The familiar way in which Riley entered the apartment slightly bothered Eran. He wanted to hit Riley for being so stupid as to get in another fight but told himself to calm down. It wouldn't do any good being anything but silent or sympathetic for now, he decided.

"Come wash your hands and face," he told Riley, walking towards the bathroom.

As Riley cleaned up, Eran dug around for his first aid kit. He pulled out various packages of ointments, reading the labels to figure out which one of them was useful. Antiseptic only is should be good enough for his lip, right? Or should I use this ointment too so it doesn't scar? Eran looked at Riley's lip, but it was only a few seconds before his view was blocked; Riley had spread a towel onto his own face. There was a moment of confused, awkward silence. What is he— Still covering his face with the towel, the peculiar teen walked into the main room and sat in a chair at the kitchen table.

"When did those expire?" Riley asked Eran, uncovering only his eyes.

Eran situated a chair in front of Riley. "They aren't open and they probably haven't yet."

"Shouldn't you be more vigilant as a bacteriologist."

"You know that's not what it's called, right?"

Riley said nothing, and his eyes expressed nothing. He knows. Does he act like this with everyone?

Riley removed the towel from his face and held out his hand.

"What?"

"I need to use something, right?"

Eran stared at him and blinked twice. "Just stay still," he muttered, dipping a sterile swab into some liquid. He pressed hard onto Riley's cut.

"Ahhh—ow." Riley pulled back and glared at Eran.

"Dumbass. Why were you fighting?"

Riley paused for a couple of seconds and then shrugged with a smile.

I really don't understand why he's fighting. It's something he doesn't want me to know. Is it embarrassing? Does it deal with where he lives? Or his family situation? Or is he using that smart tongue with classmates too?

"How did you find me?"

"I heard your stupid laugh."

Riley chuckled.

Eran dabbed at Riley's lip gently. "The first time I saw you at the station, they said the others were worse than you."

"I don't beat people up. I just defend myself."

"You didn't 'defend' yourself today... You're not a complete idiot." Eran finished and started to clean up the packaging. "Please try to avoid fighting."

"I was," Riley defended himself softly. "Since you told me," Riley shifted his eyes, "I was."

Eran tried to search Riley's face. Eh... I believe him. I don't know why, but I trust he's not lying.

Eran stood up. "I'm going back to the lab." He flipped through his briefcase making sure he had all the documents he needed. "That door's my bedroom, to ruin your curiosity. You can watch TV, read," Eran looked towards the kitchen. "There's probably nothing in there..."

"Wait, wait," Riley interrupted. "Huh? You're leaving me here? Are you sure? I might steal something."

Whether a test of trust or a joke, the warning amused Eran and he couldn't help but smirk. "I'll be back in time for dinner."

As Eran left the apartment, he didn't hear a word or sound from Riley. Outside of the door, he himself let out a laugh. That's hilarious. What a cute, stupid kid if he thinks at this point I'd consider him trying to steal something from me. Ah, that's too funny.

Once in the lab's building, Eran realized he had spent the drive to campus mostly thinking up theories as to what Riley's secrets may be. He'd forgotten why he'd come to the lab.

"Fashionably late," Eran's closest colleague, Elias, greeted while coming from behind him in the long hallway, with a thermos of coffee in hand.

"Oh." Eran remembered he had called Elias earlier to tell him he was coming to the lab to record data he'd forgotten. He was on his way to the convenience store to get Elias coffee as thanks for getting a start on the data for him... until he encountered Riley.

"As you see, I had to get the shitty coffee from the bio-chem lounge." Elias and Eran got along probably because Elias had such a calm, dull, apathetic demeanor that Eran could easily identify with. They went to different high schools but ran into each other at conferences and fairs. While Bubba was busy with his family, Eran attended prep school—mainly just to escape home. Coincidentally, Elias had enrolled as well. They both got scholarships to the same university and department. Back then and now, Elias wasn't bad company—though they never met outside of school-related activities or events.

I wonder... should I tell him about Riley? I can leave out some details... Like how and—Eran's mind froze for a second—why...we met.

So as they returned to the lab and started setting up, Eran told Elias that he met a kid who stole his wallet, used his info to get out of the police station—twice—and was caught in a fight again.

"So, do you think he's still there at your apartment?"

"I don't know. I feel like he's maturing a bit."

"I'm not sure if it's maturing, so much as he's trusting you."

For some reason, Eran felt his heart palpitate and his body warm.

"Does he remind..." Elias stopped short and looked at Eran's expression that seemed to start to daze. "Nevermind."

Subconsciously, Eran used a mechanism of repeating Riley's name in his head over and over again. Riley Riley Riley Riley Riley Riley Riley Riley Riley. He forced every image and memory of the young man who was maybe waiting for him at his apartment into his brain. He has a stupid look on his face but looks best when he smiles. He has a manipulative, sarcastic tongue, and he is probably much more mature and smarter than he lets on. Eran stared at the chart of data in front of him. "I want to go home." He didn't realize he'd said the thought aloud under his breath, let alone even thought it.

"This will be interesting."

Eran looked up at Elias and noticed the corner of his mouth twitching. He's... is he smiling? "What?" Eran narrowed his eyes in confusion. He almost never smiles.

"Let's get this data finished quickly so you can make sure you don't return to a bare apartment."

Bare of humans or possessions?

When Eran returned home, he felt relieved to hear the television on. But once he got to the entryway of the living room, he stopped in his steps. What the hell?

Riley was lounging shamelessly with his feet on the coffee table and an open box of cereal sitting in his lap.

"Welcome home," Riley greeted in the most strangely natural way that Eran's mind froze; he had no clue what to think.