Page 127 of Paint Our Song

Six Months After

“Wow! Great place!” Chase makes his way inside the three-bedroom apartment, bags of chips and soda in his arms. He drops them on the dining table. Gil’s there as well, marveling at their open kitchen layout and new, sleek furniture.

Calvin squints at them from where he’s sitting on the couch. “Why are you here?”

“Housewarming. Duh.” Chase hops over one of the many unopened boxes that are still scattered all over the apartment.

Miles laughs at Calvin’s bewildered expression. He rubs the small of his back as he sits beside him, squeezing himself between the armrest and Calvin.

“Nice place.” Gil’s hair is longer than when Miles last saw it. “Chase said you knew we were coming over.”

“We did not.” Calvin moves a throw pillow out of the way. “Make yourself at home.”

Chase calls from down the hall, “Fuck! Gil! They have a recording studio! And this other room’s an art studio! Check it out!”

“I’ll take your word for it!” Gil yells after him, and Miles gets a strange amount of pride because Chase likes their new apartment. Shaking his head fondly, Gil asks Calvin, “How’s the music camp you taught in?”

“Not bad. It was fun,” Calvin says, as succinctly as possible, as if Miles hasn’t seen him give a blow-by-blow account of exactly how much he enjoyed it. “Were you interested? I don’t think they’re going to have another one until the holidays.”

“Nah. I was actually trying to gauge if you’re down to make songs with us again.”

Calvin smirks. “You could’ve outright asked.”

“Well?”

“Sure,” Calvin says with a slight shrug, and Miles lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. When Calvin shoots him a look, Miles wipes off the giddy look on his face and leans in to kiss him on the cheek. “What’s that for?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Miles says, and Gil huffs a laugh.

When Chase returns to the living room, he’s holding one of Calvin’s many guitars. Calvin frowns but ends up not complaining about it, even when Chase starts tuning it.

“Nice place, by the way,” Chase says.

Miles grins. “Thanks!”

It simply made sense to get a place together after six months ofthe best time of Miles’s life. Miles hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it for a while now—a place in Ridgeford, with rooms they could make into their studios. A nagging feeling told him that it was still too soon, but he asked, anyway. Calvin had smiled so wide that Miles had to take a moment to calm his heart down.

They had moved in the day before, and there were still unopened boxes everywhere. The first things they unpacked were Miles’s art materials and Calvin’s equipment. Miles was pretty happy that they were able to find an apartment in Ridgeford, close to the inn, so that he could help out whenever needed. They were supposed to finish unpacking last night, but they got distracted. Calvin sprawled underneath him on the floor of the art studio, hands tight in his hair, making them forget they had actual things to do. They tried unpacking again this morning, but only ended up with their mouths on each other—in the recording studio, this time.

“Has your mom seen your new place yet?” Gil asks Miles.

“Nope. She’s in Australia.”

“Wow, she’s really been traveling all over the world, huh?”

“Yup!” Miles beams. She has, and Miles couldn’t be happier for her. Even if she enjoys calling him at the oddest times of the night just to talk about what she did that day.

“How’s Gabby managing now that she’s in charge of the inn?”

“She’s doing great, absolutely perfect for the job.” He turns to Calvin. “Which reminds me, Gabby’s also coming over.”

“That’s okay. I like Gabby.” He narrows his eyes at Chase and smirks. “Shecan come over any time.”

Chase glares at Calvin and strums the guitar in a loud, obnoxiousway. “Hey, I haven’t received the invite to Cassidy’s wedding.”

“Oh. I have it.” Miles stares at the unopened boxes. “… Somewhere.”

“Cool, because I’m rehearsing for when they ask if anyone wants to stop the wedding.”