Chapter 144: He Doesn’t Want Me Anymore.

Another silence followed, this one stretching much longer than the others.

When Eli finally spoke again, his words pierced straight through Dave’s heart.

"He doesn’t love me anymore. He doesn’t want me. Should I have rather not come back? Should I have let him believe I was dead? I thought coming back would make everything better again, but it hasn’t. I’ve only ruined things for both of us all over again. Every wound I’d spent years trying to heal feels as though it’s been torn open. I feel terrible, and I don’t understand myself anymore. I can’t accept that the man I’ve spent all these years dreaming of returning to doesn’t want me anymore. He loves other people now. And I can’t even blame him for moving on because he spent nine years believing I was dead. I shouldn’t have come back. I’ve disrupted his progress, too, all for nothing."

The words poured out of Eli without pause, each confession exposing another part of the pain he’d been trying to contain since returning to Dave.

Dave stood outside, listening to every word, feeling worse with each passing second. He had known Eli was hurting. He had seen the hesitation in his eyes, heard the resignation in his voice, and understood how much it had cost him to tell Dave to leave.

But hearing Eli admit what his return had done to him was different.

Dave heard a click, as though the phone had slipped from Eli’s hand and struck the table.

"Fuck," Eli cursed.

Another click followed, this one sounding more controlled, as though he’d picked up the phone and set it down on the table.

A second later, the call had been put on speaker, presumably because Eli no longer had the strength to keep holding the phone.

"I’m coming."

The voice came faintly through the phone, barely audible from where Dave stood, but he heard it.

"No." Eli refused immediately.

"I don’t care what you say. I’m coming," the other man insisted. "You’re driving me crazy right now, and I can’t even sit still. I’m not coming to tell you how much I love you or how I could be better for you. I’ll just be there with you and make sure you’re okay, so please, allow me to come."

Eli’s voice grew quieter, steadier, as though he’d managed to gather himself enough to make his position clear.

"I’ll tell you when I want you to come. You said you set me free, and if that’s actually true, then don’t do anything I haven’t agreed to."

"Damnit Eli!" Eric cursed on the other end.

The two fell silent for a while. Dave could almost imagine Eric struggling with the instruction, wanting to go to Eli and comfort him but knowing that insisting would mean disregarding what Eli had asked of him.

"Fine," Eric eventually conceded.

Another pause followed before he spoke again, his voice calmer this time.

"And you don’t have to beat yourself up for going back. You didn’t do the wrong thing by returning to him. Refusing to go back and letting him believe you were dead would have bothered you for the rest of your lives. He might have moved on, but that doesn’t mean what happened between you left him completely. Going back might have reopened wounds that hadn’t healed and caused more pain for both of you, but at least you’ll have closure. You both needed it especially after being separated so abruptly."

Dave closed his eyes.

"Trust this or not, once you talk things out properly, you’ll finally find peace, and you’ll move on more easily," Eric continued. "You’re braver and more amazing than you can imagine. Not everyone would have swallowed the pain and simply let it go like that, especially after returning to the person they loved only to discover he wasn’t waiting for them anymore. But you’re doing it. So don’t beat yourself up for going back. It was for the best."

Dave found himself approving of Eric without even having met him.

Anyone else might have seized the opportunity to turn Eli against Dave, using his heartbreak to draw him closer and make themselves the person he relied on instead. Eric had done nothing of the sort.

He had comforted Eli without exploiting his pain or using the situation to his own advantage, offering him reassurance when he needed it most.

It was a kindness Dave was grateful someone could offer Eli.

"Okay," Eli answered.

His voice sounded a little calmer now, the raw distress that had filled it moments earlier no longer quite as apparent.

A brief silence followed.

"So, when are we ending his bastard father?" Eric asked, with such casualness that the question seemed to belong to an entirely different conversation.

Dave’s attention sharpened.

"You were not in the plan to do it," Eli cut in the moment Eric finished speaking. "Besides, he’s already dead."

"You already killed him? You killed him?" Astonishment filled Eric’s voice.

"No. He was already dead when I got here, killed by his own family. There was a bunch of mess that happened here, actually. Dave has gone through a lot, too. And I’m not going to tell you because it doesn’t concern you."

"Okay. I get it. Is he okay?"

"Yes. Except for the wounds I just reopened for the both of us..."

Eli’s voice trailed off as another voice came through the phone.

"Sir, the flight is ready, in the next twenty minutes."

"Flight?" Eli asked, disbelief thick in his voice. "Eric, where are you going?"

His disbelief quickly gave way to suspicion, and Dave could understand why. Eric had just spent several minutes insisting that he wanted to come to Eli, only to have someone announce that a flight was ready for him.

"After everything, I just feel like I should go on a vacation," Eric replied.

"Vacation where?"

"Just allow me to come, please."

"No. And if you come even after I ask you not to, then..."

"Okay, fine. I’ll not, I promise."

A brief silence followed.

"Finn, cancel the flight."

Dave stood there for another moment, taking in the exchange.

At last, Dave decided to leave.

He had already heard more than he should have.

He turned away and began walking, carrying with him one thought that offered him some comfort amid everything else.

Eli had found someone who cared about him, and Dave was glad about that.

He hoped that, with time, Eli would be able to put their past behind him and develop feelings for Eric.

Perhaps they could build something together, something that would make Eli happy again.

Dave wanted him to recover from the pain of their separation.

He wanted him to be happy, even if that happiness came from loving someone else.

But as Dave walked away, a painful question rose within him.

Why did the thought of Eli building a life with someone else hurt him so much?

Dave dismissed the question almost as soon as it formed. Of course the thought unsettled him. His feelings were complicated now, and he couldn’t expect himself to be unaffected by the possibility of Eli moving on with someone else after everything they had shared.

There were two things he knew for certain, however.

He needed to return home and talk to Bryce and Vincent. He missed them, and the thought of being back in their arms was almost irresistible. Perhaps holding them close would quiet the storm inside him.

Second thing, he wanted Eli to be happy.

Dave hoped Eli would heal from the pain of their separation and reunion, and eventually give Eric a chance.

From what he’d heard, Eric seemed like a good person.

Even if Eric kept Eli locked up for all those years, still, from what Eli had told him, Eric had never hurt him or forced himself on him throughout that time.

He hoped that, with time, Eli might come to see something in Eric worth giving a chance. He also hoped Eric understood that keeping Eli locked up could never happen again.

Whatever the future held for them, Dave would make sure of that.