“We’re so not getting away with this,” I gasp softly, into Aiden’s neck.

He’s got me backed up against the wall on the ground floor of Raj and Ripley’s showroom, his body pressed to mine. We’re having a rainy month, but the sunlight is dry and warm today. It illuminates dust in its golden shafts, and spills down Aiden’s jaw, shines on his chestnut hair. Catches his sweet blue eyes, in a way that makes the protests I’m trying to lay down sound half-hearted at best.

“Whatever,” he murmurs, his lips against mine as he speaks. “I love you.”

“Stupid,” I laugh, as my heart beats out my actual answer in triple-time. “We’re not alone, are we? I thought I’d be the last one to show. I’d have been here sooner, but I didn’t want to skip checking on your Tree.”

Aiden licks my lower lip before he answers. “Raj is in Ripley’s apartment, doing baby stretches with Nik.”

“Aw!”

“Noah’s in the bathroom on the workshop floor, trying to fix the broken shower.”

“Um.” My eyes open in concern. “Is that something Noah knows how to d-?”

“Ralph is late, I don’t know where he is.” Aiden lifts me up onto the deep windowsill, sits me down, then fits himself between my thighs. “And Ripples is upstairs. Trying to finish a painting before we leave.”

“Okay, so…?” I had looped my arms around Aiden’s neck, instinctively spreading my legs to make more room for him, but now I stop. “Shouldn’t we not do this right here? Right now?”

“I can make out with my own boyfriend when I want to,” comes the deep, rumbling, petulant answer. “Besides, have you seen what Ripley is like when he’s deep in his art? He’s not even on this planet. Guy doesn’t notice anyth-”

Aiden cuts himself off abruptly as Ripley comes padding downstairs, one wet paintbrush tucked behind his ear, another held loosely in his colorful fingers.

Aiden and I have frozen in place, caught in an extremely compromising position. Our bodies are tangled up together, our mouths only a breath apart, my flannel already starting to slip from my shoulder. We both look at Ripley with blushing, busted expressions on our faces.

Ripley’s green eyes run vaguely over us, then rove over the rest of the ground floor, looking for something.

“Have you guys seen my stippler brush?” He steps down from the stairs and goes right past us to rummage through a pile of stuff left on the floor, near where he and Raj were repainting the walls. “It’s the big blocky one.”

Aiden and I exchange a swift glance. It would appear that Ripley hasn’t noticed the way he found us. He’s sifting through the pile, and when he doesn’t find what he’s looking for, he goes around behind the counter to check there.

Moving seems like a good way to attract more attention, so I don’t even take my arms from around Aiden’s neck before I answer.

“No, haven’t seen it!”

Ripley has already vanished into the back room behind the counter.

I turn back to Aiden, but before I can say a word, Ralph steps through the front door into the showroom.

He’s looking - different, today. Strangely bright-eyed and nervous and flushed. His eyes are the color of oakmoss, his body language unusually light. He’s half-smiling, which is a strange thing to see Ralph do unprompted. Despite his normal extreme self-control and reserve, his expression is open, easy to read.

He looks faintly bewildered and distracted and excited, like he woke up in a different reality from yesterday.

His eyes find me and Aiden in the sunlight. We’re still intimately tangled up in the window, but Ralph doesn’t seem to notice that at all. He goes straight to Aiden, catches a handful of his shirt, and gives it a tug.

“Hey, A,” he says hurriedly, dragging him out from between my thighs. “I need to talk to y-”

“Hey, Ralph’s here!” Raj calls brightly, heading down the stairs with Nik in his arms. “Oh, and Jamie! What’s good, brothers?”

“Hi, Raj!” I rush to hop down from the windowsill, straightening out my flannel. “Hi, Nik!”

Nik lets out an excited squeal, reaching for me and Ralph. Ralph is closer, so he takes her from Raj, settles her against his chest.

Raj does a double-take at Ralph, taking in his expression with obvious surprise. “Whoa. What happened to you, dude?”

“Nothing.” Ralph waves his free hand at Raj, giving himself a shake. “Just-”

He freezes as Nikita tips forward and plants her wide-open mouth on his cheek.

“What, um…?” Ralph laughs, as Nik draws back to beam at him, holding a handful of his threadbare shirt to balance herself.

“She’s trying to give you a kiss, man.” Raj smooths an affectionate hand over Nik’s hair. “She hasn’t got it down yet, but she tries when she wants to.”

Ralph stares blankly at Nik for a few seconds, then swiftly hands her off to me. He sits down heavily on the stairs, puts his elbows on his knees. He runs a hand through his blonde hair, then leaves it resting loosely on the back of his neck.

“You okay?” Aiden rumbles, watching him in surprise.

“Yeah,” Ralph says roughly, without looking up. “Just been one - one hell of a week.”

He sounds overwhelmed, but - not in a bad way? And he lifts his head after a moment, revealing that his expression is carefully under control again, so no one pushes him on it.

“Should we get going?” Raj asks, zipping up Nik’s baby bag. “Who are we missing?”

Before anyone can say anything, there’s a loud crash from the second floor, followed by a stream of violent cursing.

“Noah,” Aiden answers helpfully.

Raj turns and rushes up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The rest of us follow him out onto the workshop floor, where the door to the bathroom at the far end is flung open. We all cluster around the doorframe, leaning in as one to see what’s going on.

Noah is flat on his back in the shower, panting hard, holding a wrench in one inky hand.

“Whoa,” he sputters. He sits up, then springs to his feet, grinning maniacally. “That bolt was on tight! My ass went flying when it came free!”

“Should you be doing this, Noah?” I ask uncertainly, as he tosses his power tools into the box just outside of the bathroom door. “You’re an electrician, not a plumber.”

“Excuse me, Keane!” Noah swings his arm out in a sweeping gesture at the shower, using the wrench to point at it. “There was no water coming through this thing before I got involved! But I got the valve all the way open, so I fixed it. I’m ninety percent sure. Eighty. Seventy-five.”

Aiden wisely removes the wrench from Noah’s gesturing hands. “Have you ever done this before, Noosh?”

“Thought I’d try my hand at something new.” Noah strides confidently back into the bathroom, making right for the shower. “You guys just watch. Bet the water’s gonna be flowing no problem.”

“No, Noah-” Ralph makes a swipe for Noah, his eyes widening with alarm. “I really wouldn’t-”

Too late. Noah has already grabbed the shower handle and given it a twist.

There’s an ominous, growling rumble from the old plumbing. The showerhead shudders.

“Oh, no,” Raj whispers.

“Noah!” Aiden hands the wrench to Ralph and rushes into the bathroom. “Turn off the-”

An absolute explosion of water comes through the showerhead. We just have time to see the doorframe turn into a rectangle of pure, rushing droplets before Ralph darts forward and slams the door shut. The crash of high-speed water shattering against it follows almost instantly.

From the bathroom, there’s the roar of a lot of water in movement, some shouting, a scrambling noise, and then silence.

Ralph waits a few seconds, then cautiously opens the door again, to reveal a very sheepish-looking Noah and a very angry-looking Aiden. Both of them are panting, completely drenched, standing in the middle of the mini-flood.

There’s complete silence for a second, and then Nikita bursts into breathless, delighted laughter, clapping her tiny hands in my arms.

She takes the rest of us out with her, including Noah, even though his laughter is somewhat abashed.

“Fucking great.” Aiden stomps out of the bathroom, slicking his soaked chestnut hair out of his face. “Thank you so much, Noosh. This is a really good look for Ripley’s graduation.”

Noah spreads his arms wide as he follows him out, his long hair clinging to his cheek. “Okay, but did I get the water flowing, or did I not?”

“Think it’s pretty clear you did, dude!” Aiden growls, shaking droplets off of his hands.

“Oh, god,” I groan, finally getting my breath back. “What is Ripley gonna s-?”

I stop abruptly as Ripley steps out onto the workshop floor. His eyes glance over the flooded bathroom, Aiden and Noah’s soaked selves, and Ralph with the giant wrench in his hand.

“I’ve gotta find my stippler brush,” Ripley tells us. “The whole bottom left corner of the canvas needs to be redone. The light is wrong. I might start from scratch, mix my paints again. Not sure the texture came out right.”

“Wh-?” Raj lets out a fond laugh, crossing the workshop to throw an arm around Ripley’s shoulders. “Ripples! Snap out of it! The painting is perfect, bruh! Now pack it in, before we miss your graduation!”

Ripley blinks hard at Raj, then gives a start, some realization spreading over his face.

“Oh,” he says slowly, a giant grin turning up his mouth. “Yeah, I - that’s today!”

“Hang on a sec-” Noah hastily closes the bathroom door. “Okay, now you can snap back into it, Ripples.”

Ripley’s eyebrows furrow as he tries to look around Noah at the bathroom, then abruptly realizes that he and Aiden are both drenched.

“What, um…?”

“Nothing!” Noah says immediately. “Problem for later. Everything’s fine. Besides, it’s time for the pre-graduation toast! Probably won’t shotgun five of ‘em, like we did for our graduation, but you know.”

Ripley laughs as Noah drags a cooler out from beneath one of the workshop tables and opens it up to show him the frosty beers inside.

I shift Nik into one arm, so I can get my phone and answer the incoming call.

“Hey, Alix!”

“Hey, Jamie!” She sounds a little stressed out. “Is Ripley with you? He isn’t answering his phone, and graduation starts soon. I’m worried he might be painting, and he forgot?”

“Wow, spot on,” I laugh. “Don’t worry, though. We’re with him, and we’ll be there soon.”

“Oh, good!” The relief in Alix’s voice is obvious. “Is he all ready to go? He’s supposed to have a collared shirt and dress pants under his graduation robe. His mom said to remind him to look appropriate for the occasion.”

My eyes flit to Ripley. “He’s, ah…”

His green hair is all messy beneath his snapback, and he’s spattered with paint. He’s wearing torn jeans, loosely mended with a 1312 patch. Above that, a torn-up concert t-shirt for the Big Boys, which has a drawing of a skeleton with a mohawk shredding on a skateboard. Locals Only, Dicks! it says in jagged letters, just below the date of the show.

He’s currently accepting the beer that Noah just knocked open on one of the workshop tables.

“He’s, um - he’ll be ready!” I tell Alix.

“Okay, great! Thanks, Jamie! Just keep an eye on the time!”

I hang up, then check the time. “Shit, you guys-”

“Jamie, c’mon!” Noah presses a beer into my hand. “Everybody have one? Aiden, you got something?”

Aiden holds up a bottle. “Behold my emotional support root beer.”

“Alright!” Noah breaks into a giant grin. He throws an arm around Ripley’s shoulders as he holds up his beer. “Ripples, we’ll celebrate this shit properly once you’ve recovered from the official grad night party-”

“It’s barely a party,” Ripley laughs. “Pretty sure it’s just the school’s way of making sure we don’t go out and get wasted right after graduation. By trapping us on campus for another night.”

“Yeah, I’ll be honest, bro, we skipped ours, I was only there for a few minutes to sell some, uh - stuff-”

“Oh my god, Noah.”

“But! We’re glad you’re going. Shit might be fun, who knows? And if it’s not, then - who gives a fuck?” Noah gives Ripley an affectionate squeeze. “You’re partying with us tomorrow night, anyways.”

Ripley grins at him, then around at all of us.

“To our boy!” Noah says proudly, raising up his beer. “Finished with school! End of an era, and start of a new one!”

Ripley laughs at the cheer this gets from all of us, including Nikita.

“Okay, but-” I take a hasty swig of my beer, then set it aside and tap my phone. “We really need to go. Has anyone looked at the time?”

Everyone does at once, to the sound of several beers and one root beer being choked on.

“Oh, shit!” Ripley sets down his bottle and drags the back of his hand over his mouth, then curses when he realizes he’s left behind a streak of blue paint. “Can we make it on time?”

“Highly doubtful,” Ralph winces at his watch, then lifts his eyes to the group. “Unless we have someone among us willing to drive like a bastard the whole way there?”

He directs this question to the obvious recipient, who breaks into a dimpled, wicked grin.

“If you guys insist,” Noah sighs heavily, failing to drop the delighted expression on his face. "Raj can take Nik in the truck, I'll drive Jamie's car."

Ripley rushes to get a towel out of his bag. “I need to take the world’s fastest power shower.”

Noah’s grin widens.

“Got you covered, little brother,” he says, steering Ripley towards the bathroom.

He arches an eyebrow at Noah. “Thought that shower doesn’t work.”

“Nah, it’s humming,” Noah says innocently. “Trust me, you’ll love it. Just hang your towel up outside, not in there.”

“Alright, the rest of us gotta move,” Raj says urgently. “I’ll go pull my truck around. Jamie, can you get Nik into her car seat? Aiden, Ralph - Ripples has his graduation clothes in that dry-cleaning bag upstairs. Can you get the tags off?”

Raj hurries off downstairs once we all nod in confirmation.

“Noosh,” Aiden calls softly, as Noah circles back from the bathroom. “Come with us, stupid-ass. I’ll dry us off before we ruin the inside of Jamie’s car.”

“Yo, perks!” Noah says brightly, trotting over to join him. “Magic perks!”

“Hey,” Aiden murmurs, this time to Ralph. “Did you want to talk to me about something?”

“What’s going on?” Noah turns to Ralph with a hurt look in his grey eyes. “You didn’t want to talk to me about it?”

“Nah, I do,” Ralph hastily reassures him, as the three of them set off up the stairs. He cuffs Noah’s shoulder affectionately. “Course I do, man. Just - later. Today’s about Ripples, not me.”

I give my head a dazed shake, thinking about how far we’ve come.

Thinking about Ripley graduating, too. Forever leaving behind the circumstances we met him in. It’s exciting, it’ll just be - different.

I’m broken from my thoughts by the sudden crash of roaring water from the bathroom, followed by a loud, strangled yelp. Aiden, Noah, and Ralph stop on the stairs.

A few seconds go by before the roar of water abruptly stops.

“Noah!” Ripley shouts, his voice muffled from behind the door, simultaneously outraged and breathless with uncontrollable laughter. “What - what the fucking - fuck you, dude!”

Aiden, Noah, and Ralph burst into laughter at once, then turn to rush the rest of the way up the stairs. Nikita dissolves into giggles in my arms, and I join her as I remember what I’m supposed to be doing and set off. Smiling to myself in relief.

Things are changing, yes. But some things never do, and I'll always be grateful for that.