“Hi!” Moon said as she leaned over the back of the couch into Hyde’s face.

Hyde flinched away. “Hi.”

“What’s your name?”

“Hyde.” He squinted his eyes. “I’m guessing you’re Moon?”

Moon raised her eyebrow. “How do you know?”

“Rune told me you’re the more sociable out of the two of you.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

Footsteps came towards them, they were Rune’s. “I see you’ve met.” He sat next to Hyde.

“How do you know him?” Moon asked Rune.

“Well,” Rune started, “he kind of arrested me.”

“Kind of?” Hyde asked, offended.

“Yes, kind of. You were never a real cop, anyway.”

Hyde glared at him. “You wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for my fake copping, so I’d appreciate some more respect for it.”

“Oh, sorry I didn’t find your one cell police station very impressive.”

“You’re lucky it wasn’t, otherwise you’d be in jail right now.”

Moon snickered, she pushed herself up from the couch. “You guys are adorable, but if you don’t have anything else to tell me, I’ve got a magazine to return to.” She walked away before she could see Rune’s confused look.

“Adorable?” he mumbled to himself.

Hyde nudged him with his shoulder, Rune turned to him and hummed.

“Can you get me some warmer clothes or should I walk around with this blanket for the next couple weeks?”

“Right!” Rune stood up, Hyde followed without the blanket. “Let’s go to my room.”

They passed Lullaby on the way. “Hey,” Rune got her attention. “You didn’t touch my room, did you?”

“Only the occasional cleaning. We didn’t move anything,” Lullaby assured him.

Rune nodded. “Thanks.”

They continued on their way.

They entered Rune’s room. Rune looked around. They did leave everything as it was, as if he had never left. His full-size bed, his closet, his empty desk that he never used. He went to his closet and pulled it open. He glanced at his sweaters and hoodies. He grabbed a sweater and tossed it at Hyde. “Here, it probably fits.”

Hyde caught it. He pulled his blouse off and pulled the sweater on over his t-shirt. It did fit. He sniffed at the collar, then pulled it up to his nose and sniffed more.

“What? Does it stink?” Rune asked.

Hyde smiled and shook his head. “Even after five years, it still smells like you.”

Rune chuckled. “Does it?”

Hyde nodded.

Rune turned to his closet to get something warmer for himself.

“Are you okay?” Hyde asked behind him.

Rune raised a brow at him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Hyde shrugged. “You didn’t sound okay when your sister was yelling at you, or when they told you you couldn’t see your grandad.”

“Oh, you heard all that?”

“I heard everything. I tried not to listen, but that’s hard with nothing else to listen to.”

“Right…” Rune looked back at his closet. “Do you want to know what the last thing my mum ever said to me was?”

Hyde frowned. “Okay.”

“ ‘Take good care of the girls while we’re gone, alright?’ ”

Hyde’s eyes widened.

“I haven’t done anything else since, but she won’t see it! She thinks I left her for no reason, no matter what I say.” He aggressively pulled a hoodie out of his closet. He sighed and turned to Hyde. “Sorry, I don’t mean to take it out on you.”

“No, it’s fine.” Hyde stood up. “I did ask. I’m here for moral support, remember?” Hyde grinned at him.

Rune chuckled. “Thanks.”

Hyde smiled. He rubbed Rune’s shoulder. “She’s a teenager, they often think they know everything, including your intentions. I’m sure she’ll come around. Just keep proving her wrong.”

Rune smiled back.

There was a knock on Rune’s bedroom door. It opened, Lullaby peaked inside.

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“Hey, sorry, can I talk to Rune alone?”

“Oh, sure,” Hyde said. He glanced at Rune before walking out.

Rune took Hyde’s hoodie off as he asked, “What is it?” He threw it on the bed.

“I wanted to clear some things up,” Lullaby told him as he pulled his own, thicker hoodie on.

“About what?”

“Our relationship.”

Rune’s eyes widened. “Oh.” He sat on his bed. Lullaby sat next to him. “What about it?” he asked.

“I want to know; where are we at, right now?”

“Uh, well, we broke up, right? Five years ago?”

“Yeah, because you didn’t want me to be stuck with you. But I didn’t find someone else and neither did you.” Lullaby saw the wide-eyed look on his face, she squinted. “Did you?”

He only stared at her, stunned and speechless.

She smiled sadly. “You like Hyde, don’t you?”

She had shocked Rune awake. “Eh,” he considered what to say, he sighed. “Listen.” He clasped his hands around hers. “I love you. Really, I do. But not romantically anymore. But you’re my best friend and you’re family, and I never want that to change.”

Lullaby smiled and nodded. “I wasn’t hoping you’d take me back, I only wanted it to be clear.” She put her hand on his cheek. “And I love you, too.” She moved her hand down again and leaned her face closer with a grin. “Best bud.”

Rune cringed. “Oh god, is that how it’ll be now?”

She snickered. Her smile faded. “But really, if Hyde’s the one you want to pursue, don’t let me stop you.”

“Okay. Thanks, I guess?”

----------------------------------------

Hyde opened the door to the living room and went in. Night was there, she glared at him. Hyde awkwardly smiled at her and approached the couch.

Night appeared in front of him, he yelped and flinched back. She glared into his soul.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Eh.” Hyde was confused. “Hyde?”

Night shrugged and shook her head, urging him to tell her more.

“Rune’s friend?”

“I mean the less obvious stuff.”

“Like what?”

Night crossed her arms. “What’s your surname?”

“Walker.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty five. Why are you interrogating me?”

She got into his face with squinted eyes. “I want to know more about some random guy staying at my house.”

“Fair enough, I guess,” Hyde sighed. “Can I sit down for it, at least?”

“Why, do you have a physical issue?”

“No, I just prefer to be comfortable.”

Night looked away and bit her cheek. She eyed him. “Fine.”

Hyde sat at the end of the couch. Night sat at the other end with both her arms and legs crossed, facing him. “Where are you from?”

“Far south.”

“Why did you come with him?”

“He was incredibly nervous to come back, afraid you’d be mad at him.”

Night’s face softened.

“So, he needed a friend to push him over that edge.”

Night hummed. “Why are you friends with him?” she continued.

Hyde raised a brow. “Why not?”

“What about him do you like enough to be friends?”

Hyde shrugged as he hummed in thought. “He’s easy to talk to, he’s fun to hang out with.” He let his gaze wander. “He was there when I needed someone,” he mumbled.

Night frowned. She shook her head, then asked, “Where’d you get that scar?”

Hyde’s gaze snapped back to her with wide, startled eyes. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Why? Did you get it in some shady business or something?”

Hyde squinted his eyes. “What? No. It’s personal and I don’t want to talk about it.”

She kept giving him a suspicious look. “Does Rune know the story behind it?”

“He does.”

She sighed. “Fine.”

“But, again, why do you need to know such details from my life to be okay with me staying here? Shouldn’t it be enough that Rune trusts me?”

“Yeah, exactly. He trusts you and he clearly likes you.” She leaned forward. “So, I want to make sure you’re worth trusting.”

“You wanna make sure I won’t hurt him?”

Night shrugged. “I suppose.”

Hyde scratched his cheek. “Well, I’m not planning to, for as much as that’s worth. If either of us has hurt him, it’s you.”

Night was taken aback. She tensed her shoulders and furrowed her brows. “He hurt me first.”

Hyde groaned and leaned his head back against the couch. “That’s such a sibling response.”

“How would you know?”

“I have an older sister, I know the thought process of younger siblings.”

Night glared at him again.

Rune walked down the stairs with Lullaby behind him. He opened the door to the living room and went in. He saw the couch with it’s back towards him and Hyde and Night on it together. Hyde turned his head to him.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Rune asked.

“Just a little interrogation.” Hyde smirked. “She’s worried I’ll hurt you.”

“Why?”

Night shrugged. “What, am I supposed to trust some random guy you decide to take with you?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“Hey.” Lullaby leaned on the back of the couch near Hyde, she looked at Rune. “Have you thought about where he’s going to sleep? We don’t have any extra beds.”

Rune’s eyes widened. “Shit,” he mumbled.

“I could sleep on the couch?” Hyde suggested.

Lullaby shook her head. “You’re going to get serious back pains if you do that for however long you guys are staying.”

“Take my bed,” Rune said.

Hyde frowned. “What about you?”

Rune shrugged. “The couch…?”

Lullaby glared at him. “Do you want to get spine problems in your twenties?”

“How much damage do you think a couple of weeks on a couch will do?”

“I won’t kick you out of your own bed,” Hyde intervened.

“What, then?” Rune asked.

“We could share your bed.”

Rune tensed up. “You sure?”

Hyde shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Rune noticed Night and Lullaby glancing at each other from the corner of his eye.

“Great,” Lullaby interrupted. She pushed herself up from the couch. “Then that problem resolved itself.” She walked away.

Night stood up with a groan. She began to leave as she said, “Be quiet at night, your room is next to mine.”

Rune gave her a confused and startled look as she walked off. He looked back down at the couch at Hyde. Hyde laid his arm on the back of the couch and his chin on his arm. He glanced up at Rune.

Rune frowned. “Are you really comfortable with this?”

Hyde huffed with a smile. “Why would I suggest it if I wasn’t?”

Rune shrugged. “To solve the problem?”

“Rune.” Hyde pushed himself up, leaning on his elbows, and looked up at Rune. “It’s okay. We’ve shared a bed before.”

“One night. This’ll be several weeks.”

“If it starts making me uncomfortable at some point, I’ll tell you, alright? Calm down.”

Rune nodded. “Okay, then.”

Hyde smiled at him, Rune sheepishly smiled back.

“Is it really okay?”

Hyde groaned. He sat on the edge of Rune’s bed as he was changing into some makeshift pyjamas; one of Rune’s old shirts. He turned to Rune behind him on the other side of the bed, doing the same. “How many times do I have to say yes before you believe me?”

Rune uncomfortably shrugged.

“Are you okay with it?” Hyde asked.

“Yeah, but I’ve never shared a bed with a friend for so long.” Rune rubbed the back of his head.

Hyde smiled. “Neither have I, but it could be fun.” He climbed onto the bed. Rune followed suit. They sat next to each other at the head end. “It’s like a long sleepover,” Hyde added.

Rune chuckled. “We could play some boardgames, talk about boys, perhaps summon a demon,” he grinned.

Hyde laughed, making Rune smile and laugh along with him.

“Let’s just try to sleep for the first night,” Hyde told him with a smile. “We can summon demons tomorrow.”

Rune snickered. “Okay.” He laid down and got comfortable in the sheets. He turned on his side and saw Hyde pull the sheets over himself. Hyde laid on his side too, facing Rune. Hyde smiled at him again. Rune gave him a small smile back.

It faded as he felt his face get warm and he turned around, his back now facing Hyde. Rune didn’t know what that was about, but he didn’t want Hyde to see it.

Hyde raised his eyebrow at his back, then shrugged, closed his eyes and snuggled his face into his pillow.