Page 133 of Cohesion

Once the noodles were done, Will drained the water out and then dumped them into the bowl. He crowded behind Quinn, his chest pressed to Quinn’s back as he mixed the ingredients.

Quinn leaned his head against Will, relaxing and letting Will take the lead. Will loved it so much that he stirred everything longer than it actually needed, just to keep Quinn in his arms a few minutes longer. It wasn’t going to hurt the food, and it helped heal the bruised parts of his heart.

Quinn turned his head, cheek resting on Will’s chest. Will kissed the top of his head. “I think these are ready to go in the pan,” he said huskily. He didn’t want to let go, but his stomach demanded sustenance.

Sebastian, Peyton, and Jericho filed in a few minutes after the first fritter hit the sizzling pan.

“We’re following the smell because we’re hungry,” Peyton said. “We should have gotten burgers on our way in.”

“These are better,” Will said. Hopefully. Healthier, anyway. Now he wanted a burger.

“I see that you all waited until the hard work was done,” Quinn said dryly.

Jericho grinned. “Naturally.”

“They can do the dishes,” Will said, beaming. This was his favourite part anyway. Dishes were like that one fly that always found a way into the house during summer: annoying and wouldn’t die.

Peyton groaned in protest as he slid onto a stool behind the bench. Sebastian sat on the middle one, and Jericho bracketed him on the other side. From the way their arms were twisted, they were both touching Sebastian.

It would take a while for them to settle into anything resembling normal after this.

“I got a call from Lucas,” Peyton said. “About our apartment. It’s been cleared, and we can go back in to get our stuff, but there’s structural damage that needs to be fixed, so no one is allowed to go back in andstay. He’s gonna call Parker and let him know, but, uh, Will and I did need to tell you something else that we forgot.”

What was—oh. The Parker-moving-out thing. Willhadforgotten about that. There’d been a lot going on.

“Is he okay?” Quinn asked. “Did he sort out the situation with his married couple?”

“They asked him to move in with them.”

“Happy endings for everyone,” Jericho said, a smile flirting with his lips.

“Sure, until he has to tell Kellan about it, since one half of the married couple is his best friend’s business partner.”

“Oops,” Sebastian said, biting back a smile. “Did someone tell him to take armour?”

“Hopefully, he’s smart enough to work that out by himself…” Peyton pulled out his phone and put it on the bench in front of him. “I should probably give him a heads-up.”

Will snickered. “Kell is a gentle giant; Parker’ll be fine.”

“You’re not his brother. He isnota gentle anything. His and Riley’s disappointed-dad face is not a joke. My entire childhood was defined by going out of my way tonot get that look. That’s before you even count my actual dad, who taught them that bullshit move. It’s a whole thing, and I’m not ready to talk about it.”

Sebastian snickered.

“Speaking of Riley,” Quinn said quietly. “He chose not to come to the hospital, because he’s giving us space, but I know he’ll want to see you.”

The laughter abruptly died on Sebastian’s face. “Quinn…”

“Your friendship with him is important, and I can’t—Iwon’t—be the reason that you don’t have it, or think you have to hide it like a dirty secret. I need to go into the station tomorrow anyway; I can take you.”

“I need to go into the office and get my spare glasses,” Sebastian conceded. “I’m suddenly glad that Monica and Caleb forced me to have a spare pair there for emergencies.”

“They know you,” Peyton said, shrugging.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sebastian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing. Just making an observation.”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, though he didn’t respond directly to the statement. “My house is gone. Their apartment is gone, technically. Jericho lives in a mystical realm—”

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