It wasn’t easy. Just like it wasn’t easy to keep from admiring the way Cooper moved or how he spoke, but he found a way.

Cooper said it wasn’t something he could do. Noah didn’t lose himself in people who didn’t want him. He learned that, while growing up; seeing the way his father would do anything for his mom, regardless of how many times she hurt him.

He could tell things were a little harder for Coop at first, but like his friend always did, he came around. All it took was a few jokes, and they were solid.

They were getting back to normal.

God Damn, he still wished he could have him though.

“Hey. You decent?” Cooper said from behind Noah’s bedroom door. It was only open a sliver.

Do you wish I was, or I wasn’t? He wondered. “Yep.” Coop slid the door open and Noah asked, “What’s up?”

“One of the guys from the firehouse needs some help painting an old barn. Told him I’d come. He’s looking for a few extra hands. You in?”

Noah shrugged before getting off his bed. “Sure.”

Cooper didn’t fully meet his eyes. “Sounds good. I’ll meet you downstairs in ten.”

Fuck. Maybe things weren’t as back to normal as he thought they were. Noah was already wearing a pair of basketball shorts. They were what he lounged around the house in more often than not, anyway. Walking over to his dresser, he tried to push all thoughts of Cooper out of his mind, before grabbing an old T-shirt and putting it on.

He pulled shoes out of his closet, put them on and then headed for the living room to wait for Cooper. When Noah got there, Coop was sitting on his brown leather couch.

“You ready?” Cooper stood.

“Yeah, let’s go.” It was a quick drive to the guy’s house. There were three other men standing out front when they arrived. Before they got out, Cooper looked like he was going to say something, but didn’t. A rock settled in the pit of Noah’s stomach. He knew exactly what it had to do with. It wasn’t like he’d been in town long enough for people to know a lot about him. He wasn’t sure anyone even knew he was gay. It wasn’t something that he hid, but he didn’t go around introducing himself as ‘Noah the gay guy’ either.

And Cooper was worried.

But he’d still asked Noah to come. That meant something to him. “Stop stressin’. We’re painting a barn. I swear, you’re worse than a damn woman.” Noah winked at him.

“Fuck you,” Cooper replied, without any real venom behind his voice, but then he sobered. “You know how people in Blackcreek can get.”

Noah nodded. “Yep. Been dealing with how people can get for years.” And then he got out of the truck, and started walking over. A few seconds later, he heard Cooper’s door open and close behind him.

“Hey. About time you guys showed up.” One of the guys said. They all shook hands and Coop introduced Lenny, Ryan, and Fredrick, who the barn belonged to.

“Nice to meet you and thanks for helping. My wife has been asking me to get it done for a while now. I’m afraid if it’s not done tonight, I’ll be on the couch.”

They all laughed.

Fredrick led them over, and gave them supplies before they got started.

“Braden was supposed to come too, but he met some chick and I guess their night isn’t over yet.” Fredrick told them as they started painting.

“Lucky motherfucker. He’s always going home with someone. I miss that shit,” Lenny added.

Cooper leaned over and whispered to Noah. “Lenny just got married.” As Ryan said, “You just got married.”

“Don’t you know the sex stops then?” Lenny tossed back.

“Not for me. My girl can’t get enough.” This from Ryan, and it went on from there. The guys were all cool to hang around, sharing beer and stories. They were all fire fighters except for Noah, so a lot of the talk circled around that.

They asked Noah where he was from and how he knew Cooper. They talked about the army for a while, Ryan having spent four years in the service.

Noah was aware that Cooper didn’t veer far from him. At first he’d been pissed thinking that he was really worried one of these guys was some kind of homophobic asshole who would cause shit if he found out about Noah. When the other three guys were out of earshot, Noah grabbed a hold of Cooper’s arm before he could walk away, and asked him.

“What? No,” Coop replied. “I’m not going to pretend they don’t throw words around, but if I thought someone was that big an asshole, do you really think it’s someone I would spend time with outside of work?”