After Flynn and Dylan's classes ended, they stopped by Mary's restaurant. As always, the place was overflowing with people—employees getting off work, students heading home, everyone looking for a quick meal. Mary's restaurant was perfectly located for customers who didn't have time to cook at home or needed something before heading to work or class.
Flynn and Dylan jumped in to help with the crowd, assisting customers like they usually did. And while everyone was busy, Flynn couldn't help noticing how close his father had been growing to Mary lately. He'd catch glimpses of the two joking around in the kitchen while preparing orders. Mary had also been dropping by their house more often, and Lucas, in turn, had been visiting her at the restaurant more frequently.
Dylan noticed Flynn staring quietly at Mary and Lucas.
Once they finished helping and had dinner, the two of them headed home ahead of the others. While they were walking, Dylan brought up the topic.
"I've been noticing Uncle and Aunt Mary seem... really happy lately," Dylan remarked.
"I noticed too," Flynn replied simply, though he looked like he was deep in thought.
"Uncle's job is stable now. Why don't they just get married already?"
Flynn suddenly fell silent at Dylan's question.
"Why'd you go quiet? You don't agree with them being together?" Dylan pressed.
"It's not that I don't agree... I'm just... not ready, I guess."
Dylan slung an arm over Flynn's shoulder. "But think about it—they're both getting older. They deserve someone to be with every day."
"I don't even know if that's what my dad wants," Flynn murmured.
"Why don't you talk to him? I feel like he wants it too, but maybe he's shy to bring it up with you. You're eighteen now, you can live on your own. Maybe this is his chance to finally enjoy his own love life. He spent his whole life pouring everything into you."
Flynn fell quiet. The image of his father smiling beside Mary in the restaurant flashed through his mind. He didn't want to admit it, but Dylan had a point. Ever since Flynn's mother died, his father had done nothing but work and dedicate his time to raising him and looking after Grandma Mina.
As they continued walking, Dylan opened another topic—about living together in his apartment.
"You know," Dylan said, "aside from the studying-abroad thing—which I'm not agreeing with—I actually don't mind the idea of us living in my apartment."
Flynn stopped and pulled away from Dylan's arm. "Of course you'd agree. You're the one who'll benefit. You already try to devour me at home—what more if we lived under the same roof, just the two of us?" he replied sarcastically.
Dylan only laughed. "Just think about it. If we live at my place, we'll be closer to school. We'll save time. And it'll give your father and Aunt Mary their own space once they get married."
Dylan had a point. But Flynn couldn't ignore the... possibilities of what could happen if they lived alone together. Just thinking about it made his cheeks warm.
"You know," Flynn muttered, flustered, "I'm supposed to be the son here, but you're the one with all these suggestions. Why don't you focus on your dad's wedding first?"
"I don't care about their wedding," Dylan answered flatly. "My opinion won't change anything anyway. So I'll just let them do whatever they want."
"What about studying abroad? Why don't you want to?" Flynn asked.
Dylan let out a long sigh before answering. "He wants to pass the company down to me, so he wants me to study abroad. But I'm not interested in his company," Dylan said.
"So what do you want to study in college?" Flynn asked.
"I want to study business too, but I want to grow it through my own hard work. I don't want it just handed to me, and I don't want to inherit all the problems too," Dylan replied. "What about you? What do you want to study?"
"Me? I want to study business too," Flynn said.
"Eh? That's not allowed," Dylan said.
"Why not?"
"I don't want a competitor who's too smart," Dylan said.
Flynn smirked at that. "Why not just take over your dad's company? It looks fine, and it's doing well."
"I'm different. I want a new experience. I don't want to stay in what I'm already used to. And the company may look fine on the surface, but one of the reasons he's here in the country is because a lot of problems have been happening lately," Dylan explained.
Flynn simply nodded in response.
When they finally got home, ready to sleep, Dylan couldn't resist teasing Flynn again. He started tickling him relentlessly, trying to get a reaction.
"Dylan, aren't you tired? We've been at school all day, and then we helped out at Aunt Mary's restaurant," Flynn said, trying to catch his breath.
"How could I be tired when I've spent the whole day with you? Honestly, being with you makes me feel more alive," Dylan replied, climbing on top of Flynn and pinning both of his hands under a pillow.
"Dylan, what are you doing? My dad could see us!" Flynn protested.
"Uncle's asleep," Dylan murmured, leaning in to kiss the side of Flynn's neck.
Flynn had always been sensitive there. The ticklish pressure of Dylan's lips made him yelp loudly, shoving Dylan off.
Dylan tumbled off the bed, hitting his back against the plywood wall of Flynn's room. The thud was loud enough that Lucas, who was on the phone with Mary, immediately noticed.
Lucas hurried to Flynn's room. "Flynn? Dylan? Are you guys okay?" he called after knocking.
Flynn opened the lampshade and, trying not to laugh too hard, answered while Dylan winced in pain on the floor. "W-We're okay," Flynn said, stifling a laugh.
"Alright... just be careful with whatever you're doing. Grandma Mina's asleep," Lucas said from outside, shaking his head as he walked back to his room. "These kids..." he muttered to himself with an exasperated grin.
The moment Flynn heard his father leave, he burst into loud laughter, rubbing his stomach.
"You know, you've been hurting me way too much," Dylan groaned, struggling to stand and hobbling back to the bed while clutching his sore back. "You're the only one who ever does this to me."
"That's what happens to perverts," Flynn said with a laugh, pulling the blanket over himself.