Order (Tattoos and Ties 2)

Tonight marked the exact day Alec had become fully domesticated. Blaine would die if he saw him now. On that thought, he grabbed his phone and took a quick selfie with his empty treat bucket at his feet. He sent the snapshot to Blaine. Alec scrolled through their old text messages and chuckled. Their message history was hilarious. Blaine sent him regular pictures of his pretentious parties, and Alec sent victory pictures of his empty Halloween treat bucket. As far as he was concerned, he was the clear winner in the race of life, beating Blaine hands down.

“Ready to come in?” Key asked from the gate. Alec glanced up and down the sidewalks lining the neighborhood. There were only a few stragglers left because it was a school night or so he’d been told over and over again by the excited little trick-or-treaters.

“Yep,” he said happily and reached for the empty bucket before getting to his feet.

“You have a good time?” Key asked, coming for his chair.

“I did. It was great fun. I wish you had joined me,” Alec said, letting Key take the chair as they walked side by side up the long driveway toward the back of the house.

“They wouldn’t have even stopped on the sidewalk if I was out there with you. I freak ’em out.”

Alec no longer doubted the truth of those words, so he didn’t argue. Instead, he let the magic of the night cement his future.

“I wanna move us to a place that better suits the both of us. A place that the neighbors don’t freak when they see you. Somewhere we’re both comfortable.” Alec side-eyed Key, trying to gauge his reaction, surprised when Key busted out with a hearty laugh.

“There’s no place you and I both fit. You’re the only person who doesn’t seem to understand that,” Key said, hooking an arm over Alec’s shoulder.

“You’re right. I do disagree.” And he did. Wholeheartedly. He saw their differences, but that was what made them stronger. Besides, he was just discovering himself. Who knew how different they truly were. Only time would show Key how right they were for each other. Alec wrapped his arm around his lover’s waist and snuggled in closer. They walked together in silence for three maybe four steps before Alec decided he might as well lay it all out. His decisions also affected Key, and he wanted to be the one to tell him. “I’ll be officially removing my nomination for the federal judge seat next week. I’ve already told my family.”

“You did? How did they take it?” Key’s forward momentum slowed, and he turned toward Alec. The look of uncertainty that haunted Key when they spoke of his family was right there on his biker’s face. That was one thing about spending the last year with this man, holed up only in his house, Alec had gotten to know Key intimately. He knew Key’s triggers, and clearly, he’d hit several of them this evening.

“With all honesty?” His love gave him a continued side glance that he interpreted to mean absolutely. “It went as expected. I’ve most likely severed ties with them.”

“You okay with that?” Key asked, his steps slowing even more.

“More than. It’s been freeing, if that makes sense. I’ve also crafted my resignation letter to the DA’s office. I haven’t submitted it yet, mainly due to the one case I mentioned before, remember?” Alec hadn’t given many details to Key, but his guy was listening now and nodded once. “I’m meeting with Janice—she’s the one that invited us to her party.” Alec waited again until Key gave another nod.

“Yeah, the one who tried to fix you up with that loser.”

Alec just rolled his eyes.

“Stop. You’ll like her, I promise. I’d like her to volunteer to oversee things until the transition of the file is complete. I crossed lines with this case. I think it was the little girl. She’s so sweet but seems so scared.”

“You’re a good dude,” Key drawled with authority, making Alec smile. Man, he was loving his life right now. Just walking in the dark with this special man by his side made him feel so damn good.

“Thank you. I like your little compliments. They seem genuine.” Alec hip-checked Key then gave him a playful grin. “So I’ll submit my resignation in the next couple of weeks with a month’s notice, then I’ll be free.”

“Big steps. Sure you wanna do all that?”

“Well, there’s more. My dream job, the one I turned down to move here is open again.” Alec studied Key as he said each measured word to gauge his reaction.

“So, you’re leavin’?” Key stopped dead in his tracks, his tone and stance tense, full of accusation as he turned toward Alec. He sensed Key’s protective walls rising, and Alec hadn’t had to deal with those in months. He wanted to say something smart, remind Key of the beginning of this conversation, the part where he wanted to move to a place that suited them both. Alec must not have answered fast enough because Key pivoted around, leaving him in the driveway alone. He watched Key take long strides toward the back porch and garage.