Rest and Be Thankful

Rob's cabin is very cozy, very different from Cam's.

From the outside it looks like a traditional whitewashed two-story cottage, but inside it's neatly laid out, with wooden floors and minimalist furniture in soft, neutral tones for a modern look.

They must have knocked out a few interior walls to create the amazingly large living room.If you add the conservatory in the back room, it's at least four times the size of Cam's cramped living room.

"Awesome," he said. "It must be a great feeling to look at the lakeside scenery from here in the morning."

"That's right, I often eat breakfast in the greenhouse just to enjoy the beautiful scenery." Rob couldn't help smiling. "Give me the coat, please?"

"Oh, okay. Sorry." Cam reached to unzip his jacket, but his eyes were still wandering around the room.His movements froze in midair as he saw a series of watercolors on the wall.The four paintings are evenly displayed in a horizontal line.The same man—just his face—one sleeping, one thinking, one looking away smiling, one troubled.

Each one is painfully intimate.

Finally, Cam took his eyes off the screen and looked at Rob, who had been watching him. "Did you draw it?"

There was a silence. "Yes."

"A masterpiece. I thought you only painted landscapes."

Rob shrugged. "Landscapes sell better - but these are painted for myself."

"This is you—I mean, was he ever—" Cam paused, wondering if the question was getting too personal, but it was too late to shut up now.

"My partner? Yes, Andrew and I moved here together." Rob looked at him calmly. "Andrew died four years ago. You may have heard."

Cam felt his cheeks heat up. "Er—yes. Mrs. McIver mentioned it."

Rob rolled his eyes, but he didn't look angry, so Cam naturally turned his attention back to the man in the picture.He looks painfully vulnerable, but not just because of his too-thin face and tired eyes.Cam felt he was looking at the man in the frame through Rob's eyes, and he felt the helpless love, fear and anger hidden in each stroke.

"Was he sick when you drew these?"

"Yes," Rob said quietly. "Near death."

"It must have been tough."

"Yes, that's right. But we spent six years before that—only the last eighteen months when he was ill."

six years.gosh.How long have Cam and Scott been dating?Not even two years.

"It's kind of funny, actually," Rob continued. "I'm still here, I mean still in this cottage. Andrew wanted to move in, I didn't want to."

"is it?"

"Yes. I've been wandering around—he's always called me a 'rolling stone.'"

But he always dreamed of settling in the countryside, and I finally agreed to try to put down roots somewhere—after all, art can be done anywhere. "

"So you must like it here? I mean, stay here after that."

Rob frowned when he heard this, seemed to think about it for a while, and then said, "After Andrew went, I would have left immediately, but only if I had a choice. But we bought this place before the Great Depression , the heyday of the market value, when Andrew died, I was in negative equity mortgage. Moreover, I was trapped in the cafe that was leased in my name for ten years, so I had no choice but to let nature take its course."

Cam frowned. "Sounds like a lot of stress."

"No. It was depressing for a couple of years, and then"—Rob paused, shrugging—"then things got better. You know, that's the great tragedy of life."

"What is the 'great tragedy of life'?"

"Sadness never stops in life - that's true. Life goes on, sadness is diluted - even if you want to keep the sadness you can't." Rob's eyes linger for a moment on his dead body in the picture mate, then his attention shifted to Cam, and his expression lightened a little.

"Come on, take your coats off. Let's have a drink. We've got to treat ourselves after pushing your giant Volvo up a hill."

He takes a step forward, and this time Cam unzips in a jiffy, takes off his jacket, and hands it to Rob.

Rob didn't take it right away.His eyes seemed to be drawn to something under Cam's waist, and his lips moved.

"Small accident?" he asked, looking up.

For a moment, Cam just stared at him.Rob looked so attractive with that smile on his face.And that's when he found himself remembering something he'd discovered about Rob when they first met, before their fight—that he smiled with his eyes.His mouth doesn't move much, but the smile is hidden in his eyes.Those eyes were lined with laughter and gleamed with pleasure—very bright, as they are now.Seen like this, Cam felt as if the other was sharing a private joke with him.It's like he's no longer excluded, but a part of something.You and me, us, both of us.

"Cam?"

"Uh—sorry, what's the matter?" He looked down at himself and saw that the red leggings were dirty, splashed with mud, soaked inside and out.He was dirtier than he thought.

"Oh—I tripped before," he explained, "stupid shoes."

Rob took the coat from him. "Dancing shoes," he observed. "It's inconvenient to wear this to solve the problem of a car breaking down."

"Yes, it's really inappropriate." Cam agreed.

"Do you have a change of clothes?"

"I have jeans in my canvas bag."

"Okay. If you'd like to take a shower or something while I cook, go ahead."

Cam almost groaned out loud.Gosh, just thinking about taking a bath is... a hot bath. "That's great, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. Do you want a beer while you wash?"

Cam actually moaned about it, the drooling papa Simpson moan that made Rob laugh.

①The father in the cartoon "The Simpsons", this voice is his signature action.

"Okay," Rob said. "I'll hang your clothes and I'll get you a beer from the kitchen. If you want to post a message to your sister, that's the phone." He pointed to a table in the corner of the room and left quietly.

Cam walked over, picked up the receiver from the phone, paused for a minute, and then dialed Yili's number with a sigh.

Katie answered the phone.There was heavy party noise in the background, banging music and screaming so loud she could barely hear him.When Rob walked back into the room, he was yelling to speak to Ellie.He raised his eyebrows and gave Cam a funny look, then walked to the kitchen and closed the door intimately.

Eli was less noisy when she answered the phone—she must have found a quieter corner.

"Hey!" she asked happily. "Where are you? When will you arrive?"

"I'm not going," he replied curtly. "I'm saying I can't make it. There's no way to get there, Il."

He recounted what happened without emotion, doing everything he could to hide his loss.Yili did not restrain herself.

"Oh, Cam, that's too bad!" she wailed. "I can't even imagine how you're feeling right now—I know you're looking forward to it."

"It's okay," he swallowed hard to clear the lump in his throat. "I'm okay."

Good Moringa thing.

"It's all right," she said unhappily. "If I hadn't been drinking like an alcoholic since five o'clock, I would be able to pick you up in my own car right now."

"By the time we got back to Glasgow, Gomorrah had closed and we'd both be missing out - it didn't make sense," Cam said. "Go back, have fun, and tell me everything that happened tomorrow."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Ellie said sadly. "You've been having a hard time lately, and I want to make you happy—"

"It's okay, I'm fine."

"No, it's not good. You will be depressed during the New Year alone. I'm worried about you."

"Listen, I'm not alone," Cam said firmly. "I was at Rob's house - remember the guy we met at the cafe? He helped me get the car off the road and I'm at his house now. We were - going to have a drink. Actually, he was giving I make dinner."

"Rob?" Eli's voice sharpened immediately with curiosity. "I thought you two were against each other—but you obviously like him."

Cam opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out - well, he did think Rob was charming, didn't he?Who doesn't think so?

"Are you still there?" Eli asked.

"exist."

"And then? How did you and this Rob suddenly talk again?"

"I think we're back on the same page," Cam finally said carefully. "He's a nice guy, and he agreed to move the car for me right away." He smiled. "He even made me take a shower to clean up."

"What? Oh my god, you're naked now?"

"I tripped!" Cam added hastily. "I'm dirty."

Eli giggled. "My God! Do you want him to rub your back?"

"shut up."

"Admit it, you like him."

"I said shut up."

Eli just laughed.

"So," she said finally, "you're with Rob tonight, right? I don't need to worry about you being depressed and alone all night?"

"Of course not!" Cam retorted, angry at her concern.

Her voice became cautious. "You didn't lie to me, did you?"

Cam sighed. "No, Ellie. I didn't lie to you." Well, he lied innocuously about whether he was alone in the middle of the night, but it was a white lie - he wanted Ellie without him You can also go back and continue to have fun.He mentally crossed his fingers for good luck, adding, "I won't be alone when the New Year's bell rings."

"Fine. For my sake, make sure you and Rob have a big mouth kiss at midnight?" She added before he could answer, "Call me tomorrow morning—I need to know everything."

"I will," he promised. "Have fun tonight. Don't drink too much."

"My hangover will go down in the history books," she promised.

"You've got beef pie and trifle tomorrow night. Don't forget."

"Ma?ana, ma?ana②." She said lively. "Bye, Cam."

②Spanish: tomorrow, tomorrow.

"bye."

He put the phone back thoughtfully.

"She's worried about you being all alone, isn't she?"

Hearing Rob's words, Cam raised his head and found that he was standing at the kitchen door, holding two opened bottles of beer in his hands. His body was a little messy, slender and sexy.Cam felt the heat creep up his cheeks at the thought that Rob must have heard something.

"Sorry for eavesdropping," said Rob without Cam answering.He approached and handed Cam a beer, "I didn't mean to. I just heard you say something about New Year's bells."

Cam shrugged, trying not to care. "Yeah, anyway, I don't want her worrying about me as she and her friends welcome in the new year." He smiled nervously at Rob, took a beer, and fought back a shudder as Rob's fingers brushed his.To distract himself, he tilted his head back and took a long sip of the cold beer.

Omg it was awesome.

Rob was still watching him when he put down the bottle, his eyes steady. "Don't go home tonight if you don't want to, Cam. You're welcome to stay and welcome the new year with me. Honestly, I'm glad I've got company. I was going to have a few drinks at the Stag, but"—he Pointing to the glass window at the back—"The weather outside isn't improving at all, and the weather forecast doesn't look too good, so I've already decided that Honest Cat is here."

Cam looked out into the darkness.He couldn't see anything but the thick, fluttering snowflakes.Even if he thought about it, there was no way he'd ask Rob to drive him home in this weather, and, disturbingly, he didn't want to.

He cleared his throat. "Thanks. I'm glad to be here, if you don't mind hosting me for a night."

Rob smiled. "I have two extra rooms, so it's not a bother. Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower now? Get what you want - I remember some Lotozoe body wash upstairs. Clean towels are in the basket. You wash I'll make something to eat when I'm here. Are there any taboos?"

Cam shook his head. "It's a great thing to do," he added. "I'm not hard to please."

"Hmm, is it?" Rob smiled again.

For some reason, Cam's body reacted strangely to that flashing, secret smile—his appetite writhed, his heart raced, his penis lifted.

"Then I'll—uh, take a bath," he muttered, fleeing in embarrassment.