“Kim and I were planning on going out tomorrow. There’s this Russian cinema festival she was talking about, and it sounds kind of fun.”

“That’s great, bro,” I said, grinning.

“Only, I don’t know what time I’d come back.”

“Late. Those movies take forever, which I’m guessing is the point.”

“Also, it’s…tomorrow,” Noah said.

“Yeah, you said that already. That was fast, though—”

“No, Thomas,” he said, turning quite serious. “I mean, tomorrow.”

“I know what day tomorrow is, Noah,” I finally said, perhaps a tad more aggressively than intended.

He widened his eyes and then broke eye contact, looking down at his feet. I felt awful.

“Look—” I started.

“If you want me to stay with you this time, I will.”

“Noah.”

“It’s fine. Really, it is—”

“Listen,” I said, waiting until he looked at me before continuing. “It’s awesome that you offered. But no.”

“So, you’ll be alone?”

“Who says I’ll be alone? And even if that were the case, so what?”

He glared at me as though wanting nothing more than to tell me to fuck off—and with good reason. But I figured I couldn’t keep acting as though I still had tags on my wrists at all times, so I just pretended not to notice the stare.

“I can be alone, Noah. I will be alone, at some point.”

“I know, but tomorrow—”

“—is the day you’ll spend with Kim. Provided I get to meet her and you give me her number and the address of every place you’ll be going to. But aside from that, it’s what you’ll be doing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Dude,” I warned him.

“Fine,” he said, somewhat vexed. “I don’t know why I offered; you’ll probably be spending the day having wild sex with your boyfriend.”

“Probably,” I said, and it got him to smile.

“Thanks, Thomas.”

“No problem, man.”

He turned around and started to walk out of the kitchen but doubled back. “Tommy?”

“Yes, I’ll give you my credit card. Don’t worry.”

“No,” he said quietly. “That’s not it.”

“What, then?”

“Please, don’t do it again,” he whispered, then quickly turned and exited the kitchen before I could respond.

I leaned back on the counter, looking in the direction he’d gone off to. I finished my beer and took a couple of sips from Ethan’s before grabbing another one from the fridge and going back out to the living room. Ethan was surrounded by Noah, Blake, Jonas, and Summer, gesturing broadly as he spoke as though retelling some amazing occurrence, all eyes resting solely on him. I kept watching them interact, admiring him until we caught each other’s eyes and he smiled, tilting his head and motioning as if to call me to him. I smiled back, but I stayed put.