Zeke returned to the kitchen and pulled a couple dirty plates from the sink.
Did that mean Nathan liked him? Was afraid of him, disgusted by him? He didn’t know how to read the signs. He'd always been crap with all that touchy feely stuff.
He glared at the stacks of dirty dishes. He hadn't quite finished cleaning the place, but maybe he could keep Nathan out of there until he had a chance to get things organized.
His visitor seemed like a nice guy. Zeke wished his gaydar was better.
He washed the plates with some dish soap, giving them a good scrub, and dried them with some of his precious paper towels. He pulled out the last of his smoked salmon and put it on the plates, along with the fruit salad. "I have a few Snapples left," he called. "Lemon or peach?"
Zeke hauled the plates and a couple forks out into the living room and presented one of them to Nathan with a flourish. "Compliments of the chef."
Nathan laughed. "What I wouldn't give to go to a nice restaurant again." He took the plate and set it on his lap.
"I would love to have cheese again. Especially mozzarella."
"I would die for a Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar."
"I loved dark chocolate." Zeke returned with the drinks and a couple more paper towels and took a seat on the floor against the wall by the fireplace where he could see Nathan properly. "Where did you start out on your journey?"
"Vermont. Seems like I've been walking forever." Nathan took a bite of the salmon. "What about you? Ooh, this is delicious."
Zeke looked around the old cabin. So many memories. "I grew up here. This was my Dad's place. He passed away a few years ago."
"It's... nice." Nathan took a drag on the bottle of Peach Snapple.
"It's a pack-rat's heaven," Zeke corrected him.
"Yeah." Nathan smiled wanly. "Sorry. My OCD is getting the better of me. I thought I had it under control, but the dog attack, and being in a place like this... Stress is a big trigger for me."
"Oh man. I'm sorry." A light went on in Zeke's head. "That's why you wanted the Xanax." He glanced outside. It was getting dark. "I can run to town right now—"
"It's all right. I can cope until tomorrow. The Xanax just helps take the edge off for a few hours; gives me time to cope. I've learned other ways to manage it."
"So... OCD. Like that TV detective, Monk?"
Nathan winced. "Yeah. Kinda. It's more complicated than that."
"How long have you had it?" Zeke's gaze lingered on Nathan's naked chest. He was feeling warmer than he ought to.
"Since I was ten." Nathan looked at the piles of stuff around the room.
Poor guy looked nervous as hell. "You think hoarding is a kind of OCD?" Zeke joked to lighten the mood.
Nathan snorted. "This isn't hoarding. It's survival."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Nathan was handsome, even dirty as he was. Zeke decided that he wanted to kiss him rather badly.
He shifted his trousers. He wasn't usually so out of control like this.
Of course, Nathan had the whole only other living human being on the face of the Earth thing going for him too.
COLLAPSE 
