Page 155 of Something Like Hail

“I understand,” Noah saidas he sat up. “I’ll sleep on the floor in the living room. You takethe bed.”

“Too late!” Felix said,shutting the door behind him and locking it. “The burglars havebroken in. Appa is our last hope. We better stay in here untilmorning.”

Noah grinned. “Then I guess you better getover here so I can protect you. Just in case they break down thedoor.”

“Good idea,” Felix said,hurrying over.

“Uh, you might want toleave your clothes on,” Noah said a minute later. “What if we haveto make a run for it?”

“They’ll have a harder timecatching us if we’re nude,” Felix said, tossing aside his shirt andworking on his jeans. “This way there’s less clothes they can snaghold of. Are you…”

“Ready to run naked downthe street?” Noah threw the covers open. “What do youthink?”

“The underwear needs togo,” Felix said critically.

“Yours first,” Noahretorted, but then he grabbed and pulled him into bed to do thedeed himself. Felix yelped and laughed during this, occasionallysilenced by a kiss. After enough wrestling, and once they were bothcompletely undressed, he scooted close to Felix, pressing theirbodies together chest to chest, stomach to stomach. Noah rolledover onto his back, clinging to the most precious treasure he hadever discovered and swearing to never let go again. Not so long ashe had the strength in his body or the will in hisheart.

Epilogue

“It’s official. I’m singleagain.”

Noah turned around in his office chair. Theextra bedroom with its blank walls had been transformed over theprevious months. Shelves were grouped in pairs, each with differentdisplays and themes. On a good day, Noah had little troubleidentifying what action figures belonged to which franchise, orwhat books were manga and meant to be read from back to frontversus the rows of Western graphic novels, which were colorful andnot as confusing to him. Enough free space still remained for thedesk where he sat and a couple of chairs off to each side, for whenhe had visitors. Such as now. Standing in the middle of the roomwas Harold, his partner, his colleague, his friend.

At times—usually, in fact—this seemed to beenough. He and Harold worked well together. Awkward moments or anysort of tension between them was nonexistent. Almost. Judging fromthe emotion in Harold’s eyes, they might be due for a relapse.

“You and Ruben?” Noahasked.

Harold nodded, but before he could say more,someone else bounced into the room. The dyed hair had grown out,only the tips remaining blue. The rest of Felix’s hair was shiny,black, and worn loose these days—no product—since Noah liked beingable to run his fingers through it.

“I’m saying goodbye!” Felixdeclared. He spotted Harold, who was over often enough that neitherof them were surprised to see each other. They got along just finetoo. Felix hugged Harold in greeting, then skipped over to whereNoah sat to give him a quick smooch. “I’ve got class right afterwork, so no doggie bags. Unless you want fish that has been stuckin a hot car all afternoon.”

“I’ll pass,” Noah said witha chuckle. He appreciated how many meals Felix brought home fromwork these days. Money was a lot tighter than it had been. “Willyou be late?”

“Probably,” Felix admitted.“Darli texted to say that Mom misses me, which is code for mysister wanting to hang out. She’s just too cool to admit it. Ithought I’d swing by after class and let them pamper me. Do youwant to come along?”

Noah glanced over at his laptop. “I’ve got alot of work to do. Free-for-all?”

“Free-for-all,” Felixrepeated, offering him a fist bump.

Noah complied, then watched him leave theroom, unable to force down his grin.

“Free-for-all?” Haroldasked from one of the side chairs. “Are you guys part of some sortof fight club?”

Noah laughed. “That’s just what we call itwhen we each get to do whatever we want.”

“Cute,” Harold said. Heseemed to mean it too. “You guys remind me of the first guy I datedin high school. He was my fairy-tale prince. Or king, I guess Ishould say, since this was junior year.”

“When you were prom king?”Noah asked. “Your boyfriend was too?”

Harold grinned. “It was a very good year forme.”

“I can imagine!”

“Not just because of prom.Everything was perfect and sweet. The first date, the first kiss,and especially the first time. Everyone should have that. When youget stuck in a crappy relationship, it’s good to be reminded of howlove is supposed to be.”

“Surely you don’t meanRuben.”

“No,” Harold said, shakinghis head. “He was one of the better ones.”