Whoo! Another new chapter. Thank you so much for reading!

We spent most of the day curled up on the couch together. Alex sleeping, congested, high up on my chest. Me holding him, face buried in his hair, watching movies. The anxiety of wondering if any of my shit was okay from the flood got to me. When he stirred I woke him up fully.

"Hey, darlin', I need to go check on some stuff. I'll see you later?"

He held onto me tightly and sighed, trying to wake up the rest of the way, "yeah, yeah, okay, are you coming back?"

"If you want me to."

Alex nodded against my chest, "I want you to."

"Okay, babe, I'm gonna go get dressed." I kissed the top of his head and slipped away.

Once I was in fresh clothing I crossed the apartment to the front door, only accidentally kicking one plastic fire truck a dinosaur, and a spiderman mask. Alex chuckled from his blanket cocoon.

"Bye Alex, I lo-I'll, uh, see you later." I swallowed hard and waved.

He sniffed and coughed, oblivious to my near slip, "bye, Jackie."

I had six flights of stairs to think about how I'd almost told him I loved him. It wasn't time for that yet, I was rushing things, I always rush things. Idiot. I continued to chastise myself for the next three flights, by that point the anxiety of wondering about the state of the theatre was too bad.

When I arrived at the theatre, I saw Lafayette first, hand cupping his chin, hair tied back, looking like the picture of stress. He waved me over.

"Talk to me." I was ready to hear how bad things were.

"It is not good, we've had contractors here all day, they're saying we're in for a week of work, there's apparently just a hole in the goddamn ceiling, they have to fix the roof, they have to fix the stage, obviously, my poor stage, they have to treat the textiles so that mold will not grow."

"Backstage, how's… everything?"

"All the green rooms are fine, but no one can be here while they're working… No one, John."

I nodded, "I'll figure it out."

He hugged me, I felt his whole body sigh at the contact, "if you need a place to stay…"

I nodded, "I know, thank you so much. Can I at least go and get some of my stuff?"

"Go for it." He waved me away.

My knees shook, I'd had nothing but what I could shove in my car when I came to New York, I could rebuild again if I had to. I just didn't want to. I let out a deep breath and cleaned out my mini-fridge of anything that would go bad in the next week and gathered up more of my things in a duffel bag, not sure of where I'd stay, back to my couch hopping roots. I found Lafayette again and tried to reassure him that everything would be okay, and not do the math on the million dollars being lost.

I pulled out my phone once I'd gotten back out to the noisy streets and called Alex. The phone rang a few times and I heard him shuffling around before he spoke.

"Hey, sugar, any chance I can bring you food to pay for a night or two at the finest Airbnb in Washington Heights?"

He chuckled and coughed, "yeah, of course… Oh, shit wait, the theatre, your stuff… Oh, no."

I smiled as the wheels turned in his head, "everything's okay, I'm just not allowed to be there until the repair crews leave."

"How bad is it?"

"It's not good."

"How bad?"

"They have to redo the stage, fix the roof, I guess mold is the big worry right now."

"My scenery?"

"It was all off stage, I didn't see any of it."

"Damn."

"I don't know if any of my lights even work."

"This sucks."

"Lafayette's a mess."

"Oh, I bet. Come home, bring me food."

Home.

"What do you want?"

"Hmm… Sancocho and rice from the little place on the corner, it's blue. There's a salon next door."

"You got it, babe."

I hopped on the A and people watched for my trip up north. I found the restaurant that he was talking about and ordered our food, taking it to go back to his apartment. I knocked on the door and then let myself in.

He eyeballed my duffel bag, "you moving in?"

"No," I giggled, "I just don't know if they're going to let me in again until all the work is done. I can probably crash at Herc's of Lafayette's. I'm not just gonna make you take me in."

"I got four days to offer." He smiled.

"Thanks, and, hey, look, you made it through the first half of Philip being at camp!" I praised him.

"I've had someone to keep me occupied." He winked, tucking into his soup.

I sat next to him and ate my delicious pernil and rice, letting him steal a bite, trying some of his stew.

"How do you feel, sugar?" I asked him after we'd eaten.

"Better." He nodded.

"Good, can I get you anything?"

He shook his head, cuddling up to my side, "thanks for dinner. I really like you."

"I really like you, babe." I kissed his head.

"You don't have to take care of me."

"And you don't have to let me stay here while they work on the theatre."

He squeezed me tight, "touche."

The next few days were paradise. Alex got to feeling better and we had time off, it was like a vacation, I got to sleep in a real bed.

"You know," I told him, caressing his flank, still tangled in post-coital bliss on our last morning together, "we don't have to get up."

He drew lines to connect the freckles on my chest, "good, because I wasn't planning on it."

"So can I kiss you some more?"

"Ideally."

I bent over him and kissed him, his hands reaching to explore my body. I stroked him hard and slid down his body to take his erection in my mouth, his legs knotting together around me. My hands kneaded the flesh of his inner thighs and I felt his muscles twitch under the skin, my thumbs running over the ambit of his groin and legs.

I swirled my tongue, he arched his back, I sucked at the tip, his hands found my hair, I swallowed him whole, he prayed my name. The responses that I could drag out of him fascinated and excited me. I continued to play in his sensations and worked his balls in my hand, reaching a finger to tease his opening. His knees crushed my ribs and I listened to the music of him panting as I continued to suck him off.

It was hard to strike the balance of teasing him with pleasure and making it last as long as I could, to keep him in the purgatory of being so near to the climax. His keening noises, hands in my hair, my own dick, painfully hard against the sheets yet again. I made it knuckle deep in him before he came, hot and quick in my mouth. I swallowed what he had to give me and then took him back in my arms.

"How are you so good at that?"

"Lots of practice." I winked.

"Is that right?" He blushed, staring down at where my hardness tented the sheets.

"Sure is." I folded my arm behind my head and shut my eyes.

"Want me to handle your situation?" He asked.

"I mean, I won't stop you."

I felt him moving around and waited for the warmth of his mouth, surprised when I felt him roll a condom over my length, but whatever. It wasn't until I felt him lowering onto me that I opened my eyes. He was guiding my shaft in, his head thrown back, mouth open on a broken hinge, panting as he took me.

"Well, goddamn, babe, do it." I was shocked and aroused.

I caressed his thighs as he reached the hilt, he found a pace to work me over at, I could tell he was aiming for his prostate with every stroke.

"You like this?" He asked, looking down at me.

"So much. Like you so much."

I stared at him, watching him bite his lip, his hair barely still tucked into its bun. He looked back at me and we stared at each other, unwavering eye contact. He moaned, sitting hard on my dick, rocking back and forth. I pulled his face down to kiss him. After as many times as I'd had him today it barely took anything to get me to come again. He used me and managed to get himself off again. I let him clean us up and snuggle back into my arms.

"I have to get stuff done today." He grumbled.

"Oh, yeah? What all do you have to do? I'll help you."

"Well, there's no food for my kid, I need to clean up in general. Get ready to go get him tomorrow morning."

"Do they have a bus or something?"

"No, I had one of our neighbors take me."

"Are they taking you back?"

"I need to check, actually."

He reached for his phone and started texting. His phone chimed and his face fell.

"What's wrong."

He read the text, sarcastically, "'oh, fuck, was that tomorrow? Sorry, man, I gotta work.' Goddammit,"

"That sucks, what are you gonna do?"

Alex shook his head, "I dunno, right now, smoke a cigarette." He pulled on his sweatpants and went outside, I followed, tugging on my shorts.

"I have a car."

"You do?" His eyes lit up.

"Yup, you can totally borrow it."

"I can't drive."

"Okay, so I totally don't want this to be weird, I respect you, I respect your boundaries… but, I'll take you."

"Really?"

I nodded, "of course, darlin', take you anywhere you wanna go. I know you don't want me to meet Philip yet, but you can just say we work together."

He kissed me, "thank you so much, sweetheart."

"You've got me wrapped around your finger, do anything for you."

"Where do you keep it?"

"Laf's building has a garage and he lets me pay him to keep it there and I run him out of the city when he needs it. I barely ever use it."

"Why do you have a car?"

"I bought it to move up here and I lived in it for a minute, now it's just handy for shit like this. Got a bike, too."

"Well, sweet. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure… I gotta say, I am excited to meet the kid."

Alex smiled and wrapped an arm around me, "he's gonna think you're the shit."

"I mean, I am, aren't I? Yo! Let's make him a banner!"

"What?"

"Like, 'Welcome Home, Philip' in big letters."

"You're the artistic genius, I'll put you in charge of that while I clean up."

"Got construction paper?"

"What self respecting home of a third grader wouldn't?"

"Good point."

He went into Philip's room and brought me crafting supplies. I started working to create a banner for him while Alex got the rest of the apartment cleaned up. We worked together to hang the banner on the wall behind the couch and then I dried and put away dishes for him.

"Where are you going to stay?" He asked once the dishes were done.

"Laf's, I guess. Don't worry, I'll figure it out. Always do." I beamed a grin at him.

"I do worry about you, though."

I went to his bedroom and packed up my duffel bag, wishing that this week would never end, but equally as elated to finally get to meet Philip. I texted Lafayette to make sure that I was still okay to crash on his couch and Alex and I made dinner together, enjoying our last night in the bubble free of responsibilities.