Most Fridays Brendon would leave to his mother's and take care of her for the weekend until Sunday night, but it's Saturday now. He couldn't find it in himself to go to the retirement home right after meeting the two people he's been growing close to.

For the first time in months, he came home with a smile on his face.

A small one, but it was there.

Now, it's gone.

He sits at the table with his mother beside him and Carina and hers in front of them as he scans over the menu like he does every time, pick and choosing what he knows his mom will and will not like.

Today's choice seems easy enough, he's thankful.

Brendon was really not in the mood to argue with Grace or upset her.

It's not like he ever is, though.

"Spaghetti?" He asks.

His mother turns to look at him, blanket covering her lap and lips pursed together, she nods.

Brendon hadn't eaten anything yesterday, and still hasn't today. He never ate when he was overwhelmed. He can feel his stomach rumbling at the thought of food, he bites down on the tip of his tongue.

Soon enough the servers come around every table with drinks. Brendon gets coffee, Grace gets water.

It was only another day.

***

Brendon sits with his knees to Carina's as they play chess.

She's the only person he's comfortable being close to. Never his parents, never his siblings, never his co-workers, just Carina. It's okay that way.

Touch is such a delicate thing. Brendon's a delicate thing. It took a lot for Carina to ease him down; it took a lot of smiling and a lot of generous gestures for him to not get uneasy when she finally got close. It took a lot of talking and a lot of understanding to get to this point.

Carina is his best friend.

His only friend.

Well, maybe not anymore

Josh and Tyler are his friends now, aren't they?

"I met Josh." He mutters.

Carina stops for a second. "Josh?"

Brendon doesn't say anything. He only looks back at her, expression lifting.

"Oh! Oh, oh." She gasps. She's shocked. She's happy. She's smiling. "Oh, my god. Brendon! That's awesome. How'd it go?" Brendon purposefully putting himself in a social situation is foreign, even he's surprised still. He was expecting this reaction.

"Really well." He says, almost trying to reassure himself. "He actually. . . He actually invited me over for dinner at his house."

Carina's grin is so big her cheeks must be aching by now. "When?"

"I'm not really sure yet. He just told me that if I felt the whole thing went well, if I'd go to his house for dinner sometime." Brendon shrugs, blush dusting his cheeks. He moves his bishop. "And yeah, I did feel like it went well. Definitely."

"That makes me so happy, Bren." She closes her eyes, breathing lightly. "So happy."

There's a moment of silence after that. He watches Carina move one of her pieces, then her smile become easier.

"Is it okay for me to be happy for myself?" Brendon asks quietly.

He doesn't know what's selfish and what's not. He's happy for himself, because he pushed himself, which is very odd for Brendon. He's happy for himself for trying really hard to understand Tyler, because he doesn't quite get everything but he knows soon enough he will. He's happy for himself for finally giving in, and being successful from it.

No matter how difficult it is for him to admit; he is happy for himself.

"Of course." Carina says, easily. "You have every right to."

Brendon nods, now he's smiling again.

Carina reaches for his hand on the table and holds it. He lets it happen.

He still didn't know how long it would take for him to warm up to Josh or Tyler. He doesn't know how long it will take for him to even tell Carina about Tyler.

He's not sure he'll ever have the guts to.

"Carina, the other day I realized I don't have your phone number." Brendon starts. He needed her that day. Josh took her place, and maybe that was okay, but he still missed having her.

Her mouth gapes open. "How have we. . ."

"I don't know."

"Wow. Okay." She pulls her phone out from her pocket and tells Brendon her number slowly so he can add it in.

After, they spent the majority of the day playing chess and catching up with one another like they do every time they see each other. Brendon felt better now knowing that he had his best friends number and would be able to contact her any time he'd like.

He'll have to call her later.

***

Lukas is nice. He sits with Brendon again today. This is the third time.

He thinks they're friends now. He's not really sure, he'll have to ask sometime. Lukas eats Cup O Noodles every day, Brendon learned, and even came in with an extra one today for him.

He says thank you.

"How long have you been working here anyways?" He asks Brendon, heating up his food.

Brendon has to think about it for a second. "Six years."

"Holy crap." Lukas says, the microwave beeping right after. He takes his food out and finally sits across from Brendon, who already had his heated up.

"Yeah. It doesn't feel like that long."

"Jesus, man. I've only been here for a couple of weeks and am already dragging my feet." The youngest admits, shaking his head with a chuckle.

Brendon opens his mouth to say how he's practically undead at this point, but he's at a loss of words.

His stomach drops.

Debby.

He nearly forgot about her. He's been so caught up with Tyler and Josh but here she is after all these days since the incident, cherry lip gloss and a snarled face at the presence of him.

Brendon swallows.

"You're an asshole." Debby says loud and clear in the door way, so of course everyone is now looking.

Lukas furrows his eyebrows, looking behind him only to see Debby stepping closer to the table they sat at. She has her arms crossed over her chest, giving Brendon such an ugly glare it makes him shiver.

"You didn't take long finding someone to replace me." She mutters, grabbing her food from the fridge.

"I. . . wasn't replacing you, Debby." Brendon frowns. He feels so small around her, so vulnerable.

It shouldn't be like that.

She scoffs and hums.

Lukas shakes his head heatedly, leaning closer to Brendon. "If you don't say something to her, I will. She's being a fucking bitch." He whispers between them.

Brendon's not sure he has it in him to speak up.

He pulls away.

Biting her lip, she's looking down at him like she has something to consider at the moment. Of course she does, she has caused such a toxic work environment because she couldn't let Brendon grow, she better have used her time away to think.

"Scoot." She demands, nudging him to move so she can sit down with them. Both Lukas and Brendon seemed taken aback by this, and still,  Brendon falls into a place of submission in front of her and does as he's told.

Debby sits beside him, thigh pressed to him, arm pressed to him, body pressed to him.

Touch is delicate. Brendon's delicate.

He's so unbelievably uncomfortable.

He only lets Carina touch him.

Lukas watches the way Brendon starts to crumble, he's visibly upset by Debby taking control of him like that. She's been taking control of him ever since they started talking.

The three of them sit there, Debby eating her tuna sandwich while Brendon was too uneasy to eat any more.

"Debby," Luke says.

Brendon gets nervous. He doesn't want him to say the wrong thing because the only person she's willing to take it out on is Brendon. It's all about Brendon even when it's not.

She finishes chewing. "Yes?"

"You don't get to do that to Brendon."

The latter goes hot.

"Do what? I'm not doing anything to him. I tried to be his friend but he threw me aside. That's a shitty thing to do." Debby doesn't seem to understand how she's in the wrong. She took advantage of someone at their all time low.

"You're fucking with him. You need to stop." He breathes, maybe they really are friends.

Debby sighs heavily, turning to Brendon and placing her hand on his thigh. She knows what she's doing. "You understand why I'm mad, don't you? The only reason this guy is even talking to you is only because he feels bad for you." The only reason Debby started talking to him is because she felt bad for him.

Is this becoming a cycle?

"Please, please don't touch me." Brendon whispers.

"Debby, just leave. Please." Lukas pipes up. "I'm not taking advantage of him like you are, sorry if that's hard to understand."

Brendon's in the middle of it all, flustered and red at the cheeks.

"Whatever." Debby stands with her sandwich in hand.

Brendon sees Ryland and Ryan waiting for her at the door, they both look sympathetic and he's not sure who it's towards. Debby mutters something to them as she walks out of the breakroom, they follow her hesitantly, Ryland looking back at him for a moment before walking away.

"God, fuck her."

Brendon still feels the dreaded warmth of her hand.

He needs to talk to Carina again.

"Yeah." He says. Standing up and throwing the rest of his noodles away. "Thank you for the food, and. . . That." Brendon needs to get back to work. His fingers ache from typing so many emails, his eyes sting from staring at the computer screen all day, but it's a necessity.

"Yeah. Of course." Lukas mumbles as Brendon leaves.

He pulls his phone from his pocket while walking past all the cubicles, already on his messages with Josh when turning it on.

Hey. Do you think I can call later today?

Brendon is trying to calm himself down. It's not nearly as bad as it was the last time he conversed with Debby and he's thankful, he's more so just angry with himself for being so yielding. It's pathetic how someone like her can do that to him even when she didn't deserve it.

Well, no one deserves to control someone like that.

Yeah, of course. Is everything alright?

I'll call you later.

Brendon sits down on his chair, a deep breath falling from him.

He just needs to push through a few more hours, he's capable.

***

Finally being able to lay down in his own bed was a good feeling after a day like this. He loosened his tie, unbuttoned his shirt and only left on his boxers before doing so.

The first thing he did once he got off work was text Carina. He told her everything, because after talking with her for a while when first admitting he was interested in Josh, he told her about Debby. He told her about Debby the last time he saw her too, and everything that happened.

Yeah, Carina wasn't fond of Debby.

She told him to keep away from her as much as he could, so he's going to try to.

Carina instead says he should focus on Josh right now, and she's right.

Well, he needs to focus on Josh and Tyler.

Brendon thinks about texting Tyler, but he doesn't. He doesn't know what to say or whether they even want to talk to him right now.

He decides to call Josh instead. Maybe Tyler will be there too.

"Hello," Josh says through the phone after it rings a few times. Brendon's nearly surprised he picked up, but then remembers he asked to call him later today. Josh is always there when he needs him, it's nice. He's constant.

"Hey." Brendon replies.

"Hey." Josh repeats. "I just had another huge session with this couple, they were getting pictures for their wedding cards." He laughs to himself, happily.

"That happens a lot, doesn't it?" It's another stupid question from him.

"Yeah. Some of the most common, actually. Besides family photos." Josh trails off for a moment. "They make me happy."

Brendon assumes it's because of Tyler. He never forgets they're married. It's almost like it's dangling over him every second of the day because of how haunting it is knowing he's throwing himself into a situation with a married couple.

That's scarier than any paranormal activity.

"Anyways," he clears his throat. "How was your day?"

Brendon doesn't like the question. He scratches his scruff. "Uh, it was alright."

It's not convincing at all.

"I was actually wanting to call about the, um, the dinner." All he wanted was to change the subject. He didn't want to burden Josh with his pitiful problems.

"Oh, yeah." Josh beams, it sounds like. "Let me go get Tyler."

Brendon doesn't say anything, he only waits.

He can hear Josh walking around the house to get them. Brendon's heart beats louder knowing he's going to be there soon enough.

"Oh. They're in the shower." He mutters to him.

"Um, o-okay. Just call me back after--"

"No, no." Josh interrupts him, you can hear the shower suddenly get louder. "Tyler."

Brendon puts a hand over his mouth. He doesn't know what to think.

"Yeah?" You can barely hear them over the noise, it's so loud and Brendon is so quiet. His heart is booming in his ears.

"When should Brendon come over for dinner?" The fact that Josh is talking to Tyler about him while they're in the shower has Brendon unable to speak. It's not uncomfortable, he's just in shock.

"I. . . I don't know." They groan. "Saturday?"

"I ca--" Brendon gets cut off again.

"He's busy on the weekends. I told you."

He thinks he can hear Tyler sigh. "Sorry, yeah." There's a pause. "Let's just do Friday again."

"Alright." Josh agrees. Brendon assumes he is leaving the bathroom now.

"Wait, Josh,"

"Yeah?"

"Get me a towel."

Josh chuckles, Brendon can hear it so clear.

There's the sound of a drawer opening, then closing, and the shower being turned off as well. "Damn."

"Are you on the phone with him right now?" Tyler questions, completely avoiding Josh's terse comment about them. Brendon's red again, he's been flustered all day long it feels like.

"Maybe." Josh is a dork. "Say hi."

Tyler sighs, again. "Hi."

Brendon's still quiet.

"Brendon, you're on speaker." Josh tells him.

"Oh. Oh." He's embarrassed. "Hi, Tyler."

Tyler doesn't say anything back. They instead talk to Josh. "Glad I didn't say anything nasty." They chuckled. That's the first time Brendon's ever heard even remotely a laugh from them.

"I wouldn't mind."

"Go away."

Josh laughs. He laughs and then the line is full of lips against lips.

Brendon bites the inside of his mouth, waiting for this to pass so he can talk to Josh again.

"Let's watch a movie tonight." Tyler mutters.

"Definitely."

"Definitely." Tyler repeats. "Now, really, go away."

Josh kisses them one more time, a chortle falling from his tongue when leaving the restroom and closing the door behind him. "Is Friday okay?"

Brendon breathes. "Yeah. That's, that's probably the best time for anything." Brendon knows Josh and Tyler will become weary on what he does during the weekends soon enough, this whole time it's been a trip of gaining enough courage to tell them.

He'll only tell them when he's ready, though.

"I assumed." Josh's smile is prominent through the phone.

"Yeah." Brendon nods to himself. "I'll let you go now."

"Awh, okay." He had plans, Brendon didn't want to interfere with them. It's common courtesy. "I'll text you later."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye, Brendon."

Josh hangs up first, Brendon lays his phone onto his chest.

Brendon wonders if their relationship will get far enough for him to see Josh and Tyler naked. It may sound simpleminded, but the phone call has made him get to these thoughts. Being nude around someone is a sign of trust, Brendon would say. There's very, very few people in this world who have experienced it with him. He wonders if Tyler and Josh would be those people.

It's going to take a lot to get to that point.

He knows one day it may come, and he needs to be ready for it.

Naked is delicate. Just like Brendon.