Devil's Impact

Taking a Break

It was early, but getting later by the minute as Ryan laid in bed the next morning, his back to Jason as he stared at the open bathroom door. According to the clock, it was after six. He knew Julien would be up soon. Or maybe not. He had such a hard day yesterday and then he fought going to bed last night since Jay was here.

Ryan shut his eyes with a heavy sigh. Jason coming home hadn't turned into the euphoric night he'd been hoping for. After the long, rough day with the kids and a dinner that had barely been eaten before Julien got antsy to get down and bring Jason every single toy he could find, what happened later was worse.

Reading to Julien on the big bed, playing a few games and bathtime had been fun. It was medicine to Ryan's heart to have Jason there, clapping along and engaging with their son, the way he always did. It was family time, and Ryan had missed that not only since Jason had been staying alone in Seattle, but even when they'd been in the rainy city together, family time really hadn't happened. It was one more reason Julien had struggled away from home, and one more reason Ryan was so excited for things to go back to normal.

But once Julien had fallen asleep and Ryan had escorted Jason to the bedroom to catch up like married adults, things took an unexpected turn. He clearly remembered the conversation that had happened only eight hours ago. Ryan knew they needed to talk about things that had happened in each other's absences and that information had started out easy going as they sat on the bed, holding hands.

Jason had been honest about Mike's surprise arrival, and Ryan offered a boyish apology for buying the ticket. Jason told him all about it being awkward and the array of emotions he'd felt as he and Mike hashed things out. There hadn't been too much time spent on the bigger point of Jason's hurt feelings. Ryan had heard all about that while they'd been in Seattle together, and he was relieved when Jason said that the dinner invitation to Six Seven had really helped to get Jason over the hump and thinking about mending bridges rather than holding onto hurt feelings.

That's where the kisses started. Ryan had kissed Jason's hand, telling him how happy he was he'd been able to assist in making Jason's hurt feelings go away. In the moment, he confessed to his impromptu time with Chester when he'd first gotten back from Seattle. It was a laugh between them as Jason teased him about having sex in Talinda's office.

It was fun to kiss between giggles and Ryan was happy his husband was in such a good mood. The story of the dinner fire came next and the laughter stopped while they both acknowledged how serious it actually was, and that they were both thankful it hadn't been worse than a simple scorch mark on the table.

Thankful kisses happened next. Soft kisses of the appreciation of life and safety. And when those came to a slow stop, Ryan held Jason's hand and told him about after the fire. About bringing Chester to bed, and the two of them having sex. He apologized for taking the liberty, and he was relieved when he saw understanding in his husband's eyes.

It had seemed natural when Jason confessed next - as he relayed his dinner story with Mike at Six Seven, going into the amount of wine, and the decision to get a room instead of trying to drive home. Jason had taken responsibility for that, since Mike wasn't very good at holding his liquor. That had brought a laugh too, poking fun at Mike for being a cheap date when it came to alcohol. They both knew it was true.

That brought them back to more kisses that popped out of nowhere, until Ryan had asked why Jason's phone had been on silent the next morning. "After we hung up from the FaceTime call," Ryan had reminded him. "Chaz was texting with Mike, so I thought I'd text you a little too, since we were missing each other. But it was on silent. Why was that?"

Ryan had watched Jason go quiet and look away from him. A mumbled answer of it being left on silent from the night before was given, but Ryan knew Jason well, and he knew that wasn't the whole truth. The moment Jason turned to look him in the eyes and say that he'd purposely checked it to make sure it was still on silent while he and Mike went back to bed together, the good mood drained from Ryan completely.