Rory was a morning person, that much Micah could tell when on their second morning together, Rory was up by five. Having only gotten three hours of sleep, Micah stayed put and let himself be the subject of another warm-up sketch or two.

"Do you work tonight?" Rory asked.

It was Monday. "No, I don't. Why?"

Rory's ears were pink under his beanie, turning red. "I was wondering if you'd want to sleep together again."

"Do you work right now?"

"Hm? No."

"Then why wait?" Micah said.

Rory was in the middle of breakfast and, staring at Micah, reached blindly for the dial to switch off the stove. Micah chased him to the bed and the adrenaline and giddiness made Rory scream just the way Micah loved.

Afterward, in the midst of investigating the canvases along the wall, Micah's phone rang. He took the call out in the stairwell.

"What are you doing." It was Kennedy.

"Nothing."

"Why are you in Chelsea?"

"No reason. Is this about Benny?"

"I got him to agree to Wednesday brunch with just us three. No Hunter."

Micah's breath shuddered out of him. An unfamiliar sensation tingled up his spine and feathered across his face. He was getting choked up. "Cool. I'll see you guys tomorrow then."

"Sweet! See ya then!"

Micah hung up. His fingers were shaking as he tucked his phone away. Moisture had started to gather on his lower lashes, which he brushed away in his haste to return inside.

Rory was getting dressed under the skylight. Where Micah was nothing but lean, toned muscle, Rory was soft and nimble. Even when he held Micah in bed, Micah suspected he was the sort of guy to ask Micah, "Hey, can you open this jar of pickles for me?"

Overcome with possessiveness, Micah grabbed him and spun Rory into his arms, hugging him from behind. The man was still fastening his jeans.

"Where are you going," Micah asked.

"Work. There's a lunch showing," Rory explained. He tipped his head to the side to look at Micah properly. "You still have my key, right."

"Shit, right. I'll be out of your hair—"

"No, keep it," Rory said. Micah blinked in the face of Rory's fond smile. "I'll be back for dinner. What do you like? I'll pick something up."

That's... thoughtful, Micah thought, when normally, he'd think, This is too close to a date. Leave!

Rather than leave, Micah accepted the offer of Korean food. There was a bibimbap place down the street from the gallery he knew he liked, and so that evening, the two of them vegged out in bed with the projector on the screen overhanging the loft.

Horror movies were made perfect by the New York sunset in Rory's floor-to-ceiling windows. Micah believed he was living the dream.

"How do you afford all this?" Micah asked. "Are you a trust fund kid or something?"

Rory laughed. "Not exactly. I... actually own the gallery. It was my mom's."

"Oh. Holy shit," Micah said, amazed, and then realized he was supposed to feel sorry. Moms didn't usually hand their businesses off to kids in their mid-twenties. "Is she... still around?"

Rory's smile turned tender, wavering. "No. She's not."

"I'm sorry."

"We expected it. It was a couple years ago."

"Still..."

"There's a memorial thing next week, actually," he confessed. He glanced at Micah as he cleared his throat. "Two year anniversary. You being here has been a good distraction for me, so thank you."

"I am rather distracting," Micah praised, puffing his chest out.

"I know we just met, but if you're interested, I'd appreciate it if you were there. At the memorial," Rory said. "It's kind of out of the way. Queens."

"At least it's not Brooklyn."

"You and Kennedy both have a grudge against Brooklyn. I don't understand it."

"I lost my wallet there freshmen year," he said. "That's probably why."

"Why would you lose your wallet in the Brooklyn?"

Micah rolled atop Rory's as a girl screamed bloody murder on the projector speakers. Voice low, he studied Rory's lips. "I don't know. I'll have to ask my wallet if I ever fucking find it."

Rory laughed, setting his food aside to make way for Micah on his mouth and between his legs.

Micah was in serious need of a wardrobe refresh, and so he returned to Alistair's place the following morning. He found the place just as spotless as he had left it and discovered that it was difficult to tell if a man was living there when he left no evidence of such.

Micah checked the washer. It still had the last work clothes he'd tossed in, and the hamper in Alistair's closet was still empty.

He's not back yet, Micah concluded.

Brunch was approaching, and Micah resolutely decided not to think about it. If he thought about it, he'd never be able to face Benny without overthinking, crying, and screaming his head off. Before leaving Alistair's apartment, he took a deep breath and shouted, "Fuck!" before shutting the door behind him.

With that out of his system, he left West Village on a mission. In the subway, he doubled back to a flower stall and, on a whim, shelled out twenty bucks for a bouquet.

Benny would always be as close to romance as Micah would get, and since they'd never date, it didn't matter. He knew Benny would appreciate the daisies.

And probably burst into tears, Micah thought.

Micah arrived just in time to recognize Benny's head of bleached hair across the street, holding the cafe door open for Kennedy.

Micah jogged to the crosswalk. The light was white. "Benny!"

Benny turned at once to his voice.

Micah hopped the curb, arms and flowers in the air. Benny was too far away for Micah to see the tears, but in a matter of seconds, they collided.

Benny flung himself, legs latching around Micah's waist. Micah teetered, laughing, throat tight as Benny's tears dampened his neck.

"Oh my God, Micah," Benny cried, sniffling. He buried his eyes into his shirt. "Oh my God..."

When Benny's feet found the ground again, Micah stumbled around him. They steadied each other. Micah had forgotten what Benny's deodorant smelled like—Old Spice—or the perfume Kennedy often gifted him—soft florals, roses.

Micah wound his arms around Benny's neck and squeezed the two of them together one last time. Benny hugged him back, shaking as he cried.

"Hey, I got you flowers. You're supposed to be crying about those, too," Micah said.

"I am... Thank you..." Benny wheezed. His hands squeezed into fists in his shirt.

By then, Kennedy had arrived to redirect traffic. Micah leaned them away from the middle of the sidewalk.

Micah hid his smile in Benny's hair. He kissed him there, at first gently, and then with the force of unconfined love. And then, he pulled back, brushing his hand through Benny's hair to tidy it up.

Benny dropped his head to brush his sleeves over his eyes and cheeks. He sniffled, saying, "Fuck. I didn't think I'd cry."

"Seriously?" Micah laughed.

Benny giggled, voice wobbling back into a sob. He threw himself at Micah again.

When they finally made it to the cafe, all three of them were shivering from the cold. They warmed up with hot coffee and chocolate and ordered the usuals. Micah couldn't stop staring at Benny.

He didn't... look any different, though his hair had gotten a bit shaggier. It was fluffy and a delight and Micah wanted to grab it and kiss it again.

"Hi," Benny said, quietly, hands tucked between his legs.

Micah smiled. "Hi."

"So..." Kennedy said, barely restraining laughter. She gestured to Micah. "Tell Benny what you've been up to."

Micah cleared his throat, brow furrowing. "Right. Um. I don't know where to start."

"Wh-Where were you staying. When you first left," Benny asked. His breath hitched halfway through, eyes glistening all over again with tears.

Micah swallowed hard. "Lennon paid for a couple days at a hotel. His apartment's being renovated."

Both of their jaws dropped. Benny looked sharply at Kennedy, who threw her hands up. "I did not know about that."

"First two nights we slept together... and then I slept with Alistair again," Micah said, slowly.

"Seriously?" Benny whispered, napkin to his mouth.

"Spent Christmas in the Hampton House. With Presley and Lee. And then Presley drove me back so I could work... Went to the New Years party at the BDSM club."

"I was wondering if you went," Kennedy hummed.

"How was that?" Benny asked, and Micah barely had his mouth open when Benny was already talking again. "And tell me everything. I want to know everything you saw everything you did."

"It was just an exhibition thing," Micah said, smiling. "I didn't participate or anything. But there's this guy—Wait, fuck, forgot to mention. At the Hampton House I had phone sex with Alistair. Some other guy was involved. I don't know. I recognized his voice at the club this other time that I went. He's some shibari expert and had a show at the New Year's party."

"Wait—Waitwaitwait—" Kennedy was saying as Benny screamed, "H-How many times have you slept with my brother now?! This has to be some sort of record!"

"The shibari expert was from Arizona, and he got Alistair involved in this scene at the party. I wasn't involved at all."

"What sort of scene?" Benny demanded.

"Just some blindfolded shibari."

"Just—!"

Kennedy started slapping the table in front of him. "So then what? Did you two get freaky or something?"

Micah smiled, wistfully. His adrenaline was going all over again and he blamed it on being in Benny's presence again. As easy as it was to talk, his voice was still shaking with intensity. "No, not really. He had to leave early and then Presley and Lee came back and asked me to have a threesome with them."

"What!" Benny collapsed back in his chair as if shot. He tossed an arm over his eyes, sobbing, "I missed so much..."

"Had sex, like, five to six times a day with them. Anal, mostly. Not always. Double-penetration... That was for about a week and a half... and then I got in contact with Kennedy again to save me because my dick was starting to chafe..."

"Oh my God," Benny moaned, hands over his face. He split his fingers to stare at Micah. "You had sex with Presley?"

"Yeah."

"H-How was it?"

Micah searched for the right word. "Intense. I think 'intense' is what I'd call it."

"So you're still living there?" Benny said.

Micah glanced at Kennedy, who absolved herself of responsibility by taking a sip of her drink. "No. I couldn't keep up with them, so I moved out. Didn't want to make it awkward and needed some peace and quiet."

"So then where are you now?"

Micah pursed his lips, clicked his tongue against his teeth, and couldn't meet his eyes as he said, "I'm... sort of staying at Alistair's place right now. He's traveling right now. We only lived together for, like, three days."

"Wow..." Benny looked meaningfully at Kennedy, who rose her eyebrows to her hairline.

"It's not that crazy," Micah said. "I've been sleeping with that artist guy you introduced me to, Kennedy."

Kennedy sputtered. "Wait, still? That was supposed to be a one-off."

"What do you mean supposed to be."

"He was in-between muses and I thought needed a bit of enlightenment!" she said, like this was standard procedure for artists. She slapped her hand down. "Do not tell me you're his muse now."

"His what."

"Oh my God... Does he paint you?"

"I don't know about paint, but he definitely draws me."

Kennedy threw her head back and groaned.

Benny had hearts in his eyes. "Oh my God, you're dating an artist?"

Micah bristled. "We aren't dating. And I only just met him on Saturday."

"Explain everything to me," Benny insisted.

Micah explained the sketches of him in his sleep, the magnificent loft apartment, and how Rory had given him a key to the place so he could sift through his artwork more.

"And you still have the key?" Kennedy said.

"What am I supposed to do? I just agreed to go to his mother's memorial anniversary thing next week," he said.

"Oh, you're so fucked..."

Micah scrubbed his hands over his face with a groan. "I swear it isn't like that. But you guys are right, this doesn't look good."

"Did you tell him you aren't interested in a relationship?" Benny asked, and the horror of his mistake seeped in with a dreadful stare in Benny's direction. "Oh no."

"Kennedy, you need to set him up with someone else," Micah said.

"You're his muse! I can't take away a muse."

"Kennedy, please, I'm begging you."

"I'm begging—begging yo-o-u," Kennedy sang, mockingly, as the food arrived.

Micah sighed. "Enough about me then. Benny." 

Kennedy was still singing, "So put your loving hand out, darling~!"

"No, wait, your life is way more exciting," Benny insisted.

"Let's just wait until after food, yeah?" Kennedy suggested, swatting a hand over Micah's plate for him to pay attention to it.

Right... Micah thought, glancing warily up at Benny, who glanced warily over at Kennedy.

Halfway through the meal, Benny interrupted to ask Kennedy, "Can I look at my phone please?"

And then Micah watched as Kennedy sighed, extracted Benny's phone from her purse, and handed it over. As Benny read through his texts, Micah gave Kennedy a pointed look. She shrugged helplessly, gesturing to Benny.

"Oh! I have to take a call. I'll be right back," Benny said, and dismissed himself without a second thought.

As soon as he was outside, Micah leaned in to hiss, "What the fuck is that about? You control his phone now, too?"

"I have to, or else he'd be checking in on Hunter every minute," she sighed. "It was part of the deal for today. No Hunter means no phone unless I say so, too."

"He's fucking insane."

"He's in love," Kennedy corrected.

"Synonyms, Kennedy. Synonyms."

Through the windows, he watched Benny smile bashfully and kick pebbles around on the sidewalk. When he returned, refreshed and chilly, he gave his phone back to Kennedy. His cheeks and nose were pink from the cold.

"Hi, sorry," he said.

"It's fine," Micah said, though it wasn't. He used to be able to make fun of people who took casual calls in the middle of a meal. Are we not entertaining enough for you? That you needed to call your beau.

Micah glared at Kennedy. She hid her amusement behind her glass.

"So anyway," Micah said. "How was your winter break?"

"Good! Yeah. Lots of ice skating."

"What the fuck? Where? We live on an industrial island."

"There's a rink in Brooklyn."

"You go to Brooklyn now? After it took my wallet?"

"That was ages ago and you have a new wallet now, so it's fine."

"There's also that one in that one park," Kennedy said.

"Oh! And Central! We went to that one, too."

"What, so do you own skates now or something?"

"Yeah! Saves on rentals."

"How economic of you."

Benny pish-awed him. "You're just jealous because you don't know how to skate backwards."

"Yeah, but I could totally learn," Micah insisted.

"I could teach you! Hey, we should go skating after class later."

"Easy there, partner," Kennedy said. "You two only agreed to brunch."

"I mean, I'd go if Hunter isn't there," Micah said, which immediately soured the mood. He set his utensils down, leant back, and met Benny's glare with a simple, "What? It's true. You want me to lie?"

"No, I don't want you to lie. I want you to like my boyfriend for once."

"Yeah, well, your boyfriend sucks. So."

"Whoa, okay, let's not talk about this," Kennedy said, urgently.

"Do you have to be so cruel all the time?" Benny said. "Doesn't it matter at all to you that he's the person I want to spend the rest of my life with? He's going to be in your life, too, you know."

"Yeah, because you're holding a fucking gun to my head and making it so," Micah said. "And what sort of friend falls in love with the natural enemy to their best friend? Isn't that kind of cruel, too?"

"Now you're just being rude. Not that you were ever being polite in the first place."

"I'm not going anywhere that involves him, alright? And if that means I move out for real, then consider me fucking gone," Micah said.

"Micah, stop it," Kennedy said, "Benny, don't cry. He didn't mean it."

"No, I fucking meant it," Micah said, balling up his napkin. When he stood, they both stared at him like he was he was the Statue of Liberty about to come crashing down on their dinky little tour boat. "What? Did you think I wouldn't say any of this and just cave? I love you, Benny, but clearly you don't love me enough to stop and wonder, 'Oh, I wonder why Micah blocked me.' I've never blocked you before. Ever. That doesn't just happen. People don't just do that for the fun of it."

"Wh-Why did you block me?" Benny said.

Micah rolled his head on his shoulders. He sat back down. "I have nothing to compare it to," he confessed, thinking a moment longer. He cleared his throat. "You know how you're terrified of clowns?"

"Yeah," Benny said, miserably.

"Imagine I started posting nothing but fucking clowns on Instagram," Micah said.

"Are they... actually fucking, or are they just clowns?"

"Both," Micah said. "I start posting clown porn. I get so into clown porn you can't even believe it."

"Oh my God, this is a horrible analogy," Kennedy said.

"Do you still follow me?" Micah said.

"I—Well." It may have been a shit analogy, but Benny was still struggling to find ways to support Micah's clown-fucking behavior to defend his own Hunter-fucking behavior. "I suppose I could mute you? I don't have to block you."

"I start tagging you in clown porn."

"Now you're just being mean and intentional about it. I never tag you in my photos with Hunter," Benny said, bottom lip quivering.

"My profile picture is of a clown's face painted on an ass and I start commenting on your photos."

Benny ducked his head. "Okay, I see your point..."

"I can't stand seeing his face even if it's in comment threads on other peoples photos," Micah said. "You cannot except me to be cordial with him. Ever."

"I'll change my profile picture," Benny promised, miserably. Micah knew this was a win considering the way Kennedy's head snapped to him, astonished. "I-I don't know about my apartment, though..."

"Remove me from your story, too. I don't want to feel tempted to click it," Micah said.

Tears were already falling. Benny brushed his hand over his cheeks. "Okay..."

Micah took a deep, unsettled breath. He glanced at Kennedy, who drew her lips in, eyes wide.

"I think..." Micah said, slowly. Benny's eyes lifted to his. "I think I might see how this Rory thing goes."

"What," Kennedy said.

"I like living with him," Micah confessed. "And I like being a model for him. I could make dating him work. Maybe."

Benny's jaw was on the floor.

"I mean, don't force yourself," Kennedy said. "Seriously, don't. Rory's fragile. He's a water sign."

"Well, you won't let me get my own apartment. You know I don't have a credit score," Micah said.

"You're trying to get your own apartment?" Benny said, tearing up all over again. "Please, just move back in with me! Hunter doesn't even come over that often!"

"Micah, he's over there like five nights a week," Kennedy corrected, smoothly. "I'm not buying an apartment for you, sweetie. I'm sorry."

"Then I'm dating Rory now," Micah decided. "And getting a credit card, apparently. Though I'm pretty sure my bank hates me."

"Can I meet your boyfriend?" Benny asked, hopeful and sad.

Kennedy snapped her fingers at him, and then at Micah, and back at Benny. "No. No, we aren't doing this. Micah, you don't seriously like Rory the way he probably likes you right now."

"I like him," Micah said, truthfully. He leant into one armrest, hands clasped, as Kennedy glowered at him. Benny appeared to be taking notes. "He gives me cuteness aggression."

"Micah, that isn't a foundation for a relationship."

"We both like slashers," Micah said, "and I like how soft his voice is. Like we're under the covers giggling. It's cute. I just wanna make him..." Micah clenched and unclenched his hands, teeth bared. "Scream."

"Aw," Benny said.

"Okay, then tell me what you like about Alistair."

"What," Benny said.

"Alistair has nothing to do with Rory."

"Exactly. Tell me. About. Alistair." Kennedy rose her eyebrows to her hairline and said, "What was it like living with him? Hm?"

"He wouldn't want me airing that out," Micah said.

"Airing what out. You tell us your sex positions," Benny whispered, eyes wide.

"Exactly," Kennedy said, pointing at Benny, and then at Micah. "Exactly my point. You can't talk about romance. And you and Alistair are actually domestic."

"What!" Benny shrieked.

"I'm not dating Alistair," Micah reminded her, laughing. "Alistair's... No. I'm not gonna talk about him."

"No. Say it. Unless it is actually romantic and you don't like your romantic business being aired out."

"He's infuriating," Micah said, at last, startling them both into silence. "We're too much alike. He has living habits and quirks that he won't divulge and I just have to... figure them out. We only lived together for three days but now it's all I think about even when I'm at Rory's. You know I don't usually shower after work—it's exhausting. It's like two in the morning and I just wanna sleep, but now I just think about the subway germs and if I want to sleep on the bed, I have to shower now."

"Um," Kennedy said, "I don't think that's what I was thinking of."

"Well. That's what I think about Alistair," Micah said. "And another thing—! I've never been self-conscious of the way I eat food but when we're just watching a show and eating all I can think about is how slow he's chewing and then I chew slower too."

"I don't think—"

"And also, also—Whenever we're having an argument, or I'm getting pissed and he knows I'm gonna walk out. He does this thing where he always has something sexy in his back pocket and I come crawling back. It's repulsive."

They were staring at him and past him like Alistair was right behind him. His heart lurched to his throat and he glanced back. No one was there.

"What're you two looking at?" Micah said.

"Nothing," Benny said, "I think I went into shock."

"Me too," Kennedy confessed. "Micah, you cannot date Rory."

"Too fucking bad," Micah said, and then to Benny, "I'll introduce you two later this week maybe. There's some event at the gallery this weekend though, so maybe Friday morning."

"C-Cool! Super cool, yeah, I'd love to meet. Your boyfriend." Benny started giggling like a school girl, swatting at Kennedy.

Kennedy slapped him in the arm back with twice as much force.