“No! Get away from my books! I swear to God if you pee-” Keb was overwhelmed when he heard One’s voice as soon as he stepped out of the elevator into the hallway. Keb followed the loud voice, stopped in front of the door to One’s rooms. He was even more surprised to see that the door was closed and One’s voice was loud enough to be heard in the hallway through closed doors. Something must have made One angry for him to raise his voice like that. Keb knocked at the door even though he was pretty sure One wouldn’t hear him. As expected, the door remained shut.

Keb knocked one more time, only heard cursing words as a response. “Phi One?” Keb asked loudly to be heard inside the apartment. “I’m coming in, okay?” He waited for a few more seconds before he turned to the door lock and entered the code One had been using for years. He slowly opened the door and walked into the apartment. “One?” he called for his friend once again after closing the door. “Is everything alright?”

“No! Jeppie come back here!” The next thing Keb heard was loud barking. The next thing Keb saw was a small dog running towards him and jumping up his legs.

“Hey, buddy,” Keb greeted the little one and squatted down to pet his head. The dog calmed down immediately. Instead of barking loudly, he whimpered quietly now.

“Thank you,” One thanked him relieved that the puppy was finally calm again. “He just wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Since when do you have a dog?” Keb asked out of curiosity. “Don’t get me wrong, but I never thought of you as a person to take care of a pet.” Keb put his hands on the dog’s stomach and carefully lifted him to carry and hold him in his arms.

“I’m just taking care of him for a while. The owner is moving places and can’t take care of their dog right now.”

“They must trust you a lot to let you take care of this cutie,” Keb said and hugged the dog tightly. “What’s his name?”

“Jeppie,” One answered while his thoughts circled the words Keb had just said. He couldn’t stop smiling. Jeppie’s owner trusted him enough to take care of someone they loved with all their heart. Jeppie’s owner trusted him. Keb didn’t even notice One’s bright and happy smile. He was too focused on the dog in his hands to pay attention to anything around him. Keb petted Jeppie’s back and kept on touching his own nose with Jeppie’s.

“Do you want to come in?” One asked as soon as he came back to reality and was in control of his smile again. It took Keb a few seconds to realize One was talking to him again and to progress what he had asked.

“Thank you,” he mumbled and let Jeppie go again. He put the puppy on the floor before he took off his shoes and placed them next to One’s.

“Are you already hungry? I can heat the food later if you don’t want to eat yet.”

“No, no. Let’s eat now,” Keb replied without hesitation and got up again. He might not be hungry yet, but he could see that One didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Thank god,” One laughed. “I cooked your favorite food only for you.” Moments like these were a reason why Keb counted One not only as one of his closest friends but also as one of the few people he trusted with all his heart. He trusted One a lot more than their two other friends trusted him. Keb was the only one of them to know about what One was actually like. While Khem and Ford both thought of One as someone who either said what was on his mind or stayed quiet all the time, someone who didn’t care much about other people’s feelings, Keb knew there was a lot more to him. One was an honest guy. He said what was on his mind because he couldn’t stand keeping secrets and lying to the people close to him. He cared so much more about his friends than most people expected. He cared about them through little things you have to pay attention to to notice them. When he was cooking for friends, he was always the one asking them what they want to eat because he didn’t want them to eat something they might not want to eat or maybe didn’t even like. When one of his friends was feeling down, he asked them to go out drinking not because he wanted them to drink their sorrows away or because he wanted someone to treat him. He asked them because he didn’t want them to be alone. He had never once asked his friends if they had any worries because he knew if they wanted to talk about it, they would reach out to him themselves. And he knew how worse it can make you feel if people constantly ask you if you are okay. Keb knew One always noticed first when someone didn’t feel good. One paid attention to his friends in a way not many people do. Keb also knew that One knew something had bothered Keb the entire week. Maybe that was the reason One had asked Keb to come over. Maybe that was the reason One had offered to cook for Keb. Because he was aware that his friend didn’t want to be alone right now. One was indeed a good friend, maybe the best one Keb had ever had. And Keb wanted nothing to ever tear them apart. Keb wouldn’t let anybody ever tear them apart.