They didn’t speak about the incident with Alicia again. Maze had stayed in his room until James finally went to bed, smashing things every so often or shouting at nothing, and James didn’t dare go near him when he was so mad. When he woke up the next morning Maze was already awake and happily cooking them both breakfast as he always had.

It seemed like they were going to just pretend it didn’t happen, which was fine by James, he was more than happy to forget Alicia ever existed or that he’d almost given in to her again. Maze didn’t offer an explanation as to why he’d reacted so aggressively to Alicia kissing him and James didn’t ask for one; he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.


They fell into a comfortable, easy rhythm as the months passed. Maze cooked all of their meals and used the time between meals to either practice new techniques or look up new recipes, while James spent his days painting and selling the best ones to art galleries.

Maze turned out to be an ideal house mate. He was tidy, he cooked exceptionally well, and he didn’t pry into James’ business. And though he didn’t pay rent, he didn’t need to with the amount of money James was making from his paintings, and there were times where they still butted heads; overall James was glad for Maze’s company and friendship. He made it easy for James to be himself around him.