Kian found Audrey sitting at the kitchen counter in her baggy shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. That was her go to wear on a lazy Sunday morning but not at 7 am specifically. Freshly showered and dressed just in his sweatpants, Kian definitely did not expect to see her this early in the morning and not sitting on the couch in her last night's dress, hungover badly. So, it was new.

He pulled on a tee from the pile of folded clothes, collected from the balcony before heading into the kitchen. Audrey never did the laundry, nor did she prepare breakfast and definitely did not fold clothes. The smell of coffee and pancakes were a surprise too.

Did I wake up in the wrong household? He thought. Weird.

"When did you return?" Kian asked, filling himself a creamy cup of coffee. He had planned to make breakfast for Enzo but Audrey did it for him.

"I had a fight with the girls so I came back home last night." She shrugged, playing fruit ninja on her phone and sliding the plate of pancakes towards Kian.

"Okay, but what's with being domestic all of a sudden." Kian pulled the phone from her hands and turned her face towards himself, gauging her mood. "Did something happen at the party? Did Jackie-"

"Oh God, Kian! Can you stop obsessing over my situation with Jackie? I'm fine. We didn't fuck and I'm never going to." Audrey, huffed out a frustrated breath and then shoved a slice of pancake dipped richly in the blueberry syrup into her mouth. "Can't I help my roommate with daily chores given he had an eventful night?"

Her lips tipped upward in a smirk as she tossed Enzo's black leather jacket at him. "You sly fox. You were getting laid on my back while asking me not to sleep with my crush. Some twisted best friend you are."

"Hey-hey, can you stop announcing it to the whole town?" Kian panicked in realization that the person in question was sleeping across the hall and could most probably hear their conversation if he woke up. With the kind of luck Kian had, he couldn't take a chance.

"Why?" She started on the top of her lungs but when Kian glared at her she settled for a hushed sound. "Why are you behaving like you're still in the closet? Everyone in the neighborhood knows about our preferences. Unless, there's a girl in your bed. It's a girl, isn't it?"

Kian rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee and rubbing his forehead. "First of all, it's not a girl and second of all, no one got laid last night. I was simply helping a friend."

"And that help led you both to your bedroom, cuddling like a couple?" Audrey raised a brow, tipping her head toward his room. That shit eating grin was still plastered on her lips. "I never saw that happening before."

"It was Enzo." Kian clipped, with his jaw tightening and eyes full of wary.

Audrey went silent, her eyes wide and her lips lost their playfulness. She knew about Enzo. That first year when he joined UCLA and began his new life in California, he had gone off the hook real bad. It started with a haze of smoke and drunken nights with girls he never stayed the morning after. Nothing helped though.

Kian thought, maybe if he rinsed Enzo's memory out of his brain cells, his life would be as simple as the rest of the boys of his age. Nothing helped. He sought normal in all the wrong places until Audrey held his hand and pulled him out of that pretentious mist. She showed him the light of his true identity and made him believe that Kian had always been normal.

If you ask him, Kian really didn't care about belonging to a certain group or a spectrum. For him, knowing someone who didn't tag him as an outcast was all that mattered. He loved his roommate and her ever cheerful circle. They showed him what true belongingness felt like.

So, when he saw those lines of frown on her forehead, Kian knew what she might be thinking. He wasn't going down that dark lane this time. He had come out of those hollow ways.

"What is he doing here?" Audrey asked, stepping out of the barstool and leaning against the counter beside him.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" She released a haughty laugh, glaring towards his bedroom. "He is sleeping in your bed, Kian. And I'm not sure I like that idea very much. Last time you talked about your crush, he was still straight. Did he realize what a dumbass he was to let you go?"

Kian moved his gaze to Enzo's leather jacket sitting on the kitchen counter and a bitter bile of truth rose in his throat. "He's straight, all right."

"Then why is he here? To humiliate you again?"

"Enzo never humiliated me." Kian stared down at his hands around the coffee mug, wishing he could mentally erase the look of shock he witnessed in Enzo's eyes when Kian had kissed him. Even after two years those images were fresh in his memory.

"Maybe, he shouldn't have ghosted you. I consider that pretty offensive too. The fact that you both were best friends, he should've at least acknowledged your preferences instead of cutting all ties like you meant nothing." Audrey pushed off the counter. "Look, you're a good friend Kian, the fucking best one, but when it comes to romance, your taste pretty much sucks. So, do yourself a favor, just don't let this helping friend thing get into your heart."

"I won't, I promise." Kian released a sigh, joining her to the couch. His eyes once again moved towards his closed bedroom door. Knowing that his crush was in his bed and would materialize in front of him, sober, any moment wasn't helping his poor heart.

Audrey relented and heaved a tired breath. In her usual way of showing affection, she leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Now, tell me all the juicy details before your forever crush wakes up."

***

It turned out by the end of his version of a rather eventful night, Audrey had started shipping Kian with his crush. It was her thing. Her mood had an invisible switch. She could be a sweet girl-next-door one minute and a badass girl from the wrong side of the track the next. Just like she could be super angry one minute for crossing her mind and could make you her best friend if she found you cute the next. So much for always defending herself against the theory - Girl's are so complex.

"You just give me two weeks. No wait- give me three weeks." Audrey hushed out, rubbing her palms together and exhibiting a sinister smile.

"For?" Kian frowned, checking the time on his phone. For some reason, he was starting to get worried about the boy. All those untitled emotions he had for Enzo resurfacing within him once again.

Should I wake him up? He groaned internally for behaving like Enzo was some stranger when they practically grew up together.

"For making him fall for you, of course." She squished both of Kian's cheeks and then smiled at him with a fresh peal of excitement.

"Yeah, I don't-"

The sudden ring of the doorbell cut him off midway and Audrey ran to open it, avoiding his protest altogether.

It happened in a flash. She opened the door and then shut it instantly looking at Kian with an anxious look. "Shit!"

"What happened? Who is it?" Kian walked over to her and looked from the door to her fumbling expression.

"It's Chris."

"Chris who?"

"Christopher Harris, Kian." She squeezed her eyes and gritted out.

Kian's eyes widened with recognition. His head instantly snapped between his bedroom and the main door.

Shit indeed!

***

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