Ryan

Strange sounds woke Ryan up a long while later. Pots and pans, too loud. Unfamiliar voices. A scent that made him feel inexplicably sad.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in his room. He tightened his arms around the dark-haired person in his lap, and by the smell and the feel of the shoulder poking into his chest, he knew immediately that it wasn't Charlie. His heart thumped hard, remembering.

Jacky had shown up last night. He glanced over at the clock on the microwave blearily and saw that it was nearly noon. Jacky had shown up this morning. They had kissed. That hadn't been a dream.

A giggle across the living drew Ryan's attention. A boy with blond hair that was red at the tips sat on the couch with a girl who had long dark hair and perfect winged eyeliner. They were both grinning at him.

Ryan shifted a little, hoping he wouldn't wake Jacky. "Billy, right?" Ryan asked.

"I've been trying to brand myself as Liam, but Jacky fucked that up," Billy said. He didn't seem upset about it. "This is Lilianna. I know we were all introduced last night, but there was a lot going on."

"Yeah, I think we went to middle school together, right?"

"Do you really not remember him?" Against Ryan's chest, Jacky's voice was a rumble.

"Ryan was popular," Billy said. "You can't expect him to remember two gay kids from eighth grade. Even though I do remember you. You really grew into yourself, huh?" He grinned at Ryan.

"You can stop hitting on my boyfriend now," Jacky complained, and sat up.

Boyfriend? Ryan wasn't sure that was the conclusion of the conversation they'd had last night. Maybe it was. They had done a lot of kissing. But Jacky's words hit him, and not in a good way. He filed that feeling away to talk about later. Now didn't seem like the best time, as the other boy on the couch woke up.

"He lives," Billy cawed.

"What time is it?" the guy croaked.

Ryan hadn't really looked at him last night. Billy had stolen the show and then there was Jacky and Pete, and whatever this guy's name was had faded into the background – only now that Ryan took him in, he realized how out of place he was from Jacky's other friends. Ryan wasn't sure about Liliana, but Billy was clearly out and proud, and it had seemed like Jacky had found a group of gay friends like Ryan had, if you counted your roommates as your friends. This guy, though, had a longish crew cut and was wearing jeans and a college sweatshirt like the models used for college brochures. Like a frat boy. This was Jacky's friend?

"Still too early," Jacky moaned.

"It's about brunch-time," Billy said. "Gotta get some carbs or this hangover is going to be harsh."

Liliana perked up at that. "I would kill for a bagel. And a PSL."

"A what?" the frat boy said.

"A pumpkin spice latte, Braedyn," Billy informed him. "Do you live in a cave?"

Frat Boy looked like he had no idea what he'd said to deserve such a judgment.

Ryan didn't want to get up, but this group was starting to sound hangry. "Let me just check on Pete and we can go grab food." He shifted and Jacky moved aside.

Pete was still asleep, drooling on Ryan's pillowcase. On his way past Sam's room, he stopped and knocked. "You all want to come out for breakfast?" he started to ask, but Sam grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the room.

"What is happening?" Jordan asked. Harper was sitting alongside her on Jordan's bed. The TV was playing an episode of "Schitt's Creek."

"What do you mean?" Ryan glanced over as Sam closed the door.

"Who are all of these people and how long are they going to stay here?" Sam clarified.

Ryan glanced over like he could see everyone in the living room through the wall. "I don't know."

The girls all looked at each other in a way that was a full conversation without saying a word. Sam looked back at Ryan. "We are going to need some concrete details."

"I'm sorry," Ryan said. "They just showed up at five in the morning. I guess Jacky was worried because I hadn't texted him in a few days."

"Oh, so you've been texting him this whole time?" Harper was gearing up for a fight in Charlie's honor.

"Not this whole time. Just the past couple of weeks. I didn't expect—" Ryan gestured toward the living room, "—this."

His roommates all stared at him.

"I can't just make them leave right away," Ryan said. "It took them five hours to drive here. I don't think they'll be staying another night, they all have classes tomorrow just like we do."

"Fine," Sam grumbled. "Let's get breakfast or lunch or whatever."

Jacky was up and stretching when the knock came on the door.

"Should we answer it?" Billy asked, his eyes wide even as he was grinning. Jacky wished Billy would stop having such a great time.

"No," said Braedyn. "This isn't our apartment."

They all looked down the hall, where they'd seen Ryan get pulled into a closed-door conversation. The knock came again, but no one emerged.

"I don't think they can hear the knocking," Liliana said, standing.

Jacky sided with Braedyn. "So? Not our problem."

Billy leaned in and whispered loudly, "They're talking about us, you know."

"Yes," Jacky snapped. "So?"

Billy shrugged.

"I'm just going to—" Liliana gestured at the door.

A ding from a cell phone that had been left on the counter. "Come on," said a muffled voice on the other side of the door.

Liliana opened the door. "Hi," she said.

The person on the other side wore a black hoodie under a puffy gray coat. They had dark circles under their eyes. They stared at Liliana for a moment before looking around the room. "Um, sorry, I must have the wrong—" They stopped and looked around again. "No, this is the right apartment. Who are you people?"

"Rude," Billy muttered, and pursed his lips.

"Sorry, I'm Liliana and this is Billy and Braedyn and Jacky, and we're just here visiting Ryan. Everyone else is, uh, getting ready, I guess." She smiled brightly. "What's your name?"

Even before they said their name, Jacky knew who it was. They had just looked different without a smile, without Ryan's arm around their shoulders.

"Charlie."

"Oh, cool. Um, come in, I guess?" Liliana stepped aside.

Charlie entered and pulled down their hood to reveal a dark mop of hair. Billy suddenly turned to Jacky with wide eyes and a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and he knew Billy had finally realized who this was. This was exactly the kind of drama Billy thrived upon. Jacky made a slicing gesture across his throat while Charlie was distracted with sending a text.

The ding came again from the phone on the counter. "Oh, that's why she isn't answering," Charlie muttered. They sighed and looked around the room, eyes landing on Jacky. "So how do you know Ryan?" Their eyes dropped to the empty sleeve of Jacky's t-shirt.

Jacky had a feeling Charlie knew the answer to that question. How many one-armed ex-boyfriends could Ryan have? Even if Ryan had never mentioned Jacky, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that Charlie had scrolled through Ryan's Instagram account at least once and seen about a zillion pictures of them together.

It was probably a good thing that he didn't have time to claim Ryan as his boyfriend before Ryan and his roommates came out. Still, as Charlie turned toward Ryan expectantly, Jacky wondered how long it would be before Ryan set a boundary. Ryan was a people pleaser until the moment he decided to take a stand on something.

"Oh. Charlie. Hey." Ryan tried to smile, and Jacky turned away to grab his own hoodie. Just tell them I'm here and we're together again, he willed, but instead Ryan said, "You wanna grab some breakfast?"

Great, Jacky thought with a grimace. Now his whole time here would be spent with the person Ryan had hooked up with. Only fair since Braedyn's here. Not that Ryan knew about Braedyn.

"Okay." Charlie paused. "Then we're going to get your phone fixed?"

"Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot about that."

Jacky could barely tamp down his annoyance as the group shuffled around, getting their stuff together. While he wanted Ryan to get his phone fixed, he also wanted Ryan to push off any other plans he might have had for today so they could spend more time together.

"I'm going to need some information," Harper said, suddenly appearing behind Jacky.

Jacky jerked away. "Okay?" He couldn't make himself not sound irritated, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Ryan glance over.

"First of all, I need you to know that if Charlie gets hurt in whatever games you and your ex are playing, you'll have me to deal with." Harper examined her black fingernails, which were sharpened into points. "Secondly, what is the status of your friends here?"

"Status?" Jacky asked, even though he had some idea.

"Is Liliana single, and if so, is she open to dating girls. Are the other two both gay, or just the redhead."

"Um, Lily's single, but for the rest, I'm not sure."

Harper gazed at him flatly. "You don't know if your own friends are gay."

"It's complicated," Jacky said.

"Okay, folks, let's move out!" Sam called out, saving Jacky from this conversation. He looked over at Braedyn, who looked to be made out of regret and exhaustion. Boy, was it complicated.