“Hi, my name’s Joyce and I’ll be taking care of you today. What can I start you off with to drink?” The waitress beside their booth held her pen over her pad of paper expectantly. She looked to be in her mid-sixties, but with her Aunt Bee hair and a chain-smoker’s rasp, it was almost impossible to tell how old she actually was.

“I’ll have a sweet tea,” Jonah said, barely looking up from the menu.

“Cherry Coke for me.”

“Is Pepsi okay?” Joyce asked.

Oh come on. Even his favorite restaurant had changed? “Yeah, Pepsi’s fine.” It wasn’t but what was he supposed to say?

“Okay, I’ll have that right out and be back to take your food order.”

She walked away, leaving them to figure out what they wanted to eat. Christian didn’t need time, though. He already knew exactly what he wanted, the same thing he’d gotten every time he visited Frisch’s—a Big Boy burger and onion rings.

Rather than looking at the menu, he glanced around the restaurant. Aside from the switch from Coke to Pepsi, it hadn’t changed much. The same dark green vinyl booths and white checkered frosted glass partitions. Judging by the stains and wear on the carpet, it hadn’t been replaced in the recent past, either. If not for how much Jonah had changed in the past eight years, it would be like he’d stepped back in time.

There was something surreal about sitting here across from Jonah again. So much had changed since the last time they’d seen each other. Jonah had gone off and become one of the most sought-after men in Hollywood, staring in almost every major blockbuster in the past year and a half.

Christian could see why. With his dark hair, high cheekbones, and piercing hazel eyes, he could play any role—from the leading man in a romance to the detective trying to figure out who killed his sister. He hadn’t changed much in the years since they’d seen each other. Sure, he was much more muscular now than he had been then and he’d cut his hair, but he still had the dimples Christian had fallen in love with and the small crease between his brows when he was trying hard to concentrate.

In part, Jonah was the reason Christian had taken an interest in film in the first place. He’d wanted to follow Jonah’s career, but once he started immersing himself, he realized just how passionate he was about it. At least the representation aspect of it. So far, things were still pretty dismal, but he had had a good couple of years with films like Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name.

“God, I missed this place,” Jonah said. “I mean, we’ve got Bob’s Big Boy out in California, but it’s just not the same.”

“That’s because there are too many memories with this one. Like, remember when we had Mason’s birthday here and they gave him the free pie?”

“Yeah, that pie was amazing. Or the first time Aunt Annabeth let you order the Big Boy instead of the kid’s burger?”

Christian remembered that clearly. Yet another summer spent with Mason’s family instead of his own. Not that he would have had it any other way. The less time he had to spend around his mom and her boyfriends, the better.

“I was so fucking determined to eat the whole thing. I didn’t even care if it made me sick,” he said with a smile.

“Uncle Robert would have cared if you’d thrown up in the car.”

They both laughed, then looked up as Joyce approached with their drinks. “Okay, boys, what’ll it be?” she asked.

After they gave their food order—Christian’s Big Boy and a patty melt for Jonah—she walked back toward the kitchen, leaving them alone again.

Christian didn’t immediately try to fill the silence, instead letting it draw out as he unrolled his napkin and placed it in his lap. So much time had passed. What were they even supposed to talk about?

“So—”

“Do—”

Jonah grinned and gestured at him. “Please, you first.”

“So what’s it like, living in Hollywood? Is it everything you thought it would be? I mean, clearly not, what with the invasion of privacy and whatnot, but how do you like it otherwise?” Moving to California had been all Jonah had talked about the summer before he’d left. And while Christian listened to and read every interview Jonah had ever done, he knew how those worked. So much went unsaid, or was edited out, that no one ever got to say what they really meant.

Rather than answering, Jonah picked at his napkin and stared at the table. For a moment, Christian worried he’d crossed a line, but then Jonah said, “It’s difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. Even the bad days are better than the best days would have been if I’d stayed here. I just wish I could go to a coffee shop without being recognized, or go a day without someone asking if I’m gay.”

Christian frowned and shifted in his seat. “Why is it such a bad thing for people to ask if you’re gay?”

Jonah seemed to realize his mistake, because his eyes went wide and he shook his head quickly. “No, that’s not… I don’t mean it’s a bad thing to be gay, but my private life is just that—private. No one seems to care about that anymore, especially since I’m playing Northstar.”

That wasn’t exactly what Christian was hoping to hear, but he relaxed slightly, his eyes still narrowed. “You know I’m gay, right?” He didn’t mean the question to be a challenge, although it certainly sounded like one.

“I didn’t until now. I mean, I kind of guessed when you were talking about your blog, but I didn’t want to assume. I hope you don’t think I’m, like, a horrible homophobe or anything.”

He had, actually, worried that Jonah had been prejudiced. While Louisville was more or less a safe haven for him, coming back to Burnside always set him on edge. It was ridiculous, now that he thought about it. Jonah lived in California. Hell, he’d played a gay superhero. He wouldn’t have done that if he had anything against gay people.

“You’re fine,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “I’m just a little touchy, what with being home and all.”

Jonah frowned, the crease forming between his eyebrows again. Christian had to look away before he licked his lips. “Was it hard, being gay here?”

“No harder than anything else here,” he said with a shrug.

He hadn’t been out to most people in high school; only Mason knew. But that definitely didn’t mean life had been a cakewalk. What with his mom going through men like socks and dealing with addiction all throughout his childhood, no wonder he’d spent so much time at Mason’s place.

Apparently something in his face spoke volumes, because Jonah’s frown deepened. “What does that mean?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Enough about me. I want to hear more about your life in LA. What’s it like? I mean, I know there are interviews and filming and stuff, but what about the good parts?”

Jonah steepled his fingers underneath his chin, a small smile playing along his lips. “There are parts of it that are pretty cool. Working with people you’ve grown up admiring is something that never gets old. I met Judy Dench for the first time a couple of years ago and I honest to god forgot how to breathe.”

“You what? Holy shit, that’s amazing! She’s one of my favorite actresses. I loved her in Pride and Prejudice.” He knew there had to be a positive side to working in Hollywood. Now that he knew what excited Jonah, he could keep the conversation along those lines. “Tell me about the people you’ve worked with. Who were the nicest ones to be around?”

“Tom Hanks, without a doubt, was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. We worked on Missing Truth together a couple of years ago and every day during lunch, we’d talk about how to improve my craft. He gave me so much good advice.”

Jonah’s entire face seemed to light up, and he sat a little straighter as he talked about the experience. Christian wondered if he looked the same way when he discussed his own work. Probably not, but then again, he wasn’t working alongside household names. Nor was he a household name, himself, come to think of it. Jonah certainly was.

He was the kind of person teenage girls had posters of in their rooms and wrote fanfiction about. Oh yeah, he’d seen it. Once a few years ago, just as Jonah’s career was starting to take off, he’d happened upon some fanfiction involving Jonah’s character and another. It had been surprisingly well-written, and amusing enough that now, every time a new movie came out, he scanned Archive of our Own for any fanfiction involving him.

The Jonah in front of him, though, wasn’t the fantasy of a teenager. He was the same living, breathing person Christian had crushed on all throughout high school. And the fact that they were sitting together again was still a little amazing, given just how far Jonah had come since then. He was working with people like Tom Hanks, for fuck’s sake.

“Who else?” he asked. “What about Corbin? What was he like?” He bit his lip before he could ask how amazing it was to kiss him.

“He was super great. Really down to earth,” Jonah said. “Of all the people who could have played Kyle, I’m glad it was him.” He grinned, the expression almost bashful. “It didn’t hurt that he’s really good looking, too.”

All the chatter in Christian’s mind screeched to a halt. Had he really just heard that? Had Jonah really just said that? But Jonah wasn’t gay. Was he? Sure, he’d had a string of girlfriends all throughout high school, and he’d been linked to a number of high-profile actresses, but those relationships never lasted long. Of course, there was always the obvious explanation, that he was bi or pan, but he’d never so much as mentioned any interest in guys in any of his interviews, or when they’d talked as kids.

“What, you don’t think he’s that good looking?” Jonah asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or is he just not your type?”

Oh boy. They were way too close to Christian’s crush on Jonah for comfort. “No, he’s… he’s cute. I just didn’t think you’d find him hot is all.”

Jonah smirked. “What, because I like women I can’t notice when another guy’s attractive?”

That definitely didn’t sound straight, but Christian wasn’t going to press the issue. Not when it could lead to a confession he really wasn’t ready to make yet. Or ever. Jonah’s family had been amazing in taking him in whenever he needed a place to stay. The last thing he wanted to do was make a fool of himself in front of Mason’s cousin. Especially when it could so easily get back to Mason. They still had to room together, after all.

“I didn’t say that. If you think he’s attractive, more power to you. Probably for the best since you had to kiss him.”

And what a kiss it had been. It had only gotten a split second of screen time during the trailer for Alpha Flight, but from what he’d heard, there were going to be multiple kisses. Even if he had no other interest in the movie, he would have gone just to see those kisses.

“Kissing on camera is hard enough when you think the other person’s hot. It would have been really unfortunate if we had no chemistry at all.”

There was so much Christian wanted to say to that. So much he wanted to ask. But instead, he kept his mouth shut, and a moment later, he was saved from the conversation altogether as Joyce brought their meals. They had seven days left together. Christian didn’t need to go ruining it by opening his mouth.