Chapter Text
“Pick up, pick up, pick up, please.”
Rhys muttered to himself nervously as he paced his apartment. He tried calling Maya three times already, but the line was busy up until now. He desperately needed some reassurance, because sleeping on it didn’t help at all, and he was still afraid of his meeting with Jack.
“Hello, Rhys,” a jovial voice suddenly spoke to him, and it was a miracle that he didn’t fling his phone across the room.
“H-hey,” he replied. “D-do you h-have a minute?”
“I do,” the woman replied. He could hear her typical smile in her voice, and it calmed him down a little. He reminded himself that he wasn’t a bother and started speaking.
“So, remember Jack? The guy I had coffee with?” he asked. Maya started coughing on the other side of the line. “Are you alright?” he asked, wondering if she was eating. Fear that a monster got to her bloomed at the edge of his mind, but he stomped it down.
“Yes, yes, just drank too fast,” she assured him, still coughing. “Yes, I remember.”
“Alright…” Rhys took a deep breath, listening carefully until his therapist stopped coughing.
“So, he asked me to go out again. And I said yes, even though I wasn’t feeling very well, I was nervous because too many things went crazy that day, Jack asking me out including, —”
“Did Jack say it was a date?” Maya asked.
“Uh, no,” Rhys shook his head even though she couldn’t see. “Just coffee, like last time. He wants to pay me back, because the last time, I paid. Is there… something weird about this…?” he asked, suddenly even more uncertain and paranoid.
“No, nothing, this is absolutely normal! People receive favours and they return favours,” the therapist assured him. “So, are you excited?”
“That’s the thing,” Rhys sighed. “I’m not feeling very well today, either. Last time, it took me so long to get over my fears, and today, it’ll be even worse. I’m not sure I can make it. Maybe I should cancel, so I don’t freak out on the tram. What do you think? Would Jack mind?”
“I don’t think Jack would mind,” the therapist said slowly. “But Rhys, answer this question before you make any decision: Would you mind if today got cancelled?”
“Uh…” Rhys paused. “I don’t— I… Yeah, of course I would. Last time, I felt the most alive in years. So… you think I should go? But what if I don’t make it?”
The therapist chuckled. “Rhys, you are the most— well, third most stubborn person that I know. When I asked you what made you seek out a therapist two years ago, you said that you didn’t want your fear to dictate the rest of your life, so you did what was needed. I believe you can go and have a blast today, if you set your mind to it. Do you want to have a coffee with Jack?”
“Yes!” Rhys said a little too loud. He felt hyped. She was right – nothing could stop him but him. “Thank you so much, Maya. I’ll send you a gift basket later.”
“No no, this one is on the house,” she laughed. “Have fun, Rhys. Do it for yourself.”
Feeling optimistic was one thing – feeling like he could push through by the sheer force of his stubbornness. But actually being on the tram again was something entirely different. Rhys felt sick, once more sitting tensely in a familiar yet completely strange seat, sweating through his clothes and forcing himself not to bail at any opportunity.
He did make it to his destination, not because of stubbornness, but because he didn’t want to take yet another strange tram to get home. Before he got on the tram, he knew that once he was there, there would not be a way back. He made the decision to put himself through that ordeal, and nothing but him could stop him. Even if he had to cheat fate by making turning back nearly impossible.
This time, Rhys got to the café early, at 1:50 PM. Jack was already there, sitting at the same table as last time, in the same chair. He turned when he heard the door opening and smiled when he saw Rhys.
Even though it was only the second time, the familiarity of the seat facing the door, and the cats all around him, and Jack’s slight smile brought Rhys comfort. And speaking about the cats specifically, one of them came to him before he even sat down. Before he knew it, he had a ginger tabby in his lap. A Persian cat was heading his way, probably to take up the spot by his feet or to sit on the table in front of him.
“They remember you,” Jack pointed out, shaking his head in amusement.
“I don’t know what they see in me,” the younger man chuckled, stroking each cat with one hand. He felt a little bad for stealing the cats’ attention from other customers, especially since usually, cats in cat cafés ignored the customers and avoided them. And yet there was a third one rushing to greet him, like he was a walking catnip bag.
“I have a good idea what it is,” Jack chuckled but didn’t explain. Instead, he asked Rhys how his day was going and what he thought about the weather, starting a normal conversation, which they both seemed to need.
Rhys ordered the same as last time and Jack went for a pumpkin spice late with extra cream on top and a slice of apple pie. That man had the biggest sweet tooth Rhys had ever seen. He hummed loudly as he ate, trying to get Rhys to have a taste, but Rhys wasn’t ready for sweet foods yet. He did take a sip of Jack’s coffee, though, which felt kinda strange. They were still strangers. Although, their friendship was forming strong.
“That’s sweeter than I expected,” he grimaced as he put the cup down, sliding it back towards Jack. A spicy coffee had no right to feel like drinking liquid honey. It even made his lips sticky. As he licked them, he was hit by the taste again. This time, it wasn’t actually that bad.
“You like it, see!” Jack pointed out, immediately picking up on the change in Rhys’ expression.
“I didn’t say it was bad. It’s good. Just very sweet.”
There used to be days where he would eat a pint of caramel and chocolate ice-cream and feel like it would go well with some sweet topping. Just thinking about that made him crave ice-cream, though he wasn’t sure if he would be able to eat any just yet, with or without moral support. He definitely couldn’t eat any alone.
“Everything good, Cupcake?”
Dang it. Rhys had spaced out again. He shook his head to bring himself to present and smiled sheepishly. “Gone again,” he joked, making Jack laugh.
“Glad you’re back,” the other man replied, scooping up the last few crumbs off his plate. “Wanted to talk about your computer. You said you had the newest processor from…”
Finding out that he missed something obvious – or what felt obvious in retrospect – always unsettled Rhys. If he could miss this, what if he also didn’t notice that he was being followed, or didn’t see a strange shadow in the alleys? It made him freeze in fear and go over every little detail that could be connected to another tiny little detail, because what if there was an even bigger picture?
This is how Rhys ended up in the bathroom of the cat café, locked in a toilet stall and sitting on the closed lid of the toilet with his knees pulled up, muffling his own breathing with his palm. He needed to hide, to buy time, to think about what he learned. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realised that he was freaking out in a public bathroom, and if he didn’t get a grip, someone would probably call the police, but it seemed ridiculously irrelevant at the time. Hiding was more important.
He went over the facts, over and over again. This was his fifth meeting with Jack. They have been meeting every week at the same time, at the same place. He had thought that it was going great, almost positive that him and Jack were friends, but now he wasn’t sure if it all had even been real. Lies, lies, lies.
But facts, facts first. Jack told him the very same day he learned. He had a session with his therapist at 10 AM and met Rhys at 2 PM, meaning he only knew for three or four hours, and it was the first thing he said when they got their orders. He wasn’t lying – Rhys believed he would know if Jack tried to lie to him.
But Maya knew, and she didn’t tell him. For more than a month, she knew something important but she kept the information from him, and he didn’t know why. Screw professional behaviour – she should have told him that she knew Jack! If she didn’t tell him this, what if she also didn’t tell him about a shadow monster hiding behind her computer and whispering his orders to her? What if she didn’t tell him about a bearded face lurking just around the corner of her office?
The door to the bathroom opened, and Rhys’ thoughts froze as his whole body went taut. He even stopped breathing, listening for the steps that would walk in. They didn’t sound familiar, though. He forced himself to relax a little, pulling in a careful breath.
“Rhysie? Are you there?” Jack’s voice asked, worried. In answer, Rhys made sure he couldn’t be seen even from the gap under the stall door. He trusted Jack – not as much as before, but he still did – but he didn’t trust himself. Yes, the voice that he heard sounded like Jack, but how could he be sure that it was him? It wouldn’t be the first time his senses betrayed him when he was scared.
“Rhysie, I have Maya on the phone,” Jack continued, standing somewhere between the two stalls. “Do you want to talk to her?”
Closing his eyes tight shut, Rhys shook his head, even though the other man couldn’t see him through the door. No, he definitely didn’t want that. He no longer trusted his therapist. He wasn’t sure he could trust Jack if he was willing to talk to her after all of this.
The businessman sighed. “Okay, this is useless.” He hanged the phone, judged by the short, loud beep, and sighed again. “I understand that you’re scared, Rhysie,” he talked into the general space of the bathroom, slowly and calmly. “But you can’t stay here. I can call you a taxi, or give you a ride, but you need to come out.”
“I c-can’t,” Rhys found himself saying. Immediately, he regretted it as he heard movement behind the door. He let out a pathetic little squeak of fear, but Jack didn’t break down the door. He seemed to step further away from it, in fact.
“Why can’t you come out, Pumpkin?” he asked calmly, his voice coming from farther and lower than before, as if he sat down opposite to the stall, which he probably did.
Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Rhys waited, making sure Jack wasn’t moving closer. Then, he explained: “H-he could b-be there,” he said. “He co-could have f-found me! I wasn’t careful enough. I-if he found me—” He didn’t even want to think about it, but once it left his mouth, he had to. His voice broke as he choked on a muffled sob. “Oh God, I don’t wa— I don’t want him to get to me again! I don’t want to die!”
Jack shuffled briefly but still didn’t come closer. “Rhys, Rhysie, listen,” he said, voice serious. “Do you trust me, Pumpkin?”
Now wasn’t the time for that question. Rhys whimpered silently, wrecking his brain for the right answer. His heart screamed at him that yes, Jack was a friend. But his mind was full of fear and paranoia. “I-I don’t know,” he said honestly. “Y-you’re my friend, b-but Maya…”
“Maya is your therapist, and my therapist, and Angel’s therapist,” Jack countered gently. “I trust her with my life, but you don’t have to. All you need is to trust me that I will safely get you home. Sounds good?”
Rhys steeled himself, fingers digging into his knees. “Y-yeah,” he said.
“Good,” Jack answered, sighing in relief. To Rhys’ surprise, he didn’t ask him to open the door. “How do you want to do this? Should I call you a taxi, take you to the tram stop, give you a ride…?”
None of the options sounded good. The tram would be full of strange people, and the taxi even worse, one strange person who would know where exactly he lived. Maybe he could trust Jack with that, but…
“I’m scared,” Rhys admitted. “I-it was a miracle that I e-escaped the la-last time. If he finds me, I’ll have to-to— I don’t know! I’ll never escape it again.”
“Okay, Rhys, listen,” Jack said in a harsher tone than he usually used. “No one will get to you. You understand? Over. My dead. Body. I won’t let anybody touch you, and if you feel like someone is watching you, just tell me, I can take care of that.”
“H-how?” Rhys asked, gaping in disbelief.
“Let’s say I have a certain power over people,” Jack said cryptically.
“What does it mean?” the younger man whimpered, shivering at the eerie words.
Jack chuckled mirthlessly. “I honestly thought you would figure it out on your own, eventually, but you didn’t lie when you said that you spent the past few years under a rock,” he said. Then he sighed. “My full name is Jack Lawrence. As in Jack Lawrence, the CEO of Hyperion. I honestly can’t believe you didn’t— You didn’t even ask where I work!” he chuckled again. “I hope you can forgive me for not telling you. It was refreshing to be treated like a normal human being for once, and not an all-powerful money machine.”
“Oh,” Rhys breathed out. This explained so much. Like why Jack was so shocked that someone wanted to pay for him. And why he kept hiding behind hats and sunglasses.
But it was also yet another thing that Rhys didn’t know.
“I can’t keep doing this,” he whispered. “I d-didn’t think there would be so many… random elements. A-and surprises, secrets, shadows everywhere!” His breathing was getting dangerously fast, and he kept slipping.
“Hate to break it to ya but people don’t follow rules; they are generally pretty random. That’s why we seek comfort in smaller things, like…”
“Like?” Rhys clung to those words—
“Familiar smile. Hug that makes us feel safe. Sometimes alcohol but… eh. I don’t recommend that.”
Although it wasn’t nearly the first time they touched a sensitive topic, Rhys felt like this one… connected them on a whole new level. Jack had seen plenty of him being vulnerable, but he was also willing to show his own vulnerability.
“So, wh-what do you think I-I sh-should do?” he asked with batted breath.
There was another chuckle, this time lighter. “Would familiar, handsome face work for you?”
Rhys laughed bitterly. He had no idea. He didn’t remember what trusting someone felt like. He trusted Vaughn, but at the same time… the beard complicated things. His best friend didn’t bring him the comfort that he needed most of the time. But his other friend, Jack…
“A-alright,” he said, slowly letting go of his legs and letting them touch the floor.
“Alright?”
“We can— we can try,” Rhys allowed as he unlocked the door. “T-the familiar face – we can try that.”
As the door slid open, Rhys was greeted to the sight of Jack sitting on the tiled floor of the bathroom, hat and sunglasses laying discarded next to him. Without the hat, it became more obvious. Jack Lawrence, the CEO of Hyperion. But to Rhys, he was still just Jack. A friend.
“Hey,” Jack said, smiling. He didn’t move, sitting calmly, unthreatening.
“Hey, handsome,” Rhys replied jokingly. It was definitely working, the face. It was here, real, undoubtedly Jack. And no monsters in sight in the brightly lit bathroom, no hallucinations.
“How are you feeling?”
On edge. Horrible. Like he might tip back into panic at any moment.
“Not so peachy, I understand,” Jack huffed, probably seeing it written all over Rhys’ face. “How do you feel about my offer? Should I give you a ride?”
Rhys contemplated all three options again. Tram was a no-go. There was no way he could handle that. Taxi, bad enough. Letting Jack drive him… It required trust. Trust required energy. Rhys was too tired. But he didn’t really have a choice.
“I-I guess I-I need a ride i-if you have time,” he decided.
“Okay,” Jack nodded, pulling out his phone and typing on it briefly. “A car will be here in a minute. I’ll go and pay the bill, and then come back for you, okay?”
Rhys nodded, but then he paused. “What do you mean… How will a car get here?”
Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes with the pads of his fingers. “One of my trusted people, a bodyguard, will bring it. Is that okay?”
With a blush, Rhys realized that he was getting really silly now. “Oh. Of course. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, you’re having a really rough day,” Jack brushed it off. He grunted as he got to his feet, mumbling something under his breath. “Wait here. I’ll take care of everything else.” With that, he dipped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind himself, not letting it make any loud sounds. Rhys instinctively listened for a door lock, but he didn’t hear any – well, of course he didn’t. Jack wasn’t going to lock him in the bathroom.
Having a moment for himself, Rhys decided to at least try and make himself look human. He avoided looking into the mirror as he let the water run in the sink until it was icy cold. He splashed it on his face until all tears and snot were washed away, and some of the swelling under his eyes had hopefully gone down. Then he finally looked up, noting that it was even worse than he expected. He looked horrible. But there was nothing that could be done about it now.
Jack knocked before walking back into the bathroom. He looked pleased that Rhys didn’t go back to hiding in the stall and gave the younger man a small smile. “Ready to go?” he asked, offering a hand. “Wil will be here soon, and it’s better we wait outside than in a filthy bathroom.”
“O-okay,” Rhys nodded, not taking the hand even though he wanted to. He wasn’t sure it would bring him the comfort that he needed right now. He still trusted Jack, but he needed to be cautious.
Jack understood and opened the door, walking out first. Rhys followed close behind, scanning the café as soon as he stepped in. No familiar faces, no dark shadows. Still, he quickened his pace, wanting to be out of there.
As soon as they stood outside, Rhys regretted the decision. He wanted to run back into the bathroom and wait there, in his small stall where he could be sure there was no one hiding. Out in the open, he felt, ironically, claustrophobic. His eyes flickered in all directions, considering each shadow and corner and streetlight pole. There could be monsters anywhere, lurking, waiting for him to make a mistake, and he had already done so many, his ex-boyfriend could as well be on his way to pick him up…
Fingers snapping loudly in front of his face broke Rhys out of his panic for long enough to see Jack’s concerned face. What happened next could only be written off to his mental and physical exhaustion. Rhys hesitated for only a second and then wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck, hugging him tightly and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Jack’s cologne smelled good and freakishly expensive but most of all, it didn’t smell anything like his ex; it smelled like safety and power.
Jack let out a small oof when Rhys’ lithe body impacted with his. He stiffened for a while but then relaxed and wrapped his arms hesitantly around Rhys’ chest, so high that it was painfully obvious that he wanted to make the touch come off as innocent as possible.
“I’m sorry, I’m just scared,” Rhys said, unable to pry himself away from Jack even though he knew what he was doing wasn’t exactly okay. Jack was the only source of safety, only certainty that he had out here, though. The only other option besides hiding on a toilet.
“It’s alright, Pumpkin, I’ve got ya,” Jack soothed, rubbing slow circles into Rhys’ shoulders. “We’ll be out of here soon, and you’ll go home. Everything will be fine.”
For some reason, Rhys believed those words. When Jack said it, Rhys really believed that the monster would never find him again.
“Thank you,” he whispered, tentatively easing his chokehold on Jack. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You probably wouldn’t even be here,” Jack pointed out, huffing.
“Right,” Rhys admitted bitterly. “But I’d miss out on all the cats here that are obsessed with me.”
“I’m wounded, Cupcake,” Jack huffed again, pointedly. “What about me? My glorious presence? How could you live without that?”
Rhys pretended to ponder over it, then very pointedly shrugged. “I dunno. I guess you are a nice bonus. But I’m mainly here for the cats.” He didn’t know how he was able to joke around so carelessly in that situation, with the businessman whom he met on a tram, but with his face in Jack’s neck, nose squished into his heated skin, he felt safe, good. He was pretty sure that it was his old self peeking through, over the multiple layers of trauma. Careless and funny. That used to be him.
“You little brat,” Jack tried to sound angry, but he sounded too amused. His chest trembled with suppressed chuckles. He pulled in air to say something else, but then he stopped himself as a car stopped right next to them on the pavement. “Our ride is here,” he pointed out.
“I should probably let go of you, then,” Rhys said, though it took him another couple seconds to do so. When he opened his eyes and instinctively looked around again, he was relieved to see that everything looked normal and there were no familiar faces.
The driver of the car stepped out and walked around, gruffly reporting to Jack, and Rhys froze again, though for a whole different reason. The feeling of familiar voice was a bit unsettling, but soon, curiosity took over. He wanted to know whether he knew this person or not and it was just a coincidence.
“Thanks, Wilhelm,” Jack said, accepting the keys. “Hope you don’t mind walking back to the office on your own,” he added, but he didn’t sound like he was sorry. If anything, he was enjoying it, and Rhys really hoped that this Wilhelm was paid enough money for this. He probably was.
Finally, Rhys got the courage to raise his head and look at the man in question. And he had to do a double take, because that man looked awfully like his father. This wasn’t any Wilhelm. This was—
“Uncle Wilhelm!” he exclaimed in surprise. He knew his father’s brother lived in this country, but he had no idea he was here. Also, he believed Wilhelm worked as security, not chauffeur.
“And what are you doing here, little gremlin?” the man laughed as he ruffled Rhys’ hair like he used to do when he was little. “Last time we spoke, you said you work for Hyperion in Pandora. What are you doing in Helios? Don’t tell me this asshole has anything to do with it,” he jabbed his finger at Jack threateningly, to which the man frowned.
“N-not really,” Rhys replied, scratching the back of his neck. “I work for Atlas now. Ha-had to switch jobs, and m-move to another city, uh, here. I… don’t tell anyone about that, o-okay?” He gulped, painfully aware of how weird of a request that was, but the less people knew where he lived, the better.
“Who would I tell?” Wilhelm raised his eyebrows. “Is everything okay, Rhys?” he asked, eyes narrowing as he looked at Jack, then at Rhys’ red eyes and blotched cheeks. “Rhys?”
“E-everything’s fine,” the young man assured him quickly. It was a lie, of course it was. And no matter how white the lie was, it wouldn’t get past his ex-military uncle. But Rhys hoped that the man would understand. “I-I just we-went through some stuff,” he explained carefully, trying to disclose as little information as he could. “And ha-had to do a lot to get back on my feet. And I-I kind of… didn’t really tell mum and dad, so… Please, don’t tell them anything. I-I don’t want them to-to worry.”
Harder than not being entirely honest with his uncle, his family, was admitting out loud that he’d been lying to his parents and isolating himself for years. Rhys tried not to think about this stuff often, and now suddenly, he was saying it out loud, as if it was okay, but it wasn’t okay. He wasn’t protecting his family. He was only protecting himself, because if they didn’t know about what happened, it wasn’t real. But that wasn’t how it worked.
“Hey,” Wilhelm said, his gruff voice softer than ever. “You know you can count on me, right? Whether it’s sneaking cookies to you before dinner or keeping a secret. We’re family.”
Rhys took a deep breath, trembling under the weight of what his uncle said. He didn’t remember if he’d ever seen the man be so serious. Around his family, he was always at ease. Rhys’ dad claimed that Wilhelm was a soldier at heart and military kind of brainwashed him, but Rhys had never seen a proof of that.
“I-I’m glad I m-met you here, Uncle,” Rhys said honestly. Then he turned to Jack, who watched the whole scene in silence, eyes switching between Rhys and Wilhelm as if looking for similarities. They existed, for sure, but mostly, Rhys took after his mother, so he only inherited the most prominent traits from his father’s family.
“Ready to go?” Jack asked after noticing Rhys’ gaze.
“Yeah,” Rhys nodded, gathering all the courage that he had.
Before they left, Rhys and Wilhelm exchanged numbers, so they could catch up sometime. Rhys then entered the passenger’s seat and Jack the driver’s, leaving Wilhelm to walk alone to one of the Hyperion offices in the city. Jack started the car and turned to Rhys.
“So, which way?” he asked, brows once more scrunched up as if in worry.
“D-do you know the-the tram station Helios Arboretum?” Rhys asked. He had already run the math in his head and figured that there would be a couple ways to get home without ever disclosing his address. His tram station would be the easiest – he took the trip daily and it probably would be the most comfortable.
“Is it anywhere close to the actual Helios Arboretum?” Jack asked, already steering into the street.
“Y-yeah. I-it’s not far f-from where I live,” Rhys explained. “I thought that i-if you could take me there, I c-could get home on my own.”
Jack was silent for a while, focusing on the people crossing the street in front of them. Then he asked: “Are you sure you want to walk home alone?”
“Yes,” Rhys replied immediately. He was too tired to even analyse or overanalyse the question, his mind blissfully quiet for a couple minutes.
They didn’t say much else. Jack drove with certainty, as if he took the same route often, though as they neared the district, he started looking out for the direction signs a little more. Rhys wanted to help, but he didn’t find the strength in himself to speak up. Even that sometimes got too hard.
Finally, the tram station was in front of them and Jack stopped his car in a No Parking zone. Rhys mumbled something that he hoped sounded like a thank you and got out of the car, basically running away before Jack could say or do anything.
Well, that went horribly.
The whole short walk home, Rhys kept looking over his shoulder, scanning his surroundings and avoiding any other person that he met. He let his paranoia loose, hoping that his body’s autopilot would do its job and get him home safely. He spent a stupid amount of time studying the paper tape slip on the door, making sure no one removed it and got inside, and then he went in and locked the door in so many ways it almost looked like he was planning to never walk out again.
While he checked all the locks on the windows and the integrity of the blinds, Rhys called in sick to work and excused himself from meeting the manager today. There was no way he would ever make it back to the city centre after what happened at the café.
Finally, Rhys went to his bedroom, turning on all lights in the house on his way, and climbed in, clothes and shoes all forgotten as he wrapped himself in blankets. He deserved a restful nap.