Kaide woke up first. The birds chirped and fluttered outside the windows, where the southern light filtered in through the curtains, casting golden squares on the thick carpet. Kaide opened his eyes slowly, unwilling to move from the couch. His body was sunk into the warm cushions, finally comfortable after a night of trying to find a proper position curled on the cushions. Drowsy as he was, something nagged at his brain, demanded his attention, and it wasn’t the soda he chugged before bed. Something was wrong. He laid still for a long moment, eyes scanning the living room to give him hints for what was out of place.

The squat, glass-top coffee table held his dinner plate from last night, including the sprigs of asparagus he was too reluctant to eat. The carpet was a muted greenish-brown, which the landlord had assured Wren was how it had come, and was not discolored from time and wear. The small television on its dusty wooden stand was turned off, the remote sitting close by. Across from Kaide was the window, with a rickety old table standing beneath it, barely supporting the weight of three house plants in mottled pots. Kaide’s phone was lying on the floor next to the heater, charging in the closest plug available.

Finding nothing wrong with that scene, Kaide sat up, looking quickly over the back of the red corduroy couch. The linoleum lined kitchen was quiet, the yellowed counters clean. The colorful plastic letters Kaide had bought as a joke were stuck to the fridge, proudly spelling various curse words and holding up notes for Wren to remember. The breakfast table was cluttered with papers; both Kaide and Wren lacked a proper office. They made it work, though. Pots of herbs and figures wrought from seaglass gathered in the bay window, light dancing on leaves and bubbles. Kaide stared hard at the empty kitchen, trying to kick his sleepy brain into motion.

That was it. The kitchen was empty. Kaide drew in a sharp breath, looking at the clock. It was almost noon. He shot off the couch, hurrying down the hall to Wren’s bedroom. Wren should have been awake hours ago to get ready to go to work. Normally, the sound of him prattling around the kitchen for morning coffee and singing in the shower woke Kaide at some point. Even if Wren had somehow managed to avoid waking Kaide, there would have been a mug of coffee waiting for him on the counter. Wren was sweet like that. No coffee meant no Wren meant that the bakery was two hours past open, unoccupied. Wren might have troubles with his sleep patterns, but it usually wasn’t ever this bad.

Kaide pushed open Wren’s door, peeking through a crack. He didn’t want to invade his friend’s privacy; they might share a house but that didn’t mean they had to share everything. To his surprise, Wren was sitting up in bed, quietly reading a paperback with a cracked spine like he hadn’t the slightest care in the world. His dreads were held up in a colorful bun on his head, twisted around one another in a dazzling imitation of sunrise. He was nestled in his comforter, but Kaide could see he still wore pajamas. After a second, he picked up on Kaide staring at him, lifting his head and blinking owlishly behind his tinted glasses.

“Yes, Kaide?” he asked, and Kaide dared to push the door open a bit wider.

Wren’s bedroom wasn’t a mess by Kaide’s standards. Sure, there were clothes tossed a bit haphazardly around the room, and a few cups and plates that needed cleaning up, but Kaide had done way worse in the past. At least Wren could still see the carpet. The light was off, and Wren was reading by the daylight that filtered, hazy, through the curtain. Wren tended to prefer the dark. Kaide stayed in the flood of light coming from the hallway, leaning his head into the room. Wren didn’t look sick, and he didn’t sound it, either. In fact, he seemed perfectly content, more chipper than he normally was.

“Hey… It’s almost the afternoon. Don’t you have work today?” Kaide kept his voice soft, worried that his friend would have a meltdown upon realizing how late he was.

Uncharacteristically, Wren simply smiled, tucking a bookmark into the pages of the book and setting it aside, sitting up in his nest of pillows. “Actually, Trace said he wanted to open today. He’s been doing great- he can handle making most of the breads himself, but he doesn’t have a great ear for the special recipes yet.” Wren couldn’t hide the pride and excitement in his voice, as soft-spoken as it was.

Kaide tried to keep the distaste off his face when his stomach plummeted at the mention of Trace. It was good that Wren finally had someone to help him out around the bakery. Wren knew what he had been taking on when he opened a bakery by himself, working all the hours and keeping everything afloat. Now, with a second set of hands, he might be able to relax a little. But still, why him? Why the asshole that ditched them all and everything he had ever known for a life in the city? He had to be using Wren and his sweet, unassuming attitude for something. Taking advantage of his gentle friend.

Wren frowned, noticing the dip in Kaide’s demeanor. “..But, anyways. I’ll be closing in the evening. I don’t have to go in until two. I was going to wake you, but…” Wren smiled sheepishly, shrugging. “You looked so sweet.”

Kaide scowled, trying to pretend he wasn’t blushing. He wasn’t even sure if Wren could tell. Wren simply chuckled, sitting up in bed and stretching while Kaide fumbled for his next words. “..Well, anyways. If you don’t have anywhere to go, do you want to hang out with me in the garden? I’m gonna thin the radishes out, and I think the soil is dry enough to put the peas down, too.”

Wren’s gaze lit up in a way that immediately brought a smile to Kaide’s face. “I’d love to!” Wren threw back the covers and slipped out of bed, and Kaide was immediately reminded of Wren’s impressive height. How come all of the other guys got to be taller than Kaide? It wasn’t fair. Sure, Kaide might have a few genetic factors working against him, but still... Wren loped around the room, bending over to snatch up various articles of clothing to toss on.

“I’ll meet you out there!” Wren called, struggling to unclip a pair of socks.

“I’ll find you a dry spot,” Kaide tossed back, smiling a bit as he headed out into the garden.