Mason was not having it. All of his friends were already in the ballroom, having some drinks, laughing up a storm, and there he was waiting for his escort. He smiled plastically amiable at some of the other event committee members as they walked in, then immediately scowled at his phone when they were out of eyesight, as he angrily texted "WTF? Where are you?!" At that exact moment, Josh came running in, obviously very hastily dressed.

"It's about goddamn time!" whined Mason.

"Sorry," Josh apologized. "I got held up at Haven. Edward had to leave for a family emergency or something."

"Whatever. You should quit that place, they don't even pay you."

"That kind of misses the point of volunteering for a non-profit, babe."

"Well, they certainly don't not pay you enough to leave me here waiting. I've missed almost half the fundraiser."

Josh chose to ignore the grammatical conundrum of his boyfriend's whining. "Why didn't you just go in? All of our friends are in there?"

"Go in to my own event, unescorted?" Mason sounded so affronted, Josh had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm here now." Josh said, offering Mason his arm. "Shall we?"

Mason pushed his arm down. "Not with your tie all crooked," he said, quickly straightening it.

*

Josh was into his third whiskey sour as the charity founder gave his thank you speech.

"Don't tell our boyfriends I said this," said Chadwick, joining Josh at the bar. "But this is the most BORING fundraiser I've ever been to."

"Well, they can't all be AIDS and marriage equality," said Josh, knocking back his drink.

"At least there's lots to dish about."

"Oh god, is there really?" Josh usually hated the "who's fucking who, who's flirting with who" game that his friends were always so fond. It just seem liked so much catty gossip. But Chadwick was right: this event was SO dull, so he acquiesced.

"Well, Tristan's date is sitting over there, sans Tristan."

"Tristan was supposed to be here?"

"Only because of his daddy date. I mean, please, a month salary for him is a night out for us at MiniBar."

"So why is he even here?"

"He bought the tickets. When Bryan checked him in at the door, he recognized the name that Tristan had started dropping. Tragedy at his age, really, getting stood up for a fundraising event. But at least we get a good laugh out of it."

"Omigod, this thing is SO boring!" said Diego as he came up to the bar and ordered a cosmo. "Your boyfriends suck so bad!"

"C'mon guys, it's for charity," said Josh. "Bryan and Mason worked really hard on this committee."

"Speaking of boyfriends," said Chadwick. "Where's yours, Diego?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Have a little lover's spat, did we?"

"No he had to go to the hospital. Someone he knew died or whatever."

"Oh my god," said Josh. "That's terrible. Is it anyone we know?"

"I don't know, it's all over Tristan's Facebook. That's how he saw it. Charlie something or other."

"Charlie Parker?"

"I guess," Diego said, secretly annoyed that deleting the text message from Charlie's phone was in vain.

"Why? Do you know him or something?" Chadwick asked, his mouth watering for the night's next bit of juicy gossip.

Josh checked Tristan's Facebook. His heart sank. "Or something," he said.

*

"Mind if I sit here for a while," the handsome older gentleman asked.

"Whatever," said Diego, still pouting from being alone as the band began to play.

"You know, someone as young and cute as you shouldn't be so sullen. Even if whoever was stupid enough to let you come here unescorted isn't here to tell you how smashing you look in that suit." That got Diego to smile, just a little bit.

"And why are you here alone?"

"I got stood up. I guess I should be used to that sort of thing from Tristan."

"Oh you know Tristan?"

"I do. I assume that you two are friends?"

Diego offered his hand. "I'm Diego."

"Pleasure to meet you," said the handsome older gentleman, shaking his hand. "My name is Bruce."

*

Checking Tristan's Facebook for updates, Josh was relieved that Charlie had pulled through. He washed his face in the bathroom sink, wondering how the possible death of a man he's known barely a month could have shaken him so much. But in his gut... he knew. He had to find a way to excuse himself to get to the hospital, which was not going to be easy because it was Mason's big night. But when you're trying to make it work with someone that you're mostly sure you love, these are the games you play.

Josh felt like he had an airtight excuse of an emergency back at Haven that needed senior staff as he walked back to the table. The band was playing an orchestral version of "Edge of Glory," which Josh was sure was Mason's touch. Mason looked up at Josh with tears in his eyes.

"Did you see what that kid said about how this fundraiser was going to change his life?" Mason asked.

"No, sorry, I was... "

"I did that, babe. I helped. I helped change someone's life." It was moments like this that reminded Josh why he had fallen in love with Mason. He just wished it happened more. He offered up his hand to Mason and led him on the dance floor. Mason held onto him tight, sniffing gently on his shoulder. Josh kissed him on the head lightly, but he was miles away. Halfway across town, wondering how Charlie was doing.

###