EXCERPT:
“You can see that not much has changed since yesterday,” Dustin informed, as they walked into his house.  “I doubt if your house ever looks messy, Dustin.  It’s beautiful.”  Dustin smiled.  “At the risk of sounding like an alcoholic, would you care for a glass of wine?”  “Love one,” Matt said, with a laugh.  “And I don’t think of you as an alcoholic,” he added.  “One drink a day is about all I can handle, if that much,” Dustin assured him.  “What do you think of Denver, Matt?”  “It’s beautiful, Dustin.  I love the view of the mountains, but what I have noticed more than anything is how much better I sleep out here than I do at home.  It must be the thinner air.”  Dustin knew that this was his chance to say what he thought, and that if he didn’t do it now, he never would.  “Perhaps there is less stress here,” Dustin said, looking right at Matt.  “I do have quite a drive each day, and long work days.”  “How much sleep do you get, Matt?”  “Depends.  Most nights I get enough.”  Dustin somehow doubted that.  “Why do you ask?” 

“If you don’t mind my saying, Matt, when I first met you it appeared to me that you had a mark under one eye, perhaps what we like to call ‘bags’ from too little sleep?”  Matt carelessly touched his eye.  Had Dustin noticed the bruise?  Did Dustin suspect?  “It seems to be going away the longer you are here.”  “Oh,” Matt said, not offering anything further. 

******

Looking directly into Matt’s eyes, Dustin finally said what he had waited all week to say to him.  “If you ever need someplace to stay or someone to talk to, you are always welcome in my home, Matt.”  Dustin gently touched Matt’s cheek where the bruise had been.  “I would hate to lose you, Matt.”  Matt’s eyes were fixed on Dustin’s obviously all seeing and all knowing eyes.  He almost hated to return to his former life of loneliness and very little sleep. 

Matt looked at Dustin’s hand holding his tightly.  “I’d better get going,” he said.  “I know, Matt.  I know.”  Dustin gently pressed his lips to Matt’s cheek, the cheek where the bruise had been, and then he gently kissed Matt’s hand.  Matt swallowed hard.  They said goodbye in the parking lot, and Dustin watched as the huge airport swallowed the man he had known for only a little while.  He waited for nearly thirty minutes before driving away, hoping that Matt would come running back to him, but knowing that he would not. 

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