The following day, Eary drove his new car over to the group's new safe house. With just an address and his phone, he prowled the ritzy york-mills neighborhood. "Glad Luke gave me this nice car." He exclaimed as he watched mansion after mansion pass by his window. "I'll say! Now that we have wheels and cash, I expect an ample supply of num-nums." Mote declared from the passenger seat. Eary giggled. "Agreed. Hold on, I think we're here." He exclaimed as he brought the car to a slow stop.

Before he and Mote stood an enormous mansion. It was surrounded on all sides by a large stone fence. Moving up the paved path, adored with bushes of well-kept flowers. Eary approached the old, brick home's front porch. It was deep and seemingly wrapped around the front of the home.

"Yous sure this is the place, Eary?" Mote whispered in awe. "I think." Eary took a deep breath. Balling up his hand, he bravely knocked. After a moment, Eary felt a wave of relief as the front door opened. "What's up bitch. Glad you could finally make it." Alice exclaimed as she welcomed in her friend. "Holy shit! Look at this place!" Eary exclaimed as he gazed in wonderment around the entryway. It was a large room with ceilings two stories high. The flooring was fine reflective marble that led to a staircase raising up to two hallways.
"I'm speechless!" Eary exclaimed in bewilderment. "Yous got that right, kid. Goes to show ya, squeaky wheel gets the grease. Ask for a safe house, and get a safe mansion." Mote remarked from Eary's shoulder. "I know, right? Let me show you around." Alice announced excitedly.

The trio moved through an open archway on the far end of the large entryway. After passing by a bathroom, they made their way to the large kitchen. It was large and white, with equally high ceilings. In the center was a large island, adjacent was the kitchen appliances, an oven, and a familiar young man cooking up a wonderful new flavor. "Denby!" Eary cheerily stated as he entered with Alice. "E'llo there, Eary." Denby greeted. "So Luke convinced you to come, after all." Denby nodded "Yep. We all gotta stick together to get through this." The frying pan sizzle as he flipped several large sausage like meats, as he continued "So I figured I'd settle here for a bit. That alright with you?" Eary giggled "Of course. The more the merrier." Eary peaked his head around the island "So what are you making?" Denby cheerily replied "Oh this? Just some black pudding, You want some?" Eary felt a bit uneasy. "Is it good?" He hesitantly asked. Denby scoffed, "This is a traditional English breakfast. Yeah, it's good." Eary blushed at the young man's confidence " Well ok. I'll have some, I guess." He stated as the three moved along another hallway.

"You know, I don't care if anything happens between you and Denby." Alice remarked as they made their way down the corridor. "Oh my god." Eary giggled."I'm not interested." Alice rolled her eyes "Bullshit, you still flirt with him like a school girl." Eary felt a sinking unease. "I would feel uncomfortable. You two dated." Alice scoffed."Kinda. And the only reason he backed off you is that Luke asked him to." Eary felt a sharp jolt of frustration."What!?" He exclaimed. Alice consoled him "Listen man, I agree with Luke. I don't think you were mature enough when we met for someone like him." Eary dismissively exclaimed."That was only four months ago." Alice nodded."True. But you have grown a lot since then. And I honestly never saw an ending with him. And with your current shitty options, I think he might be a better starter guy for you after all. Or some good free dick." Eary and Alice erupted into laughter as they entered the living room.

Sitting on the large tan leather sectional, sat Calvin and Mei. "Guys! You're already here?" Eary awkwardly announced in cheery excitement. Mei erupted from her seat. "EARY!" She pelted out as she latched on to him. Calvin, following shortly behind, greeted, "Hey man, how's it going?" Eary smiled."It's going good. My family is all back together. Ephraim and I are friends again, and Decan just gave me this amazing Christmas gift!" He quickly pulled the locket from under his shirt. Showing it to Mei, she inquired, "So he broke up with his girlfriend?" Eary quickly placed the locket inside his shirt."No. Not yet. But soon, I'm sure." Mei's face twisted and then formed into a pleasant smile. "Well, I'm so glad things are working out for you." Calvin announced, interrupting the moment. "Thanks." Eary replied quickly, changing the subject he asked."How is your mom handling everything?" Calvin smiled."She's good. We are currently looking into houses." Mei piqued up."Really? Because I have some exciting news!" Eary and Calvin looked at her puzzled. "I'm going to transfer here." Eary asked in excited bewilderment. "Are you serious?! How'd you pull that off?" Mei explained."My parents are worried, Eary. They want me somewhere people can watch my back." Eary bounced up in down in excitement."Does this mean you're coming to school with me?" Mei giddily replied "It's does!" Eary and Mei held each other as they jumped up and down squeeling.

"Hey." Eary's heart sank as a familiar voice echoed in his ear. Breaking from Mei, he stared at Decan, who had just entered. "Dec. Hey." Eary shyly replied. He was about to cross the room to embrace his secret lover. A small crowd formed behind him. Emerging from the shadows were Josh, his girlfriend Sarah, Ephraim, and Laura. "Oh, heeeey guys!" Eary clumsily announced just shy of embracing Decan. The group of teens greeted him back cheerily as they disrobed their winter attire. Decan leaned in and whispered, "I'm sorry. Josh told her all about this place. She really wants to meet my friends." Eary smiled softly and nodded. Decan's eyes were rife with concern. He was about to speak when Luke and Sakile marched down the steps. "Find the place, ok?" The group of teens nodded in compliance as Luke pulled aside Josh. Eary wondered what that exchange meant as a familiar figure towered above him.

"This house is great!" Ephraim lamented in astonishment as he scanned his surroundings. Eary nodded. "It is." Looking at Decan guide Laura to the living room, he grabbed Ephraim's arm sleeve. "C'mon, there is a ton of house left I haven't seen. Explore it with me?" Ephraim smiled wide."Alright. That sounds fun!" The two quickly made their way up the stairs and took the right path, down a large dimly lit corridor.

"Spooky." Ephraim whispered excitedly. Eary gruffed. "Yeah." Feeling a sting of jealousy, he continued."Why is Laura here?" "Huh?" Ephraim's distraction was evident. He quickly regained his composure and continued, "I'm not sure. I just asked to tag along with Josh. We arrived together." Eary nodded."Hmm." Ephraim put his arm around Eary. "Don't be like that. We're going to have a great night." Eary pouted as they rounded another corner, and down more steps. "Oi! There you are!" Eary looked up. Realizing they had made their way back to the kitchen. He gazed upon an annoyed Denby. "Your food is getting cold. Eat up." Swiftly making his way to the little island, he made his way to a tall stool. "Hey, that looks pretty good." Ephraim cheerily announced as he sat next to Eary. "Well 'ello!" Denby's tone shifting as he noticed Ephraim. "Hi, cool accent. Where are you from?" Ephraim nervously replied."London, the other side of the pond, mate." Denby exclaimed. Eary giggled. "It's like super obvious." He announced between bites. Ephraim continued, "Yeah, yeah, I can see that now." Eary chuckled."You can see that?" Ephraim smiled nervously as a hand extended to his "Denby Kingston." Ephraim quickly returned the gesture."Ephraim Bennett." Denby nodded."Pleasure." Giving the two boys a sly grin, he disappeared through the doorway.

"Holy shit." Ephraim lamented. "Who, Denby? Ephraim nodded. "He's crazy hot. I think he was hitting on me." The young man looked flabbergasted. Eary chuckled. "He was hitting on both of us. That's just Denby." Ephraim looked at Eary in shock."He's gay?" Eary shook his head."Bi." Ephraim's mouth curled into a big smile. Eary scoffed. "Are you really trying to get with one of my friends now?" Ephraim quickly snapped back in his seat."No, it's not like that." Eary raised his brow."Then what was it?" Ephraim smiled."I can talk to you about this stuff now. You have no idea how hard it was to only have Josh to talk to." Eary rose from hit sear and embraced the young man.  "Some times, I forget you were struggling with something, too." Ephraim nodded "You were too. You didn't have anyone and I'm sorry." Eary lamented "Oh no. I had Mote. He explained gay sex to me." The two laughed. "Mote? Where are you?" Eary announced into the empty kitchen.  Ephraim gasped "Oh no, does he do this a lot?" Eary dismissively exclaimed "Nah, he'll turn up." Ephraim nodded in understanding "Well then why don't we see what everyone else is doing in the living room?"  Eary winced at the idea. Ephraim continued "Or we could continue our house tour?" Eary nodded excitedly "That sounds better!" Ephraim smiled and guided him back up the steps.

"Let's go down further" Ephraim announced as he reached the top. The two boys moved through a labyrinth of corridors. Each containing large furnished bed rooms. Until they reached a door with commotion on the other side. Opening the door and stepping in a few feet. Eary's heart sank as he saw an in door theater playing a hockey game. He didn't dare look, he didn't have to. Eary knew they were in here. Decan and that girl. "This is awesome!" Ephraim's cheer snapped Eary back to reality. Eary turned to watch Ephraim plop down, eyes wide. Sitting next to him were Sakile, Luke, Josh, his girlfriend Sarah, and of course Decan and his. "Hey man, this is super sweet." Josh announced lounged in his seat. "Y-yeah. We were just taking a house tour." Eary nervously replied back. "Well come on in and sit down. There is a spot next to Laura at the end." Eary recoiled in panic "Ah, actually. We were meeting up with Alice and the others downstairs." Ephraim looked puzzled "We were?" Eary flashed him a quick desperate glance "Yep, we are." Ephraim sprang from his seat and rejoined Eary. Josh insisted "C'mon. Stay and watch hockey." Luke quickly interrupted "It's ok, Josh. You two have fun." Eary nervously headed put with Ephraim in tow.

"Sorry. I know that you would have probably rather have stayed and watched jumbo hockey." Ephraim scoffed "I do that kinda stuff all the time. Besides, we were having fun." Eary smiled softly, a tinge of guilt wafted and bobbed inside him like a bouee. "You know, I do believe you Ephraim." Ephraim looked confused "What do you mean?" Eary sighed "That we're friends again. If you wanna go, it's ok." Ephraim paused, a strange silence took the two. He was about to speak when they came out in to the grand entryway again.

"It's not that." Ephraim replied as they made their way to the living room. As eary was about to inquire more, Alice interrupted "Dudes! I got a plan for the night. Come on." She waived them forward as she moved through the large arch. In the living room, Calvin, Mei and Denby Joined Alice. All with mischievous grins on their faces. "What's up?" Eary asked in hesitant confusion. Alice announced "You know my teleporting power?" Eary nodded "Yes, and I also remember how pissed he got when we went with out telling him last time." Alice dismissively exclaimed "Dude, it's cool. We already talked. Said it was fine." Eary looked at Ephraim "Eh, are you feeling like a teleporting adventure?" Ephraim burst in excitement "Are you kidding me!? Yes!" Eary sighed. "Mote, Mote? Huh, where did he buzz off too?" Alice replied "He's probably drinking. Now can we go, please?" Eary nodded "Fine. Alright everyone join hands." The six teens formed a circle. Ephraim eagerly asked "So when does this happen?" Alice chuckled "Look around, baby." Eary could see a large white cat holding up one pa. Chinese lettering in red held a far off flair beneath the yellow backdrop.