The drive back to Rosemarie's house was torturously silent, but once he'd pulled into the garage, neither of them immediately moved to leave the car.

"I'm dating David," Louis said. Rosemarie's face was drawn and she stared straight out the window.

"I'm happy for you. David is a good kid," she said in a measured tone.

Louis let out an exasperated sigh, hands falling from the steering wheel. “I know you aren’t, really. And I know you don’t approve of me sleeping with other men, but I wish you’d at least try to be happy for me. I really like him.”

“I know you like him,” she said stiffly. “I like him too.”

“You just wish I only liked him as a friend,” Louis guessed.

“It’s not that,” she said, hesitantly, “I’m just not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Right, because he’s a man,” Louis said, all his frustration making him want to lash out, to get some sort of honest reaction from her. He turned in his seat, unclipping his seatbelt to face her fully.

"Not because of that," she said. "It would have made it easier for you if he weren't, but you're a grown man. You can make your own decisions about that."

“About being gay, you mean?” Louis said.

Rosemarie gave him an irritated look and for once Louis didn’t care how small and frail she looked sitting in the seat next to him. He wanted her to understand, he wanted her to accept it, he wanted her to just fucking acknowledge it. He just wanted something real from her, something that meant that she really understood, that she saw him.

“Louis, stop being difficult,” she said, meeting his gaze with answering frustration. “There are plenty of reasons that you should think about this before getting involved with David that have nothing to do with your inclinations.”

Louis ground his teeth. “Such as?”

"Such as the fact that you are colleagues. Such as the fact that you're friends. Such as the fact that you are planning on leaving Midtown and the show when I'm gone," she snapped, counting off each point on her fingers.

Louis winced. "You don't think I've considered those things?" he retorted, though even he had to admit that his interest in David didn't skew towards being particularly rational. Those considerations were peripheral when faced with how much he just wanted to be with David.

“Even if you have considered those factors, is it the same for David? He didn’t seem interested in being more than friends when I spoke to him.”

Ice cut through Louis's veins. “You talked to him?” Louis demanded. “When?”

“Before the party,” she said. “And don’t you dare look at me like that. We were just talking.”

Was that why David was so hesitant? Had Rosemarie given the impression that she disapproved, or that it wasn't a good idea?

The thought of her talking to David about their relationship when she wouldn't even talk to Louis about it irked him. There were so many things she could have said, and so many things that she had learned to say without actually saying anything. That felt like an odd sort of betrayal—if she was going to disapprove, he wished she'd just do it to his face.

“Why do you always have to meddle in everything?” Louis said to hide the way his eyes were starting to sting.

“I wasn’t meddling! We were talking," she shot back. "And I don’t have to explain myself to you, Louis.”

It was more than he could handle. "Fine," he ground out, slamming the door after him and walking straight into the house. He wanted to lock himself in his room until he had a chance to cool off, but Rosemarie didn't seem ready to let it go. She stormed in after him.

“I don’t know why you are so upset,” Rosemarie said. "I haven't said anything against your relationship, I only said you should think it through!"

“I’m upset because you never said anything," Louis said, spinning on her. "You never say anything. You never talk to me about any of this. You went behind my back to talk to my friend about it before you ever talked to me."

“We weren’t—” she said, then trailed off when she caught the look on Louis's face.

"I'm going to ask him to come back to Weldstone Harbor with me next week," Louis said, tone almost defiant.

"You're leaving next week?" her tone was so surprised that Louis finally looked at her. She had gone a little pale and the resigned hurt in her eyes was enough to cut the anger right out of him.

He sucked in a breath and ran both hands over his head, closing his eyes until he felt his calm returning.

"No, of course not," he said, then shook his head. "Or, yes, but I'll be back. I'm attending Avery's wedding, remember?"

"Oh, of course," she said, though she still sounded hesitant.

None of this was fair. He wanted to stay mad at her, but how could he stay mad at her when he didn't know how much longer he would have her.

He took a hesitant step forward, eyes on the ground between them. Her expression softened and she opened her arms. Louis gave in immediately, wrapping his arms around her and burying his nose in her shoulder, seeking that particular kind of comfort he couldn't get anywhere else.

One thin arm rubbed up and down against his back while the other pressed his head more firmly to her shoulder as though he were still a child. Louis inhaled the scent of chemicals and roses that clung to her skin and wished that he could go back to a time when all of this was straight forward.

“I’m sorry for yelling,” Louis mumbled.

Rosemarie just rocked them gently back and forth for a moment.

“Do you love him, Lou?” she whispered against his ear, her fingers smoothing over his hair.

“I don’t know,” Louis said softly. “But I think I could.”

She gave a soft hum of acknowledgement before it turned into something else. It had been a long time since she’d sung to him, but the hum turned into a soft melody.

Louis closed his eyes and just stood there at the garage door, listening and trying to commit everything about this feeling to his memory.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that before Rosemarie pulled away from him, though her hand lingered on the side of his face.

“I need to sit down,” she said, almost apologetically.

Louis stomach clenched at the drawn look on her face. She had started the day with such enthusiasm that he felt especially guilty for making her look like this now.

“All right,” Louis said, following her up to the living room. “I’ll make something for dinner.”

“I want to talk to you first,” she said, catching his hand before he could turn away. "I want to talk about you and David. Really talk."

Louis wasn't sure he was ready to have any kind of conversation, let alone this conversation. But hadn't her silence been the thing that hurt the most? Maybe it was time to get it out in the open once and for all. Louis sat down beside her and nodded, even though he couldn't bring himself to look at anything but his hands where they rested in his lap.

“Lou,” Rosemarie began slowly, "I know that I'm not good at this, but more than anything, I love you. You know that, right? That I'll always love you?"

Louis swallowed and met her eyes. "I know. I love you, too."

She nodded before continuing. "I don’t understand it—not why you like boys or why you want to pursue David.”

“You think I do?” Louis cut in. “I know all of the reasons that I shouldn’t, believe me. But I still want to. I still want him.”

“What will happen if it doesn’t work out? I know that his friendship is important to you, too. I've never seen you share so much of yourself with a friend before. And I'm afraid for you. I don't want you to lose that kind of friendship if dating him doesn't work out."

Louis closed his eyes, trying to ignore how much it hurt to hear Rosemarie ask that. It hurt all the more because Louis had been asking himself the same question. What if it didn't work out? What would he do then? Could he still have David in his life or would he lose him completely?

“I know,” he said, voice thick. “But I can’t keep dancing around this with him. I can’t watch him and not want more with him. I need to find out one way or the other and hope that if it doesn’t work, he’ll forgive me.”

Louis pressed the tips of his fingers into his eyes, taking a moment to just breathe.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said softly.

Louis looked at her then. She was sitting with her feet curled up under her. Louis was struck again by how small she had become. Once such a full-figured woman, she seemed to have melted with the chemo. Her long brown curls had slowly fallen out until enough was gone that Rosemarie had asked him to shave the rest off. She had chatted happily the entire time he had cut her hair, but he had heard her sobbing once she got to her room. Remembering it made Louis's throat tighten.

What was he doing?

None of this was the right timing. It wasn't the right time for this conversation. It wasn't the right time to date. It wasn't the right time to get involved with the man he could credibly call his best friend. His stomach twisted.

Maybe Rosemarie was right and he was just making a mess of things. David could do better than Louis, and he doubtless would once he got out into the world more. Everyone had warned him not to get too invested—what he and David had was an experiment. If neither of them got serious, neither of them would get hurt.

Much.

“I won't get hurt," he assured her. "I know what I'm getting into.”

She frowned at him like she knew that was a lie, but it was a lie she wanted to hear, so she let it drop.

“I’m not very hungry,” Rosemarie said. “I think that I’m just going to go to bed.”

“You should eat something,” Louis said, standing to at least get her a nutritional shake in the gross strawberry flavor she preferred. She accepted it, but as soon as she’d drunk half, she excused herself to bed.

“I love you, Lou,” she said before disappearing through her door.

“Love you, too,” Louis returned, sitting down heavily on the couch. He leaned his head back against the cushion and checked his phone.

David still hadn’t texted him or called.

They had left off in a really weird place this afternoon and Louis still wasn’t sure what had gone wrong. David had seemed off after the movie—as though he was nervous around Louis. Or as though he didn't want to be around Louis anymore.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It wouldn't have been such a strange reaction except that David hadn't behaved like this at all when Louis had kissed him the first time. He wasn't sure what was different now.

Louis wondered again if he had pressured him. Especially given that he'd been drinking. Had David thought better of it but was too nice to tell him to fuck off?

Louis hoped not. When David had kissed him that morning it hadn't seemed like he wanted to end things. But even if he did, Louis wouldn’t stop him. He knew from the beginning that David might not be attracted to him like that and he'd accepted it.

No matter what, though, he felt he should make it clear to David that he was allowed to end it. That Louis certainly wasn’t going to be bitter about it. He had gone into this knowing exactly what he was getting into.

Louis picked up his phone, finger hovering over David's chat log for a moment, then pocketed it. He really didn’t want to text something like this, and if he called there was room to be both overheard and misunderstood. What he really wanted was to talk to David in person. To see him.

He hesitated for a moment longer then left a note on the kitchen counter that he was going for a drive. It was only half a lie and he couldn’t bring himself to say that he was going to see David even if he suspected Rosemarie would know.

The road was quiet and the drive only took thirteen minutes. It was only after he'd pulled into the parking lot that, he had any second thoughts.

If David was trying to avoid him, shouldn’t he respect that? Maybe a phone call was better. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, fumbling it in surprise when it started ringing.

He let out a disbelieving breath of laughter as he checked the caller ID and put it to his ear.

“I’m sorry,” David said in a rush.

Louis's stomach dropped, but he'd been prepared for this.

"Hello, to you, too, David."

*****

David let out a self-deprecating chuckle and started again.

"Oh, right, sorry, hi," David said.

Louis had answered, at least. That had to be a good sign. He wished that he could see Louis's expression though, just so he knew if he was angry about today or not. There was an awkward pause before David collected himself.

“Right. Louis,” David said, then wasn’t sure how to continue. “Sorry. About today.”

“You didn't do anything to apologize for,” Louis said, then let out a breath. “Actually, I think I should apologize. I didn’t mean to pressure you.”

That wasn't what he had expected. David frowned. "What do you mean? You didn't pressure me."

David had been the one to kiss Louis earlier? And force him into a friend date?

"To go out with me," Louis clarified.

David was being weird, just like Jennifer said, and Louis had noticed. David groaned flopping back on the bed.

“No. You didn't. That’s not it," David said, then wasn't sure exactly how to explain.

"Then what is it?" Louis asked carefully. "You don't have to..." Louis paused, then rephrased his sentence. "You can tell me the truth."

"It is the truth. I just got nervous,” David admitted. That wasn't all of it, but he didn't know how to explain it. “I don't think I can explain properly over the phone. I need to see you.”

Louis chuckled. “I understand completely.” There was a pause, then, “Come downstairs?”

“What?”

“Come downstairs. I’m outside.”

“What? Why? Why didn't you start with that?” David asked, already out of bed and throwing on a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie.

“David.”

He didn’t bother hanging up, instead choosing to listen to the quiet sound of Louis's breathing as he bolted down the stairs, wincing as he realized that he was probably waking up all of the neighbors. He tiptoed more quietly out the door.

David still had the phone stuck to his ear when he saw Louis. He was wearing the same thing he was earlier, but David noticed again, how ethereal he looked in the moonlight. Louis moved his own phone from his ear and pocketed it. It took David a little longer to do the same, only to realize his sweat pants didn’t have pockets and put it bashfully in his hoodie instead.

“Hey,” David said.

Louis raised an eyebrow as David approached, coming to stand awkwardly in front of him, his hands still in his pockets.

“Hey,” Louis mimicked.

David licked his lips, trying for the life of him to remember what it was that he wanted to say. Now that Louis was here, he kind of just wanted to kiss him again.

"I should have called before showing up,” Louis said, “but I had something important to talk to you about. And I wanted to see you."

Louis's expression was soft and fond in a way that made David fidget.

"I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me, though,” Louis continued and David realized just how ridiculous he was being.

"Sorry," David muttered again, grimacing. He hated that he'd made Louis feel that way. "I know I was being weird, but it's not that I didn't want to see you. I always want to see you. To a ridiculous extend, really. I just started overthinking things."

Louis was quiet for a moment before he leaned back agains this car, arms folded across his chest in that way that looked casual only if you were a model. Luckily for Louis, he was basically a model.

"What were you thinking about?" Louis asked.

Of course he would ask. David gave a half-shrug, feeling embarrassed, but answered anyway. "I started wondering if it was a good idea," he started, then shook his head. That wasn't really the point. "Even if it isn't, I don't think I care—not as much as I probably should. Not that I think you're not a good idea, just, I'm not sure that this is a good idea." He gestured between them, then shook his head again. "But that's not the point. The point is that I don't know what I'm doing. That's what I was thinking. And then I got nervous. And then I made things weird."

Louis studied him for long enough that David shifted uncomfortably, then ducked his head with a chuckle, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Sorry. I'm a mess. Like I said, I don't know what I'm doing."

“There’s no rulebook,” Louis said at last, his tone almost teasing. "And I don't mind the mess."

David snorted.

Louis gave him a slow smile, then stepped closer, unfolding his arms to cup David’s neck with a warm hand. David leaned into the touch. “You should do whatever you want to do, David," he said, his eyes so dark and intent as they searched David's. "I want help you figure it out, so you can explore all you want. You don't need to be nervous about it. And if you want to end it, you can do that, too.”

His hand started to drop from his neck and David reached up to catch it, keeping it pressed snug against his skin. Something in Louis's expression shifted in a way that made David's heart pound. He tried to keep his breath steady even as his eyes drifted down to Louis's lips.

“I don’t want to end it,” David said. Of that, he was certain. Right now, not a single thought he had was about ending it.

He forced his gaze up to meet Louis's and he was certain that Louis wanted to kiss him, too. Still, he made no move to do so, seemingly content—unfairly, in David's opinion—to let David make the move. David swallowed. This seemed different than the kiss this morning. That had been impulsive. He'd just seen Louis and he'd wanted to kiss him so he had done so without giving it a second thought.

Right now, there was too much room for thought. His breathing felt unsteady as he shuffled a little closer. He didn't know exactly what to do, but Louis had said he could explore all he wanted.

The next thing he registered was the way Louis's lips tasted like mint chapstick so strong that it almost burned. David's hands took the invitation to heart, running up and down Louis's chest, brushing open the flaps of his bomber jacket, and catching on the buttons of his shirt. Louis made a pleased sound, and brought his other hand up to settle on David's lower back, the unexpected heat of it making David gasp a little into Louis's mouth.

The air felt chilly against the flush of his skin, but every place that Louis touched seemed to burn with fever. David stepped even closer, pressing himself into Louis, until they were as close as he could get them, pressed together from hip to chest. Somehow, even that wasn't enough. David let out a frustrated noise and wrapped one arm up around Louis's neck, wanting him even closer.

Almost as soon as he'd had the thought, Louis was surging forward, knocking David off balance and spinning their bodies until David was the one pressed back up against the car, the on David's back moving to grip his hip almost too tightly. David felt unmoored. He was certain he would have slid to the ground if not for the knee pressed between his legs and Louis's weight pinning him to the car. A shiver ran through him and his hand scrabbled at Louis's hair, making an approving sound into his mouth.

"Louis," David said, just to say his name. His voice sounded breathless and rough.

"David," Louis returned, nipping down David's jaw until he was pressing frustratingly gentle kisses into his neck. David tipped his head to the side, wanting more of that.

A car door slammed somewhere in the distance and David jumped so hard that he nearly unbalanced them both. Louis pulled back, a mischievous grin on his face that David was tempted to trace with his fingers and then probably his lips.

“You don't seem so nervous now," Louis teased. "Apparently vampires don’t burn up in the sun, they just get flighty.” A shiver shot up his spine as Louis's hands ran up and down his sides in a way that made his sweatshirt ride up a couple inches to expose a sliver of skin to the cool air.

“Shut up," David groused, though it was ruined by a stuttering inhale as Louis's fingers dipped under his sweatshirt to skim over his hips and stomach. "Besides, aren't I a werewolf, now?" His eyes fluttered. It was very hard to concentrate with Louis's hands doing that. "I'll come up with an appropriate quip about full moons when you're not distracting me."

Louis chuckled deep in his chest and David gave him an exaggerated frown of disapproval before pulling him back down to kiss him again.

Everything about kissing Louis was amazing. He was all heat and hard, demanding pressure against David. It was unexpectedly satisfying to be pressed between Louis and the car, too. David wondered, briefly, if they should move somewhere more private, but he couldn't pull himself away long enough to voice the question. Next time Louis pulled back, David reasoned, he would ask him up to his room to keep making out.

Just then, though, Louis's stomach let out a growl. David gave a startled laugh against Louis's lips, then had to break off the kiss as he was caught in a fit of giggles.

“Am I that tasty?" he asked, biting his lip.

“I forgot to eat dinner,” Louis said, shrugging nonchalantly, though David could see the slight flush across his cheeks. Cute.

David snorted, then leaned in again to kiss him—just a quick one. Or one more, actually. Okay, this was the last one.

David pulled back again, hands moving to rest on either side of Louis's face, just so he could rub his thumbs over those flushed cheekbones.

“Pancakes?” David asked, unable to stop grinning.

Louis sighed, but nodded, hunger seeming to override his scorn for breakfast foods.

“It's not my fault there’s only one 24-hour restaurant within a reasonable driving distance.”

“Pancakes are overrated,” Louis said.

David scoffed, then made a whiny noise when Louis stood, pulling David to his feet.

"Now it's cold," he complained. Louis rolled his eyes, then took off his jacket and slung it around David.

It was completely unnecessary but David put it on anyway, enjoying the smell of leather and Louis.

"I'm wearing Crocs," David warned, scuffing one foot against Louis's to draw the appropriate attention to the bright yellow Crocs he'd thrown on to get down here. "You sure you want to be seen in public with me?" He was also wearing sweats that were old enough to be relegated to pajama status.

Louis raised a bemused eyebrow and shook his head. "Just get in the car, David," he said, giving him an affectionate shove.

David laughed and climbed into the car.

*****

The Green Goose Diner was run by a man called Mac who never seemed to sleep—perhaps he was a vampire. It was a tiny little trailer on the corner of two roads which both led to dead ends.

David ordered a stack of pancakes that was almost as tall as him and Louis got an omelette—half egg-whites—because he had no sense of adventure.

“When do you go back to Weldstone Harbor?” Louis asked when they were half-way through their meal.

David frowned, glancing down at his phone to check the date.

“The eleventh,” David said, feeling suddenly disappointed that he was going to be away from Louis for so long. They had just started this—Dating? Going out?—after all. How hard would it be to keep a long-distance relationship going when it was so new?

Honestly, David wasn't sure about any of the customs or expectations now that they were dating. Was he allowed to keep texting Louis in the middle of the night with every errant thought, or was there some protocol he should follow?

Though Louis had told him to do whatever he wanted, there had to be some kind of balance. David wanted to know what Louis wanted, too. Especially since David thought that, even if he didn't want exactly what Louis wanted, at least not in the same way, he might still want to try it.

The last two days, David had come to realize that he absolutely did like kissing—at least, he liked kissing Louis. A lot. And having Louis pressed up against him as they made out was also pleasant. Maybe it wasn't really sexy like he'd always read about in books, but it had felt good and David still wanted more of it.

What else might feel good? How far could he go for Louis? The idea was a little nerve-racking, but didn't seem as out of the question as it had before, either.

“You only have a few days off,” Louis said, thoughtfully.

It was true. David gave him a sullen shrug, a little put out that he wasn't going to be here with Louis. He wanted to drag Louis along everywhere. Or, at least, wherever Louis would allow himself to be dragged.

“I’ll be back once I’m done filming, though,” David said.

“When’s that?” Louis asked slowly, a speculative frown on his face. David was missing something. It sounded like Louis was trying to suss out if something was going to fit together, but David had no idea what.

“Uh, the eighteenth of next month,” David said. “Filming ends on the sixteenth, but I wanted a couple days to go visit my parents.”

“Ah,” Louis said, then put his fork down to look at David. “You said you’ve been to The Rose and Thistle, right?”

David nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I live—lived, rather—a couple blocks down from it.”

Louis nodded. “Do you know Avery? They run the shop.”

“Yeah, not personally, but I know who they are,” David said. “Rosemarie said you were friends.”

The mention of his sister made Louis stiffen a little bit, though David couldn’t think why. Since Louis was here, though, he decided it couldn’t be anything too ominous.

“They're marrying their partner, Eloise, on the twenty-fifth,” Louis said.

David smiled. “That’s great!”

Louis hummed in agreement, looking pleased. “I’ve been invited to attend the ceremony,” he said. “And, if it doesn’t conflict with your work schedule, I wondered if you would like to accompany me.”

David’s face heated. It seemed pretty intimate—romantic, even—to go to a wedding together. The feeling knotting in his stomach wasn’t exactly unpleasant, though. “Like as your date?”

“Yes, as my date,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. “Unless you would rather keep this—” he gestured between them, “to ourselves.”

David considered it, but, in the end, he didn't mind everyone knowing that he was with Louis. A gleeful little part of him was actually pretty pleased by the prospect of it. He wanted to take Louis around town and brag about how amazing he was.

“I don’t mind,” David said. “But are you okay with that? I know you try to keep things quiet and that might be hard to do if we go together.”

Louis shrugged. “I am used to the attention. And I want you to go with me.”

Warmth washed through him at that and David smiled a little. However used to the attention Louis was, he still clearly resented it. It meant a lot to David that he wanted to be seen with him, regardless of all that.

“Will you join me, then?” Louis asked, watching David intently like there was more than one possible answer.

“Of course!” David said, unable to contain the mushy smile on his face.

“What are you doing until you leave?” Louis asked, returning to his omelette.

David snickered, watching Louis until his eyes turned warily up to him.

“Building a bookshelf with your sister!” he said.

“David.”

“I’m serious!” David assured him.

“David.”

“No, really, you’ll see,” he said. “It’ll be awesome."

“You’re incorrigible.”

David laughed and Louis leaned back in the booth, though his lips were quirked softly upward.