That idea lasted all of two seconds before John shuddered and cast the thought aside. Considering what was probably in that message, he couldn't bear to hear it, let alone torment Adam with the sound of his dad in anger. And that was assuming the recording would even play.
So he did the only thing he could do. He held Adam as the boy cried, only breaking away when the timer went off. John got up to pull the pie out of the oven, then went right back to the floor, pulling Adam into his arms. He stayed there until Adam cried himself to sleep, then carried Adam to bed, tucked him in, and went to tackle the kitchen disaster himself.
Wishing, all the while, that he could clean up one mess as easily as the other.
Chapter 14
_________
ADAM
ADAM TOOK a healthy swig of scotch, then quickly stuffed the bottle back onto a shelf in his closet when he heard footsteps approaching his bedroom.
Fuck. Hiding the bottles hadn't been too hard, provided he actually remembered to do so. Three times over the past two weeks, Adam had pulled out a bottle and forgot to put it back. The first time, Adam heard Haven come in the front door, having just gotten home from work, and had to scramble to search the apartment since he couldn't remember where he'd set it down. The second and third times, he'd left the bottle out on his nightstand and didn't remember it until the next morning, then had to race to hide it before Haven got up.
As for throwing one out when it was empty, that was another matter entirely. Adam was terrible at remembering to take out the trash, so Haven wound up doing it more often than not. Adam couldn't simply shove the bottle to the bottom of the kitchen bin since Haven might notice it when he pulled out the bag. He had to wait until Haven wasn't home and sneak it out to the dumpsters without being caught.
Still, he'd managed it all so far. At least, he thought he had. Unless Haven was snooping through his room on the days when Adam worked later than him. Except Haven wasn't like that. So maybe the fact that Haven hadn't said anything meant Adam had managed to keep the bottles successfully out of sight.
Hiding the drinking itself, though? Nowthatwas getting to be a problem.
Haven may not have said anything but he certainly had been looking at Adam strangely. Like he suspected something was off but couldn't put his finger on it.
A knock sounded on his bedroom door.
Adam winced.Shit. “Just a second!” he called out as he raced for his bathroom. Adam eased the door shut, snatched up his toothbrush, and rushed through brushing his teeth, trying to chase away the scent of alcohol on his breath. He flushed the toilet for good measure before running the sink to rinse out his mouth, pretending to wash his hands. He gave his reflection a quick glance, hoping he looked normal, then stepped out of the bathroom and went to open his bedroom door.
“Sorry. Really had to pee,” he lied, hoping the smile he plastered on his face was convincing enough. “How was your sleepover?”
Haven blushed as a great, beaming smile took over his face. Monday and Tuesday were Haven and Theo's weekend, due to their work schedule, so the couple often spent those days together at Theo's apartment. Adam envied the hell out of them for that. John worked a normal Monday-through-Friday, while Adam's own schedule was all over the place. That day, he'd worked a shorter, earlier shift, which meant he'd been home for hours already, pacing the apartment, climbing the walls, waiting for Haven to get home, only to wind up caving to temptation of that drink.
“It was great,” Haven replied, seemingly oblivious to Adam's inner torment. “I told Theo I was craving cake, and he rushed right out to the store to get me one. Except he came back with three different kinds, so we barely made a dent in all of it. I brought some back with me, but we might have to take the rest to work.”
Adam barked a laugh as he followed Haven to the kitchen. Sure enough, there were a couple tupperware containers containing pieces of sheet cake and cheesecake.
“We kept the ice cream cake,” Haven added. “Didn't want it to melt on the way home.”
“Good call.” Adam snatched up one of the containers, grabbed a fork, and dug in. Maybe it would help cover any last traces of alcohol on his breath, in case brushing his teeth hadn't been enough. “Oh, that's good,” he moaned around a mouthful.
Haven smiled, but the expression quickly faded. “Um. Listen. I need to tell you something.”
Adam's stomach twisted, threatening to bring the cake right back up.Fuck. Here it comes. Haven was going to call him out on his drinking. He just knew it.
Except Haven was blushing again as he said, “I've been putting off telling you about this because I feel like I owe you so much for everything you've done for me over the years–”
Adam quickly swallowed the cake in his mouth so he could speak. “What?” he interrupted. “No! You don't owe me anything.”
“You asked me to move in right when I was on the verge of having to live in my car again,” Haven countered. “And then when we got this place,” Haven went on, gesturing at the apartment, “I know you haven't been charging me a fair share of the rent and utilities. I gave up trying to argue the point and decided to do all the chores to make up for it, even though it didn't feel like enough.”
Adam winced.Shit. He had lied about Haven's half of the bills, hoping Haven would never find out. But it didn't make sense to split the expenses right down the middle when Adam's stuff took up far more space than Haven's did, not to mention Adam could afford it far more easily than Haven could do so. Besides, what Adam got out of it was more than worth it. “You don't owe me anything,” he repeated insistently. “I was getting sick of living alone.”
A look of guilt flashed across Haven's face, but it didn't entirely kill the smile that was still there. “You know what? Never mind. Things are fine the way they are. I'll tell him I'm not ready–”
“Haven.”
Haven sighed, but the beaming smile came right back as he said, “Theo asked me to move in with him.”
Adam gasped as a combination of joy for his friend and terror for himself simultaneously crashed through him. He shoved the tupperware aside and flung his arms around Haven. “Oh my god! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you. Go call him and tell himyesright now!”
