Page 21 of We Are Just Us

Kieran swung his legs off the couch and padded toward the door, heart starting to thud for reasons he didn’t want to unpack yet. He pulled it open without looking through the peephole.

Rory stood there.

Dusk had settled around him, the sky behind his shoulders washed in that coastal blue-gray. He was holding a six-pack of beer by the cardboard handle, one finger hooked through it like it weighed nothing.

“Hey,” Rory lifted the beers. "These are for you. I'm on a sparkling water kick." He waggled a La Croix can as evidence.

Kieran stared at him, brain lagging.

“Oh,” he said finally. “Wow.”

Rory smiled, relaxed, like this was the most normal follow-up to the afternoon imaginable.

“Can I come in?” Rory asked. “Or is this a ‘we never speak of what happened’ situation?”

Kieran stepped aside. “No. I mean…yes. Come in.”

Rory crossed the threshold like he’d done it before, which, irritatingly, he had, just on the other side of the fence.

“You know the layout,” Kieran said, gesturing vaguely. “It’s literally the exact same as your place. Just mirrored.”

Rory glanced around, nodding. “Ah, yes. The classic coastal copy-paste.”

Kieran shut the door and leaned against it for half a beat longer than necessary.

"Sorry," he said, because apparently his mouth had decided that was the theme of the evening. "About earlier. The dog. The fence. The…everything."

Rory waved it off. "Honestly? I've seen worse."

Kieran's brain snagged on that word like a fishhook.

Worse.

Worse how? Worse what?? Worse naked neighbors??? Worse situations????

He shut those thoughts down before it could finish forming.

Rory, meanwhile, had already moved on, setting the six-pack on the counter like nothing had happened.

"Hank was extremely proud of himself, by the way," Rory added.

Kieran huffed, grateful for the pivot. "He's a menace."

They moved into the living room, the quiet settling between them—not awkward exactly, just careful. Rory glanced around, eyes lingering on details Kieran usually forgot were there, moving through the room slowly.

Then he sat.

Right into the leather chair.

Kieran clenched a subtle fist. No one had sat in that chair since…

"This is a nice chair," Rory said, settling into it. "Solid. Good lines."

"Thanks," Kieran managed. "It's the one thing I refused to put in storage."

Rory ran a hand along the armrest. "Feels lived in. That's the best kind."

Kieran sat across from him, grateful his face wasn't doing anything embarrassing.