Keyes met his father’s glare. “I came to say goodbye.”
His father moved, not much more than a twitch, but the old man tried. Keyes could see the agitation building in the movements before he began coughing.
“Mr. Dixon, calm down.” The nurse grabbed his father’s shoulders as the prospect launched himself through the bedroom door.
“I told you he didn’t fuckin’ want you here. Why couldn’t you honor his last fuckin’ wish, man?”
Keyes stepped back as the prospect rushed to the bed. He watched the two try to calm his ailing father. It took less than a minute more for Keyes to decide to leave. He was through the house and out the front door, dragging in gulps of fresh air as the boulders on his shoulder, weight he didn’t even know he carried, lifted off him. He gripped the railing, closing his eyes as flashes of his life played out like a full-length feature film behind his closed lids. Images of his mother—the good memories, her laughing happily with him while watching cartoons, Samurai Jack to be specific. His father taking the seat next to her on the sofa, his arm coming around her, his hand landing on top of Keyes’s head. His mother made a badass spaghetti dinner that he would eat platefuls of in one sitting, a recipe she had learned from her mother.
Maybe Clyde knew that same recipe. How had he never thought to ask?
Keyes opened his eyes and lifted his gaze, staring out at the darkened front yard. He wanted to leave this all behind. He’d done what he came to do. His mind drifted to Alec and his anxiety evened out. This was what Alec did for him—made him see the world with hope. Alec showed him everyone had value. Alec gave Keyes value.
He pushed off the railing, looking back at the broken-down home he hoped to never see again. The sorrow radiating off this piece-of-shit house was all he now saw. His gaze went to the corner of the porch, the exact place he’d cower for wetting the bed. Who did that to a scared little boy? The flash of sudden anger built so quickly Keyes fisted his hand and drove it into the siding before he even knew what he was doing.
He seethed, his breath coming in hard gasps. He was losing it over something that shouldn’t hold power over him any longer. Keyes forced himself to take a huge mental step backward. What the fuck was he doing?
Clyde told him to be done, and damn it, he needed to be fucking done. As he ate up the distance between the house and his bike, he shed the anger as fast as it had appeared. His heart regained the steady beat of anticipation, hope, and a brighter future. That was what he had waiting on him at home. At home. The words echoed in his head. With a promise to himself, Keyes mounted his bike. From that day on, he was only going to allow himself to look forward. He was going home to Alec. Jesus, that felt good to say.
=?=
Alec sidled up to the bar, sliding between two of his work colleagues, one dressed as Wonder Woman and the other as Spiderman. He lifted a hand toward the busy bartender, snagging his attention before lifting his glass. He got the nod that let him know his drink was on its way, so he downed the remaining vodka tonic as he turned back to the crowd of costume-clad partygoers.
When he lifted the glass to his mouth and ended up getting nothing but ice, he realized how much he’d had to drink this evening. Alec had driven to the masquerade party, only planning to stay for a short time before returning home and pouting because he hadn’t gotten his way. Key hadn’t come with him. But this little get-together had turned out to be a far better time than he had anticipated. He truly missed socializing, and all those warm feelings led him to drink more than he should have if he planned to drive home after the gathering.
What he couldn’t get past was Janice’s superior party planning skills. This little bar in the Uptown area of downtown Dallas was a great place to just be. Alec was super comfortable and looked down at his watch to check the time, only to be reminded he wasn’t wearing one this evening. “Robin…right? Where’s your Batman?”
His gaze shifted to the Wonder Woman beside him, and he grinned, running a hand down the tight-fitting bodysuit. He wasn’t a hundred percent certain anyone would know who he was supposed to be since he’d ditched the face mask and cape over an hour ago.
“He got called to the Batcave. I’m solo this evening.” He’d made that comment over and over since he’d arrived. He probably should have gone with Key’s Batman costume instead of sticking with the Robin one, but he’d been in full-on fit mode and purposefully chosen to go without his counterpart.