The four ex-Hotel employees flood out into the hall with the rest of the spectators. A flurry of conversation dances between Cherry and Kara, but Zeke can hardly keep up; he’s too distracted by the glances their group is getting, the laughs that feel directed towards them, and the uncomfortable look on Lewis’ still-pink face.

To his left, the sun bounces off a reflective surface and catches Zeke’s eye; down the hall, he notices that woman he spoke with during recess. She’s got a phone up to her ear, and she makes haste down the hallway. As Zeke begins to step off towards her direction, he tells his friends, “I’ll meet you guys outside.”

He jogs down the hallway, although he struggles to keep pace; she’s short, but moving surprisingly fast. She dips beyond the turn of the hallway, and Zeke loses her in the chaos. He makes an educated guess that she’s exiting, so he pushes his way out of the building. Once onto the exterior steps, his eyes scan the surrounding block. There’s a lot of people out at this time of day, but he doesn’t spot her.

Goddamnit. He shakes his head, lets out an angry sigh, and puts his hands on his hips. He throws his head back and peers up at the sky above. It’s well past midday now, and there’s only a couple more hours left of sunshine. He tries to catch his breath, but he’s having a hard time accepting that this is really his final week in the Poconos. He’s not sure how much time has passed, but he eventually hears Cherry’s sweet voice at his side, “Zeke? Are you okay?”

“You just ran off,” Kara adds.

Lewis doesn’t say anything, but his face reads with worry.

Zeke tries to respond, “yeah. I - there was a woman. She, uh,” he stutters on his words, “she just said some stuff to me while you guys were in Trueheart’s earlier. I just saw her, but I couldn’t catch up.”

“Oh?” Kara pries.

Before anyone else has a chance to ask any follow up questions, the remaining three ex-Hotel employees approach their group. Lauren waves a real friendly wave, “well hey, guys!”

“Hey,” Zeke says to the whole group.

“Awww. Hi,” Cherry pouts, immediately giving a hug to Rosa.

Kara gives Becka a fist bump, “hey, girlie.”

Once done with their hug, Rosa’s hazel eyes beg for answers as she turns towards Zeke and Lewis, “you two alright?”

Zeke responds for both of them, “yeah, yeah, we’re good. I guess we missed the first half of Mr. Wright’s testimony?”

“Mmm,” Rosa nods, “he was staying on script until you two came back in.”

Lauren pipes in, “ya know, it’s a shame that he’s going to prison, but getting away from all the noise of town is really gonna help clear his head.”

Becka adds, “getting away from those substances will help too.”

Rosa lights up, “oh, and the effin’ Truehearts taking over the Resort grounds? What the hell’s that about?”

“Wait, yeah,” Zeke recalls the judge’s words, “as in, like, Amy? The owner of that restaurant over there?”

“Nah, her ex-husband’s family,” Becka corrects.

Zeke asks, “are they bad guys or something?”

“They’re a property management company, mijo. They own most of this town,” Rosa responds.

“Ohhh. They’re landlords,” he says with distaste.

Lauren chimes in, “well, they also handle selling properties too, in which case, they may be the most qualified to hold an auction.”

“Yeah, but they’re Hearts,” Kara hisses, “they’ll probably just give it back to the Heartwoods as a political move.”

Becka adds, “Mayor Heartwood would love a big chain hotel in Heart Hollow. Think of the tourism.”

Cherry pleads, “no, Becka, don’t say that! The Hotel will lose all of its kitschy charm.”

“You mean the grime from the eighties?” Rosa laughs.

Lauren decides to add, “well, that Hotel has some fantastic bones. If somebody were to come in and restore it, I’m sure it could pull some serious business.”

Rosa puts her hands on her hips, “it’ll be wild to see what happens to that old place, that’s for sure.”

“Crazy, absolutely insane day,” Kara shakes her head. She then shoots a glance over towards Zeke and Lewis, “seriously, I can’t believe you two missed some of it. What were you two doing anyways?”

The group falls silent as Zeke and Lewis are, yet again, put up to testify. Lewis can’t get a word in before Zeke speaks up, “we just stepped out. Had a chat. Calmed down a bit.”

“Things were getting really tense in there,” Cherry adds, “I don’t blame you guys one bit.”

However, the look on Kara’s face reads that she’s rather unsatisfied with that answer. She crosses her arms and decides to address the whole group with a subject change, “well, the Hotel’s going under. You all know what that means, right?”

“Oh my gosh, yes,” Cherry giggles despite it all.

“About time,” Rosa laughs earnestly.

“Oh boy,” Lauren beams with endless enthusiasm.

“Uh oh,” Becka says skeptically.

Kara points towards the tall hills that hold up the Hotel, “two words: pool party.”

Immediately, the group bursts out into excited planning, almost as if their fate hadn’t just been sealed for them. Zeke sits in, listening to everybody spout their ideas for the celebration. Lauren brings up this killer devilled egg recipe, Rosa mentions bringing pool floaties, and Becka says she’s got some real nice speakers for music; Cherry brings up alcohol, and Kara mentions weed, and Zeke looks up towards his side to check up on Lewis.

Wait, where’d he go? For once, Lewis isn’t by his side, and Zeke immediately steps away from the small circle of ex-Hotel employees to locate him. He spots Lewis trailing down the steps of the governmental building, so he trots to catch up with the guy. The ginger seems a bit startled when Zeke asks, “hey, where ya goin?”

“Oh, ah,” he stutters, continuing to make his way down the steps, “it’s been a long day. I think I’d like to head home and work on some job applications.”

“What? Dude, c’mon,” Zeke steps out in front of him once they reach street level, “you’re really gonna go home and work? Take a night off. Seriously.”

“Ah,” Lewis clenches his jaw. His hands begin to intertwine nervously, “I don’t know. I’m… I’m pretty tired.”

“And that’s why you shouldn’t go home to chug away at job apps. C’mon. Unwind a little,” Zeke begs. By the look on Lewis’ face, he still doesn’t seem too persuaded, so Zeke begins to grasp at straws in his head. He decides to suggest, “hey, how about you take me home?”

Lewis’ eyes soften as his attention rests atop that hill, “you’re still staying up there?”

“Well, kinda. I stayed with Cherry and Kara over the weekend, but most of my stuff is still there.”

“I see,” Lewis hums. He pushes his once-manicured curls out of his face as he thinks on it and then says, “ah, okay. Yeah, I can give you a ride back up to the Hotel.”

“Sweet,” Zeke grins, “my bag’s in Cherry’s car, so I’m gonna go grab that real quick. I’ll meet you at your car; where’d you park?”

Lewis points towards the opposite side of the street from Trueheart’s, where his little white sedan sits. The brunette nods his head, “awesome. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back,” he calls out, already halfway up the staircase. He jogs up to the group and slides in next to Cherry and Kara, “hey, guys. Favor to ask.”

This catches the two women’s attention away from their party planning. Kara asks, “what’s up?”

“Lewis is gonna take me back to the Hotel. Can I get my bag from your car, Cherry?”

“Oh,” she hums, hesitating for a moment before digging in her purse, “yeah, sure.”

“What’re you guys doing up there?” Kara pries.

“He’s just taking me home.”

“Uh huh. Nothing else?”

Zeke furrows his brow, “not planning on it.”

After Cherry exchanges a lightly uneasy glance with Kara, she pulls out her key fob and unlocks her car from here, “doors are open for ya, Zekey-poo.”

“Thanks, Cher,” he smiles.

But before he can dart off again, Kara speaks up, “how about we grab some pizza and meet you guys up there? Hang out for a bit. Gossip about the trial.”

“Uhhh,” the brunette hums, “yeah, that’d be cool. I don’t think Lewis will be staying long. He’s, uh... He’s had a long day.”

“That’s perfectly fine by me,” Kara hums before turning to Cherry, “we better get our order placed then.”

“You got it,” Cherry smiles as she pulls out her phone.

“Perfect,” Zeke begins his descent down the stairs, “thanks, guys. I’ll see you in a bit then,” he calls out before trotting down the steps towards Cherry’s little red car. After he collects his things, he jogs across the street to meet up with Lewis. The guy stands at the driver’s side with the door ajar, unbuttoning his stuffy button-up to reveal a plain white undershirt. 

“What’cha doing?” Zeke asks, and his eyes trail down for just a moment at the snug fit on Lewis’ tee.

“Just changing outerwear,” the ginger hums, tossing his button-up into the backseat. In its place, he pulls out his trusty high school football hoodie.

As he slips the thing over his head, Zeke sets his backpack down on the floor of the passenger side, “don’t blame ya, man. I’m so ready to get out of this stupid shirt.”

Lewis chuckles a bit as he slides into the driver’s seat. As soon as they shut their respective car doors, everything feels extremely silent. No more chatter from up the street, no more music playing on outdoor speakers. Just the hum of the engine and the AC. Lewis must have felt it too, because he fiddles the radio to life. He peers over towards Zeke, “you ready?”

“Mmhm,” he hums back, taking his phone out from his pocket to catch up on today’s notifications.

“Alright then. Let’s do this,” Lewis responds as he shifts into reverse. He places a hand on the back of the passenger seat and angles himself to peer out the rear window. Zeke glances up from his phone for a moment, and his gaze inadvertently darts towards the bigger man’s frame that’s oh-so close to his own.

As Lewis settles back into his seat and shifts into drive, Zeke’s attention darts up, and he locks eyes with the ginger that carries this gentle look of surprise on his face. There’s a moment too long of silence, so the brunette decides to ask, “are we going, or what?”

A small flustered smile etches itself into the corner of Lewis’ lips as he hums back, “yeah. Of course.”

Without another word, the coupe begins to head towards the mountains. In his hands, Zeke feels his phone vibrate with a text. He darts his attention down to see two new messages in his group chat:

Cherry:

We’ll be there shortly <3

Kara:

be safe zeke

Initially, this just reads as friendly.

But then he furrows his brows…

“Be safe”?

Something about that doesn’t sit right to him.

Now that he thinks about it, Kara has been super nosy about him and Lewis tonight. Why’d she invite herself up to the Hotel just now, and why’d she insinuate that something was going to happen between them? She pushes this so-called crush thing a little too hard, and she pries way too hard for all the details. She’s like the bratty older sister that Zeke never had.

She’s just being protective… Right?

Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Lewis said it himself: just about everyone in town knows about his offense. Clearly Kara knew about it before they held it against him in court. So… what? Maybe she’s afraid that Lewis might do something? The guy’s a criminal, but there’s gotta be more to the story; Lewis isn’t the kind of guy to just break the law. But is one final week enough to piece together the assailant’s story?

❧

The car ride up the mountain’s slope is a much needed relief from the high energy day they had. There’s so much that Zeke wants to talk about… What’s the deal with the Truehearts and their property management company? What’s going to end up happening to these religious Resort grounds? How will an old man like Andrei hold up in prison? And, of course: what the hell did Lewis do?

However, the two of them have had a long enough day as is. So instead, they talk about their lunch, and Zeke pokes a little fun at the music on the radio, and Lewis mentions his dad being at the courthouse. It isn’t until they’re up on the Resort grounds do they find a lull in the conversation.

Here, right before a hairpin turn on the cliff’s edge, they find themselves cruising through a familiar spot. Actually, Zeke almost expects to see Cupid’s eyes catching the coupe’s headlights again. It all comes flooding back to him: the car jolting to a complete stop, that ethereal buck grazing the asphalt with a stern hoof, the pain Zeke felt in his chest, and the way Lewis snapped at him. He said this means everything to me, and yet the topic hasn’t been brought up since.

As they round that sharp turn over the cliff’s edge, Zeke musters up the courage to finally break the ice, “ya know, we still haven’t talked about Cupid.”

Lewis stays quiet, and Zeke is afraid that he shouldn’t have brought it up. When he does decide to speak, he clearly struggles for the right words, “I mean… Ah. What’s there to talk about?”

Zeke furrows his brow as he peers down at his hands; he still fiddles with that fidget cube he borrowed from Cherry this morning, “I dunno. It happened. You said it meant a lot to you.”

In the corner of his eye, he watches as Lewis takes a deep breath in, “that’s because it does.”

“So… What?” Zeke asks, “you’re expecting me to believe that you haven’t been thinking about it?”

“I never said that I haven’t been thinking about it.”

“So it’s clearly important to you. And… And I think we should talk about it before I leave,” Zeke adds. Lewis doesn’t say anything for a moment. He doesn’t say anything for several moments actually, and Zeke starts to quietly panic. So, he opens his big fat mouth and keeps blabbering, “it just kinda seems like you have some personal beef with Cupid or something. Like, why does it mean everything to you? Why do you… Why do you care so much, ya know?”

“Zeke,” Lewis says, but he seemingly only says this to garner the brunette’s attention, “don’t take this the wrong way… Why do you want to know?”

“Because. Uh. I guess… I guess because I care,” he hums back.

Lewis is at a loss for words. Maybe right now wasn’t the best time to bring it up… What other opportunity would he have, though? Eventually, the ginger just says, “I’m worried that talking about this may pass that boundary of mixing personal and work lives.”

Zeke thinks on this for a moment, because Lewis is right. Prying like this seemingly breaks his own rule. But… Maybe he kinda feels like breaking some rules now that he’s only planning to be in the Poconos for another week or so. What’s the worst that can happen?

So, he decides to say, “I mean, we’re way past that at this point. We just watched our boss get put in prison for fraud, so we’re officially not working with each other any more. Dude! Dude. I met your dad today,” Zeke says and watches as an embarrassed smile makes its way onto Lewis’ face.

“I suppose you have a point,” Lewis says.

“Mmhm. So tell me about you and Cupid.”

Lewis’ embarrassed smile quickly reads as shyness as he says a quiet, “okay. Um. I guess… I guess it started like this,” he takes a nice deep breath and composes himself, “my parents saw Cupid on their way to the hospital while my mom was going into labor with me.”

“Right,” Zeke hums gently. Maybe he’d have more to say if he hadn’t already heard this part of the story from Mr. Wright.

Lewis continues, “it didn’t help that I’m a Valentine's baby; people speculated my whole life on whether or not I was blessed or cursed from that sighting. There were people that thought I was, ah… Like, an angel sent by Cupid himself? And there were other people who thought that maybe I was evil, or demonic, or just a bad omen.  Truth be told, Zeke, it - it got to my head a bit as I got older. I genuinely started believing that I was cursed.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Lewis pauses for a moment. Quickly, a very coy smile spreads on his face, “I mean, it didn’t help when I realized that all the other boys don’t have crushes on one another. And when word got out, people really started to form strong opinions about me.”

Zeke asks genuinely, “how’d folks find out that you like boys?”

“I suppose it got out like any other secret. All it takes is telling one person,” Lewis hums, before then chuckling to himself, “besides, I personally don’t think that I hide it all that well.”

“Pfft,” Zeke laughs, completely caught off guard by a rare joke by Lewis Lockheart, “yeah, alright.”

 “So, ah, yeah,” the ginger stammers as he clearly thinks for a moment, “yeah, so I guess seeing Cupid a couple weeks back, I just felt like… Maybe he was giving me another shot.”

Zeke hesitates before he asks, “so you really think you've been cursed since birth?”

“Ahhh,” Lewis becomes very bashful in response to that, “I know you don’t necessarily believe in any of it, so all this may sound a bit… Far-fetched, I suppose.”

Zeke slumps down in his seat, because he’s not actually sure how to feel about their local god of love. Sure, it’s far-fetched as Lewis put it, but… The teenager also swears that he heard Wallace Heartwood knock on his suite door last week. Zeke just asks, “how do you know he didn’t curse you this time around?”

“I really can’t help but wonder that myself lately. Especially with the way things have been turning out since we saw him.”

Zeke lets out a light, hopeless laugh, “yeah. Things have really turned upside down since that night.”

Lewis hesitates before saying, “you’re lucky, you know.”

“Why’s that?”

“You’re aromantic,” he responds, “you don’t have to worry about Cupid messing with your heart.”

Zeke bites his tongue, because this stupid little lie keeps popping up when he least expects it. Should he just go ahead and tell Lewis that he’s not actually aromantic? But before he can say anything, the ginger shifts the car into park. Zeke takes his eyes off his fidget toy and glances up through the windshield; apparently they’re already under the Hotel’s porte cochère. Just ahead, the sun is preparing to dip below the treeline. Damnit. Here so soon?

However, Lewis doesn’t get out of the car, or even turn the engine off. He sits, and Zeke sits, and the two wait for the other to say something. Lewis breaks the silence with a light, “thank you for asking, by the way. For - for caring.”

“Yeah, man. You know I got you.”

Lewis holds his own hands, gazing down at them in thought. There’s something on his mind, but Zeke can’t quite figure out what it is. In due time, he says, “I suppose this is it then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well. You’re moving soon, aren’t you?”

Zeke just nods his head, “I mean, yeah. But you don’t wanna stay for dinner? Cherry and Kara are bringing pizza.”

“Oh,” Lewis’ thin brows arch, “they’re meeting you here?”

“Yeah.”

“But… You asked me for a ride?”

“Yeah,” Zeke hums back as if it were obvious. A small smile wipes across Lewis’ face, and he can’t help but peek back down towards his anxious hands. Zeke continues, “so… You’ll stay for dinner, yeah?”

Lewis’ smile deepens, “sure,” he hums before flashing his green eyes up towards the brunette, “whatever you want, Zeke.”

❧

Not even fifteen minutes later, Cherry and Kara arrive at the Hotel with two pizzas. Immediately upon their arrival, Kara starts to pry for information on what the two men have been up to. Zeke’s honest: they’ve just been chatting. She seems dissatisfied with this answer, but accepts it nonetheless. Cherry begins to divide out slices of pepperoni and cheese pizza. Lewis says plenty of thank you’s for the whole crew.

The four of them gather in the conversation pit to eat dinner. On one side, the two women sit side by side. On the other, Zeke and Lewis sit a good three feet apart. Even though it’s still hot, Zeke immediately digs into a slice of pepperoni. Kara cuts right to the chase, “sooo. What are you two gonna bring to the party?”

“I dunno,” Zeke shrugs, his mouth still full of food, “guess I can skate down to the gas station and pick us up some chips and soda.”

“That’d be awesome,” Cherry smiles.

Kara asks, “you plan on staying here all week then?”

“Yeah,” he nods his head and decides to add, “thanks for letting me stay with you guys over the weekend. That was fun.”

“Any time,” Cherry smiles warmly.

Kara;s eyes rest on Lewis as she asks, “what are you gonna bring to the party, Lockheart?”

He peers up from his paper plate, almost surprised that she addressed him. He stammers for a moment, “I’m not sure.”

“You are coming to the party, right?” Kara asks.

“Ahhh,” the ginger hums, “I’m thinking about it.”

“What’s there to think about? Everyone will be there,” she says.

Cherry butts in, “it’s a big celebration of our time at the Hotel. I think we’d all be sad if you didn’t show up.”

Lewis just peers down towards his paper plate which holds a singular slice of cheese pizza that’s hardly touched, “I’ll think about it.”

“C’mon, man,” Zeke says, “it’d be nice to see you one last time before I leave town.”

Lewis just nods his head lightly as he absently picks at his food. Clearly, he doesn’t really feel like eating, nor does he want to be talking about this right now. Fortunately, Cherry does an excellent job of changing the subject, “oh, hey, Zeke. After court let out, you mentioned that you had a conversation with a woman while we were in Trueheart’s, right? What was all that about?”

“Oh, yeah,” Zeke straightens his posture to tell his gossip, “so I lit up a cigarette, and this lady asked me for a lighter. We started chatting, because I guess she was sitting in on Mr. Wright’s trial too.”

“What’d she look like?” Kara asks.

“Uhhh. She’s an older woman. Fifties, maybe? Black hair, kind of a bob going on,” he gestures to the middle of his neck, indicating the length of her hair, “she’s short. Asian-American, I think.”

“Interesting,” Kara says, exchanging a glance with Cherry, “that doesn’t sound like anyone I know.”

“You know just about everyone in town, Lew,” Cherry hums, “does she sound familiar to you?”

The ginger just shakes his head.

“Weird,” Kara says, “what’d you guys talk about?”

“She asked me if I was ready to testify. Frankly, I really didn’t think they were gonna call me up,” Zeke laughs hopelessly as he recalls the day, “but apparently she was right.”

“Interesting,” Kara hums.

“Weird, right?” Zeke asks before continuing, “she started talking about how the people in this town are, like, super nosy and blood thirsty for drama.”

This makes Cherry laugh pretty substantially, “sounds like she knows what she’s talking about.”

“Can you blame us? Drama is sooo tasty,” Kara grins.

“Pfft,” Zeke shakes his head in amusement as his gaze rests towards the rotunda’s windows, “she said it’s not a coincidence that Mr. Wright got arrested, like, right after word got out that I moved here. She thinks they finally took action just to see what we’ve all been doing up here on this hill,” he peers back over towards his friends.

Kara nods her head, “honestly, she’s got a really solid point.”

“You don’t think that’s a stretch?” Zeke asks.

Cherry states, “some of the people in this town will do anything just to snoop.”

Zeke peers over towards Lewis and notices how firmly he’s nodding his head. He peers back over towards the two women, “why do they care so much?”

Kara nods her head over towards the ginger that’s been mighty quiet since the two women showed up, “I mean, obviously they wanna know what’s been going on with Andrei and Lewis.”

“Local celebrities. Right,” Zeke hums.

“And then adding you to the mix?” Kara scoffs, “of course they wanna see what you’re bringing to the table here.”

“Weird,” Zeke says, peering down towards the now empty paper plate in his hand. He sets it off to the side and adjusts his seating, “weird that they care so much.”

“Nothing else to really do around here,” Kara suggests.

“Small town stir-crazy, I suppose,” Cherry sighs.

“They’ll be talking about this trial for months,” Kara adds, “I mean, the scene Andrei made towards the end? The cherry on top.”

“Rosa mentioned that he was staying on script until we came back into the room,” Zeke instigates.

“Oh, yeah,” Kara responds, “the whole thing had to have been rehearsed. I mean, he even said that his parents paid for the attorney.”

Cherry speaks up, “oh, he had lines, without a doubt. Sure, he was kinda snippy, but I think that’s probably just the withdrawals.”

Kara asks, “and what about the fact that he, apparently, didn’t even wanna do the trial in the first place?”

Zeke decides to answer, “I mean, the guy never fought the Stonehearts when they were putting him in handcuffs. I kinda get the feeling that he just wanted to just give up on everything. Uh… Ya know. Without killing himself, I guess.”

“With the way he mixed drugs and alcohol? I can’t be so sure that he didn’t want to die,” Kara says, which makes Cherry emit a soft sound of distress as she pouts.

“As messed up as it is, that’s a decent point,” Zeke sighs.

Kara adds, “kinda seems like his family decided that they wanted to make some big splash to try and rectify his image or whatever. Even if that’s clearly not what Andrei wanted.”

“It’s sad, really,” Cherry pouts, “I’m not his biggest fan or anything… But that’s his family, ya know? They should support him in his decisions. And if that’s taking the plea bargain and going straight to prison, then that’s what should have happened.”

“Yeah,” Zeke hums seriously. In his hands, he finds that pink fidget cube again. He mutters, “he did say that he was an outcast in his family. Makes ya wonder what he did to earn that title.”

“I mean, we know he had the Wright’s support back when he purchased the Resort. Where do you think he got all that money?” Kara responds, “he literally redesigned this place to be alcohol centric to support Wright Liquors.”

“It’s too bad we won’t get to hear about it from him,” Zeke sighs, “I’m sure he’s got some good stories.”

“Not like he’d ever share any of that shit,” Kara adds, “old fart’s a vault. Stuff goes in, and it never sees the light of day again.”

Cherry picks at her pizza sadly, “I hope he’s okay in prison.”

The air is solemn for only a moment before Kara crosses her arms and says, “oh, and by the way, Zeke? You totally played into the Wright’s little play today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Um,” she grins, “all that attitude you gave while doing your testimony? You totally blew up, dude. Talk about drama.”

“What can I say? The defense wasn’t playing nice.”

Cherry butts in, “that Mr. Dean guy was super unprofessional.”

“Right?” Zeke gestures towards her in agreement, “their whole argument was built on throwing somebody else under the bus. You could tell they didn’t have a strong case.”

Kara just sits there and shakes her head in amusement.

Zeke looks at her in disbelief and asks, “what?”

“I dunno. Like, you got so heated, dude. Over that?”

His thick brows furrow, “they didn’t have to take that route with their argument. They were pointing fingers and playing ugly. It was totally unfair.”

Kara shrugs, “that’s the thing. They got what they wanted by pinning it on Lewis.”

Zeke frowns, because he doesn’t like that she’s talking as if Lewis isn’t sitting right beside them. Nonetheless, he asks, “how’d they get what they wanted? The defense lost.”

“Sure. But they still put on one hell of a show. Shit was juicy.”

Zeke furrows his brows, “so this whole day was just for fun?”

“Honestly? Probably. And they played you two like a fiddle,” Kara grins, “I mean, you guys fell right into it.”

“Fell into it? Dude, neither of us had a choice,” Zeke hisses.

“Doesn’t mean you had to get all defensive up there.”

“No, I did,” Zeke’s voice has a bite to it as he responds, “they were throwing some backhanded ass questions our way. They blasted Lewis’ private life and twisted it for everyone to gawk at. That shit ain’t cool. So yeah, I made a scene. Someone had to say something.”

“It wasn’t just your outburst, Zeke. It was also the fact that you literally followed Lewis out of the room towards the end there. Like, what were you two doing? Everybody wants to know.”

“And why the fuck is it your business?” Zeke’s voice raises.

From the sidelines, Lewis’ voice barely speaks up, “excuse me,” he says. Zeke darts his attention over towards the man that promptly lets himself out of the conversation pit. Goddamn it.

Lewis starts to head towards the employee restroom; right before he’s out of the rotunda, Kara speaks quietly, but just loud enough for everyone to hear, “try not to break anything while you’re in there.”

“Kara,” Zeke hisses, his eyes shooting daggers towards the woman. Just beyond her, he watches Lewis halt for a split second before promptly exiting the room.

“What? It was funny,” she rolls her eyes.

Zeke barks back, “alright, what’s your deal?”

She creases her brows, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re just being mean, dude. Also, you’ve been super nosy and super pushy about how I spend my time. He’s had to help build a case against Andrei, and then the attorney pulled that shit in the courtroom today. Now you’re just feeding into that. What is it? Why do you have such a problem with him?”

“Uh, have you met him? He’s pathetic.”

“And you’re a bitch,” Zeke hums.

Cherry pipes up, “um. Guys?”

Kara glazes right over her roommate, “you were there when the defense attorney brought up his arrest, right?”

“So what?” Zeke asks, “you told me yourself: you hate cops. Holding that against him is just as bad.”

“Ummm,” she laughs as if he were stupid, “dude. He was arrested for battery. You do know what battery means, right?”

Cherry tries again, “hey, guys? Maybe now isn’t the time?”

“Well, yeah, of course I know what battery means,” Zeke stops for a second, because he’s not sure he likes what that entails, “it means he beat someone up, I guess.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” she retorts.

His stomach drops, and he asks, “what do you mean by that?”

Before Kara can say anything else, Cherry speaks up, “I think that Kara’s just worried for your safety, Zeke.”

“My safety?” Zeke scoffs, nearly redirecting his anger towards Cherry. Instead, he catches himself, and he rubs his hands against his jeans as he recalibrates. He decides to ask, “so, what? You think he’d pummel me too?”

“Probably, yeah,” Kara hisses, and he genuinely can’t tell if she’s being serious or not.

Cherry’s hands clasp nervously, “look, Lewis lost his temper in high school once. It doesn’t matter if it was justified or not, because he’s made a lot of progress with his mental health since then.”

“So what’s there to worry about?” Zeke asks.

“Dude. We just learned that he’s the real reason we haven't had a mirror in the employee bathroom,” Kara crosses her arms, “I just think that he’d do that to your face if you said the wrong thing.”

“He wouldn’t do something like that,” he says.

“But he could, Zeke,” Kara states.

Zeke’s shoulders slump, and he darts his attention out the rotunda’s windows. This conversation certainly isn’t making him feel any better; being put on the spot like this just feels like he’s doing his testimony all over again. All he can think about doing is retreating back into his suite to watch cheesy telenovelas right now. 

In his peripherals, his attention is grabbed towards the hall as the tall ginger steps back into the room. His freckled hands wring themselves nervously… How much of that conversation did he hear?

Zeke sighs, “I’mma go have a smoke outside,” he says as he steps out of the seating area.

“Okay, Zeke,” Cherry hums, and Kara opts to say nothing.

As the teenager treks towards the rotunda’s descending staircase, he walks past a very anxious looking Lewis. Zeke doesn’t look him in the eyes, but he says, “c’mon.”

Without any sort of hesitancy, Zeke feels the ginger at his heels, and the two make their way down to the ground level of the Hotel. They pass by the always empty bar, and they make their way out onto the patio; it’s getting dark now, and the Hotel’s exterior lights have kicked on.

Zeke leads them all the way to the very edge of the deck. He leans against the railing as he pulls out his box of cigarettes for some much needed nicotine. In his peripherals, he watches as Lewis gingerly folds his hands atop the banister. Once Zeke lights up, his big brown eyes dance up towards those tall rotunda windows that watch over them, because he knows that Cherry and Kara are up there talking about them.

He lets out a long sigh and a satisfying plume of smoke. He doesn’t like that Kara doesn't have his back on being a good friend to Lewis. He’s not that bad of a guy. Why the hell does he get such a bad rap? Sure, he punched that mirror. And sure, he got arrested for beating someone up, or whatever he did… But, c’mon.

He had to have had a reason.

Right?

Zeke decides that he doesn’t want to look up at this exhausted looking Hotel anymore, so he turns to view the mountains before them. He’s not sure what to talk about right now, and seemingly neither does Lewis. So instead, they just listen to the cicadas, and the frogs, and the birds, and the nocturnal animals in the woods below. Zeke studies how the sky fades into a deep blue above them, and he feels goosebumps form on his forearms as a chill sweeps through the wind. Does autumn come this early in the Poconos, or is it just an unusually cool night?

“Hey, Zeke?” Lewis’ small voice asks.

“Hm?”

“Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“You’re just quiet. That’s all.”

Zeke flicks his cigarette ash, “just lost in thought, I guess.”

“Mm,” Lewis hums. He dips his head a little, eyes gazing down at his own intertwined hands, “what are you thinking about?”

Zeke shrugs, because what isn’t he thinking about? The intensity of the trial, a sturdy knock from a missing person, and the entirety of a restaurant holding their breath over a wives tale. Henrietta Heartwood’s body under a sacred oak, Wallace building a Hotel on religious grounds, and Lewis’ shattered face through broken glass. He exhales some smoke, and instead of saying any of that, Zeke says, “I’m thinking about where I’m gonna go after I leave Heart Hollow.”

“You haven’t decided yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Hm,” Lewis hums, and then he asks, “what are your options?”

“Well, I could keep wandering up the East coast for a bit. It’d be nice to see an honest autumn. But, also, I should really think about going back home at some point.”

“Ah,” Lewis hesitates before asking, “where’s home?”

“Um,” Zeke grins a bit, because he’s kind of taken aback by Lewis’ forwardness. He decides to give a vague answer, “down South.”

“Ah. I… I hear it can get really scary down there.”

“What, like, alligators and big spiders and shit?”

Lewis chuckles, “well, that too. But, ah, I guess I mean… Like, it’s scary for gay people to live there.” 

“Oh,” Zeke hums at the reminder, “yeah. But you can find some really cool little cliques of people. You just have to know where to look.”

“Doesn’t sound too different from here,” Lewis says, watching as his fingers intertwine with one another. After a few seconds of deliberation, he decides to add, “it’s going to start getting real chilly up here in the Poconos soon. I’d say the trees will start to turn within the next few weeks.”

“Cool,” Zeke hums, trying to visualize this view in vibrant reds and oranges and yellows. He sighs, “sucks I’ll miss it.”

The ginger fiddles with his own fingers as he says, “you could always stay for a few more weeks. Just to see the trees change.”

“Yeah, but I’d need a place to stay, and some way to make money,” he sighs, thinking about the headache. Another cool breeze pushes through that signals the ever encroaching autumn. Zeke hugs himself, because this stupid button-up shirt is ridiculously thin.

“There’s that crisp autumn air,” Lewis says lightly, and Zeke can feel him glancing his way, “we can head back inside if you’re cold?”

Zeke shakes his head, “I’m not quite done with my cig,” he says, although he really just doesn’t want to face Kara again.

Then, Lewis asks, “would you like my jacket?”

Zeke just peers over towards the guy; and even though Lewis is asking, he’s already got the bottom of the hoodie in his hands. A real nonchalant, “sure,” escapes the brunette’s lips.

Lewis eagerly obliges, and Zeke can’t help it; his eyes linger on the ginger’s torso as he peels the gray garment off. Of course, he immediately diverts his gaze back towards the soft hills after he makes eye contact with the white elastic band that peeks out from underneath Lewis’ dark brown slacks. To mask the uncontrollable grin forming at the corners of his lips, Zeke takes a drag off his cigarette.

Once Lewis has the hoodie in his hands, he offers it to the brunette without a word. Zeke struggles to contain that grin, because the ginger has absolutely no idea how messy his curls are today. As Zeke takes the jacket in one hand, he hands his cigarette to Lewis with the other, “hold this, would ya?”

“Ah. Sure,” Lewis hums back, barely taking hold of the thing between his two fingers. 

As Zeke slides his arms in, he’s greeted to a soothing, soft warmth: residual body heat from the jacket’s owner. As he slips the thing over his head, a sweet smell hits his sinuses. It’s not perfumey, because Lewis doesn’t wear cologne. It’s… Well, it’s warm like freshly baked cookies. It’s kind of sweet like newly picked wildflowers. Oh, and it’s got just a hint of pine, like the wilderness in front of him. Needless to say, he’s definitely feeling much warmer now. As he accepts his cigarette back, Zeke gives a very small, “thanks, Lewis.”

“Of course, Zeke,” he gently hums back. Little is said between the two as Zeke finishes his cigarette, but that’s alright. Zeke’s too busy formulating ideas on how to get Lewis to come to this party, anyways.

❧

As they ascend the staircase, Zeke notices that the whispers from the first floor completely halt. The two men emerge, and Cherry and Kara immediately turn their attention to look their way. From the way Cherry’s eyes linger and the way Kara does a double-take, Zeke suddenly remembers that he’s still wearing Lewis’ trusty old hoodie.

“Welcome back,” Cherry greets them first.

“Sup,” Zeke hums in response.

“We were just talking about heading back to the apartment,” Kara says as she stands up with her purse in hand.

“Oh, yeah?” Zeke says, watching as Kara leads the two women out of the conversation pit. To be honest, he’s kind of grateful for that; he’s not very happy with the way Kara’s been acting tonight. God, and he just can’t wait to curl up in his bed tonight.

Cherry cleans up behind them and asks, “will you be okay here by yourself, Zeke?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be alright,” he says, even though he’s still kind of fearful about getting another knock from Wallace.

“Alright,” Cherry smiles back with the half empty pizza boxes in-hand, “call us if you need anything, okay?”

“For sure,” Zeke hums as he watches how Kara rushes her roommate out of the rotunda. 

“We’ll see you guys later,” Cherry waves at the two men, “I’ll be in touch about that party!”

“Ah, hey,” Lewis speaks up and gestures towards the boxes in Cherry’s hand, “thank you again for dinner tonight.”

“No problem,” Cherry responds with a genuine smile. She then quickly catches up to Kara, who has been standing as close as she can to the exit while still being within view. Over her shoulder, Cherry says, “have a good night!”

“See ya,” Zeke says, watching the two women leave. After he hears the lobby’s glass double doors close, he takes a deep breath.

It’s just him and Lewis now.

The ginger fiddles with his hands for a bit and says real quietly, “I suppose I’ll be going too.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure,” Zeke says, and then nods towards the door, “I’ll walk you out.”

Lewis’ face softens, “okay.”

They find themselves taking a leisurely pace through the lobby, and Zeke just says, “I’ll tell you what, as soon as I get to my suite, I’m passing out.”

Lewis smiles at that, “you won’t do anything to decompress?”

“What’dya mean?”

“Ah. Will you read a book, or journal a bit, or something?”

“Ohhh. Yeah, I’ll throw on some TV. But I usually end up knocking out in, like, five minutes,” Zeke says. Lewis smiles skeptically at this as he holds the door open for the brunette. Zeke strolls right past him, and then he takes two steps backwards. A wicked grin begins to form on his face as he looks Lewis in the eyes, “now wait a minute. Did you just suggest that you journal?”

Lewis’ warm smile quickly shifts into embarrassment and he looks anywhere but Zeke’s eyes, “ah, well, I mean. I mean that’s something that some people do to unwind.”

“Mmhm. Don’t worry,” Zeke smiles knowingly, “your secret’s safe with me,” he says as he finally jaunts out of the building. Lewis just smiles bashfully as he lets the glass door close behind them. His freckled hands busy themselves by searching for his car keys. Zeke crosses his arms as he says, “take it easy tonight, alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll try. You too,” Lewis smiles sheepishly, pulling his car keys out from his slacks. He gives Zeke a small wave, “have a good night, then.”

“You too,” he hums back, watching as Lewis ducks into his little coupe. Once the door is shut, and once the engine is brought to life, Zeke steps off the curb and knocks on the passenger side window. Lewis rolls the window down and looks up at Zeke with soft green eyes that sweetly expect something. The brunette leans down and asks, “so you’re coming to that party then?”

“Ah. I mean, I might. I’m not sure yet.”

Zeke shakes his head, “nah. You’re coming to that party.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah. I mean… You want your hoodie back, right?”

Lewis’ face drops, and his eyes linger on the gray garment atop the brunette’s chest, “Zeke.”

He shrugs playfully, “and hey, if you want the details, you’re gonna have to text me for ‘em.”

“Zeke, really, I don’t think that’s fair,” Lewis pleads.

“Mmhm,” he hums back as he takes a few steps away from the car’s open window to indicate his departure.

“Oh… That’s,” Lewis stutters in disbelief, “c’mon.”

Zeke waves joyfully, “see ya later, Lew.”

From the open window, he hears the ginger struggle with his words, but once he realizes it’s futile, he just says, “okay, Zeke. Have a good night then.” 

“You too,” the brunette coos back. He watches as Lewis rolls up the window and shifts the car into drive. The car rolls out from under the porte cochère, and Zeke just grins to himself as he makes his way back into the Hotel’s long lobby. Okay, maybe holding his hoodie hostage was kinda mean, especially after the day Lewis has had… But he’ll be damned if the guy doesn’t show up to this party.

As Zeke strolls down the empty hall with a confident, yet exhausted weight behind each step, he feels the portrait of Wallace Heartwood staring shamelessly. Zeke’s brown eyes dart over, and the old man looks the same as always. Although, this time, his light smirk and cool blue eyes stare back at the teenager with a cunning glint.