Kent came in the living room with two glasses of that sweet nectar also known as Mountain Dew. I couldn’t drink the whole thing, I wasn’t a sugar fiend anymore, but I accepted it as he held it out to me. “Thanks.”

I smiled as I watched him take a seat next to me and pick up one of the many remotes that had been tucked away in a basket. He turned the TV on and then the DVR player. "I was going to watch it last night, but I didn't get around to it. But now... now it's gonna happen!" I laughed at his excitement. I only ever achieved that level of excitement these days when I was buying a new pair of shoes… or playing with my band.

"You sound like you did when you first watched the Spiderman movie. Your mom kept interrupting your scheduled movie time, and it was a whole week before you got around to it, do you remember?” I took a small sip before placing it on the side table closest to me. Oh crap! I grabbed a coaster and lifted my glass, setting it carefully on top so that I wouldn’t leave a mark.

"Yeah, I remember. You know Jen doesn't like scary movies? Every time she came in last night I had to cut it off." He drank half of his Dew before putting it aside as well, not bothering with a coaster. I didn’t want to see Jen’s reaction when she found out.

I stretched my arms overhead and then crossed them, holding myself.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Kent reached between his side of the couch and the side table and pulled out the awful yellow blanket that had been in his school-aged bedroom longer than I had. As he shook it out a pillow fell out onto the floor. He tried to shove it back between couch quickly and offered the blanket to me. "Here ya go."

I leaned forward to make sure I saw what I thought I’d seen and then leaned back, my eyebrow raised, "Have you been sleeping on the couch?"

Kent grimaced as he picked up the Dew and took a drink.

"Yeah,” he said. He took one more drink and returned it to the table by the couch. His eyes were focused on the TV. If he wanted to avoid my questioning stares that was fine by me. I’d still get my answers.

I stared at the TV too and tried to remain casual, "Because you're just so tired when you come home or...?"

"Because Jen and I haven't slept in the same bed in over a month."

I was stunned. Firstly, because it was so easy to get that information out of him and secondly, because he had been sleeping on a couch for a whole month and hadn’t told me. I tried not to let my disbelief show. I busied myself by tucking the blanket around me.