I wander the house looking for more things to straighten up or clean. I organize the loose remotes, figure out how to run the dishwasher and put the plates away, I even bother to put my own clothes away along with Luke’s.

Eventually I run out of things to do no matter how hard I try. With two hours left until he gets back I wander around aimlessly. I stare at the large black screen in the living room and decide to try and figure out the TV. I grab the seven remotes and stare at them to decipher which one could possibly turn the actual television on.

I look at the TV and compare the name on the screen to the ones on the remotes. I grab the matching remote and hit the big red button. The TV plays a little jingle and the brand rests on the screen for a second before showing another black screen with a message that reads “No Input.”

“Uhh….” I slide the TV remote to the side to rule it out and start looking to the other six. I grab one after another and press the power button on each. If nothing appears, I press it again and put the remote down. On the fourth remote, an image appears. “Progress.” But there’s no sound.

I look down and every remote has a volume button though. “Shit.” One by one, I try turning up the volume but nothing happens. “What the fuck?” I try hitting power buttons again until I hear the voices of the people on screen.

I sigh and collapse onto the couch and start flipping through channels. I stop when the bottom of the screen says ‘Seinfeld.’ “I’ve heard of this.” I watch it for a few hours and laugh rather heartily. It almost makes me forget my situation by enjoying their suffering instead.

A clicking pulls me back to the real world as a voice echoes through the halls. “Charlie? Are you in the living room?”

“Yes.” I hang my head and hear him walk in.

“Are you watching Seinfeld?” He walks up behind the couch and leans over the back and rests his elbows a little too close to me.

“Uh, yeah. I tried watching Duck Dynasty but it turned out to not be about an empire of ducks so I changed the channel.” Luke loses it and starts laughing his ass off. “What?”

“Charlie, you’re adorable.” He places a hand on my shoulder as he calms down. “Did you get a chance to take care of the things I put on the note?”

I had to maintain my anger that he hadn’t noticed my work yet but I realize that he’s so used to seeing the house he may not pay much attention. “Yes. I did some other stuff too.”

Luke releases my shoulder and I turn to see him with a surprised look on his face. “Oh!” He starts to smile and the twinkle in his eyes is blinding. “Please, show me! I’m really excited.”

I sigh to pretend that I’m upset but in truth I’m actually a little excited myself. I’m pretty proud of my work. I walk him around and show off what I’d done. His smile only grows bigger with each stop. He makes shocked gasps and lets out ecstatic ‘thank yous.’ Luke blushes when I show him that I’d put his clothes away but claps in happiness when he saw I’d done so for myself.

Once we finish, he wraps his arms around me tight without permission. “Oh, thank you, Charlie! You did such an amazing job.”

I’d have a clever response but all I could get out was a strained: “Ow ow ow ow.” He recoils back and pulls his hands up near his chest with a worried expression. “I’m fine… I’m… I’m glad you like it.” I look off to the side, not being able to bring my eyes to his. I can feel my cheeks starting to burn.

Thankfully, my stomach decides to make a noise that cuts off whatever Luke could say next. “Haha, did you eat lunch yet?”

I squint my eyes: thinking back over my busy day. “I guess I didn’t. I got caught up in the cleaning that I must’ve forgotten there was food.”

Luke wraps his arm around my shoulders and ushers me toward the kitchen with a proud grin. “Come on, I’ll make you a sandwich. You deserve it.”

A few minutes later, I’m sitting at the island eating a ham and cheese sandwich as the laugh track of Seinfeld continues to echo from the living room. Luke stands across from me, occasionally pulling a chip from the bag he put by my plate. “How was your first day by yourself?”

I swallow my bite and deliver a dry “Fine,” in response. “I spent it cleaning so how fun could that really be?” The answer was surprisingly fun. It sure beat sitting on the concrete hoping somebody would drop you a buck. “How was school?”

“It was alright. Classes were boring today but I got to talk about you to some of my friends! They’re excited to meet you!” Great… “I know you’re eating lunch but I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight.”

I pause and consider the offer for a moment. “Alright. But we’re going where I want to and you have to eat what I order you.” I look determined and he looks hesitant but eventually gives in.

“That sounds fun. Where are we going to go?”

It’s my turn to smirk. “It’s a surprise.”

"Hmm... As long as it's not McDonalds." Luke stands up with a playful smile.

“No, it’s much better. And you aren’t allowed to complain!” I point at him in an accusatory fashion. “If I’m gonna keep being a kidnapping victim, I at least better get some food I like out of it.”

He laughs loud enough for it to echo through the house. “Alright, fair enough. I have some homework to do but I’d love to have a little company. Would you want to keep watching TV while I work?”

I think it over and shrug. “Yeah sure.” Not like I’ll really have to interact with him while he’s doing homework.

We make our way to the living room and I plop down on the couch again. Luke drops his backpack by the coffee table and opts to sit cross-legged on the floor right next to me. I scoot over a bit to leave some distance between us but not enough to be obvious.

He spends the next hour staring at and writing on various pages. Eventually, I notice that his writing has stopped and has started tapping his pencil and sighing. “You stuck?” The question sprung from my mouth before I could catch it.

Luke sits up and leans back on the couch, looking up to me. “Yeah. It’s psychology quiz.”

I roll my eyes and sigh. “What’s the question?” Why am I helping him?

Luke looks back at the mostly blank page. “Who was Erik Erikson and what did he contribute to the field.”

“He was one of Freud’s students and took Freud’s creepy sex stages of development and made the psychosocial stages instead.” Luke stares at me with wide eyes and open mouth. “What?”

“I’m sorry but… how do you know that?”

I look back at the TV to give my eyes something else to focus on while admitting this. “Back in the colder parts of winter, I’d go to libraries and read all day. I spent a long time reading about psychology.” I try to keep myself from blushing by clenching my teeth. It’s not working.

“Oh, really? I’m sorry you had to do that… Getting out of the cold I mean. May I ask why you picked psychology?” Luke has turned his whole body to face me now.

I hang my head a little and look even further away from him. “I… I wanted to know why assholes were the ones living in houses like this while good people were left to starve in the alleys with me.” I feel his hand touch my knee. 

I don’t pull away.

“Charlie, that’s really sweet. You know that not everyone in these houses are bad though.”

“Sure they aren’t. That’s why everyone in a suit glared at me when they walked past. Laughed when they spoke to me. Dropped money to me with disgust and pity in their eyes.” My eyes were stinging as I turned to stare at him. “That’s why the kind and gentle souls are left out in the freezing cold to scavenge and beg to be given the scraps from your tables!”

Luke lifts himself on to the couch and wraps his arms around me. I can hear him sniffle in my ear as his head rests on my shoulder. “Charlie… I’m so so sorry…” He squeezes a little tighter. “You never have to go out there again. I’ll show you that people are good. I promise.”

I wrap my arms around him in return. The contact feels good. I can feel the anger starting to fade.

We hold the hug for several seconds before I pull away. “... Thanks. I kinda needed that.”

Luke sniffles and wipes under his eye. “I could tell.” His smile is as bright as ever. “You’re a good person, Charlie. And I want you to know that I care.”

I simply nod and turn away. “Are we gonna talk about what happened this morning or…?” I pull my eyes to the corner to see Luke looking rather confused.

“Do you mean the clock? It’s really fine. You don’t have to get up at any time, really. If you need a new one, it’s not that big of an issue.” He must not remember.

“I’m talking about when you… y’know.” I thought I was finished blushing but once again my face heats up.

“When I what?” Is he really gonna make me say it?!

“You kissed me when you left!” He recoils back in apparent embarrassment. “Well it was my cheek but still.”

“Oh.” His face turns bright red and now he can’t even make eye contact. “It was an accident.”

“How do you accidentally kiss someone?” Now I’m the one who’s confused.

“I just… I haven’t really been like this with someone since my last break up. I must’ve just gone back into boyfriend mode.”

“Mm.” I start watching the TV again knowing that neither of us want this conversation to continue. “You should finish your homework.”

“Yeah. Do you mind helping me with the psychology stuff?” He slides back onto the floor and gives me a pleading smile.

I groan and nod my head. “Yeah, fine.”