h o n o r

CLOSED STARTER FOR @alecxvelasquez​

Cheesy, romantic gestures just weren’t Gibby’s thing. His love language had always been through physical affection, touching, sex, and a lot of times, it translates into something else that the other person can’t quite grasp. He’s been through that with Alec, but after last time, he’s been trying to understand a whole different side of their relationship that he never gave a chance before. This isn’t to say that he’s trying to be romantic—god forbid he’d admit to doing that soon—but he’s definitely not just showing up to the man’s place of work with lunch just to get in his pants. 

“Hey,” he said, rising from his seat when he saw Alec approaching. Paper bags were laid out before him, food he’d taken the liberty of getting for them to treat the EMT to something that wasn’t hospital food for once. “Sorry I just showed up, I would’ve texted you sooner but…” But what? But he just felt like seeing him and he wasn’t doing anything, anyway? But he needed a distraction? Whatever it was, it had brought him here and that was what mattered to Gibby at the moment, seeing Alec. “I can- I can come back later if you’re busy, or… well, you can just take the sandwich if you’re in a rush, I could just… drop by later after work of if you’re- if you want, I dunno.”

Alec had thought he’d had Gibby all figured out. After all, they’d known each other long enough to where the EMT was almost sure he could figure out what Gabriel would do next. This, however, was unexpected. It wasn’t to say that it wasn’t welcome, but he wasn’t sure how to react sometimes. All he knew was that when he saw Gabe, he once again felt content. “Hey to you,” he smiled a little, looking down at the table of food. His eyebrows rose a little when Gibby was stammering, and it was mildly endearing to see the unsure look on his face. For someone who was usually overconfident in his abilities, the faint flush on Gabriel’s face made Alec smile, “Sit down.”

“No, really, I want you here. It’s a...nice surprise to my day.” Alec sat down across from Gibby, looking down at the food, “You didn’t make this, did you?” he teased, picking up one of the sandwiches and looking at it. After their night together from a few days prior, Alec had wondered how long it would take for the other man to show up again. It had caused him endless worry, but seeing Gibby there, across the table, settled most of his anxiety. “So what did I do to deserve this?”

Fallon was elbow deep in reports, papers scattered across her desk. She was almost a year into her internship under the firm that had taken a chance on her, hiring her on as a legal secretary in order to compensate her for her time. The day had been dreadfully boring, time dragging on. A commotion brought her outside, falling into line beside a man, and her attention drew up to him when he spoke. “Nope, but this is the highlight of my day, if you’d believe it.” She added with a smile. “Thought this only happened in movies?”

Alec glanced back up at the kitten that a firefighter was currently trying to reach out and grab on to. The kitten looked like it wasn’t going to budge, and Alec chuckled a little to himself, “In movies? Nah. They do make it look easy in movies, though. The thing about kittens is they can’t land on their feet, so if it fell, well...it wouldn’t be good. Any other cat you can basically coax to get them to jump and they’ll be just fine.”

He laughed, wheezing as his shoulders quivered to the sound he was making that he couldn’t control. There was nothing funny about the situation they’d both found themselves in; Alec didn’t ask to have Gibby over, clearly not sober, and Gibby didn’t expect to find himself here, in the kitchen of the man who’d turned him down. To be fair, he’d turned Alec down first, though in a different way. He pushed him away but kept him around and somehow, that seemed a lot worse. Perhaps that was why he was laughing— at the incredulity of it all, how much he needed him, had always needed him, the way he’d never needed a person before, and it was pathetic. The guy paid him for his company, after all. Still, the hand on his back suggested comfort, a feeling that he wasn’t unfamiliar with whenever he was around the other man. It made him feel worse. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” he said, trying to hold back his laugh, but the more he tried to stifle it, the louder it got. “Fuck!” He brought a hand up to cover his mouth, lifting his gaze to look at Alec, and that’s when tears filled his eyes, welling up in the corners that it started to sting. “I don’t know what I’m doing here.” He lowered his head, the hand covering his mouth now moving up to press down on his eyes, the laughter now replaced with the sound of his sobs.

The complete and utter breakdown he was witnessing nearly had Alec panicking. He had no idea what to do for Gabe. Nothing he said seemed to be the right thing, and after he realized Gibby was done laughing and was now sobbing, he pulled the man into his arms. It was a gut reaction, the one thing he’d always wanted to do. He wanted to help; he just had never been allowed to. “It’s okay,” he murmured, keeping his voice as strong as it could be. After all, it felt like Gibby was going to break apart in his hands if he let him go. “Just stay here. Just lay with me, yeah?” It was his last hope at keeping Gibby safe from himself. Alec knew that if he let the other man go, he’d drown himself in his high and his sorrows. “Please?”

It felt like a mistake for Michele to be standing where she was, leaning on a pillar of the porch. Not being at home at such an hour made her feel completely out of her element. (For reference, it was barely eight o’clock.) Without so much as a second glance upward from the pair of legs that appeared beside her, her sad sap began to leak––without the slightest hint of an invitation to chat. “I get that I’m a disappointing Morticia Addams. It makes more sense with a shorter Gomez linked to my arm. I get that. Thank you,” she uttered bitterly, casting her spectator away with the wave of her hand. Only as her hand twisted in its final motion did her eyes move up to meet her audience and realize she was no main attraction. “I––uh…sorry!” Ele was rather invisible against the splendor of the evening, though now, she’d really gone on done it. Now she had invited the conversation herself.

Alec chuckled under his breath, sinking to take a seat on the step above where she was standing. “Good to see you too, yeah? Happy Halloween,” he held out the paper bag he’d managed to snag that had quite a few pieces of candy in it. Nothing managed to calm his nerves more than chocolate, and being around so many people in masks, many of them soldiers, just made him uneasy. “You not enjoying yourself? They have a bar inside, you know.”

When Alec said that he cared, he no longer responded with a witty remark or some sharp rebuttal about how no one really cares about anything. Because apparently, Alec did. Instead, he just bowed his head, his nails picking at the ones on his other hand, long enough to pierce through his skin if he wanted to, because he was wearing himself down more and more everyday, and if a strong gust of wind were to blow in here, he’d surely fall. So he let Alec go on his little spiel, saying more than he’s actually said in the months they spent together, where all he’d hear from him where affirmations like yes, Gabe or whatever you want, Gabe. This was Alec putting his foot down, and as warranted and overdue as this whole thing was—because Gibby did believe that he deserved it—he couldn’t ignore how it hurt.

He resigned to that defeat. He could pretend around everyone else, but there was no point in doing it here. He’s caused Alec enough trouble and pain to owe him just this one moment of shedding his hard, stubborn shell and swallowing his pride, even if it would send him out the door in five minutes. “Alec,” he began, leaving enough pause to let him know that what he was about to say next was no ruse. “I’m sorry.” His voice was no longer filtered with humor, nor was it masked with his usual flavor of artificial self-gratification. “I’m sorry I made you feel like shit or that… or made you think you’re not enough. I fucked up.” In a lot of things, but he chose not to be specific because then if he named them all, he’d be here all night. “I- I honestly don’t know what I’m doing here.” A chuckle involuntarily escaped his lips, probably a force of habit, the one that made fun of everything, of every tragedy, or probably even the way that he was stammering right now, and he raised his eyes towards the ceiling, blinking a couple of times as if he were trying to hold back something that was threatening to spill from inside his head. He rubbed his face and lowered himself back onto the floor, moving around the table so he could get to the sink. Gripping the edges, he looked down, shoulders raised, half wanting to throw up, half wanting to disappear into the drain. “I just- I fucked up. Okay? I fucked up and I fucked up again, and I’m sorry that I showed up, you didn’t ask me to show up, but I just thought… god, I thought I could- with you- I don’t- I don’t know.” He turned around so he was leaning against the sink, arms wrapped around himself, his eyes fixed on the floor. “I think I’m going insane.”

It was strange to hear the words leave his mouth. Alec hardly found it in him to let anyone down, Gabriel being near the top of that list. But eventually, he had learned that he was simply letting himself down. Coupled with the fact that his PTSD had him tossing and turning every night, Alec had found his breaking point. There were few things in life he got to decide upon, and this had been one of them. He could tell that his words had finally hit the mark they’d been looking for, but it didn’t make him feel any better. Even seeing an ounce of pain on Gabriel’s face made the man want to reach out – but he held himself back. The apology wasn’t what Alec had ever expected to hear. Whether or not he thought Gabe capable of it was beside the fact, it was the pain that laced the other’s voice that had him sucking in a breath.

The next part had Alec kicking himself into gear. He would always worry; that’s what he did best. “Gabriel –” he reached out, hesitantly placing his hand against the other’s back. “I uh...” he was at a complete loss, already feeling like he was failing at making the other feel better. It wasn’t his job, it never had been, but he’d already began caring. That wasn’t anything he could turn off. “I don’t know how to help you,” he said slowly, picking his words carefully. “Your drug intake, your...I know you don’t want to hear it from me.” He had never brought it up, instead approaching the subject indirectly. Bringing water to sober Gabe up, ginger ale to help the nausea, and a desperate attempt to ensure the man wasn’t high when he was with him in any way possible. But he’d never brought it up. Instead, he’d remained an enabler, and that was already eating away at his heart. Guilt laid heavy upon it, and he couldn’t fix that without trying, “I want you to be okay, Gabe. I want you to...I just want you to be okay.”

“Are we? Really?” he challenged. “’cause last time I checked, friends don’t leave friends in a bar when they’re set up and tell them that you don’t want to hear from them.” He was trying to keep his emotions in stride, trying not to show how much Alec leaving actually hurt him because he let it happen. In fact, he made it happen. But what was he supposed to do? Things were changing between them, they were changing fast (faster than he was used to), and he thought Alec would’ve been okay with waiting for him to get on the same page. Ultimately, he knew Alec didn’t deserve to wait. With everything he’s been through, he deserved the world. Could he give him that? Not quite, and he had to be fine with that. If they can’t be anything more, then he hoped he could take him for a friend, which was what Alec had just called them five seconds ago, but it sure didn’t feel like it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel the need to ambush him outside his house just for some company.

He sighed, stopping the swinging motion of his legs. “If you want me to leave, just say so.” He shrugged. “But I get the feeling that you wouldn’t have let me in in the first place if you did.” It sounded a lot like Alec contradicting himself when he first told him to fuck off. “I just wanna chat with you, that’s all. Whatever you wanna chat about, I’m game.” It didn’t make any sense, but they never did.

Alec rose an eyebrow at the challenge Gabriel had posed to him, and he figured he wouldn’t dignify it with an answer. Not at the rate this conversation was going, anyhow. He knew he deserved better than to be met with hostility, but he had left Gabe in that bar, and a part of Alec still felt guilt because of it. “Last time I checked, friends care. And that’s all I’ve tried to do.” He felt defeated already, unable to keep up with Gabriel – he never could, anyway. Alec already felt like he’d overstepped, and instead of being told no, he’d felt like he’d been played a fool. 

“We don’t have anything to talk about,” he murmured finally, rubbing his jaw. He looked up at Gabe, studying the other man’s features. “What are you looking for, Gabriel? For me to say I miss you? You already know the answer to that – but I can’t give you what you want. And that’s...” he waved his hand, “that’s whatever you want, whenever you want it. I can’t do it, okay? I already tried – I wanted to do something more with you, and instead of telling me no, you ignored the entire thing and went off to do whatever and whoever. I get it – I’m not enough, and I’m not going to try to be enough. If that’s what you needed to hear, then great, you can leave.”

It was like a switch flipped, then. The previously shy and flustered man was suddenly calm, cool, and collected–suave in the way he leaned forward then, his fingers brushing away her hair, Marley perking up at the touch. A smile was quick to form on her lips, leaning towards him as he did her, tilting her head to get a better look at him, before pulling back. “No need.” Her head shook, seemingly rejecting his offer, before she downed the rest of her drink and stood up, holding a hand out in the space between them, biting back a smirk.

Alec chuckled a little, watching as Marley downed the drink. It was impressive, and he finished his own as well before he reached out to take her hand as well. Standing up, he walked out with her, tossing a twenty dollar bill onto the counter on their way out. “Your place or mine?”

Avi shook her head in response to the apology, eyes averting to the ground as she tapped the ash from her cigarette away. “S’not your problem,” she assured, finding it difficult to keep her composure. Part of her wanted to scream, to place the blame on anyone but herself for her brother’s actions — most of the time, she’d be able to, seeing as his circle of friends was less than ideal for his situation. However, despite not knowing Alex well, she knew he was a genuinely good guy. Too bad Gibby allowed yet another good thing slip through his fingers. “Other people? Fuck, you must’ve really put him on a pedestal for a while there — don’t worry, I did the same thing.” The brunette chuckled sadly, taking another drag. “He needed a fix and turned my fucking apartment upside down to look for somethin’ to hold him over. We fought, he left. End of story.”

Alec moved a little closer, reaching out to squeeze Aviva’s shoulder, “Hey – it is my problem. If you think he’s in trouble, or if you think I should be looking for him...” he trailed off a little, though his gaze got mildly defensive at her next comment. “I don’t know what that means, but I’m gonna let it slide.” Waving his hand to blow the smoke away, he sighed, “You can’t put someone in rehab unless they want to be there. You could fifty-one-fifty him, maybe, but that wouldn’t end well either.”

“How wholesome of you,” was his response when he was offered some water to drink. Humor was always one of his best assets and worst liabilities. Not too long ago were they sharing a bottle of very expensive wine, courtesy of Alec and his idea of what their first meeting should be like. Gibby liked to think that Alec expected someone entirely different that night. Needless to say, neither of them got what they hoped for, if they hoped for anything at all. Things leading up to here wasn’t ideal for anyone. He lowered his head, dropping his gaze to the floor when Alec left the room, and he took it as his cue to follow. So he did, though slowly, his senses not quite up to speed with his reality at the moment. Eventually, he found himself leaning against the dining table, his eyes everywhere but on Alec, observing the room like it was the first time he’d been here. It wasn’t. Perhaps he was looking for a sign of another wine glass, another unwashed plate, someone’s post-it stuck to the fridge… but everything seemed to be exactly as he remembered it. What did that mean?

The mention of his sister’s name brought him back. “Oh, that,” he said, his voice going up at least three pitches, almost in a melodic tune, dragging out the vowels as if to buy him some time to think. Or, at the very least, buffer his thoughts. “Yeah… everything’s cool, man, don’t even worry about it.” He offered him a lopsided grin as he hopped onto the table so that his feet were barely grazing the floor. “It’s funny, though, no? Why she’d come to you, of all people?” The truth was that Gibby didn’t have many friends who would actually look out for him rather than join him in his downward spiral to self-destruction. Alec had been good for him, but he never saw himself as being the same way for the other man, hence why he never stopped him from walking away, never ran after him. And yet everyone who knew him would know that Alec Velasquez was not like the other people he surrounded himself with.

He inhaled a sharp breath as he begun to swing his legs, leaning back slightly as he gripped the edge of the table. “She probably didn’t get the memo that you left me at that bar and basically told me to never speak to you again. Remember that?” He threw him a pointed look, the corner of his lip twitching up slightly into a smirk. “Then again, here I am.” Here he was. Only because he needed him, never once thinking that maybe Alec wasn’t ready to see him, nor was interested in seeing him. It was always about himself.

He could handle the quips, and he could handle the attitude. Hell, he’d seen worse on a shift for the hospital. He’d seen people blazed out of their minds, people he’d needed to restrain, and all the other sorts. There was hardly anything that shocked him. What he didn’t want, however, was to respond to a call where Gabriel was the patient – and he had to do whatever to save him. 

When Gabe told him not to worry, however, he refrained from rolling his eyes. Alec always worried. It was just always in his blood, and in those unfortunate feelings he held for the man now in his kitchen. He wasn’t sure if the comment was a backhanded compliment or not, and Alec set the water glass down into the sink a little harsher than he normally did. “Maybe because we’re friends, Gabe?” he glanced over his shoulder to give the other man an annoyed look, straightening up and leaning back against the counter now. He crossed his arms over his chest, “And because she and I are friends, too.” He drummed his fingers on his arm, looking up again, “Yes, I remember that. And you ignored it and instead showed up on my doorstep.” He shook his head, staying put however, “Is there something you want?”

He flicked the cigarette butt into the sidewalk when Alec passed him by. It was just like a few months ago, wasn’t it? Gabriel waiting at Alec’s doorstep for how many hours until he’d finish a shift, until he’d be invited inside, until Alec was ready. For a while, none of this had been physical. Alec would need someone to talk to, he’d be there in exchange for a monetary reward, and stay the night. He used to only sleep on the couch until Alec was comfortable enough to let him sleep on his bed, and one thing led to another, and clothes started coming off and it was just this thing that they did. And when it stopped being just for company, when it stopped being just for sex, there was no contract to breach, and yet one of them was going to get hurt. Gibby just never expected that it would get him, too.

So when he found himself in Alec’s living room, the journey up the steps somehow a blur, he stood near Alec’s coffee table, his fingers loosely pointing downward as he tried to touch it, as if he needed to confirm that he was here, while Alec stood by the door, gatekeeping this dream sequence of returning to this man’s home when he thought he would never be welcomed in. The question had him twirling around, his hands pushed into the pockets of his hoodie. “Hm? What’s the joke, I don’t get it,” he asked, seemingly unfazed by the hostility, though in his defense, he was high and didn’t really think this through. He didn’t think he would be let in, but either way, he was hoping he’d just catch a glimpse of his face. “What, I can’t come by and say hello?” He grinned softly, eyes hooded as he tilted his head, humming towards a quiet laugh. “Come on, don’t look so annoyed.”

Alec felt like nothing he was going to say was going to actually make Gabriel listen to him. Whether or not the other even wanted to, or if it was just the drugs, not even the EMT could tell. Instead, he was left standing there, waiting for Gabe to cut the crap with him. But he didn’t get what he wanted. He hardly did, anyway. Alec considered most of this to be his fault – the fact that he even needed to buy someone’s friendship and let it fall into this kind of mess was beyond him. 

It was hard not to look annoyed, especially when he wasn’t sure how to proceed. Alec could see the uneven look in Gibby’s eyes, telling him everything he needed to know. “Do you want some water?” he asked finally, dropping his keys onto the table beside him as he walked away and towards the kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel, idly wondering if he’d follow or stay in the living room. “Is everything...okay? Avi uh...she told me you guys argued ‘bout somethin’, and wanted to know if I’d seen you.”

CLOSED STARTER FOR @alecxvelasquez​

He was without sleep for a day and a half, not even a single wink or a few moments of shut-eye, mostly because he didn’t have a place to do so. He was popping whatever pill he could find from whoever would give it to him, He was restless and anxious and angry at everything that didn’t deserve it, but he’d been getting significantly less of whatever he was used to getting and rationing drugs was not something he liked doing. He’d sleep with anyone who would promise a few tablets or some money to get them with, but he could only bounce off from one stranger’s bed to another and a few friend’s couches for so long until he’d have to swallow his pride at some point and come back to where he came from.

Home. But the physical structure was out of his reach— he was, after all, only staying with his sister with whom he hadn’t been speaking to after their fight. And so he would resort to the next best thing: the abstract idea of it, the reimagining of a place that had brought him comfort. Or a person.

Seeing Alec’s figure appear up ahead, Gibby smirked from where he was sitting on the steps leading up to the man’s door, the cigarette butts at his feet indicating how long he’d been sitting there. The one between his fingers was close to burning out, but his pack was now empty and he wanted to savor the last of the nicotine before he could drop by the nearest 7-Eleven, depending on how this goes. “Hey, asshole,” he greeted Alec with a grin when he was close enough to hear him. The name was less of an actual slight towards the former Marine, given how things had ended between them, and more of a way to rile him up. Eyes hooded and red, he titled his head up when he was now directly in front of the man he wanted to see. “Been a while. Miss me?”

It’d been his third twenty four hour shift of the week. In fact, Alec welcomed those shifts. It allowed him to take care of others before he even had to bother to take care of himself. It was therapeutic, almost, considering he never wanted to go to a therapist himself. In fact, his online AA meetings were good enough to make the former Marine relax. He hadn’t stopped drinking, but it gave him a weird sense of formality and allowed him to still be part of a group. Either way, Alec was riding the high of the fact that he’d done good that day – they’d saved two lives, and Alec felt like he was making a difference in a small way. 

The person sitting on his doorstep, however, had him slowing to a halt. He hadn’t seen Gabriel in weeks, all things considering. He shifted his weight, now playing with the keys in his hands. He was close enough to be looking down towards Gabriel, but far enough away to where he couldn’t smell the smoke. 

Miss me? Yes. The answer was always yes. It got caught in Alec’s throat, the biting response he wanted to give back faltering as well. He looked away from Gabe, instead opting to stare at his house keys. Instead of answering right away, he moved past him, opening the door to his apartment. Holding it open, he waited until Gabriel got the hint and walked inside. Closing the door, Alec leaned back against it, finally looking up at the other, “Am I just a fucking joke to you, Gabe?”

In the time Alec took to stare at her, the drink she’d ordered from the bartender was set in front of her, reaching for the glass and taking a sip, straw between her lips, though her gaze remained on him. He was cute. A little shy, but that was alright. Marley liked them shy. “What a gentleman.” She teased softly, lips pulling into an amused smile, even more so at the offer of a drink. “Like the one in my hand?” She raised her glass, as if for emphasis, before shaking her head. “I’d hang out with you regardless…but if you’re offerin’, I’ve been told this place makes a mean plate of cheese fries.” Not waiting for an answer, Marley slid into the seat directly next to his, turned to face him.

Alec suddenly felt a little ridiculous that he’d asked to buy her something when she’d already ordered, and he offered Marley a sheepish smile. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t trying to get the woman to like him for him; he just wanted someone to take his mind off the person who held his heart currently. Alec could turn on the charm when he wanted, and at this point, it was time to just leave. Leaning forward, he tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, “How ‘bout I get them to go and we get outta here?”

Avi ignored the question about how she was doing, finding it less important than the other questions she needed answers to. Plus, the response she’d give him would be either dishonest or incredibly depressing — after all, when was she ever doing any better than ‘fine’ these days? It was a trait that ran in the Dexter’s blood, apparently. “The festival — weeks ago?” she pursed her lips in response to his words, digging into her pocketbook for her pack Marlboros. “Fine, that’s — that’s fine,” Avi mumbled, movements frantic as she pulled a cigarette out of the pack and stuck it into her mouth. “It’s fine, I’m sure he’ll turn up soon. I’m sure – there’s no way he could have gone very far, right? He ain’t got much money, didn’t take many clothes,” the brunette flicked her lightly to torch the end of her cigarette, hands shaky. After a moment, she exhaled a large bout of smoke, careful to blow it away from the EMT before allowing a dishearten scoff to escape her lips. “I fucked up, I — I really fucked up. Shit.” Avi shook her head, meeting his gaze. “Sorry, I’m…I didn’t mean to bring you into this. I’ll just…” she trailed off, nodding back to the bar she came from.

Alec frowned a little when he saw Avi’s reaction, automatically wishing he’d had something better for her. Or even a little bit of information that wasn’t completely useless. How else was he supposed to function? He couldn’t do so when Gabriel was literally leading him around. “Weeks ago,” he admitted, already wondering why his heart felt so heavy at the thought. “I’m sorry, Avi. I’m really, really sorry.” He reached forward to squeeze her shoulder, hoping to ease some of her worry. “I’m sure he’s – I’m sure he’s fine. You know he has other...people like me. Friends. He’s probably there.” It left a bitter taste in his mouth, and it was just another reminder that he had been a fool. “What happened?”

“Juliana Garcia. My friends call me Jules, though.” At least they would if she had any.  The recent addition to her last name was left off in favor of patrolling the evening as a single woman, her wedding ring fully removed and stowed in a jewelry box back home for full effect. “You would do that for me?” False innocence welled up within doe eyes, enough to mask the satisfaction which came from his offer. “I can’t say no to such a gentlemanly offer.”

Oh, honey. An absolute angel disguised beneath chiseled features which she intended to exploit for her monetary gain, if he proved to be worth that venture anyway. “I think you simply existing is doing plenty for the situation.” No need to further complicate an already lazy lie… Though who could blame her? She’d been vacant from the game for the better part of this year. “Can I ask my savior’s name?”

@alecxvelasquez

“Hey — hey, Alec! Wait up,” Avi called out to her brother’s fling, peeling away from the smoke spot in front of the bar that she’d been occupying before scurrying toward him. Once close enough, the brunette took another long drag from her cigarette, biting the inside of her cheek as she exhaled. “You haven’t seen Gibby, have you?” she asked finally, glancing up to meet his gaze. “I mean, you definitely did. Right? Is he — has he been staying with you or somethin’?”

Gabriel. The name was enough to make Alec frown. He’d tried walking in the opposite direction of Aviva, but he’d reacted far too quickly to get away from her. He’d tried to pretend like he didn’t see her, but the sound of his name leaving her mouth had him halting. Turning, he managed to give Avi a smile. “Avi – how are you?” Hesitating, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with that information. Worry gripped his chest for a few moments, but how much was he supposed to care when the other simply wanted him as a fling? “No. I haven’t seen him since – since after the festival,” he admitted. They’d made out in the maze, gone to bars afterwards, then everything fell apart. It’d been Alec’s doing, but it wasn’t like Gabriel had tried to stop him. “We’re not – We’re not seeing each other...like that. Anymore.”