get laid tonight." I sighed. "Dammit, why did I drink so much?! I so can't get hard. Although maybe I'm relaxed enough to..."

"Jude?" I heard a voice say and I blushed as I looked up.

"Ryan!" I grinned. I jumped up and wrapped my arms around him. I was so excited to see him. He would help me get laid. He would get rid of Ethan and Logan... god that was a mouthful... but Ethan and Logan together is just... Ethan. E-Lo? I shook myself out of that whole rabbit hole and went to introduce them. "Dudes, this is Ryan, he's my best friend at work... Ry... and Sam, his Dom..." I giggled. "Oops. His husband... guys this is Ethan and Logan. E- Lo? They're cockblocking me."