Chapter 19: Duvet

Nathaniel sulked the whole way home, but stopped short when he saw his car. "You didn't go and get it?" he asked, going pale as a feeling of dread overtook him.

His fears were confirmed as he opened the door. He froze in shock. No. No way.

What was Trent doing here? And why… was he so dressed up? He looked like he'd just stepped out of every spy movie ever made. He looked… good.

George wanted to slap the look right off Nathaniel's face at seeing Trent sitting so comfortably in their—Nathaniel's home, looking like he owned the place. He was frozen in shock, but anger radiated out of every pore of his body. What did Trent want now?

Nathaniel blushed and pulled his robe tighter around him to hide his traitorous body's reaction. Now, it seemed, he was trapped in a room with two men who had forced themselves on him, and his body was reacting pleasurably to one of them. He had to run. He couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? He was telling his body to move, but instead his feet were walking, and he was sitting down on the couch, on the opposite side from Trent. His heart was pounding.

Watching with disgust at Nathaniel's reaction, George went to stand near the kitchen table and kept a close eye on the two of them. He couldn't help the daggers he shot Trent, seeing the way the man he was in love with responded to him.

"Hi, boys," Trent greeted them from the couch. "We need to have a conversation."

Trent didn't miss a thing. He clocked George's reaction right away. Honestly… Nathaniel genuinely believed 'no one' loved him? Showed how much he thought of George. Trent understood how George must be feeling, because he had felt that way too, about Josh, about Nathaniel, about others. But Trent had never told Nathaniel to go and fall in lust with him; he'd just wanted to intimidate Nathaniel a bit. So he sat, poised, cool as a cucumber, and let George be silently angry and jealous at him.

He pulled his briefcase into his lap and opened it, withdrawing a jewel case. "George, is it? Would you be so kind as to place this in the DVD player?"

George blinked when he realized that Trent was speaking to him. What? Nodding, he took the case from Trent, turned on the TV, and placed the disc in the DVD player. What was this? Why did they have to watch something from Trent? What did he want?

George stepped back as he crossed his arms again and flashed Nathaniel a glare before he focused back on the TV.

The video was time and date stamped. It started with Nathaniel in the bathroom taking 4x his prescribed anti-anxiety dosage, and even zoomed in on the dosage label and panned to the pills in Nathaniel's hand to make a point. It then cut to the massage room.

Trent pulled three small bowls of pre-made popcorn out of his briefcase and handed one to Nathaniel and one to George. He munched his own popcorn nonchalantly, pretending not to notice Nathaniel's mortification.

He had even considerately added subtitles to the whole thing. Every time Nathaniel spoke, or even moved his lips, Trent had accurately transcribed it. Which meant there was no way George could miss the bit at the end where Nathaniel confessed that he was in love with Trent.

When the film ended, Trent politely waited for the other two's reactions to die down before speaking again.

Watching the entire movie, George had frozen in place, his face a picture of damn near perfect rage and mortified humiliation. He was so damn mad, now that he knew what had happened and what had been said, thanks to Trent's subtitles, that it took all of four minutes after the movie had finished before he could even think of how to respond.

When he turned, it was slowly, like out of a horror flick and his eyes locked, not with Trent's, but with Nathaniel's, in a look so angry that if looks could kill, then Nathaniel would be dead, buried and still digging!

"You…You FOOL!" he shouted at the half naked man sitting on the end of the couch. "So that's why you were so—You let me believe—I can't believe you!" he raged, though his voice was soft with the barely contained anger he felt coursing through him. He had never spoken to Nathaniel like this before.

"Four times more then you were supposed to take, Nathaniel? 100MGS! ARE YOU INSANE! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?" His whole body shook as he fought the feelings that ran through him like lighting. "And then you tell me that you took your meds with alcohol last night too? YOU ARE SO STUPID!"

He paced to the DVD player and hit stop cause if it played again, George thought he might snap and kill Nathaniel for how he felt and then looked back at Nathaniel with a look that was more frightening then his anger. It was calm. Positively frighteningly so.

"You really are a Moron!" He said, using the same word usage that had set him off that Rebecca had used on him, unknowingly. "So when you said you loved me, it wasn't what you said at all…?" His eyes finally flicked to Trent's and then back to Nathaniel. "Is. It. True?" He growled out, fists balled. "And for ONCE in your life…don't you LIE to me!"

He was practically ignoring Trent now, oblivious to how he had gotten that footage. All his attention was on Nathaniel and how he responded to this.

Nathaniel wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out. Well, that explained a lot. He had never told George about the sedative. Now… watching the expressions on George's face as the body work escalated, something finally got through to him. He looked from the tape, to George (who looked furious and heartbroken), to Trent (who was clearly enjoying the drama). He also caught Trent appraising his body and leaning forward unconsciously when George started marking him up. So Trent is attracted to me after all. Why do I care? And George…

He sat there numbly as George exploded at him. George hadn't taken advantage of him on purpose. He had thought he had Nathaniel's enthusiastic, even demanding, consent. And he had been so willing, so eager, to please.

"Yeah," he answered, without thinking. "I want to die. But 100 mgs of Atarax isn't going to kill me. I just needed to take the edge off. I can't stop thinking about what you" —he glared at Trent, who smiled back at him— "did to me, and I don't want to think about it. I hate that I keep having flashbacks. I hate that I liked it—" Nathaniel covered his mouth. Fuck. What had he just said? He turned in horror to Trent, who was watching him serenely.

"Oh my God," said Nathaniel. "I think I like you."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock!" said Trent, amused. "What was your first clue? And, while you've been obsessing over me this whole time, you've been taking poor George for granted." Trent's expression turned solemn. "I feel for him, Nathaniel, I really do. You're doing the same thing to him that Rebecca did to me. I tried to tell you last night, but you were so out of it."

He faced Nathaniel full-on and took both his hands to ground him. Nathaniel jumped but didn't pull away. He gazed into Trent's eyes as though hypnotized, blue drawn to green.

"Nathaniel," Trent said gently, choosing his words carefully to cause the least possible harm to the damaged man before him, "Rebecca will not allow me to be in a triad with you. She is going to be my wife, and you need to respect that. Meanwhile, you have someone in your life who is madly in love with you, and he is just trying to keep you from destroying yourself. He wants to take care of you, and he wants you to love him for it. So you can't say that no one loves you, because George does. Isn't that right, George?"

George had no idea what was happening…again! Nathaniel had said he wanted to die? That broke his heart. He had tried everything he knew to make the man see him, love him and in the end, it had come to nothing. Nathaniel had raged at him, yelled at him, and threatened to fire him. All the while, George had remained steadfast in his unwavering devotion, used to the man's rages and bouts of superiority. He was kind of a snob, after all. Through it all, in the time period he had known Nathaniel, he had never once complained. Not once. But this…this was almost too much.

Hearing he liked Trent, something went out of George, and he took a stuttering step back till he found a chair and flopped over into it. He rested his head in his hands as he tried to block everything else out. Fighting the tears that wanted to come at hearing the confession pour out the man he loved's mouth. Everything had been a lie then, and he had tricked himself into believing that Nathaniel actually had admitted that he loved him.

He faded everything out, feeling so low and desolate that he didn't know how he was going to get through this day, until he heard his name being called. Looking up, he wiped his eyes a second before nodding.

Trent was…helping him? Now he knew the world had gone screwy. These two men hated each other, and now, they were holding hands and Trent was enforcing what he had been trying to tell Nat last night and even throwing in his name? This was ludicrous at its best! But he had to answer, Gods, he couldn't miss this chance again!

"That's right! It's what I have been trying to tell you for the last two days, Nat—Nathaniel." He said strongly but softly. "I do love you. Why else would I do all…that…for you?" He wasn't going to mention the sexual aspect of it, that side spoke for itself, but everything else, from the time they had met, he had done for love. No questions asked.

"I just thought you were a particularly loyal employee," said Nathaniel sheepishly. "So…this whole time? Even back when you were helping me with Rebecca, before Trent's …accident? And then, when she was in jail, you…came to my camping spot. You helped me…" Nathaniel's mind was racing as he tried to absorb everything. "This is what you've been so mad about. It wasn't that you thought I didn't appreciate your good work, it's that you… Oh…"

He didn't withdraw his hands from Trent's, and Trent didn't release them. He was holding him steady, holding him down to earth, making sure Nathaniel didn't go for pills or booze or anything and just stayed right here, having this awkward conversation. And it worked, because now that Nathaniel had admitted it to himself, he couldn't stop thinking about how nice Trent's hands were, how warm they felt, how warm he was, just as a person. His eyes drifted from Trent's eyes to his lips, but Trent gave a little shake of his head, as if to say, 'Don't even think about it.'

Nathaniel looked balefully from Trent over to George. Average, generic, more-than-3%-body-fat George, who had been devoted to him all this time. But to accept George, when he had such lofty standards for his own body, would be like settling… although, from what he had seen, George was apparently really good in bed.

But even as that thought crossed his mind, he found himself thinking, he was more curious about how Trent was in bed. Was he a sadist, too? He'd somehow managed to get Rebecca from despising him to being over the moon that they were together. Sex had to be at least a part of that, right?

The situation was different than what Trent had described to him. It wasn't at all like when Rebecca had pushed away Trent to be with Josh or himself. But George wasn't the new Trent, because Trent was right here, and Trent wasn't the new Josh, because there was no comparison.

"Hey," he dimly heard Trent saying to him. "Hey, Nathaniel. It's okay. You'll figure this out." He felt himself being pulled into a hug, and he realized he had been crying.

Trent held Nathaniel gently, rocking him like he was a child, cradling his head with an apologetic look to George. 'I'm so sorry,' he mouthed. Trent really did empathize with George, but he also had a tough time with rejecting anyone, knowing how he personally handled rejection. His priority was to keep Nathaniel safe and sane right now. George could just be mad about it.

Nathaniel clung to Trent and wept openly, letting every painful and miserable emotion wrack his body with sobs. He'd lost Rebecca and Mona, Trent didn't want him, and he had royally fucked things up with Cat. And part of him admitted that if he did get together with George, he would just be pining after Trent…

"I'm sorry," he gasped out. "I'm a mess, you're right, I've been a complete idiot. Trent should have killed me when he had the chance."

"Whoa," said Trent sternly. He pulled back from Nathaniel and thumbed the tears away from his face. "Listen to me. I didn't like the way you were treating Rebecca, and I reacted rashly. But you do NOT get to sit here in front of someone we JUST confirmed is in love with you, and tell me to kill you. That's not going to happen."

Nathaniel sniffled. "But I don't—" He stopped short at the warning in Trent's eyes. Trent was right. He needed to be more sensitive.

Nathaniel looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. For the altercation with Rebecca."

"I'm not a messenger boy, tell her yourself," said Trent firmly.

"And I'm sorry, George. I… I understand if you need to quit, or take some time off, but… If I can't have Trent, then I'm not ready to be with any man right now."

The whole of his world collapsed in that instant and for George, it was like a blow had been dealt that hurt so much that he didn't think he could breathe. But even harder was the effort of being strong for the one you loved above all else and not show just how you were dying inside.

George could honestly say that he loved Nathaniel that much. He would be the strong one, this time, and vent his emotions later, out of ear shot and eyesight of the other man.

So, swallowing his tears, anger and the desolate longing of rejection, George simply shook his head and met Nathaniel's eyes with his own.

"I'm not quitting, Nathaniel. Why ever would I do that?" He managed to say in a calm, clear voice, devoid of any emotion except empathy and concern. "I will accept what you have said and not cross any lines you set. I know now, what is going on, and that… I can handle."

His voice almost broke at the last part, but he meant it. He had been Nathaniel's confidant and friend long before he had fallen hard for him. He didn't want that to stop.

Turning his eyes back to Trent, George nodded, as if thanking the man for saying the things he had, and for trying to give him an 'in'. That had been unexpected, but still, he could be big enough not to hold any hostility towards him if Trent could be civil in return.

Only as he turned to go get some water for both Nathaniel and himself, did it hit him. That footage? How did—!

"And, Nathaniel, as far as I'm concerned, we can put the past behind us and be friends," Trent said, when he was sure Nathaniel had processed that George wasn't quitting. "As soon as you apologize to my fiancée."

Nathaniel looked up sharply at that. "Congratulations," he said automatically.

"Thank you. And you two can keep that DVD. I've no use for it."

George nodded and took the DVD out and promptly snapped it in half and went to throw the pieces away in separate places. He was nothing if not thorough.

When he returned, he nodded more to himself and went into the kitchen to begin fixing lunch. Nathaniel hadn't had much since breakfast and all this was a shock to his system, so George knew that Nat had to eat something.

It was simple, a few sandwiches and some apple slices, and a few slices of pineapple set out on the table. "Nat…lunch is ready. Trent, will you be joining us?" He asked, just to be polite, still upholding his calm and collected demeanor.

Trent looked amused as George set out the pineapple slices.

"I didn't expect you to actually take that suggestion," he remarked to Nathaniel with a wink and a gesture. Nathaniel flushed vermillion.

"Thank you, George, but I should go. I'm going to be late for a wedding preparation appointment as it is."

He put his hands together and bowed slightly to Nathaniel. "Please, Nathaniel. Apologize to Rebecca and Cat. And get your health and your life back on track. If not for yourself or for George, then for me, okay?" Just because Trent couldn't date Nathaniel didn't mean he was above using Nathaniel's feelings for him to steer him where Trent wanted him to go.

As he was turning to go, he remembered something else. "Oh! If a man named Sebastian Freedman stops by, let him in. He'll be collecting the surveillance cameras I had installed when Rebecca started sleeping with you." And with that, he headed out and took an Uber to the dress boutique.

Nathaniel watched him go. Well, he watched his body. Damn! It was a shame Rebecca didn't want to share. But maybe she would at least forgive him. He took out his phone and texted her.

[I'm sorry for being such a jealous dick; for insulting you, hitting you, and trying to get Trent in trouble. You two make a great couple. You're both very lucky.]

"Uhhhggggg, this feels so amazing…!" Rebecca groaned out loud as she laid on in a mud bath, eyes closed with wraps on her arms and a facial on her face.

"You are telling me, girl. Remind me to thank Trent when we get home and to be nicer to him…." Paula giggled from where she sat beside her friend.

Rebecca giggled softly and lifted a cucumber from her eye and smirked at her friend. "You? Being nicer to Trent? Did hell just freeze over?" She teased.

"Shut up!" Paula smirked back. "So I might have been a little… harsh… but he makes you happy so…" She trailed off and just relaxed.

Rebecca was just getting into the shower when her phone beeped. She picked it up, thinking it might be from Trent, since he had said he might be messaging her later with some questions and was surprised to see it was from Nathaniel. She almost deleted it, but she read it anyway.

Her eyes furrowed at what she read, and it made her pause. It seemed genuine, but was it?

She texted back, [Yes, we are. Incredibly lucky. We can talk about it later, Nathaniel….but thank you for apologizing. I am still VERY mad at you, but if you can be civil, I might want to meet up to talk it over with you, just to put things behind us. Take care of yourself.]

And with that, she got into the shower to clean off the mud and head on to the next activity.

[Understandable], Nathaniel wrote back to Rebecca.

Then, to Cat:

[I am so, so sorry. From what I can remember of our date, I was an oafish lout. And from what I've been told of what I can't remember, I was worse than that. Can we start over? I'll be sober this time. PS: You really are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!]

Cat got a text and she sighed, rolling her eyes seeing who it was from. She really didn't want to hear from Nathaniel after what happened but she decided to give it a shot and see what he said.

After reading it, she couldn't help but smirk and shook her head but replied, [Nathaniel, you weren't exactly the worst date I have ever been on, so…let's put this behind us and start again. Only, no pills or alcohol while we are together, promise? Thank you for apologizing though, that was mighty big of you and for the compliments. Let me know when next you want to get together.]

Nathaniel wrote, [That surprises me… And fair enough. The pain pills were legit; I was in the hospital last week after I lost a fight, but I shouldn't have mixed them with alcohol. I'm going to take some time to let things settle, but we can chat & get to know each other in the meantime :)]

Nathaniel eyed the food George had set in front of him. "Thanks," he said. Then, sheepishly, "You don't have to feed me pineapple anymore. I guess Trent was joking when he said… Anyway, are you sure you want to stay here after all that?"

George smiled faintly at Nathaniel and nodded. "Yes, I am sure, Nat—Nathaniel. You have been my friend first before I developed feelings for you. I don't want that to stop." He chuckled softly and reached across the man's plate and took his slices of pineapple and nibbled on it.

"So, you apologized to both Rebecca and that girl you went out with—Cat? How did that go?" he asked, curious, though he wasn't really sure why he was asking. The answers, one at least, would only hurt, but he would try and be happy for Nat. He cared enough to try at least.

"Looks like we're cautiously optimistic," said Nathaniel. He screenshotted the conversations and sent them to Greg and Josh, and separately to Trent.

His phone pinged back with a text from Trent almost immediately. It said:

[Good boy. I'm proud of you, little bug :)]

Nathaniel smiled and finished his lunch without complaint.

Greg looked down at his phone as it pinged and after reading the text, smiled, and texted back. 'Good for you, man. I am glad you saw sense to apologize to them. That was awesome, man. Proud of you. Let me know when next we can hang out.'

He was proud of Nathaniel, for admitting he was wrong, wasn't something Nathaniel was known for. It took a lot, for him to admit he was wrong, and Greg respected him even more for it.

"Hey, want to hit the gym after this?" Nathaniel asked George. Working out always made Nathaniel feel better.

George's smile was warm, and he nodded at hearing Nathaniel's question. "Sure. Sounds like fun. Though, maybe you can teach me what would work best for me." He chuckled softly. He finished his sandwich and chips and went to clean up, taking care of Nathaniel's dishes as well. "But first, I really think you should shower and get dressed at least." He chuckled and smirked back at the man who still sat half naked on the sofa. "Unless you want everyone looking at you at the gym."

Oh. Right. Nathaniel hadn't gotten dressed yet. Well, that could wait. He was enjoying relaxing here with George for the time being.

Was George really considering working out again? The last time he had tried he had hurt himself from pulling a much-needed muscle in his back and had vowed: never again! But for Nathaniel, it might be fun, considering he worked out all the time. Couldn't hurt.

Nathaniel blinked. "You…don't know the best workouts for your body type?" he asked. "Okay. I guess we'll start with core and go from there. How do you feel about planks?"

Trent's first errand went well. He knew all of Rebecca's measurements and had a good idea of her tastes, so meeting with the dress boutique was no problem. He snapped pictures of dresses he thought she would like and texted them to her so she could decide. They could even do a full customization, with, for example, the sleeves of dress 1, the neckline of dress 2, and the skirt of dress 3.

Next was catering. He had briefly considered catering the wedding himself, but truth be told, he wanted to spend all his time doting on his bride on the day itself. So he met with multiple chefs, both professional and aspiring, and put them through cooking boot camp to prepare some of Rebecca's favorite foods. He assigned each chef to their strongest dish and was satisfied with the menu by the end of the day. Unfortunately, it did take so long that he had to reschedule his third appointment, which would have been his own tuxedo fitting.

Lastly, he texted Rebecca to ask what theme she would like for their wedding and where she would like to honeymoon. They could discuss children later, he thought, once everything else was settled.

Rebecca and Paula were enjoying the sauna and sipping on martinis when her phone blipped again.

"I thought we were on vacay?" Paula teased. "If it's Nathaniel again, tell him hi for me." She said it in such a way that made Rebecca giggle.

"No, it's Trent. Look…he sent images of dresses. Oh! They are so beautiful!"

Paula leaned over and smiled brightly at the images. The man had good taste. "They are, but should he see the dress before the day…or you for that matter?"

"You know Trent, Paula. Everything he does, he does because he loves me, and I don't know if that applies anymore." She looked over the dresses and choose the one that looked freer flowing but with a form fitting bodice. In the text she sent him, she wrote, [Love the choices, Babe. Number 3 is perfect. Raise the sleeves a bit and make the skirt a bit longer and it's perfect!] She sent that one first and then looked at Paula.

"He's asking me about a theme and where I want to go on our honeymoon?!" She smirked and chuckled softly. "I haven't even thought of that yet."

"What do you think you would like?" Paula asked. "Think about that and then type it out and send it to him."

The next text looked a little something like this:

[Trent, this is super exciting, and I can't wait to marry you. Far as theme goes, I really love the idea of an outside wedding. Kind of Celtic in a way as that has always held romantic connotations for me. Far as the honeymoon, Baby, no matter where we go is perfect as long as we are together, however, I have always wanted to see Vienna…maybe Austria? lol I love you so much. Having a great weekend and hope you are too. Miss and love you! xoxo 3 3]

With that, she sent it and smiled back at Paula who raised her glass and they clinked it together.

Trent texted the notes about the dress to the boutique consultant and filed away the rest of the information. Vienna or Austria… beautiful countries he had also wanted to visit.

[Perfect], he texted her back. [I miss and love you too. Btw update on N situation. I brought his car back & had convo with him & G. Made sure he understands where the line is.]

His last errand of the day was to stop by the Proctor's with actual lunches and dinners for Paula's husband and sons; Scott was pretty much hopeless. He texted Rebecca to say hi to Paula and let her know that's what he was doing, and then set about preparing some simple meals.

Reading the text from her fiancé, Rebecca smiled and nodded. [Glad things went well Babe.] and then turned to tell Paula what Trent was doing and showed her the text's when she didn't believe her.

"He is not!" Paula smirked in disbelief. "Maybe he isn't so bad after all. Tell him thanks from me."

Rebecca texted back, [Paula says hi, and thank you Love. She even said that you 'aren't all that bad after all' and that she will be nicer to you. I think she likes you. lol See you when I get home. Love you lots! xoxo]

This had been the most relaxing weekend she had ever had, and they hadn't even checked out the stores yet. Rebecca smirked to herself thinking of the things that she could purchase, and wondered…what sort of things would Trent be into? Those thoughts made her giggle thinking of it as she finished off her drink.

Nathaniel headed off to the shower and was about to start the water when his phone pinged. He fished it out of his bathrobe pocket and read the text.

[Can you help me with something?]

Nathaniel was puzzled but intrigued. "Hold that thought," he called out from the bathroom to George. He grabbed his keys and drove…

It hadn't been too hard for Trent to prep quick food for the appetite of a man and two growing boys, but he'd gotten a little messy in the process, and he didn't want to go over to the Proctors looking like he'd bathed in grease. But Rebecca was the person who helped him with water stuff, and she was out for the weekend.

A knock sounded at the door. Trent discarded his apron and clothes and went to the door.

"Hey, little bug," he said. "Thanks for coming over…"

George was halfway through the dishes when Nat suddenly ran out the door, shouting he would be back. That was… odd.

"Nathaniel! Where are you go—?" He tilted his head and his eyes furrow. Did the man even get dressed? He had gone back to take a shower, but George had been in the kitchen and didn't see him leave. So he didn't know.

"This day gets any weirder and I will have a coronary, I just know it." he muttered as he went to take a shower instead. Leastways he could vent his pent-up frustrations and emotions now that Nat wasn't home.

"…" Nathaniel stood in the doorway as he took in Trent's appearance. He was grubby and grimy and… wearing that scanty bathing suit he had worn the day he'd attacked him.

As soon as Nathaniel was inside, Trent handed him a set of black and dark grey paisley swim trunks. Nathaniel put them on, with a questioning look.

"Are we going to shoot a music video or something?" he asked dumbly.

Trent laughed. "No, silly. I need your help with something." He took Nathaniel's hand and led him to the bathroom. "I just… I'm not used to showering alone, and Rebecca isn't here."

Nathaniel's mouth went dry. Trent had made it very clear that they weren't going to have a relationship, but he was asking Nathaniel to shower with him? "You want me to…"

"Oh, yeah, just sit outside the tub and make sure I don't fall or hit my head."

So nonchalant. Did Trent have any idea what he was doing…? But on the other hand… He'd take it.

"Okay," Nathaniel said weakly. "Just let me know if you need anything."

Trent smiled his gratitude at the other man and turned on the water. He set the spray to lukewarm and …why wasn't he pulling closed the shower curtain?! So he— he literally wanted Nathaniel to watch him bathe?!

Nathaniel obliged, his eyes roving greedily over Trent's perfect body. He wondered, not for the first time, "How are you more muscular than me?!"

"Oh, I drag boulders and trees for fitness," Trent replied casually. "I haven't in a while, though. I might be out of shape. But it's a great way to step up your workout. You should come sometime."

"I plan to," Nathaniel replied, his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth as he watched Trent lather his body.

Trent smiled at him. "Good!" he enthused.

For such a devious man, Trent could be so innocent.

"Trent, um…" Nathaniel started to explain, but thought better of it.

"Yes?"

"…do you need me to wash your back?"

Trent paused. Nathaniel thought he looked tempted. But after a moment, he shook his head and said, "Can you pass me the long-handled loofah?"

Nathaniel was disappointed, but he did as he was asked. He didn't know why he had expected Trent to take him up on that. Being allowed to touch that flawlessly muscular body… would have been far too much temptation. Hell, even watching him was a lot.

Trent finished cleaning his body and stepped out, but left the water running. "It's your turn," he said simply. "Would you prefer some privacy?"

Nathaniel was about to say no, but on the other hand, he really, desperately needed to take care of himself, and as much as he wanted Trent's help, he knew it would be over the line.

"I'll… be out soon," he said.

Trent nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Then he got dressed, went to the kitchen, packed everything up, and drove it to the Proctors, trusting Nathaniel alone in his home. He figured Nathaniel might want some time away from George to process everything anyway, and, as innocent as he acted, he knew what Nathaniel wanted to do in that shower.

Nathaniel's cuts still stung under the water, and it still heightened the pleasure he got thinking about Trent. Now he had fresh images in his mind to use. God, the man was such a tease! Was he doing this on purpose? Did he even know what he was doing? Fuck!

"Oh, Trent," he moaned, letting his head tip back and his eyes slide closed. "I love what you do to me…"

When Trent was finished with his errand and came home, the shower was still running. He immediately ran to the bathroom and tore aside the curtain. Nathaniel was slumped onto the bathtub floor, eyes closed, smiling peacefully. Trent frowned and shut off the water, then grabbed a towel and set about patting Nathaniel dry. He checked him for signs of a fall, concussion, anything…but no, it seemed Nathaniel had literally just pleasured himself until he passed out. The swim trunks had been folded and put on the bathroom counter, practically unused.

Good thing Rebecca doesn't come back for another night, Trent thought. He picked Nathaniel up and carried him to his room, setting him more or less gently on the bed Trent had rarely used since he had moved in with Rebecca. He would let Nathaniel rest here, then lend him some clothes and send him back home.

He put a guest blanket over Nathaniel's peacefully sleeping form and gave him a friendly peck on the forehead. "Goodnight, sleeping beauty," he whispered, and went to the kitchen to clean up the mess in there.