Housekeeping

In the first two days after Nicky's birthday, the relationship between the two became a bit awkward-although they rarely saw each other.Spencer shut himself in his office most of the time.He also didn't come out to help Nicky with math again-but in fact, it had happened in the past, and Spencer couldn't help him when he was busy with big projects.After that, Spencer flew to Seattle and spent a few days as a consultant to the sneaker company.The day he returned, Nicky had just been away for a week, to watch the cats for the Burnetts.

Nicky found, with dismay, how much he missed Spencer's company.

Thanksgiving is approaching.Spencer makes a long-lost appearance while Nicky is in the kitchen, poring over his math book.

"Still suffering from algebra?" Spencer asked softly.

"It's not that hard anymore. We've reached an agreement. As long as I study hard, it won't bother me."

"Sounds fair." Spencer wandered over to the cupboard, took out a glass, and went to the water fountain to fill it up.Nicky couldn't take his eyes off the rise and fall of his Adam's apple as he drank.Spencer puts the glass on the counter—Nicky will put it in the dishwasher in a moment—and walks over to Nicky.He bit his lip lightly.

"My sister is coming in a few days," Spencer said. "She didn't want me to spend Thanksgiving alone."

"Oh. Well, I can go to Ewan and Powell's. They usually go to Lake Tahoe for vacation."

"I'm not trying to drive you away, Nicky. I have a lot of rooms. I just wanted to let you know. And, uh, I hope... if you have no other plans... you can have dinner with us."

"You want to spend Thanksgiving with me?"

Spencer stared earnestly at the wall, refusing to look at him. "Yeah. I think... yes. It's not a big meal though. Jamie, like me, can't cook very well. Usually we just order the deli set menu from the store, which is enough for three people."

During the years Nicky and Tom were together, he worked every Thanksgiving.Under Tom's insistence, the Phoenix Pavilion is also open for holidays.Not only to take advantage of the opportunity to make money, but also to make a good impression on customers, so as to cultivate more repeat customers.Last Thanksgiving, Nicky hadn't come out from the shadow of a broken relationship.Of course, his family in Bakersfield invited him back for a family reunion, but he wasn't in the mood for the heavy traffic on Thanksgiving weekend.He also turned down Ivan and Powell's invitation to go to Lake Tahoe with them, opting instead to watch their house, pitying himself over a microwaved burrito.

Nicky felt that his throat was a little dry, and it would be nice to have some water at this time. "Sounds really good. Thanks."

Nicky got her first big Spencer smile since her birthday. "Great! I have to hurry up and get some furniture for my sister's room. Would you like to come over and help?"

So the next morning, they went to IKEA.Spencer's car couldn't fit much, Nicky's was smaller, and the transmission had been rattling annoyingly for the last few days, so the two had to rent a pick-up truck first.It was Spencer's first visit to IKEA, and he was a little too excited, so Nicky taught him to get a pencil stub and note paper at the entrance as he walked, and then jotted down the beds, mattresses, dressers, and a pair of beds to buy along the way. Head tables, and other odds and ends.They laughed together, pointing to all kinds of weird product names, and then agreed to name these things "Skarsgard①". "I think you need a few more Skarsgard pillows," Nicky said. "And a Skarsgard duvet. We can get those downstairs."

Note ①: There is a famous performing arts family in Sweden "Skarsgard", in which the father, Stellan Skarsgard, and the eldest son, Alexander Skarsgard, are all famous actors.

"Okay. Then do I need this Skarsgard... what is this thing?" Spencer took a plastic box from the shelf and studied it over and over in his hand.

"It's a wire storage box. I don't think you'll need it anymore."

"But my office will definitely use them. More than a few, to be exact."

Nicky shook his head. "Don't give in to your dark shopping desires. A lot of people plan to buy only those few things, but after coming here, they pick up a bunch of gadgets and trinkets with weird names, three hundred That's how the Ocean was spent. Hang in there, apprentice."

Note ②: The original text is Padawan, a stalk of "Star Wars", meaning "Jedi Apprentice".

Spencer put the box down with a smile. "Fortunately you took me with you, oh, Jedi Master."

By the time they finally made it out of the showroom maze, Spencer seemed to be out of battery.Nicky took him to the cafeteria, where they ate platefuls of meatballs in lingonberry sauce and mashed potatoes, then sipped coffee and discussed creative uses for the wares in the showroom.Spencer had a brilliant idea. “You can buy a bunch of those Skarsgard plastic poufs—I recommend the green ones. Then break into your ex’s restaurant, throw out all the chairs, and replace them with these stools.

"Can I replace all his plates and silverware with plastic ones too?"

"Of course. Then replace the candlelight dinner-style lighting in his shop with a spooky spider-shaped chandelier."

"Great idea, yes. Then I can—wait, how do you know what lights are used in the Phoenix Pavilion?"

Spencer looked uncomfortable. "Because I have been," he said vaguely.

"you've been to?"

"go eat lunch."

"When?"

"A few weeks ago."

"Why go there?"

"I want...I want to meet Tom. You don't talk much about him, but I'm curious...what the bird man looks like, that's all. I can't tell. I know it's stupid. Very Feel sorry."

But Nicky wasn't angry.In fact, it made Nicky feel a little giddy that Spencer was probing his affairs so curiously.He wondered if Spencer had been to Phoenix Court before his birthday, or after. "So how do you feel?"

Seeing that Nicky was indeed not angry, Spencer relaxed.He shrugged. "The food was good, but I thought it was a bit too over the top, a restaurant in a mall should be more accessible. I also asked to meet the chef - pretending I was allergic to some kind of spice. He was very handsome. But I also liked him. That's the impression. I got the feeling he was anxious to get back to the kitchen."

"He just wants to go back to the kitchen at all times. The kitchen is what he really cares about, you know. It doesn't matter to him if it's Simon, or anyone else he's been with. His career is his first and foremost. The only thing I love."

"Yeah." Spencer nodded. "You know, I like my job. I like it a lot. But no... As you probably noticed, I don't go out on dates much."

As far as Nicky knew, Spencer didn't go out on dates at all.But he didn't say anything, and it seemed a little wrong to think about the direction of this topic in his heart.

Spencer rubbed the edge of the paper towel. "It's not that I don't want to date. I'm actually... God, I'm actually lonely. I'm the kind of person who wants to settle down, you know? I had a hard time finding a woman to be with for a long time. Coming out After that, I didn't know what to do, how to find a man who didn't just want to have a one-night stand with me. I couldn't figure out the way at all."

"Well... If you want to seek advice in that regard, I probably can't give you any good ideas. I guess you have guessed it. Maybe you can try asking Powell and Ivan."

"I don't want advice. I just want you to know that I'm not like Tom."

God.Nicky felt his heart throbbing again, warm, even though he'd told himself not to. "I know you're not like him," he said softly. "But I can't, I can't..."

"I know. I just wanted to tell you, nothing else." Spencer stood up and cleared away his dirty dishes. "Go get our Skarsgards, will you?"

By the time they went downstairs to get the shopping cart, the atmosphere had become quite normal.They browse the kitchen section first, and Nicky has to convince Spencer to put down the pan combo, since neither of them is likely to use it.But he couldn't stop Spencer from throwing a large package of tea light candles, plastic bag seal clips, and a blue silicone potholder into the cart. "Don't take that kitchen cart," Nicky warned him.

"But it has wheels!"

"That's nice. But you already have a lot of storage in your kitchen, and the car is going to end up being your dump."

"But I wouldn't—well. You're probably right."

With a triumphant smile, Nicky pushed the shopping cart towards the textile district.

By the time they unloaded the IKEA purchases, moved everything to the spare room, and returned the rental pickup truck, it was nearly dusk.They decide to drive out to buy dinner, then dig into the assembly instructions and assemble the furniture with hex wrenches.The assembly process was even more fun than Nicky imagined.They talked and laughed as they worked until the wee hours of the morning, when the embarrassment of Nicky's birthday kiss finally faded away.They ended up getting all of the furniture, but there were a few mysterious parts left in the hope that it wouldn't fall apart while Jamie was using it.

Jamie herself was a buxom version of Spencer.She has the same beautiful skin and dazzling smile.Moreover, she accepted Nicky so quickly and was so friendly to him that within a few hours of knowing him, Nicky put her in the category of her own sister.

"It's unbelievable that you've cleaned up Spencer's pighouse," she said five or six times in delight.They were sitting on the sofa in the living room, Jamie sitting between her brother and Nicky, a bottle of Bud Light in hand. "I thought I needed to call the Department of Health for help."

"Jermine," Spencer threatened.

"Hmm. Maybe you will be like those who died suddenly living alone, buried in the garbage heap made by yourself for three weeks before the neighbors come to you looking for the smell."

Spencer rolled his eyes, and Nicky was overjoyed. "He's not that bad, Jamie. Now he's putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, sometimes."

Jimin made a fainting motion. "God bless! And I found that his clothes don't have any contrasting colors at all!"

"We sorted his clothes by color."

Jamie pats Nicky on the knee. "Nice job. You should see what he wore as a kid. I bet there are some old pictures."

Spencer stood up. "Since you two are making me so happy, I guess I'd better go get dinner. What would you like to eat?"

"Anything but turkey," Jamyn said. "We'll have enough to eat tomorrow."

She waited quietly until the garage door opened and closed, then turned to Nikki and said, "So, are you done?"

"Uh... what?"

"Are you two officially settled?"

"Formally what?"

Jimin patted his arm. "Officially, of course. You don't have to play dumb with me, Nicky. I know my brother is gay, and I'm totally fine with it."

Nicky rubbed his arms.Jimin was wrong. "We're not in that relationship. He's just my boss. He's my roommate. He's my friend. That's it."

"If you really think so, you don't look as smart as I thought, honey. For so long, every email and text he sent me was 'Nicky' this 'Nicky' that On and on. I've never seen him do that to anybody, man or woman."

"He...but...we didn't..."

"But I see the way you look at him, Nicky Hauser. You watch his every move, and you have those big brown eyes full of love. I've only been here a few hours, and you The two have been helping each other answer the phone and handing each other drinks. The two of you and the newlyweds are only short of a pair of rings."

In fact, Nicky has long been aware of these things, somewhere in his heart.He took care to hide these things under polynomials, names for acids and bases, and stain-removing formulas for pure cotton and silk.But now, Jie Min made him face the reality thoroughly, making him feel like he was struck by lightning.

damn it.He was in love with Spencer Cartwright.

Jamie admired his stunned expression for a moment, then squeezed Nicky's shoulder. "It's not too bad, is it? My brother's a nice guy."

"I...I know. But I shouldn't...no. I just can't."

"Why, dear?"

Nicky loves Jamie, but he doesn't want to whimper and share another 'being Tom Green' misery.So he just shook his head. "I have a psychological shadow."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for you. I've been through that too. Man. But you know, there are people in this world—like you—who are good. Spencer is one of those people. He really Very good."

Nicky knows.He believed in Spencer.But everything seemed too fragile right now: Nicky's job, his home, the school he was trying to crack.He couldn't let something as fickle as "love" jeopardize all of this.Besides, who could be sure that Spencer was in love with him too?Yes, he does seem interested in Nicky.But Spencer has never had a stable boyfriend, and maybe he just wants to grab the most convenient person around him.

Jamie watched Nicky silently, perhaps pondering the changing look on his face.Finally, she patted him again. "everything will get better."

But Nicky was not comforted at all.