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Bodhi: Yes.
Bodhi: IDK.
Caleb: Can you send me a pin? Do you know how to do that?
Bodhi: Kk.
He’d done that enough times with Ravi that it was more muscle memory than conscious ability. He sent the pin, then turned and slid down to the ground. Something wet seeped into the back of his jeans. There was moisture on his face, and for a second, he thought it was raining until he realized he was crying. He wished he had his hearing aids so he could know if people were close by. He could smell the acrid scent of both weed and cigarette smoke, and the stench from the dumpsters was making everything so much worse.
His stomach started to hurt again, and he knew he was probably going to vomit one more time.
Minutes passed, sluggish and slow, then suddenly too fast because there were headlights blinding him as a car pulled into the mouth of an alley. And then there were hands. But they weren’t bad hands. They were full of good touches and familiar smells.
He was helped to his feet, and he blinked his eyes open to find Caleb staring at him looking worried. Or scared.
Or maybe pissed off.
“M’sorry,” he voiced. “M’sorry. Sorry.”
Caleb shook his head. “Don’t understand.”
Right.Right. One hand lifted to his chest. “Sorry.”
He couldn’t get a read on Caleb’s face, but the hands on him were still tender and careful as they led him to the car and opened the door for him and helped him sit. Bodhi pulled his legs in, then leaned his head back which was a mistake because the car immediately began to spin.
He grabbed the door and sat forward, breathing through another wave of nausea, but it was too late. He just managed to pull the handle and shove his body halfway out before his stomach heaved again.
A sob lodged in his throat. He hated being sick. Everything about it made him want to die, and he couldn’t stop another flood of tears as he wiped his mouth and pulled himself back into the car.
He could feel the weight of Caleb’s gaze on him, and there was some measure of relief when he turned and he only saw one of the other man. “Sorry,” he said again.
Caleb’s expression was totally unreadable, but Bodhi didn’t know if that was on purpose, or if he was just unable to see what Caleb was feeling.
“What happened?”
Bodhi wanted to cry again at how slow Caleb was signing. He rubbed a hand down his face before he answered. “Ravi asked me to come.”
And ah, he could see something now. Caleb’s expression darkened. “To a bar?”
“Deaf event,” Bodhi signed. He was starting to feel a bit better now that he’d purged the last of his two drinks. “I felt bad if I said no.”
Caleb frowned. “Why?”
Before Bodhi could answer, he heard the distinct sound of someone laying on a car horn, and he glanced over the seat to see that the ass of Caleb’s car was in the street. He waited, then realized Caleb couldn’t hear it at all.
“Someone wants you to move.”
Caleb sighed. “Where is your dorm?”
Bodhi’s forehead scrunched up in thought, but fuck, he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember anything. His head was in a total fog. More tears came. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
Caleb softened and reached out, brushing some of the tears off his cheeks with his thumb. “Are you okay coming to my place?”
Normally the answer would be hell no. Especially when he felt like this. But the idea of sitting on Caleb’s nice couch with a heavy quilt, near some pretty ferns, under soft light, sounded like an epic fantasy.
“Please.”
Caleb nodded. “Put on your seatbelt,” he signed, and as Bodhi did, he backed out of the alley and pulled onto the street.
