The Alleyway

The rain was coming down in sheets. Toby was shivering violently, huddled under the awning of a closed bodega in his old neighborhood. He had texted his friend Mark to ask for a spot on his couch, but Mark wasn't answering. Toby had nothing. No coat, no wallet, no keys. He had left everything in the penthouse.

He pulled his knees to his chest, burying his face in his arms, and finally let himself sob. He cried for the loss of the penthouse, for the loss of his dignity, but mostly, he cried because he missed Arthur with a ferocity that felt like physical trauma.

A pair of headlights cut through the dark alleyway, blindingly bright.

A sleek, black town car slammed to a halt at the curb, the tires screeching against the wet pavement. The back door flew open before the car had even completely stopped.

Arthur stepped out into the pouring rain. He didn't have an umbrella. His perfectly styled hair was instantly plastered to his forehead, his expensive tuxedo ruined within seconds. He didn't care. His eyes were wild, frantically scanning the shadows until they locked onto Toby.

"Toby!"

Arthur closed the distance between them in three long strides. He dropped to his knees on the filthy, wet concrete right in front of Toby, his large hands immediately grabbing Toby’s face, his thumbs wiping frantically at the rain and tears mixing on Toby’s cheeks.

"Don't," Toby sobbed, trying weakly to push Arthur away. "Don't touch me. Just let me go. I did my job. You can fire me. Just go away!"

"Fire you?" Arthur roared, the stoic CEO entirely obliterated by the desperate, terrified man beneath. "What the hell are you talking about? Why did you run? Do you have any idea what went through my mind when you ran out into the city like that?"

"I saw the email, Arthur!" Toby screamed back, his voice raw. "I saw the draft on your laptop! 'Termination of arrangement following the gala.' You were going to drop me! You just needed me to look pretty for your friends tonight, and then you were done! So I beat you to it. I quit!"

Arthur froze. The absolute panic in his eyes shifted, slowly morphing into a look of profound, devastating realization.

"Oh, my god," Arthur breathed, his voice barely audible over the rain. "Tobias... you idiot. You beautiful, absolute idiot."

Arthur surged forward, wrapping his arms around Toby and hauling him off the concrete, crushing him against his chest. He buried his face in the crook of Toby’s neck, and to Toby’s absolute shock, Arthur was shaking.

"I wasn't firing you," Arthur said, his voice thick with emotion. He pulled back just enough to force Toby to look into his eyes. "I was terminating the Sugar Baby contract. All of it. The allowance, the clauses, the expectations."

"Why?" Toby choked out, the rain dripping from his eyelashes. "Why would you do that if you weren't throwing me out?"

"Because I want to ask you to dinner," Arthur said fiercely, his hands gripping Toby’s shoulders. "A real dinner. As my boyfriend. Not as my employee, not as my arrangement. I wanted the money out of the way. I wanted to give you everything, unconditionally. I love you, Toby. I love your chaos, I love your terrible jokes, and I love *you*. I was terminating the contract so I could court you properly."

The world tilted on its axis.

Toby stared at Arthur, the words echoing in his mind, fighting against years of ingrained self-hatred. *I love you.* "You... you love me?" Toby whispered. "But I'm a mess, Arthur. I'm broken. I don't have anything."

"You have me," Arthur said fiercely. "If you'll let me."

Toby let out a broken, watery laugh, finally dropping his head onto Arthur's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the older man's neck. In the middle of a dingy alleyway, in the pouring rain, Toby finally let himself believe it.