By almost midnight the next night, Angelo was starting to get sick and tired of just staring at the ceiling in his room. He had already finished up his artwork for the night, and it's not like he could just simply fall asleep. He didn't work like that. He just needed a way to entertain himself until the early hours of the morning. Then, maybe he would be content enough to fall asleep.

After so many years of staying up, Angelo had just gotten used to not sleeping at night. After all, it was the time that he felt the most free. He was free of responsibilities at night, and that was why he always used that time to his advantage.

He decided his best choice for now would be to head outside and get some fresh air. A walk on the boardwalk with the stars looking down upon him might be just the kind of thing he needed. Maybe he would even find an open place to get coffee at. That might be a bit of a long shot, since it was almost midnight, but Angelo had always been a big fan of drinking coffee into the earliest morning hours, so he couldn't help but hope to get some from somewhere.

Angelo grabbed his hoodie from the back of his door, anticipating that there would be a bit of a chill in the air when he got outside, then quietly left his bedroom, not wanting to wake Mike. He then made his way to the door of the apartment, unlocking it, then stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, taking his keys out of his pocket, and locking the door once more.

It wasn't a long journey to the boardwalk at all, but Angelo still took his time getting there, enjoying the peaceful nature of the night. In the distance, he could see the lights of a nearby city brightening up a section of the darkness.

Angelo had always loved the look of city lights. There was just something about their bright colors piercing through the darkness that captivated him.

After walking along the boardwalk for just a little while, Angelo was surprised to see a little coffee shop still open. It looked just about barren, but not much else could be expected at this hour. He didn't know of anybody else that went out for coffee in the middle of the night.

He gently pushed open the door to the shop, the scent of coffee beans enveloping his nose as he stepped inside. He walked up to the counter with a small smile, ordering his usual small coffee with nothing but cream.

As he waited for his coffee, Angelo took a better look around the shop. There were only another two people in there besides him, but one of them had tangled brown hair that Angelo knew he recognized. Once his coffee was given to him, he walked over to that table where the boy with the long brown hair sat, taking the seat across from him, and hoping that he was, indeed, the person Angelo thought he was.

"Angelo?" he asked, watching as the younger boy took his seat.

"Surprise, I guess," Angelo said, a small grin on his face.

"What are you doing out?" Ryan inquired.

"Can't sleep," Angelo shrugged.

"Long night?" Ryan responded.

"Aren't they all?" Angelo countered.

"Judging by that comment, I'm guessing you stay up late all the time?" Ryan chuckled.

"Oh, please, it's not even that late," Angelo said. "But, yeah, you're right. I barely ever sleep at night," he sighed. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm not much of a sleeper myself," Ryan exhaled. "Diagnosed with insomnia when I was thirteen."

"I've never actually been diagnosed with it, but honestly, that's probably just because I try to avoid doctors of any kind when I can," Angelo said with a laugh, making Ryan smile. "But, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one around here who stays up all night."

"Yeah, I suppose that's a good thing," Ryan responded. "Now we've got each other for company, yeah?"

"Yeah," Angelo nodded with a smile.

The pair continued to talk about miscellaneous things, as they had done just the other night. Angelo was surprised how quickly he and Ryan were able to connect, being able to just talk about things right off the bat. That was something Angelo wasn't quite used to, but he couldn't help but be glad that things went that way when he met Ryan. It was the first friendship he had really started after Devin and Ricky, and he was pleased that it began so fast. He knew he would probably really like having a friend in San Diego, as well, especially knowing that he stayed up just as much as Angelo did.

"Hey, so, would you wanna make this, like, a regular thing?" Ryan asked hopefully after the two of them had been talking for a while. "I mean, we're both always up at this hour with nothing better to do, right? Why not make the best of it together?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Angelo replied. "I like that idea."

"Good," Ryan grinned. "I figured you might."

The pair then exchanged numbers, seeing as they had forgotten to do so when they were at the party, and were soon leaving the coffee shop, off on their separate ways.

Angelo still had a smile on his face as he began to walk back from the coffee shop, a picture of Ryan grinning at him from across the small table stuck in his head. He couldn't help but hope that this friendship would eventually turn into something more, even though it was a bit soon for that now.

It didn't take long at all for Angelo to make it back to the apartment building, quietly unlocking and opening Kuza's apartment door. He then walked into his bedroom, carefully shutting the door, and taking his hoodie off, hanging it back up where it had been before he left. Looking over at the clock next to the bed, Angelo saw that it was just after two in the morning. He let out a sigh and stripped himself of his pants, then threw himself into the bed. He tossed and turned for a while, until his eyelids finally began to feel heavy, and sleep was able to take over.