Cailen was already grabbing the pants off the doorknob and slipping them on, underwear be damned.
"What's wrong?" Cailen asked, noticing Asher climbing out of bed as well, going in search of his clothes.
"Zeke had a nightmare..." William said, and although it didn't slow his movements any as he searched for his shirt, his heart did calm some because this was something that had happened many times.
"Yeah... He gets those. We're coming over." Cailen said into the phone as Asher handed him his shirt.
Cailen glanced around Asher at the alarm clock and saw that it was nearly two in the morning.
"Is he still up? I want to talk to him on the phone."
"Yeah... he's- he's here, but um, he doesn't want to talk about it. He said not to call you." William said, his voice turning into a whisper.
"We're coming, Wil, just try to keep him calm if you can." Cailen said, leaving the bedroom and slipping into some shoes, grabbing his keys and leaving the flat with Asher in tow.
"Well, Noah's got him calm, they're watching television right now but he's still crying. And-" William said but stopped, seeming unsure.
"What?" Cailen asked, not liking the sound of that.
"When- when I came into the room, he was screaming... he-" William seemed to be a little upset about this, maybe he thought he had did something wrong.
"It's okay, Wil. Unfortunately, he screams all the time when he has a nightmare." Cailen assured as he tossed the keys to Asher so he could drive.
"Yeah, but- he was-" William said, pausing before finishing. "He was screaming Asher's name."
*****
Cailen could tell exactly when such a perfect night went to shit.
It wasn't when he dropped Ezekiel off with William and Noah.
It wasn't when he went home to Asher having planned a wonderful evening.
It wasn't even when they got the call from William telling them they needed to come see Ezekiel because he had had a nightmare.
It was when Cailen opened his big mouth without thinking before he spoke.
When Cailen had hung up the phone with William, he was a little shaken up about what William had told him.
William had told him that Ezekiel had been screaming Asher's name, telling him to come back and that he had started crying when they finally woke him up.
William had said that they tried talking to him about it but Ezekiel refused to tell them anything- not that it surprised Cailen- and just curled up in a ball and kept crying.
A thousand different scenarios rushed through Cailen's mind as to what Ezekiel could have been dreaming about, but only two kept coming back to his mind as Asher drove them towards his old home.
The first one had Cailen worried and his heart aching at the thought of Ezekiel still believing they were going to return him to the orphanage.
But the second one, the one Cailen thought was more probable, left a gut wrenching feeling inside of him because he knew that Ezekiel had overheard them when they were discussing the risks of Asher's job and Cailen just knew that it was what Ezekiel had dreamt about.
It had to be. Of course Cailen didn't have actual proof of this, it was just a really strong feeling- one that wouldn't leave his mind. That is until it left his mouth without his permission when telling Asher about the phone call.
"So, what's going on?" Asher asked, his fingers tight on the wheel, his eyes focused on the road.
Asher hadn't even needed a reason before he followed Cailen out of the flat. He just knew that Ezekiel needed them and grabbed the closest pair of pants.
"Zeke had a nightmare, they've woken him up, but he's still crying apparently." Cailen explained. "Wil's kind of freaking out."
"We need to do something about this, Cai." Asher said, glancing quickly at Cailen before returning his gaze to the road. "We need to get him to talk about it." He added, frustration and a new determination lacing his words.
Cailen agreed with this, of course he did, but he just didn't know how they could get Ezekiel to talk when he didn't want to.
Cailen also didn't know if he should tell Asher about what William told him. He knew that Asher had every right to know, but Cailen didn't want to be the one to tell him. He was afraid Asher might get upset with him with everything they had just resolved.
He was afraid Asher might think he was trying to exploit Ezekiel's fears for his own benefit. Not that it was something Cailen would do.
"Well... Wil said he was dreaming... about you." Cailen said, glancing at Asher from the corner of his eyes.
Cailen saw the shock cross Asher's face because he had turned to Cailen again, only turning back when Cailen pointed to the road, indicating he should really be looking at the road.
"How- how do you know?" Asher asked.
Cailen watched him, the streetlights that they passed briefly lighting up his face every few seconds. Cailen chewed on his lip because something was beginning to turn in his stomach, and not in a good way.
"He was screaming your name." Cailen explained, his voice tight.
It wasn't that he was really mad at Asher, he could never really be mad at Asher but he wasn't really happy about this. Asher was putting Ezekiel through this, he was making the boy worry and that just wasn't okay.
"My name?"
"Yup, probably dreaming about a fire." Cailen said before he could really stop himself, his tone sounding cold to his own ears.
Of course Cailen was making assumptions but he just knew that it was exactly what Ezekiel was dreaming about, he didn't think it could be anything else, really.
"A fire? What? What do you mean-" Asher asked immediately but then realization dawned on his face, cutting off his words and making his fingers tighten on the wheel. "You think he's dreaming of me dying in a fire?" Asher asked for confirmation.
Cailen really hadn't meant to say that out loud, but now that he had, there was no going back and he figured he might as well explain himself.
"He overheard us the other day, Ash. It makes sense, right?" Cailen asked, looking down at his feet because he wasn't sure he wanted to meet Asher's eyes right now.
"Yeah, but- He could be dreaming of a million other things!" Asher exclaimed, his voice sounding angry. "And- and who's fault was that anyway? If you would just believe me when I tell you I'm going to be fine, there wouldn't have been a discussion for him to overhear!"
"What? Are you really trying to-"
"Well, it makes sense, right?" Asher asked, mimicking Cailen's tone from a few seconds ago. "If you had just supported me like you should, this wouldn't be an issue." Asher grumbled like he knew he shouldn't say it but he did and that set Cailen off.
"Supported you? Fuck, Asher, I have always supported you! But I'm sorry if I worry about you, too!" Cailen was trying very hard not to yell, very aware of the fact that Asher was driving and that they really shouldn't be arguing right now. "I don't know how you could expect me not to! And besides, I thought there were a million other things he could be dreaming about?" Cailen asked, knowing that even though Asher desperately wanted to believe that there were other things Ezekiel could be dreaming about, honestly, he didn't really think there was.
"There are." He said weakly, his eyes shifting over to Cailen briefly before focusing on the road again.
Asher sighed in frustration, obviously not believing his own words as he dragged a hand over his face.
"Let's just- Let's just get there, okay? We'll sort it out there when we know what's going on." Asher suggested, placing his hand back on the wheel as the car fell into a tense silence.
Cailen huffed in annoyance and fell back into the seat, pointedly looking out the window. He hated fighting with Asher, but it seemed even though they had thought they sorted this out, it was far from sorted.
Cailen really didn't think he was in the wrong here. He didn't think it was wrong of him to want his husband safe. He didn't think it was wrong to want their son to not have to worry about Asher.
He thought Asher was being a bit selfish actually, asking Cailen to just sit by and accept that Asher threw himself into danger day after day and be fine with it. He thought it was very selfish of Asher to stick by this even when it was no longer just Cailen having these fears.
It was selfish and it made Cailen so angry that it seems like they’re back to square one again.