"Should I tell him?" I stressed, balancing my phone precariously between my ear and shoulder as I struggled to carry the (hopefully) last box down to the car. "I feel like he won't react well."

"Phil. You're practically married. Please shut up."

"Yes, but we aren't actually."

"I know that."

"Yet."

"I think you have a few years before you have to worry about that."

"Shane and Ryland are engaged."

"And I wish them the best in their endeavors. You, however..."

"Hold on, Dad, Dean is calling. Hello?"

"Have you chickened out already? Tom and I have a bet on this, you know."

"Tom! Have you talked to him lately? I think I forgot to wish him a happy birthday..."

"You did, but he has other friends, so he's over it."

"Well, I'm not."

"Phil? Who're you talking to?"

"Just Dean!"

"Oh, smart move. There's no 'Just Dean' with Dan."

"Why not?"

"Remember when you tried to kiss me at that party?"

"I was drunk! And how would he even know that story? That was years ago."

"Jack."

"Fucking Jack."

"Language."

Jack joined the call, and I could imagine Dean and him sitting on Jack's bed, grinning at my stupidity.

"PHIL HELP ME WITH THESE BOXES!"

"Someone's jealous."

"Shut up, Dean. Dan's doing his best."

"Oh, now Dean's jealous."

"Why's Dean jealous? Also, your dad called. He said you hung up on him?"

"Guys, I gotta go. This conversation is getting too messy."

"Fine. Don't chicken out!"

"Use pro - "

"So," Dan bit his lip and handed me a box. "Dean."

"Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did." I deepened my voice, "'So...Dean.'"

"I don't sound like that. Take that one out to the car, I'll check for any more."

"Why is a box full of anime so heavy?"

"Why is your mom so heavy?"

"Fuck off."

I set the box down on the top of an already wavering stack and closed the trunk. I stumbled back inside, where Dan waited for me on his bed with a glass of water and his computer, already loading a movie on Netflix.

If this isn't love, nothing is.

I lay beside him, and he rested his head on my shoulder. He claimed it was comfortable, but I couldn't imagine how. Shoulders are bony. But he was warm, and never commented on how explosively loud and fast my heart would beat when he was close like that, so I saw no need to push him away.

We watched the movie, and I was silent for once, still trying to work up the courage to speak. Halfway through, Dan falls asleep next to me, which gives me the excuse to curl up into his side and just think.

Dean had told me not to chicken out. My dad had said I was being stupid for worrying in the first place. Dan and I had only just established the fact that yes, we were dating a week ago. How short was too short? Was there a time constraint on this sort of thing?

The screen started to play the credits, and Dan stirred next to me. Probably assuming I was asleep, he covered me with a blanket and played Geometry Dash on his phone. I watched him stealthily underneath the covers. Where's the time? I wondered, What's the time?

Dan glanced down and saw me watching him. He smiled slightly, not seeming to notice the little block character, which was persistently smashing itself into a spike. "You're insane," he muttered, setting down his phone. "Have you been awake this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Me too. And here I was thinking how rude it'd be if I wasn't here when you woke up."

"How kind of you."

"Listen, I'm sorry I got jealous earlier. About Dean. It's completely stupid, I know."

I shrugged. I wasn't sure exactly when Jack had told Dan that story, but I knew that it had not been with my permission. It'd happened before I even knew Dan existed, for God's sake. "It's not completely stupid. Have you seen his hair? The curls are just...too much for me to handle sometimes. Drives the girls wild."

"I have curly hair too."

"I had to settle somewhere." I tapped his head lightly, grinning at his frown. "Anyway, there's no reason for you to be jealous anymore. Dean has a girlfriend now."

"And?"

"And she's very pretty, it's apparently very serious between them. I'm glad he's happy, really. He spent all those years chasing after Jack, not that he ever explicitly said that's what he was doing, and then me following fruitlessly behind...well, my feet did get tired. Metaphorically, of course."

"And?"

"And I love you?"

"And?"

"And I really, really love you?"

"And?"

"And now you're fishing for compliments? And I just said I loved you? And fuck I actually did it?"

He grinned and kissed me. "And and and? And and and?" Dan laughed, and I punched his arm lightly, but I was smiling too. "And and and I love you too."