The evening settled into its own warmth the three of them in the living room, the bag filling slowly, Lila's exam cards still covering the floor, the lamp doing its steady work in the corner.
At some point Lila disappeared and came back with food she'd ordered without mentioning it, and they ate on the couch with the bag half-packed by the door, talking about nothing in particular and everything that mattered.
When Alex finally left that night, he stood in the doorway for a moment.
Leo stood in front of him.
They looked at each other.
"Tomorrow," Alex said.
"Yeah," Leo said.
Alex kissed him slow and warm and without hurry, one hand at the back of his neck, the other against his jaw, the way he kissed him when he wanted Leo to know exactly how much he meant it.
Leo kissed him back the same way.
When they parted, Alex pressed his forehead to Leo's for a moment.
Then he stepped back.
"Get some sleep," he said.
"You too."
Leo watched him go down the hallway.
