what? It didn’t matter. Because they came home to each other, and we knew that was how it was supposed to be.”
“What happened?” Simon prompted, wrapping his arm around Alex’s shoulders. Alex leaned against him, comforted beyond words. God, they were all so worried. Sunrise ritual, sunset ritual, taking the dog for a walk, getting Barty to the craft fairs, going to work—it all seemed like a cover, a massive, painful cover, for what they really wanted to be doing, which was dragging their friends by the collar into the real world again.
“Well, the same thing that sent our neighborhood spiraling into hell. We did the spell, and it backfired, and everybody spit out the one word that they really wanted, and the next morning nobody’s phone went off and we were late getting Barty to the convention he was working that day.” He fingered the pendant at his neck moodily. “That ended up okay, though,” he said. “Barty accidentally….” He bit his lip against the smile. “His one word was Lachlan, you see. They were like Dante and Cully—”
“Like us,” Simon said softly, and Alex snuggled against his chest a little closer, still gazing at the picture on the table.
“Yeah. So Barty was shy, and he’d been in love with Lachlan for a year and a half and barely even spoken to the guy. And when he was baking that night, all he thought was ‘Why won’t you love me!’”
Simon startled and pulled back. “Like, he cast a spell? Like when he makes his cinnamon rolls magic?”
“Well, yeah, but we didn’t know that yet. So the result was… well, it was pretty epic. Have you ever seen the Beatles movie, Help? Where they’re being chased through London by rabid fans?”
Simon used his free hand to cover his mouth—and his snort of disbelief. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Barty was sprinting down the convention floor with Lachlan hauling ass after him, and half the convention was chasing them down because suddenly everybody wanted a piece of poor Bartholomew Baker.”
“Oh no!”
“Oh yes!” Alex laughed, because Bartholomew’s epic sprint had been something to see. “Poor Barty. He was terrified. But….” Alex’s voice dropped. “But he found his courage. Told Lachlan he loved him. Made these—” He fingered the charm at his neck. “—for protection, and they’ve mostly worked. Kept the birds out of our hair, kept the snakes from getting too close. I think they’re the reason we haven’t gotten sucked down any portals.”
“Is that what happened to your friends? Like Glinda?”
Alex shook his head. “No—it was weird. We all woke up and helped Barty into the van. Dante and Cully too.”
He sighed. Jordan had quietly questioned him about this after they’d realized what had happened. “Anyway, we all cleaned up, but as we were working they got… I don’t know. Quieter and quieter as they went. And once, I could swear, I saw them walk through each other. We were all so freaked out anyway, I figured I must be just losing my mind. But I was the last one into the van, and I remember this: Dante said, ‘I’m bushed. Let’s go nap, baby.’ And Cully said, ‘Don’t hog the bed.’ And the thing is, at that point they hadn’t hooked up. I mean, ever. Everybody asked them. Friends, strangers. Dante once brought a date home and said, ‘Hey, this is my roommate, Cully,’ and the date took one look at Cully and said, ‘I’m out. I know where this is going.’ I remember them both laughing about it later, but none of us did. It was so obvious. But they don’t share the same bedroom. Their setup is just like mine and Barty’s, but it shouldn’t be.”
“So they were acting like a couple when they left your place?” Simon was thinking hard. Alex knew that expression.
“Yeah. They even….” He shrugged. “They even held hands when they were going down the sidewalk. I watched them. And then they went into their house and—”
“And that’s the last you saw of them?”
“Oh, I wish,” Alex replied bitterly. “No. They’re there when you walk in. I think they’ve even been working. Jordan called his dad and asked to make sure they’d paid their rent, and they had—two checks, like always. They get deliveries; trash shows up in their cans. They are actually in the house. You can hear their voices, and every once in a while, one of them pops out of nowhere. Like, you’ll be walking down the hall, and suddenly Dante is just there, like