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“We don’t get to choose our gifts. Unfortunately,” Zeke flexed his fingers and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“I just. I need a place to hide out. Like… Gio can’t even know. I’m—I didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t want to go into one of those warehouses.” Syl’s voice choked as he spoke.

“Okay. We’ve got places…” I gave Zeke a sidelong glance.

“Who the fuck is this?” Bitty came out of nowhere, thick-rimmed glasses magnifying her eyes as she choked up on a stack of manhwa she’d been begging me to pull things out of.

“His best friend. Who are you?” Syl said it with no malice, exhaustion sagging his body one breath at a time.

“Well, until he has the baby, I’m a freeloader.” She grinned and Syl squinted at her like she’d said something, understandably, weird.

“You guys are getting a baby?” Syl blinked in surprise, waking marginally until Bitty sniffed. “Adopting? Surrogate?”

My face burned as Bitty sat her books down, leafed through them and held one up. The cover depicted an alpha and pregnant omega. She shook the book and gestured at me as Syl’s mind did some rather rare math.

“Wait, what?” He looked at me pointedly, and I backed up, not fast enough, though. Syl tugged at the jacket I held and gaped at me, eyes raking me up and down for a second. “Dude… Dude! Why didn’t you tell—okay I know why.”

I snatched my jacket back and held it to my chest. “Yeah, how does that conversation go?”

“I dunno, dude. My boyfriend got me boy pregnant, btw. You’re going to be an uncle?” Syl stared me down. “Yeah, that doesn’t work, either. Ohhh, shit. Okay, quick question, is Zeke freaky old?”

“Yes,” Isa and Bitty answered at the same time.

“I’m not that damn old!” Zeke heaved an exasperated sigh.

“Old,” Bitty sniffed imperiously. “You’re like two-hundred.”

“Holy shit. The age gap on that one. Wait—” Syl stared Zeke down. “I have so many questions.”

Zeke sighed raggedly. “I’m a hundred and eighty—” he mumbled the rest. Truth told, we didn’t really know how old he was. We knew approximately, but Zeke wasn’t the kid they celebrated birthdays with and it wasn’t like they signed his name in the family bible.

Syl’s lips pursed. “I have questions that are officially none of my business unless you so choose to tell me unprovoked.”

Zeke stared at him for a moment. “I like him.”

“Cool. So… How does this work—” Syl gestured at me, and I grumbled as I lifted my shirt and showed off the line under my navel. “Okay, so not the fun way.”

“I like him, too.” Bitty beamed, and Syl stared her down.

“Fujoshi?” Syl gestured toward her.

Everyone nodded.

“Hujo.” She crossed her arms. The distinction was important.

“Okay, so—” Syl settled back against a counter and sagged, breath leaving him as it wheezed free in a low rumble. “Things got really fucked up really fast.”

“I’ll say.” I took a seat and squirmed anxiously, tidying up my papers at my side self-consciously. “How do we tell Gio?”

“We don’t. Gio has been acting weird. He’s hung up on Professor D. Swears he’s still alive and is just off the deep end in general.” Syl ran a hand through his hair, overdue for a haircut and far too thin.

“I should reach out and talk to—” Guilt swelled in me.

“He won’t hear it.” Syl waved me off. “Try, but he’s grieving hard. The longer it goes on, the more certain I am that he and the professor were fucking.”

I hummed in disapproval, but Gio was an adult and we couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“The age gaaa—” I caught myself and pursed my lips.