“I’ll send up Laurence.” The anger in Trevor’s voice was unmistakable. And Connor knew his mom well enough to know her footsteps as she walked away from the room, quick and brisk, indicated that she was also angry, too.
Trevor lingered, releasing a long sigh. He came to the bedside and Connor feigned sleep. He didn’t want Trevor to realise he’d heard the scuffle: he knew Trevor would feel sorry for it. Trevor’s large hand touched Connor’s forehead gently and then lightly stroked his hair. He left without a word, and a few moments later, light and hurried footsteps entered the room.
Connor didn’t need to open his eyes to know who. Laurence crawled onto the bed and lay on top of Connor.
“Laurence, you’ll suffocate me. I’m sick, and you’re adding weight for my chest to lift to breathe in.” Connor opened his eyes to level Laurence with an unimpressed stare.
Laurence jolted. “You’re awake!” He lifted his weight from Connor. “Dad said your fever broke during the night. How do you feel?”
Connor’s mouth was dry, and his stomach quivered in hunger, but it was preferable to the fevered daze he’d been in. Connor couldn’t remember ever being so sick in his life. Better off, since before now, there was no Trevor to take care of him if he had been. “Squished,” Connor said.
Laurence got off him and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. “Hungry? Thirsty? Dad said the medication wasn’t doing you any good.”
Connor snorted. “It probably didn’t.” He was long since convinced that most pharmaceuticals relied on the placebo effect. The only thing that had ever dulled his pain was Adonis.
Connor got upright, and Laurence rushed to his side to offer him the water at his bedside table. Connor downed the entire glass, noting the light in the sky and the mist that hung low on the water. It was early morning with that sort of weather. “Have they been fighting the whole time?” Connor asked, not skirting around what bothered him most.
Laurence scowled. “She hasn’t looked in on you even once! Even Nick checked on you a few times.”
Connor hadn’t heard Trevor angry like that before. He felt that more had happened than Edith not checking on him.
“Adonis is really upset,” Laurence said after a pause of silence. He went to the window, looking out at sea. “I told him you’re okay, and I’ve been taking care of you, but he’s been staying under the dock waiting… he keeps making this whining sound.”
Connor grimaced. He knew the sound exactly.
“How long have I been out?”
“Two days now.”
Connor let out a hard breath. “I’ll go see him.” He got out of bed and crinkled his nose at the smell of sweat that wafted up. Should he shower before or after? He thought of Adonis waiting for him while he slept on blissfully.
“We have to be quiet. Dad is talking to the lawyer, but if he sees you trying to go to the dock, he might lock you in the house,” Laurence warned. He insisted Connor put on a thick sweater before they crept out the back door and followed the path to the sea. Connor was glad for the extra layers when the chill of the morning nipped at his cheeks.
“Are there any updates about the case?” Connor asked. Two days had passed for the corruption charge to go through the system.
“Your ex-boyfriend did an interview with Alice and Harry.”
Connor looked at Laurence sharply. “Austin?”
“Sam.”
“Oh. What did he say?”
“That you were gay. He even had pictures to prove it.”
“Does that mean the investigation is public knowledge now?”
“You were on the front page,” Laurence said. “Again. Everyone at school keeps asking me about you…” He cast Connor a sideways look. “You didn’t tell me you used to date Sam. Or that you used to date Austin… and now you’re dating Adonis.”
“Laurence…”
“I’m not judging, honest. It’s just you seem to get around, so I’m not sure how it took this long for news about you being gay to circulate.”
There was a glint in Laurence’s eye.
“Let me guess, your blogger has a theory about it.”
“He says—”
