Title: Long-Term Care Ended

Author: Nelson

Couple: O/C Laz/Adam

Author Notes: This is a new couple I introduced briefly in Bad Hair Day. If you haven’t read that, here’s a little background: Laz is Jacob Lazarus, hair stylist extraordinaire. He is the Top in the relationship. Adam Sawyer is his lover and brat. He is a mechanic by trade.

Long-Term Ended

Laz winced against the sound of the front door virtually slamming when his lover came home. He must not have used the garage, Laz thought. He went to the door of the kitchen where he could look into the living room, and he saw Adam hanging his coat on the banister. “Closet,” Laz said, reminding Adam once again that there was a particular place for his coat that didn’t involve the stairwell. A heavy sigh followed his request and Adam plucked the jacket up, moving toward the closet.

“Hello, to you, too,” he grumbled as he passed by.

“Where have you been?” Laz asked, following Adam to the closet.

“To see Mr. Franklin.” He selected a hanger and properly hung his jacket in the closet. He turned to Laz, softly closed the closet door, and said, “Sorry, I’m late.”

“A call would have been nice,” Laz pointed out, tugging his partner to him for a kiss.

“I said I was sorry. We got caught up talking,” Adam said, and was cut off by Laz’s lips firmly covering his own.

Laz ran a hand over the gelled dark hair and fingered one of the two earrings in Adam’s right lobe matching the pair in the other ear. “You aren’t that late. But, you should have told me where you were. It’s only the polite thing to do, you know.”

Adam caught Laz’s hand before he could spoil the short ‘do and kissed his palm. “I said…”

“I know,” Laz interrupted. “You’re sorry. Be more considerate in the future, love.” Laz softened the words with another quick peck to the lips. He hooked his fingers through Adam’s and they walked toward the kitchen. “Did you have a bad day or something? Was the shop a madhouse?”

“Work was fine,” Adam reported. “I got through all the scheduled maintenance today with no real problems.”

“Another day, another oil change, huh? Why do you seem so glum?” Laz pressed.

Adam sighed as he took a seat at the table. “I’m not. I’m just tired, that’s all,” he said vaguely.

Laz assessed his lover carefully, not buying the excuse for a second. He wasn’t willing to push him at the moment, but rather, gave Adam room to open up on his own. He shifted the subject slightly and asked, “How was Mr. Franklin?”

“He was fine.” His thoughts turned to Lizzy across the hall; it was Lizzy who wasn’t… He slumped into a chair and finished, “I shouldn’t have gone over there today.”

Laz turned from the stove at that comment, and looked intently at Adam once again. He decided his lover needed some attention so he abandoned the less-important pork chops, laying the pan on top of the stove. He walked over to the table and sat beside Adam, cupping his face in his hands, and giving him his full attention. “What is it?” he asked.

Adam’s worried eyes looked back at Laz and he said, “Nothing. I’m just tired, really.”

“Are you sure? Did something happen you need to talk to me about?” Laz asked, knowing how Adam clung to his problems.

Adam glanced at Laz from the table and shook his head. “No, I just need to take shower and relax tonight. Nothing to talk about, okay?”

Laz considered the request and only after searching Adam’s eyes closely was he content to let it go. “All right, love.” His lips found their way to the tip of Adam’s nose and kissed it softly. “Then you can put ice in the glasses while I finish with dinner.”

Adam groaned and looked at Laz. “I hate to put ice in the glasses,” he groused. “I always drop a piece.”

“Just be careful,” Laz said over his shoulder from the stove. He added with a smile, “I have every faith that you can handle it.”

Adam walked over to the cabinet and pulled two glasses out to take to the fridge. Laz playfully pinched his butt as he walked by, and Adam yelped indignantly. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist that tight ass,” Laz said with a seductive glance over his shoulder.

“Pervert,” Adam responded with the first hint of smile since he walked in the door.

On his first try to hit the glass, a piece of ice clattered to the floor, and Oliver pounced on it, batting it across the tile with the pads of his paws. “Silly cat. Find something else to play with,” he said with a pat to the furry head. He took away Ollie’s toy and tossed it across the room into the sink. “I told you, Laz.”

Laz shook his head and looked at Adam while he stirred the pot on top of the stove. “I guess we need a fridge with the ice thing in the door. I don’t know how you manage to do that every time. It must be a gift.”

“If it’s a gift, I want to return it,” Adam complained. “So, how was your day?” he asked, digging his fingers back into the ice tray. He tried to keep his thoughts away from what was troubling him and focus on anything else.

“Busy, as usual. One of my ‘sometimes’ clients came in today,” Laz started laughing and had to catch his breath to finish.

“What?” Adam asked, his face immediately breaking into a smile at Laz’s laugher. He asked again when Laz didn’t answer with more than continued chuckles, “What?!”

“Oh, God. You know, I really shouldn’t be laughing.”

“What happened?!” Adam asked, pausing his quest for ice cubes. His fingers were already stinging from filling one glass so his hand welcomed the break.

“She’s not exactly a little woman. She’s sort of…fluffy,” Laz said, extending his hands out at his sides to indicate her size.

“Fluffy?” Adam asked, going back to the ice. “Is that the politically correct term for ‘fat’ these days?”

“It’s the only nice way I could think to put it.”

“What did Fluffy do?” Adam asked, closing the freezer door.

Laz put a wooden spoonful of cauliflower to his lips and gave it a taste test. He tasted another bit and reached for the salt, shaking extra into the pot. “She talks 90 miles a minute, this one. She was coming across the floor, just yickety yacking,” he explained, snapping his fingers and thumb together on one hand to imitate a mouth flapping, “and she lost her balance or something…” Laz had to stop as the laughter overtook him a second time. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes and wiped at them.

“She fell?” Adam asked, assuming what was next.

Laz nodded while he laughed. “And, BOUNCED. I swear to God, she literally bounced when she went down. Her muumuu rode up and I could see her knee highs…It wasn’t pretty…”

Adam forgot his bad day long enough to laugh with his partner. If anyone could ever make him feel better it was Laz. He laughed with him and sat the glasses on the table. Laz switched off the burners and got himself under control. “It was hilarious. I had to fake a bathroom run so I could pull it together.”

Adam grinned at his partner’s joviality and said, “You’re mean to laugh, Jacob Lazarus.”

“I couldn’t help it,” Laz said. He put the pork chops in the center of the table and turned to get the cauliflower. “I tried not to, I really did.”

Adam asked, “What do you want to drink?” He sat the ice-filled glasses on the table and went back to the refrigerator for the drinks, hanging in the door for an answer from Laz.

“Tea, please,” he said, taking a seat at the table. He began to serve up the main course while Adam finished with the drinks.

Adam came over and poured their tea then sat the pitcher on the table within easy reach. He fell curiously quiet as he ate, obviously lost in his thoughts.

“…so, I thought we would sell the house,” Laz was saying.

Adam looked up from his plate in confusion and looked frankly at his partner. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. I was just testing you to see if you were actually listening. You’re a million miles away, babe.” Laz put his hand over Adam’s and took the fork from between his fingers. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s nothing,” Adam said.

“Hey,” Laz said, turning Adam’s chin up to him. Adam wasn’t one to brood without good reason; something was wrong, and keeping it to himself would only make things worse, as history had proven. “It’s obviously something. When a problem has you this distant, you need to talk to me. We’ve had to cross this bridge before, haven’t we? Tell me what it is.”

Adam pulled his hand away and slumped against the ladder-back chair, hugging himself with his arms. “I don’t feel like it.”

“Adam,” Laz said. There wasn’t a trace of humor in his tone, and it had turned starkly serious. “I didn’t ask you to tell me if you felt like it. I want you to tell me what’s bothering you. Quit shouldering it by yourself. Let me in.” When Adam refused to meet his gaze or to talk, Laz guessed, “Have you done something I need to know about?”

Adam’s head rose with a jerk and he snapped, “NO! Maybe I just don’t want to talk. Did that ever occur to you?”

“There’s no need to snarl at me,” Laz said warningly. “We’re always able to talk to each other. That shouldn’t be an issue. The issue is when you have something on your mind that’s bothering you, you get yourself into a state.” Adam turned his head away from Laz. “I see you getting there already. And, if you’re in some kind of trouble, you need to…”

Adam sharply cut off Laz’s sentence. “I TOLD you, I’m not.” Adam became more obstinate the more Laz made it clear he wanted to find out what was troubling him.

Laz took a long, slow look at Adam and said, “Then, if you aren’t in any trouble, there’s no reason you shouldn’t want to talk to me. Tell me what’s troubling you so I can help.”

Adam looked at Laz with challenging brown eyes, and spoke in a defiant tone that didn’t go over very well. “I SAID…” he answered hotly.

“Ah, ah…,” Laz interrupted before Adam went too far. “Watch what you say now, Adam,” Laz warned, meeting the challenge unfalteringly. “I know what you said before. I’d like to hear what’s gotten you so upset, or at the very least, an explanation as to why you can’t tell me. You should be able to do that much.”

Adam looked down and ran a tongue over his lips while he assessed his options, and Laz could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind. Adam looked back up, and met Laz’s stare. “Here’s an explanation for you: it’s none of your fucking business. How’s that? Is that enough of a reason for you? You can’t make me talk,” he said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Laz stood from the table after a moment’s consideration, taking Adam by the arm as he did so. “I shouldn’t have to,” he said with a hard swat to Adam’s butt on the way to a corner in the kitchen. As good-natured as Laz was, he had no problem being stern when the situation required it. He didn’t falter this time, either.

Choosing Laz’s God-given name as he always did when he wanted his attention, Adam demanded from the corner, “Jacob! This isn’t fair!”

“Quiet, Adam. You’re in the corner,” Laz commented calmly as he reclaimed his seat.

“But, Jacob!” Adam squawked, turning to face his lover. His cheeks were flushed either from anger or from being embarrassed, possibly both.

Laz looked up curiously at his partner, and was as calm as Adam was irritated. Laz knew that when Adam was in this state, if he met him with equal temper, Adam only got worse. He concentrated on remaining calm and not feeding Adam’s mood.

He asked, “What?” The only response was scowl punctuated by a hard stomp of Adam’s work boot against the kitchen tile. Laz looked at his angry lover and laid his fork beside his plate, ran a napkin slowly over his lips, and got up from the table a second time.

As he approached the corner, Adam stood to face him with his back to the wall instead of his nose, not giving in simply because Laz was coming. He second-guessed that decision by the time Laz reached him. He turned Adam back to the corner and gave him another few swats against his rugged jeans before releasing his arm. Even with the protective denim, Adam took notice of the sting from his lover’s typically gentle hand.

Laz leaned in close to Adam and paused a mere inches from his ear. “I want you to stand here quietly, and calm down before you get yourself in deeper trouble. Is that understood?” Laz said from beside Adam.

Knowing the swats could only get harder and would sting far more with his jeans down, Adam decided to take Laz up on his suggestion to stand still and get his anger under control. He nodded facing the corner, but he couldn’t keep from glancing back over his shoulder as Laz walked away. He turned around quickly when Laz faced him again to take his seat, his body turned toward Adam’s corner.

Laz continued to eat his meal while Adam stood stiffly where he had placed him, anger billowing off him in waves. After about 10 minutes, he started to relax, and Laz could see the difference in his posture. Shortly thereafter, he was shifting about, not able to stand still any longer. Laz had watched the body language go from mad, to uncertain, to clearly bored and nervous. Laz got up and put Adam’s plate in the microwave, planning to end Adam’s time in the corner when his meal was re-heated.

Adam could hear the digital bleeps behind him as Laz punched in the time, and started the machine. Correctly assuming it was his plate in the microwave, he hoped it was a sign that his sentence was ending. “Laaaaaz?” he said from the corner.

“What?” Laz said as he cleared his own plate from the table.

“Can I come out now? Please? I’m not mad anymore.”

“I’ll tell you when you can come out,” Laz said. He glanced toward the corner in time to see Adam fold his arms over his chest.

“I didn’t finish eating. I’m still hungry,” Adam said, trying for some sympathy. When Laz didn’t answer, he said, “Come on, Laz! I’m tired of standing here!”

“Quiet,” Laz said, not exactly unsympathetic, but in no way intending to be prodded into releasing Adam on Adam’s timetable. The microwave chimed when the timer reached zero, and Laz pulled the hot plate out and sat it back on the table.

Hearing the microwave door close, Adam asked, “Can I come out NOW?”

“Did I say you could?”

“But, I’m tired of standing here, Jacob!” Adam fussed again, distributing his weight alternately between his feet, doing a simple prance in the corner.

“Quiet,” Laz said simply. “And, be still.” He glanced at the clock and took note of the time, intending to add another minute for the talking. He picked up Adam’s glass of tea, with the small slivers of melted ice, and added some fresh cubes.

“Laaaaz?” came the request from the corner.

“Shhh!” Laz hissed sharply. “One more word, one more peep, and I’ll start your time over.” Adam huffed audibly, since that couldn’t be construed as a word or peep, to let Laz know he wasn’t happy with standing there longer.

To make sure Adam didn’t associate his whining with the end of his time in the corner, Laz added another thirty seconds to the extra minute. He looked at the clock and watched the remaining seconds tick by. As soon as they passed, he said, “Come here, love, and finish your dinner.”

Adam turned from the corner, and walked hesitantly to his place at the table, and the chair legs scraped against the floor when he pulled it out. He looked awkwardly at Laz, who was still sitting at his own place, but got up when Adam was settled. Adam looked at Laz’s back when he left the table to start the dishes. “Laz?”

“What?” he responded over the sound of the filling sink. He squirted dish soap in the basin and turned to Adam when he didn’t follow through on the conversation he had started. “What?” he asked again.

Adam picked up his fork and pushed the food around his plate. His eyes met Laz’s for only a split second before looking back at his plate. He asked quietly, voice barely above a whisper, “Are you going to spank me after dinner?”

Laz turned off the taps for a moment and said, “I couldn’t hear you. What did you say?”

Adam swallowed hard and looked at Laz, somehow managing to utter the question a second time a little louder. “Are you going to spank me when I’m done?”

Adam’s cheeks were tinged pink from having to ask the question, guessing what the answer was even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it. “Eat, Adam,” Laz said gently from the sink, re-starting the water.

The non-answer was answer enough, and apprehension brought his face up to his partner. Laying the fork down harder than he meant to, Adam said, “But, I can’t eat now because I’m thinking about it!”

Laz turned from the sink and said, “Adam. Eat.”

“But, Laz! I didn’t mean it…” he pleaded.

“Adam?” Laz said, letting his long look finish the message.

Taking his eyes away from Laz, Adam said while pushing his plate away, “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Finish, please,” Laz said. He nodded his head toward Adam’s plate, and Adam unenthusiastically pulled it back to him while looking petulantly at Laz. He knew the decision was made, but it didn’t stop him from trying to get some sympathy votes. He only hoped he won a few before Laz returned to the job of washing up. He knew he was pushing it by not talking to begin with, then his outburst made it that much worse.

Laz took his time cleaning the kitchen, except for Adam’s dishes, while Adam reluctantly finished his plate. He turned from wiping the counters in time to see Adam shove his plate away from him a second time, cleared of food. Laz asked, “Finished?”

Adam nodded at Laz, knowing that by admitting he was finished meant the dance would begin soon. Laz took the first step. With his back to Adam while he washed the last of the plates and silverware, Laz asked, “Want to tell me why you threw a tantrum and cursed at me?”

“No,” Adam said tersely.

Laz wiped at the plate in his hand and began to rinse it, the lack of conversation hanging heavily while he cleaned. Placing the rinsed plate in the dish drainer, he continued the questioning. “Want to tell me why you don’t want to talk to me, without cursing at me this time?”

“No,” Adam said again. “Maybe later.” He added hopefully, “I’m going to take a shower.” He pushed away from the table and Laz turned from the sink, suds covering his hands and wrists.

“Hold on. Sit back down, Adam, we aren’t finished here.”

“Why can’t you let it go?!” Adam asked anxiously. Laz rinsed the last of the dishes and pulled the plug on the sink. Adam could hear the gurgling of the dishwater as it exited out to oblivion, or wherever old dishwater went. With no other distractions, Laz turned his full attention on his partner.

He grabbed a hand towel off the counter and slowly wiped his hands dry while looking at Adam. “Because you know how you get when keep things inside. And, you know lashing out at me is not the way we do things around here.”

“But, it won’t go away if I talk about it. If I talk about it, it just makes it real,” Adam said, admitting his fear.

Laz came around the table and Adam resisted the urge to step back, but Laz surprised him by giving him a tight bear hug. Adam stood stiffly at first then relaxed against Laz, wrapping his own arms around his waist.

Laz caressed the back of his head and said, “You’re just digging in your heels, aren’t you?”

“No,” Adam said.

“Adam…?” Laz said and pulled back away from him. Adam looked away but noted the supporting pressure of Laz’s hands on his upper arms. “Adam,” Laz said again.

Looking up suddenly, a storm simmered behind Adam’s eyes. “Oh, all right! I might have been digging in a little. But, there’s nothing you can do to help this situation, so there’s no need to tell you anything.”

“Ignoring your problems doesn’t make them go away. Telling me helps you to get it off your chest, and I can help that way if no other way. We don’t usually keep secrets in this house. Do we?”

Adam pulled away and sat back down at the table. “We should if one of us wants to,” he mumbled.

Laz gently brushed a rogue strand of hair off Adam’s forehead, and said, “We don’t. Never have. Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you yet?”

“No,” Adam said stubbornly.

“All right,” Laz said, with a sigh. Laz knew his partner well, and knew that when he harbored problems, he tended to act out of character, which typically got him in trouble. And, it was happening again. Laz said, “Then, let’s get to the issue we need to deal with then. Stomping and cursing at me are not the way to go and you know that. Temper tantrums, especially those born out of you keeping things from me, are not going to fly. Let’s go upstairs.”

“You ARE going to spank me. I knew it,” Adam said, dolefully shaking his head, and refusing to take the hand offered to him.

“Yes, I’m sure you knew I would when you made the decision to smart off to me and stomp at me. Let’s go to the office.”

The cauliflower threatened to come up when Laz took Adam’s arm to lead him through the house to the upstairs office. He tried to hang back but was moved ahead with a slight tug by Laz. He only released his grip when they entered the office, and Laz walked across the distance from the door to the chair in the corner, pulling it out into the middle of the floor. He took a seat and curled his forefinger at his partner who was understandably hanging back on the other side of the room, still hovering by the door.

Adam stalled and said, “Laaaaaz? Wait a second. I want to talk to you.”

Laz paused, surprised, and rested his hand on his thigh. “What do you want to talk about?”

“About you not spanking me,” Adam said with a step back closer to the door.

Disappointed that Adam still clung to his problem, Laz realized he was no closer to discussing what was bothering him than when he asked him the first time. The proffered discussion was merely a means to avoid the punishment Adam knew was coming. “There’s nothing to talk about there. You’ve earned a spanking, now we need to take care of it.” He moved his hand from its resting place, and repeated the gesture of calling Adam with his forefinger, but Adam stood still.

“All right, then, I’ll tell you about today,” Adam said, changing tactics. “Isn’t that what you want?”

“That’s not why you’re getting spanked, no, but I do want you to talk to me. Do you want to tell me about it now, before your spanking or wait until after?” Laz was all too aware that Adam was only willing to talk in hopes of getting out of his punishment, and he wanted to be clear that it was still going to happen.

“But, Laz! I had a bad day,” he admitted vaguely. “You’re just going to make it worse!”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Laz said. He rested his palms on his hips at the juncture of thigh and torso and waited for Adam to continue. He was met with a silent plea to which he responded, “What happened?”

“Are you still going to be mad if I tell you?” Adam asked, looking at his shoes.

“You’re still going to get a spanking for cursing at me and for how you acted at dinner, yes. But, I’d like to hear what’s got you wound up tonight.”

“But, Laz! I don’t think I should be spanked. I don’t!” he pleaded from across the room, still sidestepping the issue. Laz gave him a level look and Adam declared, “I shouldn’t be spanked for being upset!”

Laz’s finger returned to requesting his presence by pointing at the floor beside his right leg, once he realized there was no heartfelt discussion about to ensue. “I guess you want to talk about it after your spanking.”

“Jacob! I shouldn’t be in trouble for how I feel!”

“That’s not why you’re being spanked, and you know it. Stop muddying the issue. You decided you should get a spanking when you acted up at dinner, flaring up and cursing at me. Come over here so we can get it over with. Now, come on.” A grey-striped ball of fur brushed up against Adam’s leg and he stooped down to pick up the young cat at his feet. Laz, growing wearier of the routine by the second, said firmly, “Put Oliver down and come here.”

Adam buried his face in Ollie’s fur, and his eyes peeked over the cat to look at Laz. “I don’t want to,” he muttered against the cat.

Laz repeated slowly, with hard blue eyes zeroed in on his partner, “Put down the cat, and come here.” Adam continued to stare at him from across the room, feet firmly planted, and Oliver still cuddled in his arms. Tired of the standoff, Laz hardened his voice and said, “Adam Sawyer, if you don’t put Oliver down and get your butt over here right now, I’m going to send you for the paddle. I’m not telling you again.”

At the threat of a paddling, Adam leaned over to deposit Oliver back on the ground, and the cat leapt gracefully to the floor then went to Laz, weaving between his legs. Adam’s feet started moving without enthusiasm toward his waiting lover. Still protesting as he walked across the room, he said, “I’ll tell you all about it, then you’ll understand. You don’t have to spank me.” He stopped at Laz’s knee and Laz helped him around to his side, mindful of Oliver, who was still at his feet. Laz’s fingers immediately started working on Adam’s fly, and the color rose to his cheeks when Laz pulled his pants down to his knees.

When Laz tried to pull down his underwear, they were hindered by the jeans on the way back up as Adam tugged them back in place. “You don’t have to spank me, I said. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

Laz took Adam’s hands in his before he could pull his pants fully back up, and he noticed the grease stains that always had a home around his lover’s nails, no matter what he did to rid himself of them. Axle grease and other “car oils” that Laz knew nothing about, always settled into the creases of Adam’s hands from daily handling the substances. He noticed a new Band-Aid over Adam’s right index finger and thought to remind himself to ask about it later. He looked into Adam’s dark brown eyes, and said, “Adam. Stop it. I’d like to hear what it is that has you so upset, but right now, I’m spanking you for smarting off to me. You keep telling me you’ll share what’s bothering you, yet you haven’t done it. You don’t seem to be any more ready to talk than you were when you came home. I have a hunch you’re just stalling. Am I right?”

Adam looked at his hands encased in those of his lover. His mouth was pursed into a tight line, refusing to open or respond. Laz took the silence for confirmation. “So, we’ll deal with why we’re here. Hopefully, you’ll feel like talking later and not get yourself into more trouble because you’re so stressed.”

Adam looked up quickly and found Laz’s blue eyes. “No, I won’t feel like talking. I won’t feel like doing anything later.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, and I hope you’re wrong. You know the best way to deal with your problems is to talk to me. We’ve been over this before, time and again. If you had talked to me, you wouldn’t have flared at me, which is why I’m spanking you.” Adam frowned and dropped his eyes. Laz asked, “You DO understand why you’re getting a spanking?” A sharp nod said he did. To be sure, Laz asked, “Why?”

Adam didn’t answer at first but stared intently across the room over Laz’s head. He studied the spines of the books on the shelf, and tried not to focus on what was going on. His thoughts were interrupted when Laz squeezed his hands to draw his attention. With his fly loosened and his spanking imminent, he found it more difficult to talk about it. He reluctantly looked at Laz who raised his eyebrows in anticipation of an answer to his question. Adam swallowed against a dry throat and said, “I’m getting…,” he paused for a word other than “spanked”, hating the sound of the word in his ears knowing it was about to happen, then continued with, “punished because I threw a fit at dinner and was mean to you.”

“That’s right, you are. Now, I want you to talk to me, but I’m not spanking you for that. We’ll work through that, but not this way. Got it?”

“But, I didn’t mean for it to go so far,” Adam said.

Laz squeezed Adam’s hand again and said, “I’m sure you didn’t. Are we clear on why you’re getting a spanking?”

“But, it just slipped out!” Adam tried.

Laz wasn’t buying it. He said, “I saw you sit at the table and think about what you were going to say before you said it. That’s hardly a slip.” Adam’s eyes dropped away from Laz’s, and Laz asked again, “Now, are we clear on why you’re being spanked?”

Adam nodded shortly once again and his stomach clenched when Laz loosened his grip on his hands. Laz grasped the jeans and pulled them back down his legs, followed by Adam’s underwear. Adam let Laz pull him over his lap, and he felt his butt rise higher in the air, his toes grazing the floor, when Laz tipped his right leg up. Adam was vaguely aware of his breathing gone shallow and the lump that had formed in his throat while he waited for Laz to start.

He raised Adam’s shirt to his waistline, getting it out of the way of his butt, the intended focal point. The t-shirt was barely in the way, but Laz slipped it up to join the flannel shirt. Laz said from above Adam, “When you talk to me, I expect you to do so in terms and tones that are not offensive.”

“I know,” Adam said through strained vocal chords. “I won’t do it again. Please don’t…”

“Sorry, Adam, but I have to,” Laz responded.

“No, you don’t. You don’t!” Adam said to the floor. “I understand!” He pushed his palms against Laz’s leg to try to get up, but Laz’s forearm against the small of his back prevented him from success.

“I’m glad you do, but understanding isn’t enough. You made a conscious decision to lash out at me, and you know what happens when you do that.”

Feeling his message was more than clear, Laz started to spank Adam’s bottom until he had it thoroughly pink and squirming over his lap. He heard Adam’s voice crack when he uttered regrets and promises, until he couldn’t say anything else. As the spanking progressed, all the walls constructed out of the tension from the afternoon came crashing down, and the sobs tore out of his throat. Laz’s palm was a matching red and stinging by the time he stopped bringing it down on the twin cheeks over his knees.

Laz lowered his leg and rubbed his hand down Adam’s thigh while he tried to get his breathing and crying controlled. Adam started to push himself away and said, “I w-want to get…get up.”

Laz helped him to his feet, and carefully pulled his pants into place, leaving the fly slack since Adam still hadn’t had the shower he intended to take earlier. Adam suddenly threw himself against Laz and gripped him tight. “Oh, Baby,” he said into Adam’s ear. He held him tightly and noticed Adam was crying more than he expected from the spanking. The tears were what Laz thought of as “real” tears from a pain that cut deeper than the one in his lover’s rear end. These were tears of mingled physical pain and hurt from inside. “It’s okay,” he said, letting Adam cry it out while he rocked them gently back and forth.

“I’m s-sorry!” he hiccupped. “I didn’t m-mean to st-st-start a fight with you, I d-didn’t.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Laz said.

Adam suddenly pulled way and looked into Laz’s blue eyes, abruptly willing to tell all. The events of the day he had tried to keep hidden came rushing out of his mouth as the dam burst. “Lizzy’s not well. She almost…she almost…d-died today,” Adam confided finally.

Concern creased Laz’s features, and he shook his head. “Baby, I’m so sorry,” he said while wiping the moisture from his lover’s face. “That must have scared you to death,” Laz said. He pulled Adam to him and hugged him again, pressing Adam’s head against his shoulder, letting him cry. When his tears slowed, Laz asked, “Did they have to call someone to the nursing home?”

“Long-term care facility,” Adam corrected. “And, no, they have nurses there who were able to get her going again. She got choked. She can hardly swallow.”

“No wonder you’ve been upset tonight.” Adam leaned against Laz somewhat relieved at having told him about the stressful day. Laz ran a hand over Adam’s hair and kissed his head after his hand passed by. “Why was that so hard to tell me, Babe? Hmm?”

Adam thought for a second and wasn’t really sure. He came up with the only explanation he could think of. “B-because it was awful, Laz. I just KNOW she’s going to die. I don’t want to think about it,” he choked. But, he continued with the story nonetheless, “The alarm was going off and nurses were running all through the halls. I could see all of them from Mr. Franklin’s room.”

Laz kissed his head again firmly and said, “I’m sure it was hard on you to see that.”

“It was. I hated it! I was so scared she was going to die,” he said.

Laz shook his head at him with a worried frown. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone. Doesn’t it make you feel better having told me?”

Not sure he was ready to admit it, Adam took another second to think. He sniffed and offered a quiet admission, “I guess I feel a little better.”

“Good. How many times do I have to remind you that you don’t have to carry your problems alone?” Laz asked his tenderhearted brat, and tightened his arms around him. Adam answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “It always makes you grouchy and miserable. We both know how that generally ends.” Adam nodded against him and moved a hand to try massaging the stinging handprints from his backside. Laz said, “I’m so sorry that happened today. I know how close you’ve gotten to some of the patients there.”

“Residents,” Adam corrected again. Rubbing his butt wasn’t helping in the least, so he wrapped his arm back around Laz as he spoke. “She’s so sweet. She gets confused sometimes, but she can’t help it.”

“I think it’s great that you spend time with the elderly over there. I hate to see you hurt from doing something kind.” Laz kissed the tearstained cheeks and his heart broke at his lover’s pain. “Your heart is the biggest organ in your body. I love you for it, you know?”

“It didn’t stop me from being mean to you tonight,” Adam said with a quivering chin.

“Hey, stop that. I doubt you’ll do it again for a while,” Laz said with a smile. “Even if you do, I know how to deal with it. Besides, my skin is thick enough to take it on occasion.”

“Especially on your right palm,” Adam said with a teary smile. He took Laz’s right hand in his and turned it over. It was glowing as he expected. “See?”

“Yeah,” Laz said looking at his own palm.

“I hope it feels like my butt,” Adam said with a tinge of a smile. Laz smiled back, saying nothing, as he was unwilling to admit it didn’t feel at all like he was sure Adam’s backside felt. Adam turned serious again. “I really am sorry.”

“Yep, I know, Babe,” Laz said casually. “And, I forgive you.” Laz wrapped his arms around him once again for a reassuring hug then started walking him toward the bathroom, with an arm around his shoulders. “You know what you need?”

“What?” Adam asked, resting his head against Laz’s shoulder as they walked.

“A glass of wine, a hot bath and a cuddle. How does that sound?” Laz asked stopping just outside the bathroom door.

A worried frown graced Adam’s forehead and he touched his backside again. “The wine and cuddle sound fine, but I think I’ll stick with a cool shower.”

Laz smiled at him and pushed him toward the bathroom door. “Whatever you feel like, Babe. I’ll have your wine waiting for you when you finish.”

Adam left Laz and went into the bathroom. He grimaced against the sting in his ass when he bent over to turn on the taps then stood up quickly to lower his jeans. He kicked them off and pulled his underwear down, turning to get a look at his butt in the mirror, hitching up his shirt and t-shirt so he could see. Even without a paddle, Laz had done an adequate job of turning his butt red from the uppermost crest to his sit spot. “Holy fuck,” he muttered to himself while shaking his head at his reflection. “It looks like it feels. Why do you have to be so stubborn, asshole?” he asked himself. He wondered, as he often did, how Laz’s soft hands could do so much damage. He was thankful his partner didn’t have work-hard, calloused hands like his own. He whisked off his underwear and peeled his shirt and t-shirt off then stepped under the shower spray.

~~~~~~~~~~

Settled back on the sofa, somewhat relaxed from the shower, Adam leaned against Laz with the prescribed wine in hand. Draining the last of the glass, he sat the stemware on the coffee table and stretched out on his side with his head in Laz’s lap. Laz’s hand automatically went to the earrings in Adam’s ear, sticking his pinkie through the loops. Adam shoved his hands under Laz’s thigh that made for the best pillow in the world. Oliver jumped up on the coffee table and positioned himself directly in the path of the television. He blinked his eyes sleepily and licked his lips, apparently just having finished his dinner.

“Oliver!” Adam reprimanded. “Move out of the way.” He heard Laz chuckle above him, and he glanced over his shoulder at him. “It’s not funny. He always does that to me.” Laz leaned up, trying not to disrupt Adam, and picked Oliver up off the coffee table. Oliver settled down against Adam where Laz placed him, purring softly, and Adam stroked him with the hand that wasn’t tucked under Laz’s leg.

“Are you feeling better?” Laz asked, slipping his hand around Adam’s waist.

“I guess,” Adam said, still petting the cat. “Except for my butt still hurts.”

Laz reached down and patted the cotton-covered bubble-butt, with a much gentler touch than he applied earlier that evening. “I expect it does. How about here?” Laz asked, moving his palm over Adam’s heart and patting there just as gently.

“That hurts worse, but better with you knowing everything,” Adam admitted and rolled his head back to look up sideways at Laz. “I’m sorry about tonight.”

“You mentioned that already,” Laz said with a wink, and brushed the backs of his fingers against Adam’s cheek.

“What am I going to do if something happens to one of them?” Adam asked.

“You’ll deal with it. I’ll help you and will be there all the way,” Laz said, settling his hand back against Adam’s side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, look who’s here,” Kim said from the nurses’ station. “Yesterday AND today?”

Adam smiled at her and said, “I just thought I’d stop by for a bit. Is Mr. Franklin awake?”

“Ummm,” Kim said thinking. “I’m not really sure. There are only two of us today, so I haven’t been in there much.”

Adam sighed to himself, bitter once again for the short staff and lack of help. On his bi-weekly visits, he often took the initiative to help Mr. Franklin himself, and get him anything he needed while he was there. He approached room 42 and tapped his knuckles on the doorframe. Kenneth Franklin looked over and his face lit up when he saw Adam.

“Oh! Adam! Is this your day? You just came yesterday, didn’t you?” Kenneth asked.

“Yes, sir, I did. I just wanted to stop by for a little while; check on you and Lizzy.”

Kenneth used his feet to maneuver his wheelchair around and looked up at Adam. “Oh, yeah. Lizzy had a bad day yesterday, didn’t she?” He shook his head and looked at his hands.

“Hey,” Adam said. He waited until Kenneth looked up to pull a fast-food bag from behind his back. He waved the bag enticingly and the old man’s face broke out into a smile.

“You brought me a potato?”

“I brought you a potato. With extra sour cream, just like you like it.” Adam dragged up a chair and pulled the baked potato out of the bag, placing it on the tray table.

His eyes were drawn across the hall but the curtain that had been pulled around the bed in the other room blocked his view. Kenneth said, “Did you see in the paper where the old mayor of Jonesville turned 100 this week?”

“No, sir, I didn’t. Was that in yesterday’s paper?” Adam asked with another glance across the hall. The lights were turned down and all he could see were Lizzy’s feet pointing toward the ceiling under the covers at the foot of the bed.

“It was in today’s paper. Front page of one section,” he said. He dug the plastic fork into the potato and pulled out a chunk covered with butter and sour cream. “This is good, son. I just love baked potatoes.”

Adam turned his eyes from the door and smiled at the old man. “I know you do,” he said and patted his leg.

Adam spent about an hour visiting and couldn’t help the concern he felt at the lack of movement across the hall. He looked up at the clock over Mr. Franklin’s tray table and noted the time was slipping away. “I need to hit the road,” he said, standing up to go. “I want to poke my head in Lizzy’s room before I leave.”

“Okay, son. You take care.”

“You do the same, sir.” Adam leaned over and patted the old man’s shoulder. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Adam turned from his friend and headed out into the hallway. He paused at the doorway of Lizzy’s room and hesitated before tapping on the door. He didn’t hear anything but decided to go in anyway. He rounded the curtain and saw the frail motionless body of the old woman who had taken up residence in a little piece of his heart. He pulled a chair over beside her bed and picked up her hand. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned hazy eyes to him that were once crystal blue. A smile touched her lips and Adam smiled back.

“Mrs. Johnston,” he said, repeating their usual introductions.

“Lizzy,” she said. “Always call me ‘Lizzy’.”

He smiled at their ongoing joke and said the expected next line. “Okay. Lizzy it is.” His eyes traveled over her body and Adam was sure she looked frailer than she did the day before. “How are you, sweet girl?”

“You’re the sweet one,” she said. “I’m doing great. I jogged this morning, and it tired me out, is all.”

Adam laughed at her mercurial nature, and her wit. “Those jogs really get to you, don’t they?”

“That they do, that they do.” She narrowed her eyes at him that were full of wisdom from 80 plus years of life, and said, “Did you come by here just to check on me?”

“Yes, ma’am, I did,” Adam admitted. “I hope that’s okay with you.”

“Don’t call me ‘ma’am’. It makes me feel old,” she said with a smile.

“Yes, ma’…okay,” he said.

She nodded and gave him a weak smile. “That’s better.” Her eyes, though weak, shone when she said, “You made my day.”

Adam felt a lump forming in his throat and tears sting his eyes as her lids slipped shut again. “So tired,” she said, and he felt her hand go slack in his palm. Adam laid her hand down and rushed from the room, wiping at his eyes as he went to his car.

~~~~~~~~~~

“She looked so old and tired today,” Adam said in the dark curled against Laz. He rubbed his hand down Adam’s back and let him talk. “Sometimes, I wish I never started going over there.”

Knowing exactly what Adam meant, Laz said, “It’s bound to happen sometime, Babe, but until it does, you’re doing a great thing by taking your time to spend with them.”

Adam stretched his arm across Laz’s chest and he said, “I never expected to get this close to any of them when I started this.” Oliver jumped on the bed and tiptoed across the linens, finding a spot to massage before he lay down.

“It’s only natural,” Laz said. “You have a kind soul, Adam.”

They fell silent for a minute and Laz began to drift off. He woke up when Adam spoke again. “I’ve never seen her family visit her. She has cards hanging up, but I’ve never seen any visitors.”

Laz thought about it and said, “Maybe they go on the weekends.”

“I don’t think so,” Adam said. “I think I’m the only person who visits her.”

Laz kissed the top of his head and said, “Which makes your visits that much more special.”

“She’s going to die,” Adam said with certainty.

“So will we all, Babe. Never regret the good thing you’re doing by going over there.”

Adam felt tears threaten and he said, “But, if I had never gone, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing one of them.”

“And, you would have never have had the chance to brighten someone’s day, either. Would you?”

Lizzie’s words came flooding back. “You made my day,” she had said. Adam squeezed his eyes shut and wished for a world where people never had to part.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adam walked into the ward and passed the nurses’ station. Two nurses were huddled together going over the day’s activities as they changed shifts. One of them looked up as he passed and she threw up a hand without pausing her conversation. Adam waved back. He looked into Lizzie’s room as he stood just outside of Mr. Franklin’s. The bed was empty and made up without a single wrinkle in the sheets. It had been a week since the funeral, and his second visit to the ward since she passed, but he still expected to see her sitting there when he looked in the room.

He took a deep breath to quell the emotion about to overtake him and he walked into room 42. Kenneth was watching the news and didn’t hear him come in. “Mr. Franklin?”

“Oh! Adam!” he said, turning his wheelchair with his toe. “How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Oh, I guess I’m doing okay,” he said. He looked expectantly at Adam and Adam smiled at him while pulling the fast food bag from around his back. “Did you bring me a potato?” Kenneth asked.

“I brought you a potato,” Adam said with a smile.

He pulled the baked potato out and sat the plastic container in its usual place on the food table. “Look at that,” Kenneth said. “Plenty of butter and sour cream.” He smiled as Adam dropped the individually wrapped packets on the food tray.

“Just like you like it,” he said. He took a seat beside the tray table watched Kenneth eat. Kenneth’s eyes wandered from the potato to the room across the hall.

“I miss old Lizzie,” he said.

Adam felt his Adam’s apple bob a bit and he tried swallowing to make it stop. He said, “Me, too.”

“She’s in a better place than here,” Kenneth said.

A tap on the door interrupted their thoughts, and they both looked over to see a svelte man, lean and smartly dressed, sporting short, bleached hair. “ Laz!” Adam exclaimed, jumping up from his chair.

“Hi, Baby,” Laz said. Adam immediately grabbed his hand and hauled him across the room. “Mr. Franklin, this is my partner, Jacob Lazarus. Laz, Kenneth Franklin.”

“Oh, Laz! I’ve heard a lot about you,” Kenneth said, laying the plasticware down long enough to extend a hand toward Laz.

Laz accepted the outstretched hand and shook it firmly. “Same here, Mr. Franklin.”

Adam pulled another chair over and pushed Laz toward it. “You can sit here.”

“So, you fix hair, do you?” Kenneth asked around a mouthful of baked potato. A little piece of the white fluff flew out of his mouth when he said, “fix”, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“I do,” Laz said, crossing his ankle over his knee and resting his hands on his thighs.

“They have a little girl here who tries to cut our hair,” Kenneth explained, shaking his head woefully. “She doesn’t do as good as my barber, but she tries. Uses all scissors except for my neck. That’s no way to cut a man’s hair.”

Laz laughed and glanced over at Adam to see how he was holding up. “Well, I use scissors mostly, but I have clippers, too, if you ever wanted a ‘real’ haircut.” He winked at Adam who was smiling at him with pride.

“I might just take you up on that, young man,” Kenneth said.

“Any time,” Laz promised. There was a slight lull in the conversation and Laz asked, “What did I interrupt?”

Adam’s smile faded and he looked down then across the hall. He said, “We were just talking about Lizzie.”

Laz’s eyes followed Adam’s gaze to the neatly-made bed in the room catty-cornered to room 42. “You know,” Laz said, “I feel like I knew her. Adam talked about you both all the time.”

“She was something else,” Kenneth said. “She could run you over in her wheelchair. Most of us here have ‘em, you know. Easier to get around,” he explained to Laz. About that time, a resident passed by the open door, pulling herself down the hall with her heels. She was reclined comfortably in her chair with the only movement being that of her feet, both of which were scurrying to carry her along. It reminded Laz of a duck on the water: calm above the surface of the water, but lots of activity just below. Kenneth didn’t seem to notice the woman go by. “She had only two speeds: stop and wide-open.”

Laz threw back his head and laughed at that. “Is that a fact?” he asked. He looked over his shoulder and did a double take at what he saw in the room directly across from Kenneth’s. “Oh, my…my God,” he said, starting to laugh again. He looked over at Adam, chunking him with his elbow, and leaned back so he could see around him.

Adam looked up and started to smile himself. “Jeez, look at Mr. Forrest,” he said to Kenneth, pointing across the hall. “He’s at it again.”

Mr. Forrest was about as slim as he could be without being a skeleton. He was standing with his back to the door, gazing out the window, wearing one of the facility-issued hospital gowns over his t-shirt. His ballcap sat askew on top of his head, and his socks were crumpled around his ankles, no shoes in sight. The gown parted just enough to reveal his uncovered butt that was shining through the back. As Kenneth turned from his potato, Mr. Forrest reached a hand back and scratched his rear end without a care for the fact he was revealing himself.

“Damn,” Kenneth chuckled. “He’s got no pride whatsoever. I get so sick of seeing his scrawny, wrinkled ass.” He raised his voice to carry across the hall and said, “Joe! Joe!! We don’t want to see your ass, man. Cover that thing up!” Joe never made a move to change position or turn from the window. Kenneth waved a dismissing hand toward the door. “Deaf as a doorpost,” he muttered before returning to his potato.

Laz looked at the baked potato Kenneth was working on then over at his lover who had told him about the old man’s favorite food. Knowing how he must have gotten the potato, he leaned over and looped an arm around Adam’s neck drawing a questioning look his way. He kissed Adam’s head and whispered, “Love you,” quickly and quietly.

Adam smiled back at him, pleasantly surprised by the unexpected display of affection. Bolstered by his lover’s support, Adam said, “Hey, Mr. Franklin, do you remember the day I met Lizzie?”

Kenneth frowned while he chewed. “I don’t know,” he said, spewing another little piece of potato out of his mouth as he spoke before swallowing. “Remind me.”

“Remember how she used to wander the halls before she got her wheelchair?” He looked over at Laz with a hand resting on the leather pants he loved so well. He explained, “She wandered in here while we were talking and just introduced herself.”

“No wonder I don’t remember. That’s just Lizzie. Did that all the time. Never knew a stranger.”

“She wouldn’t let me call her Mrs. Johnston,” Adam said reminiscing.

Kenneth chimed in, “Said it made her feel old.” He laughed at the thought and started coughing from the effort. “I used to tell her, ‘Hell, woman. You ARE old’.”

“I’d never say that to her,” Adam said with a smile, and a shake of his head. “She was my sweet girl. I used to call her that.”

Kenneth started laughing at a memory that came to him, and said, “I remember this one time, Lizzie decided she was going outside…”

~~~~~~~~~~~

The garage doors were closing and Laz waited for Adam to catch up with him at the kitchen door. He held out a hand to Adam, and gripped his hand when he was close enough for contact. “I’m glad I came out to visit with you today,” Laz said.

“Me, too,” Adam said. “Will you keep coming?”

“I’m planning to. I should have started going a long time ago.”

Laz snapped on the kitchen light as they came in and Adam locked the door behind them. “We need to replace the light bulb over the stove,” Adam said after Laz chased the darkness away.

“I know. I keep forgetting to pick up extras,” Laz said, dropping his keys to the counter. He shrugged off his coat then held his hand out for Adam’s. “Let me hang these up before yours ends up on the banister, as usual.” He smiled at Adam who blushed, knowing it was true.

“Help yourself,” Adam said, grinning back at Laz. He pulled a can of Diet Coke out of the fridge and sat at the bar while he waited for Laz to return; his thoughts were loud and vivid while he was alone. His chin trembled thinking about his loss once again, and he swiped a tear away hurriedly when he heard Laz come back in the kitchen.

Laz was talking as he came back through. “I don’t feel like cooking tonight, do you?” Laz asked. He passed by Adam without noticing the red-rimmed eyes and flushed face, his focus on the fridge. He went to the refrigerator, pulled the door open, and peered inside for something quick that didn’t require real cooking efforts. “Hmmm,” he said to himself. “What are you in the mood…” he started to say while casting a fleeting look back toward Adam. He saw enough to know Adam was trying not to cry, and he promptly closed the refrigerator door, not bothering to finish his sentence. He walked around behind him and wrapped his arms around Adam’s shoulders, locking them together at his neck. Adam raised his hands to hold Laz’s forearms beneath his chin.

“I hate that she died,” Adam said, laying his head over on Laz’s arms.

“I know you do, Baby. I wish she hadn’t died either,” Laz said, planting a kiss to the side of his head. “But, you know what?”

“What?” Adam sniffed.

“Some people believe that others never die as long as we keep their memories alive. That’s what you and Mr. Franklin were doing today. Keeping her alive.”

Adam took a deep ragged breath and twisted in the barstool to face Laz. “What would I do without you?”

Laz took Adam’s face in his hands and kissed him hard. “I don’t intend for you to ever find out the answer to that question.” He raised Adam off the barstool in a strong hug.

End.