“Well,” Evan said, “What do you feel like doing?”

Yena grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her.

“Evan, I have become such a baby,” she said. “I really did get spoiled at the palace. I’m so freaking cold all the time in this drafty house.”

He laughed and looked out the window. It was dark and windy out.

“So I take it you don’t want to go out?”

Yena shook her head wildly.

“Definitely not. I just want to stay bundled up here on the couch the rest of the night. It’s warmer down here than in my room… honestly, I don’t think I can sleep at all up there when it’s windy like this.”

I could sleep with you and keep you warm, Evan thought.

What a horribly cheesy line that would sound like.

“Okay,” he said. “Sounds like we’re doing a movie night down here then?”

“Yes, that’s perfect,” Yena said happily. “But… you’re not gonna leave me after the movie and go sleep in your room, are you? It’s spooky down here at night… let’s think of it like a slumber party, yeah?”

“That’s fine,” Evan said, keeping his voice cool and even.

His room was cold, too. He didn’t mind sleeping on the couch tonight and being a little warmer. But now he was suddenly nervous.

Thinking about spending the night with Yena.

There were two big couches down here… they could each sleep on one.

But he wondered what Yena might do later.

She was unpredictable lately.

Suddenly he was picturing them sitting side by side in the dark, and Yena sliding in close to him on the couch, putting her hands on him, and then climbing up onto his lap…

YENA

Evan jumped up from the couch suddenly and started talking about what we should do for dinner.

“There’s a potato casserole in the oven,” he said. “And Mom ordered me to get some pizzas delivered too.” He pulled a folded stack of cash out of his pocket and held it up.

“I could skip the pizza,” I told him.

“Figured you’d say that, but I’m gonna order ‘em anyway. Mom and Dad won’t be home till tomorrow night, so unless you’re making pancakes in the morning, I’m thinking it might be a cold pizza for breakfast kind of day.”

I nodded and pointed at Evan. “Sometimes I forget how very smart you are.”

He blushed and shook his head, then walked away.

Evan turned on the oven to warm up the casserole and called the pizza place. I went upstairs to change into pjs and brought down more blankets and pillows from my room.

I was scrolling through all the movie options we could stream, when Evan walked back into the room.

“Nice,” he said, looking at all the comfy updates I’d made to the living room.

I had cleared all Tina’s books, coasters, and clutter off the tables, and set up both couches with tons of pillows.

Evan carried over two plates of fragrant rosemary potato casserole. Then he went back to the kitchen and returned with drinks and napkins.

“So responsible,” I whispered.

“Alright, now it’s just kind of insulting,” Evan said, smiling. “I brought you a napkin. You don’t need to act so impressed.”

I giggled. “Alright, well I need help with what movie to watch. There are too many options.”

“Oh! Gimme that.” Evan put his hands into a catch position, asking me to throw him the remote.

I tossed it poorly, but he caught it anyway.

He clicked about a million buttons on the remote. Then finally found what he was looking for.

It was one of our favorite old movies that we used to watch when we were in middle school.

“Oh, I’d forgotten about this!”

Evan grinned. “You wanna watch it?”

“Yes!”

He started the movie playing. While the familiar intro started, he got up and went around to dim and turn off some of the lights in the house, then he settled back down onto the other couch.

I ate a full plate of Tina’s casserole, and Evan put away at least two. The pizzas arrived midway through the movie, and I couldn’t help myself – I had a few slices, too.

It wasn’t super late when the movie was over, but Evan and I had both gotten pretty sleepy. A big meal and a movie in the dark can do that to you.

We agreed to put another movie on but confessed to each other that we both felt like we’d pass out before it ended.

So we took a little break. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

Evan got all the lights turned out, except for a little lamp on a side table by the couch I’d been lying on.

I started tucking myself in, but the walk through the house had gotten me cooled down again, after being cozy during the movie.

“Cold, still?” Evan asked me, smiling. He was pulling on a sweatshirt and sitting down on the other couch.

My teeth had started to chatter.

“Ugh! I just can’t get warm. The floor is so cold, it just freezes me from the bottom up.”

Evan got up and walked over to me.

“Just lie back,” he said.

I’d been squirming under the blankets, trying to warm my feet up. I relaxed, as Evan told me to, and he started tucking me in.

“Aw,” I said. “Thank you.”

He pressed the blankets tight around my shoulders, and then moved his way down my body. His touch was very cautious and hesitant.

When he got to my feet, he rubbed them for a moment, to try to make some warmth.

“You take such good care of me,” I said.

He smiled and said, “You deserve it.”

“Evan?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Will you…”

I was hesitant to ask, but I just had to.

“Will you sleep here with me tonight? We can pull these cushions off to make room.”

Evan’s hands stopped moving. Then he put them back into his pockets.

He was silent for a moment.

We made eye contact and I felt like I could read his mind.

He was trying to figure out if I was being serious, or toying with him.

“I just want to cuddle, that’s all.” I tried to keep my voice very neutral, so he’d know I wasn’t trying to mess with him. “Please Evan, I just hate trying to sleep in this cold.”

He nodded and looked away. Then went around the back of the couch and pulled the cushions off.

I scooted forward to let Evan get behind me. He lifted his body over mine very carefully, and settled down between my body and the back of the couch.

I sighed. It felt good to have a big, strong arm wrapping around me.

Evan’s energy felt tense at first, but once we got settled in, and had the blankets pulled up all around the both of us together, he relaxed and held me tight, resting his head on the pillow behind mine.

It felt good to be held.

But… it also made me think about how much better it felt to have Nolan’s arms around me instead…

I caught myself frowning. And in the very back of my mind, I heard Lily whimpering.

I exhaled and internally told her to quiet down. I let more of my weight fall back into Evan’s chest, and drifted off to sleep.