"You smell different."

Smiling at himself in the mirror, Albus shrugged. "It's a new cologne. Do you like it?"

Scorpius met his eyes in the mirror, clearly less than excited. "It doesn't smell like you. Why would you get a new cologne?"

After fussing with his unmanageable hair one more time, Albus turned around to face his friend. "I liked it. It was on sale…." The nagging smile returned to his lips before he could stop it, accompanied by a soft blush. "And I thought it would be nice for my date tonight…."

"Your date? With who?"

"One if my regulars from the diner."

"Which one?"

Albus rolled his eyes, pushing past Scorpius to the bedroom. "Apple pie and black coffee."

"The banker? Isn't he a Muggle? You want to date Muggles?" If Albus hadn't seen Scorpius very obviously moving on from their relationship, he might have thought his friend jealous. His tone was aggressive and almost territorial and his body language reeked of frustration. Obviously Albus wasn't going to try and read into it, but he couldn't help but to feel a small balloon of hope in his heart.

Sitting gingerly on their bed, Albus shrugged again. Like it was no big deal. Because it wasn't. Scorpius was dating, why couldn't Albus? "Your Pureblood is showing," he chastised while tying his dress shoes. When the scowl didn't fall from his friend's lips, he threw his hands up in the air in a helpless gesture. "So what if he is? He asked me out and he's never been anything but nice to me. I thought I would give him a chance. I don't think one date is going to define my taste in men forever. I mean, it's not like you're planning to date middle-aged men for the rest of your youth, right?"

Albus' attempt at a joke fell on obstinately deaf ears. "Paul's only thirty-six," Scorpius snapped. After a moment of near-glaring, he lowered his gaze to the floor and muttered, "I just didn't know you were dating again…."

The soft pout on Scorpius' lips almost made Albus want to stand his date up. He was a mere half-second of weakness away from admitting to himself that this wasn't what he actually wanted. But his mother's gentle advice played through his mind one more time, reminding him why he was doing this. "Your wellbeing matters, too, chicken." He cleared his throat of all unspoken desires and plastered a smile back on his lips. "You shouldn't be the only one having amazing orgasms," he said with a not-quite-convincing laugh and stood with new resolve.

"I don't know if I'll be back tonight," he added, pausing in front of Scorpius. Savoring the surly purse of his lips for an extended, uncomfortable moment before leaning in to cover it with a whisper of a kiss that lasted at least a few seconds longer than it should have. It felt like a minute in his head, but he didn't exactly trust his judgement of time in his vulnerable state. "Don't wait up," he instructed and leaned in to steal another. At the very last second, he remembered his hope for recovery and planted his lips to Scorpius' cheek instead. Still very much aware of how long he lingered in the comforting space of Scorpius' skin.