The hours passed quickly, and the sun was already setting. Seeing this, Stuart thought it would be better to leave work, not for himself but for Berry, who had been inside his break room the whole time. Apart from the messages they exchanged through the phone in the past hour, he had heard nothing else from Berry, so he figured that the man must have fallen asleep or gotten busy with something else.
Just as he thought, when he entered the break room, Berry was fast asleep, covered by a soft blanket with his hair scattered on the pillow. Stuart found himself watching Berry sleep for a few minutes and then decided to lay down next to him. There was a debate in his head about whether to put his arm around Berry, fearing that it might disturb his sleep. In the end, he hugged Berry gently, thinking that he could coax Berry back to sleep if he woke up, and closed his eyes. He could use some rest himself.
It was dark outside when Berry finally stirred awake. His blurry vision made it difficult for him to remember where he was, and he jerked up from the bed as if he were on fire. Stuart, who was sleeping next to him, groaned in his sleep, feeling like his arm was about to be broken. When he heard the muffled noise, Berry looked at him, and his thoughts slowly returned to order.
Though he groaned, Stuart refused to open his eyes and peacefully went back to sleep, acting like nothing was happening. He wasn't really sleeping anymore, just tired and wanting to rest.
Seeing this, Berry smiled at Stuart's sleeping face. He had never known what it meant or how it felt to wake up next to the one in your heart, and now that he had experienced it, he wanted it to happen forever. He lay back on the bed, facing Stuart, and began to run his hands over his face, tracing every line his fingers came in contact with. He was rewarded by Stuart's lazy smile.
Berry suddenly felt like taking a picture to keep as a memory of this day, so he turned around to take his phone. He took a picture of Stuart first, and when he saw how beautifully it came out, he grinned like a fool. He raised his hand further to take a picture of them together when his phone rang suddenly.
He would have ignored anyone else, but not Aspen. When he saw the man's name flashing on the screen, Berry sat up immediately, and the thought of taking a picture disappeared like the wind. Stuart was forced to open his eyes when those pleasurable giggles stopped to be replaced by a serious voice from Berry. He couldn't understand the words because it was a foreign language, and Stuart could only stare.
Berry immediately sat up and looked for something, his shoes probably, as he seemed about to leave. "Are you leaving?" Stuart asked with a slight tremor in his voice. He had developed a fear of people leaving him.
Berry gestured for Stuart to wait as he spoke to the person on the other side. Soon, he hung up, put on his shoes, and sat on the bed. "A friend of mine got into trouble, and I need to go see him."
Stuart understood that, but what friend was so important to Berry that he would abandon Stuart, his boyfriend, without an explanation because of one call? He couldn't help the unease that crept into his chest.
"I am coming with you," Stuart said, already standing up to put on his own shoes. Berry sighed, but from the look on Stuart's face, he knew that there was no use trying to persuade him. "Let's go," Stuart said after putting on his shoes. He was grateful that Berry didn't try to stop him.
They went down to the car where the driver was already waiting, and they set off immediately. Inside the car, Berry made several phone calls. Sometimes he sounded angry, other times he was relaxed, but the last time he was hopping mad. Stuart could only hear angry noises, and when Berry hung up, he said something that sounded like a curse before throwing his phone across the car.
As sexy as he found Berry right now, he was scared. In just ten minutes, he had seen more expressions on Berry's face than he had seen in anyone else. Gathering all the remaining courage he had, he cleared his throat. "Is there a problem? Can I help?"
Berry sighed and pushed his hair back. "That damned lawyer refused to help me. Now I don't know what to do." Stuart, though surprised, didn't even bother to ask why Berry needed a lawyer. He called his own lawyer immediately, and Berry spoke to him.
"Thank you," Berry said softly, his eyes showing genuine gratitude. Stuart waved his hand in dismissal and smiled at him. "It's no problem. Just let me know if you need my help next time," he said, and Berry nodded.
For the first time since they entered the car, it was completely silent, with only the vibrating sound of the car on the road reaching their ears. Stuart looked concerned as he watched Berry bite his lips worriedly. If there was anything he understood from Berry's call with his lawyer, it was that they were now heading to the police station because of a road accident or something like that.