“Yeah, it’s okay, though. My friends have been very understanding while I get back on my feet. You’ll see when you meet them. They’re nice—”

I open the apartment door, only to find that no one is in the living room.

Desperation creeps into my voice.

“Hello?” I call out, hoping Val and Kiara are in their bedroom.

But no one answers. Not even Burrito. Celeste and I are completely alone.

“Fuck,” I say underneath my breath.

Behind me, I hear Celeste slip into the apartment, but I don’t look at her. Instead, I check my phone and see two message notifications from the group chat with my friends.

Off to take Burrito for his annual vet visit! Kiara says.

He didn’t pull off a jailbreak, so don’t worry, Val adds.

Both texts were received thirty minutes ago, before Celeste and I even left the coffeeshop. Only, I’d been too distracted by Celeste—and too overwhelmed—to take my eyes off her long enough to check my phone. I’m embarrassed that I hadn’t even thought to look.

To her credit, Celeste doesn’t say anything. She walks past me to sit on Clementine, and I get the weird feeling of my two worlds merging, like the one I used to get as a kid when I spotted a teacher at Costco. Even though I’m the one that invited Celeste into the apartment, my brain still feels like it’s short-circuiting.

Kiara and Val didn’t yet exist in my life when I met Celeste. And Celeste had long disappeared by the time I’d met my friends. And yet here she is now, quietly checking her phone on Kiara’s sofa. I can tell she’s patiently waiting for me, too polite to comment on the awkward situation I’ve put us in.

I turn around and face my box of belongings so my back is to Celeste. “Let me change really quick, and then I’ll find a clean shirt for you.”

I grab another dress for myself and dash into the bathroom. With the door safely closed behind me, I stand with my back pressed against the wooden surface and let out a slow breath. After a few more quiet inhales and exhales, I change into the dry dress and come back out into the living room.

Celeste looks up from her phone. “Hi,” she says with a small smile.

“Hi,” I reply before whipping back around again.

I search through my things for a shirt that’ll fit Celeste. My clothes all seem too small for her, probably since she’s taller and has wider shoulders.

I know I have a bigger shirt somewhere. I just have to find it.

“Anything will do,” she says after I fling a fourth shirt behind my shoulder. “Or I can wash my shirt here and dry it if it’s okay—”