Free What No One Else Can Hear by Brynn Stein

time when he didn’t have paper or blocks and was having trouble with imagining the blocks in his head. What I hadn’t seen before was Stevie starting this process without any prompting from me. His whines were turning into moans, and he was rocking more slowly. He had a steadier hand while drawing his blocks. He seemed to be handling the upset as best he could, so I just stayed quiet and attentive, ready to help if needed. He continued to calm down over the next several minutes that felt like hours. As he drew more and more squares on the floor, he calmed exponentially, until he finally rose to his feet and looked around.
    “Hey, Bear! A paint set!”
    He was off like a shot to inspect the same set that caused the young mother so much trouble. Fortunately I didn’t have to say no when, after looking at everything else in the store, Stevie decided he wanted that particular set.
    I had come in with the plan to buy him something. Stevie was supported by the state, and his father sent the smallest of checks for clothing and necessities as the center requested, but the staff often bought him extra things to make life a little better for him. I’d been saving a little of my paycheck for quite a while now so that I’d be able to buy him things when I took him out of the center. I had always had that as a goal.
    We finally stood in front of the surly young clerk. With matching Cheshire cat smiles, Stevie and I made our first purchase together. I was sure the clerk thought our visit was the worst thing to happen to him that whole day. But with the new experience of having seen Stevie manage his empathy on his own, I considered the trip an unmitigated success. The newly purchased art set was just frosting on the cake and would always remind me of today’s accomplishment.
     
     
    D REW AND I were talking one night at work about upcoming movies. We both wanted to see the latest Die Hard movie. So when both Drew and I were off on the Friday it came out, we decided to go together.
    I had always known I was attracted to both men and women—men a good bit more, actually. Not that I had had time for either in a long while, with the search for Stevie and everything. Drew had appealed to me since the first moment I saw him, but the more I got to know him and the more I hung out with him, the more I felt for him. As far as I knew, Drew was straight, regardless of what Chuck liked to say. And even if he wasn’t, he had shown no interest in me that way, so I tried to keep it platonic, to tell myself that we were just two friends going to the movies.
    We arrived at the theater early enough to have our pick of the seats. Drew wanted to sit in the back row. My heart fluttered just a little bit, but I tamped down on it. Lots of people wanted to sit in the back row, for all sorts of reasons: more legroom, you didn’t have to crane your neck to see the screen, and no one was behind you. Lots of reasons to sit in the back that had nothing to do with being dark and secluded—and romantic.
    Not romantic at all.
    Just friends.
    I barely paid any attention to the movie. All I could think of was how good it was just sitting in a dark theater with Drew, feeling the heat of his body next to mine, our hands meeting as we reached for popcorn, our arms touching as we shared the armrest.
    Just friends, just friends, just friends.
    I was so worked up by the time I finally got home that I had to head straight to the shower. If all the more-than-friendly things I had wanted to do to Drew all night filled my mind at the same time… well, no one had to know about that.
     
     
    O NE EVENING the next week, Stevie was seated at the large table in the hall, drawing yet another item he had seen in the store, while some of the staff and a few children were watching the news on the nearby TV. The anchor announced a new candidate for the gubernatorial race. Somewhere in my subconscious, I noticed the name “William Liston” but didn’t pay conscious attention,