Chapter One: Snowed In (DogPath) - Chapter 1
Explicit // M/M // Cal Roberts (The Path)/Nigel (Charlie Countryman) // Tags: AU, Cal left Meyerism, Writer Cal, Nigel runs a coffee shop, Coffee Shop AU, cult, ex-cult member, snowed in, instant attraction, Nigel and Cal are both a bit broken, hand jobs, anal sex, time skip, Patreon Prompt Fill.
Cal needs a break from the book tour for his tell all book on Meyerism, and finds an unexpected escape with Nigel.
Chapter One (3.7k words)
Cal was glad this was the last stop on his book tour.
The cold weather had made it a little more taxing than he’d expected, but what had truly troubled him was how hard it was to relive it all. When he wrote his tell all book about Meyerism, he’d felt distant to it. Disassociated from the events he wrote about, even the abuse he himself had experienced. It had felt cathartic, as though he was allowing it all to leave his body. Just like an unburndening.
But having to read passages from it and answer questions on it with the curious folk who attended his book events, poked at the wound to his mind and soul that he hadn’t considered it might.
“Thanks so much,” the shop owner enthused as they shook hands. Cal stood from behind the little table to the side of the designated area at the back of the shop where seats had been laid out in front of the low stage he’d been seated at before moving to signing books.
Cal felt like he was an autopilot now, saying the right words, and nodding in the right places. Trying to distance his mind from the passages he’d read aloud, and from the curious questions people had had about the cult he had been trapped in. He could call it that now, even if it made him inwardly wince each time. Meyerism was still deeply imbedded in part of him, even if he was no longer trapped within it. He'd been through it all - the deprogramming - he could step back from it now and see it for what it was, even if his first impulse was to still view everything through a Meyerist lens.
Since it had all come out, since the movement had disbanded, since the arrests… Cal had been in a strange limbo between Meyerism and the real world. Between one he could no longer live in and one he had no idea how to live in. Now he was a best selling author, invited on talk shows and touring around the country, so he still was on the outside of the real world.
He thanked the last of the crowd as he left, every book sold and his wrist aching from signing, he longed for a bit of reality. Whatever that was. He needed something real, unsure if that was a good or a bad thing.
If he still drank, he’d find a bar. But he’d worked too hard on being sober to throw that away just for the sake of feeling a little more grounded when he was sure that feeling was actually out of reach anyway.
“We’ve got a cab coming to take us back to the hotel,” Bev, his publicist told him as she drew him gently away from the lingering people.
Cal nodded.
As planned, they were picked up and driven to the nicest hotel in the small town. But when Bev grabbed their things and stepped out of the cab, Cal hesitated.
He wanted to go to a bar. He didn't want to drink, but the thought of being alone in his hotel room didn't sit right with him. He needed to be out and about, around people. People that weren't there to ask him about his life, the cult.
“I need to get out for a bit,” he told Bev asked she stood on the curb.
She nodded and gave him a smile that was a little too close to pity. They'd been working together long enough, and she'd read the book, so she knew that sometimes he just needed space.
“Don't stay out too late, there's meant to be some bad weather rolling in.” She advised before she closed the door.
Cal leaned forward to talk to the driver.
“Any place still open around here that's not a bar?” He asked, noting the darkening sky as the sun went down and dark clouds drew closer. “A bistro, a coffee shop?”
The driver nodded, “coffee shop near the edge of town should be open, opens late for the Winter Fayre.”
“Great, thanks,” Cal agreed and sat back in his seat as the car pulled away, Bev already gone.
*
Nigel didn’t take any notice of the car pulling up outside. Vehicles had been coming and going for the last hour, since the authorities came and closed the fayre down early. The weather warning had been stepped up and everything was shuttering early.
He only looked up when he heard the bell over the door ring and saw a very serious looking man step inside, clearly not dressed for the coming weather. Not local, that was for sure. He had on a warm coat, but he’d want more than that if the blizzard hit this part of town.
Nigel was about to speak up and say he was closing early, but the man’s expression stopped him as he stared up at the menu above the counter. He looked the kind of world weary that resonated with Nigel. That was exactly how he’d looked when he’d first rolled into town five years earlier. The least he could do for the guy was to get him a coffee to take on his way.
“I can get you something to go,” Nigel said as he walked back behind the counter, “there’s a blizzard coming in.”
The man closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath before letting it out as a heavy sigh.
“I thought it would be busier,” the man said, his eyes still closed. Nigel wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or not if he was honest.
“Crowds started thinning out an hour ago, when the weather warning was upgraded. Blizzard is meant to be rolling through, might pass the town, might hit, but always best be prepared either way.”
The man opened his eyes then, looking directly at Nigel as he nodded his understanding.
His eyes were the most mesmerising blue Nigel had ever seen, though he might not have noticed if not for his penetrating gaze. Nigel laughed, a nervous habit that happened so rarely it probably didn’t qualify as a habit at all. He could count on one hand the amount of times he’d been nervous in his life, and this was the first time in many years.
The fluttering in his chest made it clear that it was the combination of the presence this guy had - intimidating and commanding in a subtle way - and how fucking gorgeous he was, which Nigel couldn’t deny.
But more than that, Nigel recognised him. He’d seen him interviewed on a couple of shows - an ex cult member who had escaped and written a book about it. Nigel hadn’t read the book, but he’d understood enough from the interviews to know this guy was a mess no matter how well he hid it. And now he was here and so damn compelling in person.
“Fuck it, take a seat,” Nigel indicated at one of the few stools that were at the end of the counter, and flicked the machines back on. The man’s eyebrows rose, but then he did as bid, taking off his coat to settle at the middle stool at the end of the counter. “What can I get you?”
Nigel knew, without having to dig too deep, that this was a terrible idea. But he had an impulse control problem, and coupled with his tendency of being a pushover for a pretty face, he wasn’t really able to control himself.
“Latte,” The man replied. Nigel could feel the man’s eyes on him as he started pouring the milk into a jug.
“Did you come for the fayre?” Nigel asked.
The man continued to look at him for a moment before averting his eyes and shaking his head. “No, I just didn’t want to go back to my hotel room.”
“Here I was thinking you’d tell me you’d heard amazing things about my coffee making skills and just had to drop by.” Nigel grinned as he steamed the milk.
The man’s face cracked into a very slight smile. Enough for Nigel to feel rewarded. He knew he could be quite exuberant and energetic, which some found annoying.
“Sadly, no. I was trying to avoid bars, so the cab driver suggested here. Perhaps he knows of your great coffee making skills.”
“Huh,” Nigel chuckled, “Perhaps he knows coffee better than he does weather. The updates have been playing on the local stations for hours. The blizzard that was meant to blow past is now possibly blowing through this part of town. That’s why the fayre closed early.”
The man took in Nigel’s words and turned to look through the window. It was completely abandoned now, everything that could be shuttered was, everything that needed tying down was strapped and there were no cars in sight.
The sky had darkened in the last few minutes, faster than Nigel had anticipated. It looked oppressive, like it was trapping them inside.
“Shit,” Nigel cursed, realising his mistake at not immediately turning this guy away. His truck was out back, but those clouds were moving fast.
Nigel placed the coffee in front of the man and went outside.
The air that hit him as he opened the door was so cold it stole his breath. It was like the oxygen had been sucked out of the world. He recovered for a moment, trying to grab breaths where he could as he started to pull down the shutters. He got the first one down, latched and locked and then realised someone was beside him.
He turned to see the guy already pulling the second shutter down on the other window. Nigel quickly joined him, latched and locked it before pushing him back inside. The wind was whipping up and with it came snow so fine that the freezing air was white.
Nigel opened the door and stepped through, pulling down the shutter for the door behind him. As soon as it was latched and locked he closed the door itself and bolted it closed.
As he turned the sign over to closed, he looked back at the man now standing there covered in a dusting of white that he surely matched.
“So, about that blizzard.”
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