Five Times I Wanted To Say "I Love You"

Words Said (Rewritten)

'I should tell him today. I need to. What if he thinks it's weird? Come on, worse thing that could happen is that he thinks it's just a joke. Oh, no. What if he does think it's a joke? What if he thinks I don't mean it?'

Bay had just finished folding his last shirt when he heard his bedroom door open. His thoughts abandoned him when he saw his brother step into the room.

"Oh, wow. Now, this," Cove used both his arms to gesture to Bay's new dorm, "this is definitely a historical day." Cove sat himself on Bay's bed. "One," he held up a finger, "you're actually living on your own. Two," he held up a second finger, "you're going to make a new friend after all these years. And three," a third finger, "you're cleaning up your room without being asked first." Cove clapped, grinning like a madman. "You're growing up so fast!"

Bay placed his folded shirt in the dresser drawer before shutting it. "Are you just here to mock me?" He raised an eyebrow at his brother.

Cove gasped. "How could you think that? I'm here to make sure that you are 'properly settled in'." Cove made air quotation marks with his fingers.

"Well, I'm 'properly settled in'," Bay gestured to his recently-emptied suitcase, "so you can tell mum I'm fine."

Cove laid down on the bed. "Not the most fluffy pillow," he observed. "But what can you expect from a dorm room? Anyway, mum also said you needed a ride to the train station. She says you want to say goodbye to your mates."

"Don't you have an outing?"

"Yeah, but I can still drive you there and back before I meet up with my friends." Cove raised an eyebrow. "Who's leaving anyway? I know at least one of them's still here."

"Takeshi's one of my roommates."

Cove sighed. "And here I was thinking you'd finally expand your list of friends."

"You're saying that?" Bay crossed his arms, smiling slightly. "Haven't you been pals with Eve and Jae since secondary?"

"But I do still have other pals. And I met Eve in uni, actually." Cove looked out the window. His face looked like he was some movie character reminiscing their past. "She still reminds me of how I had shrieked like someone who had 'seen the Grim Reaper'. And I say—" Cove turned his nose up— "she shouldn't be wearing all black with her hoodie pulled up if she didn't want to be mistaken as the face of death."

Bay laughed. "And I say: people were probably more scared by your scream than her."

"Hey, actually, speaking of which," Cove frowned, "I found out something the other day."

Bay stilled at Cove's serious tone. "What is it?"

Cove sighed, turning back to Bay. "Eve's dad named her Eve because she was born on Christmas Eve." Cove covered his face with his hands. "Kid's names shouldn't be dad jokes!"

Bay sighed in relief, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Jan was born in January. Maybe her dad named her after the month."

He stifled a laugh when he saw the incredulous look on Cove's face. "No way. Oh, my God." Cove groaned. "I think we should ban dads from naming their kids. Unless the mum gives their approval."

"How do you know they didn't?" Bay raised an eyebrow.

A pause.

"Cove?"

"Were our names puns too?!"

"Are you trying to say that mum gave birth in a bay and a cove? How would that even happen?"