"Oh my god, stop! Stop!" Cody groaned as his character was once again hooked and thrown off the screen by Isabelle. Another win for Noah. "Dude, that's so cheap!"

"Cheap is just what people call things that beat them," Noah said, puffing out his chest. He had been on a solid winning streak for a while now.

Cody sighed. He knew he was outplayed. Noah was better than him. Even without 'cheap' tricks, Noah was better than him. Not by much, though. He was just good enough to squeak out a win every so often, but he could tell he was clearly not as practiced as his opponent. "That doesn't even make sense. Isabelle doesn't fish in Animal Crossing."

"You know what they say- give a dog a fish and she'll eat for a day. Teach a dog to fish and she'll do it the whole game."

"Ha. Ha." Cody rolled his eyes. "I admit defeat, but you're definitely a dirty fighter."

"A win is a win. There's no honor in Smash."

"You're probably right. I should just spam specials."

"Hey, play how you want. It's always about having fun. If you're not having fun, you already lost."

Cody raised his eyebrows. "That's super cheesy. Didn't take you for the type."

"Ah, what? I'm way cheesy. Maybe you're just a bad judge of character."

Cody readjusted his posture, straightening out his spine. He placed his controller onto the tiny amount of free space on the coffee table. "I like to think I'm perceptive about people. You just seem, I don't know, kind of above lines like that."

Noah giggled again. Cody decided he liked that laugh, too. It was a bit deeper than what one might imagine a giggle as, but it had the same innocent airiness to it. "Dude, I write poems. Cheese kind of comes with the territory."

Cody shook his head, brows hunching down in disbelief. "What? Dude, your poems aren't cheesy. Well, the one you showed me wasn't."

"You don't think so? They all sound off to me."

"Well, you are your own worst critic."

"That's true enough." Noah thought for a moment. "What about this one?

"Not Hera, Adonis, or Ajax the mighty,
Could hope to outshine the fair Aphrodite.

"Cheesy? Or no?"

Cody thought for a moment, running the words over in his head. It was obviously symbolic, but it was Greek mythology. It wasn't too hard to piece together the meaning. "Cheesy sentiment, but the line itself sounds good to me."

"Thanks, I think," Noah said, giving a small smile. "I'm all about cheesy sentiments."

Cody returned the smile. He found Noah's smile quite charming. It was unabashedly happy. Noah had a very expressive face, and Cody delighted in the sincerity of each look. He found the experience captivating—being able to see someone's emotions play out so plainly. He might even call it… cute?

Noah put his controller down beside Cody's and laid his head down on the couch. "They're only supposed to be a start, but I always get bogged down trying to add on to them."

"What do you mean?" Cody asked.

"They're two-line poems. I like them, but it seems like most people are expecting something more. They're supposed to be the start of a more complete poem. Or more accurately, the end."

"So they're just part of a poem? What's the issue with writing more?"

"I don't know. It's weird. If I add to them, it feels like they lose themselves. I think there's something beautiful about them being unfinished."

Cody nodded slightly. "I like them as they are. I'm not a literary critic or anything, but they're really punchy."

Noah sighed, pulling his hands up to rest under his head. "See, you're no help at all. Way too supportive."

"You're right. They're actually terrible. You should probably just give up."

He gave a short laugh. "Oof. Too far the other way. Go back."

"They're great. If people don't like them because they're too short or whatever, maybe that's their issue," Cody said. "You can't please everybody."

"I mean, I can try."

"You can try. And you can fail." Cody let his head fall back into the couch. It sank for a moment, and he could almost imagine himself disappearing into the soft fabric. He checked the time. Five o'clock. He still had two whole days until he could get out of this city and move on with his life. He regarded it as an almost traumatic experience. Of course, it was all his fault for coming here, but his world had basically crashed around him since.

Still, he couldn't say he was having a bad time. He shifted his eyes towards Noah. He looked so peaceful, comfortable in the silence that had come over them. He shook one leg to an inaudible beat, and his fingers wove together, supporting his head. His eyes were closed, his face a tranquil mix of thought and thoughtlessness. At that moment, Cody couldn't say he was unattractive.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Noah kept his eyes closed. "Shoot."

"How do you actually know when you're in love with someone?" Cody asked, eyeing Noah for any reaction. He didn't seem to show any.

"My usual thought is that you know when you know." He opened his eyes, returning Cody's gaze. "However, considering your current situation, that's probably not what you need to hear right now. I don't know, man. I'd say just try to surround yourself with people you like. Hopefully, something new will come up."

"I guess. I just can't seem to get it right now."

"You've got time to figure stuff out. Make some classic college mistakes. Find out what you really want from a relationship."

"That's easier said than done."

"You're telling me. I'm not exactly an expert on these things, so take my advice with a grain of salt."

Cody scrunched up his brow. "But you write poems about it."

"You don't need to know about love to write about it. I just write from my feelings."

"Well, you sure sound like you know what you're talking about."

"I try. I like to think I have a good idea of it in theory. But, like I said before, I'm no good at taking risks, so I don't find much opportunity to put it into practice."

Surprise lit Cody's face. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that Noah was scared of something like that. Noah was the most outgoing person he knew. "So what if, say, there was someone I had feelings for. What would Noah the love guru recommend I do?"

Noah made a sharp sound, amused and bemused at the title. "Depends if this is a hypothetical. I think the best course of action is normally to make your feelings known, even though I have problems doing that myself," he said. "But right now, I'd have some meaningful concerns about what those feelings are. A day ago you were pretty convinced that you were in love with someone else. Unless you're still talking about Gwen, then…"

"No! No, I'm moving past that," Cody assured. "But I don't want to miss something great because of that."

"Then maybe it's still best to let them know, but be mindful about where those feelings are coming from."

"Alright. I really think this could be something, though. I just don't know if it would ever work out."

"If the feeling's right, then you should definitely go for it."

"You don't think that's bad, starting something you know won't work out?"

"Well, you don't know. Sure, you don't want to go into a relationship hoping it'll end, but life is tricky. It has a knack for turning out a lot differently than you expect. Besides, 'what if's always mess us up later on."

"So I should just bite the bullet, huh? How do you even go about doing something like that?"

Noah grabbed the back of the couch and pulled himself into a sitting position. "Well, different people like different things, but the most important part is being yourself. Don't get too twisted about it."

"I guess… thanks. I'll have to think about it." Cody cast his eyes down and watched his thumbs twiddle. If only Noah knew, then surely his advice would be different. Besides, it was a stupid thought. Just another hopeless idea he needed to suppress.

"Eh, you'll get things figured out. I wouldn't worry about it," Noah said. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry, so we should eat. Anywhere you want to go. You still have the bus pass for the rest of the night."

Cody shifted his gaze to the side, arms tensing. "I don't really know what's around."

"Well, I could show you." Noah furrowed his brow and tilted his head to try and meet Cody's gaze. "Or we could eat in if you don't want to go out."

Cody hesitated a moment. "Yeah. If that's cool with you."

"You're the boss, man. I can order pizza."

"That sounds great," Cody said, pulling himself out of his seat. He noticed Noah's change in tone immediately, and he didn't want to get into it. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

Noah looked dazed for a second, and Cody took the opportunity to exit quickly. "Alright," Noah said, watching the bathroom door close.

Cody heaved a deep sigh of relief once he was safely in the bathroom. He knew he was a little rude, but he decided it was an acceptable risk. He was never all that great about lying, at least not in person. He knew if they had a conversation about it, he'd end up confessing his feelings, and that would never end well. His best bet was just to go on as they had been.

He stared at his reflection. Considering everything that happened, he looked pretty good. He needed to regain his composure, though. He didn't want Noah to worry about him. He turned the faucet on the sink and let the water run over his hand. Withdrawing it, he quickly wiped his face. He grabbed the hand towel by the toilet and went over his face once more. He fixed an imperceptible flaw in his hair but couldn't quite fix it without product. He flushed the toilet to complete the illusion of him using the bathroom and washed his hands.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door. Noah hadn't moved, but he was now thumbing away at his phone.

"Hey! I didn't get to ask what kind of pizza you wanted. I usually get one pepperoni and one sausage," he asked.

"That sounds awesome," Cody replied, trying his best to be nonchalant.

"Cool. I also get free breadsticks."

Cody nodded. He hoped it wouldn't be too expensive, but he figured pizza was the least of the favors Noah had done for him. He ambled across the room to the kitchen table. A window shone behind it. The sun had already set a while ago, but the streetlights outside ensured the scene remained lucent. Cody actually liked big cities at night. Dark buildings make for a great contrast with the abundance of lights. In a way, it was like a starry sky, only up close. It was a nice distraction from everything, a calming sort of view.

Then the front door opened. Cody clenched his teeth hard as Eva walked in. She had on a navy blue headband and tiny beads of sweat covered her body. She gave him a civil expression—he wouldn't exactly call it friendly, but it was definitely not what he expected.

"Hey," she said. "You're Cody, right?"

"Uh, yeah…" he replied.

"Cool. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he said. It was a pleasant, if uneventful, exchange. If anything it made Cody feel silly for being so scared of her before. He had this odd image of her that wasn't really based on anything. It'd be a good lesson for him if this was another kind of story.

"Hey!" Noah called from the couch. We're having pizza delivered if you want some. My treat."

"You know I don't eat that garbage. I just finished a workout, don't want to ruin it."

"Yeah, but I also got breadsticks."

Eva stopped, thoughtful for just a moment. "I'll always be up for breadsticks. I'm gonna get cleaned up first, though."

Cody watched her close the door to the bathroom, then turned to Noah. "Pizza's too unhealthy, but breadsticks are just fine? Seems a little contradictory."

"Precisely right," Noah said. "If Eva says something is unhealthy, she really means she just doesn't like it. Like it matters. With how much she works out, she can eat whatever she wants."

"She didn't seem like the type to dance around stuff like that."

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"I don't know. She just has an intense air about her."

"It's the look. Always that look," Noah said, tapping away at his phone. He was playing some game or another, but Cody couldn't make out any details. "But Eva's a lot more human than she lets on."

Cody moved closer to the couch to catch a glimpse of Noah's phone. He saw a ball rolling on a long path. With each touch of Noah's thumbs, the ball would roll towards wherever he pressed it. Ostensibly, the goal was to stay on the path at all times.

"Sorry," Noah said. "It's just something I do to pass time. It's brainless, so while I might seem distracted, I'm totally all ears." He was a bit more perceptive than Cody gave him credit for.

"It's cool. I can't really complain, seeing how much you've already done for me. I can't tell you how thankful I am for everything. I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't met you."

"I'm sure you'd have been fine. Life works itself out. It just happens that I was here to ease the process."

Cody smiled, a private, inward smile. He decided not to press the conversation and simply enjoy the quiet, really empty his mind. He had been thinking far too much in the past week.

Soon enough, the pizza arrived, and Eva returned, ready for delicious carbs. She and Cody had a subdued conversation. She was actually a lot nicer than he had imagined, but Noah assured him later that it was because he was new. If she were comfortable around him, he would get an entirely different, significantly less cordial side of her.

After dinner, in which Noah managed to put away an entire pizza despite his size, Eva retired to her room and the two boys made light, meaningless conversation. They played Mario Kart, and Cody was proud to know that they were more or less evenly matched.

That ended after some hours when Noah decided he, too, needed to head to bed. Cody returned to his temporary home on the couch, but despite his best efforts and considerable time devoted to the task, he couldn't sleep. He stared up at the ceiling, but it was too dark to trace any shapes. The black curtains let in only the thinnest bar of light from the streets, affording him no adequate distractions. He wasn't in the mood for them, anyways.

His mind raced with thoughts about the day. Noah was the sweetest guy he'd ever met, and he couldn't deny there was something there. Maybe he was just rushing to move on from Gwen, but it was still something. He was happy when he was with Noah, even though he'd only known him for a day. He realized how crazy it sounded. They had only just met. He knew it wasn't love, but it had the potential to be.

He only had a day and a half left here. Even if Noah felt the same way, it'd be the world's shortest relationship. Was that something he even wanted to deal with? It was a whole other kind of heartbreak.

Noah said he should, though. Life might surprise him, but he knew that was a very big might. Something crazy would have to happen for it to work out. He already broke up with Gwen because long distance was such a crapshoot. He didn't have any reason to believe it would be different with Noah.

What if it was, though? What did he have to lose? If he got rejected hard enough, he could lose a place to sleep tomorrow night, but he already knew he could handle one night alone. It'd hurt, but rejections always hurt. That never stopped him before.

Cody found it odd. He usually never had trouble like this. Even Noah noted that he was impulsive and didn't think things through. Why was it different now? Where did his resolve go?

He grabbed his phone and held it in front of his face. The light hurt for just a second, but he could easily make out the time. Two in the morning. He figured Noah would be asleep, and he didn't hear anything from his room.

Screw it. He was going to do it, and he was going to do it in the most cowardly way possible. It was the only way he could get over his nerves. He was going to text him. He had Noah's number. All he needed was to type out a message. That was a task much easier said than done. He spent about twenty-five minutes composing his text, and it still wasn't to his liking. He figured he wouldn't ever please himself with it, so he decided to hit send before he could second guess himself for the umpteenth time.

Hey. That person I said I might have feelings for was actually you. Not sure what to do about it.

…

Regret hit him immediately. It was way too weird. "Not sure what to do about it"? How do you even respond to that? He briefly contemplated going to Noah's room and deleting the message, but he recognized that that was a terrible idea. Not only would he have to go into Noah's room, but he'd also have to unlock his phone. Completely inappropriate.

He took a few deep breaths to center himself. It wasn't so bad. He didn't regret telling Noah, so that was a start. He could get over the wording if he just calmed down. There was no reason to worry about it now. He just hoped Noah took it in the best light.

He put his phone away. He needed to get some sleep. He'd thank himself in the morning when he was well-rested for what was sure to be an emotionally exhausting conversation.

~A/N~

Shorter chapter, my apologies. If you're enjoying the story, let me know!