When Elijah gets home after an arduous day of CD shopping in Santa Monica, he does not expect to find Daniel curled up on his couch in the dark.
"Your mom let me in," Daniel says listlessly, without moving.
"Dan. Baby. What happened?" Without turning on the light, Elijah comes and kneels on the floor in front of Daniel.
"They kicked me out."
"Your parents? You told them?"
"Yes. And they kicked me out. There was a tremendous row," he adds, throwing a smile at Elijah, but then Daniel's eyes turn sad again. "They didn't want a queer for a son."
As Elijah scoops Daniel into his arms, he tries to imagine what it would be like to have to cross the Atlantic to find comfort.
He can't.
That night Elijah sleeps curled around Daniel in his bed. It's the only way he knows how to make the boy feel less alone.