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After a while, Theo whispered, “You need to sleep.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Theo didn’t answer.
“It’s ok,” Auggie said. “We’re here. We’re safe. Let go of it for a little while, Theo. Let go of it until tomorrow.”
“Ok,” Theo said.
Auggie made a shushing noise.
“Ok, you’re right,” Theo said. “I’m fine. You need to sleep.”
Lana made a restless noise and tossed on the couch.
Auggie found his hand. He worked Theo’s fingers loose from the blanket, and then he slotted his between them. Theo had nice hands—strong hands, callused, hard. His fingers tightened around Auggie’s until it hurt.
“Stop,” Auggie said, and his voice was a little more serious this time.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”
“You heard Frannie,” Auggie said. “It’s a little bit of skin on the back of my calves, and it’s not any worse than a sunburn.”
“How’s the pain? Has the lidocaine worn off?”
Lana made that noise again, her little body twisting under the blanket.
“Come on,” Auggie said, squeezing Theo’s hand. “We’re going to wake her.”
Theo nodded, barely more than an impression of movement in the dark. The blanket rustled as Auggie sat up, and then he tugged on Theo’s hand, and they made their way upstairs.
They crept to the top of the stairs, and in the kitchen, Auggie eased the door to the basement shut. The main floor of the house was dark and quiet; the sound of uneven breathing from the living room announced North and Shaw’s presence. Everyone gathered under one roof, Auggie thought. In case someone came again.
Auggie let them out into the garage. The air was cool in the small hours, and the smell of grass clippings and motor oil was strangely pleasant. Normal smells, Auggie thought. Everyday smells.
Auggie turned on the light. The space was cramped with the Mustang and the Odyssey pulled into their spots, but he found a cooler, and he sat Theo on it. Then he sat on Theo’s lap and wrapped Theo’s arms around him. He was aware of Theo’s heartbeat, of it beating faster than he could count. He was aware of Theo, too. The warm solidity of him. The smell of his hair. The familiar feeling of being safe in his embrace.
“If I catch that other Theo tonight,” Auggie murmured, “the one who likes to beat up on you, I’m going to kick his ass.”
Theo laughed quietly and kissed the side of his neck.
“Thank you, by the way, for never making me drive a minivan.” Auggie heard the possible implications and rushed to add, “I didn’t mean it that way.”
Theo nodded against him.
“It’s just that they’re so…gross.”
“Uh huh.”
“You, on the other hand.”
“I’d be perfect in a minivan?”
“I was going to say, if you want a Mustang, we’re getting you a Mustang.”
“I think Mustangs are wasted if you try to drive under thirty miles an hour.”
“But you’d be so hot, Theo. I mean, you are so hot, objectively. But I can just see you sitting in one, window down, one big brawny arm hanging out, your hair flowing in the breeze. Oh God, you’d probably get a farmer’s tan, and then you’d get fired because I’d keep you in bed all the time for sex.”
