[justpush]

Cameron grabbed tightly onto Reece's shirt, breathing deeply. The emotions were really strong. But the smell of Reece's perfume and his boss's strong but also gentle hands calmed him down.
"Reece?" he asked, and then looked at him fearfully "Can you let me go? Please."

[Whoknows]

Reece moved away from him, “sorry,” he murmured, “I didn’t know what to do”. He left the room to get another glass of water for Cameron, assuming he was thirsty again, “here,” he said and passed it to him.

They sat in silence for a while before Reece spoke up, “what was that all about?”

[justpush]

Cameron calmed down a bit as he drank another glass of water. He looked at Reece and then took a deep breath when he heard the question.
"Do I have to say? Otherwise you won't leave it at that?" he asked

[Whoknows]

Reece thought for a moment, “well I can’t forced you to say anything,” he began, “but it would be nice to know so I can help you, even to check up on you.” He sat back down, keeping some space between them, “I just want to help, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”

[justpush]

Cameron looked at him out of the corner of his eye, clutching a glass in his hand.
"Are you sure you won't tell anyone?" he asked him quietly, and after a moment he licked his lips slightly and began to tell the story. He didn't talk about the details, but he voiced what was troubling him.

[Whoknows]

Reece nodded, “I promise I won’t”, and then listened to what the man had to say. He was shocked, “I’m sorry to hear that, Cameron, I will always be here for you to speak to, if needed”.

[justpush]

Cameron looked at him somewhat surprised and curious. This was the first time he had confided in someone about his problems in his marriage.
"Thank you..." he said quietly and looked at the clock on the wall. It was really late "Why don't you go to bed? I can take a nap here."

[Whoknows]

Reece nodded, “I have a spare room, you can take it”, he said, standing up, prepared to show him. For the first time in ages, he was relieved to have the spare room.

[justpush]

Cameron repeated all the way to this spare room that all he needed was a couch, but he didn't have much to talk about anyway. The room was quite large and modernly decorated. He thanked him quietly, then realized he had nothing to sleep on.
"Excuse me... Could I borrow some shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in?"

[Whoknows]

“Oh yes! I almost forgot about that,” Reece said, rushing to his room to grab a pair of shorts and a shirt. “Here you go! They are clean, don’t worry”.

[justpush]

"I'm not worried about that..." he sent him a shy smile as he took the clothes in his hand "Thank you.... Please go to bed, tomorrow we have to go to work after all" he said

[Whoknows]

He sighed, “work is so boringg,” he dragged out, spinning around and walking out the room. He called out, “goodnight!” before closing his bedroom door.

[justpush]

Cameron looked at him with a weak smile. Indeed, he was funnier than he was.
He answered him politely, and then slowly changed into his boss's clothes. He had several fresh bruises on his back and thighs.

[Whoknows]

Reece appeared in the doorway, “wait, I forgot to ask-“, he froze, seeing the bruises on Cameron’s back. “I didn’t know you were getting changed, I swear!”, he said, “the door was opened so I assumed you were like sitting there or something”.

[justpush]

Cameron momentarily froze in surprise, but quickly followed by jumping up and climbing onto the bed, covering himself. He prayed that the man wouldn't notice the bruises.
"What do you want to ask?" he asked, grunting quietly

[Whoknows]

“I was going to ask if you wanted me to clean your clothes so you could wear them at work tomorrow but now that I think about it, you could borrow mine?”, he questioned. He kept his eyes on the ground, “um, I have some salve for bruises if you would like me to get it?”

[justpush]

"No, please don't bother.... I'll go home in the morning to get clean clothes" he said quietly, looking at the bedding "And these bruises.... They will disappear by themselves" he added more quietly

[Whoknows]

Reece approached Cameron, “are you sure your marriage isn’t the only problem?,” he asked, “how does your husband treat you?” There was no way Cameron wasn’t being abused, there was no way to injure yourself in a way where there’s bruises on your back.

[justpush]

Cameron bit his lip slightly, but did not speak. He didn't know what to say. He just played with his hands rather nervously. Was he embarrassed? Yes... Was he sorry? Yes... But he didn't want others to get involved in his life's tragedy. He was closed in on himself.

[Whoknows]

The silence was all Reece needed to confirm his suspicions, “Cameron…”, he said, trailing off. His eyes welled up a little but he wouldn’t let the tears fall, he had only spoken to Cameron for a day but before that even after months of working together, they hadn’t talked.