I woke up before Peaches, a miracle for the ages. As I shuffled into the kitchen to look for some edible food, my heart knocked against my chest when someone behind me said, “You’re looking in the wrong cupboard, dude.”

I twisted around and saw Oliver in the doorway, dressed in a wrinkled shirt and jeans. I was glad I had decided to put on my pants before going to the kitchen, or else Oliver would be treated to a view of my scrawny ass at eight in the morning.

“When did you show up?” I asked. Dear God, I hoped he hadn’t been here the whole time, sleeping in his room.

“Half an hour ago. Griffin already passed out. We drove all night to get here from Las Vegas. I gotta go to work in, like, six hours, so I wanna catch some Gs before I head out.” He yawned and scratched his balls. Nice. “You and Peaches do the nasty?”

“Not really your business,” I muttered as I went to the next cupboard and finally found a large bag of generic-brand Cheerios.

“Pretty obvious, dude. Unless you sleep naked with all your friends?”

“I’m not naked.”

“Peaches probably is. Not that I checked, but he’s such a prude that he doesn’t sleep with his shirt off, so I figure he’s not wearing anything at all. So congrats or whatever. I was hoping he’d go for you. I mean, no offense, but you seem kinda, uh, gay, and he likes that sort of thing.”

“I seem gay?”

“You know what I mean.”

“You mean fem.”

“Is that the PC term?” I stared at him until he sighed. “Look, I don’t give a shit. I’ve known Eddie forever, and if he doesn’t bother me, no one will. It’s Peaches’s thing, Recently he’s been a total wreck because of shit that went down with Eddie. I just wanted him to get out a little and have fun. I wasn’t trying to get him to hook up with someone else, but now that he has, I think it’ll do him good.” Oliver reached into the fridge and pulled out the milk, handing it over to me. “You seem cool, for the record. Way less lame than Eddie.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Peaches is a good guy and one of my best friends. He can get, like, really depressed, and it freaks the shit out of me, so this is the best I can do in trying to help.”

I softened. I was expecting Oliver to come at me like so many macho straight dudes before him, but he seemed to have good intentions, and it was obvious he cared about Peaches. He also didn’t seem to mind that we’d fucked in the living room only four hours prior, so maybe I could write Oliver down as a chill hetero.

“Anyway, I’m gonna go to bed now. The walls are kinda thin, so if you’re gonna fuck again, do it quietly if you please.”

“We’re not going to fuck—”

“Night!” Oliver said, disappearing. I heard him mutter, “Or is it morning?” before his bedroom door opened and closed, beginning a long silence.

I was able to find the cereal shortly after Oliver left, and by the time Peaches wandered into the kitchen, I was at the table eating. Peaches seemed to be on autopilot, grabbing two slices of bread before moving to the fridge and grabbing a carton of orange juice. It was marked PEACHES’ JUICE in huge Sharpie letters, reading DO NOT TOUCH underneath. When Peaches saw me looking, he smiled.

“It’s a problem,” he said. “All the liquor anyone would need, and they steal my fucking orange juice.” He sat down at the kitchen table, tossing back some of the orange juice straight from the carton. “I thought I heard Oliver in his room. Did he talk to you when he came in?”

“Briefly.”

“I hope he didn’t give you any shit.”

“No, he was chill.”

“I’ll be hearing about it later.” Peaches sighed and tapped his fingers across the table. “What are your plans for today?”

“Work, I guess.”

“Anything else?”

I shrugged. “I can stop by tonight, if you want.”

Peaches showed some hesitation in answering, but he finally nodded. “That sounds great, actually.”

“Or you can come by my place, if it’s easier. I have an actual bedroom and bed, and my sister’s usually off doing stuff with her college friends.”

“You live with your sister?”

“Half-sister. My step-dad pays most of the rent, so it’s a pretty bitchin’ place considering what I pay.”

“Must be nice.”

I snorted, slurping off some milk from my spoon. “He’s a tool. I hate him.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“But yeah, I guess he’s helped me out in some ways. Or his money has. I won’t say I wasn’t privileged in that regard, but he’s such a shithead. If my sister weren’t living with me, he’d never pay half my rent. He’d laugh in my face if I asked. She’s actually his daughter, so he feels like he has to actually be a parent to her.” I sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—you’re not in charge of my baggage.”

“No, it’s fine. Are you kidding me? Between the twins and me, we’d be paying a premium at airports with all of our baggage.”

“Really? Oliver and Griffin, too?”

“They had a rough childhood. They don’t talk about it.”

That seemed to be a common theme amongst most people I knew. Josh was the exception, and as much as he insisted his family was normal, I refused to believe it.

Peaches’s toast arrived, and he stood to retrieve it. I would have preferred hanging out in bed all day to working, but bills didn’t pay themselves. When Peaches sat back down, I lifted my legs and rested them across Peaches’s lap. I didn’t make a big deal about it, but I could sense Peaches staring at me even as I looked down into my cereal.

After half a minute of silence, I felt Peaches’s free hand finally drop down to rest on my calf, and I fought a triumphant smile.