Zachary wasn't sure what had come over him when he had sort of casually announced that he was into men. He guessed that maybe a part of him just wanted to get it out of the way to see if Leroy would redraw his friendship.

     He also had a slight idea that maybe Leroy had caught on. He acted very differently when Zach returned to the room, and Zach only needed a few minutes to put two and two together. He knew what his own Netflix home page looked like and what they could deduce from that. Though, he hasn't been thinking about that when he'd let Leroy pick out the movie. Sure, he was a bit socially inept, but he wasn't stupid.

     What had surprised him, however, was Leroy's confusing way of handling it. He'd gone from treating physical proximity to him like the plague, to on hands asking about his type and talking around saying the word woman.

     Yeah, Zach noticed.

     The rest of the movie after the awkward interaction was mostly quiet—well, except for Zach casually muttering—I knew it—when something he predicted happened. That seemed to make Leroy chuckle a bit. Although it was quiet, Zach could sense that Leroy was a bit more comfortable and wasn't treating the inch of space between them like lava. He would occasionally scoot a little too close, and sometimes their clothes would even brush.

     The whole ordeal had Zach's heart in his throat more times than once. He put it down to the absolute whiplash the sudden changes in Leroy's behavior were giving him.

     He had concluded eons ago that he wasn't going to pursue anything with the man, and it wasn't as if he knew how to in the first place, but he wasn't sure why feelings he'd been good at managing to stay dormant were now all over the place because of Leroy's behavior.

     It was the stupid question Leroy had asked out of the blue.

     Zach had almost had a heart attack when Leroy had asked him what his type was. It wasn't as if he could have just blurted 'you', but he had been damn near doing so.

     When the movie ended, they both watched the credits before a Netflix advert showed up. That was when Zach reached out and closed the laptop before letting out a sigh. "Well, that was as cliche as I thought it would be." He rested his back on the wall, looking over at Leroy, who had been tired of sitting on the edge and was now lying down on the bed, face up.

     "I thought it was alright," Leroy mumbled. "I guess it's not interesting when you can guess what's going to happen next."

     Zach raised his brow, sensing the playful jab in its tone. "Most stories are the same. There hasn't been an original plot in ages," he said. "It's not my fault they're all using the same beats and outlines."

     Leroy laughed. "You fascinate me." Leroy shook his head before looking up at the ceiling.

     The words had been blunt and said in between chuckling, but they seemed to run over Zachary's skin like ice-cold water. He felt his chest flutter, and the know-it-all self-assurance he'd had just seconds ago crept out of him and left him a shy and unsure mess.

     He really hated how Leroy affected him.

     He'd thought he'd be handling this whole attraction to someone who he was friends with, dilemma, a bit differently.

     "W—what do you mean?" Zachary asked, finding himself leaning forward a bit until he was almost lying down on the bed, too.

     Leroy was looking up at him, with thoughts bouncing behind his eyes. He wished he knew what he was thinking about—he wanted to know if the younger man was teasing him intentionally or not.

     "You're really blunt and smart..." Leroy trailed. "I mean, I don't know how good you are with numbers and all that, but just from the stuff you studied at university, I can tell you probably got great grades. You're like, err, a media genius."

     Zach furrowed his brows, lying down completely. "I just remember stupid shit from movies, and I guess basic writing rules?"

     Zachary didn't think that meant he was intelligent—just bored with a lot of time on his hands to read and watch movies.

     Leroy seemed to think about it, then sighed. "You're really good at it. I think that's smart. I can't exactly say I'm good at anything."

     There were a few times Zachary caught the weird self-deprecating comments Leroy littered here and there, but he still couldn't get over them. The twenty-five-year-old had gone to college, had a party remote job, and for all intents and purposes irrespective of how Zach thought about him—was conventionally attractive. Zach wished he had that life, and yet Leroy seemed to waffle in his own self-regret every once in a while. Zach wondered if there was more to it.

     He wanted to ask, but he didn't know how to or when it was appropriate to even bring up something so vulnerable, so most times he just let Leroy's words float in the air for a bit before the younger man inevitably changed the subject.

     "Do you still need help with groceries?" Leroy asked after things got a little uncomfortable. He stared up at the ceiling. The room was darker now since Zachary had turned the lamp on the bedside table off. Now, it was just the light from the streets slipping through the windows that flooded the room in a cool, deep blue. The humidifier still made the place smell like a mix of essential oils and rubbing alcohol.

      Leroy felt like he was out camping with a friend—negating the fact that he'd never actually gone camping, and that he was in a bedroom, listening to the sound of crickets and frogs from the safety of a house.

     "Well, my sister said she was going to get some stuff before she left," Zach said, turning his head to look at Leroy. He couldn't see much of him in the dark, but he could hear his shallow breathing, and the small creaking sound the bed made whenever he adjusted himself.

     "Will she get everything?" Leroy asked, turning his head from the ceiling to look at Zachary. Zach blinked, taken aback by the overwhelming emotion that swept through him when their eyes met. He'd always thought that Leroy had the most attractive eyes and eyebrows, but he'd never been this close to them—mere inches apart. The deep brown eyes looked even darker under the light of the moon, and the way his hair pooled around his head made it look even longer than it was.

     "I—" Zach started, moving his gaze away from Leroy. He tried to focus on something—anything else, and his eyes reluctantly settled on the doorknob in the far distance. "I don't think she will. She's a bit of a scatterbrain sometimes and she's more into getting things she thinks are best for me than what I actually want." Zach sighed, pinching the space between his brows. "It's not malicious or anything, she's just following my doctor-approved diet, though. I'd rather eat something else besides ready-made frozen dinners and the occasional fruit."

     "Then let's do that," Leroy said, sitting up on the bed. "We'll grab stuff you like, but that's still in line with your diet."

     Zach nibbled his bottom lip. He would probably have more food than he needed this month if Leroy also helped him do shopping, but it wasn't like food couldn't be frozen and carried over to the next month...

     "I'm supposed to do groceries too, so I might as well accompany you," Leroy added, making Zach scratch the back of his neck as he thought about it.

     "How do we get there?" Zach mumbled, realizing a flaw in the arrangement. He could take public transport, but doing so in a wheelchair was also a hassle, and he just didn't want to. All the staring and confusion at a relatively young, able-bodied-looking person using the handicapped sitting spaces was not something he was willing to go through for fresh Bok choy and root vegetables.

     "I'll drive us."

     "You drive?" Maybe Leroy had mentioned that before somewhere, but Zachary couldn't remember for the life of him. He'd never seen Leroy do anything but walk.

     "Yes. I do have my license," Leroy said, laughing a bit. "Surprise, I know. I'm not the best driver, but I won't kill us. I've just not seen the point of driving around when I could walk or take the bus. Cars are also expensive, and I don't see myself affording insurance, not to talk of a car note..." Leroy rambled, folding his legs. "I have a car I can borrow."

     "Oh, I see..." Zachary trailed, not having anything to add. "How about next week?"

     Leroy smiled, nodding his head. "The weekend works for me. Just let me know when."

     Zach nodded, raising his body from the bed a bit with his arms as leverage. "Hey," he said, looking up at Leroy. "Are you going home today?" he asked, bringing up the elephant in the room. It was late—almost twelve in the morning now, and Leroy had walked here.

     Leroy's brows knitted together as he squinted out the window. "Holy shit," he mumbled. "I didn't notice how dark it got."

     The younger man grabbed his phone from the table against the bed before going through it and sighing. "Fuck my life. I didn't charge my phone either, so I can't even rely on the flashlight."

     Zach was a bit taken aback. Flashlight or no flashlight, he wouldn't walk outside at night at this time. "You should stay," he said, making Leroy, who was now panicking as he looked for a charging port pause.

     "Huh?"

     "Stay," Zachary repeated. "We're pretty much already sharing a bed. You can just sleep here until tomorrow morning and just walk back..." the older man trailed, unable to maintain eye contact with Leroy. He stared down at his mattress, picking at the little seams as he waited for Leroy to respond.

     "You're okay with that?"

     Zach shrugged. "I am, but I mean, if you snore, feel free to change my mind."

     Leroy laughed, and Zach felt the faintest of smiles grace his lips. Leroy made him feel like he was effortlessly funny. He'd never had that—well, anyone to talk to who wasn't constantly worrying that he would break twenty bones laughing too hard or standing up. Leroy made him feel... normal. Well, as normal as he could feel.

     "I'll stay," Leroy said as he laid back down on the bed. "As long as you're okay with it," he added, turning to face Zachary.

     The older man nodded, blinking, before looking away. "I am," he mumbled. His heart was going to be beating through his chest like a drum all night, but he didn't mind being next to Leroy at all. He preferred that he was safe where he could see him, instead of wandering around in the dark for twenty minutes until he got home.