CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

 

 

 

 

GALEN had been so sure that Nick would show up at the café, and he couldn’t have been more wrong. It was one o’clock, and no matter how much Nick liked to sleep in on a Saturday, he wouldn’t have been this late. Galen tried to ignore the sinking in his heart as he checked his messages one more time without any luck. Nick hadn’t called or texted either.

He was tempted to call Nick, but decided that it would be better to have this out face to face. Maybe Nick’s cell got damaged in the dunk in the fountain. Maybe Galen’s had as well. That could account for the silence if not for Nick’s no-show.

His heart beating double-time, Galen rose, his muscles sore and aching. They didn’t used to ache like this when he’d slept on the couch before, but the dunk in the fountain probably hadn’t helped. He must be getting older, to feel this sore the next day. He paid the bill and headed over to the apartment, but Nick’s car wasn’t out front. Galen growled under his breath. Nick was making it impossible to apologize, and Galen couldn’t stop the awful feeling that he’d fucked up big time by crashing on the couch last night. If there was anything he could’ve done to bring Nick’s fears front and center, this was it.

There had been so much to do after Lykon had let go of him that Galen had pushed aside his exhaustion and buried himself in all the tasks vying for his attention. By the time night came he’d crashed and crashed hard on the couch, only to wake up sore and aching all over. Galen returned to the museum, and Heather pounced on him as soon as he came through the door.

“There you are! I’ve been trying to call for the last two hours. Suzane left the write-up for Monday’s newspaper ad on your desk, then went to her son’s soccer game. Knox can’t come help close today because a project came up, and he has to go out of town. Some guy called and wants to know if he can get a preview for the exhibit to write up on his blog.”

Galen pulled out his phone with a frown. “You called?”

“Yeah.” Heather rolled her eyes. “Like half a dozen times, Mr. K.”

Damn, that was the second time in the last few months that he needed to get a new phone. At this rate he was going to beat last year’s count. “Sorry, my phone got soaked. Let me take a look at the messages and the notes on the desk, and if you want, I can cover while you go to lunch. Anything else happen?”

“Nick stopped by.”

Galen spun back around to face her and his heart skipped a beat. “He did?”

“Yeah, I think he was here for a bit and left maybe thirty minutes ago?”

“Okay, thanks.” Galen tried to not let his conflicted emotions show, but he wasn’t sure if he was successful or not when Heather gave him a puzzled look. He turned away before she could ask questions. He’d just missed seeing Nick. As he climbed the tower steps, he argued with himself over Nick’s actions. Maybe he’d tried to call because he overslept and came here to look for Galen. That didn’t explain why he didn’t at least try to see if he was still at the café. It was just around the corner, it would’ve taken five minutes. Maybe the note Galen left had fallen and he hadn’t seen it.

He tried calling his cell from his desk phone, and sure enough it didn’t go through. A headache began to form at his temples. What a fucking mess. He called Nick and Suzane, though neither answered, and left a message letting them know about his cell phone. Nick had to have been trying to get a hold of him and must be going nuts.

Galen stared unseeingly out the window as unhappy, worried thoughts crowded his brain. For once he didn’t want to be at the museum. He wanted to hunt down Nick, but he had no idea where to start. After Heather had her lunch, maybe he could sneak away for an hour. He grabbed the paperwork on his desk and headed back downstairs.

Heather was busy with a customer, so he laid his work down on the counter and went to check on the Dexios Collection. Trepidation slowed his steps. If he went in there and found them starting to revert back to their former state, he didn’t know what he would do. No. That was asking for trouble, and he’d be damned if he let things get that bad between him and Nick over a stupid argument.

Galen rubbed his chest as he walked into the exhibit room. There was an air of hushed expectation around the statues, as if they were someone steeling themselves for another blow.

Galen walked over to the final one, where Dexios lay on his side, his arms empty, and this time the longing that swept over him was so strong that his eyes stung. He wanted to lie in that embrace and just sleep, knowing that he was finally where he belonged. Galen closed his eyes and rubbed his chest again. “Hey, you there, Lykon? Dexios? It’ll be okay.”

Silence answered him, and Galen went back to work with a sigh. He kept trying Nick’s phone without any luck, and no matter how many times he tried telling himself it was just because Nick’s cell was probably trashed, it didn’t ease his nagging sense that something was terribly wrong.

“Okay, Galen, you look like a kicked puppy. What’s going on?”

Galen grimaced at the sound of Suzane’s voice. He did not want to get sucked into a soul-baring conversation right now. He couldn’t handle it. “I thought you were at Clint’s game.”

“It’s over; they won. Clint’s off celebrating with his friends.” Suzane pulled her wild mop of blonde curls back from her face with a colorful scarf and came behind the counter with him.

“Well, now that you’re here.” Galen handed her the folder with the ad write-up and Heather’s notes on the calls. “I think the ad works. Good job, we should get some last-minute buzz from that.”

“Screw work. What’s wrong?” Suzane laid her hand on Galen’s arm, and his chest squeezed around his heart. “Does it have anything to do with the stack of boxes in the storage room?”

Galen’s head jerked up as an icy-cold jolt hit him hard. “What boxes?”

Suzane’s expression turned from concern to sympathy, and her hand tightened on his arm. “I’m sorry. I thought you were the one who put them there. It looks like your stuff. I stole a peek, and I didn’t mean to pry, but after the last time boxes showed up without warning, I had to know if it was something similar.”

“Do you mind covering the desk for a minute?” Galen didn’t wait for Suzane’s answer. He had to see for himself. It could be the rest of his belongings from his old apartment. Maybe Knox moved them before going out of town and didn’t have a chance to tell him. Telling himself that kept his feet moving forward.

The boxes were stacked against the wall. Galen steeled himself and took the lid off the first one. His heart plummeted with a sickening lurch, and his eyes stung as he recognized the contents, the things he’d brought over to their place.

Galen replaced the lid. He didn’t want to see anymore. Now he knew why Nick had stopped by, and the realization that he’d ended their relationship without even a word…. His chest tightened to the point that he couldn’t breathe, and then fury erupted through his heartbreak. Oh fuck no. He wasn’t going down like this.

 

 

THE apartment was quiet, too quiet, and it was making Nick crazy. Nothing seemed to break the stillness, not even Amy and Rory’s presence. Nick had tried to exhaust himself swimming, but it hadn’t helped, though for at least a bit he was out of the apartment and doing something. Nick shoved a hand through his wet hair and tried to bury himself in his comics, but it was useless.

So this was the night that Galen had decided not to try calling him. When Nick had gotten that first voice mail about Galen’s phone he’d been ready to rush back over to the museum to apologize. Then he’d made the mistake of listening to the second. Galen had been so pissed off that he’d made little sense during his rant other than to tell Nick to fuck off. Nick got the message though. He’d screwed up and screwed up big time.

He’d tried; he’d really tried to understand where Galen was coming from. Nick had let his issues sabotage them from the first meeting in Galen’s tower. Still, Nick had to admit that trying to understand Galen’s viewpoint didn’t work too well when he was still reeling from how Galen had ended their relationship.

It didn’t stop him from listening to the message again, or the ones that followed a few days later. The messages where Galen apologized for being so angry in the last voice mail or for what he’d said when they’d fought outside the restaurant. He never apologized for leaving, though. He never mentioned wanting to come back home. And Nick didn’t know if he could handle letting him back in a little bit only to find out that it was over past any hope of fixing.

It didn’t stop him from wondering when Galen would decide it wasn’t worth calling to try to get through to Nick. It had eaten him up inside. He hadn’t been able to decide what was worse: waiting and wondering if this was going to be the night that Galen gave up; or enduring the chime of a text coming in, the ringing of his phone, the sound of Galen’s persistent voice, sometimes angry, sometimes sad; or the dead silence after Nick had listened to the new message.

Now he knew the answer.

Fuck, it hurt. He never should’ve allowed Galen back in as much as he had. He’d been a fool from the moment he’d called Galen back, lured in by the perfect bait. Nick glared at the journals on the coffee table and swept them off with a jerk of his arm. The fucking Dexios Collection had been the bane of his family forever. He should’ve listened to his dad’s warnings. They weren’t the golden ticket home he’d been searching for; they’d been a trap that led him into a nightmare.

Rory’s screech broke the silence, and when Nick glanced his way he found the cockatiel’s crest lying flat and his feathers slicked down. Great, now even his bird was depressed. “I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Nick got up and flipped on the radio to fill the silence, the first time he’d done so in days, and Rory’s crest lifted a little.

Nick threw himself back on the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. The gala was a couple days away. Surely Galen had better things to do than to continue to torment him. That’s why he hadn’t called. It was better to think he was tied up doing last minute things for the opening of the exhibit than wondering where Galen was sleeping tonight.

Nick sat up again as realization struck. Fuck. His dad was planning on coming. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

His stomach twisted at the thought of calling his dad and cancelling, but he couldn’t let him waste his money and come up here for nothing. When his dad’s voice mail picked up, some of the tension knotting Nick’s insides let up.

“Hey, Dad, ummm, about this weekend, cancel your tickets. Galen and I broke up, so there’s not really going to be much of a celebration. I’ll be heading out to Greece in September for vacation. Why don’t I stop by in San Francisco on my way home? We can catch up and discuss what we want to do with the Dexios Collection, though really I’m all for leaving it with Galen. He’ll take good care of the statues. I’ll call you again sometime next week. Don’t worry about me. I’m cool.”

Nick tossed the phone down, feeling sick to his stomach. He should cancel his trip to Greece. He didn’t really feel like heading there of all places, and he sure as hell didn’t feel like wreck diving for statues. And to think, he’d been plotting on how to get Galen away from the museum to go with him.

He heard a rush of wings, and Amy alit on the arm of the couch next to him. She cocked her head to the side and half lifted one wing, sticking her leg out to the side in invitation. “Hey there, beautiful.” Nick gently scratched her feathers. Somehow the motion and loving contact was profoundly depressing. He missed Galen with a fierce and unending ache.

He thought he hurt the last time they’d parted, but that hadn’t even come close to what it felt like this time. It was as though something vital had been scooped out of him, leaving him scarred and empty. He closed his eyes and was confronted by the picture Galen made sitting in the fountain and the look on his face as he said those words. His heart constricted. It had cut so deep when Galen had stared at him with such cold eyes and implied with his words that he would be looking for someone else’s bed. But that pain had been nothing compared to the realization that Galen had moved out without a word.

Nick couldn’t wrap his head around it. There had been times when Galen could be distant when he was upset, but he’d never been deliberately cruel, not like he had on that last day. It didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t fathom Galen leaving him in that way, not after he’d told him what had happened with his mom. It would be far easier to just say fuck it all if Galen would’ve left him alone after that. But no, he had to keep fucking calling and twisting the knife a little deeper. Until tonight, that is.

Despite how much Nick wanted to keep blaming Galen for hurting him, a voice inside of him questioned his part in this whole mess. At the end he’d believed Galen wouldn’t leave again. That’s why it had been such a shock when he had. So Nick must’ve done something to convince Galen that leaving was the only thing he could do. And if Galen really wanted their relationship to be over, why keep calling?

Nick leaned back with a frown as the aching band across his forehead tightened even more. He had to stop obsessing over it. It didn’t even matter. Everything was destroyed now anyway. He hadn’t heard from Dexios since he’d shown up to berate him and they’d gotten into that altercation. He was probably locked inside the statue again, waiting to be reborn.

Nick’s thoughts flashed back to Galen as he continued to pick at the problem despite his best efforts not to. It was like worrying at a scab. He knew he shouldn’t, yet he couldn’t stop himself. Galen had said more than once that Nick was too focused on the statues, and he had been right. If he’d put the same amount of drive into their relationship from the beginning they wouldn’t be in this mess.

He’d held himself back, worried over Galen eventually betraying him and leaving, when in reality he’d been the one with his foot half out the door, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation. He’d kept pushing Galen further and further away so Galen couldn’t hurt him in the same way that his mother had, and by the time he’d started to set those fears aside Galen was already at an erupting point. It was no wonder he’d said what he said and left.

It had been a self-fulfilling prophecy from the start. Just like any good Greek tragedy. Nick had spent so much time and energy trying to avoid his fate that he’d set up his own downfall.

He was such a fucking idiot.

Those words…. The expression on Galen’s face were etched into his brain with acid regrets. He’d hurt Galen too, and it hadn’t stopped Galen from continuing to try with him. He didn’t want this to be over. He wanted to be with Galen, really give this thing between them a try. The first time Galen hadn’t been ready. This time Nick hadn’t. Maybe they could get their shit straight with a third try.

Only Nick couldn’t imagine that Galen would want to hear from him after Nick had spent the last week ignoring him. Nick stared at the phone, gnawing his lip. He wanted to rip the scab wide open, in the hopes that it would heal cleanly.

The phone rang, and Nick straightened so fast that Amy let out a startled cry and took flight to the top of the window. She began berating him as Rory joined in with a hiss. His heart pounding, Nick picked up the phone, and a flash of disappoint went through him at the sight of his dad’s name. He almost let it go to voice mail and stopped himself. Isn’t this what had partially led to his estrangement from his family? Hiding and nursing his wounds?

He had to take a step forward.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Talk to me, and don’t tell me you’re okay.” The quiet strength in his dad’s voice made Nick ache even more. If there was anybody who would understand what it felt like to come home to an empty place, it was his dad. “What happened?”

Nick leaned back against the couch cushions and closed his eyes. “I think I’ve forgotten how to dream, Dad.”

 

 

HEY, you.”

Galen looked up at the sound of Suzane’s gentle voice. She stood at the top of the stairwell in his office, her face soft with concern. He must seem pretty pathetic for her to use her gentle voice. “We’re all set for tomorrow?” he asked, setting aside the invoices he was going over. “I can’t believe you managed to stay within the budget we scraped together.”

“What can I say? I have skills. We’re good to go for tomorrow. Knox and his friends will be here at five to set up the tables. I’ve recruited a few others to help finish the decorating. The caterers will be here at six, and we’ll be all set to open the doors on time. I think we can get some good donors out of this.”

“Good.” Galen wanted to muster more enthusiasm. He’d put months into this opening and gala. And even more than time, he’d poured his heart into this project. But Nick hadn’t called back. He hadn’t stopped by again. Galen didn’t know what to do anymore. He didn’t know how to reach him. He’d even tried stepping back a bit to let Nick come to him in his own time, and even that hadn’t gotten him a reaction.

The thought of going to the gala without Nick didn’t seem like any kind of a celebration at all.

Suzane came over and sat down on the arm of his chair. “I hate seeing you hurting like this. And if you say you’re fine one more time, I’m going to thwap you.”

Galen stifled the automatic response, and it showed him how bad off he was when he really had the urge to lay his head against Suzane’s shoulder and let her hear the whole sordid, sorry mess. “Do you think kidnapping would be excusable under these circumstances?” he found himself asking instead. “It’s the only way I can think of to make him listen.”

“Honey, if I thought it would help, I’d buy the duct tape for you and be your alibi.” She slipped an arm around his shoulders and gave it a pat. “But if a person’s determined not to listen, all the shouting in the world won’t make a difference. Now, I’m not sure what happened between you two, but spending another night on your couch in your office isn’t the answer either. Why don’t you come out to dinner with me and my boy?”

“Actually, I do have plans tonight. No really,” Galen insisted at Suzane’s skeptical look. “There’s someone I need to talk to before I lose my chance and he disappears completely.”

“You’re not planning on trying to go see Nick, are you? Because sending your belongings to the museum was a dick move on his part. And until you get some indication from him that he wants to make amends or at least talk, I think going over is a bad idea.”

Those damned boxes. That kick in the face still made Galen clench his teeth. When Nick said good-bye, he didn’t do it halfway. Then he thought of his own part in the fiasco and sighed.

“He wasn’t the only one to pull a dick move.”

Suzane raised an eyebrow, and Galen wanted to squirm under that expression. Women did that so well. Suzane was too much like his mom sometimes. Oh God, his whole family was going to be there tomorrow, and they would know something was wrong. Fuck. He could probably avoid them during the gala, but they would hound him the next day. He just knew it.

“Out with it. I know you’re dying to blurt it out to someone, so lay it on me.”

Galen’s sense of outrage over Nick’s actions fled under the weight of her stare. He didn’t need to go into every detail, like how he’d taunted Nick with the idea that he’d go back to his former partying if Nick left. He should’ve just given him time to calm down instead of getting pissed and defensive himself. Besides, that wasn’t what made Nick respond by kicking him out. Galen really knew what was to blame.

“Let’s just say that I’d finally gotten Nick to open up about why he had such trust issues over people leaving. It had taken him months to open up like that, and the very first argument we have afterward I decided it would be a fine idea to not come home that night.”

“Oh, Galen.”

Galen shrank inwardly and winced at her tone. She didn’t need to say anything else. “I left a note,” he said, coming to his own defense even though he knew that it was a lame excuse.

“Well, that’s something I suppose.” Suzane squeezed his shoulder again. “I hope you two figure it out. Maybe after the gala, you can try that kidnapping idea. Some time alone without the stress of pulling all of this together might be just what you both need. You’ve been working nonstop for a long time. You need a vacation. And if you really want Nick, go off with him to somewhere private, and don’t come back until it’s resolved.”

Galen nodded and dragged a hand through his hair. He liked the thought of dragging Nick off somewhere, but he wished Nick would give him some fucking indication that he gave a damn about them at all. “Until then, I’m leaving Nick alone. No calls, no e-mails, and no stopping by. Harassing him didn’t work, so I’m hoping that maybe giving him some time to think will.”

“I’ve heard worse plans.” Suzane rose and patted her blonde curls back into place under her scarf. “Are you sure you won’t join us?”

“Another night, I promise, before you go back for your next treatment. We’ll do something fun. Maybe have a night on the town.”

Suzane wrinkled her nose, and then her eyes lit up. “We can celebrate early. This will be the last one. Lordy, I’m looking forward to never having to go back.”

Galen squeezed her hand and smiled at her. “That calls for a huge celebration.”

Suzane paused at the top of the stairs and fixed him with a look. “Promise me you won’t stay in this room all night by yourself.”

“I promise.”

Once Suzane left it seemed like she took all of the zest with her. Galen didn’t know how she did it, how she filled each moment with such life. He almost called out to her to ask, but decided against it. She was worried enough as it was.

Lykon stirred inside of him as if sensing that Galen intended on seeking Dexios out. He’d been strangely silent since that afternoon outside of Nick’s apartment, and Galen ached for him too. “Not just yet,” Galen murmured. “Soon, my friend.”

Even if things didn’t work out with Nick, he’d find a way for Dexios and Lykon to be together, at least for a little while. He hated to think that way, but relationships took two people, and if Nick chose to shut him out forever, Galen couldn’t think of anything to change his mind. He didn’t want to cross the line into stalking Nick if he just needed some time to think. Now he knew how Nick felt when he left—completely shut out. And he knew that if Nick had tried to call or text back it would’ve only made him retreat more. So this was him giving Nick space.

Galen dug through the few boxes he’d hauled up to his office, searching for something more comfortable to wear before he headed to the exhibit room. He really needed to find a new place after the gala was over. Suzane was right; he couldn’t continue living in the tower and sleeping on the couch.

The last rays of the sun shone down through the windows, wreathing the statues in a warm golden glow. He loved how they captured the light like that when it was just him and Nick visiting. As if the statues had their own aura.

He slowly walked over to the last one, where Dexios lay alone on his side, and the pose, his empty arms, struck up a yearning so intense that Galen’s entire body ached with it. That’s how he felt right now. Unfinished. Incomplete. His own puzzle piece was missing, and Galen didn’t know how to win him back. He missed Nick’s smile. The way that he made Galen feel complete in his own skin, as if his wants and desires were perfectly fine. The way he tried to support Galen even when he got all touchy over it. Those were the vital elements that had been missing in his relationship with Bryan. With Nick, Galen could see a future if they could just let go of the past and move forward, and he wanted Nick to be able to see it too.

Galen sank down next to the statue, his eyes pricking as a new urge hit—to sink himself into the statue’s embrace and let Lykon take him over. At least Dexios and Lykon could be together for a short while, and Galen could lose himself in their emotions, just as he’d lost himself for so long until Nick had woken him up again. He’d awakened him, made him want a connection again, made him want to love, and then he’d taken it away.

“Why are you here, Galen?”

Galen pressed a hand to his chest as Lykon leapt inside of him at the sound of Dexios’s voice. He could let go, and at least tonight he wouldn’t be alone. Wasn’t that why he’d sought out the lovers night after night? So he wouldn’t be alone, only to be afraid that they’d leave him, too, so he’d left after only a few minutes. He watched him, hurting for them, hurting for himself, and the only thing that gave him any hope was that the first three statues were somehow still whole.

“I didn’t want to be alone tonight.” Galen closed his eyes with a humorless laugh. “I guess I should’ve taken Suzane up on her offer.”

A strong hand closed on his shoulder, and Galen wanted to sink back and let someone hold him, someone who gave a damn. It would be so easy to let go, just for tonight. He gritted his teeth and hung on a little longer. He’d made that mistake after the fight with Nick. Maybe if he hadn’t been such a coward then and hid, he could’ve found Nick and fixed things before they’d gotten so out of control.

“It would be a lie, wouldn’t it? If I let Lykon out so you could be with him. You two might have a night together, but unless Nick and I work things out you’ll have to wait until another reincarnation is born, and in the morning I’d be right back where I was before.”

“I will not lie, it is a temptation. I miss him. I do not know when I will see him again.” Dexios’s quiet words tugged at Galen’s heart. “To be able to hold him tonight…. It would seem like a blessing.”

“But it would be the wrong decision, wouldn’t it?” Galen twisted around and looked up at Dexios. “It would be taking the easy way out. This is a part of that test that Lykon mentioned.”

Dexios’s eyes were far away and thoughtful, then after several long moments he nodded and crouched next to Galen. “It is strange how fate twists us about. At the beginning, I was the one forced to wait for Lykon, and I didn’t. Instead I sought an easier way and a way to punish him for hurting me, for throwing my love away. And if I had waited, been more patient, we would have been together.”

Galen shifted into a sitting position and wrapped his arms around his knees. “Now I am the one who has to be patient, who has to wait for Nick to realize….” Realize what? Not that he loved him… but that what they had was worth the fear and the uncertainty… to be willing to work through the rough times instead of hiding from them. Galen needed to know that Nick would fight for them. That was why he was waiting, because if Nick wasn’t willing to let go of his fears and fight, this wouldn’t last long at all.

“I think you understand.” Dexios squeezed Galen’s shoulder, and this time Lykon didn’t struggle to free himself. It was almost as if he just accepted that touch and reveled in it. “Nick has his own test as well. He has to fight for you, fight through his own sense of betrayal, be willing to see beyond the surface and to look for the truth and then to face up to that truth.”

Galen rubbed his palm against his chest as Dexios’s words echoed his own thoughts. He could sense Lykon’s regret, and it mixed with his own. He still felt as though he only knew half of what was going on. There was something else there. He just knew it. This whole thing had blown up beyond any sense of reason.

“Would you sit with me tonight?” Galen met Dexios’s eyes and gestured toward one of the benches. “I don’t really feel like going back to my couch upstairs and a pizza box.” The thought of being alone again made him so cold inside. He didn’t want to be cold anymore, not after Nick had shown him how things could be different.

“That is an offer I can gladly agree to.” Dexios settled down next to Galen. “I recall you promising me a story about someone called Sleeping Beauty?”