“Is something wrong with Noah?” Raj asks, pulling the car away from the curb. “Hey, Noah! You alright back there? Why does he look like that?”

I’m in the front seat next to Raj, so I check the rearview mirror and discover that Noah is still the perfect picture of shock.

“He just found out that Aiden and I are seeing each other,” I explain. A little spark flares through me at telling someone else; I know now that Aiden is comfortable with it, but I snatch a glance at him to make sure it’s okay. He’s in the backseat, looking at Noah with an amused expression on his face. He reaches out and gives Noah’s cheek an experimental poke, to no reaction. Waves a hand in front of his face, again with no response.

Raj looks over at me, one eyebrow quirked above his sunglasses.

“What do you mean, he just found out? You mean after I left the porch, but before you guys got to the car?”

“Yep.”

“Wow. Stuff happens fast around here. I was only waiting for like five minutes.”

“Yeah, well-” I turn in the seat and take another look at Noah's agog expression, which is starting to become a little comical, honestly - “He appears to be having some sort of crisis about it.”

“Hey, Noah,” Raj says sharply, adjusting the rearview so he can see him. “You should know that I don’t allow homophobes in my car.”

Noah finally snaps out of it.

“Whoa, man, I’m no fucking homophobe! I don’t give a damn about that! I mean, I didn’t know that Aiden…” He shakes his head, dazed. “It’s just that Jamie and Aiden - I can’t believe - the fact that it’s Jamie and Aiden - if you knew them for as long as I have, Raj, you’d also be having a whole entire moment.”

“Ah, I see.” Raj flips on the blinker. “That’s fine, then. Go ahead and carry on with your freakout.” He glances over at me again, then at Aiden. “On the real, though, you two make a beautiful couple. Respect.”

Aiden catches my eye in the mirror, and we exchange a little grin.

“Thanks, Raj,” Aiden says warmly.

“No problem, brother.”

“You know what, though?” Noah cuts in, his grey eyes still very wide. “Now that I think about it, this actually explains some shit from high school.”

“Shut your mouth, Noah!” Aiden says immediately, popping him one on the shoulder.

“No, keep going, Noah,” I demand, twisting in my seat to look at him.

“Yeah, keep going, Noah,” Raj says, grinning. “Sounds cute.”

“Don’t you dare,” Aiden warns.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me sooner?” Noah asks, scowling. “I’ve been staying at Jamie’s place for days. What, you didn’t want me to know? You guys seriously think I’m ignorant or something? My cousin, she runs a lesbian hair salon called Buzz Buzz, Baby! in Connecticut. Just so you know.”

“Okay, that’s… actually incredible,” I answer.

“It’s not that, Noah,” Aiden says, rolling down the window. He shifts his snapback to fit more snugly on his head as the breeze rushes in. “I just needed to be sure that you wouldn’t run off and tattle to Ralph.”

“Who is Ralph?” Raj asks, guiding the car into a traffic circle. “How many people are involved in this thing? This is some sizzling drama. It’s like Real Housewives of Orange County up in here. It’s, uh… Real Dudes of Ketterbridge.”

“I don’t even know where to start with that,” Aiden laughs.

“My fiancée is into reality TV,” Raj explains, grinning.

“Oh yeah, how is she, Raj?” I ask. “How’s the baby doing?”

“Ah, you know.” Raj’s smile drops slightly. “It turns out we’re much farther along in the pregnancy than we realized. We didn’t exactly plan for this to happen, so we found out late. She’s already got a pretty good bump.”

“Is that bad?” Aiden asks, clearly noticing the stress lines that have suddenly grown sharper around Raj’s eyes.

“No, no, don’t get me wrong, I can’t fucking wait to meet the little guy, but the house is turning out more expensive than I thought it would be, all these unexpected problems springing up. And now we know that the baby is going to arrive right around when the wedding was supposed to happen, so we’re pushing the wedding back, which means we lost a few deposits. I’m a little strapped right now, wallet-wise.” He lets out a deep groan. “Ugh, and now with all the electrical problems… shit, man. Real estate is cheap in Ketterbridge, but this house is a sinkhole. I really hope that my girl is surprised, that she loves it…”

“She will, I’m sure,” I cut in, feeling a stab of sympathy.

“You’re expecting a baby, Raj?” Noah asks, leaning forward in his seat. “Holy shit. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, bro.” Raj sends a smile his way via the rearview. “I’m a lucky man. My babe, my kid, my house. Blessings all around. But right now the house is feeling more like a curse. A curse upon my bank account, at least.” He rubs his forehead, wincing. “Anyways. My hope, Noah, is that you’ll look at the wiring and tell me it’s an easy, cheap fix.”

“Might need to borrow some of your tools, by the way,” Noah says. “Mine are back at - I don’t have mine anymore.”

“No problem. You know, I wanted to put these special soothing lights in the baby’s room, but. We’ll see, with the new budget constraints.” Raj glances at Noah in the mirror again. “You think the baby would like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Noah shrugs. “Both my siblings are older than me. Haven’t spent too much time around kids. But I can look at the lights, for sure.”

“You’re my savior, dude!” Raj half-shouts, and Noah smiles again, this new smile that brightens up his whole face. I’ve already seen him wear it twice today, and it keeps catching me by surprise. “Here we are!” Raj swerves the car into a driveway. “Everybody out!”

~~~~

It’s a pretty sweet house. I’m a little jealous, honestly. Three bedrooms, a good-sized living room, bright windows. There’s almost no furniture; sections of the floor are torn up and parts of the walls covered by plastic sheeting. Stray cans of paint and loose tools are everywhere. It’s clearly still a work in progress, but in comparing the rooms that Raj has mostly finished to the ones he hasn’t done yet, I can tell how much nicer he’s already made it. There’s old hardwood beneath the weird plastic-looking linoleum that the previous owners put down, and which Raj has been meticulously peeling away.

I do a lap of the yard, which is basically a big square of dirt with a single scraggly tree growing in the back. I should have brought a notebook, because ideas start coming to me right away. I end up typing out some thoughts on my phone, Aiden recording measurements when I call them over my shoulder. Noah and Raj have been inside for a while, presumably having a look at the wiring disaster. I snap a few reference pictures of the yard and stop, an image forming in my mind. This place could be beautiful, with the right plants.

“You look like you’ve got some thoughts,” Aiden says, from behind me. He wraps his arms around my waist and leans down to set his stubbled chin on my shoulder. A surprising little gesture, one that fills me up with warmth. I’m so happy to see him getting back to his normal self, after such a difficult night. So happy that he can touch me and I don’t have to worry about Raj or Noah seeing.

“I can make this really pretty, I think.” I lean the side of my face against his. “Depending on what Raj wants to spend. It’s sort of cool to have a blank canvas like this. Stuff is just flying into my head.”

I feel Aiden’s smile against my cheek.

“I like watching you work,” he says. "Here and in the shop."

I think of him in his dress shirt, the collar loosened by the end of the day, sleeves usually rolled up to the elbow. Nimble fingers in white gloves, carefully sorting through old documents. Blue eyes focused and sharp.

“I like watching you work,” I murmur, tracing my fingers along his forearm. “You seem a little better today.”

“Mostly thanks to you. Talking helped. And the other stuff.” He lets me go and adjusts his hat. I turn to look at him, appreciating the way that the light out here falls on the fine bones of his face. “I want to leave yesterday behind me,” he continues. “This has been a wild first week of our relationship, and I… I just want to stop and enjoy it, for a second.”

My heart speeds up, a steady, bright drumming against my ribs.

“Me, too.”

“And I would love it if we could make out without destroying something,” he says. “One day I’d actually like to take your shirt off, you know?”

“Like. Wise.”

“We need more practice.” His smile is suddenly a little devious. “If we’re going to make any progress.”

My answer is written out in my expression, I can tell. I reach out and skate my fingernails over his bicep, drawing closer. Aiden’s eyes flit to my lips in a way that seems unintentional; his arm flexes, responding to my touch, and wow, I wish we were back in his bed.

“I can’t believe you just kissed me in front of Noah, by the way.”

“No?”

“I thought maybe you weren’t out.”

“Mmm.” Aiden shrugs. “I already have to hide a lot of stuff about myself without adding that to the pile. Realized that right after high school. But - I would prefer it if we don’t tell everyone about us, just yet. I want a little time with you before everybody starts giving us their opinions.”

I rock onto the balls of my feet to put a kiss on his lips. I intend it to just be a quick one, but he presses a hand to the back of my neck and holds me there, draws it out until my knees feel weak.

“Whatever you want,” I stammer against his mouth, when he’s good and done.

“Thank you,” he says, smiling into my face.

A wolf whistle comes from somewhere above us. We look up to find Noah and Raj both leaning out of a window on the second floor. Raj has his hands cupped around his mouth. “Hey, boys, when you’re done making out, you should come up here and get zapped by the wires. It’s weirdly fun? All the hairs on my arms are standing up.”

The phrase dumb guy stuff flashes through my head unexpectedly.

“Hey, have you heard from Ripley?” I ask Aiden, pulling open the door and stepping back into the house.

“Now that you mention it, yeah. He sent me a text and said we might be working on a project together? You know anything about that?”

“N- um, nope.”

“Jamie.” Aiden catches my hand before I can set foot on the stairs. “You’re such a bad liar that you literally can’t make the word nope sound convincing.”

“Oh, it’s a surprise,” I groan. “Don’t make me spoil it.”

“You’re so suspicious right now,” he says, jogging up the stairs after me.

We find Noah and Raj peering into one of the hallway closets upstairs, examining a grey metal box tucked into the wall. Noah has the lid propped open, a small tool in his hand hovering over the mess of panels and switches and cords. I have no idea what I’m looking at, but Noah seems to, his tattooed fingers touching some wires and carefully avoiding others.

“What’s the verdict?” Aiden asks.

“Not good, apparently,” Raj says, cringing.

“Yeah, um.” Noah turns around, an apologetic look on his face. “It’s not dangerous, but to tell you the truth, dude, I don’t think anyone’s updated your system since like, the sixties. The company that makes this gear, they’re not even in business anymore. And it looks like someone tried to fix it before you, very badly. There’s a car battery plugged in here, for reasons I can’t even begin to understand, and the whole system is converting down to adjust for it.”

“What does that mean?” Raj groans.

“It means - uh - it’s going to be a lot of work. Between this and the other stuff you showed me.”

“Shit. Well, thank god for you, Noah. Are you sure that you can fix it?”

“Wait, he’s going to fix it?” I cut in. “I thought he was just going to help you get a quote?”

“Oh, we worked it all out,” Raj explains. “Noah mentioned that he’s between places right now, so. He’s gonna crash here in exchange for fixing up this mess. Saves me a lot of money, and gives him a place to stay.”

“What?” I blink at him, caught off guard. “Um, Raj, can I talk to you for a sec?”

We go into one of the unfinished bedrooms and close the door.

“Everything okay, Jamie?”

“Yeah, just - look. I know you think that Noah is my friend, but honestly, I’m just getting to know him again. We’ve barely talked since high school. I don’t want to vouch for how he might be living in your house, because I have no idea.”

“Ah, gotcha. Well, he’ll only be staying until the job is done. I don’t even live here right now, so I’m not using the space. Water’s working, there’s nothing to steal, and I’ve got a bed in one of the finished rooms.” Raj shrugs. “He seems like a pretty chill guy to me.”

“That’s funny, that’s like, exactly what he said about you.”

“Look, man, it’s no problem. I’m not asking you to be his character reference, and I’m not blind. I can see the bruises, I know he’s got something going on. But it’ll only be for a few days, and if it’s going to save me some cash… I’ve got a baby on the way, dude!”

“Yeah, that’s - yeah.” I hesitate, unsure. “And your fiancée would be cool with this?”

“She doesn’t even know that we have a house. Plus, she’s so busy with her own work stuff. Most days I can barely get her to slow down long enough to take her prenatal vitamins.” Raj cuffs my shoulder gently. “You don’t have to worry, it’s my choice.”

“Okay, fine. But I am officially not responsible for anything that happens as a result of this. Unless the only thing that happens is that your electricity gets fixed. In which case, I’m taking full credit, since I introduced you two.”

“Deal,” Raj answers. “Don’t stress, alright? It’s only for a few days. I have a good feeling about him. Everything will be fine.”

~~~~

Raj has to clean up the room intended for Noah, so I’ll have my extra roommate for one more night. Raj drops us all at my place, and Aiden hangs out on the couch while I take a shower. When I emerge with fresh clothes and damp hair, Noah isn't with Aiden - he’s not anywhere in the apartment, in fact.

I poke my head out into the hallway and find him there, leaning against the wall, talking into his phone. I don’t understand what he’s saying; it takes me a moment to realize he’s speaking in very fast, quiet French. He glances up and spots me.

“Prends soin de toi,” he murmurs into the phone, and hangs up.

“What, um?” I begin.

“Just leaving a voicemail for my sister. She never picks up, but. Wanted to make sure she’s okay.”

I leave him there, my head spinning. What a ridiculously strange week this has been. I feel like I’ve been thinking that every week since Aiden came back to town.

“You okay?” he asks, when I flop down onto the couch next to him.

“Mhm.”

“You have work today, right?”

“Not for…” I check my watch. “Two more hours.”

“Are we going to the Ghost Office tonight?”

“Yeah. We only have a week 'til the deadline! Want to go after my shift?”

“Sure, but... there are other things I want to practice, too.” Aiden leans forward and catches the tip of my nose with his. “You wanna give Noah some alone time, go back to my place? Put those two hours to good use?”

“Hmm.” I lean forward to kiss him, smiling against his mouth. “You know what? I think I can make time for that.”