Disclaimer- Alas, yet another fic draws to a close without ownership passing into my hands. Oh well, there is still the lottery for me to win so I can buy them.

Author's Note- A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, I love reviews, they feed my ego and I love to find out what other writers think of my work. Even bad reviews are welcome, because they show me where I need to improve. A special thanks to jtbwriter and Float-On-Cloud-9 for reviewing each and every chapter. Your words of encouragement have helped more than you know. A special thank you also to rae11 who pointed out an error in chapter three. Oops. Also to WIWJ tahnk you for a great big fat juicy review, they are my favorite kind.

Peter woke early the next morning and after showering quietly, he went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water to take on his morning run. He left Garret sleeping and headed out to try and run off the frustration and work through the reasons he'd almost failed.

After an hour of running, Peter felt a lot clearer about where he was at emotionally. He knew that he was going to have to have a long talk with Garret about hiding their relationship from almost everyone. He didn't expect Garret to be open to the world in general, but Peter couldn't stay hidden with their friends any longer. It was stress that he didn't need and it was affecting his recovery.

He looked at his surroundings, realizing how close he was to the morgue. May as well continue the run in that direction, he could shower and change there and get a head start on the paperwork for his last few cases.

Forty minutes later, Peter was in trace helping Bug and Nigel with a stabbing victim that had come in early that morning. The boys were seated at the monitor of the trace computer waiting for the results of the tox screen to come up as Peter finished cutting the clothes off the body when the door slammed open across from him and Garret stormed in looking like a thunder cloud.

"Where the hell were you this morning? I wake up and you're not there and no note to be found. That was damned inconsiderate of you, Peter. You should have known what I'd think after last night." Garret moved around the table not even noticing Bug and Nigel who were sitting with shocked but slowly comprehending expressions as Garret's words sunk in. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought you'd left, that you'd…" Garret stopped as he saw the grin spreading across Peter's face at the realization that Garret had just outed their relationship to the Nige and Bug.

"What the hell is so damn funny, Peter?" Garret sputtered out and Peter pointed in the direction of their two very interested friends.

"I got one thing I wanted." He could barely contain his laughter at the look on Garret's face as he turned and realized that they weren't alone. For a moment Peter wasn't sure what his reaction would be and then he saw the wicked glint in Garret's eyes.

"So now I'll get what I want." He said as he moved closer to Peter.

Peter felt Garret push a hand through his hair and kiss him hard, leaving him breathless. Then Garret turned and walked out of the room, leaving a very stunned Bug and an applauding Nigel.

Peter turned and looked at the two as Nigel spoke up. "Well now, that was certainly not the ending I would have expected. I suppose congratulations are in order, though if I were to lay odds, I'd have said Lily had caught your fancy, not Dr. M." Nigel raised an eyebrow and continued. "You certainly surprise me."

"Why?" Peter said finally able to speak, he hadn't expected Garret to kiss him in public, but was very happy he had. That one action had eased a lot of the pain Peter had felt for the last month. It wasn't a cure for his problems, but it certainly helped him feel more hopeful.

"Because, luv, not only do you turn out to be a 'friend of Dorothy', but you've shown us an entirely new side to Macy. Bravo, Peter and welcome back to the family."

Nigel's words echoed in Peter's head for the rest of the day and as he laid beside Garret that night watching him sleep, he smiled. The morgue was another part of his family and even though it might take some time to get over the pain of his mother and stepfather's decision to cut him out of their lives, he still had a family and Garret. He could make it, he knew it wouldn't be easy to deal with the psychological addiction and that he'd be fighting that battle the rest of his life, but the support of his lover and his friends would be a big help. 'I am home', he thought slipping an arm around the sleeping man beside him and feeling a sense of peace as he drifted off to sleep.

A/N- I really enjoyed writing this fic and if you like to know the web address where you can read the uncut , full smut version, email me at the address on my profile page. Please don't forget to feed the author her review, she gets so cranky when she's hungry.