A flash of bright blue paint meets my eyes as soon as I open the door. I stop on the front step, my heart soaring. Aiden stops by my side, a relieved smile unfolding on his face.

There it is. My car. Parked alongside the curb in front of Kent's house, just like it has been a thousand times before.

The hood is popped open, and I can see one tattooed hand propped against the side.

I set off down the path silently, walking as if in a trance. Aiden follows after me.

The last glowing traces of the sunset have melted away, leaving a velvet night sky in their wake. Clusters of stars are scattered across it, along with a bright, full moon. Their combined light spills down onto the dark asphalt, onto the blue paint of my car, and - onto Raj and Noah. The popped hood had been blocking them from my sight, but they're both there.

Noah is leaning over the exposed engine, holding a pair of locking pliers. The sleeves of his bomber jacket are pushed up, his long hair knotted into a bun. Smudges of engine oil obscure the intricate designs inked into his fingers. His grey eyes are narrowed with focus.

Raj is behind him. Holding a flashlight over the battered old engine, but not looking at it. He's watching Noah.

My heart warms at the sight. I really like catching people when they're looking at the ones they love, thinking no one else is watching. Even from here, I see new, deeper dimensions in Raj’s brown eyes as they linger on Noah’s face. New kinds of light, new shades of color, new textures. An exceptional kind of openness, even for Raj.

Without looking up, Noah takes Raj’s hand and steadies the beam of the flashlight on what he’s looking at. Then he laughs when it immediately strays again.

“Raj,” he says, with affectionate exasperation, “Keep it on the-”

“Oh - my bad, my bad.” Raj puts his chin on Noah’s shoulder, spreads a hand on his back. “Sorry, I just - got distracted.”

Noah opens his mouth to say something, closes it again, and lets out a very soft laugh through his nose.

Raj straightens up, smiles brightly at Noah, and pops a kiss onto his forehead before he aims the flashlight again.

Noah bites down on his own smile, tries to roll his eyes, and briefly turns his gaze towards the sky like he’s searching for help from above. Then he bends over the engine again. He lets the hair escaping from his bun fall around his face, so that it hides the blush spreading over his cheeks.

“Anything snap on the way over?” Raj asks, looking down at the engine.

Noah shakes his head, tucking the pliers into his back pocket.

“Nah, man. Looks like it all held.” He breaks into a wide grin. “Which means-”

“Oh my god, we fucking fixed it!” Raj punches a victory fist into the air as Noah closes the hood of my car. “Oh, man, Jamie’s gonna be so-”

He breaks off, having spotted me coming down the pathway. Noah follows his gaze to me, lifts his hand in a wave.

“Yo, Keane!” he calls. “Good news, your engine is-”

He stops, because I’ve coasted right between him and Raj, folded myself over the hood of my car, and wrapped my arms around it, as far out as they can reach. There’s a silence, and then I hear both Raj and Noah let out a simultaneous, happy little laugh.

“Told you he’d do that,” Noah says, nudging Raj's elbow.

“Oh my god,” I mumble, my heart overcome. “Oh, buddy, it’s so good to have you back.”

It’s cold out here, but the hood is still warm from the drive over. It makes me feel like my car is hugging me back.

I straighten up and turn around as Aiden comes to a stop between Noah and Raj.

“Hey, there he is!” Raj gives Aiden a gentle slap on the back, looking up at him with obvious concern. “You feeling better, man? Kent hit up the dads group chat and said you were really sick. We were all worried about you.”

Aiden blinks down at Raj. “The dads group chat is still going?”

“Oh, it's going,” Noah says firmly. “Between our group chat and the dad chat, I’m getting more texts in a day than I used to in a month.”

"That reminds me," Raj says, pulling out his phone. "Lemme just text Kent real quick and ask how old babies have to be before they can have a donut. Don't want Nik to miss out, if she doesn't have to."

Aiden laughs, and Raj turns his phone to show him the length that the dads group chat has grown to.

While they're talking, I catch Noah’s eyes lingering on Aiden's face.

I know why. Noah is the only one who knows the truth of the situation, how serious it was. That Aiden wasn’t actually sick. That he was missing for days, and that I was terrified. I can tell that Noah is searching for any signs of what happened, looking to see if Aiden really is alright.

When he’s looked at Aiden for a moment, his grey eyes flit to me, and we have a silent conversation.

Noah gives a slight incline of his head in Aiden’s direction, which translates to: All okay?

I nod, then glance down at my car, then meet Noah’s eyes again, wordlessly asking - is it gonna be alright?

An answering smile quirks up Noah's lips, and I let out a heavy breath.

I can’t help myself. I throw my arms around Noah and give him a long, tight hug. He freezes, caught by surprise, staring down at me. Raj and Aiden stop talking and look over at us.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, tightening my arms around Noah. “I know you hate it, but - I have to.”

“Nah, it’s - it’s okay. Sometimes.” Noah draws back, puts the pad of his index finger to my forehead, and uses it to steer me off of him. “Don’t aim to make it a regular thing, though.”

I let out a weak, hoarse little laugh, looking up at him with all the gratitude in the world.

“Noah,” I stammer, “Thank you so much, I - I can’t even begin to tell you...”

“Okay, please stop,” Noah groans, but I see right through the supposedly annoyed expression on his face. He's trying hard not to smile, not really succeeding. "That's enough, man."

“How'd you get it back, Noosh?” Aiden looks over at him, impressed. “Jamie said the engine was shot.”

“Yeah, Jamie said that because that’s what the mechanic told him.” Noah leans back against my car and folds his arms over his chest, frowning deeply. “Fact is, the engine is old as hell, but there was only one thing actually broken. Took me and Raj one day to fix it, and we’re not even pros. The guy was trying to scam you, Jamie. That price tag was bullshit. Good thing you didn't cough up the money.”

“He - what?” I stare at Noah, outraged. “Are you fucking kidding me? So what, he just stole my car out of spite because I wouldn’t hand him half my bank account, when the problem wasn’t even that bad? But that’s so mean! Why the fuck would anyone be so mean, what kind of person-?”

I stop sharply, suddenly aware that I'm yelling.

“Oh - I'm sorry.” I put a hand to my chest, trying to calm down. “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to lose my shit like that, I just…”

I fade off, blinking in surprise, realizing that Raj, Noah, and Aiden are all smiling at me.

“What?” I ask, taken aback.

Aiden huffs out a laugh, wraps his arm around my shoulders, and presses a kiss onto the top of my head. “It’s so cute when you get mad.”

“Seriously,” Raj laughs. “That was adorable.”

Noah shakes his head, grinning at me. “And here he is apologizing. For that.”

“Alright,” I groan, pressing my fingers to my burning cheeks. “Let's not, please. Just - how did you talk the mechanic into giving it back, Noah?”

Noah's expression remains neutral, but a flicker of something devious moves in his eyes.

“I didn’t talk to him at all. Actually, that reminds me-”

He goes around to the trunk of my car, pops it open, and briefly drops out of sight behind it. When he straightens up, he’s got a rolled-up section of chain-link fence in his hands.

“Anyone got any use for this?" he asks. "Or should I drop it off at a metal scrap place?”

I stare at Noah, my eyes widening in disbelief. “What the fuck?"

“Did a lil’ redesign of the fence around the auto shop lot after I figured out that the engine on your car could still run," Noah explains. "Needed a way out, and the gate was locked."

I press my fingers over my mouth, close my eyes for a second. "Noah."

"What? I think the fence looks better now, personally.”

“Now that you cut a giant hole in it, you mean?” Aiden asks, arching an eyebrow. “Didn’t the mechanic come after you when he heard the car running?”

“Yes he did, and I had to pull a pretty wild bootlegger’s turn to get out of there, so.” Noah shrugs again. “Glad that your parking brake still works, Jamie, or that wouldn’t have gone well.”

“Oh my god, Noah!" I stare at him, wide-eyed. "What if you get in trouble for this? What if the mechanic files a report or something, and you get arrested? I don't want to be responsible for Nik growing up with only one dad!”

“You know,” Raj says, in a way that suggests he's about to share an interesting and little-known fact - “Lots of kids grow up with only one dad. It’s way more common than you’d think.”

“Jamie, take it easy," Noah cuts in, before I can answer that. "There are a number of reasons why I’m pretty sure we don’t need to worry.” He holds out a finger, counting off. “First of all, the guy has no idea who I am. Second of all, he’s not going to file a report about a car that he himself stole in the first place. And third of all, no offense, but - your car isn’t worth the trouble he’d have to go through to get it back.”

I chew my lip, searching for an argument, but - Noah is right.

“Oh, my god." I let out a helpless laugh. "Okay, whatever. I’m just glad that you’re alright, Noah. And that my car is back.”

Noah casts a small smile at me over the bright blue roof.

“You want me to get rid of this?” he asks, holding up the cut section of chain-link.

“Nah, I can probably turn that into a pretty cool display piece for the shop,” I hear myself say. “I’ll - I’ll put some moss on it, or something.”

Raj and Aiden both laugh, and I shake my head, a little dazed by everything that’s happened. Noah pops the fence cutting back into the trunk, then comes to join us at the front of the car.

Raj leans back against him, instantly making dimples appear at the corners of Noah’s smile.

“So,” Raj says brightly. “Aiden, you’re all better, brother? I mean - you seem good. You seem really happy, actually. You and Jamie both.”

I look up at Aiden, and we exchange a little glance. He smiles down at me, his lip pinned between his teeth, then shrugs.

That's all the permission I need, and I'm dying to tell them, so -

“We’re moving in together,” I blurt out, beaming at Raj and Noah. "We just decided this morning."

Raj’s mouth drops open into a huge, delighted smile.

“What!” he yells, springboarding up off of Noah, dark curls flying wildly around his face. “Oh, that's huge, what a big step for my boys, that's-" He spreads his arms wide, a glowing smile on his face. "Come on. Get over here.”

“Should have expected this,” Aiden laughs, as Raj pulls us both into a big hug.

Noah looks caught by surprise, but not nearly as startled as Raj.

"Damn." He lets out a low whistle, catching my eye. “That’s some comiiiiiiidddment, Jamie."

I try unsuccessfully to bite back my smile, my cheeks starting to burn. “Yeah, I - I know.”

Aiden was busy trying to squirm his way free from Raj, but he pauses, looks down at me with radiant blue eyes.

“So you finally asked, huh?” Noah says, grinning at him. “Told you it would go good, dude. And you were all worried.”

Aiden’s cheeks instantly turn crimson. “Shut up, Noosh!”

“Can we tell Mel?" Raj asks, bouncing with excitement.

Aiden pauses. "What, you wanna like - call her?"

“Come on, let’s go do it right now!” Raj pulls out his phone, seizes Aiden’s hand. "Inside, though. It's too fucking cold out here."

He sets off, towing Aiden up the path. I start to follow them, then stop in surprise when Noah catches my wrist.

I turn to find him staring down at my bruised, swollen hands. He looks up at me, his expression suddenly turned serious.

“What happened?” he says, very quietly.

“It’s…” I hesitate, choosing my words. “It’s a long story, and I can't really explain. I'm sorry. But Aiden is home, and everything's gonna be okay. There's no need to worry. Just - trust me, please?”

Noah absorbs that, then nods slowly, lets me go. I can tell that he’s itching all over to ask what the hell happened to Aiden, and where I found him, and why no one could come with me on the search.

But he doesn’t, and I find myself filled up with gratitude.

I know how hard it is for Noah to take things on faith. I can barely believe that he’s willing to let this go unexplained, to trust me when I say that things will be alright.

I look into his grey eyes, an immense surge of affection flooding through me.

“Noah," I say slowly, "I’m really sorry that I showed up bawling my eyes out onto you and just - generally being a trainwreck, at who knows what hour of the morning-”

Noah waves his hand at me in a no-worries kind of gesture.

“I get it, man,” he says. “Been there. Emotional Kingda Ka, right?”

I laugh, rubbing my temples.

“Yeah. Exactly. But - seriously, you have no idea how much you did for me. I was so fucking scared, but you got me back down to earth, and your advice was solid. Going back to Aiden’s place turned out to be the right call. If you hadn’t been there for me, I - I honestly don’t know if I would have found Aiden before the clock ran out.”

Noah stares down at me, silent. The expression on his face is far too complicated for me to read, but his eyes are very wide, unblinking.

“I just - I’m so glad that we’re friends, man,” I tell him earnestly. “And I don’t just mean because of the car, or the last few days, I mean-”

“Okay,” Noah cuts in, suddenly looking anywhere but at me. “That’s - I get it. Now stop, please.”

I smile up at him, having already seen the magnesium brightness in his pupils. It’s such a raw, bright, shimmering light - it’s impossible to miss.

“Can I give you one more hug?” I ask.

“No,” he says firmly.

We look at each other for a second, then exchange a small, warm smile before our gazes break apart.

“Games and ganj night soon?” I ask. “It's been ages."

Noah nods, then hesitates.

“Hey, like…” He fidgets with his lip piercing. “We can still do those, right? After you and Aiden move in together?”

I’ve been told about giving him a hug, so I just give his arm a little squeeze.

“Yeah, man. Of course. Not giving that up, no way.”

I earn a dimpled smile from this, although Noah tries to turn away before I can see it.

~~~~

Raj and Noah head out together in my silver rental, off to return it for me. There’s a place to drop it off much closer to town, thankfully, and I think they can tell that Aiden and I need some more time alone together.

They leave my car where it is, parked by the curb.

Aiden watches them go, then hops up on the hood and pats the space next to him. I climb up onto it, and we both lean back against the windshield, looking up at the night sky. Sitting like we have so many times before, even when our friendship was brand new.

I let out a happy sigh, curling up against the warmth of his body, feeling like everything is finally back in the place where it belongs.

The blue of my car beneath me, the stars above me, and Aiden at my side.