Brennen and Qinny found Jessica near the dessert table at half ten.

She was exactly where a birthday girl should be at the end of a good party — slightly flushed, genuinely happy, holding a drink and looking like someone who had pulled off exactly what she'd planned and knew it.

"You're leaving?" she said, when Qinny and Brennen approached.

"Gotta go to church tomorrow," Brennen said. 

Jessica hugged Qinny first — warm, genuine, with actual pressure behind it.

"You were totes fun tonight," she said. "For realsies, I'm gonna invite you to more things, and I expect a yes."

"After tonight, your parties are impossible to say no to," Qinny said.

"That's by design." Jessica grinned. Then looked at Brennen. "Your girlfriend is a total pro at party games by the way."

Brennen laughed. "Oh I know. I watched."

"Third place is impressive, especially for my standards."

"She has always been competitive," he said easily. "I'm just glad it wasn't directed at me tonight."

Jessica laughed, hugged him, and released them both back into the party.

Qinny glanced around the rooftop as they moved toward the exit.

Maya was now deep in conversation with a good-looking mystery person, completely in her element.

Dorian and Yris were near the lanterns. Yris laughing at something. Dorian listening.

He didn't look up.

Qinny looked away.

Brennen took her hand.

They took the lift down together, stepped out into the warm city night, and found Brennen's car.

It was a good party, Qinny thought.

The best part was that she definitely had fun tonight, which was rare.

The drive back started the way it usually did after a night out — easy and unhurried, radio low, both of them in that comfortable post-party quiet.

Brennen drove with one hand on the wheel.

"Alicia seemed nice," Qinny said eventually.

"Yeah, we did okay, just not that good." Brennen nodded. "Completely humbled me at trivia though."

Qinny turned to look at him. "How bad?"

"We argued for forty-five seconds about whether the capital of Mongolia was Beijing."

Qinny stared at him. "Brennen."

"For the record, I knew i said no. She insisted it was."

"How even—"

"Right? I mentally gave up at that point on."

She burst out laughing and he laughed too — easy and genuine — and for a few minutes the car was just that. Two people laughing about a trivia disaster on the way home from a good party.

Then Brennen glanced at her.

"You and Dorian were something else though," he said. Lightly. Casually. The tone of someone stating a fact.

"We had a good run."

"I watched from across the rooftop." He shook his head slightly. "The thing you two had going — where did that even come from?"

"It just kind of — happened." Qinny shrugged. "It was easy to pick up on his reaction, so I know when to chime in."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, like during trivia, he goes slightly still when he doesn't know something, so that's my queue. But when he does he just answers immediately. No hesitation." She paused. "Once you notice it it's pretty obvious."

Brennen nodded.

Kept his eyes on the road.

"Hm," he said.

Which was not very golden-retriever-boyfriend of him but it was the best he had right now.

Qinny didn't notice. She was already moving on.

"The blindfold round was the best though—"

And she was off.

Brennen listened.

He was good at listening. Always had been. And he genuinely wanted to hear it — that was the complicated part, he wasn't performing interest, he actually loved the way she told stories. The hand gestures. The way her voice went up at the exciting parts. The laugh that broke through before she'd even finished.

He loved all of it.

He listened to her describe the coordinate system argument and Dorian's calm navigating voice and the gap that was smaller than it looked and how she'd just trusted him completely without thinking about it and made it through.

He laughed when she laughed.

Said "no way" at the right moments.

Asked about the egg.

Listened to that too.

And all the while something sat in his chest that he was choosing not to look at directly.

Not jealousy exactly.

Or not only that.

More like — standing in a room where the temperature has changed and trying to decide whether to acknowledge it or just put a jumper on and act normal.

He put the jumper on.

"Third place isn't bad," he said, when she finished.

"Honestly, we were ROBBED—"

"You dropped the egg—"

"HE dropped the egg, different fumble, I want that on record—"

He laughed. "Okay. Noted. Officially. Dorian fumbled the egg."

"Thank you." She settled back, satisfied. "Jessica gave us dessert vouchers as consolation."

"Where to?"

She checked it. Named the place.

"Oh that place is so good—" Brennen brightened immediately, genuinely, the golden retriever back in full effect. "We should go, I've been wanting to try their new menu—"

"Yes! This week?"

"This week," he confirmed.

He reached over at the next red light and took her hand.

She squeezed back.

Warm. Familiar. Exactly like always.

And Brennen drove the rest of the way home holding her hand and being present and warm and exactly who he always was.

He was good at that.

"Thanks for tonight," she hugged him. "It was really fun."

"As long as I get to see you happy," he said.

She smiled — warm, genuine, the smile he'd been on the receiving end of for six years — and got out of the car.

As soon as she did, Brennen noticed a paper on her seat — the voucher for the dessert place she won from the party games tonight.

"Hey—" Brennen said, grabbing the voucher almost instantly.

He wanted to call out to her, pass her the voucher.

But she was getting further away.

His first instinct was immediate — call her, she just went in, she'd come back down, it would take thirty seconds.

He picked up his phone.

Opened her contact.

The words already formed in his throat of what he was going to say in the call.

Hey, you left your voucher!

Instead, he froze. 

She was out of sight by now.

He stared at his screen, unable to tap the call button.

Sat there for a moment.

Then looked at the dessert voucher on his other hand.

Qinnara and Dorian — 3rd place.

Brennen held it.

Looked at it.

Staring at the two names on it, his hand lowered, switching off his phone screen.

He sat there for a moment in the specific quiet of a person in the middle of a decision they were pretending wasn't a decision.

Then he folded the voucher once.

Twice.

And tossed it into the glove compartment.

He closed it.

Stared at the steering wheel.

And immediately felt terrible about it.

Because it was a dessert voucher.

It was nothing.

She'd mentioned she wanted to go and he'd said this week and she was probably upstairs right now thinking about it and he'd just — put it in the glove compartment because two names were printed on it side by side and something in him had gone very quiet and very still when he'd looked at them and he hadn't been able to make himself send the text.

He started the engine.

That was a bad thing to do, he thought.

That was a slightly petty thing to do and he knew it, yet he'd done it anyway and now it was in the glove compartment.

He pulled out of the parking spot.

He'd tell her tomorrow.

He'd find it "accidentally" and bring it up and they'd go this week like they'd planned and it would be fine.

Everything was fine.

He drove home.

And told himself the whole way there that he was just tired.

That it had been a long night.

That he was overthinking things that didn't need to be thought about.

That was all.

Qinny plopped onto her bed as soon as she dressed up after showering.

Clearly exhausted from the party, she decided to doom scroll on her phone instead of taking a proper rest.

That was also when she texted Maya.

Qinny
are u coming back orrrr

Qinny
wink wink

As if waiting for her text the whole time, Maya's reply came as soon as she sent hers.

Maya
still a maybe. this guy is delish and he has a tongue piercing (yum)

Maya
but he looks like he hasn't scaled his teeth this year

Maya
we'll see if i get drunk enough to disregard his oral hygiene just bcs he's smokin hawt

Qinny couldn't help but chuckle at Maya's texts.

Qinny
ewww for your own sake, pls dont get drunk

Her next messages came in a little later than before.

Maya
mission aborted. he bent down and i saw his boxers

Maya
it was red with green polka dots

Maya
cant believe i was close to hooking up with santa's elf

Qinny
HAHAHAHAH

Qinny
or should i say

Qinny
HOHOHOHO

Maya
SHUT UP 

Maya
u better not be asleep when i reach there 

Maya
i expect the 'talk later' convo i was promised

Qinny
................... zzzzzZZZZZ

Maya
QINNARA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Setting her phone aside, she stared blankly at her ceiling.

Replaying the evening almost against her own will.

The trivia.

The blindfold.

The egg.

The easy conversations in between.

She hadn't thought much of it while it was happening.

She'd simply... enjoyed herself.

Until the image of Maya comes to interrrupt her train of thoughts.

"Maya is definitely gonna grill me about this," she groaned, turning to face her pillow.