It was crazy how quickly the time passed. Nearly one year prior, they’d were caught up in this uncertain middle ground where they lingered on the brink of friendship, pushing to something deeper. Somewhere along the line, this – the heat of a hand intertwined in his, those bright eyes fixing on him from behind glasses, that lively flush that so easily overwhelmed Julien’s face – became routine, still he inevitably lost every single fight to suppress his own grin. His eyes softened when they landed on Julien. He bit his bottom lip only to release it with his own warm smile and fought the urge to slyly insinuate that maybe, just maybe, he’d been saving romance for that upcoming anniversary celebration.<br/><br/>Maddison’s hint of disappointment and seeming disinterest pushed aside nerves. Leave it to Maddison to put things into perspective – to find some way to lighten the mood when Everett and Julien had been so tense. Before Everett could open his mouth to fire back with a friendly wisecrack, Case spoke up.<br/><br/>He started casually then quickly escalated to outright anger. They could hardly get a word in through the scolding. Everett took a half-step forward, putting himself between Case and Julien as much as he could while keeping Julien’s hand in his own. Julien pressed against him and Everett tightened his grip briefly to reassure that he was there – that they were in this together. Venom melted from Case’s voice with a pair of apologies and that last statement left a weight of guilt in Everett’s stomach.<br/><br/>“Man— List—” Everett attempted to interject to no avail. Before anyone could so much as call after, Case disappeared out the door and Julien fell into a panic.<br/><br/>The previous night, when he’d had his hand settled in Julien’s hair, eyes cast away in careful thought as they discussed their intention to tell their closest friends, Everett the thought of a poor reaction only briefly passed through his mind. He trusted his friends implicitly and maybe it had been wrong to hide for so long but after a lifetime spent in hiding, a lifetime spent denying, it’d almost become second nature. There were things about himself that he didn’t know until very recently – things that didn’t always bode well when they got out. But the last time that had happened – the last time he’d come to terms with some piece of himself that he once assumed was broken – Case had been the one to take him in. He’d been the one to hold onto that secret and who hadn’t once, in the span of that time, looked at him differently for it. Something was off but Everett couldn’t put his finger on it.<br/><br/>That casual shrug resonated in his head, pounded with those words,<i>I thought we were friends,</i>and sank with heavy guilt into the pit of his stomach.<br/><br/>But right then, Julien mattered most. They’d seen this several times – Julien entering a state of panic when things didn’t go entirely according to plan.<br/><br/>“Jules, it’ll be fine,” Everett reassured. Turning to face him, he placed one hand on Julien’s shoulder to draw him in closer. He leaned down far enough to bring their foreheads together as he brought his other hand to the side of Julien’s face. “Breathe, okay? He just needs time to think. Then we’ll talk to him. It’ll be fine. This is Case we’re talking about.”<br/><br/>Still distinctly aware that that Maddison was caught up in this mess, Everett glanced to look toward him, brows furrowed with a wordless apology as he tossed his head in the direction of the door, “Can you—You wanna check on him?”