To say that Jonathan was screwed, was an understatement.

Ever since the day he moved to California, he'd been screwed. It was something he didn't think would wear him down, but having to watch Evan fall to pieces was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. And talking him out of leaving her was something he couldn't do. At times Evan was happy, but as soon as she walked in the room she wore him down.

All Jonathan could do was watch as the pretty smile that always lit up the room faded away. The shine in his eyes seemed to dull and he took her ridicule and judgement and harsh words like he though he actually deserved it.

"Why do you do it?" Delirious asked him one quiet night as they listened to his favorite album while they watched a meteor shower from the hood of his car. The ocean air ghosted past them and he heard him sigh.

"I don't know. Sometimes it's not so bad. She's fun and beautiful and I'm living with her. I wouldn't have anywhere to go. Except back to Canada." Evan put his arm behind his head.

"You know that's not true. You can always come to my place, you know I don't mind when you stay over."

"I know, but you know I don't like feeling like a burden."

"Evan . . ." Jonathan shook his head.

He knew it was pointless, no matter how logically sound he was or how convinced Evan seemed to be at the end of the day. He never left her and Jonathan sat back and watched for days, weeks, months. He watched as his best friend sunk even lower to the point where he stopped playing regularly. What she had said to him to make him crumble in on himself and still take it was beyond Jonathan.

Her name was Amy and she was one of the most well known female Youtube gamers. He knew that was why Evan went after her in the first place, but it didn't matter how cool and sweet and pretty she was on the camera. Behind the scenes she was a control freak and she tore apart anything she could get her hands on. That included one of the most well known male gamers. She sunk her claws into Evan and ripped him to shreds and it wasn't until he was sitting alone in her apartment, staring at a blank television screen that he actually felt like he needed to get away for a while. So he grabbed his jacket and mindlessly drove until he found himself in front of a familiar door on a porch he'd spent many nights laughing and staring at the stars.

Delirious opened the door when Evan knocked and pulled him in and made him laugh when he knew he wanted to cry. That became routine and Evan started opening up again the more he got away from her. Yet still, he always went back and he felt a little stuck between being happy and having a place and a steady girlfriend. He really just didn't want to be alone and he enjoyed her company up until the moment she started judging him for what he played, how he played, and who he played with.

And he didn't know why he cared so much. Maybe it was that underlying of fear of being laughed it for the things he loved. His games and his friends. Every time she rolled her eyes, he lost a bit of himself and he tried to change. But what was it for? She was never satisfied.

"Dude. I can see it. We all can." Tyler said to him one night when he stopped by Amy's to see him. "Evan, look me dead in the eye and tell me what you've always wanted in a person."

Evan rubbed his exhausted eyes and shrugged. "I want to have fun with them and laugh and game. I want them to know what makes me tick, what makes me who I am. I want them to know my favorite song and color and what my biggest fear is. I want them to know that the most amazing thing to me is the way everything feels cold right before the sun rises even though it's the middle of summer. I want to be happy and myself when I'm around them. I don't want to hide."

Tyler nodded in thought. "Alright now tell me this. Does she know any of that? Does she make you feel what you want to feel?"

Evan sighed and swallowed down the sickness crawling up his throat. He shook his head, "I . . . no. She doesn't"

"Okay then. Who does?" Tyler lowered his tone until it was soft. "Who knows you inside and out and can tell you how many freckles you have on your shoulders? Who knows what you're most afraid of and your favorite songs? Who sits up with you sometimes just to watch that cold sunrise? Who can you be yourself with and feel free with? Who makes you happy? Who do run to when you want to hide?"

Evan ran over those questions in his head and he repeated them. The answer was the same for every one and he felt stupid for subjecting himself to all this torture just because he thought he wouldn't find anyone else. But that someone else had been there all along, watching and waiting in the background, holding him up when things weighed him down. Evan had been blind and he was picking up his phone and pressing dial as Tyler smiled and let himself out of the apartment with a wave.

"Sup, dude?"

Evan smiled, feeling the color in his bleak work growing brighter already. "Hey."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Evan stared down at the busy city below and let his hand rest against the glass. "Can you come get me, please?"

"I'm on my way."

"Jonathan?" Evan caught him before he hung up.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry that it took me so long to leave her."

Jonathan was a light that Evan clung to and he couldn't keep his eyes off of him as he helped him pack all of his things and load it up in the car. He debated leaving her a note before he left, but Delirious grabbed his hand when he reached for a pen.

"She doesn't deserve one." He said quietly and me this eyes. "She never deserved you."

Evan couldn't thank him or apologize enough when they got back to his house on the outskirts of the city. And as Evan continued to fumble for words, choking on his emotions, tears welling up, Jonathan pulled him into his arms and hugged him for all he was worth. Holding him until he felt like he wouldn't break if he let go. When Evan cried, Jonathan wiped at his tears and made him laugh until his lungs hurt. He made him smile and he helped him unpack and settle into his new home. Under the roof he could always be himself. The place where he belonged.

They played until the sky brightened outside and Jonathan was pulling him up onto the roof like they used to do. They let their legs dangle beneath them as the sky lightened and Jonathan watched the way Evan got lost in the color and the way it made everything seem cold and crisp and new. He watched him turn and meet his stare head on and it wasn't what he was expecting. He didn't expect to see him look so at peace.

Jonathan didn't expect him to lean in a little closer or tilt his head. He wasn't anticipating the fire the moment their lips met as the sun breached the horizon. He finally felt happy, knowing that Evan was sitting next to him, tucked beneath his arm like he always should've been as they watched the sun climb higher, the light warming their skin.

Evan finally felt his world coming together as they laid next to each other in the comfort of Jonathan's sheets and countless number of pillows. He knew he'd found his person. The one that would rather die than hurt a hair on his head. The one that knew his biggest fears and his favorite songs. The one that loved him so much that he tried to press the feeling into his skin with the soft of his lips.

The one that made him happy.

Happy and delirious.