Glori Lopez opened the door and gasped, slapping her hands to her plump cheeks.  "Ahh! Mi amor."

Eli stepped into the house for the tight, suffocating hug he'd expected.  He handed off the bouquet to Mr. Lopez, who winked at him and slipped into the kitchen to put the flowers in some water. 

Eli knew better than to bring his own dish or appetizer to this household—Glori would kill him for refusing her selfless generosity.   But every now and again he got away with a bouquet; it was the one gift she permitted, even though no sum of flowers could ever express how grateful he was to her and her family.

"How come you don't greet me with big hugs like that?" Lopez complained from the living room. 

Brenna, who was sitting on the floor among Teddy's siblings, glanced up at him with an evil smirk.  "Yeah, Eli. How come?"

He glared at them over the woman's shoulder.  How was he 21 years old and still surrounded by children?

Glori peeled back to look at Eli and cupped his face. Smushed it, really. "We miss you here, mijo. So kind. So thoughtful.  Why don't you trade places with Tadeo?"

"Ma!"

Eli grinned down at those dark brown eyes, just as warm and tender as her son's.  "I can make arrangements."

Lopez harrumphed, flipping him off when his mother wasn't looking.  Brenna just laughed.

Eli made his rounds, catching up with Glori and her husband, Fabrício, who still struggled with English but did his best to make Eli feel welcome.  He greeted Teddy's kid siblings and tried to get them to admit he was their favorite, but they were still obsessed with his sister.

It was so strange how comfortable he felt here in this home.  He knew it all too well—the excessive heating, the scent of baked treats and spices.  Blindfold him, and he could sketch the space to the finest detail: the crooked portraits checkering the wall, The Last Supper painting above the TV, the guitar in the corner of the living room, the quilted blankets folded atop the old, wooden rocking chair.

It was the complete opposite of the house he'd grown up in, a house that had always been pristine and orderly, more like a home office than anything.  But this place had been broken in. 

It had been lived in.

When dinner was ready, he and Brenna helped set the table, eager to assist in any way they could, since Glori didn't permit them many opportunities to do so. Then, after Mr. Lopez said grace, they promptly stuffed their faces with Glori's famous stacked enchiladas. 

Eli wanted to cry.  They were that good.

"So, Brenna," Glori said, clasping her hands together excitedly.  "Are you seeing anyone yet?"

Brenna chuckled, taking a long sip of water while she thought up a legitimate response.  They all knew Glori was dying to set her up with her cousin, and although Brenna loved the Lopez family, she wasn't keen on dating a 37-year-old. "I'm not. But I kind of enjoy being single.  It gives me more time to focus on my art."

Eli snorted.  That was one big fucking lie.

Brenna narrowed her eyes at him.  "But you know, I think my brother has found someone at long last."

Eli's smile instantly vanished, and he gaped at her.

What the hell.

He heard Teddy's fork fall to his plate, and he wished he could evaporate. 

"¿Mande?" Glori squealed emphatically.  She smacked Eli's arm.  "Why are we just learning this?  Who's the lucky girl, mijo?"

Eli's gaze slowly trailed to Teddy's. His friend was staring back at him in shock, and if Eli chose to look through his favorite rosy glasses, a little heartbroken.

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

"I don't know what my sister's smoking.  I haven't found anybody," he stressed. He forced a smile, if just to ease the tension in the room. "With my luck, my soulmate's probably a robot."

That seemed to loosen the knot, and Glori chuckled, switching to a new topic like the lovely hostess she was.

Brenna sighed beside him, disappointed, and Eli kicked at her under the table for trying to expose him.

When he glanced back at Lopez, he was pained to see a distant, troubled expression on the boy's face. Maybe it was a look of distrust. Eli had withheld information from him. Vital information, from a best friend's perspective.

Or maybe he too was disappointed. 

Eli leaned against the balustrade of the back porch, watching the men of the family play their instruments and sing off-pitch.  Teddy laughed himself breathless, struggling to keep up with his father's guitar strumming, and the children chased each other across the yard, giggling as they kicked up plumes of fireflies.  Humming along, Glori handed out generous portions of rice pudding, even though everyone was too full to stomach it.

But no one had the heart to refuse her.

Eli sighed. He felt at home here, and that fact alone made him feel sad.  It made him wistful for a life he'd never had.  A family he'd never known.  A mother who'd been there.

For as long as he could remember, his mom had always been at work playing with robots, designing the next big thing, the next solution. And worst of all, he couldn't even hate her for it; her impact on the world was revolutionary.  She'd helped so many people along the way.  Created so many jobs. And for a long time, he'd accepted her choices.  After all, he'd had his father to keep him company at home.  His father, an English teacher.  A man who'd been shot down in class one day trying to protect his students. 

The tragedy had pulled his mother away from him.  She'd vanished into her office and thrown herself into the depths of Project Genesis: an insane attempt to right a world of wrongs.  She'd abandoned Eli in his senior year of high school, and once he'd graduated, Brenna had left too—angry at their mother, eager to punish her.

But she'd punished Eli too. Unintentionally.

The only one who'd never left his side was Lopez.  He'd been his constant in a universe of variables, a loyal friend, even when Eli didn't deserve it. So when college application time came around, Eli didn't even bother applying anywhere but his state university.

That was where Lopez was headed. And Eli refused to lose the best thing that had ever happened to him.

With her cup of excessive pudding, Brenna came to stand by him, amused by the spectacle before them. She side-eyed him, and he could feel her smile falter.  "Why so forlorn?  Not still butt-hurt about earlier, are you?"

He scowled.  That was one shit apology.  "You can't just...push us together, B."

"Why not?"

"Because...even if he did like me back, I'm not ready for that."

She rolled her eyes. "No one's ever ready.  But taking risks is what propels you forward."

Forward, huh?

 It seemed like such a foreign concept.  Moving forward with his best friend—or perhaps moving on to someone else.  Growing up and graduating.  Finally reaching out to his mother.  Getting a real job. 

He wanted all those things.  But...

"I'm scared," he confessed, and he finally turned to look at his sister, vulnerable, embarrassed.

She smiled at him, and her blue eyes glistened in the warm glow of the porch lights. They almost looked green from this angle. "I know. Change is always scary.  Uncertainty means a lack of control, and you're used to having control over your life, over the systems that you work with."  She gripped his shoulder.  "But change makes us more resilient, E.  And that growth?  That sense of fulfillment? It's worth the risk."

When the kids were sent to bed and Mr. Lopez had put his guitar away, Brenna and Eli decided to head home.  As usual, this entailed more spine-splintering hugs and wet cheek kisses, and of course, plenty of leftovers for the both of them.

Once Eli said his goodbyes, Lopez chose to walk him out, hands stuffed in his jean pockets, lips pressed into a firm line.

He was still upset with him then. Eli hated it when he was upset.

He tried to think of a way to broach the topic without exposing himself, but his dysfunctional brain decided to go with an ingenious, "You know I'm not actually seeing anyone, right?"

Oh god.

Why did he even attempt to navigate the human language?

Lopez halted a few steps behind him and frowned as Eli nervously turned to face him. The shadows clung to the contours of his face, the sharp edge of his jaw and cheekbones, the angry divots of his eyes. "I know.  You haven't found anybody."

Eli wet his lips. Yeah. Okay. So that had been a poor choice of words.

"Well, not anyone who reciprocates my feelings, at least."  He reflected on Glori's comments, smiling a little. "And definitely not a girl."

Lopez shot him a wary look.  "Then you do like someone."

Eli could barely breathe. They were brushing too close to his darkest truth, too near to his oldest secret. But he couldn't lie to his friend. Not again. "Yeah. I do."

The wary look turned suspicious, and honestly, a bit intimidating. "Do I know this person?"

"...Yeah."

Lopez scrunched up his face and glared down at the grass, thinking too hard for his own good.  When he glanced up again, he was appalled. Disgusted, even. "It's Dwaine, isn't it? From the team?"

Eli couldn't help but laugh at that. "You think I like the goalie?  He's the most egotistical person I've ever met."

"Yeah, I know!"  Teddy exclaimed, his arms in the air. He shook his head, and Eli felt bad for putting him through such mental distress. "Then who is it?"

Eli hesitated, anxiety pushing out against his ribcage, fear rising to tickle his throat.  He could lose Lopez forever by uttering his next sentence.  At least, he could lose the idea of him and Eli together. The fantasy he'd entertained for too long.

Forward, E.

Move forward.

He took a deep, shaky breath. But in the end, a verbal confession wasn't needed. His friend was too perceptive.

Teddy's bewildered expression laxed a bit at Eli's inner conflict, and then his eyes shot wide.  He blinked a few times, mouth agape—his processor overwhelmed and smoking.

Eli felt a strange mix of emotions overtake him as he stood there watching his friend come to terms with everything.  Nervousness in his gut while he waited for an answer.  Amusement on his tongue—simply because Lopez looked so utterly flabbergasted.  And oddly, a huge surge of relief in his chest.  Because his inner torment was finally externalized. The ball was no longer sitting in his court, taunting him.

The silence stretched on, and Eli couldn't take it.  

He cleared his throat, backing up toward his bike.  "I uh...I should get going.  But we can talk tomorrow?"

He'd give his friend some time to figure out his own feelings. Allow him to come up with a way to let him down—should that be the case.  It wasn't fair to put him on the spot like this, not after such a bombshell.

Dazed, Lopez watched him mount his bike.  Then he swallowed and nodded vigorously.  "Right, yeah." He scratched the back of his head, blinking at the ground.  He looked up at Eli in wonder.  "Tomorrow."

Eli grinned at him over his shoulder, his heart swelling at the sight of Teddy's timid blush and endearing awkwardness.  "See you soon, Lopez."

Eli walked into his apartment with a slight bounce in his step.  He'd done it.  He'd finally jumped off the ledge, and he had absolutely no idea what fate awaited him now. But for the first time in a long time, he felt the naked thrill of the present.

He felt alive.

Unfortunately, his good spirits didn't last long. The moment he turned into the hallway, his confidence drained into a yawning pit of dread.

Kevin's door was open again.

Just like last time, it lay open to provide a narrow, linear lens to the dark space within. A window into emptiness.

Had Kevin been here since yesterday?

Or had the door swung open on its own?

Eli stared at the sliver of darkness, and the rest of the world seemed to blur around him. The space beyond the door was calling to him, beckoning him forward with a raw and powerful magnetism.

He couldn't fight the pull.  So he swallowed back his trepidation and knocked upon the door.

Nothing.

Only a faint crackle of electricity, the soft hum of a computer.

Kevin wasn't in.

Curiosity tugged on his sternum, and with a quiet fuck, Eli stepped into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.  The resounding click brought goosebumps to the surface of his skin, and he turned to stare at the monitor across the room, the cursor waiting for its command.

This is straight out of a horror movie, he thought, fingertips trembling. So why am I moving closer?

What am I doing?

He approached the beige computer system and sat down on the desk chair, lungs aching against the heavy weight of unease.

Where was Kevin? Did he even live here anymore?

And if not, then why the hell was his computer still on after all this time?

Eli's middle finger hovered over the F1 key, but then a deep, unfamiliar instinct pulled his gaze down to the "last known good configuration" option. He wasn't sure why he desired to recover something that wasn't his, to save a computer that refused to reboot.

But something compelled him to try.

Holding his breath, he scrolled down and hit the Enter key.

*******************************************************

Word count: 16,327.

Woohoo, getting close! <3