[Fie on last night's episode! It is written in the Stars that these two are supposed to be the official GG bromance. I'd even argue Divine Right!]

Dan looked down at his pinky and almost managed a smile. The crooked thin line of fibrous tissue that ran from the base to halfway up his little finger was what he, at the moment, best remembered about Nate. His exile had made it hard to remember any facial features or overly funny jokes. Nate's text had inserted the word jokingly into the story about said scar, but, and this was probably the five weeks of alcohol talking, he remembered Nate more or less bragging about the fact that Dan had been marked. There were certainly elements of humor in his voice, but the overriding emotion seemed to be pride over his latest conquest.

Dan suddenly wondered why that hadn't wound up in the book. It was a brief, blip of a thought, but he was still curious. He shrugged the thought away as he lay back in his bed, glaring at the ceiling. He had genuinely forgotten what human interaction, even via text, was like. His phone chimed briefly.

From: Nate

Need any more convincing?

Dan, who should have laughed but could only roll his eyes, fired back a quick reply.

To: Nate

No, that's good. But I do have a question.

He suddenly felt like he was pushing the boundaries of this still-young reintegration, but he didn't know of any other way to phrase this question. He waited for Nate's eventual reply.

From: Nate

Shoot.

Well, it again seemed like Dan was again going to test out whether or not his words had truly turned against him.

To: Nate

Am I, relatively speaking, still your territory?

Dan hadn't meant it to sound that gay, but it had. It did sound better than a long, blathering declaration trying to persuade Nate from abandoning him to his own misery. It was an odd question, though he at least knew Nate would get the gist of it. Hopefully. The response was instant.

From: Nate

Always. Face it, dude. You're marked.

Then Dan laughed. He didn't know why. Maybe it was the absurdity of the entire conversation or the odd nature of their friendship, but he was laughing. He looked down at the scar and laughed even more. He laughed because he had been convinced he was never going to laugh again. The laughter rolled back as he relaxed his shoulders and back, eternally grateful to his man-banged friend for removing quite a good deal of stress.

His back may have been better, but his eyes nearly shot out of his head when his phone rang. Not chimed, but rang. He answered without really looking.

"Hello?" Dan said.

"Baseball, seriously?" Nate said. "I don't like baseball."

"Lacrosse was too preppy and soccer was too…um…" He trailed off.

"Too what?" Nate asked.

"Too personal." Dan answered.

"Works for me," Nate said, shrugging. "So, you okay, really?"

"Barely," Dan laughed, repeating his earlier line. "Life just sucks."

"Tell me about it," Nate said slyly. "I have to listen to people whine about your book all day long. And since when did you have the free time to write a book?"

"Neither here nor there." Was Dan's calculated reply. It was a deflection of the highest order, but he hoped it would work. "So…you're not mad?"

"The first time, yeah. You wrote about everyone and didn't tell anyone." Nate said.

"Fair enough."

"But I'm not that mad anymore. At least I come off looking pretty good."

"Yeah, you did," Dan said. "Consider it payback for all the weed you've gotten me over the years."

"Was that a compliment or not?" Nate asked.

"…Yes," Dan eventually said. "Any more questions about the book?"

"Is there any older woman I didn't sleep with?"

"My mom." Dan answers honestly.

"Does that mean a sequel?" Nate asked, shaking so hard from suppressed laughter that he was barely able to see straight.

"No," Dan said, voice with a half-humorous, half-scared edge.

"Gotcha," Nate chuckled. "So, if you're still stuck in Brooklyn, am I allowed to come over?"

"I guess." Dan sheepishly admitted. He wasn't entirely sure if his life was worth viewing.

"Cool. Need me to bring anything?"

"Uhh… bring your copy of Inside," Dan said, silently cringing to himself. "There's stuff I need to explain…and apologize for."