I have to call two times before he picks up. When he does, he sounds annoyed.

“What, Jamie?”

“So you’re ignoring my texts, now?” I ask, scowling. “Not cool, Noah.”

“I’m busy.”

“You’re not. It’s almost midnight.” I plug in my headphones, then set my phone down on the kitchen counter. “And I know you weren’t asleep. I saw you go through three different energy drinks today. Which - you shouldn’t do that, dude. One day all of your organs are going to explode at once.”

“We did mad work today. Maybe I was asleep.”

“Were you?” I ask, and a long silence follows. “Noah, don’t hang up on me. I’ll be mad.”

“What do you want? I’m tired.”

I walk over to the window and sit down in the armchair, trying not to sound as frustrated as I am.

“I want to know what’s going on with you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t even do that.”

There’s another silence, and then Noah laughs.

“Jesus, man. You’re getting all worked up over nothing. You make it sound like there’s some whole big thing going on. I keep telling you, nothing’s wrong. I’m all good. I’m gonna start getting annoyed, if you keep making me say it. Just let it go.”

“Noah-”

“Are your shoulders sore from painting up those walls, by the way? Mine are. It’s not as easy as it looks, right? Should give you a whole new appreciation for everything Raj and I did at the house.”

I find myself frowning, staring out of the window, watching the droplets fleck against the glass.

“Look, I’ll let it go, if that’s what you want. I’m sorry, I’m really not trying to bug you. But - if you do decide you want to talk, I’m here. That’s all I’ll say, alright?”

“Fine.” Noah sounds like he doesn’t care either way. “Can I go, now? I’m gonna take a walk.”

“You so aren’t. It’s pouring down out there. I think I saw lightning earlier.”

“At your place, sure.”

“This is Ketterbridge. If it’s raining on my street, it’s raining on yours, too.”

“Night, Jamie,” Noah says, and hangs up.

I sit there in the armchair, my phone pressed to my lip, thinking.

Noah is a much better liar than I am. But not good enough.

Something is up. Aiden and I can both tell. Raj and Melanie can’t, because, as Noah himself told me, they trust him. They believe everything he tells them. And he’s telling them that he’s fine.

My eyes catch on something outside. I lean closer to the window, blinking rapidly.

It’s dark out, and raining hard, so it’s difficult to say for sure, but… I think I see someone, standing in the shadows of the trees across the street. It’s just the barest outline of a figure. Somehow, though, I recognize it.

I vault upright in the armchair, staring. The person doesn’t move, doesn’t step into the glow of the streetlights. No matter how hard I look, I can’t be certain.

It feels like they’re looking up at my window. Looking up at me.

I get the distinct impression that I’ve locked eyes with someone.

I scramble out of the armchair and rush to the door. I grab my jacket on the way out, pulling the hood up over my hair.

I step out onto the street, shivering in the cold, the downpour. I basically ran down the stairs, but - the patch of sidewalk where I saw the person is now empty. I cross the road, just to be sure. I weave through the trees, flinching as heavy droplets hit my arms.

“Ralph?” I call, but there’s no answer.

He’s gone, if he was ever really there at all.

~~~~

I walk back upstairs slowly, my head spinning.

My first thought is that I’ve discovered the cause of Noah’s weird behavior. Ralph is back, stirring up some kind of trouble. Holding something over Noah’s head, so that he can’t talk to me about it.

But right away, I know that can’t be it. I’ve seen what Noah looks like when he’s thinking about Ralph. Afraid. Angry. Something definitely took over his face when Melanie kissed him, but it wasn’t that.

I hang up my dripping jacket, kick off my shoes, and go back to the bedroom.

Aiden’s cheek is smushed against the pillows, his shoulders rising and falling gently. Peaceful sleep, tonight. No nightmares. His bronze skin dark against the white sheets.

My eyes stay stuck to him as I pull off my clothes.

He shifts when I climb into bed, making room for me in his arms. I snuggle up close to him, take a deep breath of that vetiver scent.

“Mmm. Did you just take a shower?” His low voice is rough and drowsy, his words melting together. “Your hair is wet.”

“Don’t worry about that.” I press my cheek to his chest. “Everything’s fine.”

“Where did you go?” he murmurs.

“I went to call Noah. Couldn’t sleep, I guess. I was worried about him. Wanted to see if I could help.”

Aiden makes a soft noise. Not a laugh, just a push of air through his nose.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing.” And then, like he’s just remembered he can say it, “I love you.”

I move to rest my face on his bicep, so I can look at him. His eyes are open now, sleepy and blue and sweet.

“I love you, too.”

We exchange a small smile.

Aiden clears his throat, his cheeks a little pink. “So, what did Noah say?”

“Honestly, not much.” I frown to myself, tracing my fingertips along Aiden’s arm. “You know, he and I are normally pretty good about this stuff. Talking to each other. He helped me when I was struggling with how to tell you... I just wish he’d let me help him with this. Whatever it is.”

“Well.” Aiden brushes a kiss onto my forehead. “I’ve found, with Noah - if he doesn’t want to talk about something, he’s not going to.”

“I know.” I roll onto my back, still frowning. “I told him that when he wants to talk, I’m here.”

“Then I think,” Aiden says, “You’ve done everything you can, for now.”

He rests a hand on my chest, then begins smoothing his thumb back and forth, putting in a little pressure. It feels nice, and I close my eyes to enjoy it.

“Aiden,” I say, eventually. “You’ve known Noah a lot longer than I have. What’s your take? I can tell you’ve been thinking about it.”

I wait in silence until Aiden works his way to an answer.

“The truth is, Jamie, I was never much of a friend to Noah,” he says quietly. “I mean, we were friends, and we still are, but - back then, I wasn’t a good friend. You know what I was like. Pushy, bossy, always thinking of myself and nobody else… I could have been a good friend to Noah. Ralph was always needling him for no damn reason, and I could have put a stop to it. But I didn’t. I wish I had.” He sighs deeply. “Despite all that, I was probably the person Noah was closest to, in the group. So - that should tell you the overall quality of the friendships he’s had so far.”

“You never told me that,” I answer, surprised. “That he was closest to you, in the group.”

“Not - not like-” Aiden blows out a frustrated breath, struggling to pin down the right words. “I mean that I would chill with him when he was upset, and he would do the same with me. We were both upset pretty often, so. But we never talked about it, we just - hung out. That’s probably the only thing I ever really did for him, and he always did it back, for me. You see what I’m saying?”

“I… no, honestly. What does this have to do with what’s happening right now?”

“I’m saying that before now, Noah has never had a friend like Raj. Not even close. Raj actually treats him like a top priority. Can’t say for sure, but my guess is, Noah’s probably really scared of doing anything to jeopardize his friendship with Raj, even by accident. Like, you know. Kissing his fiancée.”

“Melanie kissed Noah, not the other way around.”

“Yeah, but still.”

I think about that for a minute.

“But Raj wasn’t upset about it. Not even a little bit.”

“Well, you can’t really blame Noah for thinking he would be.” Aiden shrugs, smoothing his fingers over my chest, then down my solar plexus. “Raj is kind of unusual in that respect, don’t you think? How many guys would come downstairs and find out that their fiancée had just kissed their best friend, and not be bothered for even a second?”

Silence falls again. The rain taps quietly against the open window.

“Noah has a lot of friends now, though. Ones who really do care about him. You included, Aiden.”

“Yeah, I know. He has really good friends. The fact that you couldn't sleep because you were worried about him speaks to that." Aiden taps my nose. "But we both know that Raj is particularly important to him.”

“That’s true… Noah actually told me so, himself.”

“Mhm.” Aiden walks his fingers along my hip bone, then leans forward to push a kiss into my neck. His warm breath combines with the coolness of the raindrops still clinging to me. The mixture of hot and cold sends a pleasant rush down my body. “Also, keep in mind, Noah is used to Ralph, who would jump on any opportunity to be pissed at him. I mean, anything, all the time. It probably took Noah a minute to wrap his head around the fact that something like this could happen, and Raj wouldn’t be mad.”

What Aiden is saying makes sense, but I wonder if it really explains everything. Noah seemed distracted and distant long after it was clear that Raj wasn’t angry with him.

The mention of Ralph reminds me: I didn’t say anything to Aiden about what I think I saw outside. Should I tell him? I’m not even sure that I saw anything. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I realize suddenly that what Aiden is doing, these gentle movements of his fingers - they’ve drawn a response from me while I wasn’t paying attention. Everything he’s done while I was lost in my thoughts seems to hit me all at once. I hold still, hold my breath.

Aiden’s hand travels down my body, down, down. I shiver, and a soft moan escapes my mouth.

The tiny sound has a big effect on Aiden. He lets out a heavy exhale, then throws the comforters off of us. I shudder in the cold air, but before I can even really feel it, Aiden is on top of me, and his heat seeps into my skin, warming me like sunlight.

I let myself get lost in him, grazing my mouth along his stubbled jaw, taking handfuls of his chestnut hair in my fingers.

The news about Ralph will just have to wait until tomorrow.

~~~~

“What? Jamie, why the hell didn’t you tell me last night?”

I’m about to say that I would have told him, if he hadn’t decided to pin me down to the bed and send all of my thoughts flying out of my brain, but - Kasey is here, and she maybe doesn’t need to hear all that.

“I got distracted,” I say pointedly, and Aiden’s cheeks color up.

“Well-” He makes a frustrated face, tipping his head to the side. “There was time, after,” he argues, dropping his volume considerably. “You could have told me!”

“I wasn’t thinking about it anymore, after! And that’s your fault, dude, so-”

“Okay, enough,” Kasey interrupts. “Jamie, are you sure?”

“No. Not at all. It was dark, it was pouring rain, and if he was there, he stuck to the shadows. I just thought I saw a person, around his height, with his hair color.”

“That’s far from conclusive.” Kasey’s eyes cut to Aiden. “Could have been someone else, no?”

“Why would he show up now?” Aiden takes off his snapback, pushes a hand through his hair, then puts it back on. “Honestly, why would Ralph just be standing outside of Jamie’s window at night? If he was trying to scare him, he wouldn’t have stayed hidden like that.”

“Well, if it was him, he wasn’t here to hurt anyone,” Kasey says. “Or Aiden, you would have heard an - energy disturbance, I guess I’m calling it?”

“I would only hear it if somebody was about to be in serious trouble. He still could have been here for some other sketchy reason.”

“Okay, I want to reiterate that I’m not even sure he was here at all,” I cut back in, kneading my palm anxiously. “This is why I didn’t want to say anything! Now we’re all worrying, when I might have just imagined it.”

“Jamie,” Kasey says sharply. “Don’t think. Just answer, right away. Did you imagine it, or not?”

“No.” I pause, startled to hear myself answer so easily. “Fuck. No, I - I didn’t.”

Kasey nods, like she already knew.

“Yep. I don’t think you would have grabbed your coat and gone out into the rain if you’d imagined it.”

“Ugh, why did you do that?” Aiden presses his palms to his eyes, huffing out an agonized breath. “You see Ralph outside, so you go by yourself, into the street, to - why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because I didn’t want you to scare him away, Aiden!”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I thought-” I falter, my cheeks turning red as I realize that everyone is about to think I’m stupid. “I thought he might be here to apologize.”

Aiden lets out a half-laugh, half-groan, then sinks forward and slumps down on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, god, dude,” he mumbles. “I love you. I mean, you’re killing me, but I love you.”

“Alright, okay.” Kasey holds up her hands. “Let’s all take a breath. We’re turning Ralph into a bigger specter than he is. I seriously doubt that he’s showing up to try and physically hurt anyone. He hasn’t before, there’s no reason for him to start now. Besides, Jamie only saw one person. Ralph would probably roll up with Grant. Right, Aiden?”

“If Grant can hold it together for more than a few minutes, sure, but he goes in mostly for dissociatives, Special K and shit. Half the time he’s completely checked out, so - it’s not impossible that Ralph came by himself. If bringing Grant would have been useless.”

An unhappy silence falls over the room.

“What do we do with this?” I finally ask. “Do we tell Noah?”

“He’s already going through some shit.”

“Yes, I know that, Aiden, but he also doesn’t like people keeping stuff from him! I think - I think he probably needs to know.”

Kasey cuts back in before Aiden can answer.

“What we’re doing right now,” she says, “Is having the exact same conversation that we had when Ralph dropped off Noah’s stuff at the house. Are we going to have this conversation every time Ralph shows up?”

Aiden and I exchange a glance. He sighs, running a hand down his face, then turns abruptly and heads for the door.

“Where are you going?” I call, darting after him.

“I am not getting played by Ralph again,” he says firmly, pulling on his Timbs. “That graveyard story bullshit, that was the last time. I’m also not about to sit around here waiting for Ralph to come out of the shadows. If he wants to lurk around like a creep, fine, let him. If he wants to come out and play, that’s fine, too.” Aiden pulls on his jacket, then takes my face in his hands. “Kasey's right. This is the last time we're having this conversation. Ralph doesn’t get to scare us just by showing up. I’m going to go tell Noah everything, then make that very clear.”

My heart lifts, and I smile up at him, relieved.

“Yes! Thank you, oh my god - but, Aiden - however you break this to Noah, make sure he doesn’t run off, like he tried to last time. Raj and Melanie would be-” I break off, shaken just imagining the looks on their faces. “You make sure that Noah is still there when they wake up tomorrow. Okay?”

“Oh, he’ll be there,” Aiden says, and pops a kiss onto my forehead. “He’ll be there if I have to sling him over my shoulder and carry him back to town, myself.”

I watch Aiden go, smiling affectionately.

If he wasn't a good friend to Noah before, he certainly is, now.