Micah didn't know what it was like to have PMS, but he woke up feeling like shit, acting like shit, and didn't want to see or speak to anyone. It made his gratitude for Benny and Erika's help seem insincere when he joined them in the kitchen and said, like a funeral march, "Thank you for your help last night."

A spoon clattered into the sink. Benny floundered like a fish out of water before Erika said: "Dude, you look awful."

Micah dragged his hands over his face. The reason he looked awful was because he spent all night in and out of daydreams that should have been regular dreams. Just as he was done counting sheep, it'd be because he'd dropped himself into yet another revenge fantasy. Most of them were roleplays.

Fingers digging into the soft, bruised skin beneath his eyes, Micah stared vacantly into the void. "That man is a curse," he said.

"The silver fox?" Erika said.

Micah was too humiliated to admit it was Alistair when they'd both just helped Micah get revenge. And now that revenge was made moot by the need for additional revenge on behalf of his mirror panels—!

All their hard work wasn't pointless, though. Micah had extracted revenge on the right topic: sleeping with people each other knew and saw daily. Micah hoped now more than ever that Alistair would find out just so he could go into the office every day, see Lennon, and think about Micah Sayoko the way Micah now looked at his ceiling and thought about Alistair.

He grabbed the largest mug they owned and filled it to the brim with coffee, no cream. He took it to his room.

"That's gonna be a massive shit!" Erika shouted after him. He slammed his door in retaliation.

Unable and unwilling to vent, Micah attended his Friday class with half his brain there and the other halfway to West Village. He was waffling. On the one hand, he wanted to retaliate now, but he also didn't know when Alistair had taken the mirrors.

Surely it couldn't have been earlier that day? Maybe when I was in class? No, Erika and Benny were also in class.

One of them had to have assisted, because how else had Alistair gotten into the flat? And they were probably waiting on his reaction to laugh their asses off and—

"It wouldn't be fun for any of us if you knew now," Kennedy had said over Wednesday brunch.

Erika... Micah thought, snarling with betrayal. She'd let Alistair in the apartment. Figures. Benny wouldn't be able to stop thinking about and therefore, giggling about it to himself, and Micah hadn't witnessed any giggly behavior the past week.

He hoped a long, busy weekend working would soothe his wounded ego, but it didn't. Each morning he woke up groaning into his pillow on a spectrum with three stop-points: anger, frustration, and horniness. The last point was usually accompanied by morning wood, which Micah ignored for the first time in his life purely on principle.

Alistair was living rent-free in a mind determined not to indulge, but a man could only go on so long.

Micah's breaking point was when he was called upon by one of his regular hookups. He returned that very same night well after midnight to discover two odd things.

Micah burst through the door, screamed a little at nothing in particular, and slammed the door. The living room light was on and, upon entering, Micah found Benny not only awake, but also in the apartment. They stared at each other as Benny paused the game.

Micah looked to their surprise guest. It was his classmate and Benny's lab partner, James.

"Hey, I thought you were at that one guy's place?" Benny said, which was nearly exactly what Micah meant to ask of Benny, albeit "that one girl's place".

Benny had been gone nearly the entire week and since he was still active, posting, and calling Micah during his walks back to wherever from work or class, Micah saw no cause for concern. He just... hadn't expected the lucky girl to be a man.

Micah paused at the scene, Benny's question, the note of defensiveness in Benny's voice.

He stared at James.

Benny waved James off. "He's cool."

"Hey," James said.

Oh my God, I'm cockblocking, Micah thought, and swore he'd never see the day again after Benny broke up with Hunter. Benny was only ever defensive about his partners when men were involved, and a part of Micah felt guilty for that.

Though Micah had never stolen Benny's dates, Micah wondered if this was solely because Benny's only male date had been Hunter, who Micah despised for personal and therapeutic reasons (all of which was unfortunately divulged already to Alistair).

Though James wasn't on Micah's radar, that didn't excuse him now. Sitting in their flat. After midnight?

Slowly, as though approaching a flock of wild turkeys, Micah entered the room and tried to act nonchalant. He needed to act... like a bro. Like he wasn't interested in James. He thought of any and all advice of what not to do.

Benny was frowning at him now. "What happened."

"Don't mind me," said James.

"Um," said Micah, "I couldn't get hard. So I came back." IDIOT!

As Micah covered his face, the spell was broken. All threat diffused, Benny screamed, "H-Has that ever happened before?!"

Micah closed his hand into a fist against his forehead and bashed himself with it several times before managing, "No, not really..."

Benny wriggled closer to James to make space for Micah beside him. He patted the cushion, and so Micah joined them with a sigh. He slouched, crossed his arms, and scowled at the television.

"Are... you guys playing Minecraft?"

"Yeah," James said. He leant forward to look at Micah. "I didn't know you were dating?"

"He's not," Benny said, and then immediately, "I mean, he's taken. By himself. He's not interested in dating."

Micah regretted sitting down. "I should probably get ready for bed actually. Have fun with your diamond hoes or whatever." He got up and shut himself in the bathroom where he could thump his head onto the door in peace.

He wondered if Erika was in her room wondering the same thing as Micah. Is Benny dating James now?! It was all Micah could do to keep from screaming again.

After a shower and brushing his teeth, Micah considered his options. Towel around the waist? No, he should just wear the clothes he came to the bathroom with. Micah grimaced. I just took a shower? I can't—Whatever. Fuck it.

With his clothes bundled to his chest, he stepped out in a towel around his waist. He was quick crossing the living room and nearly made it, too, but was stopped by James asking, "Have you studied for the midterm yet, Micah?"

Micah shut his eyes, swore up and down internally, and turned to say, "Uh, no. Why?"

James shrugged. "I was wondering if I could borrow your notecards. If you've made them yet."

"I haven't, sorry." He escaped while listening to James explain to Benny that Micah had really neat handwriting. All Micah could think was, Stop talking about me! As if he needed Benny to have a reason to be jealous of him!

As much as he loved Benny exploring his sexuality, he didn't appreciate it at the cost of their friendship. Everything about Benny's relationship experience was intense, overly-romantic, and all-consuming.

Which meant that, given Benny's constant check-ins during the week, Micah had to seriously doubt his relationship status. Benny wouldn't have shut up about James if they were dating. So are they?

No, Micah reasoned, shaking his head as he tugged on a pair of fresh boxers. Maybe he just as a crush. That would explain the defensiveness.

But then again, it could be Benny's fear of their disapproval and his own insecurities. If he wasn't sure about James himself, then why tell Micah and Erika about it?

Micah collapsed onto his bed, troubled, and then all at once furious. The fucking mirror—!

Micah thrashed like a toddler having a tantrum and burrowed, stubbornly, under his covers so he wouldn't have to see it.

It was Sunday morning when Micah caved and went on a rampage looking for his sexiest pair of jeans. He took his clothes with him to the bathroom to shower, angrily, and calmed down just long enough to trim his pubic hair without causing an ER visit. He scrubbed foam over his cheeks with force and shaved, oiled, moisturized. He cussed his way through blowdrying his hair and fashioning it into something effortlessly flawless.

And then, he was stomping through the kitchen avoiding Erika's eyes as he said, "I'll be back before work."

"Where are you—" she said, and was cut off by the door shutting behind him.

He was in a rage before he ever reached the West Village stop because what could he possibly say? That he'd been thinking nonstop about Alistair and his mirrors for over a week now?

He'd never been to Alistair's flat without Benny or Alistair involved in entering. Without Alistair's number, he couldn't ask the guy to vouch for him at the front desk.

Alone and abruptly awkward, Micah approached the front desk lady and said, "I'm here to see Alistair West...?"

The secretary gave him an apologetic smile. "Mr. West isn't available right now. Would you like to leave a message?"

What is this, the phone operator? He leant closer to the counter. "Are you sure he's not in?"

"All I can say is that he isn't available. Message?"

Micah ducked his head, sighed, and said, "Fuck it. Fine, I'll leave a message."

She passed him a crisp notepad and a pen. Just as he'd gotten the first line, "Listen here, asshole," down, the elevators opened.

A flash of bleached hair ran out.

Last Micah had seen of Alistair, he'd dyed his hair black for Halloween. Micah startled, saying, "Alis—"

Benny turned to face him, looking out of breath and frantic.

"What—" Benny started, and then glanced at the receptionist. He stepped up to hug Micah and said, "Were you looking for me or something?"

"He's looking for your brother," the receptionist snitched. Micah threw her a glare over Benny's shoulder, and she crinkled her nose a little at him. Not enough to be downright rude, but just enough sass for Micah to want to flail.

"Oh," Benny said, and promptly grabbed Micah by the arm. "I need your help. I gotta stop at the convenience store first."

Thrown for a loop, Micah allowed himself to be toted like a purse out through the revolving door and to the convenience store nestled under the apartments. There, Benny purchased no less than three full-sized bottles of hydrogen peroxide.

"Why do you need that? Are you cleaning or something?" Micah asked.

Benny droned incoherently for a second as he sifted through his wallet. "Uh... yeah, something like that. Do you seriously not have Alistair's number yet?"

"No. I told you, I deleted it," Micah said.

"Then why were you looking for him? You know he's in Australia right now," Benny said. The word Australia left Micah's mouth dry and stomach plummeting.

Had he seriously been under the impression Alistair was in New York the past week? Yes, yes he was. It came as a shock to his system to remember, as he often tried to do, that he wasn't on personal terms with Alistair. Of course he wouldn't know the man's holiday schedule.

"He's on vacation?" Micah said. "Didn't he, like, just start working at the New York office?"

Benny accepted the bag from the cashier and started ahead. "Yeah, but he works remote. I think he's working the whole time he's in Sydney."

"Sydney."

"Yeah, it's in Australia."

"No, I know that. I'm just... confused." And then, with more clarity, Micah realized that he'd worried for no reason about Benny bumming at James' place the past week. "You're housesitting."

"Yeah... and I need your help because I fucked up. I fucked up so bad," Benny said.

"Bad enough to need hydrogen peroxide? What do you even use that for aside from cuts—" Micah said, and was at once thrust into a situation he never thought he'd be in.

Alistair's condo appeared more lived in than ever. Benny wasn't exactly tidy, but he wasn't a mess-maker, either. The main difference was in the bedroom.

Where Benny had the mattress tipped up against the wall, looking like he'd stood someone in front of it and shot them forty-six times.

Micah was very suddenly and viciously nauseous. "Holy shit. Where's the body. Why didn't you call Kennedy? She has a car—"

"I didn't kill anybody," Benny hissed. "And lower your voice! Alistair has the whole place hooked up with Google Nest speakers and shit."

Micah leant into the bed frame, staring in abject horror at the dense splotch of red on the mattress. Its shape was defined by a darker brown ring in the vague shape of a Lake Superior. Not only that, but a brief glance through the open bathroom door confirmed that the comforter and sheets were also collateral.

Benny dumped the bottles of hydrogen peroxide onto the exposed boxspring and said, "Do you think this is enough?"

"What?"

"The hydrogen peroxide."

"You—You seriously think you're getting that stain out? How did this even happen?" Micah said.

Benny had the good sense to look shameful. Blushing, he looked away from Micah and said, "Had a girl over and... she was kinda on her period."

"And you didn't use a fucking towel?"

"Yeah, I used a fucking towel. She bled through it!"

"How fucking long do you have to go at it to bleed through a towel, comforter, and two bedsheets?!"

"I don't know! I wasn't keeping track! And she said it helped with her cramps so I just. Kept it in."

"You. Kept it in."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Is your dick stained too?"

"Whoa! Uncalled for! You wanna find out?"

Micah shoved him and Benny shoved him back. They tousled, briefly, until the responsibility of removing the murder stain from Alistair's mattress hit them both like a sack of bricks.

Micah paced away from it so he wouldn't have to see it any longer than necessary. He dropped his head into his hands. As he stood at the window like a man primed for slaughter, he listened to Benny beg.

"Please, man, you gotta help me. He'll never let me housesit again and I barely got to try the cuffs—!"

At the mention of the cuffs, Micah's eyes went skyward. He spun around, leant around the bedpost, and came face-to-face with his twelve mirror panels adhered to Alistair's ceiling.

"Yeah, aren't those cool?" Benny said with a little giggle.

Micah glared at him. "Those are mine."

Benny blinked. He glanced at the mirrors and said, "What? No they aren't."

"I came here because he stole my fucking mirrors. I was gonna get them back."

Benny's jaw fell, progressively, to the floor. He gathered it back up with a squeak and said, "Okay then... we fix the mattress and then I pay you back by helping with the mirrors."

"Mirrors first, then blood."

"No way! The stain's gonna set!"

"Dude, full offense, the stain is set."

Benny was looking at the mirrors again. "I can't believe those are your mirrors. Are you sure?"

"Positive."