Ren looked unsettled as Jimmy showed him into the building. His curly hair rested neatly on his head, but his eyes were red and the bags under his eyes were a dark shade he hadn’t had when Jimmy first met him earlier that day. His shoulders were slumped and his smile was forced. Those assholes were starting to have a toll on Ren’s health. He hadn’t slept properly since he’d moved in the city, and Jimmy couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about Ren’s living conditions.

Sure, it wasn’t Jimmy’s fault Ren’s neighbours were assholes, but it sickened him to know they were being so horrible to Ren. It painted a bad picture of Greeks, which Jimmy was trying to rectify by being Ren’s friend.

He took Ren in and showed him to the second floor where Jimmy’s apartment was. Jimmy took him straight through to the kitchen and offered him some water. Ren didn’t look like he could last any longer, so after asking him if he was hungry, Jimmy took him to his bedroom.

He only had a small single bed. The bed he’d used his entire teenage years. It hadn’t changed. It hadn’t bedded anyone other than him either, but that was about to change.

‘If you take the bed, I’ll sleep in the living room,’ he told Ren.

He wouldn’t mind sharing. Not that he could ever say that to Ren. Not that he would ever do that in the same house with his dad in it. He wanted to slap himself for even thinking it. What was wrong with him?

‘No, no. I couldn’t possibly. I will sleep in the living room. I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed,’ Ren said.

Jimmy shook his hands. ‘You’re not. Don’t be stupid. You are a guest in my house. I couldn’t let you sleep on the couch.’

‘Well, I don’t accept that. Please, stay here and I’ll take the sofa,’ Ren insisted. ‘Look, Jimmy, either you sleep in your room, or I go back home. I’m not gonna kick you out of your own bedroom because I’m a wuss.’ Ren put his hands on his waist and raised his left eyebrow.

There was a compromise. The man needed to rest and Jimmy would have to put his perverse thoughts to sleep. What was wrong with him?

‘I do have a pull-out mattress,’ he said and already regretted it.

He showed Ren. There was a drawer under the bed with a mattress on it. It was meant for guests, but he had never had any, so it had never been used by anyone else.

‘Why didn’t you say so? I’ll take the mattress and you sleep on your bed.’

Ren looked genuinely pleased with the revelation. Jimmy covered the pull-out mattress with a sheet, a pillow, and a blanket. It wasn’t cold outside, but he always felt the chill in the wee hours of the morning.

They settled in. Jimmy’s bed was already unmade by his previous attempt at sleep after work before Ren had called.

‘This is so comfy,’ Ren said covering his body with the blanket and resting his head on the pillow. He looked at the ceiling and at Jimmy. Jimmy smiled. Ren looked so handsome. He didn’t want Ren there, and yet he wanted him closer.

‘Good night,’ Jimmy said.

He closed his eyes. Maybe erasing Ren from his vision would help settle the storm in his head.

‘Jimmy!’ Ren called out softly.

Jimmy opened his eyes to find Ren staring at him.

‘Yes?’ he said.

Ren lifted his upper body and supported it with his elbow. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered and kissed Jimmy’s cheek.

It was a peck. It was soft. And he was sure it didn’t mean anything.

Jimmy froze. The butterfly on the other hand fluttered on his lower abdomen sending shivers up his entire body.

What was he supposed to do now? Was he meant to reciprocate? Why had Ren done that? This was the reason he hadn’t wanted to sleep in the same room with him in the first place. Because things happened when two people slept in the same room, and those things always came out in the light of day.

Ren settled down again and turned his back to Jimmy.

That was it. A goodnight kiss. A thank-you kiss. Jimmy didn’t want anything else from Ren. Ren didn’t want anything else from Jimmy. He was reading way too much into this, again. English people were more liberal with same-sex affection. That was it. He was just showing Jimmy his appreciation.

He tried not to, but Jimmy’s eyes kept darting back to Ren. His breath had slowed. He was tired. Of course, he had fallen asleep. It was what he needed. But Jimmy? What did he need? It couldn’t be Ren. Not in that way. He’d gone through that time and time again. It was wrong. Why did it feel so right, though? Why was Jimmy’s dick getting hard just looking at Ren’s body?

His shoulder blades stretching out his T-shirt. His neck, bare and smooth.

Jimmy hated himself. He was a pervert. He didn’t deserve Ren’s friendship.

Jimmy jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom. Ren didn’t flinch.

He looked in the mirror, and all he could see was the boner in his pants. How could he be so gross? And why did it make him feel so much lust despite that?

Jimmy took his dick in his hand and stroked it. Ren was so beautiful and he was sleeping in Jimmy’s bed. He palmed it harder until he could feel the orgasm coursing through his limbs. Jimmy wished Ren would turn around and kiss him again. And this time he would kiss him back. And they could climb in bed together and kiss again and again.

He came on his hand. A weight rested on his shoulder and he went through all the thoughts he’d had while jerking off. He was sick. How could he think this way when all the man wanted was a bed to sleep in? He washed his hand and dried his dick before he tucked it back in his pants.

Returning to his room, he felt like the biggest asshole in the galaxy. He climbed back in bed before his mind decided to go wild again.

The sunlight peeked through the window and burned Jimmy’s eyelids. He always forgot to put the blinds down at night and the stupid sunrise always woke him up. He put a hand in front of his eyes and blinked. His room came into view, and with his palm as a sunscreen, he looked at Ren. He was on his phone.

‘Good morning, Jimmy,’ he said. His smile was radiant. Even more so because of the sun on his face.

‘Hey,’ Jimmy replied.

His actions and thoughts from last night hit him and he felt a pang of guilt on his chest.

‘Have you been up long?’ he asked Ren.

‘Just half an hour.’

‘What time is it?’ he asked.

‘Eight.’

‘Do you want breakfast?’

Ren sat up. ‘Oh man. I’m famished,’ he said.

Jimmy got out of bed and walked to his closet. He grabbed a new pair of socks and put them on. ‘Do you want some pie?’

‘Pie? What kind of pie?’ Jimmy realized Ren had no idea what he was talking about.

‘Oh, man. I still haven’t introduced you to the magic of bugatsa, have I?’ Jimmy said.

Ren looked even more confused.

‘Let me rectify that. I’ll be right back. Treat it like your home,’ he said and went out of the room.

He found his dad watching TV in the living room in his underwear and with a glass of frappé in his hand.

‘Babá,’ he shrieked. Thank God Ren hadn’t walked out with him. ‘Put some clothes on. We have a guest.’

Stavros turned around and frowned. He put his frappé on the coffee table.

‘Who?’ he asked. ‘And why didn’t you tell me earlier?’

‘Because I was sleeping,’ Jimmy answered and looked out of the living room door towards the bedroom. ‘It’s a friend from university. His neighbours have been partying all week and he hasn’t slept at all, so I told him he can come sleep here.’

Stavros headed down the corridor to his bedroom. Once he was appropriately clothed, Jimmy left him to resume his morning coffee before work and Jimmy headed out into the main street. He bought some breakfast and returned home to initiate Ren to the sweet taste of bugatsa.

Ren joined him in the kitchen as Stavros was leaving for work.

‘Babá, this is Ren,’ Jimmy told him in Greek and turned to Ren. ‘Ren, this is my dad. His name is Stavros.’

‘How do you do?’ Jimmy’s dad said in a high-pitched voice.

Ren laughed. ‘I’m very well, thank you. Yourself?’

Stavros stared at Ren blankly and shook his head with a vacant smile.

‘Excuse my dad. He doesn’t speak any English,’ Jimmy informed Ren.

Ren dismissed him. ‘Don’t be silly. Of course.’

Stavros kept nodding as if he understood every word, so Jimmy had to kick him out of the kitchen in order to start their breakfast.

‘He’s funny,’ Ren commented.

‘Hilarious!’ Jimmy thought he was embarrassing. And he had no hobbies other than watching TV. But he was Jimmy’s dad.

Jimmy opened the plastic bag and took out two greaseproof paper packs and opened them in front of Ren.

‘What are these?’ he asked.

The smell of cinnamon hit Jimmy’s nostrils, and he wanted to attack the food, but not without explaining to Ren first.

‘This is a cheese pie,’ Jimmy pointed to the first one. It was a square piece with feta cheese sandwiched between layers of smooth filo pastry. ‘In Greek, it’s called tyropita. And this is kremopita —cream pie, I think,’ he pointed to the other piece that was similar to the cheese pie but covered in cinnamon and icing sugar. It had a semolina custard filling. ‘Both of them are called bugatsa, which is the type of pastry used, although a lot of people use it to refer to the cream pie.’

Ren grabbed a piece of tyropita and took a small bite. He looked just like he’d looked the first time he tried gyros. A slight squint in his eyes and a hesitant chew while the taste buds determined whether they liked the intrusion or not. He put the rest of the piece in his mouth and nodded with a moan. When he finished, he smiled.

‘This is delicious,’ he said.

‘Now try the kremopita,’ Jimmy said, putting the custard pie in front of Ren.

With a bit more hesitation, he took a piece of the pita that was covered with the least cinnamon and icing sugar and ate the entire thing. Before he finished the first one, he grabbed a second one.

‘Oh, my God. This is so good. Where has this been all my life?’

‘Right here. In Thessaloniki,’ Jimmy replied and pinned his eyes on Ren. Ren stared back at him with his beautiful dark blue eyes and smiled. By the time they finished eating, Ren’s lips were covered with sugar and all Jimmy wanted was to wipe his mouth clean with a kiss. Not that he would ever dare.

After they cleaned up the table, they settled on the couches and turned the TV on. Jimmy asked for Ren’s landlord’s number. Ren passed Jimmy the number and started flipping channels, amused by the bright colours and the loud-mouthed Greeks on every channel, if his chuckles were anything to go by.

‘Hello!’  Jimmy said when Patakis picked up the phone, on the third attempt.

‘Who is this?’ he grumbled. Man, that guy was always in a mood.

‘It’s Dimitris, your tenant’s friend.’

He huffed. ‘What do you want?’

For starters, to shove a foot in his mouth, but Jimmy guessed he would have to wait for that. ‘Clarence has been telling me his next-door neighbours have been having a party almost every night for the past week. He doesn’t want to involve the police since he is new to town and doesn’t want to offend anyone, but do you know who their landlord is? Someone we can contact about their behaviour?’

‘Yes, I am their landlord. And they have been telling me Clarence is the one who puts the music on all night.’

‘That’s a blatant lie. Why would I call you to complain about them if he was the one doing it?’ The fingers balled in Jimmy’s palm.

‘I don’t know. He is the English one. They are the ones with the deplorable behaviour. Ask him why he is lying.’

Jimmy held a growl in. ‘You’re not helping solve the problem.’

‘Ask your English friend to solve the problem. Either he stops playing music all night long, or he needs to move out,’ the landlord said and hung up.

Ren was looking at Jimmy now. His eyes were waiting for Jimmy’s response.

‘Your landlord is a dick!’

Ren’s shoulders sagged and he sighed.

Jimmy wanted to hug him and protect him. For the millionth time in twenty-four hours, he fought hard with the urge to do so.