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<br/>
Gabriel actually expected Jaxon to be the oldest sibling in his family, because of the way he presented himself in public. Dark brows lifted in surprise when his handsome dinner companion admitted that he was in fact, the baby of his family.<br/>
<br/>
"So that makes you the baby, awww!" Gabriel clucked his tongue and teased Jaxon a little bit.<br/>
<br/>
"If your brother looks anything like you, I seriously doubt if he qualifies as girl material. You might beg to differ, being that he's your brother and all," commented Gabriel with a wink.<br/>
<br/>
At the mention of his little sister, Gabriel grinned. "Celie can handle rowdy boys. She drop kicked  a <i>gringo</i> that was a little too hands on that wouldn't take no for an answer a few months ago. She thinks she's a cage fighter now that she earned her black belt in Tae Kwon Do."<br/>
<br/>
Gabriel was still laughing as he cleared his plates from his side of the table to make it easier for his cousin to break the table down and clear it for a party of two after he and Jaxon left the patio. Gabriel was sated, gently rubbing a hand over his rippled belly while listening to the gentle cadence of Jaxon's voice as he explained that Kiv wasn't actually a service dog. Gabriel assumed that Kiv was a service dog was just because Jaxon was a military veteran and the fact that Jaxon and Kiv worked so well together in public.<br/>
<br/>
Maybe it was the probing quality of Gabriel's questions took in getting to know Jaxon better, or his undisguised compliment about Jaxon's good looks earlier, but there was a sudden edge of tension emanating from Jaxon. Gabriel couldn't pinpoint what it was, but he just decided to back away from digging deeper.<br/>
<br/>
"Sorry Jaxon, I shouldn't have been so nosy." he apologized, kicking himself inwardly for pushing Jaxon's invisible envelope.<br/>
<br/>
It was probably best to end the night on a positive note. Gabriel had Jaxon's phone number just in case of a change in plans, and they said goodnight as their time together came to an end. All in all, Gabriel felt good about the dinner with Jaxon, although he secretly wished he wasn't straight. Why did all the cute guys have to be straight or in a relationship? Gabriel grumbled inwardly as he wished the crew at Picaduras a good night, and headed home for the evening.<br/>
<br/>
_________________<br/>
<br/>
It was Gabriel's day off, and he was down at the Home Depot with his Uncle Armando, who was purchasing a new front window for the casita in the back of his house where his nephew called home. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, an intruder had attempted to break into Gabriel's humble abode when he was not at home. It was one of those rare times that Gabriel wasn't sleeping in bed, after an exhausting day waiting tables at Picaduras.<br/>
<br/>
Gabriel had been invited by a friend to go to the Comic Strip comedy club in El Paso, some thirty minutes away for an evening of fun, frolic and laughter among his social circle. First the group of four, three men and a woman, enjoyed dinner at <a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Foriginalgreatamerican.com%2F&amp;hash=0d7568c8b49efd6ff2b7c062cc3b2d8c" href="http://originalgreatamerican.com/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Great American Land and Cattle Steak House</a> on Gateway Boulevard. Gabriel didn't think he'd ever enjoyed a rib eye steak as much as he did before in his entire life.<br/>
<br/>
Marco, Giovanna, and Paul had ordered a bunch of filling appetizers and cocktails to share at their table, and everyone was blissfully stuffed by the time they left the restaurant to hit the <a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laff2nite.com%2Fevents%2F17623&amp;hash=25411f5434ed7bdde9c199bbd8909577" href="http://www.laff2nite.com/events/17623" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Comic Strip</a> for the 10 pm show starring Pablo Francisco.<br/>
<br/>
Francisco hit the stage and started the abdominal workouts with a lengthy self-deprecating reference to his bald spot, an ongoing gag which went down a treat with the audience. His voice flitted from one character to another with ease, his manic delivery punctuated with endless sound effects and giggles from the theater. Gabriel snorted loudly when Francisco performed his little tortilla boy movie trailer, and other crass, yet relatable cracks at American pop culture.<br/>
<br/>
After the comedy club, Gabriel and his friends decided not to end the night early, so they headed over to <a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Frubiksarcadebar.com%2F&amp;hash=582d88ffc7c5b863e3d68d191344bf43" href="http://rubiksarcadebar.com/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Rubik's Arcade Bar,</a> where they had a few cocktails and played some of the classic video games. Gabriel beat Giovanna at Dance Dance Revolution, and won tickets at Skeeball. Taking an Uber back to Horizon City because he and his friends had way too much to drink to drive home themselves, Gabriel arrived home at 2:30 am, walking past his Uncle's parked car and the beater he drove back and forth to Picaduras, Gabriel froze as the front door opened and he stepped inside the foyer to his home, noticing fragments of broken glass lay all over the hardwood flooring.<br/>
<br/>
"What the fuck?!" Gabriel yelled.<br/>
<br/>
The whole front window to the casita was broken and one of the stone pavers outside was resting in the midst of all the destruction in his home on the floor. A sudden sense of panic rose within him, clouding what had been a fun, happy night. He ran out of his house, afraid that whoever had come inside was still there and used his key to enter the safety of his Uncle Armando's house. The noise woke his Uncle and Aunt Maria up, because Gabriel was almost hysterical.<br/>
<br/>
Uncle Armando went to his gun safe and headed outside. If there was anyone there, they were going to have a bullet in their ass before the night was over. Aunt Maria remained there, rubbing Gabriel's shoulder as she tried to comprehend what was happening. She wanted to call the police, and have her husband safe inside where he should be.<br/>
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"Deja que la policía haga su trabajo, Armando. Por favor, vuelve a entrar," she called from the back door.<br/>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Translation: "Just let the police do their job, Mando. Come back inside."</div>
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Armando was looking around his property, checking the damage for himself. What was strange was the only thing damaged was his nephew's window. The front door was secure with no evidence that someone tried to open it by force. The gate was closed, because the cars were parked for the night in the driveway. He entered the casita, and shouted, "Si alguien está aquí ahora sería un buen momento para mostrarse. La policía está en camino!<br/>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Translation:"If there's anyone here, now would be a good time to show yourself. The police are on the way!"</div>
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He called for Gabriel. "Gabriel, ven aca!"<br/>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Translation: Gabriel, come here!</div>
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Gabriel reluctantly came outside at his Uncle's request, and entered the casita once his Uncle made sure no prowlers were about. He holstered his handgun, and yelled for his wife to call the police. When Gabriel was inside his home, he was able to look around inside to see if anything had been stolen, and oddly enough, everything he owned was still in the place he'd left it earlier that day. The only thing out of place was the front window which had exploded into the dwelling.<br/>
<br/>
Someone had been here, and someone had vandalized the casita. Armando was worried that the perpetrators might return and perhaps cause harm to his family. Twenty minutes later, the police finally showed up to investigate the strange crime. Not satisfied with their slow plodding manner of investigating what had occurred on his property, he took Gabriel out to Home Depot the next day with a check from State Farm insurance to purchase a new window, but a security system with floodlights that were motion activated.<br/>
<br/>
Hopefully it would help relieve some of the fear Gabriel now had about what happened during his absence. It was through the grapevine that the police let the Alcantara family know about Slater Conway posting bail not too long after his arrest. Although there was no direct proof that he had, but it appeared that either his ex-boyfriend had come by to intimidate Gabriel or one or more of his buddies had, and the thoughts that Slater Conway wasn't done with him left Gabriel shaken and anxious to be alone in his home at night.<br/>
<br/>
Of course, until the window was fixed Gabriel slept in the guest bedroom in his Uncle Armando's house. The damage went far deeper than just a broken window, even though the glass had been cleaned up, and a new window prepped for installation. It was a few nights before the barbeque at Jaxon's that he decided to call his new friend, who'd promised to be there for him if he needed him. He felt claustrophobic in the guest bedroom that night, so he sat outside on the chair in front of the casita and its tarp covered front window, gazing at his cell phone for a moment before he finally dialed Jaxon's number.<br/>
<br/>
"Hello, Jaxon? This is Gabriel Alcantara. You know, from Picaduras. I was wondering if you weren't busy. I could really use some company. Something bad happened here. I'll tell you when you get here." Gabriel uttered into the phone, almost robotically as if on autopilot.<br/>
<br/>
He waited silently for Jaxon's reply.</span></span>