A Midnight Thanksgiving (Gay Romance) Read online

  As expected, Vaughn didn't get a reply from Zack and he didn't answer when he called. "If you want me to get in touch with anyone else, I'll need some numbers," Vaughn said.

  "I know Zack better than he does. I should be calling people," Alex said. "Useless Vaughn can set the table."

  "Don't call me that," Vaughn said through gritted teeth as Alex shoved the stack of napkins at him.

  "Settle it amongst yourselves," Paul told them, washing his hands of them as he went to join Carlos in the kitchen.

  "You two are like oil and water. What is with you guys?" Val asked Alex and nodded toward Vaughn, who was meticulously setting the table according to instructions he found online.

  "You know Vaughn is the editor of the paper. Well, newspaper nerd kicked me off," Alex told her while his fingers were busy texting.

  "You couldn't meet a single deadline," Vaughn said over his shoulder.

  "I came close. And in the History of the Americas class, you said my answers on the Spanish Conquest were juvenile," Alex said and jabbed a finger in his direction.

  "They were."

  "See. He's always picking on me," Alex said.

  "No one wants to hear your list of grievances," Vaughn claimed.

  "She does." Alex pointed at Val.

  She shook her head. "I'm over it, and I'm sorry I asked," she said and went to sit with Ursula's injured ankle in her lap.

  Alex checked for replies to his flurry of texts. He frowned at what he saw there and then went into the kitchen to report to Paul.

  "No luck. Still no answer from Zack, and no one knows where he's holed up. I don't have his sister's number and she's not checking her email, I guess. I don't know his new roommates. You have their numbers or anything?" he asked Paul, who was looking over Carlos's shoulder at what he was doing, or possibly just copping a feel.

  "No." Paul looked at Carlos. After he shook his head, they all went back out into the living room to pool their information.

  No one had their roommates' numbers so Paul moved on. "OK then. His sister's number, who has it?" he demanded.

  More head shakes.

  "I think we have to go out into the field and do some legwork," Paul decided.

  "You mean look for Zack? You think it's that serious?" Val asked.

  Paul sighed. "I don't know until I hear from him."

  "For all we know he might even be home and not answering," Vaughn pointed out.

  "He said he definitely wasn't staying at his apartment," Paul told him. "His roommates are having Thanksgiving dinner, some kind of crazy, blind potluck thing. No one knows what anyone else is bringing. He wanted no part of it, and I don't blame him. Sounds like a recipe for disaster."

  "Maybe he changed his mind," Alex suggested.

  "Fine, we can start there then. Go and see if he's home. If not, talk to his roommates, see what they know. Then we find his sister or get her number, either way talk to her," Paul said.

  "Who is supposed to do all this?" Vaughn asked.

  "You two go, you're useless anyway," Paul told him and Alex.

  "Together?" Alex said and looked at Vaughn skeptically.

  "No. Bad idea," Vaughn said, so at least they agreed on that.

  "They'll fight like cats and dogs," Val said since she had just witnessed that very thing. "Ursula is out of commission. Vaughn and I can go."

  "And leave the pie pervert here alone with the pie?" Ursula said from the couch. "In my condition, I won't be able to do anything to stop him."

  Val turned to Alex. "That pie better still be a virgin when I come back," she warned him.

  "I'm not a pie pervert. I only want to eat it." Then he added, "In a completely nonsexual way."

  Val was ready to grab her jacket and go when Paul stopped her. "You can't go. I don't want to see a couple split up on Thanksgiving. Those two will just have to suck it up," he said and motioned toward Alex and Vaughn dismissively.

  "But me and Vaughn are a bad combo," Alex whined.

  "And that right there is the only thing we have ever agreed on," Vaughn said.

  Paul didn't want to hear it. "Quit your bitching. You two are the most expendable. You're going and that's that."

  "You could have lied and said it was because of my superior sleuthing skills," Alex said as he pulled on his jacket.

  "I can't sell that lie. Get moving already. And bring Zack here dead or alive, whatever it takes. Use of force is authorized," Paul said.

  When use of force was mentioned Vaughn eyed Alex doubtfully. In response Alex flexed his arm. Vaughn shrugged like he wasn't impressed, but the corners of his mouth did turn up just a tiny bit.

  "Is anything really going to get accomplished? Aren't you two just going to fight and argue the whole time?" Val asked as she walked them to the door.

  "We'll split up. We can cover more ground that way," Vaughn said.

  "Carlos says dinner should be ready around nine," Paul yelled from the kitchen door. "Good luck, you guys."

  Chapter 2

  As he and Vaughn stepped out in front of Paul's apartment building, Alex couldn't believe they were out here again so soon. "We just got here and Paul kicks us out."

  "It's better than waiting for dinner and listening to Paul call us useless. Now let's split up. I'll take..." Vaughn started to say, but Alex couldn't let him have first choice.

  "Dibs on the potluck. I want to see what crazy stuff they have. I bet they'll just end up with bags of chips and stacks of napkins. That leaves you to track down Zack's sister at the Hungry Youth kitchen. She is in charge of serving Thanksgiving dinner over there," Alex informed him.

  "I know. We wrote an article about it."

  "Good for you, but that doesn't make up for that other article you wrote," Alex reminded him. "I bet Ellen is still mad about that."

  "I guess I'll find out," Vaughn told him as Alex went off toward Zack's place.

  After a few steps, Alex noticed that Vaughn was right behind him. "I thought I ditched you. Why are you following me?"

  "I'm not. I'm going to go see Zack's sister at the soup kitchen, and it's this way," Vaughn said and pointed down the street.

  Alex stopped and reconsidered their plan. "Now that I think about it, you are the wrong guy to talk to Ellen. There is no way she is going to forgive and forget that you wrote that horrible article."

  "That article was well researched and accurate," Vaughn said.

  "It was heartless. You attacked a charity with your petty penny-pinching. Ellen's beloved charity. It's like you kicked her dog."

  "Fine. Then I'll take the potluck," Vaughn had the nerve to say.

  "Over my dead body," Alex said decisively and blocked his way.

  "So what am I supposed to do?" Vaughn asked when Alex nixed every plan of action he had.

  Alex shrugged. "I guess you can come along to the potluck with me."

  "The plan was for us to split up," Vaughn complained, but when Alex started walking, he walked beside him.

  "As you can see that plan isn't working out. Zack's apartment is right on the way. We stop by there then we go to see Ellen, and hope she doesn't stomp you to death."

  Zack had been living with Brad before they split up. He moved to his new place only a few weeks ago. In that time, Alex hadn't visited Zack's new apartment. The building was boxy and gray, no charm at all. When he and Vaughn got on the elevator, Alex got a sense of deja vu.

  He stared at Vaughn until he got his attention. "Running into you on elevators is starting to be a thing."

  "No, it's not. We're going to the same place, together."

  When they arrived on the seventh floor, they could pick out Zack's apartment right away. The door was ajar and there was a lot of noise coming from inside the place. Vaughn pushed the door open and said hello. A few people waved but no one paid much attention to them otherwise.

  They went in and had a look around. The living room was packed with people milling around with plates and drinks in their hands. There was a table loaded down
with food, and just like Alex predicted, bags of chips were well represented. Vaughn and Alex tried to pick out Zack's roommates in this crowd.

  One of the roommates spotted them before they spotted him. "This is a potluck. Didn't you guys bring anything?" he asked, frowning at them when he saw that they were empty-handed.

  "We aren't here for dinner. We're looking for Zack. Is he here?" Vaughn told him.

  "No. He bailed," the guy said.

  "Do you know where he went?" Alex asked him.

  "No idea." He then called over another roommate, but she didn't know anything either. None of the other guests had any clues to give them. Zack hadn't been living with these guys for long, so it wasn't surprising they didn't know anything, but it did make Alex feel down.

  Vaughn noticed his mood. "This is only our first stop. I'm sure his sister will know something," he said to reassure him. That was unexpectedly nice of him, and it made Alex smile.

  Feeling a little better, Alex went over to the table with the food. Without showing much interest in what was on display there, Vaughn followed him. There was no turkey anywhere in sight. Alex saw a lasagna pan that had been wiped out, no survivors. A few other serving dishes and aluminum pans were almost empty. Then there were random bags of bread and even a jar of peanut butter.

  "Mmm. Nothing says Thanksgiving like some chunky peanut butter. I'm taking a picture of this to send to Paul." After a few seconds Alex laughed. "He just asked me if that's a picture of the inside of a dumpster. He's so mean."

  "I see a girl that might know Zack," Vaughn said and walked away to talk to her.

  Their conversation didn't leave him in suspense for long. After a minute, Alex watched the girl shake her head. As he waited for Vaughn and checked out everything that had been dumped on the table, Alex noticed a guy staring at him. If he remembered right, he wasn't a roommate. He was someone's cousin or something. Alex thought the guy might be about to hit on him, but that wasn't it at all.

  "Do you guys even celebrate Thanksgiving?" he asked Alex.

  "Us guys?" Alex asked and looked around just as Vaughn came up to stand behind him and glower at the guy and everything else in sight.

  "Don't you have some kind of Chinese Thanksgiving like that Chinese New Year?" the guy asked, and he didn't seem to be joking.

  Alex just stared at him speechless for a minute, then he turned to Vaughn. "Should I answer him or just hit him?"

  "The second thing," Vaughn said, but when Alex drew his hand back for a hit upside the head, Vaughn grabbed his arm. "We don't have time for that. Let's go."

  "And leave him in ignorance?" Alex said as Vaughn pulled him along.

  "We don't have the kind of time it would take to educate the likes of him."

  Grudgingly Alex let Vaughn drag him out of there. Then he did more than just let him. He enjoyed the feel of his hand on his upper arm, and he was sorry when Vaughn let go. In the elevator he made sure to stand close to him.

  Vaughn didn't say anything about that or move away. That wasn't typical of him. Alex wondered if he might be too distracted to even notice him. While Vaughn stared straight ahead, Alex nudged him. That was a bad habit he had. Cole had told him as much. "You have to be the center of attention. That's just going to make people hate you."

  Remembering his words made Alex sober up and step away from Vaughn to give him some space. That's when Vaughn turned to him. Their eyes met and Vaughn opened his mouth like he was about to say something.

  Alex waited but no words came. Instead, Vaughn leaned forward and gazed deep into his eyes. Alex did the same. This was the first time he really looked at them. They weren't just blue. They had a touch of green to them and they were so intense. Alex might have been knocked back by that look if Vaughn didn't take hold of his shoulders.

  Unconsciously Alex parted his lips maybe in invitation, maybe because be wanted to say something. He would never know because that was when Vaughn kissed him and blew away every thought from his mind. The kiss was so out of the blue, but Alex didn't let the shock of it keep him from kissing him back.

  He didn't care what was happening or why. He abandoned himself to the pure feeling of bliss as their lips glided, their tongues danced and Alex moaned into Vaughn's mouth. His arms slipped around Vaughn's waist, and Vaughn's moved to lock behind Alex's back. The kiss seemed endless, but of course it wasn't. The elevator stopped on the second floor and ruined the moment.

  The two of them pulled apart and breathed hard as the elevator doors opened. Two older ladies got on and Alex and Vaughn stared at the floor guiltily like two boys who had been caught red-handed. Alex's heart was hammering away. He put his hand to his chest to feel it, almost like he needed proof that Vaughn McRae had really kissed him.

  Chapter 3

  When they stepped outside Zack's building, Vaughn didn't put his jacket on right away. He could feel the cool breeze hit him, but it chilled only his skin. His body remained overheated, still buzzing from that kiss, from the heat and hardness of Alex's body pressed against him.

  Vaughn wasn't used to behaving the way he just did. Grabbing a guy and kissing him wasn't his style. He wasn't impulsive. Usually he was a lot more reserved and cautious when it came to hitting on anyone. He didn't know what got into him.

  Not being used to acting like this, he had no defenses. The feel of Alex in that incredibly tight embrace was too fresh, too real. Vaughn experienced a pull toward him, like gravity had shifted. The slightest hint from Alex would send him tumbling into his arms. That's why he kept his eyes averted from him as they stood on the sidewalk.

  Confused by what he had done, he stared up and down the street so he wouldn't have to face Alex. Vaughn could feel his eyes on him, questioning him silently. Waiting for him to speak, he was afraid to move, like prey hoping not to be noticed by its natural predator.

  "That wasn't the Vaughn I know. What got into you?" Alex asked and stared at him like he was a puzzle with a piece that just wouldn't fit.

  "Just a weird impulse, sorry about that," Vaughn said trying to dismiss the feeling that drove him to grab Alex and kiss him. It wasn't that easy to put what he did behind him. Their kiss, the collision of their bodies and the way Alex responded still made his body pulse like his heart had grown too big for his chest.

  The questioning look in Alex's eyes only made the feeling worse. Why did his eyes have to be so dark? Vaughn couldn't tell if they were brown or black. He wanted to stare at them until he figured it out, no matter how long it took.

  In confusion Vaughn turned away and looked up the street. They were standing in front of Zack's building where drafts of wind would ruffle their clothes now and then. The evening was pushing toward night, the air getting colder.

  "Paul told us not to come back without Zack, and he won't let us eat. Not that there was anything good at that potluck, but I'm going to keel over from starvation." Alex slumped over and pretended to stagger.

  "Did you want to call it a night?" Vaughn asked. "I can go on by myself."

  Alex straightened from his slump immediately. "No way. I don't abandon friends in need."

  "OK, we keep looking, but we should split up now. We wasted enough time already. I can go see Ellen by myself," Vaughn decided as he finally put his jacket on. If he stayed around Alex, he didn't know what he might do.

  Alex wasn't letting him go off on his own though. "Like she's going to tell you anything. She hates you, remember?"

  He had a point but Vaughn still tried to deny it. "We had a difference of opinion. That's all. I'm sure it's all water under the bridge."

  "You wrote that the Hungry Youth charity wasted money instead of spending it on the homeless youths."

  "Youths? Who says that? And that's not what the article said. Did you even read it?" Vaughn asked.

  "Yes, I did. You nitpicked at which foods they bought and where they got their books."

  "Their spending wasn't optimized. There is no excuse..." Vaughn started to say, but Alex wouldn't let him make his point
.

  "Their donations dropped right through the floor because of you."

  Vaughn gave up. "Fine, we'll both go," he said.

  They barely took two steps when they spotted one of Zack's roommates coming up the sidewalk, carrying an aluminum tray.

  "Hi. Do you know where Zack might be?" Alex asked her while trying to sneak a peek at what she had in the tray. "And what am I smelling?"

  "It's ham with a cherry cola glaze," the roommate told him and Alex nearly fainted. "And you won't find Zack up there." That wasn't new information, but she didn't know that they had already checked the apartment. "Zack passed on the potluck. He's at that Hungry Youth place that his sister runs. He's helping with their Thanksgiving thing. It's down that way." With her hands busy holding the tray, she motioned with her head in the direction of the charity.

  "We know where it is. Thanks," Alex said. He looked so happy as they walked away. "We found him," he said and clapped Vaughn on the back.

  On the way, he kicked a few dry leaves and generally acted like a kid. Vaughn was happy too. He was more concerned about Zack than he wanted to let on, and obviously Alex was too.

  There was a time when Vaughn used to hang out with Zack, but that stopped when he got together with Brad. Vaughn didn't know how to hide his dislike of Brad or how to keep his opinions to himself.

  That's why he got into journalism. He wanted to bring the truth out of the shadows and into the light of day. Plenty of people didn't like him because of that.

  And because he couldn't keep his mouth shut about his boyfriend, Zack grew distant. They barely said hello for a while there. Even after he and Brad broke up, Zack didn't open up to him. Now that they knew where he was, Vaughn would have his chance to show him he could be a supportive friend even if he disagreed with his choices.

  As Vaughn was vowing to be a better friend, they walked down a few streets and found themselves one block down from the charity for runaways and disadvantaged kids that Ellen ran. It was called Hungry Youth. Underneath the name, the sign read "Feeding bodies and minds." They handed out a lot of books and served a free lunch every day. Tonight they were serving Thanksgiving dinner.