When the sound of the doorbell echoes inside the house a few hours later, Layla's head perks up before Bowie's does.

"Okay, I have the spike and it's just us two at Site B, so make sure y—" Ved gets cut off by Layla scrambling to put the laptop aside on the couch and rushing to get the door even before I have set my palms on the floor to push myself up. "Hey! Hey! Lay—"

"I wanna see Hot Dog Owner!" She calls from the hallway, and I freeze for a second before remembering that her voice won't go through the door. Thank God. "Fuck Valorant."

"Fuck you! I'm reporting you AFK."

"Do it, baby. I know the law."

Well aware that there's no way I'm going to be able to stop whatever Layla is going to do now, I sit back down with a sigh and turn my head to give Juni, who is sitting on the kitchen counter while they drink their coffee, a look. 'Hot Dog Owner' is definitely a set of words that came out of their mouth first.

Their legs stop swinging and they immediately raise a free hand in the air when they notice the expression on my face, mug with World's Okayest Housemate written on it in comic sans, that Layla had gotten them as a joke, stopping mid air. It's ugly. And funny. "I couldn't help myself."

"If we make a quick run to Portillo's, we could be hotdog owners right now," Ved says to me, leaning back on the couch and staring disdainfully at his laptop screen—which I assume now flashes with the message that his team lost—before pulling his headphones down to his neck.

The corners of my lips twitch in amusement despite myself, and I gesture in Sean's direction with my eyes when I see him sitting beside Bowie at the dining table with his chin tucked in his palm, staring blankly at the back of Ved's head.

Ved takes one look at his face and quickly whips his head back to me, letting out a nervous, high-pitched laugh. "But we won't!"

"Healthy eating for a week before gigs," I remind him, finally getting off the floor to check on Layla.

"Healthy eating for a week before gigs," Ved echoes begrudgingly.

I pat his shoulder before turning around to make my way to the door.

Because I had been expecting to see Layla grilling Kaia with questions like she does every time she meets new people, my feet come to a halt in pure surprise when I find her standing with her head hung, back and palms resting flat against the door.

"Lay?"

When she raises her head to meet my eyes, her mouth is parted and her eyes are glossed over with an emotion that I don't see often on her face. But I'm a little too familiar with the feeling to not catch up on it.

Insecurity.

I step closer. "Layla...?"

"He's h-here."

I take another step in her direction with my hand stretched out. When she reaches out to hold it in a death grip, I find hers trembling. I bring my other hand on top of hers to rub it in soothing circles. "Who, honey?"

"River," she breathes.

"Oh." My eyes widen in astonishment, but I blink until they go back to their normal size. "Oh, my God."

"Imani. Please. God, I don't know what to do." Her voice is rushed and her eyes desperate.

I hold onto her hand a little tighter. "Are you not gonna open the door?"

"I don't know."

Looking at the door, I roll my lower lip between my teeth in thought. After giving it some thought, I look back at her, loosen her hold on my fingers to cup her distressed face between my hands and softly ask, "Do you want me to do it?"

She takes hold of my wrists and hesitates only for a second before nodding.

"Okay." I nod with her. "Do you want to stay here when I do?"

This time she takes a beat longer. Eventually, she nods again, albeit a little slowly and with a little more nervousness on her face, but I feel a surge of pride rush through my chest either way.

Cold Layla. Emotionless Layla. Detached Layla. These are the things I have heard people say about her over the years. We've been friends long enough for me to know that none of those titles apply to her. But we've also been friends long enough for me to know they get to her. Over the years, I've watched her learn how to stand strong in front of every situation that she has to put up with. And now I'm hoping she learns that she doesn't always have to.

"Alright." I smile at her with as much assurance as I can muster. "I got it."

She tentatively moves out of the way and to the left, so I take the hint and open only half the door so she can stand behind it. Out of the sight of one of the most gorgeous boys I have ever seen in my life.

With a curly mop of dark hair that sits atop his head and falls over his forehead in a beautiful mess, and the softest pair of brown eyes that I have ever seen, River makes the last few bits of my leftover resentment towards him disappear in a puff of smoke without even saying anything.

One look at his face and I can tell that this guy would never purposely hurt anyone in his life.

His hands, that had been shoved deep into the pockets of his coat, come out and wring themselves together in front of him as soon as I look him in the eye.

"Hi." It's only one word, but he somehow manages to make it sound just as nervous as he looks.

"Hello."

"Is uh, is... Layla around?" His voice, like his skin, is made of honey. Warm and golden.

At least he isn't beating around the bush. I fold my arms over my chest. Because that would clearly make me look intimidating even though I'm a whole head and a half shorter than this guy. "That depends on who you are and what you want from her."

Surprisingly, it looks like my posture does get him to cower a little, though, because he swallows audibly and hastily wipes a bead of sweat off his forehead. "I'm River," he introduces himself timidly, and I barely hold back the smile threatening to tug at my lips. It makes perfect sense to me why, out of all the people that Layla has ever been with, she had only liked him. "Layla and I..." A slightly shaky hand comes up to scratch the back of his neck. "We uh, met a few days ago—" He pauses again, and I think I would have seen the tips of his ears turn pink if they weren't hidden under his hair. Seemingly giving up on an explanation, understandably, he just asks, "Can I talk to her? Please. There's just something I need to ask. That's it."

When I get no sign of response from Layla, I sigh and say, "I'll check if she's home. Are you okay with waiting a bit longer?"

He nods quickly, a sliver of hope filling his eyes.

I give him a small smile before I close the door and look at Layla.

"Whatever you want," I remind her, taking in the anxiety dripping from her expression. "Your choice, Lay—" I stop when I notice her staring at something behind me and turn around, only to have my heart almost jump out of my throat when I see Sean standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

Fuck. It's the exact same position I had been standing in only a few minutes ago, but Sean makes it look so much more terrifying than I could ever even imagine. And without an ounce of emotion on his face, too.

Sean's always been a painfully hard person to read. A few years ago, it scared me. Now I just respect him for it.

He doesn't say anything, and he doesn't have to. Just keeps his eyes focused on Layla until she breathes in and out, repeats it, and then says to me, "I... I wanna do it. I wanna talk to him."

I glance at Sean, who still hasn't moved a single muscle in his face, and then nod at Layla. I can only hope he doesn't tackle River to the ground or something worse as soon as we click the door open. It doesn't exactly sound like something he would do, because despite what his build suggests, violence isn't his forte. But I wouldn't put anything past him as long as the band is concerned.

"Would you like us to give you some privacy?"

Layla still looks shaken up but she nods with way more conviction than a few minutes ago. Attagirl.

"Open the door."

Both Layla and I go wide-eyed at the three simple words that leave Sean's mouth. As much as I want to ask him to reconsider scaring the wits out of the boy behind the door, we know better than to question him, so I share one last look of worry with Layla and sigh inwardly before pulling the door open to reveal a frazzled-looking River.

He stills at the sight of Layla, but he completely freezes over like a block of ice when he sees Sean standing right behind us.

The sight might have been comical if I couldn't hear my heart beating so fast it felt like it was colliding straight with my eardrums. There's a few seconds where the room is completely silent, and I distractedly, distantly wonder how no one else has come out of the living room to check up on us yet.

Finally, Sean speaks, and I feel the temperature in the hallway drop down several degrees even though the words aren't even directed at me. His voice is low and devoid of emotion, each word enunciated separately.

"Don't ever make her cry again."

And then he drops his arms to his sides and promptly walks into the living room without looking back.

-

It's almost an hour later, when Ved is back to playing his game with an amount of dedication that makes it seem as if it's his last, Sean has retired to his room to probably work on another song, Layla has gone out on a walk with River after quickly putting on the first coat she finds hanging behind the door and a scarf around her neck, Juni has fallen asleep on the floor with an arm thrown around Bowie and curled against him in a way that makes them look smaller than the dog, that my phone pings loudly in the quiet room.

Kaia: omh im sp sorry its taking so lomg!!1!

I blink down at my phone for a few seconds, the corners of my lips slowly twitching up in an amused smile until the screen goes black. I assume we aren't close enough for me to tease her about her texting habits so I let it slide and simply click a picture of the sleeping dogs on the floor to attach it to my text.

You: You think any of us mind?

Kaia: pls ignore whatever happened there^^ i have fat fingers and zero self respect

A surprised laugh leaves my mouth, and if Ved wasn't so engrossed in his game, he would have definitely side-eyed me. With a quick glance in his direction to make sure he didn't see, I look down at the screen again to see Kaia typing.

Kaia: i let out a squeal and my co-worker is looking at me all weird......they're so cute pls he's never willingly leaving ur house, is he 😭

You: (Mission successful)

Kaia: this cant be legal

You: He looks old enough to make his own decisions.

Kaia: why do all of our interactions end with you threatening to separate me from my son . so sick and tired

You: Not to alarm the mother in you or anything (and I may or may not have already mentioned this) but I'm in love with him. So. Yeah.

Kaia: if u let him go i will let u see him whenever u want. pls

Now I'm just smiling at my phone like a goof.

You: Joint custody or nothing.

"Why do you have that look on your face?"

Blinking out of my stupor, I snap my head up to see that Ved has pulled his headphones down to his neck again and he has unfortunately traded his focus on the game for staring at me in suspicion from the couch.

"What look?" I ask dumbly.

He narrows his eyes further. "That look."

"What look?"

"I swear to God, Imani."

I can't help but laugh at how exasperated he sounds. "What?"

"Stop saying that!"

"Stop saying what?"

He crosses his arms across his chest and stares down at me when the grin doesn't leave my face. "You know what? Let me see your phone."

I scoff, but turn away just a little so my phone is out of his reach. Just in case. "What the—are you possessed by the spirit of an Indian parent or something right now? Mind your business."

"Wow, that sounded kinda racist."

"Shut the fuck up."

My phone pings again, and I stick my tongue out at Ved just to be annoying before I check the text.

Kaia: 😳

It's just an emoji, but it makes me feel like somebody just doused me with ice cold water. I blink a few times, thumb hovering on the screen for a second or two before my eyesight zeroes in on my last text.

Fuck. I let out an audible 'oh no' and barely resist the urge to smack myself on the forehead. Why. Why would I say that?

And then I make the mistake of scrolling back a little, unable to put a leash on the thought before it ziplines straight past my subconscious, all the way from the back, and straight to the front. Don't these texts sound kinda flirty?

Being playful on texts is not my thing.

Overthinking is, though. So that's what I do.

The one time we text, and I create this mess for myself out of nowhere.

"Okay, now you look kinda constipated."

"Ved," I groan. "Please. Shut up."

He raises his hands in surrender. "Rude, but okay."

There's no way I could come up with something to say in reply to the text. So I wait. For another one of hers to follow. But after a few minutes pass and my phone stays silent, I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. Did I make her uncomfortable? I scratch my head and purposely ignore Ved's eyes on me. I probably crossed a line. Maybe I should ask...

My thumbs stay frozen over the keyboard. Ugh. What if I'm making a big deal out of nothing? After all, we were just joking around... right? Coming to the conclusion that addressing it might only make me look like a fool, I lock my phone and toss it on the couch before crossing my legs on the carpet and leaning back against one of Ved's knees.

I feel the weight of a hand resting on top of my head, and because I hadn't bothered tying my hair up after taking a shower earlier, Ved ruffles it.

"What's going on?"

Because I have no idea either, I just shake my head.

a/n: we made it past round one! thank you for your support <3

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