smallhobbit | Night Time (The Rescue

Gene, Cecil and the Missus are settled in the Hunt house (part 10) and now it's Sam's turn to go home.

This is dedicated to my lovely beta

jinxed100

By the time Sam had finished writing his reports it was early evening. He debated about joining the others in The Railway Arms, but decided instead to head straight back to his flat. When he opened the door he was slightly disappointed to see that the flat was in darkness. He had given Cal a spare key and had told him that he would be welcome to come back if he had nowhere else to stay.

Since he was on his own Sam set about getting something to eat. Once it was ready he opened a bottle of wine, poured himself a glass and started to eat. He reasoned that Cal might have had to work late, so listened out for footsteps during his meal. When he’d finished he poured himself another glass of wine, switched the television on and told himself that he was being totally unreasonable.

He woke up to the chimes that announced the ten o’clock news and realised he’d dozed off whilst watching a worthy drama. He got up and stretched. He felt totally wretched: not only from having fallen asleep, but because he knew that Cal wouldn’t be coming back that evening. He cursed himself for getting his hopes up. For the first time in a long time he thought he’d found someone he could get close to, and who he thought was interested in him. For much of his life he had kept his emotions to himself, only daring to show his feelings when he felt safe. Usually by this time the other person had decided he was a cold fish and had already started to look elsewhere.

Miserably Sam got ready for bed. He had thought Cal was different. They had seemed to get on so well together, and it wasn’t just the sex. Unusually, after such a short acquaintance Sam had started to open up and reveal something of his true self. He got into bed and lay with his face in his pillow. Life was so unfair. For the second time that day he felt the tears rolling down his cheeks. And this time there was no-one to comfort him.

He didn’t hear the key in the lock or notice that the door opened, so when he heard quiet footsteps crossing the floor, he sat up in alarm.

“I’m sorry,” Cal said quietly, “I was trying not to wake you.”

“I – I wasn’t asleep.” Sam made a move as if to get up.

“You stay where you are. I’ll get the blanket and sleep in the chair. Would you mind if I put the light on for a minute?”

“No, of course not.” Sam felt even more miserable. There was no way that Cal could avoid seeing that he’d been crying. The morsel of hope that he had felt when he realised Cal had come back was instantly extinguished.

Cal switched the light on and turned to smile at Sam. “Sam, what’s wrong?”

“I thought you weren’t coming back.” Might as well spoil this completely.

“You daft bugger. I’ve only just finished work. And I turned down the offer of a drink.” Cal walked over to Sam, threw his arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Making an idiot of myself. Embarrassing you.”

“You’re not an idiot. And I’m not embarrassed.” Cal kissed Sam gently.

Sam kissed Cal back and Cal slid his hand inside his pyjama jacket. Instantly Sam tensed up.

“Sam?”

“I don’t ... Oh hell.” Sam could feel the tears prickling on the back of his eyes again.

“Hey, just relax. You’ve had a long and stressful day. For once stop fighting the world and let someone else do something for you.”

Quickly, Cal slipped out of his shirt and trousers and climbed into the bed next to Sam. He put his arms round him and rubbed his back until Sam’s quiet breathing showed he was asleep. Then he kissed him again, got as comfortable as he could in the narrow bed and fell asleep.

Sunday