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They didn’t talk about the night after Homecoming the way they didn’t talk about that night when Hollis had spent time learning how to get Walt out of him.

It was too much, it needed time to breathe.

Instead, Hollis bickered with Walt as they did the laundry, washed the dishes, and mopped the floor. Mr. and Mrs. Brown came back Sunday night to a clean house.

Annie hadn’t texted them since Saturday night, but Hollis wasn’t worried. He’d hear the music Monday morning; this experience wasn’t new.

As the sun went down and it got closer to bedtime, Hollis could feel Walt getting nervous. He nearly spilled their water at dinner, and Hollis caught their cup at the last second. The upstairs-neighbor noises were relentless.

Walt waited for Hollis to overwhelm him again. To ask for it or do it unannounced, and it only made Hollis want to swoon and sigh. Made him want to use their face to grin.

And he didn’t, because he could.