Page 7 of Back to You

“Ashton, I’ve been crushing on you for months.”

Ashton turned hopeful eyes toward Reynolds. “You have?”

The two grinned at each other bashfully, and Brandon felt his work was done.

“Okay, you two go away now.”

The happy couple tripped over each other in their enthusiasm as they walked out the door. Having done his good deed for the day, Brandon threw back the rest of his beer and headed out as well.

***

Feeling far older than his 29 years, Ethan trudged up the stairs to the condo. One of four units in a converted downtown warehouse, the condo had been the only place both Ethan and Brandon had fallen in love with when house-hunting over a year ago. With huge windows that let in all the natural light during the day, beautiful hardwood floors, and a kitchen that had impressed even kitchen snob Brandon, it had been a no-brainer of a purchase.

Ethan opened the door, hoping to see Brandon. But his only greeting came from Barnabus, who swanned over to shamelessly beg for scritches.

“Where’s your daddy, Barny? Huh?”

Barnabus huffed at what he deemed an undignified nickname and flounced away.

No Brandon, then. Barnabus would be wherever Brandon was if he were home. Ethan sighed and headed for the bedroom to change. He had to spend all day in a suit, no need to stay in it any longer than necessary.

Having eaten at the office, Ethan plopped down on the couch to try to soothe his restless mind with shitty movies. A guilty habit, and one he was completely unapologetic about. But even the genius of Sharktopus vs. Piranhaconda couldn’t get him out of his own head. He muted the TV and grabbed his phone, checking for the 3 millionth time to make sure he hadn’t missed a call or text from Brandon.

As if tired of his shit, the phone dinged with a text message. Ethan was ashamed to be disappointed when he saw it was from his best friend rather than Brandon.

Lake: Hey, are you still at work?

Ethan: No, just got home. What’s up?

The phone immediately rang in his hand.

“Hey Lake.”

“So I went to the grocery store because I was out of … well, everything. When did I last go to the store?” There was a long pause. “Anyway. I needed some food, because I have no food. So I got some food, and brought it home, and then it hit me, the answer to the problem I’ve been working on for the past week! So I sat down and started working on it, and it’s been five hours, and I just realized I left the groceries out on the counter. I guess my question is … how long is milk good outside of the fridge?”

Ethan snorted, because this was classic Lake. Forgetful, slightly scattered, and one of the best people Ethan knew.

Ethan had met Lake their first day of college, when Ethan had been a 19-year-old freshman and Lake had been a 16-year-old child prodigy. There was this tiny, ethereal-looking blond boy, visibly uncomfortable under the arm of his older roommate, and Ethan knew he had to intervene.

“Hey man!” he cried as he approached. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”

He grabbed the smaller boy and pulled him into a one-armed bro hug, effectively removing him from the other guy’s hold. “How are you doing? Here, come check out my room!”

And with that, he dragged the compliant boy off with him, ignoring the other guy’s protests.

“Thanks,” the boy said when they got far enough away. “That guy was giving me the creeps, and I usually don’t even notice when people are creepy. Like, I walked into our room and he just kept staring at me, and I was like, dude, your eyes are going to dry out, and then he came over and introduced himself and shook my hand, but he grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go. And my parents were all, how nice, you made a friend. And then he was telling them how he’ll look out for me, like they care. And I was like, I’m 16, I can look out for myself. And when I said I was 16 it was like he got even more creepy, and trust me, if I think you’re creepy, you must be really creepy, because I feel like most people are good people. But this guy … I don’t know, he was just making me super nervous. And I have to share a room with him, ugh. Anyway, I’m Lake, what’s your name?”

Ethan blinked at the onslaught on information. Poor kid. Hard enough to be in college at that age, but to have an apparent predator as a roommate?

“I’m Ethan. Hey, if you want we can go to the dorm higher-ups and request a roommate swap. I haven’t even met mine yet, I’m sure he won’t care.”

Luckily, their request was approved, and Ethan and Lake had gone quickly from roommates to friends to family.

“I think you may be out of luck with the milk,” Ethan said.

“Damn. Oh well. What are you up to?

“Sharktopus vs. Piranhaconda.”

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