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sn't just his face.
"What happened?" Esposito asked, worried about his boyfriend.
"I stumbled in the dark and fell against a closet."
"Kevin…"
Esposito knew when Ryan was lying, but the look Ryan shot him shut Esposito up immediately.
***
The day had gone by very slowly, with only a mountain of paperwork to go through. And doing a mountain of paperwork wasn’t the same with Ryan being hurt. Esposito was happy when the clock struck 5 pm and they could go home.
“Are you coming with me?” Esposito asked his boyfriend.
“I’d rather go home.” Ryan answered.
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“I’d rather be alone.”
“I won’t leave you alone. You’re hurt. I want to take care of you. I’m your boyfriend, remember? I’m not here for the sex and the making out alone.”
Ryan looked at him, tears in his eyes. Esposito closed the distance between them and took Ryan in his arms; careful not to hurt him.
“I won’t force you to talk to me. Please, just let me take care of you. That’s all I ask.”
Esposito broke the hug and Ryan nodded.
“Okay, my apartment?” Ryan asked.
Esposito nodded.
***
“I didn’t fall against a closet last night.”
Espo had kept his word: he hadn’t forced Ryan to talk. The beer did it for him. Ryan still didn’t look at him though.
“It was…” Ryan began. He swallowed. Esposito stayed silent. He knew Ryan would tell everything in his time. “I went out to get takeout yesterday and I ran into some of the officers who were at the last crime scene.”
Esposito already felt his blood boil. But he had to stay calm. For Ryan. For Kevin.
“They were shouting things like ‘faggot’, but I ignored it. I’ve been bullied enough in high school to know I should ignore it. But then they were closing in on me, saying ‘my buff boyfriend wasn’t there to protect me’ and…”
A tear fell down Ryan’s cheek.
“I’m going to kill those guys.” Esposito mumbled, already getting up.
“Javi, please.”
Esposito took a deep breath and sat back down.
“Okay, I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Esposito promised. “ But , you have to report it in the morning.”
Ryan nodded and smiled slightly.
“Can we just cuddle now, please?” He asked.
Esposito opened his arms and let Ryan cuddle close, making sure he wasn’t in pain.
“I love you, corazon. Never lie to me again about something like that, please.”
Ryan kissed Esposito’s chest.
“I won’t, I promise.”