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By the time Reid had completed his morning routine, he'd cut his time down so much that he'd left none for breakfast at home. Shrug. He'd pick up a breakfast taco at the corner grocery on the way; they always gave him wicked bad gas, but with the doors open at work, no one would ever notice.

He swung his Mustang into a parking spot in front of the store and suddenly, breakfast tacos didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that Kelvin's car was parked in the exact same spot it had been last night when they'd crossed paths, but there was no Kelvin in it. Peculiar, he thought. Maybe he'd caught a ride with a friend. Reid found himself hoping that friend would be taking him to work in about five minutes.

Breakfast time. He high tailed it into the little taqueria inside for a chorizo and egg taco. Or two, he was feeling two. A rumble in his gut told him he'd better make a pre-taco pit stop, so he changed course for the bathroom, where he would make a galling discovery.

Kelvin received a lesson in locking bathroom doors that morning. Reid pushed his way into the one-person lavatory and was immediately glad he hadn't been carrying anything - he would have dropped it. The Shiba Inu was standing in front of the sink, and his shirt hung on a coat hook nearby while he made use of the sink for a shower.

"Kelvin?"

The Shiba Inu spun around to face the last person he ever wanted to see him like this. He couldn't even look him in the eye. Ears flat against his head, he stared at the floor, half-naked and ashamed.

"Fuck..."

"Kelvin, what the hell?"

The lump rising in the younger dog's throat could have choked a horse. An attempt at speech produced barely more than a croak, and he broke down into a quivering, sobbing ball of fur.

"Kel...Kel, talk to me. What happened? Did you go home last night?"

"I don't have a home." He choked out, his lithe frame shaking as tears cascaded down his muzzle.

"What. Kelvin, come on. Let's go outside. Put your shirt on, let's talk."

Reid managed to buy them some time with a little white lie about a dead battery. They sat in the Mustang with breakfast tacos, Kelvin trying desperately to collect himself while the other canine remained quiet until he finished eating.

"I'm not going to judge you. Whatever it is, I promise. You're in a safe place."

Kelvin sighed and looked up, his eyes puffy and red. His mouth hung open for a moment or two while he fought for words.

"I came out to my parents yesterday."

Reid just nodded and stared at the gauge pod. He needed gas.

"I don't know why I did it, God, it was so fucking stupid! I was going to move out as soon as I had enough money saved up; it would have happened soon enough, I could have waited. It could have waited...fuck..."

He sniffled and wiped his eyes, crying again, but softer.

"Fucking uber-Christian parents. Fucking assholes!" He shouted, "I'm sorry, Reid."

The older dog merely shrugged.

"Nothing to be sorry about."

Kelvin nodded and wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt. Reid tapped his finger absentmindedly.

"You think you're in good enough shape to come to work?" He asked, prompting the Shiba Inu to stop mid-wipe.

Kelvin felt lower than the car they were sitting in. He'd just poured his heart and soul out for someone who he felt genuinely cared about him, but evidently, Reid was just a businessman at heart. There was work to be done, how could he expect him to skip out on work over something as trivial as being kicked out of one's home? He sighed.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"We're got to get Aiden's car finished. That's our priority for today; I'm looking to have it done before lunch."

"Sure, Reid."

"Where are we on that one?"

"We left off on the exhaust. Needs everything rear of the headers and a tune and it's done."

Reid said something following that, but Kelvin was no longer listening. He watched his friend out of the corner of his eye, doubting everything he'd ever felt for him. Even still, he loved watching his friend drive. He loved the slow, calculated movements, his unparalleled concentration, watching those leg muscles move under his jeans every time he worked the clutch; there was even something tantalizing, borderline erotic, about how that tawny-furred hand gripped the shift knob.

"Kel?"

"Hm? What?"

"I said don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. Believe me, you don't want those idiots at the shop finding out, you'll never hear the end of it."

"Okay. Thanks."

Once they'd arrived at work, with Reid's experience and Kelvin's help, the exhaust was finished with an hour to spare, but it felt like forever when neither of them were saying anything save for the occasional tool request. It was the quietness the heeler longed for, unencumbered by the Shiba's many questions, but it pained him to know that he was hurting inside.

"Alright. Take it over to the dyno and turn it over to Frank, I'm going to run this over to Paul for the expense report."

"Okay."

***

"So they kicked him out?"

"Yeah."

Paul rubbed his chin.

"What's he going to do?"

"I don't know, ah, hold on."

Reid heard the chime of the front door and left the office to see Aiden walking up to the counter, dapper as ever in a grey suit and tie and looking as happy as could be.

"Is it done?"

"It's getting tuned right now. Shouldn't be too much longer if you want to wait around."

"How about lunch?"

Reid nodded.

"We can do lunch. You want Mexican?"

"Sure. Can we take the Nova?" Aiden asked, bringing his hands together in excitement. It was too cute to say no to, but Reid didn't want to take it off premises without Paul's permission. He turned around to ask, but before he could get a word out, Paul tossed the keys to him with a wink.

"Have fun, you two."

"Thanks, Dad!" Reid said jovially. Paul simply chuckled and shook his head.

Reid looked at the world differently as the two rolled out of the shop in the Nova. The sun shone brighter, the air smelled cleaner, and everything seemed right with the world for the first time in forever. Aiden stretched out in the Chevy, his jacket and tie removed, with one hand on the wheel and the other across the back of the bench seat as they cruised along in third gear.

Reid had no doubt in his mind as that moment - he was falling in love.

"So how's work going today?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Reid shook his head following his dry response and reached for a chip.

"What's up?"

"Kelvin, remember him? We ran into him last night. He came out to his parents yesterday."

"Really? Good for him!"

"Not really, no. They're the religious type. Kicked him out. I was wrong about him getting high. Kid slept in his car last night in that parking lot."

Aiden's expression softened until it was a look of pure empathy.

"Oh, poor thing! I hope he's got somewhere to stay."

Reid shrugged.

"He's got some friends he's been texting this morning, trying to see if he can line up a place to hang his hat for a little while, until his parents cool down."

"I wouldn't hold my breath on that one."

"No?"

"My folks never did. They had no interest in keeping in contact with me when I got out of that academy they sent me to. I tried off and on, but I never heard back. I was two years in at San Quentin and I got a letter that my Dad had died. They were going to allow me to go to the funeral, but I didn't. He didn't love me, and I didn't love him. Would have been a moot point."

Reid chewed slowly on a chip and stared off into the distance.

"Well. The kid's got his whole life ahead of him. I hope he doesn't make the same mistakes we did."

"He'll be fine, hell, by the time I was his age I was in prison."

Reid wet his lips and delved into toxic thought patterns while Aiden busied himself with a plate of enchiladas verdes. He thought about how the Shiba Inu would fare in a prison environment. He wouldn't. He'd get eaten alive. He'd be someone's bitch by the first night, or wind up getting beaten to death like that guy in The Shawshank Redemption. At that moment, he decided he'd do anything he could to keep Kelvin from winding up like either of them.

He deserved better.

***

Back at the shop, Reid proudly presented Aiden with the keys to a Mustang that was outwardly recognizable, but inside, a whole new animal.

"Now, don't do any hard starts for about 500 miles or so. That aftermarket clutch needs some time to break in."

"Uh huh!" Aiden said giddily, and turned the key in the ignition. The sound that burst forth from the exhaust pipes could frighten small children. He blipped the accelerator and watched the RPM's jump. The X-pipe's raspy, throaty exhaust note was music to his ears, from the rev all the way to the pop of the throwback.

"Seriously, be careful with this thing, it ain't no joke."

"Hey, if I can handle yours, I think I can handle mine."

Reid grinned and shook his head.

"Don't say it."

"And I'm not just talking about our cars, either!" Aiden added, laughing. "Unless of course, this car is faster than yours..."

"Yeah, right! You just worry about breaking in that clutch for now and then we'll get on the track. See who the better driver is."

"See you tonight?" Aiden asked.

"Yep! You want to come over to my place? I'll cook for us."

"You can cook? My, you are a jack of all trades, aren't you?"

"And a master of none." He winked, and patted the top of the car a couple of times.

"I gotta head out for work. I'll text you when I'm heading over."

"Sounds good." Reid did a quick scan of the front of the building to make sure no one was watching, and bending down he stuck his head in the window and gave the lab a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you."

That caught Aiden off guard. It was the first time he'd said that, and it had been as casual and as natural as though they'd been saying it for years. He smiled.

"I love you too."

Reid walked back in feeling much better than he had been earlier. Aiden was happy with his car and boyfriend or not, he was still a customer and their reputation hinged on customer satisfaction.

All Reid had to do was make it through another five hours of work, but his mind was abuzz with everything except for the vehicles he was working on. What would he cook tonight? Was the kitchen clean or would he have to straighten up before he got started? And what about Kelvin? Where was he going to go?

The garage was void of engine noise and classic rock by five-thirty. The sun was setting, and the doors were being lowered in characteristically loud fashion.

"Find a place?" Reid asked, approaching a table through the din of everyone grabbing their things to head home. Kelvin was sitting there, his phone on the table, his forehead in his hands.

"No. It's going to take me a bit. Just take me back to my car; I may be able to find something by tonight."

Reid nodded.

"All right."

The ride to Kelvin's car was quiet. Reid cruised at a moderate pace, his mind elsewhere. Kelvin leaned on the door panel, staring straight ahead, unmoving, at least until they flew past the service station where his car was.

"Reid-"

"I know."

Beat.

"I'm not going to have you sleeping in your car. Not when I've got crash space at my apartment."

"But what about you and Aiden?"

"What do you mean what about...what, wait, me and Aiden?"

"Yeah. You know you and Aiden?" Kelvin followed up with sugary-sweet inflection.

Reid balked.

"How did you - God damn it, did Paul tell you?"

"No. But you just did." Kelvin shot back, grinning for the first time that day.

"Don't say anything to anyone about it. Don't say a fucking word, got it?"

Kelvin put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, I got it. You won't even know I'm there, I'll be a fly on the wall, out of sight, out of mind."

"Good. Keep it that way. And nothing you see or hear in my apartment leaves it, understand?"

"Yeah. Roger. I'm good for it."

At the apartment, Reid immediately began tearing the kitchen apart, loading things into the dishwasher, wiping off countertops, and pulling things from the refrigerator and the pantry. Kelvin, unsure of what to do or where he was going to stay took a seat on the couch.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, just chill there and don't get in the way." Reid muttered loud enough for the Shiba Inu to hear. Kelvin lowered his ears and sunk into the sofa. He watched while the cattle dog tore the smallish kitchen apart, pulling out pots, pans, and ingredients.

"Reid?"

"Yeah."

"Look, I just wanted to say thanks. For letting me stay here. I...promise it won't be long, I'll get back on my feet soon."

"It's okay."

Reid seemed more interested in the package of steaks he was looking at than what Kelvin was saying to him. He tossed it onto the counter with a plap and looked up at the younger dog.

"Aiden's supposed to be here in an hour. What do you know about cooking?"

***

"All right, let's portion out this marinade here...it won't have time to sit, but we can cook it in the marinade and that'll sort of infuse the flavor into the meat." Kelvin explained, dumping soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, and a variety of spices into a large mixing bowl. "Preheat your oven to 275; you got a cast iron skillet?"

"Yes."

Kelvin was overjoyed. Granted, it didn't look as though he was going to be allowed to partake in the meal, but having the opportunity to school the older dog lifted his spirits.

"Okay. Set your timer for twenty minutes. We'll reverse sear these steaks and you'll have them ready for when Aiden gets here."

"Awesome."

Together they toiled in the kitchen, preparing dinner for Reid's guest. While the steaks sat in the oven, Reid cubed potatoes for mashing while Kelvin brushed olive oil onto some fresh asparagus with cracked pepper and salt. Stooping down at a cupboard, Reid moved to get a pot out in which to place the potatoes for boiling, but he winced and clutched at his abdomen for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Kelvin asked, noticing.

"Yeah...ah...I'm fine."

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothing," He found the pot he needed and stood up, "I've been having some abdominal pains lately, probably just gas."

Kelvin nodded.

"So I'm curious, this thing with you and Aiden...how did that come to be? Like, who asked who out?" Kelvin asked. He figured if he talked about something that obviously made the cattle dog happy, maybe he could make some progress.

"Oh, that, that's sort of foggy. I don't think either of us really asked, it just sort of came to fruition one day."

"I think some the best relationships happen that way. It's natural, uncontrived. You and Aiden really seem to have something good going on."

"I'd like to think so."

Reid paced the apartment while the potatoes boiled and the asparagus roasted. Kelvin tended to the steaks, pushing a meat thermometer into one of them to check it. He was bending over backwards to make sure that dinner would be perfect for them, but he figured it was the least he could do if he was going to stay there.

"Hello?"

Kelvin's ears pricked over the sound of the searing steaks in the skillet. Reid was on the phone.

"Hey sweetie, I'm really, really sorry but I'm just not going to be able to make it out there tonight. I promise we'll do this soon, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, what's up?"

"I'm just bogged down with work tonight. There's a trial tomorrow and we're all working overtime trying to get everything lined up, I'll be lucky if I get out of here by ten."

"Well...okay. Yeah, we'll plan for another night then. Don't work too hard okay?"

"I'll try not to. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too babe. Bye."

Sizzling meat was the only sound in the apartment until Reid tossed his phone down onto an empty place mat and took a seat at the table. Picking up the bottle of wine he'd bought for that night, he poured himself a generous serving and swirled it in the glass before downing it in a few gulps.

"Kelvin."

The Shiba Inu turned his head and pretended as though he hadn't overheard.

"Hm?"

"Cook that other steak however you like it."

Kelvin slapped a beautiful, medium-rare New York strip onto a plate and set it aside.

"Aiden not coming over?"

"No, not tonight. He's busy; he got tied up with work. So I guess it's just you and me tonight."

"That's cool with me." Kelvin said, and immediately regretted it. Reid was being nice enough to let him stay at his place until he got back on his feet, the last thing he wanted to do was make it seem like he was jealous of the attention the heeler gave to Aiden. Thankfully, he didn't seem offended; he simply poured himself another glass of wine.

"Maybe this is a good thing, you know, it'll give us a chance to get to know each other a little better." Kelvin suggested between bites. Reid chewed slowly, staring across the table at him.

"Seems like we're always a little too busy at the garage for us to really...I dunno, bond? Is bond the right word?"

"I suppose."

Kelvin was pulling teeth. Reid couldn't seem any less interested if he tried.

"Y'know, you seem happier now than when I first met you. Some of the guys at the garage, they talk about you. Not in a bad way, of course, I think most everyone's got respect for you, they just seem to think you've got a...drinking problem."

Reid looked up, his fork halfway to his mouth.

"A drinking problem?"

Kelvin shrank.

"Gossip, you know. It's a regular topic around the lunch table. I've overheard a few stories from Billy and the other guys, too."

"I do not have a drinking problem." Reid lied, pouring himself another glass of irony.

Kelvin laid his ears. It seemed as though the cattle dog was peeved at the suggestion that he might have a personal issue that had become a topic of the town around the garage. True as it was, he preferred to keep his private life private, and for good reason at that.

"I-well-you know, I've had nights where I'll have a little more than what some would consider, y'know, normal, and I might show up with a little on my breath still, but all that means is that I forgot to brush my teeth that morning."

Reid sighed.

"Look. I suppose now's as good a time as any to come clean. I've been through a lot in the past fifteen years or so. It's been a rough road for me, and unfortunately, yes, it has led to me having certain vices that I use to get me through my days. One of those vices happens to be alcohol."

Kelvin nodded, silent.

"These are things I didn't want you to know because I knew you looked up to me. Um...no one's ever really told me something like that before. I didn't know how to react; you sort of put me in an odd position." He chuckled uncomfortably, "I wanted to continue to be a role model for you. I didn't want you to know how broken I am inside. And yes, as you observed, things have been looking up for me since Aiden and I got together, so hopefully in the future I'll find better ways of coping with my past."

"Well...I appreciate you telling me this stuff. If it's all the same, I haven't lost any respect or admiration for you. It doesn't change my opinion of you, I mean...look at me. Look where I'm at right now."

"Kel, I know things are bad right now for you. It's just life. It throws you wild cards like this every now and then, but you just have to make the best of them. That's what I did, or what I tried to do, anyway. My point is, you're out on your own for the first time, and it came unexpectedly. You're going to have to be prepared for rough roads ahead, but I'll do what I can to help you. I just don't want to see you make the same mistakes I made."

"Thanks, Reid."

"Sure. How's that wine?"

"Oh, it's really good."

"Sixty bucks a bottle, it damn well better be!"

They laughed, and toasted to whatever.

***

"I was a senior in High School back in 2011; I had a boyfriend for a little while. His name was Eric." Kelvin explained, staring at the TV.

"Jeez, you're making me feel old. I graduated in 1996." Reid laughed, downing a shot. He poured himself another one and offered one to Kelvin, who declined. He finished that one too, and set the bottle back down on the coffee table in front of the couch where they sat.

"He looked so much like a girl that it made it easy for us to be together in public. Even my parents met him! We kept up that guise for a while, but after a while it just became too much to keep up with, not to mention it got a little tiring for him, having to pretend and all. We once stole a pair of his sister's panties and planted them in my room to make things even more convincing."

They laughed.

"My Dad...get this, my Dad took them and hung them up above my door with a thumbtack, called it a trophy. He was so proud."

"Oh, that is just gold."

"What about you, did you have any gay relationships in high school?"

"No, not in high school. I didn't really start experimenting with stuff like that until a few years after. I was a ladies' man in high school, if you can believe that."

"It's hard to."

"Oh,thanks." Reid rolled his eyes. "No, I had a lot of girlfriends back in those days. I wasn't even one of the jocks. I was just...popular. People liked me. I was funny, and I was bright and outspoken...I guess it was just my way of coping with the life I had at home. Not even my closest friends knew how fucked up I was."

They were silent for a few seconds, which Reid used to down another shot.

"I know you're going through some of the same. I'm not going to say that things will get better because I don't know that. But you had something I didn't. You grew up in a family that raised you right, even if they don't think so. They're probably wondering what they did to turn you gay. I guarantee you they're tearing their hair out trying to figure out what went wrong. Let them, because until they learn to accept you, that hell will be their punishment."

Kelvin only nodded.

"In the meantime, you've got to get on your own two feet, and quick. Thirty is gonna hit you faster than you think, and if you don't have something going for you by that time, you're gonna wind up like me."

"I'd consider myself lucky if I wound up being half the man you are."

"That just tells me you know nothing about me."

"I know you're an excellent driver. You're a master at what you do in the garage. You have a nice car, a nice apartment, a cute boyfriend, and you've been gracious enough to give me shelter when I had none. You're a good man. Tell me, what's not to be happy about?"

"That isn't how these things work. You don't just get better overnight. Yeah, I'm not sad every single night because most nights, he's here with me, or I'm over there, or we're out somewhere, but..." Reid was torn again. He didn't know how the Shiba was doing it, but somehow, Kelvin was digging deeper into the lockbox that contained the cattle dog's ugly truths and secrets. As desperately as he wanted to open up, he couldn't. He hadn't even told Aiden everything yet.

"I know I'd be foolish to think you're perfect. You're not, and I don't expect you to be. No one is. I just want to be there for you too. I want you to feel like you can confide in me, like I can be a shoulder for you to cry on too."

"I never cry."

"Bullshit."

"Believe what you want. You know me, I'm as real as it gets."

Kelvin nodded.

"It's part of what makes you so endearing. And forgive me - attractive."

Reid turned towards the other dog, but only slightly.

"Kelvin."

"I know, I know, you're taken." Kelvin poured himself a shot of steadiness, and another one of courage. "But how serious is it? It's only been what, a few weeks now?"

Kelvin had sidled up to the older dog, his head on his shoulder, his muzzle only inches away from nuzzling into the heeler's neck. Reid tensed up. True, he'd admired Kelvin in the garage as he worked, especially on the hot days when he'd be in nothing but a sleeveless undershirt. But Aiden...

Reason and emotion were having it out in Reid's mind. There was no time like the present, as another minute's passing would be one more that his heart belonged to Aiden, a bond that was only getting stronger with time. He loved him. He'd told him just hours ago. And yet he sat there, shamefully erect and using all the willpower he had to resist the Shiba Inu's advances.

Kelvin went for it. He leaned in closer, and nuzzled the side of Reid's neck all the way up to his cheek, and the older dog squirmed under the feel of hot breath and the younger dog's arm over his chest. Reid was trying not to breathe through his nose - the scent in the apartment was overpowering. The Shiba Inu's earlier sink shower was evident in his scent; not unpleasant, but his deodorant mixed with just the right amount of male aroma to create a cocktail of opiate caliber.

"Kelvin, I can't. We can't do this."

"Why?" He whispered, sad.

"It just wouldn't be right...for so many reasons."

"Doesn't seem like you've come to a consensus on that." Kelvin said, reaching down and grabbing Reid's erection through his jeans and stroking it.

"Kelvin!"

"Sorry...I'm sorry." The hand retreated. Reid sighed.

"It's all right; just...let's not go there. It's just not a good idea."

***

Aiden revved his new engine and reveled in the powerful and intimidating exhaust note. Small crowds had formed on either side of the street, and the lab was shooting daggers at the driver in the car next to him. From either side, people cheered and cajoled the drivers, placed bets, and showed off their own rides to one another.

"You sure you want to do this?" Aiden shouted to the other driver over the sound of their engines. His opponent spoke no English, but he knew an international pejorative, which he flashed to the dog. The lab cackled in response and smoked his tires where he sat, much to the approval of the crowd.

A buxom, young vixen clad only in a bikini strutted out into the street and proceeded to remove her top, the cheers intensifying, the revving growing louder and far more intense. She raised the garment high above her head, and in one fluid motion, whipped it down while bending at the waist, sending the drivers off into the night, the Labrador taking the lead by a long, long way.