Chapter Text
To be away from Australia, the only place he ever called home, was both a blessing and a curse for Dale, and yet this freedom Helen gave him, a gift he knew he would never be able to equal, Dale wouldn’t change for with anything else in the world.
Once again Helen saved him from himself, and from those who tried to destroy him, to punish him for something he couldn’t control, shaming him for who he was, like his sexuality was something he could simply switch off and forget about.
He had tried to live the lie, for everyone else’s sake, and to keep himself safe, however he had failed and lost everything in the process, even himself for a time. Always blamed for the way he loved, always kept to impossible standards by those who were supposed to love him naturally, without asking for anything back but the love he had for them, Dale never really learned how to be himself.
Now it was finally time to get back that part of himself he had to suffocate to fit in a society that didn’t have room for him, not if he dared to break its unwritten rules. Away from the life that became a golden cage and with time even a trap, Dale discovered truths about himself that he was unaware of.
If the world decided to hate him for being honest, well it sounded like their problem, not his. He had felt ashamed of himself for way too long to care about what people he would never meet and who didn’t know him thought about him.
His mother’s silence still hurt, like a blade in his heart, pushed and twisted until nothing was left of it. He gave everything for those he had loved and for a job that was his passion and ran through his veins like his own blood, now, he thought, it was time he gave a bit of his love to himself.
When Helen called after his report was aired, both of them knew he wasn’t ready to go back. There was nothing that tied Dale to his country, not now at least. Helen would always be one of the people he had loved the most, his soulmate in many ways, but neither of them was ready for more between them.
They needed time to heal and discover life with themselves. He knew he would always love her, but right now, he didn’t know if there was a future for them. Theirs was one of those heartbreaking cases in which love wasn’t enough.
It arrived in their lives when they weren’t ready but instead of being destroyed, that love had turned into something else, even more. They were brothers in arms in a war against the taboos society imposed on them. Lovers who weren’t together but whose souls would always be connected. Best friends and confidants, for only those who lived in hell could understand what they went through.
When she called, the day after the Fall, when Berlin was still celebrating and people could be seen roaming the streets, their expressions confused and shocked, unable to compute what just happened and the magnitude of the events they witnessed, Dale was in his room, too excited to sleep.
He was writing after spending the night outside, interviewing those who wanted to share their stories, offering his unjudging presence to those who had lost everything in the pursuit of this historical moment.
Unsure of what to do with the stories he collected, Dale answered the phone, tucking the handset against his shoulder so that his hands could be free to type. Words were coloring the pages black and Dale couldn’t stop, not now, for fear of forgetting even the smallest detail, or the emotions behind the words offered to him like the rarest gift.
“You’re not coming back, are you?” Helen’s voice sounded sad and yet hers was a statement, not a question. She was the one person out there who really knew him, so Dale wasn’t even surprised that she already knew.
After a moment of silence from his side of the world, interrupted only by his neverending typing, Dale gave her the answer both already knew and still dreaded.
“I can’t, not now.” Sure, Dale wanted to go home at some point, to come back to what was familiar and loved, but not before he found what he was looking for. Australia held too many memories, too many heartbreaking moments, and for now those times overwritten all the happiness he felt there, all the beautiful memories he knew were there, but that he couldn’t access now.
The loud and deep sigh coming from Helen broke his heart and for a moment Dale thought that perhaps he made a mistake, was he too rushed in the decision he made, was Helen going to hate him now, like every other person he had loved?
“Good, because I need an International Envoy for my show, and I can’t think about anyone better than you for the job.”
Even if she couldn’t possibly see him, Dale shook his head, frustrated with himself. How could he doubt Helen’s insight when it never failed her? Of course she was the one who would offer him a way out to save him from himself time and time again.
“I - That would be great, but how…”
“You let me deal with the technicalities, Dale.”
After another long stretch of silence, all Dale could do was to thank her, time and time again. For being her, for being the best friend a man could hope to find, for everything.
“Just give me your best stories and we’ll be even.” She said, like it could really be that simple, and what she just did wasn’t going to change his life forever.
“I owe you, Helen.” A solid one, something he wasn’t sure he could ever repay her for.
“You bet. Now go out there, and show the world who you are.”
///
Freedom had different tastes, Dale found out.
It could be bitter, like the first time he scouted the streets full of clubs where men could kiss and hold other men, without fear of being ridiculed or attacked. When he realized this should have been normal, that he had hated himself for years not because there was something wrong in the way he loved, but because there was something deeply wrong in the society that taught him his way was a sin.
Elated, like the first time he left the house of a man he had met in one of those clubs and who didn’t mind his inexperience and hesitation. A man who had accepted his request for a condom and didn’t ask him more than what Dale intended to share with him.
Freedom could also taste like loss, Dale discovered that one evening, when he suddenly realized that he never heard back from his mother after the last message he left her soon after he moved.
The only person from home who called him daily was Helen. Not just for work but because they were building back a friendship that both of them needed and deemed important.
Freedom could also taste sweet. Like the first time Dale went on a date with a reporter from the US and they walked to the restaurant side by side, close enough that it was clear they were more than friends, and Dale didn’t feel the familiar urge to step away and put some distance between them.
Freedom tastes like being himself for the first time in his life when he looked in the mirror one morning, his neck marked by over enthusiastic teeth as his lover’s reflection showed a smug smirk on his lips.
“Will you miss me?”
They had known their story had its time counted. Michael wasn’t ready to leave home for longer than his job required, and Dale had still too much to prove to himself to follow someone else into one more new life.
He smiled back at the reflection, with just a drop of sadness to cloud his otherwise bright eyes.
“You know I will, and I remember you fondly, always.”
Michael had helped him more than the American probably realized.
He was the first man Dale was seeing in plain sight, without the need to hide. Dale even invited him out at some of the gatherings his crew organized. It had been a gut wrenching situation but they didn’t even look bothered by Michael’s presence, maybe just a bit surprised, but the awkwardness only lasted for a few moments before disappearing without ever coming back.
On the other hand Michael, more used to being in the open, had invited Dale to take part in every activity his crew thought about.
They became friends, and perhaps such friendship would survive their impending separation.
“I will too.”
There was something off in the way Michael spoke and when Dale looked up, he was met by a very serious expression in Michael’s eyes.
As an unpleasant sensation formed in his throat Dale was barely able to force a single word out.
“What?”
Michael moved to sit properly, with his back against the pillow as the sheet slid over his legs now barely covering his naked cock.
“You should tell him, you know?”
In an open invitation to sit by him, Michael offered him his hand and waited for Dale to decide what to do.
Dale found the gesture nerve wrenching and strangely soothing at the first time. He wasn’t even mad that Michael brought this on. Michael was the one who taught him a lot, about himself and about their way to love. It didn’t come as a surprise that their last conversation would be a serious one.
Dale only wished it didn’t have to be about him, his greatest regret.
“He’s happy with someone who gave him what I couldn’t…” Dale began, but he was soon cut off by Michael’s words.
“And now you could. You aren’t the same person who broke his heart.”
This was one of the many reasons that drew Dale close to Michael, how he wasn’t ashamed to speak the truth out aloud, even if it was a painful one for those who were listening.
“You weren’t ready. Now you are.”
“He’s with someone who makes him happy. I can’t ruin it for him.”
Dale knew he had changed a lot since he left Australia behind, but he was also still the same to the core of his very being. He wasn’t a homewrecker. He had seen Tim and Lee together and he was genuinely happy for them.
Of course the monster of jealousy and regret had raised its ugly head when he first met Lee, and the echo of those feelings was still there, buried under layers of acceptance. He respected Tim enough to respect his relationship, no matter how much he wished he could be the one by his side.
“You never know how or when things can change.” Michael’s words brought Dale’s attention back to the present.
“Just think about what I said. If the chance arises you should tell him.”
One thing that never changed was that Dale was still as stubborn as he was when he first began to work at News at 5, and he didn’t want his last few hours with Michael wasted thinking about all the mistakes he made, for he knew that the regret would never leave him, and it would remain his most loyal companion, like it was now.
Yes. Freedom could also taste like sadness for something lost that had once been so close but he didn’t dare to touch, in fear of being too vulnerable. Something that now was gone for good.
The feeling of Michael’s hand resting atop his chest was a comfort, distracting from the weight of his own anxiety, even if just for a moment, and as though he read Dale’s mind, his hand drifted upward to his jaw, drawing his full attention. For a moment, Dale felt himself getting lost in his caramel brown eyes, a contrast to the dark eyes of the one he’d been missing for so long.
From the beginning, Dale realized they both knew this couldn’t last, but they’d gone ahead anyway. Not everyone was meant to stay, but at the very least they had each other right now.
Michael closed the distance between them slowly, almost tentative, like it was their first kiss all over again, and while it wouldn’t be their last, it was close enough. Dale had never liked goodbyes. It was too easy to put down roots in someone else, too painful when they had to be torn apart no matter the reason, because no matter how clean and clear the separation, parts of himself would always be left behind.
But as Michael shifted, moving atop Dale, he had to pull away, and he was struck once again by the intensity of his eyes. There wasn’t the desperate intensity between them, like there had been the first time, but rather the desperate need to not be alone one last time.
Dale pulled him back down, needing to taste him again, cheap hotel coffee on both of their breaths, and he shifted his hips just enough for Michael to grab his ass, breaking the tension of the moment as they both gave a breathless laugh. Dale was already reaching for the bottle of lube that had been carelessly left on the nightstand, while Michael kicked the sheets out of the way.
The moment Michael’s fingers were inside of him, Dale felt his world seem to tilt on its axis, the contrast of goodbye mixing with the sweetness of his touch. They both knew they’d probably never cross paths again, and while the fling they had didn’t amount to much, it was enough to entangle them in ways neither of them would be able to forget.
By the time Dale was breathless from Michael’s teasing, for a moment, he was able to forget the separation they would have. It didn’t matter anymore, not now, not like this. And in the space of a heartbeat, when Michael teased his prostate just to make him squirm, Dale bucked his hips up, almost throwing Michael off balance as he withdrew his fingers.
“Come on,” he breathed, “give it to me, unless you want me to take it.”
Michael’s grin was infectious, and Dale couldn’t help but laugh as he replied, “Oh yeah?”
Without bothering to respond, Dale reached up and tugged Michael down for a deep kiss, and in his moment of distraction, Dale abruptly shifted his weight, and Michael gave a surprised sound when they ended up tangled together side by side. Dale didn’t give him the time to recover his bearings before swinging a leg over Michael’s hips and seating himself just in front of his hard cock.
As Dale shifted, grinding against Michael’s cock, it was Michael’s turn to let out a groan, “Fuck.” Looking down at Michael was a perspective Dale hadn’t often had, but as he reached back to slick his cock, he couldn’t help but smirk in satisfaction as Michael’s cock twitched in his hand.
“You were saying,” Michael gasped, “something about taking –”
Before he could finish, Dale lifted his hips and guided the tip of Michael’s cock inside himself, inhaling sharply as he lowered himself with shallow thrusts of his hips until their hips were flush together. He leaned down to kiss the pink flush that always seemed to creep up Michael’s chest and onto his cheeks, betraying his arousal.
And when they began to move, whatever goodbye awaited them didn’t matter, only the breaths between them and the sounds they could wring out of one another. Dale once again closed the space between their lips swallowing Michael’s moan as he entwined their fingers. Nothing else mattered but this, and after so long of denying himself what he needed, he knew now that he could take it.
And it wasn’t long before, between breaths, Dale gasped, “I’m close, Michael, please.”
What he was pleading for he didn’t know. Forgiveness? More time? To take back his conviction that he would manage on his own? It didn’t matter. Not when Michael gave a muffled, “Mmhm,” and then, “come on then.”
And that was all it took for Dale to let go, his climax rushing through him, erasing all thought, even if only for a few seconds, as he gave in, riding it out on Michael’s cock until Michael followed shortly after, biting hard into Dale’s shoulder, near a bruise that was already healing.
Dale all but collapsed on top of him as they both caught their breaths, Michael’s softening cock still inside him and his own come on Michael’s stomach and chest, but neither of them felt like moving. “Had I known,” Dale mumbled, squeezing Michael’s hand, “that I was fucking a vampire, maybe I would’ve worn better protection.”
Michael gave a breathless laugh, rolling his eyes, “Like what, chain mail?”
Dale grinned, kissing him again, and when he pulled away, Michael added, “See? No fangs.”
They lay like that, entangled together, until Michael finally had to start getting ready for his flight. Dale accompanied him in the shower, stealing kisses when he could, but when Michael was dressed and at the door to run for his cab, he stole one last kiss. A last look at the one who had changed his life again. And then he was gone, the door closed, Michael’s footsteps rushing down the hall, and Dale felt a strange mix of sadness and relief.
He’d spent too long hiding, and now, he knew Michael was right. When their paths crossed again, he would tell Tim what he needed. But for now, he turned to look at the now empty sheets and decided instead to sit at the hotel desk to work on the last article he needed to write.
Chapter 2
Summary:
When the crew is in need of a new cameraman, a face from the past appears.
Chapter Text
After Michael’s departure Dale threw himself into work, and while he was still going out with both crews, he didn’t feel like looking for someone new to date.
Things, both in Europe and in the Middle East weren’t looking good, and the international press was in unrest.
No one knew what scenario would explode first, but everyone wanted to be there to cover it and have their best reporters do the job.
That was why Dale found himself half awake at fuck in the night, with Helen’s voice in his ears, asking him which one, if any at all, he would have been up to cover.
Perhaps it was because Dale was still partially sure this was just a dream and he was still asleep, or perhaps it was because his subconscious was more aware than his brain, and the mere idea to disappoint Helen and let her down was unbearable, but he ended up telling her she could send him wherever she needed him the most. It was true that his self preservation instinct was close to zero, even if he tried to be more cautious.
Dale was in his office, at the news station, waiting to meet the new cameraman who was supposed to join him and the team.
Helen had promised him the guy was professional, good at his job, and that Dale would be happy to have him in the field, but even if he trusted her with his life, he still wanted to get the chance to know him.
The crew was growing to be a family away from home, and it was already hard enough with Kola leaving. To add a new person could be a recipe for doom, and they didn’t have time for that.
Kola had asked to be assigned to another crew back in Australia, and Dale couldn’t blame him. Kola had a family to care for, and when his wife asked him not to do anything stupid that could put him in danger, Kola did exactly that.
Since his call with Helen, Dale had submerged himself in studying what was happening around the world, trying to understand why both scenarios were going off now.
It was ugly, very ugly, and no matter how long he spent learning everything he could, what he couldn’t do was to see a possible solution to the whole mess.
Diplomacy was doomed to fail long before they even reached the table to talk.
This was a war ready to explode, the only question was when. So yes, he understood why Kola was ready to go back home.
A knock at the door distracted him.
“Come in.”
Larissa, one hell of a woman with thick, white hair and a stern expression opened the door and stopped right on the threshold.
“Your 4PM appointment is here…” She announced with her strong accent. “And I know you skipped lunch, again. I ordered food for you.”
Her voice didn’t allow any room for debates and she was already gone before Dale’s brain had the time to reboot.
Only to shut down again when he was halfway to get up to greet the perhaps new cameramen, his head already out to greet him, only to remain frozen when he saw who the man was.
There, with a small smile that looked almost unsure, was Tim.
“Hi Dale, long time no see…” Tim greeted, but Dale was too busy staring at him to form any answer.
Then, everything made sense in Dale’s mind and clicked. Why did Helen never tell him who exactly she was sending? In his mind, Dale could see her little smile, the one full of mischievousness and was shared only with those she really trusted.
Oh he loved her, but right now Dale would love nothing more than to strangle her.
“Dale?” Tim called his name and finally his brain decided it was time to work again.
“Is everything okay? I…”
“Yes, yes, sorry.” Dale cut him off, trying to look less like his best impression of a goldfish and a little bit more like the professional he was supposed to be.
“It’s just, Helen never told me who exactly was supposed to join my crew.”
Honesty was the best medicine, right? And if that meant to throw Helen under the bus in order to look less of a moron, well, she deserved it for her little stunt.
However, some kind of shadow fell upon Tim’s gaze when he heard that.
“I’m sorry,” Tim hurried to say, “I didn’t know. I didn’t mean for this to feel like an ambush.”
The awkward tension that somehow always formed between them was back and like always Dale didn’t know what to do.
He wished it could, one day, disappear, magically even, but was realistic enough to know that that wasn’t how it worked.
“I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
Surprised was maybe a too mild word. Dale never imagined their new meeting would happen like this. The truth was, Dale never dared to hope they would meet again, not so soon at least, and for sure not abroad.
Apparently the universe had it out for him.
“Liste Dale, I don’t want to be that person….”
And yet, Dale thought, Tim sounded exactly like that person, but as soon as the thought echoed in his mind, he regretted it.
It was no one’s fault if the situation was far from ideal.
“I don’t want to make things awkward.”
Well, it was a little too late for that and both knew it.
“But I came a long way to get this job. Do you think we can work together, or at least give it a try?”
Working together was never the issue between them. They always had a beautiful chemistry between them. It was like they were born to work together. It was because Dale didn't know how to handle his own feelings that everything else went to hell.
However, as Michael has pointed out, he was a different person now, more mature and hopefully able to reforge that dynamic they once shared on the field.
It didn’t matter how much Dale wanted to ask Tim why he was there, why this job, so far from everything he knew Tim had always loved, and why now. But those weren’t the right questions to ask, not now. In many ways Dale knew he didn’t have the right to know what made Tim travel to Europe.
“Of course,” Dale said, perhaps a bit too quickly. “It is good to have you back… I mean, here.”
God, would he ever stop to make a fool of himself, Dale wondered as he mentally facepalmed himself while he hoped it wasn’t too late to tell Helen that he would love to join a scientific expedition in Antarctica, thank you very much.
“It will be good to have a familiar face around,” Dale added in a somber tone as his body language shifted, reflecting his serious determination to make this work, and he shifted from awkward and friendly to professional in a moment. “Things are going to be ugly.”
“I know. Back home everyone is worried. Everyone wants to know if this is it, if another global war is ready to begin.”
It was an awful thought, the echo of a fear that never went fully away and lurked in the back of the minds of those who lived such horrible times already. A fear that, for those who weren’t alive back then, turned into fear of the unknown.
“That I don’t know.” Dale admitted. “What I know is that there is fear in the air, like I never felt before.”
Australia was a relatively young country. They didn’t have the kind of history that one could breathe in Europe.
It was astonishing how the same people who had celebrated a much wanted reunification only a few months before, were now resigned to yet another war that could call their loved ones away to fight for something so foreign and yet familiar at the same time.
More power, more wealth, more lands. Those were always the engines that would start a war.
A way to satisfy the bloodlust so typical of their race. They would destroy those who spoke another language and worshiped a different God, even if they grew side by side. This was the truth about humanity, and those were the hidden desires behind every war.
“So yes, it will be ugly, but I’m glad you’re here.”
What followed was a long conversation about equipment and locations. Together Tim and Dale went through what they needed to be ready. Their visas and papers were approved already. The Embassy had issued a warning that they, and all the foreign reporters, were now under the Geneva Convention, in case of imprisonment. Not that that made them feel better, but at least they had the guidance lines to follow on the battlefield.
Neither of them had really thought about all the technicalities before, they never thought how dangerous their work could become when they followed their dreams after all.
They went on for hours, and the old easiness sustained by their common goal came back full force, so much that they didn’t even realize they were the only two people left in the building who weren’t part of the night shift. In all honesty Tim wasn’t even a recognized part of the crew yet. He was supposed to drop the signed papers in the morning.
The sky outside Dale’s window became lighter and lighter, greeting another day.
Not once during those hours Dale thought about why Tim was there and if Lee was going to be one of them too.
Those notions only waited, lurking in the back of his mind, and hit him like a ton of bricks the moment Dale arrived home, exhausted and famished.
He never got to eat whatever Larissa had ordered for him, however, not even the fear of her wrath was strong enough to stop the panic attack that stole Dale’s breath as his chest became so tight air couldn’t enter his lungs.
Black spots began to dance in front of him, and slowly, he felt his legs ready to give out. It was then that the cacophony of voices and accusations began.
Disgusting.
Horrible.
A shitty person and a worse friend.
Weak and pathetic.
A liar.
Dale’s mind kept spinning as words that were once thrown at him burned holes in his soul.
He was disgusting and wrong. A freak of nature who couldn’t even handle the reality he contributed to create. The truth was, Dale couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing Tim and Lee, everyday, as they held what he gave up.
***
When Dale woke up, hours after passing out, he was still dressed and felt like a walking corpse. Disgusted by his own skin and still trapped in his working clothes, now wrinkled and smelling like sweat, Dale forced himself to shuffle to the bathroom, where he ignored the mirror completely.
He didn’t need to see his reflection to know exactly how he looked, and he didn’t want to see himself, in case his mind wanted to remind him, once again, why he wasn’t worthy of love. He had ruined everything he had touched, he didn’t need a reminder to know how despicable he was.
His treacherous mind told him that he needed something to feel alive again. Just this time, just to go through the day. Just a little something that wouldn’t hurt him and wouldn’t mean nothing. The voice whispered that nothing would go wrong if he indulged just this time, just once. Just a little cheating that no one would ever find out about.
A scream of pure anguish and frustration grew in his chest, and when it left his mouth, it was the noise of a wounded and oh so tired beast. He was frustrated and ashamed of himself, and he needed something to stop his mind from spinning.
The first punch hit the tiles as the scorching hot water made his skin red. It was unbearable. The steam blinded him, the air so humid that he could barely breathe. His hand slipped along the tile, the sting of pain barely there. So he did it again, and again, until his skin cracked and a trail of smeared blood was left behind.
He would know, Dale wanted to scream. He would know he threw months of being clean straight in the trash because he couldn’t handle himself like the adult he was supposed to be.
“Fuck this,” he screamed, as the water burned his skin, but little by little his mind began to quiet down as the pain spread along every cell of his body.
When he finally left the shower, dripping water everywhere after forgetting to grab a towel, there was only a light buzz where his spinning thoughts had been.
He could do this, Dale decided. If he could do his job even when drugged out of his damn mind, and have a mental breakdown in front of the whole nation, he could face this challenge while sober. He could put on a mask and fake that everything was okay even when the voice of those who wanted him ashamed and destroyed, still echoed in his mind.
“I’m good at my job.” He whispered in the mirror when he managed enough courage to look at himself and see his pale and shaking reflection looking back at him full of doubts.
He had it worse, he thought. At least now he wasn’t as emaciated as before, when the drugs had presented him with the price to pay to feel free.
“I can do my job.” He said louder this time.
Yes, his job was everything that mattered now, and finally, the urge to call Helen and tell her he had changed his mind, that nibbled at his eroding sanity since he came back home, became less less loud while it retreated in a back corner of his brain where it would be ignored.
Dale knew it wouldn’t go away, but this was the closer he became at taming it. Now it was time to put on his everyday armor, and face whatever the new day would throw at him.
***
It didn’t take long for the universe to hear those thoughts and start to throw shit, only this time it wasn’t just at Dale. He was close to work when all hell broke loose.
It began with the invasion of Kuwait. Dale could smell the acridic smoke coming from the oilfields, perpetually burning, he could swear his eyes teared when the dark clouds began to obscure the sky.
When Dale stepped into the building everyone was in ferment. It was like walking into a somehow organized chaos, when no one was actually panicking, but everyone was screaming inside. People ran from one office to another, from one floor to another. The editors were screaming orders and calling names and it looked like every single phone rang at the same time.
“Dale, thank God you’re here.”
Even Larissa looked at the verge of breaking and had lost her infamous composure. Some of her hair escaped the prison of her severe chignon, a sign that she touched it once too many times, a testament of her nerves.
“Meeting in room 5. No wait, room 7. The other one is already taken by the Americans.”
She told Dale without stopping her steps and what she was already doing.
“Miss Norvil is on the phone and the chives want this done by yesterday.” She vaguely waved at the general direction of the elevators before rushing away.
“Madness, right?”
Tim’s voice reached from behind as Dale was quickly losing his patience. His finger pressed the call button once again, but the light was always red.
“It’s like anything I’ve seen before, and this piece of shit is stuck.”
Maybe, or maybe it was constantly called and wasn’t built for this kind of rush. Whatever the answer was, it wasn’t one that Dale wanted.
“We could use the stairs?”
Fuck, Dale thought. Why didn’t he think about that? Oh, right, his mind was already spiraling, and his brain was going through everything they needed to do and check before they were allowed to leave.
It was like, for everything else, his brain was working on autopilot, choosing the familiar way even when other options were open and would work faster.
“Let’s go.”
Together they climbed the stairs, side by side, and the people who were coming down barely made sure not to bump into them. It was a cacophony of different languages and accents, all joined by the fear in their words.
Yes, work was the way to go and the reason why they were there. It was also the only reason why, Dale thought, the normal anxiety that would sneak up on him every time Tim was close didn’t show its ugly face yet.
Their chief editor was still talking to Helen when they arrived, and while they were waiting for the others to show, Dale took a moment to mourn a friendship that never had a chance to grow and be, for he thought this was the only way to keep what was left of his sanity.
If a work relationship was what he could share with Tim, it had to be enough.