Mario is pretty sure that if someone had told him six months ago that he would be turning down

an evening with a super hot woman he would have laughed his ass off. If they'd told him that he'd

be going home to his boyfriend instead his response wouldn't have been nearly as polite. Yet right

now he was on his way home after picking up some soup and cold medicine for his ailing partner.

But six months ago he'd only just meant Angus Leighton.

He knew that some people had a really hard time understanding why he and Angus were together.

It was because they only saw what was on the surface just like he once had. They made

superficial judgments based on previous assumptions about who he was and who Angus was.

They had no idea what went on between the two of them. They didn't know.

They had no idea just how lucky Mario was. Because he was the lucky one in their relationship

not Angus. Angus is just so good. The kind of guy Mario had been convinced didn't exist. He's

genuinely nice to everyone. He always ready to help someone without asking anything in return.

He cares about complete strangers. Angus is the kind of guy you want to be with for the long run.

The one you took home to meet your family. The guy everyone was looking for even if they

didn't realize it.

On the other hand Mario is not a nice guy. He's rude, arrogant, and self centered. He's the hot guy

everyone wants to sleep with. But the only thing people think he's good for is having fun. He's not

the person you put effort into knowing. No one has ever wanted to keep him around. Not even his

parents.

Until for some reason Angus had decided that Mario was worth something. He'd made up his

mind that he wasn't going to be scared off by Mario's attitude. No matter how Mario had acted

Angus was always there with a smile offering his friendship. Eventually Mario had started to give

in.

He'd started to trust Angus. Something he'd thought was impossible after everything he'd been

through. And then he started to depend on him. To need him. And that terrified him. Being

dependent on anyone but yourself could only end badly when they inevitably let you down.

So he'd started to pull away. He'd stopped spending time with Angus unless he had to. No more

spending his day off at the other man's apartment or grabbing a beer after work. No more

comparing their cases over lunch. No more going to Angus's when the memories got to much and

he couldn't take the silence of his apartment. Instead he'd spent night after night drinking alone and

sleeping with random strangers. Trying desperately to pretend that this was that he wanted. When

all he really wanted was to go spend time with Angus.

Every time he avoided Angus or brushed him off it was like kicking a puppy. Angus would get

this look on his face. A mixture of hurt and confusion. But he didn't give up. He kept trying to get

Mario to talk to him. "Whatever it is I'm here when you're ready to talk." So damn sincere. It gets

harder and harder for Mario to hold it together.

Then he has a patient. A kid so strung out he can barely remember his own name. The bruises on

his body and the 'they won't come' is just too much for Mario. When Angus offers to drive him

home he doesn't protest. Angus asks if Mario wants him to stay. And the dam breaks.

He cries like a baby in Angus's arms. Telling him everything. About his parents. About his

addiction. About how messed up he is. And Angus doesn't leave. Angus holds him and promises

Mario that he isn't going anywhere. That he'll never hurt him. And Mario believed him.

So all those people who judged them could go to hell. Because they didn't know. Angus is a

wonderful, amazing person. And Mario is so lucky to be able to love him and be loved by him.

He finally understood what home meant.