Love Means_. Freedom - Andrew Grey

special.

    Stone nodded and Preston watched with a smile as Stone gawked over the menu. "What are escargot?" He pronounced it "s-car-gott."
    "They're snails in garlic butter." Stone pulled a face, and Preston began to chuckle. "Don't worry, I don't like them, either. Too chewy. I suggest the steak frites--best french fries you'll ever have. They serve them with mayonnaise, and they're unbelievable." The waitress came by, and Stone ordered a soda. Preston would normally order a beer, but he figured that Stone was too young, so he ordered a soda as well. When she returned, they placed their orders and were left alone again. "Are you from around here?"
    "No. I was raised outside Petoskey, on a small farm."
"How long have you been here?"
"Little over a week." Stone began to squirm in his chair.
"Do you like it at the farm?" Preston noticed that Stone stopped moving and smiled across the table at him.
    "Yeah. They're all really good to me." The server brought their meals, placing a plate in front of each of them. "This looks really good." Stone leaned forward, inhaling deeply before starting to eat.

    The food was great, and they smiled across the table at one another. Preston tried a few times to start a conversation, but he wasn't sure where to go. "What do you like to do for fun?"

    For the first time that evening, Preston saw Stone's face light up. "I used to love spending time with Buster, my horse." Stone's smile faded slowly.
    "Stone, what happened?" Preston hated asking, but the sadness on that face was too much for him to take. Without thinking, Preston reached across the table, touching Stone's fingers lightly. "I'll listen if you want to talk." He smiled inside when he realized he was taking a page from Jasper's playbook, and that he really wanted to be there for Stone. Stone's eyes got wide, and Preston could feel the gaze probing him, like he was trying to make up his mind.
    "My father threw me out a few months ago, and I've been moving around."
"Because you're gay?" Preston asked, and Stone nodded.
    "Life with my dad was always tough, but it got worse after my mother died. I think at some point he stopped looking at me like his kid and started looking at me like a farmhand he didn't have to pay." Stone put down his fork and took a gulp of water. "I don't know why I did it, but I told him I thought I was gay. He beat me until I could barely breathe and then threw me out of the house." Stone gulped and took another drink of water, and then, to Preston's surprise, he continued. "I worked here and there for a while and managed to save a little. Then I tried heading south, but...." There was that look again. "I only made it this far and the guy I was riding with threw me out."
    Preston knew there was more to the story by the way Stone refused to meet his eyes. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable with."
    "The worst thing is that I had to leave Buster behind. I can take care of myself, but he can't."
Stone's voice caught in his throat. "I don't even know if...."
Preston gripped Stone's hand, letting him know he was there for him. "I'm sorry."
"Me too." Stone wiped his eyes. "I'm messing up our dinner."
    "We could talk about something more pleasant, like the joys of physical therapy." To Preston's relief, Stone smiled, the mood lightened, and they started to talk. Stone's story had really broken the ice, and Preston told him what it was like growing up in the Harding household. "Sounds like we have a lot in common." Stone said between bites.

    Preston swallowed his french fry. "Yeah, I guess we do. We both just wanted our father's love, and neither of us got it." Preston fished out another fry. "I think we need to find something happier to talk about, or this is going to go down as the most depressing first date in history." Stone looked up, smiling, and Preston felt Stone's hand slide against his. "We could return to the joys of therapy." Stone's wicked smile started Preston laughing, and Stone joined him.

    "Aren't we both a barrel of laughs?"

    "Doesn't really matter, I'm having a good time." Preston snuck a look at Stone and smiled a little when he heard him say he was too. God, he felt like he was back in high school, except then he'd never had the guts to tell anyone about himself. He just hid behind a wall of arrogance. They finished their meal, the conversation full of laughter and smiles. It felt so good to see Stone smile and to know he was smiling at him and because of