Mateo was jostled awake by loud metal music.

"What the-" Mateo yelled, scrambling from his bed, trying to find the source of the noise.

'Nobody wants him. He just stares at the world'  a singer cried out.

Mateo was spinning in circles, the music was definitely coming from his room, but where?

'Now the time is here, for Iron Man to spread fear’

Mateo’s eyes zeroed in on his bed. It was definitely coming from the sheets. 

He was about to pounce when the music suddenly stopped.

"What's going on?" Mateo asked the air, doing another spin just to make sure no one was going to run in and yell "You got pranked!"

"Holy hell!" He jumped when the music started up again.

This time he jumped on his bed, determined to get to the bottom of the noise. He tangled with the sheets until finally, the source revealed itself. 

His phone continued vibrating and blasting music as it plopped on the floor.

Tentatively, Mateo reached for it and picked it up. 

It read Emilio Everhart on the caller ID. 

Mateo's heart jumped a little. Just as he was about to flip open his phone to answer, it went silent again. 

His screen now read 2 missed calls, 20 text messages.

He crawled back into bed, bringing his phone and sketchbook with him. 

He opened his phone, the missed calls were both from Emilio.

One of the texts was from his best friend asking him for the umpteenth time to "RSVP to my goddamn wedding already!! You're the best man, get on it!" 

The other 19 texts were from one (1) Mr. Emilio Everhart.

Hey, did you make it back to your apartment? You never called me. - Last Night, 9:43 pm

Mateo??? - Last Night, 10:03 pm

okay so ur either dead or sleeping - Last Night 11:18 pm

text me so i can figure out which one lol - Last Night 11:18 pm

or should i arrange a rescue party and start looking for crashed cars? lmao - Last Night 11:18 pm

Mateo, ur sleeping right? 😬 - This morning 1:45 am

I just realized the time 😳 So ur either dead, asleep, or i'm just being really annoying and u don't feel like replying to my texts. I feel like it's a toss up between all three - This morning 2:25 am

I really hope you're not dead. You did save my life, so that would suck if you died...  - This morning 2:38 am

Also your hangover shake was a miracle and you need to share the recipe. - This morning 2:38 am 

Also, your breakfast was really good. - This morning 2:38 am

Oh and obviously, cause you seem like a really good person too. - This morning 2:53 am

Hey, can I call u? Just wanna make sure ur alive -  This morning 6:58 am

Also, I changed ur ringtone for me while you were in the bathroom yesterday - This morning 6:58 am

If u had a newer phone u could’ve taken ur phone to the bathroom with u like everyone else does... just saying i could get you a new phone... - This morning 6:58 am

its the least i could do - This morning 6:58 am

Anyway, my new ringtone is one of my favorite songs. - This morning 7:02  am

Is it too early to call him? - This morning 7:05 am

oh sorry that last one was a question for ricki she wasnt supposed to send it - This morning 7:05 am

im gonna call - This morning 7:08 am.

As if on cue, Mateo's phone started screaming the song again and his screen lit up with Emilio Everhart's name.

Mateo wiped the stupid grin off his face as he answered. 

"I'm not sharing the recipe for my hangover shake," he said, trying his best to sound casual—as if the fact that Emilio kept texting him all night wasn't already going to his head. "It's a family trademarked secret." 

"Well hello to you too Mateo!" Emilio said, "Glad to see your phone is indeed working, you got all my texts?"

"Yeah,” Mateo grinned, “just read them. Did you sleep at all last night?" He leaned back against his wall and flipped open his sketchbook so his hands could have something to do.

"Eh," Emilio said half-heartedly. "My sleep schedule has always been messed up. If I get a few good hours in here and there then I'm good."

"That doesn't sound healthy," Mateo said, knowing for a fact it wasn’t. The article he’d written on the importance of sleep had been one of his favorite assignments. 

"Probably not." Emilio chuckled. "Hey, so I told you to call me when you got home. You didn't.” His tone sounded playful but there was an air of seriousness to it, “I was waiting by the phone and everything, felt like I got stood up for prom or something." 

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot..." Mateo lied, "I got home and had to finish up some stuff from work and I was in bed sound asleep by 8:00 so... kinda slipped my mind." 

He had been in bed and asleep by 8 pm. And it had been a long day working from home. 

He'd barely gotten any sleep the night before because he'd been so busy babysitting Emilio. So when he got home he took a quick nap, ate, worked on some articles with approaching deadlines, ate some more, worked some more, then went to bed early after a relaxing shower.

He, however, had not forgotten about his promise to call Emilio. 

The thought had kept creeping into his mind all day, distracting him from work. 

He didn't want to call and be a bother or seem desperate if it had just been Emilio's way of being nice or joking. 

What if he called him and Emilio, already so caught up in the day's events, had forgotten who he was? 

Mateo had told himself that it was just best to not call.

"Wow, bed by 8? You crazy daredevil." Emilio teased, pointedly ignoring the part about Mateo forgetting all about him.

"Uh," Mateo chuckled, "well someone took over my bed the night before so..." 

Mateo glanced down at his drawing, he realized he was drawing another sketch of Emilio. He flipped to a new page, determined to draw something else.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've been trying my hardest to remember but I still don't... I hope I wasn't a complete and utter ass." Emilio said, his voice wandering off.

Emilio thought back to the drawing he’d seen in Mateo’s sketchbook, it had only been a glance but he had a feeling it was connected to that night. He’d been fine not remembering what had happened that night but the drawing had made him curious. It was a silhouette drawing of two guys leaning against each other, sitting on the roof of a car, stargazing.  

"Well,” Mateo said, “once I got you in bed— nope, hmm that sounded wrong, haha— umm... I meant, once you finally settled down, you knocked out, it was pretty easy after that." 

"Oh, good. Um, so I've still got your clothes, wanted to know when would be a good time to stop by and return them. Maybe tomorrow?”

Author's Note

Thanks for being so patient, here's more of the story 😭😭😭💜💜💜