Sean sat in the sofa in front of the window holding a cup of hot chocolate. Winter had come and brought with it uncomfortable cold and incredibly comfortable cuddling, wrapped in blankets. It had brought Christmas and Thanksgiving and ‘fun’ family gatherings. And then, just as quickly, winter had gone, and Sean was glad for it. Winter was for postcards and, occasionally, eating too much candy. Spring was better. For one thing, it wasn’t as cold. Cold enough to wrap himself warm in big fluffy hoodies, of course, but not so cold that it seeped into his bones and made him resent the fact that he even had a body at all. He’d spent a lot of time writing, mostly to pass the time. Levari (and her relationship to Amy’s Rayla) had started to lead her own life in Sean’s head, and getting it all out on paper had been a great way to put his mind to other things, living vicariously through his bard. 

And then there was the other thing. The fact that Amy was still there, and she’d blossomed, because nature, sometimes, also had a sense of appropriate timing. Gosh. Sean had always liked her, of course, and wouldn’t have hesitated to call her the most beautiful person he’d ever seen even if she hadn’t transitioned. But she’d become so much… more, now. The light in her eyes shone brighter, her smile smiled harder and she was so, so soft. So soft, in fact, that he couldn’t help but be jealous. He wished, occasionally, that he could be as soft, if only so he’d be softer for her to hold. 

“What’cha thinking about?” Amy asked as she walked into the room, wrapped in the biggest blankets in the house. They were staying at Sean’s mom’s house, who was on a business trip for a few days, leaving the two of them to do some house-sitting. Amy had suspected that Ms. Sean’s Mom had been more than a little generous in the time she was going to be away, but neither of them were complaining. He turned to her lazily as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. 

“You,” he said with a little smile, and it earned him a kiss. “Some writing. And enjoying the warm.” It wasn’t warm enough yet to spend any reasonable time outdoors when the sun was out, when it wasn’t raining. But when the sun was out, Sean could curl up like a cat on a windowsill. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Amy said with a little kiss on his forehead. “Got my homework done. A little worried about finals, but who isn’t? Scoot.” Sean pulled up his legs, Amy sat on his feet and threw her blanket over the both of them. “You still good with Maisie coming over later?” Sean nodded and sipped his chocolate. 

“Yeah! I’m glad she is, honestly.” Since coming out, Maisie and Amy’s friendship had only strengthened. Of course, the two of them had a lot of things in common, especially since they were both trans. Sean couldn’t help but envy them a little bit. A part of him couldn’t help but worry that they shared a connection that would be forever out of his own reach. They’d found a part of themselves, and that was beautiful in a way he couldn’t put to words. “I’m glad you two have each other to talk about this stuff,” he said with a little smile. Amy shot him a glance he had trouble reading as anything but concern, which was a little strange. 

“What do you mean?” Amy asked and shuffled her feet under Sean for warmth. Sean shrugged, trying to find the words for a moment, but he didn’t get there before Amy prodded a little more. “Is there stuff you can’t talk about?”

“No! No, that’s not what I meant.” Amy’s concern didn’t seem to go away. “I just… This is big, important, heavy stuff. Life-changing, you know?” Amy nodded and he could feel her idly searching for his hand under the blanket. He gently touched hers, and their fingers interlaced. For a moment, it was quiet and warm and wonderful, but then Amy’s expression grew more serious again. 

“Seriously though, Sean… if you want to talk about stuff, I’m always here. You know that, right?” Sean nodded. He felt safe around her in a way he hadn’t really known before, and he did what he could to return the favour. 

“Of course, Ames. You’re my best friend. And you’re my girlfriend. Gosh.”

“I’m your girlfriend,” Amy said with a happy little smile. “And I can’t… I don’t have the words to tell you how lucky I am. You make me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“That’s ‘cause you are,” Sean said, and to his delight, she blushed. “But yeah, I know I can talk to you. It’s just that I don’t have anything big like that to talk about, as much as I love talking to you about what matters. Participating in a conversation like that is, you know, injecting myself into stuff that’s not… it’s not my place, yknow?” Amy looked at him like she was trying to decipher latin.

“I think I know what you’re saying, b--” She was interrupted by the doorbell. Sean extracted himself from the sofa and kissed her on the nose.

“Hold that thought. That’ll be Maisie.” Amy squeezed his hand softly before he went to the front door. When he opened it, he was surprised by not just Maisie, but a downcast Dan and Jace as well. He blinked a few times. He hadn’t expected the others to be there too, but he wasn’t complaining. They had a couple of days of the house to themselves, so it wasn’t like it was going to be a problem. And he doubted Amy would mind. “Hey guys, come… in?”

“Heya Sean. Emergency meeting,” Jace said, holding up a plastic bag. “I brought snacks.” Sean quickly jumped backwards to gesture all of them to come inside. He noticed that Maisie had her hand on Dan’s back, and he didn’t meet Sean’s gaze as he walked past, staring at the floor instead. Jace shot Sean a Meaningful Look, which he had no idea how to decode. He’d find out soon enough, he figured as he shut the front door. Inside, he already heard Amy saying hi to the others.

After a minute, everyone was seated on a quickly-improvised circle of pillows on the floor, wrapped in blankets, and Sean had brought everyone glasses and cups of requested cold or hot beverages. Dan was double-wrapped and nibbling miserably on a piece of chocolate. Amy and Maisie exchanged a glance, and then everyone looked at Dan. Realizing after a moment that the attention was on him, he shot Maisie a pleading look, before staring at his chocolate again, trying to make himself even smaller in his blankets. He already didn’t look very imposing. 

“Dan might need a place to stay,” Maisie said. “Soon.” Not wanting to interrupt, Sean instead just put a hand on Dan’s shoulder. “His parents found… some stuff they apparently disapprove of. He’s just… making sure. Just in case.” 

“Fuck, man,” Sean said. “I’m so sorry. Can we do anything?” Dan shook his head as he seemed to shrink just a little bit more, and Sean was worried he’d overstepped his bounds. 

“We’re here for you,” Jace said. “With snacks, if necessary.” He’d brought a lot of them, and Dan smiled a little bit. Small victories, Sean decided, were also worth celebrating. Maisie and Amy also responded to the affirmative, telling him how much he meant to them and how they were always going to be there for him, that he could lean on them. They all sat in silence for a moment, nibbling and sipping on their various refreshments and snacks, until Jace gently nudged Sean. “Hey, do you mind if we talk in the other room for a moment?” He’d asked it quietly enough so as not to draw too much attention. 

“Sure,” Sean said, knowing enough about social cues not to ask what this was about when Jace clearly wanted privacy. When Amy caught his eye as he got up, she simply cocked her head, asking an unspoken question. Sean shrugged and made the universal expression that meant ‘Idunno’. She blinked at him -- he had trouble winking sometimes so they’d developed a little ritual -- and mouthed a ‘good luck’. If Jace hadn’t banged into the doorpost out of sheer impulsive impatience, Sean and Amy would have been exchanging wordless sweet nothings for another two minutes, so it was probably for the best. He followed Jace into the kitchen, where they could talk sotto voce while still being in visual range of the others. “What’s up?”

“Look, man, I just wanna say… I really…” Jace seemed to have some trouble getting his words out, so Sean decided to just let him speak. “The way you and Amy have been together has been amazing.” Sean was about to thank him a little awkwardly but Jace wasn’t finished yet. “It’s just… it’s inspirational, you know? You’re such a good boyfriend to her, and you don’t care that she’s trans…”

“Yeah, of course,” Sean said. “I mean, thanks, but where are you going with this?” He didn’t want to assume Jace was going to say something shitty, but he didn’t know where else this conversation was going to go. 

“Well… You know, one guy to another… I wanna just… like… how did it happen?” Jace looked nervous, more energetic than usual, and he kept looking to the other room. Was he looking at Amy? Did he also have a crush on her? It wasn’t that Sean felt like he was entitled to her, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for their relationship to change like that and-- “Like… you look like you’re doing everything right and I’ve never seen Amy happier and I want to do that too and--”

“Look, man, I think Amy and me are happy with it being just us for now--”

“Dude,” Jace interrupted, and Sean couldn't help but feel a little blegh at that. He disliked acting in a way that provoked a ‘dude’- response. He tried to be better than that. “Not Amy. Maisie.”

“What?” Sean stopped and blinked in confusion. Then, glacially, realization dawned. “You… and Maisie? You and Maisie? You and Maisie! Oh my god, Jace, since when?!”

“Keep your voice down, man!” Jace said, shushing him. “Not yet. I just…  you’re a guy who’s dating a wonderful girl like that and I was wondering if you had any pointers. Guy to guy. Mano-a-mano.” Sean cringed. “Okay, yeah, that sounded weird even to me. But my point is that, like I said, you and Amy are really good together and I just want to do the same thing for Maisie.” He looked back at the living room and seemed to melt when he looked at Maisie. She and Amy had put Dan on the sofa, and the three of them seemed to be talking softly to each other.

“You’ve got it bad, huh?” Sean asked with a grin. 

“Yeaaaah,” Jace said with a sheepish smile. 

“Well, it’s pretty simple, honestly,” Sean said. “I just try to be the best for her, you know? She deserves a good partner, and I just do what I can to fit that. And if I’m ever not sure of what to do, I just put myself in her shoes. What would I think, how would I feel about any given situation, you know? Just try to have empathy and put yourself in her position and you’ll be just fine. I’ve got faith in you, man.” Jace smirked, and Sean clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a good guy, and I’m sure you can get in touch with your feminine side enough to be there for her when things get difficult, you know?”

“Yeah,” Jace said. “Thanks, Sean. I’m glad Amy has you. Seems like you’re a pretty good partner to her already.”

“Thanks man. You wanna head back? I promise I won’t tease you about Maisie in front of her.” He winked. With both eyes. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” Jace said with a shocked expression as they headed back into the room. Dan seemed to be feeling a bit better, quietly talking and laughing with Amy and Maisie. Sean couldn’t help but imagine Jace and Maisie as a couple as the two of them exchanged glances neither of them seemed to acknowledge. They’d look really cute together. Then, Amy looked up at him and all thoughts that weren’t her drifted to the background.