The sun was streaming through the window onto Jessica's hotel bed as she lay with Hayden wrapped in her arms, his head resting comfortably on her chest.

'You seem very happy there,' she remarked.

'I am,' he murmured sleepily.

'So, honey... were you hoping this would happen?'

'Only in my deepest dreams. I didn't want to get my hopes up. We were meeting for the first time, after all.'

'Well yeah, but we've known each other forever. Half our lives, anyway. I had every intention of taking you to bed if you were everything you seemed from our online chats.'

'Then I'm very glad that's what I turned out to be,' said Hayden. 'I didn't dare to hope for anything sexual, but I was certainly hoping something would happen... a long night of baring our souls and then a kiss goodbye, perhaps.'

Jessica laughed and said, 'Seems silly now, huh? Well, we've already spent more than enough hours baring our souls to justify our kiss hello.'

'Mmm, and much more besides. Whatever I might have imagined, Jess, I had no idea you were so...'

'Kinky?'

'Adventurous.'

'I'll try just about anything,' she said, 'but there is stuff I'm not really into, like dressing up and role-play and stuff like that. Unless you wanted to try it – then I would, to please you.'

'That's sweet of you,' said Hayden.

They lay in silence for a few moments, then Jessica said quietly, 'I don't want to go back to New York and leave you here.'

'I don't want that either,' said Hayden, raising himself abruptly onto his elbow and looking deep into her eyes.

'How many days did you take off work?'

'The whole week. I'm staying 'til Saturday. Will you stay with me, Jess?'

'I don't know,' said Jessica. 'I'm working on a house right now; I told the tradespeople I'd be available this afternoon if they needed me, and definitely back on-site tomorrow.'

'You can trust them for the rest of the week,' said Hayden. 'You're too clever to hire cowboys.'

'Flatterer. Look, why don't you just come back with me?'

'Well, because... because I came to see Emilia; she'd be a bit miffed if I just naffed off after half our visit. And what about Lars – how can I leave him like that?'

'I really hope he's not "like that" after a good night's sleep,' said Jessica. 'And besides, Emilia took care of him yesterday, didn't she? They've still got each other if you come with me.'

'I really want to go with you, Jess,' said Hayden. 'I can't tell you how much!'

'So do! You'll see your brother again real soon, and you'll see your sister in the summer – it's really not that far off.'

'Mmm... which means it's not long at all until I'll have to leave you.'

'Then let's make the most of it,' said Jessica.

'All right,' said Hayden. 'Unless Lars is looking suicidal or something.'

'Well, I wouldn't expect you to leave him if he was actually suicidal, but I bet he's not. I really, desperately want to take you home with me, Hayden.'

Kevin and Oscar were also still in bed.

'I don't want to go back out there,' said Oscar, nodding towards the door to the corridor.

'I think we have to, really,' said Kevin.

'Can we just sneak down to the parking lot and drive off?'

'No. We need to pick up Jess first, for one thing.'

'We might as well get on with it, then,' Oscar sighed, dragging himself into a sitting position.

Kevin grinned and said, 'That's the spirit!'

Kevin and Oscar emerged into the hotel corridor and ran straight into Lars. Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but Lars got in first.

'Guys, I'm really, really sorry!' he blurted out. 'Bloody hell, what must you think of me?'

Kevin and Oscar exchanged a look.

'I shouldn't have attacked you,' said Oscar. 'I'm sorry.'

'No, no, you were right to do it!' said Lars. 'I wish you'd punched my lights out, Oscar – that's what I deserved!'

'Do you want him to do it now?' Kevin suggested.

'Yes, if he still feels like it,' said Lars.

'I don't want to hit you, Lars,' said Oscar.

'Well... thanks,' said Lars, with a small, tentative smile. 'Still, I made a complete arse of myself for no reason and... well, I did have a reason, but that's absolutely no excuse for what I did!'

Lars was now staring at Oscar with wide, pleading eyes; Oscar frowned slightly.

'What do you want from me, Lars?' he asked.

'I'll tell you exactly what I want, Oscar,' said Lars. 'I want us to call each other brother, and I want to talk to you about coming out of the closet.'

'You mean... about you coming out of the closet?'

'Yes, exactly.'

Oscar raised his eyebrows and said, 'Okay, brother – let's talk.'

'I've been a closeted, non-practising homosexual for almost ten years now and I fucking hate it!' said Lars, real desperation evident in his voice. 'I wish I could be like you two – out and proud!'

Kevin and Oscar exchanged another look.

'You know, Lars, neither of us ever exactly came out in the way I think you mean,' said Kevin. 'We met and we became friends and we fell more and more in love with each other every time we were together, and when the time was right we became a couple. That's... that's all there is to it, really.'

'We've always just followed our hearts and done what's felt right to us,' said Oscar. 'We're not... gay icons or anything.'

'Oh, but you are!' Lars said insistently. 'What you two have done is so, so brave, even if you didn't mean it to be. I wish I could be even half as brave! But I've been a coward – I've been lying to myself and I've always known it! I remember going to a Bonfire Night party when I was sixteen and spending the whole of the fireworks display trying to get to grips with my sexuality. Emilia and Hayden and Christine – that was Hayden's girlfriend at the time – were really enjoying the bangers and the sparklers and the toffee-apples, but I was just worrying, worrying, worrying about whether the feelings I was having for my schoolfriend John were wrong! I... I don't want to feel like that anymore!'

'Lars,' said Oscar, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, 'how about the three of us have breakfast together and talk this whole thing through?'

Lars beamed at Oscar and said, 'Yes please.'

Two groups of three people, both deep in conversation, were having breakfast around adjacent tables in the hotel dining room. Kevin, Oscar and Lars were at one table, while Hayden, Jessica and Emilia were at the other.

'I'm madly in love with one of my colleagues at school,' Lars was telling Kevin and Oscar. 'His name's Nathan Gilbert and he teaches science. I... I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about me.'

'You should try asking him out, then,' Kevin said encouragingly.

'But what if I'm wrong?' said Lars.

'Put yourself out there a little, man!' Oscar advised. 'If you don't try, you'll never know.'

'Yeah,' said Lars, managing a small smile. 'Yeah, you're right, Oscar.'

Oscar opened his mouth to say something else, but his attention was diverted as Jessica stood up from the other table and left the room, apparently in something of a hurry.

'Did Hayden come back to your room last night, Lars?' Oscar asked in a whisper.

'Um... no,' said Lars. 'No, he didn't. I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear, Oscar, but...'

Frowning slightly, Oscar jumped to his feet and ran after Jessica. Hayden and Emilia stopped their conversation rather abruptly, and Emilia smiled over at Kevin.

'So, who'd have thought the four of us would ever end up in this position?' Kevin remarked, now uncomfortably aware that all three Wallance siblings were staring at him.

'I hope you don't feel at all awkward about that, Kevin,' said Emilia. 'We're all family now.'

'Are we?' said Hayden.

'Yes, we are!' Emilia said insistently.

'Would you like another cup of tea, Kevin?' said Lars. 'I'm having one, and there should be at least two decent helpings left in the pot.'

Kevin smiled wryly and said, 'You're not trying to seduce me again, are you?'

Hayden and Emilia burst out laughing; Lars looked slightly uncomfortable for a few seconds, then he joined in the unrestrained mirth.

'You'll never be able to speak to Kevin again without him thinking you're chatting him up!' said Hayden.

'You can never make a second first impression, Lars,' Emilia giggled, 'unfortunately for you!'

'Come on, guys,' said Kevin, 'it wasn't that funny. You know what, Lars? I will have another cup of tea with you. Thanks.'

Lars smiled at Kevin and reached for the teapot.

'Jess, wait up!' Oscar called as Jessica pressed the button to call the elevator.

'I was going to have to anyway,' she said, turning round and indicating the closed doors behind her.

'Oh yeah, right,' said Oscar, and he began to look uncomfortable. 'So... you and Hayden, huh?'

'Yeah,' said Jessica, avoiding his eye.

'I'm not completely surprised, Jess, because Emilia told me you've been friends with him on social media for years.'

'She did, huh? I guess he told everybody all about it, then.'

'Yeah.' Oscar paused for a moment, then added, 'You didn't, though.'

'No,' Jessica agreed.

'Why not?'

'So you're here to challenge me about keeping secrets from you, huh?'

The elevator pinged and the doors flew open. Jessica ignored them and stood looking at Oscar, somewhat defensively.

'I'm not challenging you,' said Oscar. 'I know it's none of my business if you don't want it to be. I just... wondered.'

Jessica softened her expression, sighed and said, 'I want it to be your business now.' The elevator doors closed behind her, and she let them. 'Because now it's serious. But I didn't know before, so I didn't tell you because I thought you'd be weirded out, and it could've been over nothing. But now... well, now you're getting weirded out over something.'

'Who says I'm weirded out?' Oscar said airily.

'I'll bet you are,' said Jessica, smiling in amusement.

'Well...'

'And before you ask, back when we were just kids and I didn't like him like him yet, I didn't tell you I'd made friends with him because you'd lost touch with that family and I assumed you hated all of their guts. Does that satisfy you?'

'Yes,' said Oscar. 'That's all completely understandable, Jess. Sorry if I came across as confrontational about it.'

'That's okay,' said Jessica.

Kevin chose this moment to emerge from the dining room. He spotted Oscar and Jessica smiling at each other in front of the closed elevator, and walked briskly over to join them.

'Everything okay?' Kevin asked, putting a supportive arm across Oscar's shoulders.

'Yeah,' said Oscar, slipping his own arm around Kevin's waist, 'we're okay.'

'Kevin,' said Jessica, 'would it be all right if Hayden rode back with us in your mom's car? He's gonna come stay with me for a few days.'

'Sure, no problem,' said Kevin.

Jessica's face lit up and she rushed to kiss Kevin on the cheek.

'Thanks, Kev,' she said. 'It's true what everyone says about you, you know – you really are the nicest person in the world!'

'So... so you're actually taking Hayden back to New York with you?' said Oscar.

'Yes, I am,' said Jessica.

'Do you think everyone's gonna be... okay with that?' said Oscar.

'Are you okay with it?' Jessica asked pointedly.

'Okay, I'll admit I'm a little weirded out by that idea,' Oscar said with a small smile. 'But if it's what you and Hayden want to do, Jess... well, you should go ahead and do it.'

'I don't think Emilia's very happy about the whole thing,' Jessica admitted. 'She was making me feel a little uncomfortable when we floated the idea to her over breakfast, but... well, it's not like she can stop us, is it?'

'I think we're about to find out,' said Kevin, nodding towards the dining room door. 'Here come Huey, Dewey and Louie right now.'

Oscar and Jessica could not help giggling at this remark as Hayden, Emilia and Lars crossed the lobby to meet them.

'All sorted, then?' said Emilia, with more enthusiasm than she obviously felt.

'Yeah, it is,' said Kevin. 'We're giving Hayden a ride to the Big Apple.'

When he heard this, Hayden looked like all his birthdays had come at once; he exchanged an anticipation-filled glance with Jessica.

'How are you planning on getting back up here, Hayd?' Emilia asked. 'You can get a train – the Vermonter – from Penn Station in Manhattan, but that takes forever and it only runs once a day. I flew from Burlington to JFK and back when I visited Oscar; you could do that.'

'Yes, I could,' said Hayden. 'Or I might see if I can cancel my plane ticket home and rebook it from JFK.'

'I can get Chris to pick you up from the airport if you fly back,' Emilia said coaxingly. 'He gave me a lift both ways when I did it.'

'Thanks, Emi,' said Hayden, 'but I think I'll probably rebook my original flight instead.'

Emilia frowned slightly and said, 'You mean you're going to stay with Jessica until you leave the country?'

'Well... yeah, I am,' said Hayden. 'I mean, if she'll have me.'

Jessica gave him a meaningful look and said, 'You bet I'll have you!'

'So... that's the plan, then,' said Hayden.

'Oh,' said Emilia, looking a little miffed. 'Oh, right.'

'Sorry, Emi-chops,' Hayden said in a rather small voice. 'I'll see you in the summer – it's really not that far off.'

'Yeah, I know,' said Emilia, managing a small smile. 'Bye for now then, Hayd.'

She gave him a heartfelt hug, then Lars came to take her place.

'Could you do me a favour while I'm gone?' said Hayden, wrapping his arms around his brother.

'What favour's that, Hayd?' asked Lars.

'Don't be a Muppet, mate!' said Hayden. 'No more boozing, okay?'

Lars laughed and said, 'Never again!'

'Happy birthday for Saturday if I don't see you before,' said Hayden.

'Thanks,' said Lars, giving him a final squeeze before stepping out of the brotherly embrace. 'Have a good time, bro. Perhaps we'll bump into each other at Heathrow on Sunday, eh?'

'Yes, perhaps,' said Hayden. 'You, er... you will be okay here on your own, won't you?'

'He's not going to be on his own,' said Emilia. 'I'm going to stay with him in the twin room while you're gone, Hayd; I'll have to pop back to campus for lectures, of course, but that's fine. We're going to talk at length about your feelings, aren't we, Lars?'

'We certainly are,' said Lars. 'And we're going to decide exactly what I need to do when I get back to England. I already know the first thing, though – I'll tell Nathan the truth about myself and... well, see how he reacts.'

'Hmm, well I don't want to know too much about how you're hoping that's going to pan out!' said Emilia.

'Oscar, I really can't tell you how sorry I am about yesterday,' said Lars.

'You already did,' said Oscar. 'And I've already forgotten all about it, brother.'

'Thank you,' said Lars, venturing to give him a quick hug. 'Thanks for everything.'

'Let me know how it goes with Nathan,' said Oscar, patting Lars on the back in a slightly awkward manner.

'I'll email you a full update,' said Lars.

Oscar smiled and said, 'I'd like that.'

From his position in the front passenger seat of Beth's car, Oscar looked into the rear-view mirror and watched the outskirts of Burlington disappearing into the distance. He could not help but notice something else in the mirror too, namely Jessica and Hayden sitting on the back seat and staring at each other with hungry eyes.

'Just so's you know, Jess,' said Oscar, 'I think I've now reached a crescendo of being weirded out by you and Hayden. I'm not saying I have a problem with it – I'm just acknowledging how right you were when we talked in front of the elevator.'

Jessica met his eye in the mirror, gave him a wry smile and said, 'That's very big of you, Oscar.'

'Man, just imagine what our family tree would look like if someone actually bothered to write it all down!' said Oscar. 'It'd be... really weird.'

'Not weird,' said Jessica. 'Just unique.'

'So,' Kevin said from the driving seat, 'how's everyone feeling in the aftermath of the reunion?'

'Deeply satisfied,' said Jessica, then she gave Hayden an intense look and added, 'for now.'

Hayden's mouth fell open a little as he met Jessica's gaze, and he folded his hands across his lap. Kevin glanced to his right; as he had suspected, Oscar was looking more than a little uncomfortable.

'How about you, Hayden?' Kevin asked quickly.

'I... I've very literally never been happier in my entire life,' said Hayden, still staring into Jessica's eyes. 'I came to the US to visit my sister, get reacquainted with my estranged half-brother and finally meet Jess in person. I got everything I wanted and more... a lot more! And I've loved every second of it.'

'It's not over yet, honey,' Jessica said meaningfully.

Oscar winced and said, 'Oh God.'

'I think we all know how you're feeling, Oscar,' said Jessica.

'Well, maybe you don't,' said Oscar. 'I'm pretty happy overall, and no one could be more surprised about that than me! I feel at least a little brotherly toward all my siblings now, and as for what I think about the two of you hooking up, I'm really... quite pleased. It'll just take a little getting used to, that's all.'

Oscar looked into the mirror again and saw that Jessica and Hayden were now kissing each other voraciously, both of them obviously using plenty of tongue.

'Or maybe a lot of getting used to,' Oscar sighed.

'Sorry, Oscar,' said Hayden, breaking the kiss. 'Would you rather we didn't snog in the car?'

'I don't want you to stop on my account,' said Oscar.

'That means he would rather we didn't,' Jessica said to Hayden.

'How about we have a little sing-along?' Kevin suggested.

'Great idea!' said Oscar. 'The Spice Girls' greatest hits?'

'How could it be anything else?' said Kevin.

'Excellent,' said Hayden. 'I love the Spice Girls!'

'You do, huh?' said Jessica, giving him a playful look. 'Well, I guess I can look past that.'

In Jessica's apartment later that very day, Jessica and Hayden were lying in the spooning position, with Hayden's back to Jessica's front and her arm draped over him.

'This is nice,' he said.

'Mmm,' said Jessica, who was clearly thinking of going to sleep.

'Intimate,' he added.

'You like being the little spoon?'

'Yes. If we did it the other way, I'd get your hair caught in my throat.'

She chuckled and snuggled further into him. They lay quietly for a while, and Jessica was almost asleep when she heard Hayden say in a small voice, 'How can I ever go home?'

'Oh, honey,' she said, waking up at once. 'You can always come back. I want you to come back. And before you do, I'll fly out to visit you.'

'For how long?' said Hayden, still speaking in that small voice.

'Months and months. I'm my own boss; I can take as much time off as I want.'

'It could never be enough.'

'Hey, come on now,' Jessica said soothingly. 'We have to play this thing by ear. I don't think now is the right time to say it's forever or never again – do you?'

Hayden rolled over in her arms and looked at her with a troubled expression. 'Well... it's definitely not never again, right?'

'Absolutely right. Y'know, babe, I was afraid it wouldn't be the same when we met in person but, if it's possible, you're even better in the flesh. This has been...'

'There are no words for what it's been, Jess.'

'That is so true,' she said, smiling and reaching up to stroke his cheek. 'I'm going to come visit you as soon as I've sold my latest house. And then you can come visit me any time you want.'

'And then what?' asked Hayden.

'And then,' said Jessica, 'we'll see.'