The sound of Chance's keys jingling as he unlocks the cell doors wakes Adam from his sleep. He raises his head to see the bearded man wave and whisper a 'Good morning' before heading on his way.

He looks around at his lover, who was still sleeping soundly. He quietly gets out of the cot, careful not to wake him.

So many thoughts were running through his head as he looks down at Tim sleeping peacefully. He smiles as he gently brushes the hair out of his cellmate's face. Kissing his finger, he softly places it on the large hickey that was clearly visible on Tim's neck.

After quickly getting dressed, he stands at the small mirror, brushing his hair. Staring into his own worried blue eyes. 

What if they find him innocent on the murder charges? What if he gets moved to a different prison or just to a jail for a short time and then released? Does he even have a life left outside of this prison? The letters that he gets from Austin has become fewer and fewer. And there is never an 'I love you' said.

His eyes shift to the sleeping man behind him. And what about Tim? His heart breaks at the thought of leaving him behind.

Adam knew he had to talk to someone. These thoughts were driving him crazy. He ties a bandanna around his head then quietly walks back over to the bed. Kissing his finger again, he gently touches it on Tim's lips. Giggling softly as his lover wrinkles his nose.

Adam walks out of the cell and goes next door to Avi's cell.

"Hey." He says from the doorway. Seeing the bearded man jump and hide something under his pillow.

"Oh, it's just you." Avi chuckles reaching back under his pillow to retrieve the object, Chance's phone.

"Are you even suppose to have that?" Adam asks as he walks in and sits down on Avi's cot.

"No." Avi laughs. "Chance said I can keep it for an hour." Avi says as he continues the game he was playing.

"No special treatment, huh?" Adam laughs.

"Well." Avi giggles and shrugs his shoulders. "He can't resist me."

"Listen, Avi, there's something I really need to talk to you about." Adam says as he plays with his fingers.

"It can't wait for another thirty minutes?" Avi says, his eyes not leaving the screen.

"No, it's very important. And Tim may be up by then." Adam replies.

"Okay." Avi frowns as he turns off the game. "So what's up?"

"There's a possibility that I may be moved from this prison or even released on parole." Adam answers.

"Yeah, Chance told me. You don't seem to happy about it." Avi says.

"I don't know if I even want to be released. Sounds crazy I know." Adam says, shaking his head. "I mean, what do I have waiting on me on the outside. Nothing."

"What about your marriage?" Avi asks.

"Who are we kidding? Is there even a marriage left?" Adam says sadly.

"My guess is, no." Avi shrugs.

"And then there's ...." He stops and sighs heavily.

"Timothy?" Avi asks with raised brows.

"Yeah." Adam nods. "I really can't bare to leave him, Avi."

"Go on." Avi says, personally wanting to hear Adam confess.

"Last night." Adam starts in a low soft whisper. "We had sex. But it was so different. It wasn't just f*cking. It was..."

"Making love?" Avi finishes his sentence for him.

"Yeah. There was just so much more feeling and emotion. It's hard to explain." Adam says, looking down at his hands.

"I can explain it." Avi says, reaching and taking Adam by the hand. "It was different, Adam, because you have fallen in love with that brown-eyed man. It's time that you face that fact. Stop living in denial."

Adam stares into the green eyes of his friend. Letting the words sink in.

"He's all I think about." Adam says with a small smile playing on his lips.

"That's not good enough." Avi says, shaking his head. "I wanna hear you say it. It's confession time, Mr. Rupp."

Adam chuckles and nods as he hangs his head.

"Well?" Avi asks, putting a hand up to his ear as to hear better.

"I love him." Adam says softly. "I truly do love him with all my heart."

"Hallelujah. And the truth will set you free." Avi laughs.

"Which makes the thought of leaving here, hurt even more." Adam says sadly.

"Tim has changed so much since your arrival." Avi says. "We hardly ever seen the man smile. And when he did, it never reached his eyes. There was always a sadness in his eyes. He rarely left his cell. He buried himself in his studies, his books, and his poetry."

"He's very good at writing poetry. He let me read them." Adam smiles.

"See? He would chop anybody's hand off that would try to even touch his stuff." Avi says. "You're very special to him."

"Do you think he loves me?" Adam asks.

"Isn't it obvious?" Avi asks. "He's never confessed to me but I'm not the one he tells his secrets to."

"Chance?" Adam asks, remembering seeing him and Tim talking by the fence in the yard.

"Yeah. But don't try getting any info out of him. He won't budge." Avi smirks. "Believe me, I've tried everything."

"Well, it's good that Tim has Chance to talk to." Adam says. "Well, I guess I need to get back to the cell before Loverboy wakes up."

"Sorry that I wasn't much help." Avi says.

"Oh, you were more help than you think. You made me confess to my feelings for Tim. Thank you." Adam says as he hugs Avi's neck. "You can get back to your game now."

"Babe? You done with my phone?" Chance asks quietly from the cell door.

"Sh*t." Avi frowns.

"Sorry, Sweetie." Chance frowns at his boyfriend. "But I have to run to town and I need my phone in case they need me."

"How long will you be gone?" Avi says getting up from his cot to hug his lover.

"About an hour." Chance says, placing a kiss on Avi's forehead.

"Uh, Chance?" Adam stands up from the cot. "I was kinda wondering if you could do me a favor while you're in town."

"Sure, if I can." Chance smiles.

"Uh, could you .... would it be possible if you ... uh ... could you pick me and Tim up maybe some condoms and lube?" Adam asks, his cheeks turning red.

"Yeah, sure, I guess so." Chance answers with a chuckle.

"Have you not mounted that cowboy yet?" Avi asks with a smirk.

"Oh my, God. Avi!" Adam leaves the cell shaking his head.

Adam walks back into his cell, chuckling to himself at his plainspoken friend.

Tim is sitting up, yawning and stretching.

"Well, good morning, Sleepy Head." Adam giggles as he climbs into the small cot with his lover.

"Morning." Tim answers in a low rough voice. "Did you go shower?"

"No, I woke up kinda early and didn't want to wake you so I just went over to visit with Avi." Adam says, kissing Tim on the cheek.

"You wanna go shower and then go have some breakfast?" Tim asks as he reaches to find his clothes that he had discarded the night before.

"Sure, I'd love to." Adam smiles.

"Looks like I got a little hungry last night." Tim smiles as he rubs his fingers over the hickeys he had left on Adam's neck.

"I did too." Adam smirks and kisses the large hickey on Tim's neck.

Tim hums at the feeling of Adam's soft lips on his neck.

"That feels nice." He smiles lazily.

"How's your back?" Adam asks.

"Better. The bruise still hurts like hell though." Tim says as he slips on his shirt.

"Maybe you should have gone to see the doctor." Adam says as he reaches under the bed for Tim's pants.

"Maybe you should have clipped your nails." Tim chuckles as he pulls up his boxers. "It's just a bruise. Nothing is broken." 

~~

They stop at the supply room to get a change of clothes. As they walk into the shower room, there were several prisoners already taking their morning showers. 

"No shower hanky panky today." Adam giggles as he undresses.

Tim smiles as he pops Adam on his naked butt.

They go and take their showers in a comfortable silence.

Just as they were finishing up, Mitch walks up to the shower head next to Tim.

"Well, hello, Sexy." Mitch says, his eyes quickly scanning over Tim's body.

Tim shakes his head and reaches for Adam's hand.

"You done, Babe. I just got a whiff of something rotten." Tim says.

"Yeah, smells like dead fish." Adam says as he accidentally on purpose bumps into Grassi as they went to get dressed.

As they get dressed, suddenly Adam heard Governor McKellen's voice in his head. ' You should know who are the friends worth keeping, and the kind worth killing.' He slowly turns his head and glares at Grassi.

"Baby, you ready? I need to drop my shirt off to the attendant. I think I almost ripped some of the buttons off last night." Tim chuckles.

"Oh, yeah. I'm ready." Adam answers, shooting another glance over at Grassi.

They stop at the supply desk. Adam leans on the counter as Tim talks with the attendant about the repairs needed on his shirt.

"Okay, but you'll have to fill out one of these tags to put on your shirt." The attendant says. "Come on back to my desk. I'll have to find the tags."

Adam waits patiently as Tim follows the attendant. He taps out a tune on the counter as his eyes scan his surrounding. He stops tapping as his eyes catch sight of something. In a trash can nearby lay a razor. He glances up to see that both Tim and the attendant had their backs to him. He quickly looks around him. No one in sight. Keeping a close eye on the two men, he quickly reaches over the counter and grabs the razor from the trash, shoving it into his pocket.

He smiles as he begins to tap out another tune.

"Done." Tim smiles, kissing Adam's cheek. "Let's go eat."

~~

They got their tray of food and sat down at their regular table. Both began to eat quickly, it was late morning and they were both starving. Avi soon joined them as well as Samuel and Hunter.

Chance gets back from his trip to town. He slowly walks up to the table where the men were laughing at one of Samuel's stories.

"Tim?" Chance says softly, drawing the guys attention. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Tim asks with a puzzled look.

"As I was coming back from town, I saw Jack on the side of the road. He'd been hit by a car." Chance says. "I stopped to check on him but he was already dead."

Everyone stays silent at the table. Adam rubs Tim on the back in a comforting effort.

Tim had been slipping food out to the dog for several weeks and had gotten really attached to it.

"It was just a dog." Tim says quietly with a shrug. He slowly lays down his fork and pushes his tray away. "Excuse me." He says, his voice cracking as he stands up and quickly leaves the table.

As he heads toward the door he meets Clooney and Grassi coming in.

"Well, so we meet again." Mitch says in a flirtatious manner. 

"Get the hell out of my way you son of a b*tch!" Tim growls as he pushes them out of his way. Knocking Grassi to the floor.

"Oh Crap!" Chance says as he takes off running in their direction.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, FOUST?" Clooney yells as he helps Mitch up from the floor.

Tim quickly turns on his heels heading in their direction with his fists clinched. Chance makes it just in time, throwing his arm up and stopping Tim.

"Back off, Tim!" Chance orders.

"F*CK YOU! MOTHER F*CKER!" Tim growls as he hits Clooney hard in the chest with his finger.

Clooney quickly backs up in fear, pulling Mitch with him.

Tim quickly turns and hits the door with his fist as he's leaving.

"Holy Moly." Avi says quietly.

"I WANT THAT CRAZY ASSHOLE PUT IN THE OVEN! NOW!!" Clooney yells.

"OH, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Chance yells at him as he heads back to the table. "Adam, you need to go check on him."

Adam nods, still in shock from what just happened.

"Chance, I don't think you heard me." Clooney says, grabbing the guard by the arm. "The lunatic just attacked me."

"Oh, I heard you." Chance says, jerking his arm from Clooney's grasp. "And if he really wanted to attack you. I wouldn't have been able to stop him."

Adam ran from the cafeteria all the way up the two flight of stairs. He stops at the cell door trying to catch his breath. His eyes taking in the disaster inside the cell. Books were thrown everywhere. The dresser had been turned over and their blankets and pillows lay on the floor.

Tim was on his knees in the middle of the floor. His face buried in his hands, rocking back and forth, crying.

"Oh, Baby." Adam whispers softly as he walks into the room. He gets on his knees in front of Tim pulling him into a hug.

Tim quickly wraps his arms tightly around Adam as he sobs into his lover's shoulder.

"Shhhh." Adam comforts him as he rocks him.

"W..Why does this .. this have to happen?" Tim asks between sobs. 

"I'm so sorry, Angel. I don't know." Adam says softly as he wipes a tear from his own cheek.

"Every time. Every time, Adam." Tim raises up staring at Adam with tear soaked cheeks. "Every time I start to care about something, it get's taken away."

Adam just stares at Tim, not really knowing what to say.

"My dad. Mom. Matt. Old Jack. You and now a f*cking dog." Tim sobs.

"Honey, your mom is back into your life. And I'm still here." Adam says as he rubs his thumb across Tim's cheek.

"But for how long, Adam? You may be fixing to be released. And then you'll be gone too." Tim says barely above a whisper. He bows his head again breaking down into heavy sobs. "I can't lose you."

"Come here, Sweetheart." Adam says as he stands up and takes Tim by the arms to help him stand.

Adam leads him over to the cot where they both lie down. Adam wraps his arms around the crying man and pulls him close.

"I can't stop ... crying." Tim sobs as he wipes his eyes.

"Shhhh. " Adam says then begins to sing softly while running his fingers through Tim's hair.

Within minutes, Adam notices that Tim had gone quite. He looks down so he could see Tim's face. He was sound asleep.

Adam looks up to see their friends standing in the doorway.

"Is he alright?" Chance whispers. Adam nods slightly.

Chance, Avi, Samuel and Hunter walk quietly into the cell and begin to clean up the mess. They work without making a sound. 

"If you need us, Adam, we're right next door." Samuel whispers as they start to leave.

"Thank you, love you guys." Adam says softly.

"We love you too." Avi smiles and waves as they all leave the cell.

*~*  SANDRA  *~*

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