"Well, what do you think?" Stefan asked. They sat at a table in the middle of a quiet cafe, sipping on iced coffees.

Hugo pursed his lips and stared at his drink. He could feel Stefan staring at him expectantly and decided to make him stew for a moment. "I like it," he signed eventually and smiled at him.

"Thank God!" he exclaimed. "At least someone does. Renee hates these things."

"Why? It's good," Hugo replied, his face scrunched in confusion.

"I don't know, she's weird."

"That's for sure."

"Don't tell her I told you that though, or she'll have my head."

Hugo beamed at him. "Your secret is safe with me," he told him.

It was the second time they'd been to lunch in a week. The second time since Stefan saw him at the clothing store. It was the first time he was wearing his new clothes. He liked how they looked on him. They were comfortable for the most part, except sometimes the jeans felt a little tight, but he was sure he would get used to them. However, no one had said anything about them. It felt like he was the only person who noticed anything different.

He was meant to go to Stefan's and Renee's house after lunch for another movie marathon. It was all they did aside from the occasional racing game that always left them yelling at each other, even Hugo, who had to put down the controller to sign angrily at whichever one had beaten him.

The waitress came by with their food and Stefan dug in without another word. Hugo took his time, unlike the man before him, who stuffed his face with food so quickly he was sure he would get indigestion. Stefan looked up and froze. "What?" he asked. "I lived with three other boys, if you didn't eat fast, you didn't get seconds."

Hugo huffed out a laugh. He never understood the things siblings did as an only child and if he was being honest, he was grateful. Siblings seemed way too stressful for him to deal with and way too annoying. Stefan guffawed along with him. He still hadn't gotten used to how loud the other man's laugh was, but it never failed to make him smile.

"So, was there anything you wanted to do after this?" Stefan asked. Hugo shook his head. He didn't have anything he needed to do. He wasn't going to buy anymore clothes for a while. Most of his money was going towards saving up for a place on campus. He still needed to ask his boss for a raise and tell his father his plans, both of which scared him too much.

"Not that I can think of," he answered with a frown.

"Good," Stefan said. "Means we can go straight back to mine. Renee is filling my phone with messages wondering when we're going to be there."

"Why didn't she just come with us?" Hugo asked. It would have been good to see her outside of class. They hadn't done much over the past week or so. This would be the first time in a long time where they weren't going through notes together.

Stefan shrugged. "I think she said something about hanging out with some high school friends today. She hasn't seen them in a while," he replied. It took Hugo a moment to remember that he and Stefan were the same age and the high school friends Renee had were not the same as him. Stefan probably wasn't friends with Renee's friends. He'd chosen to spend time with Hugo after all.

When they finished their food, Hugo followed him back to his car. Stefan had gotten into the habit of picking him up from his house every time they met up for lunch. Hugo's father said nothing every time he went out, but Hugo knew the man was happy he was making friends again. As long as he didn't pester him to speak, they would be fine. Despite it, he was still going to leave. He needed to get on his own two feet. He was twenty-three, it was time to be more independent.

He kept his gaze fixed out the window as they drove down busy streets. Neither of them spoke. He didn't like to talk much in cars and Stefan seemed to understand it, something he was grateful for. He couldn't explain it, but Stefan never questioned it, just put on music and let him be. The only noise he made was the occasional whispered lyric.

They pulled up outside the apartment building as two people came out the door. They waved to Stefan with big grins and he gave them a half-hearted wave back. "Renee's friends?" Hugo questioned.

"Yeah. Come on," Stefan answered. Out the car and up the elevator they went. Soon enough the pair stood in front the apartment's front door. No voices could be heard from within, but when Stefan unlocked the door, Renee yelled a greeting at them from the bedroom.

She wandered out into the main room as Hugo dropped the bag he'd brought with him on the couch. "Hugo! You have new clothes!" she cried and rushed forward to hug him. "You look so good!"

"Thank you." Hugo smiled shyly at the ground. It was the reaction he'd wanted all along, some kind of reassurance that his choices were the right ones.

"When did you get those? Damn boy, you look good," Renee exclaimed, her hands planted on his shoulders. He could hear Stefan laughing somewhere behind him and couldn't fight on the blush on his cheeks.

"I went shopping the other week. I just haven't had a chance to wear them until now," he explained. He met Renee's gaze and smiled at her.

She took a step back and dropped her hands. "Okay, I need to clean my room if you're going to sleep in there, so give me five minutes," she told both him and Stefan and disappeared into her room.

Stefan flicked on the kettle and glanced at Hugo out of the corner of his eye. "You do look good, by the way," he muttered, barely audible over the whirring kettle. Hugo thanked him, not looking him in the eye lest he see the blush that covered his cheeks and ears.

Wasn't that what he'd wanted back at lunch? For Stefan to notice how he looked? Now he'd gotten it and he couldn't even look the other man in the eye. He was hopeless, but at least there was a good feeling in his stomach for once instead of the ever-present anxiety. His eyes drifted to the photo wall instead, staring at the many faces grinning back at him.

"I'm sorted, let's get this show on the road!" Renee called as she came back into the lounge room, the stupid racing game in her hands.

Hugo groaned inwardly. "Not this again," he signed. He was terrible at the game, despite how often they played it. He'd only won a couple of games since he became friends with Renee and Stefan. Most of the time, they kicked his arse for a couple of hours and teased him about it.

"Yes, this again," Renee replied. "We don't have any other multiplayer games and we've watched all the movies. So, this is what we're doing, unless you can think of anything else."

"Come on, Hugo, secretly you love this game," Stefan said, laughing when Hugo shook his head.

But he didn't bother arguing anymore. He did enjoy it, but only when he won because then no one teased him about it. It was hard to tease back when you didn't speak. He couldn't play the game and sign at the same time unless he wanted to lose. He watched Renee and Stefan race each other with a big grin, the pair yelling at each other constantly. They were so loud that Hugo was surprised no one came knocking on their door to tell them to be quiet.

Renee tossed the controller into his waiting hands and the race was on without another word. Stefan laughed the entire time and Hugo tried hard not to listen to it. If he got distracted by Stefan's laugh, he'd never let himself hear the end of it. Stupid man with his stupid happy laugh. He wanted to win the race.

He was surprised when he did, his mouth forming a little 'o'. Stefan knocked shoulders with him, a big grin pulling at his lips. "Good game, dork," he said, and Hugo finally grinned back. His next race didn't go so well, with Renee taking first in the last few seconds, but it didn't matter too much.

"So," Renee started when Stefan got up to fix them a second round of coffee. "Stefan's birthday is coming up soon and he's having a party. Did you want to come?"

He faltered for a second, skin paling. A party? He could barely handle going to the GSA some days. "I don't know," he replied, a deep frown on his face. "How many people?"

"A lot," Stefan said, handing him a mug of coffee. "It's going to be at my parent’s house, so there will be plenty of room. You can take a breather whenever, but there is going to be a lot of people there. All of my family and friends, and I have a European family."

"When?" Hugo realised then that he had absolutely no idea when Stefan's birthday was, or Renee's for that matter. He was a terrible friend.

"In about a month and a half. There's plenty of time," Stefan answered. It did nothing to ease Hugo's anxiety. He tapped his foot against the carpet and drummed his fingers on his knee.

He wasn't sure if he could handle it. "Come on, Hugo," Renee said in a begging voice. "It's his birthday, you have to come."

He bit down on his lip. He didn't want to disappoint them. It was Stefan's birthday after all, but even Stefan knew that it would be far too many people for him to handle. "I don't know. I don't think I could handle that many people," he said. Guilt raged within him and he wanted to tell them he could go, but he wasn't going to lie and put himself in a bad situation.

Renee didn't seem to understand that thought. "Look, you handled that dinner perfectly fine didn't you?" she asked. "It will only be a few more people than that."

"I had a panic attack at that dinner."

"Oh."

"And you lied to me about how many people were going to be there. I'd prefer it if you didn't do that again." He tried to hold back his glare, but it came anyway. He was angry at her for her lies. He did understand why she did it, she wanted him to make more friends, but he wished she tell him the truth.

"I know and I'm sorry, but Hugo-"

Stefan's hand clamped down on her shoulder. "Renee, come on, he doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to," he said, his voice soft and calming. "We can do something small before or after. I don't mind. I want to do something with you, Hugo, and if that means making extra plans, then that's okay. But I won't force you to come to something that's just going to freak you out."

Hugo smiled gratefully at him. At least one of them understood. He was sure Renee did, but not in the same way as Stefan. He sighed down at the floor. "I'll think about it," he told them. And it was the truth, he would think about it. He had gone to the dinner after all, and the GSA, but that was far less people than Stefan had told him. Maybe he could hide away in another room the entire time, but what would be the point? If he was going to be there, he was going to be there for Stefan.

He had a month and a half to think about it. That would be plenty of time to make up his mind. Renee smiled at him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I wasn't thinking. We good, loser?"

He smiled back, a small tweak of his lips. "We're good... Loser."