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One day, he just showed up. Out of the blue, so to say. He was just there when she came back from her weekly afternoon of bingo in town.Josh introduced him as Timothy Bryan, short Tim, a friend from the Corps. Young Timothy was silent but intense in a fascinating way, with short dark hair and a moustache that suited him exceptionally well. He held himself with the same straight back and disciplined posture she'd observed on almost all military men – even her Josh had it – and he didn't have to wear a uniform to make it clear that he served in the forces. Josh explained that Timothy was their medic – no, corpsman was the word he'd used – and that he'd served with Josh in Iraq. He'd allowed Josh to stay on his couch when they'd come back, Josh said, and as a thanks, he had invited Timothy to Nevada.Mary-Ann Person didn't believe it for a second. She may have been old, but she wasn't blind. Josh had never been good at lying to her – not when he was a little boy, not now. She could tell immediately that there was more to it, and it spiked her curiosity. She was sure her daughter had noticed it, too, but Angela didn't give any outward sign of disapproval. In fact, she seemed to have taken to young Timothy pretty quickly, treating him as if he'd been part of their little family for years. It was enough for Mary-Ann to keep quiet and observe before she'd say anything. Her daughter was a good judge of character – Josh's father might have been a mistake, but at least he'd given them Josh – and Mary-Ann was too curious to say anything that would make Timothy retreat before she'd had a chance to analyse him. She had the feeling that he was a very private man and for a moment she wondered how he'd become friends with her rather loud-mouthed grandson.The first evening was spent on the porch with dinner and beer and a red wine for Mary-Ann. At the beginning it was unusually quiet when they sat around the old table, but the later it got, the more vivid the conversation became. Mary-Ann was surprised how lively young Timothy became in the discussion and how well he handled Josh's arguments. It was late when Angela broke up the round, announcing that she had to get up early to be in the diner for the morning shift, and Josh and Tim followed her lead. Mary-Ann was almost sorry that the evening was over, she found that she had really enjoyed the lively discussion. Timothy had strong opinions and didn't hesitate to defend then with solid arguments, but he wasn't afraid to listen to others and take up their points. She would have loved to have more time to observe him. Well, there would be time for that over the next few days. She was sure he wouldn't leave anytime soon. Mary-Ann was proven right. The boys spent the entire next day together somewhere out in the wilderness, as she called it. They left early in the morning with Timothy carrying a backpack full of food and water when he took the rear seat on Josh's old bike. Mary-Ann watched them drive off, Josh going way too fast, just like he always did, no matter how many times she'd told him to go slower. She didn't see them again until late that evening when the noise of the engine announced the return of Josh's bike. She knew that sound so well that she swore she would have been able to pick it out among a hundred bikes. Josh and Timothy brought Chinese take out with them and Mary-Ann was extraordinarily pleased that her grandson had brought her fried pineapple for desert along with her favourite dish. He was a good boy, always trying to do something nice for her and his mother. Angela was indeed happy that she didn't have to cook after a whole day spent in the diner's kitchen, and she gave the boys a huge smile before she got cold beer out of the fridge and brought it to the table. Dinner was a vivid affair, the hesitancy of the first evening gone. Mary-Ann noticed with a satisfied smile how relaxed and happy her Josh looked and how he beamed when young Timothy offered him one of his fried bananas. They seemed to get along really well and it reassured her to know that Josh had found such a good friend in the Corps. She'd always been worried that the bigger guys would make life difficult for her Josh, just like they'd done when he was a kid, but she didn't doubt that Timothy wouldn't let anybody hurt him. There was a no-nonsense aura about him, a silent warning that would keep anybody from coming too close to her grandson. Young Timothy seemed to be quite protective of him, and she had to admit that it surprised her that Josh didn't seem to mind. That was definitely a first. This time they went to bed later. Angela had the late shift the next day and enjoyed the fact that she could sleep in. Sometime around midnight, she got herself a third beer and brought two more for the boys and a new glass of red wine for Mary-Ann. Somehow they'd ended up talking about journalism and media and the discussion had become quite heated, so when they finally decided to call it a night, it was well past two o'clock. Mary-Ann was exhausted and decided that she was too old for such late nights when she lay down in her bed in the back of the trailer. She wasn't used to so much young blood anymore. Josh had been gone for so long, and he rarely brought any friends. Now she could hear Josh and Timothy talking in the tiny bathroom while they were brushing their teeth. She fell asleep before she heard them go to bed.The next days passed in a rush with Timothy easily fitting into the routine at the trailer. He helped out when asked, went for groceries with Angela and worked with Josh on repairing the roof where the last storm had blown off some of the covers. Mary-Ann watched him and her grandson, curious about what kind of relationship they actually had, and it didn't take her long to notice how they stuck together. Wherever one was, you'd find the other somewhere close by. They would spend hours out in the hills on Josh's old bike or working on stuff in the garage-tent that Josh had built a few years back. They sat next to each other at dinner or when they watched a movie. They communicated by looks as much as by words, sometimes even more than by words, Mary-Ann thought. She saw Timothy look at Josh with a secret little smile when he thought nobody was watching. She saw him touch his hand to Josh's back when he passed him in close quarters, leaving it a bit longer than necessary. She saw Josh smirk at Timothy over dinner. She saw Josh pass his hand through the hair at the nape of young Timothy's neck when he came back to the couch with more beer, a small caress that was almost imperceptible. It wasn't too hard for Mary-Ann to connect the dots.After a particularly late night, Mary-Ann was woken up in the middle of the night by the need to relief her bladder. Too much wine, she knew. Darkness filled the trailer, only the faint light from the lantern outside filtering inside through the broken blinds. She got up and walked to the tiny loo without making a sound, just as she'd learned to do in half a lifetime spent in a trailer. She passed Angela, who was sleeping soundly on the couch, and stopped at Josh's room that was right in front of the bathroom. As was her habit, she opened the door a sliver and threw a quick glance inside to make sure her grandson was all right. It was a routine she'd taken on when he was a child and Angela had to work late, leaving Mary-Ann to take care of him, and she'd never really been able to break it. Usually she would look for a second and go her way when she was sure that things were all right. Tonight, though, she paused in the door in confusion. There were two bodies in the small bed, partly covered by a blanket. It took her a moment to remember that young Timothy was there and that he was bunking with Josh and that that explained why there were two bodies instead of one. It didn't explain why they shared one blanket, though. Mary-Ann knew there were enough blankets in Josh's room, she'd knitted almost all of them.Mary-Ann opened the door a bit further to have a better look. In the faint light coming from outside, she recognised Josh's smaller frame cuddled against the bulkier form of Timothy who'd spooned up behind him. Timothy's arm was wrapped around Josh's waist, Josh's arm covering his and their fingers entwined. The blanket only covered their bellies and where it had slipped to the side, she could see that their legs were entangled, bare where their shorts ended. They were both fast asleep, Timothy's nose buried against Josh's neck right above the collar of his t-shirt, their breath regular and deep. They looked comfortable, relaxed, peaceful.Mary-Ann retreated, careful to be quiet to not disturb them. It was the first time since Josh had come back that he slept, really slept, no trashing, no nightmares, no insomnia. She wanted him to rest as long as possible. He needed it, and she guessed that it was no different for young Timothy. Whatever they'd lived through over there in Iraq, it had left them restless, unable to sleep through the night. It had been the same thing when Josh had come back from his tour in Afghanistan. Mary-Ann still remembered when she'd seen him at the airport, hollow-eyed and haggard and exhausted, how she'd felt an icy shiver run down her spine. Josh had smiled and joked and talked, but he hadn't actually said a thing. He'd been a different man, and while he had almost returned to normal with time, she'd always felt like a piece of him hadn't come back from Afghanistan. When he'd deployed for the first time, Mary-Ann had put his picture up on the Wallmart Wall of Heroes, the nice picture where he looked all proud and strong in his dress blues. It was a good picture, one where he smiled his real smile, and she wanted people to see who was fighting for them. She wanted them to see the face of her Josh and know that he was over there. Maybe she also just wanted to see his smile when she walked past the wall after going for groceries with her daughter. It made her feel better, and although it was just a picture, she'd always smiled back. The man who'd returned from Afghanistan had forgotten how to smile a real smile. It had taken weeks for him to sleep longer than a few hours without waking up shouting, soaked in sweat and eyes wild. She'd seen it too many times, had come to his room to wake him when the dreams didn't let go of him and his shouting was loud enough to be heard in the whole trailer park. Nobody had ever commented or complained, though, as if they'd known it would be a very bad idea, and Mary-Ann had been infinitely grateful that for once the chatterboxes had kept away. And while Josh hadn't sleep through the night either when he'd come back this time, it wasn't just as bad. Mary-Ann was quite sure now that young Timothy was the reason for that, or at least part of it. Maybe it was time to have a little private chat with him.The chance came the next evening when Josh was helping his mother with the dishes and Angela sent young Timothy out of the kitchen that was way too small for three people. Mary-Ann decided to make use of the opportunity and waved him over to where she was sitting on the porch.“Sit down, boy.” Mary-Ann pointed at the chair on the other side of the table. Timothy set the wine glass he'd brought in front of her before he settled down into the lawn chair with a beer bottle in his hand. Mary-Ann sipped on her wine and let some minutes pass in comfortable silence before she looked up and caught his gaze."You care about my Josh, don't you?" It wasn't a question, and he knew it. He just looked at her, but didn't reply."I can see it, you know. The way you look at him." Mary-Ann said and gestured at Timothy, an amused little smile on her lips. It was kind of fun to let the bomb explode and see how he'd react. "You're in love with him."Timothy stiffened in the chair, his back suddenly straight and his whole body radiating suppressed tension. Mary-Ann took another sip of her wine and only continued talking when she was sure that he wasn't going to say anything if she didn't probe some more."I may not know you very well, but I know my grandson. " She went on. "He's got it bad for you. I've never seen him so serious about anyone." She turned to fix him with a hard gaze. "So you listen well, Timothy: I don't care about the rules of the Corps, I don't care about the risks you take. You knew what you were getting into with both of you being in the forces, and if you break his heart, I will make you suffer. So you better mean it."Timothy looked at her, not flinching, not cowering. He returned her gaze evenly, not trying to deny that he cared for Josh, not trying to lie to her. It made him rise even more in Mary-Ann's esteem. "I mean it." He finally said, his voice gravelly and firm, leaving no doubt about the truth of his words."Good." Suddenly she smirked. "I didn't expect anything else."He raised an eyebrow in question, but before he could actually say anything, Josh came out of the trailer and joined them on the porch with a beer of his own. Angela followed shortly afterwards and they sat together until Josh dragged Timothy off to watch a movie. Angela's gaze followed them, a smirk tugging on her lips.“They're kind of cute, aren't they?” She remarked, her eyebrow cocked in amusement.“Thinking they could fool us.” Mary-Ann snorted and shook her head.“Yeah, Josh should know better.” Angela agreed and laughed before she brought her beer bottle to her lips.“Men.” Mary-Ann chuckled and took a sip of her wine. “Exactly.” Angela leaned back in the lawn chair. “Although I have the feeling Tim knows we know.”“He certainly does now.” Mary-Ann couldn't help smirking.“Why's that?” Her daughter asked with a quizzical expression on her face.“I told him not to screw with Josh's heart.” Mary-Ann admitted and shrugged casually.“Did you, now?” Angela sipped her beer, quiet for a moment before she turned to look at her mother. “Well, I don't think we need to worry, Mom.”Mary-Ann nodded in agreement. “Nah. I think Timothy would rather shoot himself than hurt Josh.”“Then our boy's safe with him.”“As safe as he can be.” Mary-Ann agreed. Then she sighed, and she couldn't say if it was wistful or relieved. Maybe a bit of both. “I never thought that would happen.”“What? That he'd fall for a man, one who happens to be in the Corps with him on top of that, or the part where we agree that he found someone who's worthy of his trust?”“I admit that I had never expected that he would fall for a man, but now that I've met Timothy, I can't say that I'm surprised.”“Somehow they match, don't they?” Angela smiled knowingly.“They do, strangely enough. They're quite different.” Mary-Ann couldn't help the sad smile that tugged on her lips. “I feel like Josh finally outgrew this trailer park. He's going to leave for real now.”“I know.” Angela fell silent, then she laughed quietly, wistfully. “It's about time.”True to her assumption, Josh told them a few days later that he would return to Oceanside earlier than he'd originally planned. Mary-Ann wasn't surprised, but she couldn't help being sad to see him leave. He was her only grandson, after all, and he had brought so much light in her life with his laughter and his big mouth. She knew he wouldn't come back to live with them when he wrapped his bike in a protective cover and stored it safely in the back of the shed instead of the tent. He'd never done that since he'd bought the bike, and it felt like the end of an era. Two days later, the boys had packed up their things and Timothy's rental stood in front of the trailer, ready to bring them to the airport. Ray hugged his mother, then he kissed Mary-Ann on the cheek and gave her a gentle embrace. Timothy held out his hand to Angela who just pushed it aside and stood on her tiptoes to give him a decent hug. When he stood in front of Mary-Ann, she fixed him with a firm gaze. "You take good care of my boy, Timothy Bryan.""Grandma! I don't need anybody to take care of me. I'm a grown man!" Josh complained next to her, but she ignored him entirely. Tim threw him an amused look before he returned her gaze and nodded. "I will. I promise.""Tim! Don't you side with her!" Josh sounded scandalised and glared at him. Tim didn't seem bothered at all.“I know you will.” Mary-Ann smirked, then she stepped closer and pulled him down in a firm embrace. He seemed stunned for a moment, his whole body stiff and straight, before he bent down and returned the embrace. Mary-Ann smiled to herself when she pulled back. She'd known he was all gooey inside his hard outer shell. He was just what her Josh needed, never mind that he was a man. Mary-Ann waited until Josh and Tim had shouldered their duffels and were ready to leave before she said, “I want to see you back here soon, Timothy. Tag along next time Josh comes by.” She would never forget the smile on her Josh's face. It was the real one.