Leroy wanted to visit Zachary today, he really did—but there was a problem. It turns out that daydreaming at work and not getting much done meant that his Friday when he got to work from home was a lot busier than he anticipated it to be. He couldn't do it on Saturday—obviously not, because he and Zach were going to the movies, and on Sunday, he was brushing up his presentation for Monday's meeting while taking time out of his day to help his sister, Emilia, with her craft fair event where she'd be selling her stick-on nails and handing out business cards.

     It was about two in the afternoon when Leroy got a call. His eyes darted to his phone that was buzzing on the office table and showing the display name that lived in his head rent-free.

     Zach.

     He picked up the phone, swiping in the direction of the answer button before bringing the phone to his ear.

     "Hello?"

     "Hey," Leroy said. "How are you?"

     "I'm doing fine, I'm just a little bored," the older man admitted from the other end. I just wanted to know if you're coming over today?" Zachary asked, and Leroy felt his heart fall a little. He'd mentioned that he might sometime at the beginning of the week, but now, it didn't look like it was going to be possible.

     "Well, honestly, I'm not sure. I don't see myself finishing work at five, that's for sure," Leroy said. "I postponed and now I have a handful of things due first thing Monday morning."

     "Wow, that sucks."

     Yeah, I know," Leroy sighed rubbing his eyes with the back of his free hand. "But it's my fault I should have gotten this done earlier."

     The line was quiet for a while before Zachary spoke up. "Well, how about I come over?"

     Leroy blinked, then said, "Huh?" He wondered if he had Zachary heard right. "How?"

     "Well, I could get an Uber. It's not very far so it shouldn't cost a lot, and I can just hang out while you work. It's not a big deal," Zachary said. "Well, that's if you're okay with someone being around you while you work—"

     "I am," Leroy said before he could finish his sentence. "I—you should come if you want to."

     There was a pause on the other end, and Leroy began to panic that Zachary had maybe changed his mind.

     "Please do, I'm bored out of my mind by myself," Leroy said, and Zachary chuckled a bit.

     "Okay. It shouldn't take more than thirty minutes, I think. I should be able to get a ride soon enough," Zachary said as Leroy's eyes looked about the office, and then he thought of the mess that was his room.

     "Err, could you make that an hour..." Leroy trailed, looking up at the clock right above the table. "I just have to check in with my mum and sister, and clean my room a bit," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

     "Okay," Zachary said as Leroy listened to the background noise through the phone line. The older man seemed to be pacing about and occasionally stopping to look through things. Packing a bag? Leory wondered and his face got warm with the thought of Zachary spending the night. The younger man had shared a bed with him a few times, but the thought of them curling up on his bed had his stomach fluttering and throat dry.

     "Hey, what do you want to do when you get here?" Leroy asked, and the sound in the background stopped for a bit.

     "I don't know. I was thinking I was going to read for a bit, and maybe write if I get really bored."

     "Are you packing your laptop?"

     "Yes, and a book," Zach confirmed. "And some other stuff, if I stay late..." the older man trailed, stopping suddenly. "If that's okay with you that is."

     "It's okay," Leroy said, looking out the window. "Maybe we can even leave for the movies from here..."

     Zach paused on the other end and then said. "I wish, but what about my wheelchair? I can do without it this evening, but I don't know about walking around tomorrow. Unless I use a cane. I do have one, but I oddly feel it looks even more awkward?"

     Leroy rose a brow. He hadn't heard or seen said cane before. "You have a cane?"

     "I mean, I haven't really used it since I was a teenager..." Zach trailed. "But I'll keep that option open and bring it along."

     "Okay," Leroy muttered, still looking out the window as if Zach would appear on the street at any second. The excitement of the proposal was starting to fully settle, and he was getting jittery. His fingers started to itch, and his foot started tapping against the wooden floorboards of the office. "I'll see you in an hour then?"

     "You bet," Zach said before the call dropped. Leroy looked down at the screen of his phone which was now blank. He blinked, then got up as quickly as he could before hurrying down the stairs.

     Fuck I didn't ask him about dinner. Leroy realized as he made it to the end of the stairs. It was just three in the afternoon, so Zach probably would have to eat something.

     "We'll figure it out when he gets here," he muttered to himself before focusing on his mission to find his mother and sister. Emily was the first one in his line of vision. She was sprawled on the couch in grey lounge pants and a singlet scrolling through her phone.

     "Hey," Leroy said walking over to her. She looked up, raising a brow in confusion.

     "What?" she asked, sitting up on the couch.

     "I'm having a guest over in an hour, just letting you know."

     "A guest?" there was confusion in his sister's voice. "Huh, a friend of yours?"

     Leroy nodded his head. "Something like that."

     "What do you mean something like that? Wait. Is it a girl?"

     "No." Leroy rolled his eyes, cursing himself for not realizing that his talkative sister wouldn't just let him drop the bomb and go about his day.

     His sister sighed, shrugging her shoulder. "Sucks, though you were dating again. Who is he? Where did you meet him? Is he a co-worker?"

     "What's going on?" The sound of their mother's voice made both siblings look in the direction of the voice. Their mother was standing at the door to the hallway, looking equal parts confused and intrigued. "I heard something about a visitor—"

     "I'm just letting a friend come over," Leroy said cutting his mum off. "He's going to be here for a bit. He might sleep over too."

     "But we don't have a guest room, that's the study now," his sister pitched in making Leroy look over at her.

     "He'll say in mine," Leroy said.

     "Is there enough space for a blanket on the floor?" His sister asked and Lery was starting to feel a bit pushed to the wall.

     "Well, we'll figure it out."

     "You're sharing a bed?" his sister pressed.

     Leroy was getting agitated now. "We'll figure it out. Besides, I don't even know if he's going to sleep over. It's still a maybe."

     "Who is this person are they from work? One of your gaming friends? Is it anybody we know?" His mother asked, and for once Leroy wished she was too in her feelings to probe him about his social life.

     "None of that. It's a neighbor—" Leroy paused. "Well, sort off. They live a few streets down. We met when I petted one of his cats."

     "Is that where you've been these days?" his mother asked, and Leroy blinked, parting his lips as he looked at her in shock. He'd thought she hadn't really noticed him not being at home a few times a week. Besides, she was always locked up in her bedroom not doing much, and his sister didn't really ask too many questions.

     "Err—yes," Leroy said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I really can't meet up with him today because I still have work to do ahead of Monday, so he figured he could come over this time."

     "I see," his mother said, putting her hands on her waist as she looked from Leroy to Emilia. "Is he staying for dinner?"

     "I was thinking we'd just order out ourselves, or I could fish something from the fridge," Leroy said as his mother bit her bottom lip.

     "How about I make something tonight? Blacked chicken and garden green salad?"

     Leroy narrowed his eyes at his mother, feeling a bit confused. The last time they had a family dinner was over a year ago, and it'd been in silence over thanksgiving. The awkwardness of the whole situation had brought everyone to a subconscious agreement that wasn't going to happen again.

     "Err..." Leroy trailed, looking over to his sister for help. He shrugged, seeming just as confused as he was. "Sure, why not," he said, looking over at his mum who gave him a small smile.

     "Okay, I'll go marinate the chicken then," she said before wandering off.

     When their mother was beyond earshot, Emilia looked over at Leroy. "So, about this man who's somewhat like a friend—"

     "He's a friend," Leroy said, cutting his sister off.

     "Didn't sound like it when you were describing it, and I don't think friends share a bed at sleepovers when they're pushing thirty," Emily said in a teasing tone. "Weird way to find out you were bi, a plus coming out."

     Leroy felt his face warm up. Had he really been that obvious?

     "Whatever," he said, refusing to acknowledge what she said. "He'll be here in an hour."

     "Gotcha," his sister said, giving him a thumbs up with her free hand as her attention moved back to her phone screen.

     Leroy made his way upstairs to his bedroom. He started cleaning things up starting with his bookshelf, and TV stand drawers that held onto various knickknacks. He wondered if Zachary's vision could manage to play something like Cuphead—the game was dark, with little color beyond the greyscale, and honestly, Leroy would do anything to listen to the older man's commentary on it. Leroy had thought of ordering from his favorite Vietnamese place before his mother had offered to cook, and he thought maybe he would order from it regardless. Taking Zach out to a restaurant had been on his bucket list, but he hadn't figured out how to bring it up. He'd figure out they would eat out on Saturday when they went out to see a movie. His face warmed up just thinking about it, and suddenly his sister's taunting came to the front of his mind again.

     Had he really been that obvious?

     Did it already seem like he was dating Zachary with all the time he spent out of his own house?

     Well, they weren't dating, but it wasn't like he didn't want to. The logistics of things weren't just sorted yet, and Leroy wasn't really sure Zachry would be one hundred percent on board with that regardless of how much they liked each other. The older man seemed to believe there were some limitations—the likes of what would people think. Was Leroy even sexually attracted to men or just Zach for some reason? Would that last? And what would they do with Zach's several limitations that meant partnership in the long term meant him giving up his healthcare or government benefits? Zachary seemed content with them just seeing each other and seeing where it went, but Leroy wasn't afraid to admit where he wanted it to go.

     Leroy worked on getting things sorted as he occasionally checked the time on his phone, and when Zachary texted him that he had gotten in an Uber the younger man headed downstairs and paced around as he waited.

     As soon as there was a knock on the door Leroy made a beeline to it, opening it before asking any questions, and sure enough on the other end was Zach. The hair the man had put in the twists for the past while was now back to the loose curls that framed his angular face. The man was wearing faded blue jeans and a long-sleeved hugging t-shirt that Leroy had never seen before.

     He looked good. Almost like he was in college. It was weird—not in a bad way—but in a way that made Leroy super conscious of how attractive the man was to him. The shirt hugged his broad shoulders and small waist nicely, so it was quite hard to tear his eyes off the area. Well, not that Leroy was trying much in the first place, but still.

     "Can I come in?" Zachary asked, breaking the silence.

     Leroy blinked, realizing that he'd been staring for a little too long before shaking his head and looking in a different direction.

     "Yes of course." The younger man gulped, standing to the side as he let Zachary walk into the house. He watched the man from the corner of his eyes as he watched him drop his backpack and take off his sneakers. Somehow the older man looked a lot better than when they'd met up to check for groceries—maybe Leroy would never get used to Zach being in anything but lounging clothes and pajamas.