The Miracle Place

11.

{Joel}

"STILL STANDING." Said Joel, closing the car door behind him. They were parked in front of his parents' cottage just off the road by the water. Joel had spent countless summers here when he was a kid. He remembered sitting in the small shed, reading in the hammock his dad had set up for him. He'd spend hours there, sometimes nights, depending on how willing he was to keep up his begging until his mother caved.

He walked up the steps of the porch, bending down to lift the welcome mat and get the key. He dusted it off before unlocking the door and pushing it open like it had never been explored before.

"Woah, you good?" Billy asked behind him, laughing as he steadied a wobbly Jane. Her legs must have been unsteady from sitting in the car for so many hours. She laughed it off with a tired smile. Billy looked up finally. "Are you sure we're alright to stay here?"

Joel furrowed his brows. Something about Billy's tone was undetectable. "Since when do you ask for permission?" he joked. A small smile tugged at Billy's lips, and Joel caught himself staring a second longer than a glance. "Yeah, we're all good. They only spend the summer and a few weekends in the winter. I think we'll be fine for food; they store a lot of it. Most of it is pasta, but I can go out sometime during the week."

He led them inside the fairly large cabin, and was overcome with acute nostalgia from his days spent sitting on the couch and raiding kitchen cabinets. It had been a while since he'd last seen these walls. It was dark inside, even after flicking the lights on. But perhaps that was only because it was dark outside as well. He was pleased to find that everything was exactly how he remembered it. Warm and welcoming.

"There are three bedrooms. Billy, you can take my parents' room, Jane can have the guest room, and I'll take my old room. The bunk beds squeak," he said, pointing down a narrow hall. "I'll see what we have for food." He plopped his bag down on the couch and waddled over to the kitchen, while the other two disappeared down the hall.

Joel was disappointed to find himself struggling to remember where things belonged as he rummaged through drawers and cabinets to find the pasta. The fifth cabinet he opened was where he found the pasta, however, the second he opened the cabinet, the piled up bags came tumbling down on him. He squeezed his eyes shut, hearing them hit the ground one by one. He heard a snort from behind him. Billy had a fist held over his mouth and Jane was peeking out from around the corner, hiding a smile of her own. "I think we're good for pasta," said Joel.

"Need a hand?"

"Please."

Billy and Jane helped with dinner. Well, really Joel and Jane helped Billy with dinner. They were lucky if he let either of them on the other side of the counter. It was hard to say nowadays if it was because he wanted them to relax, or if it was his independent side wanting to do it all himself. Either way, Joel wasn't complaining. Billy was no doubt a better cook, and after the day they had, he was glad he could sit back and watch. That was something Joel had always been good at - watching Billy.

Joel was no stalker, but when it came to Billy, he didn't have to be a stalker to get a glimpse of him. They were always together. But after nearly a year of not seeing or hearing from each other, it was almost refreshing to be able to look at him. It was no secret Joel was attracted to men. Billy was the first person he told. Big mistake on his part. It wasn't that Billy couldn't keep a secret, in fact he was the greatest secret keeper (because he'd always forget them after a while if they weren't constantly brought up). However, seeing Joel swoon over the boys in senior year, he most definitely recognized the look of adoration on Joel's face and by now, could identify it at any given time. The problem was, Joel knew he looked at Billy with the same expression of adoration.