I went straight to sleep after getting those last six chapters written down. I really do hope I didn’t forget anything, but I’m sure I got most of the important stuff.

I woke up around ten o’clock, ate a small breakfast and cleaned up quick in my little shower. To pass time until Noh showed up, I decided to read over my script. He knocked when I got to act two. He greeted me cheerfully and hugged me, which was a welcomed surprise. He took off his hat and left it on his saddle bags by the door. Not before taking out a nicely-wrapped box.

“Ooo,” I sing. “What’d you get me?”

He gives me a mom-look, like he expects me to know better. I do, but it was worth asking. “Where is everybody?”

“Well,” I was afraid he’d ask, “I did say ‘I think,’ implying that I didn’t actually know when it would start.” He gives a short little snort, like he’s amused but growing impatient. I don’t know if that’s right, but it’s what I assumed. “I’ll go give Pearl a call, see if she’s on her way.”

“In that case I hope she doesn’t answer.” I smile at the joke and head for the door. Then turn around to grab a bit for the pay phone.

I dial her number and hear it ring three times before a pick-up. A stallion answers, “Hello?”

He’s dreary. He must have had a late night, too. Though, likely much later than mine. I could only guess at what kept him up. “Um, hello. Cosh?”

“Mm, that’s me.”

“It’s me, Timber. We met yesterday, at the station.”

“Yeah, right. You’re that author kid, right?” He sounds really tired.

“That’s me,” I ensure. I notice I’m smiling.

“Cool. Uhh, Pearl, like, just left. Ugh, don’t know how she got up so early…”

“Mmm, I can imagine.”

He’s silent for a few seconds and I consider just saying ‘bye’ and hanging up. Then, “Hey, buddy…”

“Yeah?”

More silence, only more awkward now. “I can trust you right?”

“Right…?” I think I know what he’s saying, but can’t be sure.

“Like, I don’t have to worry about you and her, right?”

I thought so. “You don’t have to worry about that, I’m actually gay.” I don’t know why I felt like sharing that. Maybe I was just in a good enough mood I wasn’t afraid of the truth? Besides, if Pearl trusted him unfalteringly, I might as well trust him. At least partially. This was probably the best place to start.

He stutters, stunned. I just relayed my possibly most dangerous secret to a stallion I considered little more than a stranger for almost no good reason, and I felt fine about it. I say goodbye, hear him respond and hang up. Before I went ahead back inside I saw a pony waving her hooves around, trying to get my attention. Pearl cantered up to me with a jolly smile, followed by Stitches and Patches.

Pearl opened with a warm hug and delightful kiss on my cheek. I return the favor. Then she asks, “Did you call my apartment?”

I nod, “Cosh seemed real drowsy.”

“Cosh was still home?”

Oh boy. I nod again, slowly. The other two step up and greet me with a hug each, evading the nuclear disaster of Pearl’s boyfriend. I feel like Stitches’ hug was a little longer than the others’, but I paid little mind to the possibility. I turn to lead them inside, subconsciously noting the gift-wrapped packages each of them is carrying. I almost think there are too many, but my mood is too high. I grab the mail on the way in and notice something came from Green Stables. I have to wonder what my family would have sent me, what they have to say after over a year with basically no contact. I can only blame myself, but it’ll have to wait.

As we head inside a scenario plays in my mind quickly that has Noh reacting to seeing Pearl as a long-lost friend, or something like that. It pans out a little more awkwardly.

Pearl gets in the door and sees Noh, standing over my writing desk, where the rough-draft of my script is sitting open. I rush over, blushing, and put it away in a drawer along with the mail. Pearl speaks to him in a high-pitched tone that I can only assume is because she feels threatened, “Hi there.” She’s trying to be friendly, but how friendly can you be to a stranger? (As a waitress, she should know.)

“Hi, I’m Noguki. I’m an actor on Bridleway, for the stage Timber works for.” I notice Stitches raise an eyebrow and worry he might be jealous. I can’t imagine why.

“I’m Pearl. This is Patches, and Stitches. We work at La Café de la Lune, with Timber.” I feel like I’m being fought over. Like the prize to a death match. This is not a fight I want to witness.

“Come on, Pearl,” Patches says. “We know how to talk.” She reaches out a hoof for Noh to shake, he accepts. “Patches, aspiring brain surgeon. It’s a pleasure.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” Noh offers, returning the hoof shake. He turns to Stitches as Patches steps away. Her and Pearl are already murmuring. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. I’m Stitches. Younger brother and nurse-in-training.” They shake.

“Okay, so you’re both med students?” Noh asks.

“That’s right,” Stitches smiles politely. “We started working for the café to pay our way.”

“Is it enough?” Noh sounds a tad concerned. (Just because his debts were all settled.) Quiet you.

“It’s getting us by,” Stitches assures. I move to the kitchen when I see Pearl unpacking snack foods. Stitches is telling Noh about a scholarship and Patches is getting comfortable on my bed.

“So how did you two meet?” Pearl asks me quietly while we unload her saddle bags onto my counters.

I look up and raise an eyebrow. “He just said, we work at the same theater.”

She rolls her eyes, “Yeah, but you’ve worked there over a year and never mentioned him.”

I notice she’s whisper-shouting. I roll my eyes back at her, “I haven’t really spent a lot of time with him.” I set a bottle of cola on the counter carefully. “He comforted me yesterday during a… bit of a, meltdown.”

I don’t have to look at her to know she has a horrified look on her face, hiding in her saddle bags. Hiding from the stranger. “Are you kidding me?”

I look down at her. “No, I’m not. I had a panic attack and he stepped in as refuge.”

“Hhhhuuu…..” she groans.

“You’re acting like a child,” I whisper-shout. “He’s being incredibly polite. Why don’t you just get to know him?”

“Why are you suddenly my dad?”

I’m stunned for a second. Why is she arguing this? “What…? Why don’t you just trust me?” I surprised myself with the question, but I think it set her straight.

She looks at me, apologetically. Then sighs, “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

I purse my lips and nod stiffly. Then I hear Noh laugh. He says, “I’m sure I’ll enjoy spending time with you two, but today’s not about me is it?” I have my hooves on the table when he looks me dead in the eye.

Stitches perks up, beaming. “He’s right! Timber, come open your presents.”

“Yeah,” Patches yawns, unexpectedly. “I wanna see what I got you.”

“Okay, okay…” I step out of the kitchen, fixing my glasses and nodding again to Pearl. She smiles calmly. I trot over to an empty spot on the floor, between Stitches and Noh, and take a seat. I remember how many gifts I saw in each of their bags. I really hoped they didn’t spend too much on me.

“Here, this one’s from me,” Stitches hands me a toaster-sized package wrapped in blue-and-white-striped paper. I rip through the wrapping with my teeth to reveal a brown cardboard box. Flipping open the flaps I’m delighted to find a pristine set of wine glasses. “We don’t have any wine, but I figured you needed something since you keep reusing plastic cups.”

I smile a little awkwardly. “So who’s the sap who’s stuck with the reused plastic today?” It was meant to be a joke, seeing as there were only four glasses and there happened to be five ponies.

“Well, I…” Stitches stutters.

I reach my fore-leg around him and hug him tight. “It’s great, really. Thank you.”

He smiles again, which is good. “Heh, thanks. I got you one more thing.”

“Let’s see it!” I demand.

“Shouldn’t you open somepony else’s gift next?” Pearl calls out. She steps into the gathering place and collects the wine glasses. “I’ll fill one for everypony while you open Patches’ gift.”

“First gift…” Patches corrects, with another yawn.

“Oh,” Noh calls out, “you can fill me up a plastic cup.”

“Nonsense,” Pearl chimes. “I don’t want you feeling left out of anything.”

“It’s nothing really,” Noh insists. “Just a cup after all.”

Patches chimes in while her brother hoofs me her “first” gift, “Maybe Stitches should get the plastic one, since he bought the present.”

“Maybe Patches should get it,” Stitches retorts, “’cause she’ll probably just break a glass one.”

She makes a frown like “good point.” “Then it’s agreed,” Pearl declares. “Patches gets the plastic cup.”

“Whatever,” Patches complies. “They’re bigger anyways.”

I look down at the next gift; a long rectangular box also wrapped in blue-and-white, only this one has a bow. I pluck off the bow and tear apart the paper. Patches says something, “Go easy, we were up all night wrapping those.” I mainly ignore her, excited to get on with the festivities. Once I lift the lid from the box, my smile drops. Patches starts laughing her head off, and I quickly replace the lid while my face heats up. Inside the box is a rubber phallus. Roughly ten inches long and a little less than two inches wide. The sight of it embarrassed the living daylights out of me. Patches hollers, “I figured you’d want to start with something small!”

I push the box away while Noh squirms beside me, clearly also embarrassed to have seen it. Stitches stands up defensively, almost yelling at his sister, “Why’d you have to go and get him something like that?” I’m sure he’s blushing, too.

“Wait what was it?” Pearl asks, coming out of the kitchen again to see. I shake my head and smile, positively flustered. She opens the box and shakes her head in horror. Then, “Is this why you wouldn’t come shopping with us?”

Patches is barely coming out of her laughing fit.

I furtively slide the closed box under my bed. Noguki sees the move and smirks. I whisper to him, “I’ll just leave that there ‘til later…” I didn’t really know what I meant, but I was only fooling.

“You have quite the friend there,” he comments.

I sigh, “Now I’m afraid to see her other gift.”

“Hopefully there’s only one more.”

As if on cue, Stitches demands from Patches, “What else did you buy him?”

“Hey now,” Patches blocks. “He doesn’t get to open my next gift yet. I think its Pearl’s turn.”

“Yeah…” Pearl eyes Patches cynically. She passes me her gift, then levitates the drinks she had prepared to each of us sitting down. I wait for her to take a seat by the desk to take a drink, then start opening her noticeably soft present. It wouldn’t take a psychic to know she got me a pillow, but I still acted surprised upon revealing the soft fabric. She rolls her eyes, I thank her and hug the pillow hard. “Don’t overuse it.”

“How do you overuse a pillow?” I ask.

She shrugs and laughs a little, “I don’t even know.”

“Noguki’s turn,” Stitches announces.

“You can just call me Noh,” he instructs, before floating his gift toward me. It was a decent-sized cube wrapped in green paper with stars colored in different shades of yellow. Once it lands in front of me I rip off the thin paper and lift the flaps of the box. Inside is a cherry-red trilby with a blood-red belt around it. It’s just like the one he wore yesterday, but obviously red. I smile, almost lovingly. It would be lovingly, if I didn’t know better. It’s a great gift. “I saw you admiring mine yesterday and thought you’d like your own. I thought these colors suited you a little better than blue though.”

I put it square on my head, directly between my ears. The fabric nearly matched the color of my mane, only a little more red. I thought it was perfect. “I love it.”

“That’s good.” Noh admires it with a smile.

I smile back. Sure, I’m a little sad that I won’t get to know him as more than a friend, but really, all he needs to be is a friend. I reach a hoof up and push the hat back to rest on the back of my skull the same way he wore his, letting my over-growing bangs dangle above my eyes. Come to think of it, how do they do that? As long as I’ve known, my mane has always been too curly to dangle freely like it was. I didn’t check at the time, but even my tail is much straighter than I can remember. Not straight as grass or whatever, more wavy, but it’s growing in much more managed than it ever has before.

“Sure,” Pearl complains, “leave it the new guy to outshine everypony else.”

Patches grumbles, “Speak for yourself.” I think I’m the only one who heard her.

“Hey it’s not my fault I’m such a diva when it comes to fashion,” Noh counters.

Patches chimes in, almost out-of-turn, “Maybe he just knows Timber better?”

Pearl raises an eyebrow in protest.

I feel like inputting, “I mean, I did cry in his lap.”

The way Pearl’s and Patches’ jaws drop in unison makes Stitches and me laugh. Noh just nonchalantly takes a sip of soda. After some time we were all laughing. Once we all calm down, Patches comes right in insisting I open her second gift next.

“Wait shouldn’t my gift go next?” Stitches whines.

“You snooze you lose,” Patches asserts herself in an almost cruel way. Stitches just shrugs, so I know all is well. “Here, Timber,” she offers, hoofing a smaller, square box to me from my bed.

It has the same paper as her other one, along with both of Stitches’ gifts, and Pearl’s. Obviously. I almost hit myself for not getting that sooner. I opened it cautiously, almost afraid. Patches urges me onward, which only makes me more worried. I lift the top off the box with my eyes closed, then slowly open one eye. It was a sort-of show for the others, but I think my reaction after made it perfect; slack-jawed.

My face burns up again as Patches breaks into another laughing fit.

“I want to see it,” Pearl demands.

“You got it,” Noh teases. I can’t stop him from picking up the lacy lingerie with his magic and showing them off to the room. I drop my head onto my new pillow and squeeze my eyes shut while they all admire the obscene garment. I’m not as embarrassed as before, though, which surprises me. Maybe I just figured once the penis joke’s been made, everything else is somewhat lackluster?

Then it gets worse. “Is it even big enough?” I don’t know who said it, Noh or Stitches. I lift my head in shock. I fix my glasses while Stitches elaborates, “I wouldn’t know. That’s all.” Damn right he wouldn’t. Geez.

“Yeah, what if it doesn’t fit?” Patches claims.

Pearl snickers, Noh does next. She says, “Yeah, I think we need to see it to make sure.”

“I’m not so sure,” Noh whimpers.

“I’m with Noguki,” I admit. I don’t want to wear it in front of them. Maybe alone…

“Come on, Timber,” Patches presses. “It’s not like we haven’t seen you naked.”

“I don’t appreciate that joke!” I yell at her.

“My vote makes three, Timber,” Stitches includes.

“Not you too…” I snivel. I look between the three of them, then harden myself. “No, there’s no way. I’m not putting those on.”

“Just do it,” the actor adds.

“Noh…”

“Yes,” he responds.

“Tch, come on.”

“Just put it on!” For a straight fellow, he seems awful insistent. He’s even still holding them there, in mid-air. I let out a long groan in protest. “Either you put it on or I’ll put it on you.”

“You can’t fight all of us,” Pearl sings.

My head’s on a swivel, shooting terrified looks at all my friends.

Eventually I give in. “Fine.”

They all cheer. Somehow I knew it would come to this.