The next morning, Luka woke up in bed wearing the same clothes, a hangover, and a sore foot. Why did he have a sore foot? He couldn't remember. But it was going to bother him for the rest of the day. 

Luka rolled himself out of bed, literally. His entire body hit the carpeted floor with a thud and he gave himself an extra minute of down time before attempting to get up. After that minute passed, he reconsidered and gave himself an extra five minutes.

Before he could move again, his phone pinged. 

Reaching his hand up onto the mattress, he managed to blindly fumble about and find his phone. He opened his text messages. It was from the potential roommate. They cancelled. 

Too tired to know whether it was a good thing that he didn't need to interact with another human being today, or bad that he had to keep searching for someone to split rent with, Luka closed his eyes and put his phone down on the floor next to him. 

Fuck it, I'll worry about it later, he thought to himself, prepared to return to sleep. 

Then the phone rang. 

With a reluctant groan, Luka shifted to look at the name on the screen. 

Xander. 

The twenty-three-year-old veterinarian was a friend of Luka's—and former friend-with-benefits. The two had met three years ago by accident when Xander mistakenly called Luka instead of a girl whose number he misread. Being the opportunistic guy that he was, Luka charmed his way into Xander's affairs and scored himself a free movie ticket. He managed to befriend the then-university student and the two soon started a mostly physical relationship. 

But over time, Xander developed romantic feelings towards Luka. And Luka couldn't reciprocate. He liked Xander. He really liked having sex with Xander. But he didn't love Xander. After spending the weekend together in Sydney and laying all their feelings out in front of each other, the two agreed it was best to end the benefits in their friendship. 

That was over two years ago. Since then, they'd maintained a mostly distant friendship over the phone, not having seen each other for most of those two years. And it had been over three months since either of them had called the other. 

But, regardless of the distance and lack of contact, seeing Xander's name still brought a smile to Luka's face. Even with the hangover and sore foot. Seriously, what happened to his foot?

“Hello?” Luka answered the phone with a croaky voice before clearing his throat. 

“Um, hi?” Xander's familiar deep voice greeted with concern. “You okay? You don't sound too good.”

“Awww, aren't you a sweety pie.”

Xander scoffed. “Okay! I see you're perfectly fine. I shouldn't have bothered worrying.”

Luka chuckled. “I'm alright. Just a little hungover.”

“Big night?”

“Yeah. I'm glad it's a Sunday.”

There was a pause before Xander spoke again. “... Luka, it's Monday.”

Amethyst eyes widened. 

“What?!” Luka jolted up like a spring. Panicked eyes stared down at his phone’s home screen to see the word ‘SUNDAY’ clearly written underneath the time. 

An obnoxious laugh burst from his phone. 

“Haha! Fuck, mate! I wish I could see your face right now.” Xander continued to laugh so hard that he snorted at the end. 

“Motherfucker,” Luka said with a smile. He didn't mind when Xander played tricks on him, in fact, he kind of liked it. But he wasn't going to admit that today. “I'm gonna get you back for that one.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever, mate,” Xander disregarded Luka's threat. 

“Anyway, what did you need?” Luka asked. 

“Uh, right. I don't really need anything, but—” Xander paused for a moment, giving Luka time to stand up and start hobbling his way to the bathroom to wash his face. “—are you moving out of your apartment?”

Luka raised a brow in front of the bathroom mirror. “No? Why do you think that?”

“Um, I was browsing rental listings online and saw your address come up,” Xander admitted. 

“Oh! No, I'm not the one moving.” Luka wet his toothbrush before squeezing a small amount of spearmint toothpaste onto it. “Lana and Elliot got engaged, so she moved out last month. Last night was their engagement party.”

“Oh! Right, gotcha,” Xander said. “Congratulate them for me sometime, will you?”

“Sure. Wait, why were you looking at rentals?” Luka asked before shoving his toothbrush into his mouth. 

“Um, I'm sort of planning to move out of home,” Xander admitted.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I got a contract job at a clinic in the city, and it's been kind of difficult commuting in the morning.”

“What kind of place are you looking for?”

“Just somewhere closer to work without actually being in the city. If there's a dog park nearby, even better. Otherwise I'm not too fussed.”

“Dude!” Toothpaste foam sprayed all over the bathroom mirror as Luka exclaimed. “Why don't you move in with me?”

There was apprehension in Xander’s voice. “... Serious?”

“Yeah! If my apartment came up in your search it means it's probably within your price and location range. Plus, you know me, so you won’t need to move in with a complete stranger. There's a couple of parks nearby and the train station is literally down the road. It's perfect!”

Luka smiled smugly to himself, figuring he had solved both his own and Xander's problems. 

“But… doesn't your place not allow pets?” Xander asked. 

“That's right. Why?”

“I want to bring Pipsqueak with me.”

Pipsqueak was the name Xander gave his best friend, a mix-breed three-legged rescue dog. Luka had only seen the dog in photos, but knew plenty enough about him from Xander’s happy little ramblings about his favourite dog in the world. 

“Oh. Yeah, guess my place wouldn't work, huh?” Luka spat toothpaste out into the basin before lowering his head under the running tap, sucking in water to gargle. 

“It’s not like the idea of living with you doesn't sound great to me—I mean, not great, I just… you know…” Xander stumbled over his words. 

“Xander,” Luka interjected. “Take it from me, as someone who's had to live with myself my whole life, I'm pretty amazing to live with.”

The two laughed at Luka's joke. 

“Your arrogance astounds me, Luka.”

“All I'm hearing is that you think I'm astounding.”

Xander scoffed, and once again, Luka could clearly picture him rolling his eyes. 

“So, you're planning to move out permanently, then?” Luka questioned as he splashed water onto his face. 

“Eventually,” Xander explained. “I've never lived away from home before and my contract is only until the end of the year. I figured it was about time I tried to be independent, even if it’s only for a few months.” 

“Well, look, if nothing else comes up while you're looking, you're more than welcome to move in with me until your contract ends. I know it means you wouldn't be able to bring Pipsqueak, but you can at least try it out while you’re looking for another place that allows pets.” Luka picked up his razor and began shaving away the tiny rogue strands of facial hair on his chin. 

“Can I think about it?” Xander asked hesitantly. 

“Of course, man.”

“Thanks, Luka.”

“Just out of curiosity, though—” Luka grabbed a tube of expensive French moisturizer, a recent birthday present from Lana and Elliot, and rubbed a conservative amount onto his face. “What would you have said if I was moving out?”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier, you asked if I was moving out of my apartment. What would you have said if I was?”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone as Xander considered the question. 

“I don't know,” he admitted. 

‘Did you want to move into my apartment, or did you want to move out with me?’ Luka wanted to ask, but he chose not to. 

Luka sometimes wondered if Xander was still in love with him, if he still wanted to kiss in public and travel to Fiji together. But Luka never brought the topic up out of fear of ruining their friendship. Right now, things were good between them. They could make jokes, laugh, and talk like normal friends—and Luka didn't want to lose that. 

So, sometimes he found himself walking on an imaginary tightrope. Curious as to what Xander was thinking on the other end, but never brave enough to cross the line. He had perfected this balancing act, and was happy just swaying side to side in the middle. 

“I bet you thought I'd been kicked out or something,” Luka joked. 

“Have you ever been kicked out?” Xander asked with a hint of concern. 

“Not of an apartment,” Luka explained as he sprayed a couple of squirts of eau de parfum on himself. Citrus and sandalwood. Another recent birthday present from his friend Jayne. “I did get kicked out of a club once, though.”

“What did you do?” Xander asked.

“It wasn't me! It was by association,” Luka insisted, before further explaining himself. “My friend got way too drunk and tried to start a fight with the bouncer.”

“Shit! What happened?” 

The two continued talking on the phone for hours. Their topics ranged from past drunken misadventures to recent workplace drama, from the latest movie releases to childhood memories. If Xander hadn't needed to leave to buy dog food, Luka was sure they would’ve continued talking for the rest of the day. 

Moments later, while Luka was in the middle of folding laundry, Xander texted back, having made up his mind about moving in. 

Hey! If your offer still stands, let's live together, his text read. 

Luka smiled gleefully as he replied, Sounds great, roomie.