Keith watched Eric sit at the table, smiling at his phone and typing. He’d been doing that a lot lately. It made Keith feel uneasy. Who was he texting? About what? Could they be a threat to their freedom? Eric wouldn’t let that happen, right? He was always the most concerned about that out of the three of them.

Keith got off the couch and went to the kitchen, passing the table. He opened the fridge to grab a drink while he tried to catch a glimpse of his phone. He was texting someone, but Keith couldn’t see who. He pulled a bottle of soda out of the fridge. He decided to ask, “Who are you texting?”

Eric turned to look at him. “Huh? Oh. A friend from the writing group.”

Keith grabbed a glass from a cupboard. “You did make actual friends?”

“Only one. He doesn’t talk to any of the others, either.”

He. Keith poured the soda into his glass. “What’s his name?”

“Ben.”

He put the bottle back in the fridge. “You think he’s trustworthy?”

Eric shrugged. “I know he doesn’t have anything against supers, at least. He’s fascinated by us.”

“Fascinated isn’t always a good thing.”

“I know. I swear I’ll be cautious, okay?”

Keith hummed as he took a sip. “What do you talk about?”

“Our stories and writing, mostly.”

“Why do you need to text for that? You already have a weekly meeting.”

“Because it’s nice to have someone to discuss ideas with when they come to you, and not have to wait a week.”

Keith frowned. All this gave him an uncomfortable twist in his stomach. He didn’t know what it was. “You can talk to me about it, too. I might not be a writer, but I can still discuss ideas.”

Eric sighed. “But then I’d have to explain the whole thing first. He already knows it.”

“Would that be so bad? You’ve told me about your stories before.”

“It’s easier like this, he understands it better. And he actually remembers what I tell him,” Eric ended in quite the accusing tone. It startled Keith. 

“What? I remember. Maybe not all the intricate little details, but I know what your stories are about.”

“Well, he does remember the details.”

Keith looked away, tense and upset. He didn’t like that Eric compared them so directly. He didn’t even know this guy! Was remembering the details of his stories all that mattered to him?

Eric stood up from his chair and came up to Keith with a frown. Keith glanced at him for a moment before evading his eyes again and drinking from his glass.

“Hey.” Eric pushed the glass down. Keith didn’t let him catch his eye. Eric turned Keith’s face towards him with two fingers on his cheek. “Keith.” 

Keith made eye contact and groaned a question.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m not replacing you, okay? I have different friends for different things, and Ben is my writing friend.” Eric smiled and rubbed his thumb over Keith’s cheek. “You’re still my friend for everything else. And Abi for whenever I want to complain about you,” he joked.

Keith chuckled. “Yeah, friend. I’m sure friends caress each other’s cheeks all the time.”

Eric retracted his hand, startled. He forced his hand down and got a grumpy look on his face. “Friend,” he insisted. He walked away. 

“Right,” Keith called after him and took a sip of his drink. 

Eric sat on his bed with his phone, still grumpy. He could only be friends with Keith, he didn’t have to touch him in particular ways. That was a fluke, he needed to get used to it. And he will! They’re just friends now, no more cheek touches.

Keith won’t be happy. Eric hoped he could accept it. If not, he didn’t know what would happen between them.

His door opened, snapping him back to reality. Abi stood in the doorway.

“It’s time,” she said.

Eric squinted. “For what?”

“We’re almost out of money.”

Eric let out a long, exhausted groan. This too, now? Ugh.

“Come on, we’ll go over the plan.”

“As if it’ll be any different than what we always do.”

“You never know.” She walked away.

Eric begrudgingly got off his bed to follow Abi.