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Shawn was convinced that the best decision he’d ever made was agreeing to travel on the road with Bret full time. Maybe it’s because he spent the majority of his adult life wasting away in an office doing boring clerical work, but traveling with Bret made Shawn feel so free and content with life. Throughout his time on the road, he and Bret visited various cities across the US and Canada, taking in all the beauty and fun adventures that the continent had to offer.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, Shawn was slightly worried in the beginning of their travels. He often wondered if spending so much time together would drive both Bret and himself crazy, desperately needing space from each other. However, it was quite the opposite. Spending time together backstage, cuddling in their hotel room, going sightseeing, and driving cross-country for hours at a time only brought them that much closer. It definitely helped to make up for the time they lost when they were dating long-distance. So many unforgettable memories were made on the road.
When Bret had a week-long break, the two decided to spend it in Calgary. Now that Shawn was living with Bret, Calgary had become their home base in between their travels. Shawn still had yet to settle in due to the two traveling as soon as Shawn had left Texas to be with Bret. Nevertheless, it still brought a smile to his face whenever Bret would utter the words ‘our home,’ further solidifying their relationship.
Shawn was set on experiencing the freedom of the road again after their short trip to Calgary. Unfortunately, his plans were compromised when a pounding headache turned into a runny nose and a dry cough, which eventually progressed into Shawn catching the common cold the day before they were set to be back on the road.
“Ugh, I feel like death,” Shawn groaned with a raspy voice as he laid in bed, surrounded by mounds of blankets and snotty tissues.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you,” asked Bret after zipping up his suitcase, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed next to Shawn.
Bret’s immediate response after he found out that Shawn was sick was to offer to nurse him back to health. To be honest, he felt a little guilty. He’d concluded that Shawn’s system probably got fucked up from traveling with him for such an extended period of time. Everything must have caught up to the blond once they settled in Calgary.
“No,” Shawn said before being cut off by a coughing fit. He reached for another piece of tissue, blowing his nose before adding it to his collection of crumbled used tissue. Shawn sank back onto his pillow, groaning in misery.
Bret moved a few hair strands away from Shawn’s face before placing a hand on his forehead, noting how warm it felt. “I don’t want to leave you alone,” he said, removing his hand from Shawn’s forehead to caress his cheek.
Shawn gave another sniff before saying, “Maybe I wouldn’t have to go through this alone if you’d let me come with you-” and he was attacked by another coughing fit.
Bret gave him a moment to settle down before saying, “I’m not letting you travel on the road like this.”
Shawn pouted, “I’m a big boy, Bret. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“No-”
“What if I’m fine by tomorrow?”
Bret took a moment before answering monotonously, “Shawn, you literally just said you feel like death.”
Shawn whined, “You know I’m dramatic.”
Bret said firmly, “No. You need rest.”
Shawn mumbled indignantly to himself, knowing Bret was right. His body let out a few sneezes and another cough, further proving Bret’s point.
Bret moved his hand down to lightly rub Shawn’s shoulder. “See? You’re in no condition to travel right now.”
Shawn sighed. “I know, but what am I supposed to do without you here? I’m going to miss you.”
Bret desperately wanted to kiss Shawn’s worries away, but he was afraid of getting himself sick. Instead, he settled for dragging his hand down to comfortingly rub at Shawn’s hip. “It’ll be ok, baby. I have a break in between shows. I’ll fly out to see you then.”
Shawn gave another sniff feeling the mucous building up in his nose again. “When’s your break?”
“In three days.”
“Three days?!” Shawn coughed before continuing his tirade, “You’re really going to leave me here to fend for myself for three whole days?! I thought you loved me,” Shawn moped, sticking his bottom lip out dramatically.
Bret chuckled, bringing his other hand down to pet gently at Shawn’s head. “I do love you. That’s why I need you here and not on the road. What if it gets worse?”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“But what if it does,” Bret reiterated.
“At least you’d be there to take care of me.”
“And what do I do if I end up getting sick?”
“Then we’d just be sick together?” Shawn ended with as sweet of a look he could muster. But Bret wasn’t buying it.
“Nice try. Look, I’ll make sure to call you every single night and you can tell me all about your day, ok?”
Shawn let out another string of sneezes, ending with him blowing his nose before he answered solemnly, “Ok.”
While awaiting Bret’s return, Shawn spent the majority of his time resting in bed like a zombie, feeling lethargic and only moving to eat, use the restroom, or answer the phone when Bret called. Bret’s phone calls were the only highlight of his days. Bret, being the sweetheart that he is, would listen patiently as Shawn explained his day, complaining about how bored he was and how much he missed Bret. Bret missed the blond just as much. Traveling on the road was no longer the same without him.
It was on the third day of his hibernation that Shawn heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs. Shawn, bundled up in multiple blankets, slowly opened his eyes at the sound. He lazily sat up, pulling the mound of blankets up with him knowing that Bret had just returned home.
Shawn realized that it was a day earlier than expected, but he wasn’t complaining. Thankfully, he’d gotten a little better since the last time he’d seen Bret, only a stuffy nose and scratchy throat remaining. However, he still wanted Bret to dote on him.
Shawn got out of bed, tugging one of his many blankets over his shoulders as he wrapped himself like a burrito before making his way downstairs. He rubbed at his eyes as he slowly walked down the steps calling out, “Bret?”
Not hearing his boyfriend’s reply, Shawn made his way to the kitchen where he could hear movement. He let out a silent yawn before saying, “Babe? Bret?”
He rounded his way into the kitchen, stopping abruptly as he jumped in a startle, screaming in horror as he was met with an older woman that certainly wasn’t Bret.
Shawn’s horrific scream caused the woman to do the same as she jumped, turning around surprised to see the unwelcome visitor.
It took a short moment for Shawn to realize who it was. Bret’s mother, Helen Hart. Or at least that’s who he assumed it was from the family photos Bret’s shown him.
Then it dawned on him. This was his first time meeting Bret’s mom. Shawn felt like a bucket of cold water was dunked on him as a wave of embarrassment washed over him. Her first impression of him must have been that he was a total nutcase. He wouldn’t blame her. How else would he expect anyone to react at the sight of a tall, ill-looking man with a raspy voice and bedhead?
She yelled, “Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” She didn’t even give Shawn a chance to respond as she was already raising a hand to hit him with the newspaper she was holding.
She stopped in her tracks as Shawn held out his blanketed arms in defense, quickly uttering, “Wait, wait!” But he was cut off by a coughing fit that he could’ve sworn had disappeared.
Once his coughing subsided, he continued, “I’m Shawn. I’m a…friend of Bret’s.” Shawn didn’t think lying to his future mother-in-law was a good first impression, but he wasn’t sure if Bret told her about them. And with Bret still being in the closet, it was safer to say he’s a friend.
“What are you doing in my son’s home,” she asked as she slowly lowered the newspaper in her hands, but still on high alert.
Shawn sniffed, desperately wishing he’d brought a tissue down with him to blow his nose. “Bret let me stay here until he gets back.” Shawn then swiftly tucked his head into his arm as a string of sneezes came along.
Her worries were not eased as she wondered why some man she’d never seen before had access to her son’s home. She had a spare key to Bret’s place and always checked up on the house when he was out of town. The last thing she expected was to find another man in there.
However, Helen’s caution seemed to lower a bit as she finally took in the sight of Shawn, noticing how sickly he looked. With him having a red-tinted nose, a look of exhaustion, and being wrapped up in a blanket like a penguin, he didn’t seem too threatening. Once it became apparent that the man was sick, she felt a little bad for him.
After Shawn brought his head up from his arm, his sneezing finally over, Helen said softly, “Well, Shawn, you don’t look so good. You should go lay back down. I was just stopping by to drop off a few things for Bret. I’m his mother, Helen.”
Shawn managed to give a polite smile as he sniffed saying, “Nice to meet you, Helen.”
“Here you go, dear,” she said as she handed him a tissue from her purse.
“Thanks,” Shawn said gratefully. He blew his nose, throwing the tissue in the trash, saying. “Sorry for scaring you.”
She gave a polite smile back. “It’s ok. I’m just used to the house being empty when Bret’s gone. It’s not too often that he lets people stay here besides family. Now that I think of it, the only time a person other than family has stayed here has been when he was dating someone.”
Shawn’s face heated up at the revelation, and this time it wasn’t from a fever.
“Oh, really? How interesting,” Shawn said feigning ignorance, not knowing how to pivot the conversation.
“Yeah, it’s really odd,” Helen pondered.
Think quick, Shawn thought to himself. Without warning, Shawn went into another coughing fit. This time it was obviously forced, his sickness being the only copout he could think of to get out of the conversation.
His plan seemed to work as Helen’s attention shifted back to Shawn’s condition. “Aww, you poor thing. Do you have any medicine you can take?”
Shawn cleared his throat, shaking his head no. “Bret doesn’t have any in the house.”
Helen shook her head in disappointment before rummaging around in her purse. She tsked, “That son of mine. He never has this place stocked with the essentials.”
Shawn smirked to himself, being reminded that he’d gotten onto Bret on more than a few occasions about having his house stocked. Without thinking, he said “Yeah, he’s really bad at that. I mean-” then another obviously fake string of coughs pursued.
“Here,” said Helen after finally finding the pack of generic cold medicine in her purse. She took out a pill then reached for one of Shawn’s hands which were tucked away under his blanket. She dropped the pill in his hand palm before heading to the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of water, handing it to Shawn as well. “I’m not sure if it’ll do much for your runny nose, but it should help get rid of those coughs.”
An appreciative smile tugged at Shawn’s lips, the blond being reminded of his own mother who was always prepared and knew what to do to take care of him. “Thank you,” he said after he’d swallowed the pill down.
“No problem, darling. Now, I need for you to rest while I make some soup for you-”
Shawn quickly declined, “Oh, no you don’t have to do that. Thanks for offering-”
“Ah, I don’t want to hear it. I’m sure Bret would appreciate me taking care of a friend of his.” She walked up to Shawn, placing a light hand on his arm and lower back as she guided him towards the stairs. “Now, I need you to lay down in the meantime and I’ll let you know when the soup’s done, ok?”
Bret’s mom had already done plenty to help him out, so Shawn really didn’t want her to feel like she had to cook for him. However, she was adamant, and Shawn was too tired to put up a fight. So he allowed Helen to walk him upstairs.
Once they’d reached the top, Helen intended on walking Shawn to the guest room that was a few doors down from Bret’s. Much to her surprise, Shawn continued to walk past the guest room, headed straight towards Bret’s bedroom. Interesting, she mentally noted.
Her curiosity only grew once they made it to Bret’s room. Seeing the comfortable nest of blankets and pillows Shawn had built on the bed caused Helen to wonder: Just how long has this man been here? And just how close was he to Bret where her son would allow him to get this comfortable in his bed?
Shawn let out a groan as he finally settled back into his mountain of blankets that still smelled vaguely of Bret’s cologne, shifting around until he found a comfortable resting position.
After ensuring Shawn was nice and cozy, taking in the serene look on the young man’s face, Helen looked around the room before asking inquisitively, “So, you said you’re a friend?”
Shawn nodded, almost too eagerly as he said, “Mhmm,” words failing him at the moment.
There was an uncomfortable silence that seemed to linger too long before Helen said, “I’ll be right back, dear. Try to get some rest while I cook, ok?”
Shawn nodded and at that, Helen left Shawn alone as she closed the door behind her. As soon as she was out of sight, Shawn thrashed around in the bed, kicking his legs in a tantrum as he whined to himself, “What the fuck is my life?” That was a question he’d yet to have an answer for.
Instead of contemplating how fucked his life was, Shawn decided to take Helen’s advice and get some more rest. Although he’d been resting for the past few days, it seemed like he could never get enough sleep.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out for, but soon enough, he was awakened from his slumber by the sound of a light knock on the bedroom door. He opened his eyes to see Helen peeping her head in, saying, “Food’s done, dear.”
Shawn slowly sat up as he cleared. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Hart. You’re an angel.”
“You’re welcome. Well, I’m headed out. I hope you feel better, Shawn.”
“Oh, wait. Let me walk you out,” Shawn said as he made moves to get up from the bed.
He stopped his movement when Helen said, “No, it’s fine. Stay there. I have a key, so I’ll make sure to lock up when I leave out. It was nice meeting you, Shawn. Hopefully, we’ll cross paths again,” she ended with a gentle smile before making her way out the house.
Shawn continued looking at the bedroom door even after hearing the front door being locked, reflecting on how bizarre his day had been.
While Shawn spent that evening wondering how he’d survived that encounter, Helen spent the evening pondering over Shawn, her suspicions heightened after she’d laid eyes on a picture that rested on the nightstand next to Shawn – a picture of Bret back hugging the blond, kissing Shawn’s cheek as Shawn gave a radiant smile to the camera.
Later that night, Shawn was once again brought out of his sleep, this time by the sound of the house phone ringing. He checked the time to see that it was almost midnight. He knew it was Bret, the older man probably calling after settling down in his hotel room after a house show.
With the cold medicine finally kicking in and a stomach full of soup, Shawn was starting to feel better, but he was still groggy. Despite his tired state, he rushed out of the bed as quickly as he could towards the house phone that sat on a shelf in the hallway.
He let out a light yawn as he answered, “Hello?”
“Hey, baby. It’s Bret.”
Shawn leaned his head on the wall, closing his eyes as he responded, “Hey.”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“That’s good.”
“Mhmm,” said Shawn as he felt himself trying to drift asleep.
However, Shawn became fully awake when Bret said, “So, I heard you met my mother today.” Shawn’s eyes flew open, the man groaning as he placed a tired hand on his face, the events of the evening all coming back to him.
“Yeah…that happened. Did she tell you?”
“Well, not exactly. It was something more along the line of ‘You want to tell me why there’s an adorable man tucked away in your house?’ She made it seem like I was holding you hostage or something.”
Shawn wanted to laugh at the absurdity, but his nerves wouldn’t allow him to find the humor in the situation. “Did she say anything else?”
“Oh, she also mentioned something about the picture on the nightstand.”
“The picture on the nightstand?” Shawn questioned having no idea what Bret was talking about. That was until he leaned his head in the direction of the bedroom, looking towards the nightstand on his side of the bed to see the picture in question.
And that’s when the reality of the situation settled in: Helen saying that Bret only let those he dated stay with him. Her asking Shawn again if he and Bret were friends. Her knowing smile as she left the house for the evening.
She knew. Or at least she knew there was something more than a friendship going on between Bret and Shawn. And it was all Shawn’s fault.
“Holy shit. Bret, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even notice the picture sitting there. Fuck!”
To be honest, Shawn had forgotten he’d put the picture there a few days earlier. It was one of his favorite pictures, and because he was going to be alone without Bret for a few days, he put it next to his side of the bed so he could look at Bret until he came back.
Now because of his negligence, he accidentally outed Bret to his family.
“Why are you apologizing, babe?”
“Because your family doesn’t even know you’re dating anyone, let alone that you like men, Bret. Your mom seems like a smart woman. I’m pretty sure she didn’t buy that we’re just friends after seeing a picture like that. Plus-”
“Shawn, it’s fine. I told her.”
Shawn had to take a moment, not wanting to misread what Bret was saying, “Told her?”
“About us.”
Shawn would’ve dropped the phone from shock if he wasn’t afraid of the call disconnecting. “You what?” Shawn wasn’t mad about it. He was just concerned that he’d forced Bret to come out to his mom.
Shawn continues. “You know what this means, right? You’re out, Bret. Even if it’s just to your mom.”
Bret let out a sigh, saying gently, “I know. But I’m ready, Shawn. Remember when I told you I was serious about spending the rest of my life with you? I really meant it. I want you involved in every aspect of my life, and that includes you meeting my family. I was planning to tell them about you soon anyway. So I may as well do it sooner than later.”
Shawn’s heart melted, it never getting old hearing how serious Bret was about him. He asked softly, “But do you really want that?”
Bret smiled to himself. “Yes, I do.”
Shawn let out a deep breath, before asking “How does your mom feel about it?”
“About me? Or us?”
Shawn shrugged even though Bret couldn’t see him. “Both, I guess?”
Bret shifted back into a more comfortable position on the hotel bed as he recalled the conversation with his mother. “She didn’t make a big deal about it. She did say she was a bit surprised to find a man instead of a woman camping out in my house, but she was happy for me. If anything, she was more curious about you.”
Shawn quirked a brow. “Curious about me? What did you tell her?”
Bret grinned at hearing the suspicious tone in Shawn’s voice. “All good things, I swear. She just wanted to know things like where you’re from, how long we’ve been together, how ‘friendly’ we are.”
Helen didn’t know what Bret and Shawn’s relationship truly consisted of, but what she did know was that both men looked so happy in that photo, and if Shawn brought any ounce of happiness to Bret, she’d support them.
Shawn shifted, leaning his back on the wall in relief that the situation didn’t turn sour. However, he was curious about one thing. “What about your dad? Do you think he’ll be ok with it?”
Bret hesitated before answering. Not because he thought his dad would be an issue, but because he honestly didn’t know.
Bret answered carefully, “My dad’s a very…accepting guy. I’ve never heard him utter a negative word about gay people. However, I’m not sure if he’d feel the same way toward his own son. We don’t really talk about that sort of stuff.”
“I see,” was Shawn’s reply as his mind began to spiral at all of the possible negative experiences he could have with Bret’s dad.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Shawn,” said Bret, sensing that Shawn was overthinking. “My mom swore she wouldn’t say anything to him until I’m ready. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, ok?”
Shawn still wasn’t convinced, but he gave a soft, “Ok.”
“We can talk about it more when I get home.”
Shawn perked at that, asking, “What time are you coming home?”
“Some time in the night.”
“Night? What time is your plane landing?”
“11:35, I think.”
Cue whiny Shawn in 3,2,1 “But Breeet, that’s so late! You need to hurry back home so you can take care of me.”
Bret chuckled, “Sorry, sweetheart. I can’t control flight times. And I haven’t heard you cough or sniffle one time during our conversation.”
Shawn gave a forced cough and put on his best sick voice. “See? I’m still sick. I need you here.”
“You’re milking this aren’t you?” It had been a few days, so Bret knew Shawn must be feeling at least a little better by now.
Shawn coughed again, saying innocently, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, babe.”
“Right,” Bret said flatly, obviously not believing him. “Hey, I gotta go, but I’ll see you when I get home ok?”
Home. As in their home. The word still made Shawn’s stomach flutter. “Ok, see you when you get here. Bye, Bret.”
Shawn slept a little better that night knowing he’d be reunited with Bret the next day.