Chapter Ten“Do you have someone come in and clean?” Lance asked Justin as Justin showed him around.
Justin shook his head. “I’ve learned to clean, too. Wash dishes, dust, pick up things, vacuum. Amazing to
think that I would actually do something like pick up after myself.” His scarred mouth twisted into something that
Lance vaguely realized was supposed to resemble a smile. “I never would have done something like that before.”“You were just too busy to pick up after yourself,” Lance murmured.
“Fuck, Lance, stop it already. I don’t fucking deserve you to be nice to me. I was a first class asshole.”
“But people still loved you, Justin,” Lance began.
Justin held up a hand. “Lance, don’t do this. You haven’t even been here for a day. I don’t want, or need,
to hear this.”Lance had to bite his cheek to keep from exploding. Their positions had been reversed. Lance was
normally the one who tried to stop the arguments, while Justin was the one who wanted to keep arguing. “Fine,” he ground out.“Want to see the library? There are a ton of books in it. And it connected to an office. You would love it.”
Justin lead him downstairs to the library and office. “Joey would love it, too.”“This is perfect,” Lance said, studying the rooms. The library was large, with bookshelves lining the
walls, broken by large windows. The office was smaller, but still large for an office. There were three large
windows in the room, a fireplace on one wall, with a low table and some chairs and a sofa in front of it. “It would
be even better if you would open some curtains.” He walked to one of the windows and pulled open the heavy
curtains, letting sunlight pour into the room.Justin winced and covered his eyes. “Please close them,” he begged.
“Why, Justin? Don’t you miss the sunlight?”
“No, I don’t. And the windows reflect my face, and I don’t want to see it.”
Lance sighed. But instead of closing the curtains, he pushed the window open, so that the glass couldn’t
show Justin’s reflection.“Come here, Justin,” Lance said.
“You haven’t closed the curtains yet.”
Lance walked over to him and took his arm. “I know Justin.” He guided him forward, and held out
Justin’s hand so he could feel that the window had been opened. “I opened the window. So you wouldn’t have to
see yourself but you could feel the sun.”Justin opened his eyes when he realized that the smooth glass of the window was missing. “Thanks,
Lance,” he said softly, leaning out of the window.“You’re welcome.”
~~~
“Do you miss having television?” Lance asked later that night as they sat in the living room, music
playing softly in the background. They were playing Monopoly.“Not really,” Justin said. “I didn’t have much of a chance to watch TV as it was, and I don’t really miss it
now. I have other stuff to occupy my time.”“Like?”
“I’ve started reading. I have more than enough books. I could probably spend the rest of my life reading
them and I wouldn’t get them all done. I’m not smart or a good reader like you, or Joey even.” Justin laughed
bitterly. “I’m just a stupid ugly-”“Justin,” Lance warned.
Justin bit his lip and looked at the board. “Your turn.”
Lance picked up the die and rolled, his eyes on Justin.
~~~
“If you get cold, just throw another log on the fire,” Justin told Lance as they walked upstairs to their
rooms. “And there are more blankets in the closet.”Lance nodded. “I saw them.”
“Goodnight,” Justin said, watching Lance walk into his room.
“Goodnight,” Lance said.
~~~
It was almost midnight when Lance felt the warm body slip under the blankets and snuggle up next to
him. Slender arms wrapped around his waist and a face buried into his back.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Justin mumbled, pressing himself as close as possible to Lance.