Kris stood and looked at the options in the fried chicken joint he’d stepped inside. Ordinarily, he quite enjoyed shopping trips. But when it was for the very bare necessities and he had no money to spare, it kind of lost its appeal. He should probably not waste money on fast food when he could go to JJ’s and get some real stuff for the rest of the week. In that moment, though, he just wanted some damn comfort food. Plus, the A/C in Randy’s Chicken Shack was just what he needed after traipsing up and down Victory Boulevard all morning.

He wasn’t the only one. There was a fair-sized line, considering it was a Thursday before noon. But Kris wasn’t the only person who worked shifts, and Randy’s did a mean bucket of legs.

He sighed and wiped his forehead, looking down at the few bags in his hands. At least the pet store had carried some of the gear Kris needed to sort out Tay Tay’s new tank that had arrived that morning. He’d forked out a hundred bucks for a new aquarium from eBay. The damn thing was ancient, but the guy had taken pity on Kris and knocked twenty bucks off to have it couriered from Louisiana in a matter of days. It meant Tay Tay would finally have some room to swim again and proper clean water.

Since Remi left early for work, Kris had spent the first part of his morning messing around setting the tank up as best he could in the spare room. Even though he was only sleeping on a pull-out bed, Kris was kind of starting to feel at home there now.

Or less awkward, in any case. Remi’s shifts were even crazier than Kris’s had been at the bar. Where Kris tended to work late and rise late, Remi did a whole twenty-four hours at a time. It had meant he’d come home and slept half of Tuesday, so Kris had kept himself as busy as he could out of the house so as not to disturb his host. But there were only so many times he could walk around Moore Wood.

Wednesday had still been kind of strained. Kris definitely got the impression Remi felt like he had to entertain Kris while he was in his home. Kris was hoping that would die down soon enough. He didn’t want to be a burden. He was capable of looking after himself.

The truth was, Kris liked Remi’s company more than he knew he should. Even if conversation was stilted between them and they didn’t really have anything in common. Remi was one for rambling, starting to talk about something, then changing his mind halfway through what it was about. He did it several times during the day. Kris couldn’t help but find it adorable. However, he did also wonder if Remi had something on his mind he wanted to discuss.

Naturally, Kris worried it was something to do with him being a more acceptable guest, especially after that cat incident. Maybe Remi wanted to ask Kris not to be too gay around his neighbors or something? The thought saddened Kris, but he wouldn’t be surprised or really blame Remi if he did want to request something along those lines. Kris was fully aware of how extra he could be at times. Especially now, when his whole life was up in the air.

He would be less antsy if he knew what was going on with the bar and his apartment. But every time he called PJ, he just got more irritated with Kris. Yesterday evening he had snapped that he would let Kris know as soon as anything changed with the insurance or the fire investigation report, but until then, he should quit bugging him. All Kris had really been able to glean was that there had been several more anonymous messages on social media gloating about the bar’s demise. It wasn’t that surprising, but it still hurt to know there were people out there who were happy about what had happened.

Kris was used to being busy. His lack of funds meant he felt guilty even thinking about going to the movies or anything else fun. Living above his job meant he hadn’t needed a car and he wasn’t about to get an Uber into Houston. So he was stuck in Hidden Creek without its only gay bar to entertain him.

Being idle had left him worrying more and more about his situation. His mom and brother were trying to help him out as best they could. But the thing was, he only had a couple of pairs of underwear, the one pair of jeans and a few old, oversized T-shirts to work with. One of them he had at least cut up into an off-the-shoulder crop, but as of yet he’d been too shy to wear it when he wasn’t home alone. That only irritated him further. When was his confidence going to fully come back?

So, yes, damn it. He was going to waste a couple of bucks on a damn bucket of chicken, fries and slaw. He might even go all out and get some corn, too. If he added some vegetables, even covered in butter, he might feel less guilty about treating himself to lunch.

His phone rang and Kris answered it as quickly as possible before he subjected the whole shop to the full chorus of Britney’s ‘Toxic.’ “Chase!” he cried happily. The woman in front of him in line threw him a look over her shoulder. Kris smiled, popped his hip and ran his hand through his purple-tipped hair, hoping to aggravate her further. By the way she tutted, it seemed to work. “How’s it going, baby?”

“Good, good,” Chase said.

They hadn’t been friends long, only a couple of months. But Chase and his new gorgeous boyfriend, Hunter, had become regulars at Bottom’s Up in that time. They sat so often at the counter and chatted with Kris, it had only been a matter of time before they swapped numbers and started hanging outside of work. Kris suspected they felt a little sorry for the baby gay, but Kris didn’t mind. Chase had been through more shit than Kris had with an even crappier dad. They had a lot in common. Plus, Chase’s kid and Hunter’s dog were both frigging adorable. It might have started as a bit of pity, but they were definitely genuine friends now.

“You at work?” Kris asked. JJ’s was on the other side of town, but Kris didn’t have much else to do. He could maybe swing round and say hi.

“Yeah,” said Chase. “Just on a break. I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Kris sighed as the line shuffled a bit. It seemed like there was only one poor person on the register and they were struggling somewhat. Kris wasn’t in any rush, though. He was happy to wait his turn. “I’m fine,” he said. “Bored, broke, but fine.” He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead and swooned, even though Chase wasn’t there to see his dramatics. “She’ll survive!” he joked. The woman in front tutted again.

Chase laughed. “Well, how do you feel about some cheering up? Gabe made a delivery yesterday and he mentioned that brunch we never got around to organizing. How does ten o’clock on Sunday at Rocket sound?”

They’d been talking about this for a while. Chase joked that they’d sort of started a kind of twink club recently, with a few friendships merging together. Kris had been all for a decadent day of food and gossip. However…

Kris bit his lip. “Oh, honey, that sounds great. But…” He sighed heavily. “I don’t think I can afford anything like that right now.”

He felt so shitty. Here his buddies were, trying to brighten up his crappy situation, and he couldn’t even afford some pancakes and orange juice. Maybe if he was super strict about what he ordered, he could make it work? But he’d feel so guilty going out when Remi wasn’t charging him rent. In fact, the thought made him glance sheepishly up at the menu he was about to order from.

“Um,” Chase said. “Hunter and I might have talked about it last night, too. He said he’d give me some money to pay for you. Actually, he absolutely insisted. He said seeing friends is really important for recovery after a traumatic experience.”

Kris had to close his eyes as the tears threatened to spring free. “Hunter’s not even coming,” he said around the lump in his throat. That was such a kind offer, but he couldn’t accept it. “I thought the plan was for him to go see Axel and Orion?”

“Yeah,” said Chase. Kris could practically hear the smile in that one word. The boy was so in love it was sickening. Kris adored how gross they were together. “But you know what he’s like. He’s worried you might, you know…”

Kris tried to blink the tears back once more. “Need cheering up?” Kris supplied.

He knew Hunter was all too aware of the effects of PTSD and was probably concerned for Kris. Kris was fine, though. Sure, he’d had a couple of nightmares since the fire. Who wouldn’t? Still, he was touched by their concern.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Kris said, dropping the over the top attitude. Chase was someone he could be authentic with. “I won’t lie, this whole thing sucks,” he added in a small voice. “I really appreciate the thought. It means a lot.”

“So you’ll come to brunch?” Chase asked, the eagerness clear in his voice.

Kris huffed, but there wasn’t any bite to it. “Hale did mention it again last week,” he said. He and Hale hadn’t been close at school until Kris had come out as the other gay kid in their class in junior year. They’d reconnected again once Hale had gotten his life back together after that crazy business with his cousin and started seeing his boyfriend, Austin. He definitely qualified for their sassy twink brunch club and had been eager to get to know Chase better.

Chase clearly felt the same. “Awesome,” he gushed down the line. “Koby’s in, too, and I think Gabe wants to bring Cas. We’ll have a blast.”

Kris shook his head. He hated the idea of relying on his friends for charity. But this was an extreme situation, after all. “Fine,” Kris conceded, rolling his eyes, even though he was grinning. The grumpy lady in front of him shot him another glare, then went back to harassing the poor server for being too slow. “I’ll be there. God, you’re such a drama queen.”

Chase chuckled, knowing he was teasing. “Takes one to know one. See you there, dude. Don’t be late.”

Kris hung up the call and couldn’t help but smile a little to himself. He really was lucky to have such good friends. He looked up at the ceiling fans and blinked back the tears so he wouldn’t smudge his eyeliner. He may not have any decent clothes right now, but at least his makeup was on fleek.

“See, miss. That really wasn’t so hard, was it?” the grumpy woman in front said to the cashier. The woman managed to sound both exasperated and smug at the same time. But at least she finally moved away to wait for her order, allowing Kris to step forward.

The poor cashier took a deep breath as Kris stepped up to the counter and forced a painful-looking smile. “Hi,” she said. “Welcome to Randy’s Chicken Shack. I’m so sorry for the wait. Can I take your…”

The server’s eyes went wide. Likewise, Kris faltered a second as he realized he knew the cashier. It was Harrison, from the night the bar burned down. Only at the moment his nametag read ‘Jessabelle.’

Harrison looked like he might pass out. But Kris quickly gave him his brightest, most genuine smile. “Hey, how you doing?” he said. “Don’t worry about the wait. I can see you’re slammed. I’d like to order the four-piece bucket with a side order of fries, slaw and corn. I’ll take some barbecue sauce while I’m at it. Oh, and an orange soda.”

Harrison blinked then slowly smiled, the tension leaving his chest. There wasn’t much he could do either way with the delightful red-and-yellow employee shirt he had to wear, but it looked to Kris like he was still wearing his binder. Good for him.

“Sure,” Harrison said. “That’ll be nine ninety-five.”

Kris handed over a ten and forced himself not to wince. This was his treat. He could live off ramen noodles for a week if necessary.

Harrison glanced at Kris a couple of times while he rang up the order. Kris wasn’t in a hurry to stand by the grumpy woman while he waited, so instead, he hung by the till. Harrison looked like he maybe wanted to say something more to Kris. He wasn’t looking so relaxed again. But the mom behind Kris in the line dragged her wailing toddlers up to Harrison and rattled off an order while sounding like she might burst into tears before it was done.

Kris looked Harrison over while he waited for his order. Thankfully, grumpy woman left with her food and the poor mom made it through her order without bawling herself. The kids even calmed down at the prospect of fries.

Kris moved slightly down the counter to give them some space when he got an idea. Like Kris, Harrison might be stuck with some crappy clothes options thanks to his uniform. But there was always makeup.

Quickly, before his number was called, Kris whipped out one of his receipts from shopping earlier and grabbed a crayon from the kids’ area. Trying not to get wax all over his fingers as he used the bright green stick to write, he scrawled a couple of addresses down for online video tutorials he’d come across. He couldn’t remember the specific video names, but he knew the vloggers. Harrison could navigate his way from that.

He finished writing just as his food was ready. He took it from a girl about his age who looked equally as harangued as Harrison, smiling at her before she ran back into the kitchen. Kris caught Harrison’s eye and moved back beside the register before he started serving his next customer. Luckily, the toddlers were wailing again, so it covered Kris’s words a little bit as he handed the receipt over to Harrison.

“In case you’re interested,” he said with a wink.

Harrison frowned, then looked down at the two tutorial links. One was for a more masculine brow shape, the other was how to use contouring to create more male facial definition.

“They’re both really subtle,” Kris said quietly. “Drop me a line if you ever want to talk.” He’d noted down his cell number, too.

Harrison opened and closed his mouth, glancing anxiously at the next customer that was waiting impatiently. “I owe you for those cranberry juices,” Harrison said in a small voice. But the joy on his face from the video links was clear.

Kris shook his head. “Oh, honey bun. That’s the least of the bar’s worries,” he said with a laugh as he stepped away from the line to let Harrison do his job again. “I’m serious. Call or text if you want. Love you, darling! Bye!”

The man in a suit waiting to be served glowered at Kris, but he didn’t care as Harrison gave him a big smile as he left. He walked back out into the Texas sunshine with a spring in his step. Suddenly, he didn’t feel so bad about accepting Hunter’s charity if he could pay it forward. It felt fair to allow him to help Kris if Kris could help someone else.

He really hoped Harrison would try out those makeup tips. It wasn’t something Kris had particularly done himself, but he’d watched the videos out of interest and they’d looked good. If a bit of contouring could help Harrison with his body dysphoria and make him look more like he felt on the inside, Kris would be over the moon.

He stopped and squinted in the sunshine, pulling out the sunglasses Remi had loaned him from his pocket. Remi had done so much for Kris, just because he was his best friend’s little brother. It wasn’t enough that he’d pulled him from a burning building. Remi was giving him a place to stay and even feeding him.

Kris had been feeling overwhelmed, thinking about how he might be able to pay that back and try and defuse the awkward atmosphere that permeated the house. But he had been thinking too literally – paying with money. Maybe there was another way, though?

He glanced at the time on his phone. He had eighteen hours until Remi got back from his shift. Kris was already in town, so he could swing by the thrift store and see if they had anything useful for dirt cheap he could grab to help him put his plan into action.

He ate his food as he walked in the direction of the Goodwill. Maybe this was kind of nuts, but the lightness in his heart that hadn’t been there since the fire told him he was doing the right thing.

It was time to thank Remi for all that he had done.