Aiden was no good at mornings. When they had been younger, Harvard used to call him and act as an alarm clock, urging “Beep, beep, beep” while Aiden made cranky sounds on the other end of the line. Now that Harvard slept in the bed next to Aiden’s, waking him was easier.
It still wasn’t easy, though.
Their beds were pushed close together so they could watch movies in comfort and so Harvard could talk Aiden to sleep on the nights when he had insomnia. Now when he wanted to wake Aiden, Harvard could just reach over and gently shove Aiden’s shoulder.
“Hey. Hey, sleeping beauty. C’mon. Wake up.”
“Never,” Aiden mumbled into his pillow.
“Are you awake?”
Aiden pulled his pillow and half his tawny hair across his face. “I’m hate wake.”
“Let’s return to consciousness just a little more and start putting the words into sentences that make sense,” Harvard encouraged.
Aiden rolled over, emerging from the covers and blinking up at the ceiling. “People who talk sense before noon should be fired from cannons into the sun. Especially on the weekend.”
Harvard, propped up on his pillow, looked indulgently down at Aiden, who was a tangle of limbs and white sheets and long hair. Harvard had always liked this time in the morning, trying to drag Aiden into wakefulness.
It was a chance to have Aiden to himself, and to have the conversation he’d been planning.
“Your behavior has been weird lately,” Harvard let Aiden know. “I have noticed.”
Aiden gave a tiny shrug, the sheet sliding a fraction farther down his bare shoulder. “As opposed to my usual flawless behavior, you mean?”
“Even for you, this has been weird,” Harvard said gently. “I think I know what’s going on with you.”
“Do you?” Aiden said in a distant voice.
Harvard nodded. He’d read all about it in his mom’s magazines.
“When friends get a significant other, they worry that their friend won’t have time for them anymore. But you never need to worry about losing me. We’ll always have bro time.”
“Ugh,” said Aiden, burying his face in the pillow and then pulling the blankets over him and the pillow. “You sound like Eugene. For shame, Harvard!”
Harvard smiled at the lump under the bedding that was Aiden.
“If you got to know Neil, I’m sure that you’d like him.”
The protesting lump under the blankets went still.
“That’s why I want you to meet him,” Harvard proposed, hoping this was a listening silence. “I was thinking—maybe tonight. If you’re not doing anything else. We could have a double date. Have a fun time and a chat. Neil’s super funny. I know you guys will get along.”
Aiden sat up abruptly, sheets pooling around his waist. Harvard blinked at him in astonishment. It usually took a good thirty minutes of coaxing to get Aiden out of bed.
“I would,” said Aiden in a voice shiny and brittle as Venetian glass. “Of course I would love to do that, but I’m busy tonight. Very, very busy. I have business.”
“I assumed you were busy,” said Harvard. “You usually are. That’s why I suggested a double date. Is there another time that works for you?”
There was a pause, long enough for the sunlight to creep another inch along the rumpled sheets. Aiden looked troubled for some reason. Maybe he had dates lined up every day for a year and couldn’t see how to accommodate Harvard.
“What do you mean, I’m usually busy? I’m never too busy for you.”
“I appreciate that,” said Harvard. “And it’s true. You’re always there when I need you. But—I mean, you’re out almost every night. Hey, and good for you. It’s great that you’re having fun. I want you to enjoy yourself. I know it can’t be like when we were little and we lived in each other’s pockets.”
“It can!”
Aiden spoke very fast and was being ridiculous.
Harvard remained determinedly reasonable. “I’m just saying—it’ll be better now. You have your, uh, social whirl, and I have Neil. No more nights home alone for either of us.”
“If it bothered you,” Aiden said in an unusually subdued tone, “you should have told me. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere if I’d known you wanted me to be here.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that!”
Harvard regarded Aiden with horror. What did Aiden think of him? What kind of best friend would ask their friend to give up all that? Playing video games with Harvard would be a real step down from Mediterranean cruises.
“You could have asked me,” said Aiden. “I would have said yes. Whatever you ask me for, I’ll say yes.”
His tone was unusually serious.
Harvard smiled. “Then I’m asking you for this. You don’t have to give up every night for me, but will you please give me one?”
“Yes. Yes, I will.” Aiden’s voice went extremely cheerful, brittle glass catching a glaring light. “A double date tonight! What fun. I wish I’d suggested this myself.”
Harvard was surprised, but pleasantly so. “Really?”
“I’m definitely not lying! Let me acquire a date right now.”
“Did you not have one before?” Harvard asked, but Aiden wasn’t listening.
Aiden had sprung from bed and was pulling on his uniform in a haphazard fashion. Somehow, when Aiden was a dire mess, he made it look good—in a particular way that made people stare.
This was more of a mess than usual. People were staring more than they normally did as Aiden made his tempestuous way down the hall, Harvard following in his wake. Harvard had pulled on his own clothes, too, but he feared his was not a state of alluring disarray.
Aiden halted by the first cute boy he saw. “What are you doing tonight?”
The boy seemed staggered. Harvard didn’t blame him. Aiden sounded rather as though he was demanding the boy’s money or his life.
“Being… heterosexual?” the boy answered at last.
Aiden stood there being gorgeous at him. A stunned and dazzled expression grew on the boy’s face, as though he’d accidentally looked directly into the sun or encountered a pinup model.
“Or maybe… not?” said the boy, a long pause between the words.
Too long. Aiden got impatient with people.
“Okay, I don’t have time for this, see you!” said Aiden, racing past with the boy calling “Wait!” faintly to his retreating back.
Harvard gave the boy an apologetic glance, then jogged after Aiden. Over the years, he’d developed a stride that covered a lot of ground so he could keep pace when Aiden went rogue.
People were mostly charmed by Aiden. Harvard understood that; he was, too. It didn’t mean he approved of everything Aiden did, and he pointed that out to Aiden often enough, but he was always more charmed than disapproving. It all reminded Harvard of being five and having Aiden tell him that he’d named his bear Harvard Paw. Naming the toy after the person who’d given it to him, and making a pretty advanced pun as well, was just like Aiden. He was always whip-smart, hilarious, and secretly sweet beneath everything else.
When scorned guys asked Harvard how he put up with it, Harvard understood what they meant. He’d just answer: “I like it.”
He did. He’d always wanted to be good, for his mom and his team and in general. He didn’t want to let anybody down. He enjoyed doing his best, but watching Aiden go his wild way gave Harvard a sense of freedom, too.
Harvard had always thought this made him and Aiden a good team. The best.
Aiden’s rush was halted when a tall guy gave him a very obvious once-over.
“Hey, you,” said Aiden. “Congratulations! You’re going on a date with me tonight.”
“Uh… great,” said the guy. “Do you want to know my name?”
“Let’s keep the mystery alive between us,” drawled Aiden, already turning away.
Harvard mouthed Sorry before he followed Aiden.
The guy mouthed back his name.
“I’ll tell Aiden,” said Harvard. “See you later, bye! Looking forward to it.”
Aiden would like Neil, Harvard was sure. Neil was so fun and nice. And of course, Neil would like Aiden. Nobody could help liking Aiden.
This date would be amazing.