June 2005

Things were going well for Harry and Severus, until one day while Severus was at the ranch. He went to take his pills as the day had gone on longer than he'd thought. One of the new guys came up behind him and snatched the orange plastic bottle out of his hand.

"What's that, Prince? Got an itch down below you're worried about?" John said, teasingly.

Severus frowned and turned to face the other man.

"Just some old thing going on. Nothing to get drawn up about." He replied. It wouldn't necessarily ruin his job if they found out the truth, but it would make his life much more difficult. People in this part of the world weren't known to be the most tolerant. Harry probably didn't know, but Severus certainly remembered the tragedy of Matthew Shepard a few years past. And Wyoming wasn't that far from Montana in geography and beliefs.

John started reading the label on the medicine, smiling at Severus. As he read on, the smile dropped. "You're a god damn fag? WIth fag cancer? How'd they let that slide at the office?" He sneered.

The sides of Severus' mouth grew tight, flexing as he grit his teeth.

He held out his hand. "The pill bottle, if you please."

He sneered and tossed it back. The foreman came over seeing tensions brewing.

"You boys got a problem?" Both men scowled but shook their heads.

Hours later, Severus finished up for the day and headed back to Harry's house, wanting nothing more than a quiet dinner but knew he'd have to tell Harry that his HIV status had been revealed and what that could mean for their small family.