end of the hallway. The three third-floor bedrooms were connected to the main house heat, which had come on, and the bathroom had a gas space heater in it, so the pipes were safe, but the hallway was not connected to the main system, and it was freezing – you could almost see your breath.

I said “Hey Jon – whassup? It’s a little cold out here for study, or for sleep.”

Jon looked at me with those sad, dark eyes of his and grunted, “Got no choice. Ron scored some chick and doesn’t want company.”

I told him, “Look, man, you can’t sleep out here in the hallway tonight – it’s too damn cold for that. If Ron won’t let you back in, at least come into my room – you can have the loveseat in there, and I’ve got heat.”

Jon thought about it for a minute and said “Yeah, I guess you’re right – I’ve got too damn much to do these next two weeks to get sick now. Thanks.”

I led the way past RonJon’s door to mine – all the way out in the hall, we could hear Ron’s flavor-of-the-night squealing as Ron impaled her on his huge pole. I started to comment but remembered that Jon may not know how much I had learned about Ron while Jon was away, and might resent the extra coursework I had done, so I zipped the lip. Jon followed me in, looking like a whipped puppy – he was obviously in one of his more severely depressed moods, and the gloom that emanated from him (I swear!) dimmed the lights in my room.

I was tired, and stripped down for bed. I went to the bathroom for my nightly obligations, and when I came back Jon was lying on the couch in front of the window. He was still shivering, so I told him “There’s an extra blanket on the shelf in the closet. You’ll probably need it – that window is not all that well sealed.”

He said, “I don’t want to put you out or anything.”

I said “Fugghedaboudit. Just get up and get the damn blanket – you’ll keep me awake with your teeth chattering all night!” I was grinning when I said this, and he actually smiled back at me. It struck me that, in the several months I had lived in this house, up until that moment I had never seen Jon smile, or laugh, not once. He had a sweet smile that showed his white teeth next to his dusky olive skin, next to those cherry-ripe lips. His smile moved up into his big, dark, lustrous eyes, and for the first time I noticed that he was really very good-looking – at least he was when he smiled.

Jon got up from the couch and walked over to the closet, and took out the blanket. He had stripped down to his boxers,