Page 111 of Septembers

hazelnut latte please

Want to go straight from recording to my place for the party tonight?

thats ok I’ll go with dae

Oh right haha Dumb question

Theo couldn’t be annoyed with Caleb, especially since he really did have a hazelnut latte waiting for him when he got to the studio. It didn’t take long to lay down his track. It never did. Caleb was scatterbrained outside of the studio, but once he got inside, he was shockingly able to lock in.

It had always been beautiful to watch him play—Theo had spent many long evenings losing himself to the notes leaping from Caleb’s guitar—but it was even better to see the artists’ reactions to hearing the music they wrote come alive. Caleb had a way of adding an energy no one had even thought to ask for.

Theo was still riding the high of that energy when he got home, and it inspired him to get some work done: sending emails back and forth with Hannah Gardiner (he had never stopped using her full name, even after working with her for two years) and flagging some phrasing on new contracts.

The party that night would be a joint celebration for Caleb’s birthday and a housewarming, so it was possible that people Theo hadn’t seen in years would be there. And it would be his first official outing with his new…whatever and he and Dae were.

His confession had been embarrassingly public, but he wasn’t sure how far that gossip would’ve spread. He wanted to be able to tell people that they were…

His frustrated sigh propelled him into his room to pick out a perfect outfit, and by the time he heard the apartment door open, he’d found it: tight jeans and a wide-necked long-sleeved t-shirt that showed just enough collarbone to be flirty.

“You look nice,” Dae said, glancing up from his phone as Theo stepped out of his room.

Nice? He was wearing his tight jeans! He wanted Dae to have untoward thoughts, not think he looked nice.

“Twenty minutes, okay? I just need to clean up a bit.”

Theo nodded as Dae went into his room. It was fine. It had to be fine. He could live like this. So he had a different idea of what their relationship would be. That wasn’t the end of the world. He was in love with Dae, and he’d figure out a way to adapt to the reality of this romance.

And it was a romance, no matter how much doubt was now swirling in his gut.

So he called through Dae’s door, attempting to sound perfectly normal. “I still think we should’ve blown up the picture of us as Golden Girls and framed it.”

“There’s no way Caleb hasn’t already done that.”

That was a fair point. So, instead of getting Caleb the perfect gift, they instead left their apartment and rode the subway with a housewarming plant balancing on their knees.

Caleb and Avery’s new house was on the Danforth in a wholesome neighbourhood with parks, chalk drawings, and the honest-to-goodness smell of baked cookies wafting from a window.

“Why would twenty-somethings get a house in such a quaint neighbourhood?”

Dae shrugged. “I think they mentioned wanting to have kids soon.”

Oh right. Married couples did that sometimes. Would he and Dae get married? Did Dae want kids?

Theo mentally slapped himself across the face to snap out of it. They’d been together a week! What was he doing? He’d never thought about that kind of stuff with any other boyfriend. Shit, were they even boyfriends?

A chorus of hellos met them as they entered. A few people Theo hadn’t seen since university asked how he was after his near death experience, then smiled knowingly at Dae, which meant word had definitely gotten out about both the fire escape and his confession.

The house was great. It had real ‘starter home’ vibes, with hardwood floors and huge windows. A group huddled inside the small kitchen, their voices overlapping and their body heat making the windows fog.

“Theo!” Jason saw him first and gave him a long hug, rocking him back and forth. “How are you feeling? Man, that was so scary.”

“Nothing but an interesting story.” He nodded to Caleb over Jason’s shoulder. “The house is awesome. You’re a real domestic now.”

“Isn’t it great?” His grin was incandescent. “You want a drink?”

Before he could answer, Dae handed him a vodka soda. He wanted to put his arm around his waist, but Dae moved away to talk to Avery, which Theo fought hard not to take personally.

Despite his romantic insecurities, the party was fun. He caught up with people from school, and once the booze started flowing, an improvised dance floor in the living room became inevitable.