Zachary saw Leroy approach the picket fences long before the man could see him. He stared at him from the sunroom, sitting in his wheelchair as he cradled one of his many cats on his lap. He felt his lips twist into a smile as the shorter man climbed over the fence and began to approach the house. Oftentimes there was a cat just under the stairs of the porch, and Zachary assumed that was where Leroy was heading. Oftentimes Zachary would give the man a few minutes alone with the cat before he took himself to the porch to say hi, and sometimes he didn't go out at all, and simply took in deep breaths, knowing the man was somewhere out on his lawn, petting a cat that was away from view. He didn't want to come off as desperate or stalker-like. He felt it would be uncomfortable if Leroy felt like he was forced to interact with him on every visit.

     Leroy soon disappeared from view, but what happened next threw Zachary off guard. Usually, he would just hear the man muttering to his cat or pacing at the edge of the patio stairs before a cat approached him, but this time Zachary heard a knock.

     On his front door.

     Leroy was knocking.

     The older man felt a lump in his throat as a sudden desire to shrink into his chair and disappear overwhelmed him. He looked down at the cat in his lap, wondering if there just weren't any cats outside, and maybe that was why Leroy was knocking.

     There were another series of knocks on the door and Leroy felt the hair on his skin stand up straight. "Calm down," he mouthed to himself, shaking his head before letting out a sigh.

     He looked in the direction of the door, biting his bottom lip before saying, "hold on for a minute," in a raspy voice—goodness, he hadn't said anything all day.

     The knocking stopped, and Zachary looked at the cat on his lap. He picked it up, cradling it to his chest as he got up himself. He felt the familiar pain in his knees, that made him wobble a bit and feel like he was out of breath for the briefest moments. He curled his toes, making them grip onto his slippers until the pain passed. With some effort, he started to walk, one foot and bone-crushing pain in his joints at a time.

     It was weird. Sometimes he was more than okay with walking. Sure, his legs would get sore, but it didn't feel bad, and at other times it felt like the world was asking too much of him to just hold his own weight.

     He wobbled over to the front door, opening it to be met with Leroy with a cat cradled on his chest while hoisted with one hand, and the other hand holding onto a plastic bag with a 7/11 logo plastered on it.

     Zachary blinked for a few seconds. He was a bit shocked to see even Leroy even though he'd known he was the one behind the door. The shorter man looked the same as ever, with his expressive, almost cartoonish, eyebrows and deep brown eyes. His dark hair looked a little shorter than usual—probably a recent haircut.

     "Uh... hi." Zach gave himself a mental pat on the back for not simply stuttering, 'what are you doing here?' Instead. It still shocked him that Leroy was just standing right in front of him, so much so that the throbbing in his joints felt like a second-thought situation now.

     "Hi," Leroy said, smiling a little. Zach felt his breath hike a little. It was a cute smile that made a ghost of a smile on the shorter man's left cheek. "I got some stuff on my way back from work, and thought you'd maybe like some...?" There was a trail at the end of Leroy's sentence that made it sound like a question. The older man blinked slowly, looking at the bag in the man's hand and back at the man again. He wondered what this was about—well, it was obvious, but also shocking. Leroy was trying to hang out with him.

     "I—" Zach said, stopping suddenly. "I guess I could have some, as long as it doesn't have any meat."

     Leroy raised a brow. "You're vegan?"

     Zach shook his head. "Meat's just one of those things deli places can get wrong—at least for me. My stomach's sensitive," he said, remembering a time his sister had gotten him beef samosas, and he'd been bedridden for two days, only moving between the bathroom and his bed.

     Yeah, he didn't want to risk anything like that again.

     "One of them is a veggie sandwich," Leroy said. "That works, right?"

     Zach chuckled too, nodding his head. "Yeah," he said, as his lips fixed into a smile. "You should come in," he said, stepping aside. At that, a smile broke across the younger man's lips.

     "Don't mind if I do," Leroy said, wandering into the bungalow for the second time. Zach watched the man from the doorway, just taking in how the man looked. He was lean, but not as lean as Zach—well, Zach wasn't sure. Simply being taller made him look like a beanpole.

     The younger man bent down for a moment, dropping the black cat he'd been hugging in his chest. The animal protested but scurried through the hall in the direction of the basement.

     Leroy stood up, looking around before turning to Zach, who was still at the door. "Do you want yours warmed up, or...?" Leroy said, making Zach blink before looking at where the man was gesturing to.

     Ah, the microwave sitting on the kitchen counter.

     "Sure," Zach said, watching the younger man make himself at him. Leroy looked through the cabinets before drawing out a ceramic plate and unwrapping the sandwiches. Zach took that as his cue to head over to the sofa, wincing in silence before sinking into the softness of the sofa. He was still cradling the cat, and he let it go, watching as it followed after the one Leroy had brought in—the basement—where the others were at.

     Zachary listens to the sound of the microwave turning, and all the little noises Leroy was making just moving around. The man hadn't taken off his shoes, so Zach could hear them clicking with every step on the tiled floor. Zach also noted that the man seemed to sigh and hum a lot, but he wasn't sure if it was just a thing of habit or if it demonstrated frustration or boredom. Whichever way, it made Zach's skin jump with nerves.

     He wanted Leroy to be there, but there was just something about having somebody that wasn't his sister walking about the house. It was exciting and also a bit scary.

     "Done," Leroy announced, making Zach look over at him. The man walked towards the sofa, and to Zachary's surprise, sat right next to him.

     There was an instant panic that coursed through Zach. He felt his breathing hike up and his body shiver. Leroy was really close, considering that it was a three-seater, and, for whatever reason, the man was sitting right next to him. Heck, another scoot and the younger man could be on his lap.

     "Hope you like it," Leroy said, shuffling the sloughs plate on Zachary's lap, in the midst of the older man's mini panic attack.

     "I—thank you," Zack stuttered, staring down at the sandwich. Leroy was already biting into his, seemingly unaware of Zachary's current predicament.

     Zach eventually picked up his own sandwich and bit into it. It wasn't too bad—actually it was quite decent. He was a bit self-conscious about eating, though, and chewed slowly, and made sure to check if he left crumbs of bread on the side of his lips. Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of Leroy from the side of his eyes, watching as his man's slender fingers held the sandwich in a pretty amusing death grip. He could also smell him. Somewhere between the smell of bread and lettuce, there was a hint of cologne. It smelled good—not too heavy to overwhelm a person, and Zach liked it. He blinked and looked away, noticing that he was staring a little too hard at Leroy's eyebrows again.

     He was weird, and he knew that, but he couldn't help it. This was so rare for him—sitting so close to someone that wasn't a healthcare worker or family member. Also, the first time he was sitting close to someone he regarded as attractive.

     God help him because Leroy was very attractive.

     "How was your day? I had a not very eventful day at work."

     Leroy's words threw Zachary off a bit. The man stuttered nonsense under his breath for a bit as he tried to form a sentence. "It was okay." He shrugged. "I just did some reading, watched some stuff online, and cleaned up about the place."

     "You clean?"

     Zach frowned. He was a bit perplexed by the question. "Yes...?" He answered in a stressed, confused tone as he began to wonder if maybe the house wasn't very tidy.

     "Sorry, eh, I just assumed that maybe you had a cleaner or a nurse come by, because of your—" Leroy paused, and Zach could see the range of emotions playing behind his brown eyes.

     Ah, he was wondering if what he was about to say was offensive.

     "It's okay," Zach said, saving Leroy from himself. "I get what you mean."

     Leroy let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, it's a question."

     Zach nodded, laughing a bit. "Yeah, sort of." He felt the need to elaborate, though. "I clean here and there but it takes a while, that's about it," he said, and Leroy nodded. "Help would be great though—"

     "I could help."

     "What?"

     "I could help you clean around when you like. It's not like I have much to do."

     When Zachary had said that he had meant having paid help—like a cleaner or nurse and had been about to tag that sentence with a joke about not being able to afford it, but Leroy was just offering? What was in it for him? He stared at the man who had now finished his sandwich and was looking at him with his signature smile. Zach felt his heart flutter a bit as he down at his empty plate.

     "Oh, okay," Zachary mumbled as he felt his face getting warm. He decided he would just let Leroy do what he wanted.

     There was an awkward silence again until Leroy did a little cough that got Zachary's attention.

     "What do you do for fun? You know besides reading on the porch and taking care of cats?"

     "Well, sometimes I play games," Zach answered honestly. "And I like to watch stuff when I can."

     "Hmm, we should watch a movie together sometime," Leroy said, and Zach felt his toes curl again. Leroy had to be doing this on purpose.

     "Sure, what kind of movies do you watch?" Zachary said in a low tone, observing Leroy's face. He contemplated what Leroy was doing. Was he asking him out? It sounded like he was asking him out. Or at the very least, flirting. Well, if any of those options were correct, Zach was definitely interested. He wondered if he should flirt back. Do something that would hint that he was interested. But what? He was puzzled.

     "Don't laugh, but I love cheesy stuff." Leroy was grinning from ear to ear now. Zach noted that he had taken off his shoes and his cute Star Wars socks were on full display—Zach found himself smiling, too. He fucking loved Star Wars too.

     "Like romantic comedies?" Zachary asked, still wondering what he should do. He leaned his leg a bit closer, hoping that was a good hint to test the waters. Leroy didn't seem to mind.

     "Yeah," Leroy said, leaning his head back on the sofa. "When I used to go on dates, I wouldn't even pretend to be against it. I was hyped to watch that shit," Leroy laughed, making Zach chuckle a bit too.

     Used to.

     Zach cocked his head, chewing the inside of his cheek. That meant Leroy wasn't dating now, right? That he was single?

     "What did your dates think of the movies?" Zach asked a bit intrigued with Leroy's past shenanigans.

     "The girls loved it. They were a bit weirded out that I loved it. You know what, maybe that's why I rarely got second dates," Leroy said, laughing, but Zach wasn't.

     Oh. The older man thought to himself, as disappointment settled in. He pulled his leg away from Leroy, hoping that the man hadn't found that disturbing. Never mind then.

     Leroy was not gay.