In the past few weeks, Austin had done a lot of things. For starters, he reduced the number of cigarettes he took in a day. He made it a point not to smoke around Yves. He also made an effort to think about his words before he said them. Complimenting Yves without being overbearing had been a struggle, but he managed. He hadn't expected anything to come out of his efforts, but Yves reacted positively to it. He stuck around more after they went about their business at night, and he was less irritable. The change surprised Austin, and he got flustered by the new Yves. He never thought he could be more in love with the man but the tender, bright Yves was a lot more loveable.
"Christ," Austin groaned, feeling his pocket and discovering that he had finished the ration of cigarettes he had assi
