It was another beautiful summer morning for brunch, Leila thought. She sat outside once more with her high school friends, listening to the gulls cry above her and the waves wash onto the shore. The warm air felt comfortable on her skin; it was not yet the heat of the day.

Over a month had passed since their last get together, and Leila was embarrassed to think that in that time, she hadn't had the courage to tell Elena and Ashlynn that Mia had moved in with her. Judging by the way they had reacted when Leila had merely been hanging out with Mia, she wasn't so sure she was looking forward to telling them the bigger news.

Leila sipped slowly on her mimosa as Ashlynn finished giving personal life updates about work and her relationship with her boyfriend. Leila kept her gaze fixated on the ocean, trying to distract herself. Why were her fingers trembling just in anticipation of admitting Mia was her new roommate?

"How have you been doing, Leila?" Elena asked. Both Elena and Ashlynn quickly turned their gaze toward her. "It's been a while since we heard from you."

"Sorry. I've been really busy," Leila admitted. Adjusting to a new roommate had not left her a lot of time to catch up with her friends.

"Is there a good reason?" Ashlynn asked teasingly.

"Um, probably not for the reason you're expecting, but I have one small update," Leila said. She cleared her throat. "Um, you remember my friend Mia?"

"Right. Your 'friend,'" Ashlynn said, giving a slight wink.

Leila ignored her. "Well, we're roommates now."

"What?!" Elena exclaimed. "That's not small at all! Why didn't you tell us?! We've barely heard about this girl from you, and now suddenly you're living with her?"

"That UHALL second date rumor really is true, huh," Ashlynn remarked.

"We're not dating!" Leila exclaimed. Ashlynn and Elena smirked at her, seeming unconvinced. "We aren't! I would have told you if we were. Honest," Leila continued. She huffed and turned her gaze away from them, trying to alleviate her annoyance at their response.

"Okay, fine. You're not dating," Elena said. "Message received loud and clear. Then why is she living with you?"

"Yeah. I thought you made enough to live on your own," Ashlynn added.

"Her roommate kicked her out unexpectedly. Oh, it was nothing she did," Leila cautioned, seeing her friends' concerned stares. "Her roommate got engaged and wanted her boyfriend to move in. Mia didn't have a lot of time to find somewhere else to live, and...and I don't know. She seemed upset, so I offered my extra room."

"Sounds like you care about her," Ashlynn teased.

Leila found her anger climbing. "Will you two stop?!" she exclaimed. They both went quiet, and Leila let out a sigh. "Sorry. Um, I thought maybe she'd be living with her boyfriend, but he wasn't eager to move out of his parents' house. At least that's what she told me. We've been roommates a few weeks now. Things are going well, I think."

"How's Fuji taking it?" Elena asked.

"He's...still warming up to her," Leila admitted. "And he doesn't like Mia's boyfriend at all. He hides every time Julian is over."

"Wait. Hold up. The boyfriend is over all the time?" Ashlynn asked.

Feels like it, Leila thought, but she'd never been one to easily gravitate toward Julian. For some reason, she didn't feel like sharing her negative bias toward him with her friends.

"Not all the time. I mean, frequently, but she always tells me in advance when he's coming, and he doesn't spend the night much," Leila explained. She wished she hadn't given the answer so nonchalantly, not when every time she thought about Julian, she felt a twinge of annoyance. She wished she'd never brought him up to begin with. She savored the days when she didn't have to see him or hear about him in conversation.

"Is he nice, at least?" Elena asked.

Leila pondered for a moment. She supposed he was nice enough. He had never given her a reason to hate him, and he'd never been particularly rude to her, but she always sensed a change in Mia's personality when he visited. Leila would often find them clinging to each other on the couch, leaving her to feel like an outcast in her own home.

Leila refrained from sharing these thoughts and rather replied, "We get on well enough. I wouldn't say we're friends by any means. But don't worry, you guys. Living with Mia has actually been going really well. It's nice to catch up again."

"How did she take the news about you being gay?" Ashlynn wondered. "I'm assuming she doesn't know since you haven't seen each other since you were younger."

Leila stiffened and laughed uneasily.

"You haven't told her," Elena realized.

"What?! How come?!" Ashlynn exclaimed. "I thought you said you were done with lying to people. You worked so hard to come out to everyone important in your life over the past few years."

Leila ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm intimidated telling her. I mean, it's always been weird telling people who have known me since I was young. I always feel like they won't believe me  just because they've known me so long."

"That's ridiculous, Leila," Elena said. "Besides, you said you knew her in what, elementary school? People are bound to change from that time to adulthood. You really should tell her. The longer you wait, the worse it'll be when the truth finally comes out."

Leila sighed. "I know, I know. I'll tell her soon, I promise."

The conversation finally drifted away from her, but Leila was forced to remember her friends' words the rest of their meal. Inwardly, Leila knew it was wrong she hadn't come out to Mia yet. It felt unfair keeping a large secret from her, especially when Mia had gradually been opening up to her. Leila had even had ample chances to insert the fact casually in conversation, but she always froze up for reasons she couldn't comprehend, and the moment would pass.

She should know, Leila thought. Especially if we're living together.

As she gave parting hugs to her friends and walked back to her car, she silently agreed she'd tell Mia when she came home, no matter how awkward it would feel. Besides, she'd had much more nerve-wracking and uncomfortable coming outs with family members. Telling Mia, a longtime friend of hers and someone her age, would be a piece of cake.

Already Leila's heart felt ready to burst through her chest as she slipped the key into the apartment door. She forced herself to take a deep breath and once again made herself promise she wouldn't back down. As Leila opened the front door, her eyes caught onto Mia sitting on the couch. Her heart dropped when she saw Julian sitting beside Mia, his hand resting on her thigh.

"Oh. Hi," Leila said. She hadn't remember Mia telling her Julian would be over. She supposed she'd check her phone again when she got a spare moment just to see if she had missed the text.

"Hey," Mia replied.

"Hey, Leila," Julian said, giving a slight wave.

"How was brunch with your friends?" Mia asked as Leila set down her keys and went to grab herself a drink of water.

"Good," Leila answered shyly. There had gone all her hopes of being honest with Mia. As if she was going to share anything with Mia with Julian in the room. Oftentimes, Leila grew quiet when he was around. There was something about his presence that prevented her from feeling comfortable being herself. She felt like the new kid on the first day of school whenever he visited.

Mia moved off from the couch and met Leila at the kitchen counter. "Sorry. I forgot to text you he was coming over. It just slipped my mind," she murmured.

So she did forget, Leila thought.

"Oh. It's fine," Leila said, though she had to avert her gaze from Mia's. She was afraid if she looked directly at her that she would be glaring. There was no use hiding the annoyance of finding Julian on her couch. He was there more often than not these days. Instead, Leila tried to focus her attention on something else.

"Um, is Fuji around?" Leila asked.

"Ran into your bedroom," Julian answered for her. "Your cat is mean. I tried to pet him, but he swatted at me."

"He's not hurt or anything," Mia assured Leila.

"Fuji doesn't like men that much. Sorry," Leila said to Julian. "I'm going to go lay down in my room, I think."

"Okay," Mia said, returning to the couch with Julian.

Leila only felt calm again once she was in her bedroom with the door shut. She set down her glass of water and glanced under the bed, finding Fuji curled up beside some storage cases. She coaxed him to her with her voice, and eventually, he crawled out and settled on her lap.

Leila smiled and ran her fingers through his fur for a few moments. Then, she picked him up and carried him to her bed, where he happily laid down on one of her pillows. Leila giggled to herself slightly and scratched his chin until he was purring.

"Sorry. I didn't know he was coming over either," Leila murmured to the tabby. She stopped scratching him and brought her face close to his. "You know," she whispered. "I don't blame you for swatting at him. I don't like him much either. You have my full permission to annoy him."

Leila could never find the courage to admit that to Mia. She barely had the courage to admit it to herself until a few days before. Something about Julian had rubbed Leila the wrong way since the day he had helped move Mia in. She'd been trying to figure out why that was, but she still hadn't settled on an answer.

Leila remained sulking in her room for the remainder of the afternoon until finally she heard the front door open and shut. She quietly opened her bedroom door and stepped out, finding both Mia and Julian had left. They'd probably gone to get dinner, she realized.

As Leila fed Fuji his evening meal, her phone pinged with a text from Mia.

Hey. Sorry again about not telling u Julian was coming over. We're going to get dinner. Be back in a little while. We all good?

We're good, Leila responded. Have fun.

Leila took a seat at her kitchen counter and buried her face in her hands, silently cursing Julian once more for ruining her chance to tell Mia the truth. She was beginning to doubt if she would ever gain the courage again to have that discussion with Mia.

Leila had always found herself to be someone easy to get along with. She didn't often make enemies, and someone would have to wrong her pretty badly for her to hold a grudge. Yet, when the image of Julian came to her mind, she couldn't help but bite her lip in anger.

"God, I hate him," Leila murmured.