eanwhile, just as Milo shut the hallway door, he turned to classmate who he had spent the entire semester working with. Felix, his presentation partner who had done, quite literally, all of the work on their final project. Milo had been eternally grateful and also knew full well that he was an asshole for putting that on Felix. 4000 level Spanish wasn't... exactly Milo's strong suit.

In fact, he wasn't really sure why he decided to take his professor up on transferring from the introductory course. He could get by on trips back to Mexico, and he may have been born there, but he wasn't raised there, by any means.

Felix, on the other hand, was fluent, handsome, and (unfortunately) crushing on Milo. He was Milo's chance at passing Spanish, so of course Milo had schmoozed him up a bit, bought him a couple coffees on their study dates, and maybe made out with him in the back of the lecture hall once, but they weren't in view of the security cameras so there was no evidence of that day ever happening.

Milo rubbed a hand over his mouth where Felix had kissed him. That motion was enough to slump Felix's shoulders.

"You know I like you," Milo whispered, quieter now, "and I really appreciate everything. I do. But I told you—I'm seeing someone else right now."

"That hasn't stopped you before—"

"That's because I had a problem before," Milo insisted. "I'm not going to do that to him."

"Him," Felix repeated, like this situation would have been better to cope with had Milo been talking about a girl. Felix looked away with a scoff and said, "Whatever. Hope the grade was worth it, then."

"I don't want us to be on bad terms, Felix," Milo insisted. "Not everything we do has to be a date. I still like you—"

"But not the way I like you," Felix said.

"Is there something wrong with being friends with a guy? Why can't we just be friends?" Milo demanded. He could see now why Lee was so repulsed by the idea of looking at everyone like a potential love interest in a goddamn romcom. Friends were just as meaningful, weren't they? And Milo realized now that he wanted that—he wanted that with every date he went on.

It just took Lee to realize it.

Milo tensed, his heart stuttering in his chest at the disgusted way Felix looked at him. "I can't be friends with you. Even if you can't respect me, respect that. Bye, Milo."

With that, Felix shoved past him and swung open the bedroom door.

Milo stared after Felix before at last putting a hand to his hair and thinking, Yeah, I deserved that. He perched his hands on his hips and sighed. In that same pose, he tipped back and collapsed onto Roland's comforter. He stared at the ceiling as the guilt from using Felix all semester ate him away into a husk that would surely be filled when Lee finished up at the gym. Their usual ab schedule pushed Lee's arrival time closer to eight, especially if Lee decided to shower afterwards. But, since he wouldn't have Milo as a distraction, perhaps Lee would arrive sooner than expected.

Milo perked up. He pushed up to his elbows and looked around the room for something to do in the meantime.

He started watching Netflix for a while, but thinking about Lee made him too giddy to function. It was a quarter to eight, which meant that Lee was probably leaving the gym now. He checked his phone for any notifications, but when it came up empty, he went ahead and snapped Lee the following message: "Hurry up I miss you :D" and laid it over a photo of his face.

He checked periodically for a reply as the clock ticked past eight and Lee didn't so much as open Milo's snap. Milo paused the show and got up, swinging his legs off of the bed and heading for the door.

He padded out in a pair of sandals since the frat house floorboards weren't exactly the cleanest. As he went, he tapped away a message to Lee. He was on the landing when the message screen glitched and kicked him to the main screen.

Lee's profile sprite turned grey.

"What the fuck," Milo said, hurrying down the remaining stairs. He lunged over the railing and skidded into the living room where Hayden was lounging with one of the sophomores on the team.

Hayden looked up, startled by Milo's explosive entrance. "Lee hasn't come by, has he?" Milo asked.

Hayden straightened a little, leaning over his knees as he said, "I thought he went up to Roland's room? That was, like, forty-five minutes ago, dude."

Milo stared at him. His hand tightened around his phone as he swallowed hard and looked back at Lee's greyed-out sprite. He'd seen it once before when his aunt decided that Snapchat just wasn't for her.

He deleted his Snapchat, Milo thought.

Forty-five minutes ago.

"Fuck—Hayden, did you see him leave?" Milo said, gesturing to the front door.

Hayden shook his head, eyes wide. Milo put a hand to his head and swore again, pivoting, and sprinting to the front door. He was on the stoop when he opened his phone contacts and realized one crucial detail: He and Lee never once swapped numbers. He flew down the steps, a back-up plan already in the making. If Lee wasn't staying with him, he still had two days at the dorms, which meant that he'd probably be figuring out a plan there in the meantime if he really didn't want to stay with Milo.

Milo wanted to punch himself for even letting Felix into Roland's room. He hadn't intended to, but that was where he kept Felix's rented textbook near the end of the semester. Considering the stunt Felix pulled on him, he didn't doubt just how terrible it looked.

He needed to fix this. From everything Lee said about his family, Milo didn't want him to go back home. Where was home, anyway? Milo would never be able to find him if it came to that.

As Milo cruised up to Manley Hall, he did so at the same time as a freshmen idly unlocking the dorm building door. Milo pushed faster, shouting, "Hold the door!" The girl startled with a shriek as Milo flew through the first set of doors and slipped past the door she held open. "Thanks—I owe you my life," Milo said, giving her shoulder a fast squeeze before high-tailing it to the tower elevator.

On the way, he passed the stairs.

Fuck it, he thought, and swung through the door and flew two steps at a time. It must have sounded like a rhinoceros stampeding through the dorm because when he made it to Lee's floor, the RA was out of his room saying, "Who the Hell's making all that racket?!"

Milo emerged, hardly out of breath, the door banging against the wall. The RA jumped in surprise—Milo recalled his name from all the stories Lee shared about him at the gym.

Milo reached for that beast of a man and grabbed him by the arms. "Dude, Ezra, I need your help."

"Don't 'dude' me, I don't know you," Ezra said, brushing Milo's hands off.

"I'm Lee's boyfriend," Milo said.

Ezra softened then and said, "Well, why didn'tchya say so? Start with that next time, yeah?"

Milo let out a relieved sigh. He glanced down the hallway to where Lee's room was. If Lee was in there, Milo doubted he'd open the door just for him at this point, and knocking repeatedly would just piss him off. "Do you know if Lee's come back yet?" he asked.

"Nah, said he's staying with a friend," Ezra said.

"Friend? Which friend?" Milo demanded.

Ezra raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. "Dunno. Figured it's my boy Rushil. Love that kid."

"Rushil! Fuck, yes, thank you so much," Milo gasped, flinging himself at Ezra. He latched onto the man and gave him a mighty squeeze before backing off and heading to the elevators. Ezra staggered, off balance and shocked by the rapid turn of events.

____

20:33 Dude what's Lee's number

20:33 ... Why...?

20:33 It's important

20:33 Please?

20:34 Dude I'm not giving you Lee's number

20:34 Imma ask if he wants me to give it out

20:34 NO

20:34 I mean fine it's whatever

20:35 😑

20:35 He says you can't have it

20:35 Plz Rushi Roll it's important D:

20:35 I have to explain something to him

20:38 I am Lee's official messenger owl

20:38 We have a contract

20:38 Yeah right D:

20:42 Image attached

20:42 Fuck okay wHATEVER

20:42 I didn't NEED YOU ANYWAY

20:55 Okay fine I lost my temper D: plz forgive me

21:02 RUSHIL ROLL D:

21:04 Is Lee with you??

21:06 No why?

21:06 You're so cryptic sometimes D: I can't stand it

21:08 I told you to stop fuck-boying Lee D:

21:08 I don't fuck boy Lee D:

21:08 Is that even a verb

21:09 IT IS NOW BECAUSE OF YOU D:

21:09 RUSHIL ROLL D: D: D:

21:10 D:

21:10 I'm sowy D:

21:11 Stop acting like a weeb D:

21:11 I sowwy ( >д

21:11 Jesus Christ

____

21:11 Tell me why Milo is acting like a toddler rn

21:11 I dunno I'm not his mom

21:11 I feel like you aren't telling me the whole story

21:11 Yeah, that I'm secretly Milo's long lost mom

21:11 😑

21:12 Fuck no I'm not hiding anything. I'll tell you at 3AM when my bus comes in

21:12 UGH

21:12 Just GIVE ME THE TEA

21:13 NO

21:13 COUGH IT UP, ASANO

21:14 NO!!

22:24 I am bored give me entertainment

22:25 You're telling me

22:26 What kind of entertainment

22:26 I have an idea

22:27 Is it saucy entertainment

22:27 If so I'm in

22:28 It's

22:28 Yeah?

22:28 THE TEA!!!!!!!!!

22:28 NOOOOOO

00:02 God I'm so ready for the beach

00:05 Are you sure your parents are okay with me staying over?

00:06 Idk I guess we'll find out

00:06 I'm sure they'll love you :D You're the reason I passed OChem

00:07 Bit too early to determine that lol

00:08 But yeah they'll be chill about it

00:08 As long as we don't share a bed ;P

00:08 😘

00:10 They might ask prying questions tho

00:10 I am very vocal about my daddy issues

00:10 Not that prying

00:11 O then nm

00:11 I'm talking, like...

00:12 Yeah?

00:12 Shit like...

00:12 The fuckin TEA, BITCH!

00:13 I'M NOT TELLIN THEM SHIT !!!!

____

At three in the morning, Lee stepped off the bus in San Diego and into the dry, dense heat of SoCal. He breathed it in and felt like his lungs were collapsing, but it was fine because there were palm trees. Palm trees made the grueling heat worth it, Lee thought, but then again, no amount of cardio could prepare him for the weight of winter in SoCal on his chest. He was prepared for sweater weather—not this.

Lee shouldered his backpack and duffle. He wandered over to the Greyhound facility doors and crossed the tiled flooring. The place was grimy and overall unpleasant, and after a bus ride spent festering in emotional turmoil, it was just about the most depressing place he could be. He drowned it, though, at the water fountain where he guzzled down a solid gallon of water before stepping back with a gasp, pushing the back of his hand over his mouth to dry it.

He checked his phone. Rushil had texted him to say that he was on his way with the family car—without the family. Lee could have praised the Lord. He was in no position to make a striking first impression on Rushil's family at that moment. In fact, he felt closer to bursting into tears.

Lee went to the restroom where he splashed cold water over his burning eyes. They felt tight and swollen even though he hadn't cried at all. It just felt like he'd been squeezed dry of every spec of moisture in his being to water the garden of his contempt.

His phone buzzed on the counter. He answered the call with a pathetic, "Hello?"

"God, I hope I don't sound as dead as you do right now," Rushil's voice hummed in his ear.

Lee laughed. He turned his back to the mirror and leant against the counter. "No, you sound fine, trust me. Where are you?"

"Pulling up out front. Look for the silver Morano suburban moms upgrade to when they retired their mini vans."

Lee hung up on him and left the restroom. He dried his face on a towel as he went to the front entrance and left, chucking the paper towel in the bin as he went. There, on the mostly deserted curb, was the silver vehicle Rushil described. Lee opened the back door and tossed his duffle in before joining Rushil in the front.

The car remained in park.

Lee sighed as he dropped in and slammed the door shut behind him. He propped his elbow up on the window ledge and rubbed a hand over his forehead. He could feel Rushil's eyes burning into him.

Lee sighed again and glanced at Rushil, who had one hand on the wheel, the other propped on the back of his seat, fully facing Lee. Lee cursed and looked away, a hand over his mouth. "If you were wearing sunglasses it'd look like you were a suburban mom dropping me off at the soccer field," he said, voice partly muffled by his hand.

When Rushil snorted, Lee smiled. He dropped his hands to his lap and shifted, grateful that the discomfort was gone. Rushil reached over and shoved him in the arm and said, "What the fuck happened, dude? How much was that fucking ticket anyway?"

"Like, fifty," Lee confessed. His heart ached at the thought of that fifty down the drain.

"Are you gonna tell me why or are you just gonna keep me hanging here?" Rushil said, and Lee didn't miss the bite in his voice. It was three AM and they had both just spent sleepless hours on a bus. He was emotional and Rushil was likely trying not to be terse with Lee for both of their sakes.

"I—" Lee started, voice wavering. He passed a hesitant look over Rushil and cursed, looking away out through the window. The Greyhound facility lights were on, glowing florescent and white across the pavement. It looked so fucking depressing—it made him want to give up holding back on his tears. "I've been seeing Park—I've been seeing... Milo for the past month."

Rushil said nothing as Lee caught his breath and explained, "I was supposed to spend Break at Sigma with him."

"Are you serious?" Rushil said, the shock widening his eyes and making Lee feel like he was stupid for agreeing to anything with Milo. "I'm—I mean, that's cool. But what... happened?"

Lee scoffed. Rushil laughed a little and tipped his head back against the driver's seat, facing him with a pitying look as Lee explained what he had heard and more or less witnessed in Roland's room just hours before. It felt good to rant about it, and with that off of his chest, he just felt hollow. The cotton in his head that was saturated with the grief of being betrayed started to dissolve.

Rushil sighed at the end of it and said, "Well, that explains it then. Milo's been texting me asking for your number."

Lee stared at him, heart stammering in his chest, and said, "You didn't give it to him, did you?"

Rushil snorted and said, "No, fuck no."

Lee sighed in relief. He put a hand to his forehead as if to keep his brain from sloshing out. "I was so stupid. I don't know why—? Why do people feel like they can fix their partners problems? I don't want to be responsible for that shit, you know?"

"Because we care about them," Rushil said. He shook his head and said, "It's fucked. We should be able to trust that people can change themselves without needing to be dragged around on a leash."

"Yeah," Lee whispered, eyes on his lap. "So I'm just feeling... stupid right now."

"You aren't stupid."

"I'm not book stupid. I'm street stupid," he sighed.

Rushil reached over and ruffled Lee's freshly washed hair. Lee smiled softly and was surprised when it didn't feel strained. Rushil turned to the wheel then and started up the car. "Well, lesson learned and you're one step closer to street smart."

Rushil peeled away from the curb. Lee buckled up as the air conditioning started up and reminded him that it was hot and summery here in San Diego with his best friend.