What is happiness?

The days passed by in a flurry as the weather got even colder, my schoolwork got harder, and I fell even more in love with Brendon Urie. Patrick became a regular presence at the Aubergine Dream, although he rarely left Pete's side, and we would both often arrive home late. Nevertheless, it was a perfect lifestyle, despite all of the sleep deprivation. Seeing Brendon every night made all of the hours slaving over my schoolwork worth it.

One especially cold day, Patrick and I returned home from lunch to find a sign attached to the entrance to Flack Hall. Patrick stood on the tips of his toes and read the sign, and neither of us could believe what it said.

The heating system in Flack Hall is currently broken. We are working on a solution, and it should be fixed soon. Thank you for your patience! - The Kale University Maintenance Team

"This can't be serious," Patrick said. "Maybe the Greek Friendship Society is trying to pull a prank on us."

"That is a possibility, but this would be an unusually cruel prank," I said. "Not even the Greek Friendship Society would dare to pretend that the heater is broken in the middle of winter, so I think that it's real."

"What are we going to do?" Patrick asked. He already had a worried expression on his face.

All of a sudden, Hayley came up to us. "What's all of the commotion about?" she asked.

"Apparently the heating system in Flack Hall is broken," I said.

"I heard about that a few hours ago," Hayley said. "I also talked to the administration, and it should be fixed within two days."

"Two days?" Patrick said, panicked. It did seem like a long time to be without a place to live.

Hayley nodded and added, "They suggested that we find another place to stay until they fix it, preferably the Freshman Quad or one of the nearby Greek houses. I don't know about you, but I'm heading over to the Greek Friendship Society house to ask them if they'd be willing to take some of us."

"Why did it have to break at this time of year?" Patrick asked.

"Nature hates us," I said. It was the only reasonable explanation for a tragedy like this.

"No kidding," Hayley said. "What are you two going to do?"

"I think I'll go to the Greek Friendship Society house with you," Patrick said.

"I don't know yet," I said. There were plenty of other things that I had to worry about first, and I could always sleep in the library if I needed to.

I headed off to Beauregard Library to work on my paper on The Zhuangzi for Ancient Philosophy, and once I finished, I proofread my work and went to the Aubergine. I presumed that Patrick would meet me there later, so I wasn't concerned that I was going without him. I walked through Old Haven until I found the familiar neon purple sign, and as usual, Brendon was already there.

"Ryro!" Brendon exclaimed with a goofy grin on his face. "What's up?"

"I've just been having a bad day," I said.

"What happened?" Brendon asked.

"The Greek Friendship Society was incredibly noisy last night, so I couldn't sleep, my Ancient Philosophy professor assigned a rather extensive paper on The Zhuangzi, and now the heating system in my residence hall is broken and won't be fixed for another two days," I said. "I've heard that it might take even longer than that."

"That sounds terrible," Brendon said.

"It is terrible," I said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. If I stay in Flack Hall tonight, I'll probably freeze to death."

Brendon thought about it for a few minutes and then said, "You could stay in my apartment until the heating system is fixed."

"That's a great idea," I said. "I'll do that. Thanks Brendon."

"No problem," Brendon said.

The rest of the evening went by normally, if there was such a thing as a normal evening at the Aubergine Dream. Spencer, Brendon, and I put on a great show, and after we were done, Brendon and I stayed at the Aubergine for a little while. Brendon had a few more drinks, while I told Brendon about my philosophy paper. He didn't seem too interested in ancient Chinese philosophy, but he was trying his best to pay attention as I rambled on about the nature of reality, death, and knowledge.

"I didn't know what to write for the sixth page of my essay..." I said.

"Wow, you ran out of ideas?" Brendon said sarcastically as he sipped on his peach and lime daiquiri. "I didn't think that you would ever do that."

"So I analyzed The Death of a Wonton, which we technically didn't read in class, but I thought it was interesting, so I read it on my own," I said, ignoring Brendon's comment. "Zhuangzi believed that happiness could be achieved through an understanding of the true nature of things, but I'm not sure that's true."

"How can happiness be achieved then?" Brendon asked.

"Happiness can be achieved through finding people and things that you love and spending time around them," I said. "Even if you don't fully understand those people and things, you can still derive happiness from them, because love can be irrational sometimes. Just because it's irrational doesn't make it any less valid."

"You're going to be the death of me, Modern Day Socrates," Brendon said. He smiled and added, "It's how I want to go."

"Don't be silly, Brendon," I said. "A little bit of thought won't kill you. Are you ready to go?"

"I think so," Brendon said as he gulped down the rest of his drink and left the Aubergine. I followed him through the streets of Old Haven until we made it to Brendon's apartment building. Brendon and I climbed a few flights of stairs, and he led me into his apartment.

The apartment itself was rather cramped, but it was clear that Brendon had made it his home. Posters from various Broadway musicals hung on the walls, and a half-empty case of liquor lay on the floor. There was a pile of records in one corner, with a skateboard lying against it, and as I looked around, I found a whole room filled with various musical instruments.

"I apologize for the messiness," Brendon said. "I would have cleaned it up if I knew that you were coming."

"It's okay," I said. "You have such a nice apartment."

"Thanks," Brendon said. "It was the cheapest place in Old Haven, but I did touch it up a little bit."

I poked around the apartment for a little bit longer, but I felt especially drawn to the room with the instruments. There wasn't a piano in there, unfortunately, but I did find a guitar, a bass, and various percussion instruments. Before long, Brendon found me plucking the guitar strings, attempting to play a simple melody.

"It seems like you've found my favorite place in the whole world," Brendon said with a smile.

"This is a neat place," I said.

"If I hadn't wasted all of my savings on my suit collection, I'd probably upgrade this room into a home studio," Brendon said. "For now, I like it the way it is."

"Me too," I said.

Brendon yawned and said, "I'm getting a little bit tired. Let's head to bed."

Both of us got ready for bed, but as I wandered around the apartment, I realized that there wasn't anywhere for me to sleep. I asked Brendon about this, and he replied, "I forgot about that, but I guess you could just sleep in my bed."

I crawled into bed next to Brendon, and he gave me a passionate kiss before we both fell asleep. His lips tasted like peaches, and I couldn't help but feel like I was experiencing true happiness at that moment. It was only proof that happiness was being with people that you loved, and for me, that person was Brendon.

I woke up that morning in Brendon's arms, thinking that I must have died and gone to Heaven. I wasn't sure if there was an afterlife or what it was like, but that was the only reasonable explanation for how I felt. I was snapped out of my delusions when my phone buzzed next to me. I reached over and picked it up, trying not to wake up Brendon, and I saw that I had received dozens of texts since I had left the Aubergine the night before. Almost all of them were from one person: Patrick Stump.

Ryan, where are you?

I can't find you anywhere in the Aubergine. Where did you go? For that matter, where did the party go?

The Aubergine's closing soon. Where are you?

I give up. I'm going back to the Greek Friendship Society house to see if you are there.

WHERE ARE YOU?!

I texted Patrick, "I'm at Brendon's apartment. Please stop panicking," and then put my phone away and shifted my body towards Brendon. I did have class in a few hours, but for now, I could enjoy this feeling.

This arrangement continued for another three nights, since it took them a while to fix the heating system. Both Brendon and I were a little bit disappointed when they finally fixed it, and I would have liked to stay in his apartment a little bit longer, but it was too far away from campus to be practical. "You know, Ryan, you can stay with me whenever you'd like," Brendon said when I finally moved back into Flack Hall.

"Maybe I should do that next year," I said. "I'm sure it would be cheaper than paying for room and board at Kale, and I would get to spend more time with you."

"That's a great idea," Brendon said. "Let's do that."

Sophomore year seemed like a long way away, but when I thought about it, it wasn't that far into the future. I only had a few more months left in my freshman year, and in September, I would start my second year at Kale. My freshman year had flown by, and it was all because I was too happy for my own good.

Then again, being too happy was the best problem in the world to have.