Page 61 of Try Line Hearts
Eventually—inevitably—someone declared it was time for a group photo.
“Housewarming proof!” the scrum-half shouted, already climbing onto a chair with reckless confidence.
Groans, laughter, bodies shuffling closer together. Eli propped his phone against a stack of books near the window and jogged back into frame.
Lucas found himself herded toward the front. Arms slung over shoulders.
Eli squeezed in beside him at the last second, shoulder pressing warm and solid into Lucas’s arm.
“Timer’s on,” someone yelled. “Don’t look miserable.”
Lucas looked toward the phone automatically, setting his face into the neutral expression he’d perfected over years of cameras.
Eli didn’t.
He was looking at Lucas.
Not performing. Not joking. Just there—open, unguarded, intent in a way that made Lucas’s chest tighten.
His eyes flicked sideways and he turned his head before he could stop himself.
Eli’s mouth curved, small and private.
The shutter clicked.
The moment shattered into noise.
Laughter. Complaints. People immediately reaching for their phones. Lucas caught a glimpse of the photo later over someone’s shoulder: chaos and smiles and terrible angles. Eli beside him, facing each other with small soft smiles.
Something small and irreversible shifted inside Lucas.
The party thinned as the night wore on. Jackets collected. Promises made and forgotten. When the door closed on the last of them, the quiet felt loud.
“Didn’t lose anyone over the balcony,” Eli said, leaning back against the door. “Success.”
“Low bar,” Lucas replied.
They cleaned up together without much conversation—plates, bottles, the quiet choreography of shared effort. It felt unexpectedly intimate, domestic in a way Lucas hadn’t prepared for. Eli worked on instinct, moving around him without collision, handing him things before Lucas realized he needed them.
Later, they ended up on opposite ends of the couch, music turned low, city lights striping the room in silver and shadow.
“You good?” Eli asked quietly.
“I’m fine.”
“You say that a lot.”
Lucas didn’t argue.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Eli said after a moment. “I wasn’t sure you would be.”
“I didn’t want to be somewhere you weren’t,” Lucas said, before he could stop himself.
Eli turned fully toward him.
“Tell me to stop if you don’t want this,” he said, serious now.
“If I didn’t,” Lucas said, steady despite the rush in his chest, “I wouldn’t be here.”
