“Don’t forget the deadline I set you guys,” Kasey says, before she disappears. I give her a nod, but I’m sweating at the prospect - we’ve still yet to make a breakthrough with the glasses, and I don’t know how a deadline is going to change that. But Kasey is usually right, and I know better than to argue with her.

Aiden loans me an extra pair of white cotton gloves. I help him pack everything back up. He stands close to me, offering tips about how to handle the fragile papers.

“You’re good at this,” he observes, after a bit.

“Working with plants makes you better at dealing with delicate things. I’m pretty good with my hands.”

“Yeah, I’m learning that.” Aiden throws me a devious look, and my cheeks instantly heat up. “Serious question, though. How the hell are we meeting this deadline Kasey gave us? I know we’ve been practicing, and I feel like we’re getting closer, but we’re definitely not there yet. I don’t know if a week and a half is enough time.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I tell him, sealing up a file. “Come on, we always do. You’ve led me into complete chaos more times than I can count, but we always come out okay.”

“Led you into chaos?” Aiden asks, perfectly innocent. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Where do I even start? You’ve been back for exactly one summer, and because of you, I’ve broken out of City Hall, jumped from a two-story window, joined a ghost hunt, stolen records from somebody’s archives, impersonated a lumber mill executive, traveled through time, burned down a building, destroyed an antique, caused a major flood, nearly crashed a Corvette, got into a bar fight-”

“Oh my god, stop,” Aiden groans, tossing his head back. “You make me sound like such a bad influence.”

“Are those not all things we’ve done together?” I ask, laughing. “Like, recently?”

Aiden’s smile falters.

“Have I made your life harder, Jamie?” he murmurs, suddenly serious. “Turning back up in Ketterbridge, getting you involved in all this?”

I stop, surprised by the abrupt change in his voice, and pull off my gloves.

“No." I reach up to circle my arms around his neck. “I mean, you’ve changed everything. You tore me out of my life and into a new world, but...” I smile up into his face, and he meets my eyes, listening closely. “I like this new world. It feels like anything is possible. I meant what I said before. Everything is better with you here.”

He bends to rest his forehead against mine.

“Really?” he says softly. I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Yes. Really. And for the record, this is the most interesting summer I’ve ever had in my life.”

Aiden tips my face up with a knuckle under my chin. I guess I said the right thing, based on the enthusiasm of the kiss he treats me to.

We break apart a minute or two later, red-cheeked, and get back to work on putting everything away, both grinning like idiots.

Good timing, because a moment later, the door at the top of the stairs swings open. I expect it to be the janitor again, but the footsteps that follow are too light and swift. Someone I don’t recognize descends into the archives, half-hidden in the low light. They hesitate on the bottom step, peering around the dark room.

“Hello,” Aiden calls. “Need something from the archives? I’ll be right with you, just have to put a few things back.”

The person jumps at Aiden’s voice, then edges down the rows of cabinets towards us. Aiden tucks the last newspaper into its folder as the newcomer draws up to the table where we’re working.

“Hello,” Aiden says, clearly a little puzzled by the extended silence. “You - need something, or…?”

“Yeah. I’m Ripley, and I’m looking for the archivist.”

Ripley has a City Hall name badge, like Aiden’s, but attached to a lanyard. My eyes flick to it automatically. There’s something written on it in Sharpie, in the blank space at the bottom: he/him.

Aiden pulls off his gloves.

“Nice to meet you, man. I’m Aiden, this is Jamie.” Ripley haltingly accepts Aiden’s extended hand and does a quick nod at me. He adjusts the lanyard around his neck, like he’s making sure we see the badge. “Did you just start here?” Aiden asks.

A fair question: he doesn’t look familiar. It’s not like I know the names and faces of every person who works in City Hall, but Ripley has a bright green streak dyed into his hair, and I feel like I would remember that.

“Yesterday,” he says, in answer to Aiden’s question. He speaks quietly, and we both have to lean forward a little to hear him. “Gabby sent me. She, um. Said to say that she knows Jamie is here, and that if you’re not working right now, Aiden, this counts as your lunch break.”

“Oops.” I cringe at Aiden. “Sorry.”

He shakes his head, smiling.

“I should have known. Nothing gets past Gabby. Anything else, Ripley?”

“Yes, she’d like to talk to you, Jamie, before you leave.”

Aiden and I exchange a glance.

“Am I in trouble?” I whisper, and he shrugs helplessly.

“I don’t know, but you’d better go. Text me?”

“Yeah, okay. Lead the way, Ripley.”

Ripley nods and immediately sets off. I wait until he’s facing the stairs, then grab Aiden’s arm, pull him down, and plant a quick surprise kiss on his lips. I flash a smile at him, turn, and dart after Ripley.

This new guy walks at an extremely fast clip, and I find myself dodging and weaving around people to keep up with him. He doesn’t say anything, or even look my way.

“So,” I try, speed-walking at his side, “You started yesterday? Like, on Sunday? The weekend?”

He glances at me and immediately looks away again. I’m starting to wonder if there’s some reason he doesn’t like me already. It’s normally easy for me to start conversations with people. I guess I don’t really have a read on this guy yet.

I use the silence to get a better look at him. The sides and back of his head are buzzed, but the top is an unruly mop of ash-blonde curls with that green streak in the front. His ears are pierced, though he’s not wearing any earrings.

He says something, but his voice is too soft for me to hear in the busy halls.

“What?” I ask, bending closer.

“I said I was hired yesterday. Today is my real first day.” He gestures me into the waiting area outside of Gabby’s office and shuts the door with himself on the other side.

“Okay, then,” I mutter to myself, and the door suddenly opens back up. Ripley leans inside.

“Nice meeting you,” he blurts out, and shuts it again.

I’ve been to Gabby’s office before, so I know which door to knock on.

“Come in,” she calls. “Close the door, please.”

I do. Gabby is standing behind her desk, sifting through a pile of folders.

“Hey, Gabby!”

“Hi, Jamie.” She finds the folder she’s looking for and strides around her desk to give me a kiss on the cheek. When did I start getting so many kisses, during my visits to City Hall? “Having a nice afternoon?”

“Yes, unless I’m about to be in trouble.”

“What, for lurking around City Hall and distracting my employees?” She gives me a knowing look. “Oh, stop, you’re fine. I spotted you walking with Aiden and figured I’d give you this. I was going to email it to Kent, but since you’re already here.”

I flip open the folder she offers me and find an official purchase request from City Hall for a lot of wildflower seeds.

“Oh, nice! For the road strips?”

“Yes. Can you get that to Kent for me?”

“Sure.” I tuck it into my bag. “Who’s the new guy, by the way? He seems a little young to work here.”

“Ripley?” Gabby sits against her desk, folding her arms over her chest. “He’s eighteen.”

“They hire eighteen-year-olds at City Hall?”

“Not usually, no.” Gabby tucks a long strand of hair behind her ear. “I called the high school and told the guidance counselor that if there were any trans kids who needed someone to talk to, I’m available. I didn’t expect anything to really come of it, since the semester just started, but two days later, she sent over Ripley.” Gabby shrugs. “Anyways, we talked, and he’s quite a smart kid. We figured out that if he did an internship here, he would have enough credits to drop the class he shares with the boys giving him trouble. I just got it cleared with the school. I could use the extra set of hands, anyways.”

“Oh, that's-”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” she warns. “He’s really shy and this is the first year he’s asking people to call him by his correct name and pronouns. I’m pretty sure that his City Hall badge is the first official thing he has with the name Ripley on it.”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

“Good.” She nods. “In fact, I meant to ask you - there are some things I can’t help Ripley with. He said one thing that bums him out is that he never gets to join in on any - I believe his exact words were - dumb guy stuff. I thought you and Aiden might be helpful there. Given that you’re experts.”

“What?” I ask. “Dumb guy stuff?"

"Not dumb-guy stuff. Dumb guy stuff."

"What do you mean? Aiden and I don't do that.”

“No? And what exactly are you and Aiden planning to get up to, when the workday is over?”

As always, unfortunate honesty is my first reaction.

“I think we were gonna root around in the recycling bins behind City Hall to try and find some old jars we can blow up? For - um - an experiment?”

Gabby stares at me for a moment, then rubs her temples.

“Okay, let me rephrase. Feel free to include him in any dumb guy stuff you might be doing, but do not blow anything up around him. Or take him digging in the trash. What the fuck, Jamie.”

“Okay. I hear you.”

“I mean, dear god.”

“We won’t!” I insist, then hesitate. “But, honestly, I don’t know if he likes my whole vibe. He barely said a word to me the whole walk here.”

“He just needs time to come out of his shell. Trust me. He was like that with me at first, too. And recall that I used to be like that.” Gabby pauses, then hands me a different folder. “Anyways. There’s something I’ve been plotting, and I want your opinion on it.”

I open the folder and skim the first page of a project proposal. A grin slowly rises on my face as I read.

“This is such a great idea!” I say, and Gabby smiles.

“That wildflower thing saved the city a lot of money. I think this could be a cool use for some of those freed-up funds. You think Aiden would be on board?”

“Yeah!”

“Good. Don’t tell Aiden or Ripley just yet. I need to nail down some details before we get anyone excited.”

I leave Gabby’s office feeling strangely uplifted. It feels nice to be keeping only surprises, no secrets.

~~~~

“What a haul,” I yawn, eyeing the box of jars we salvaged. “I’m proud of us.”

“Mmm.” Aiden nuzzles his nose into my hair. We’re cuddled up on my couch, my head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around me. I never want to move from this spot, and I mean ever. “Honestly, Jamie, couldn’t you just quickly eat two hundred more jars of jelly? Save us a day of digging through garbage?”

“Hey, don’t issue me a challenge like that. You know I’ll do it.”

His huffing laugh, as usual, makes my stomach do a happy flip. He touches his thumb to my cheek. We both gave our arms a scrub-down upon returning from today’s mission, and his hands smell like soap.

Moonlight looks nice on him.

“I have a good feeling about this week,” I tell him, tracing my fingers in slow circles on his chest. “I feel like we’re going to get the glasses working.”

“Before our deadline? Really?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Yes.” I look up at him, affection written all over my face. “I have faith in you.”

His arms tighten around me, almost imperceptibly. I lean up and push my nose against his, so that he can fold a hand around my neck and place a soft kiss on my lips.

“We’ve been practicing,” I murmur, our mouths still together. “I know you can do it.” I hesitate, then let my fingers travel farther down his body, coming to rest on his lower stomach. “And there’s other stuff we can practice, too. You know. If you need a break from Ghost Office business.”

Again, the rumble of his husky laugh. His stupidly-huge hands gather me up; he rolls us so that I’m sprawled out on top of him, instead of curled against his side. He closes his arms around my back, holding me firmly in place. My breath stalls in my throat, trills of excitement racing through me.

“I’m definitely down for that, but just know… we’re probably not going to get much farther than we did last time. And...” His blue eyes linger on my mouth. “I might break something. Keep in mind that we’re at your place. Are you sure you wanna do this?”

Right. He barely owns anything, so breaking a few glasses at his apartment doesn’t really matter. My place, however, is filled with stuff that I’ve lovingly collected over the years - yet, somehow, all of that feels pretty irrelevant right now. They’re just things.

“Oh nooo,” I answer, fake-pouting. “You’re gonna break all my stuff, Aiden?” I push a kiss into the sensitive place at the hollow of his neck. A muscle in his jaw jumps and tightens in response. “What did I ever do to deserve this?” I stop as he suddenly sits half-upright, reaching for his phone, which is on the coffee table. “What are you doing?”

“Getting my phone, so I can play back that audio message you sent.”

“Nooo!”

“You asked what you did to deserve this,” he says, grinning as I try to grab his arm and stop him.

“Don’t do it, you one-brain-cell-having-stupid-ass-”

He’s way too strong for me to hold his reaching arm back, so I throw my whole body weight into the crook of his elbow without thinking. He lets out a little yelp as the movement sends both of us tumbling off of the couch. We fall together onto the ground, half-laughing, half-shouting at each other, bump into the coffee table, and roll to a stop. The impact sends Aiden’s phone flying onto my rug. I’m flat on my back, but close enough to grab it. Aiden is on his hands and knees over me, a little out of breath.

“Ha! I win. I’m deleting the message, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

He surprises me by using one hand to push up my t-shirt. His head ducks down, and he presses an open-mouthed kiss to the stretch of skin just above the waistband of my jeans. I drop the phone; my hands move of their own accord to tangle in his hair, a hiss escaping through my teeth.

“Nothing?” he murmurs, his voice vibrating through me, and I can’t even find an answer.

By the time Aiden leaves, the jars we collected are little more than a glittering powder layer on the bottom of the box, and we'll need to find more, but I’m wearing a smile I just can’t shake. It’s been a minute since I’ve hooked up with anyone like this, kissing and touching and nothing further. We haven’t even tried to take each other’s clothes off. I'm discovering that I don’t mind it, not at all, but I suspect I’m going to have more breathless dreams tonight.

I collect our water glasses and head to the sink, pondering watching an unsexy episode of something to calm myself down before bed. A thumping knock comes from my front door, and I pause, smiling.

“Hey,” I say, pulling the door open. “Did you forget someth-?”

I cut off abruptly, my eyes widening. It’s not Aiden.

It’s Noah, and he has a pretty spectacular black eye.

“Hey, Keane. Got a minute?” he says, and shoves me inside.