“Oh shit. Somebody dropped their keys.”

Mari’s nostrils flared. “I’m trying to have a conversation with you, you know”, she snapped. “Like an actual conversation? About us? All we do is fight and now when I’m trying to solve things you get distracted by someone’s keys?”

James stared blankly at her. “We’re at a Halloween party dressed as Shrek and Fiona. My face is green.”

She looked at him like he had two heads. “What does that have anything to do with this?”

“Why are you bringing this up to me at a Halloween party?”

Mari threw her hands up and let out a harsh laugh. “This is ridiculous. Whatever, go find whoever’s keys those are. I’m done with this.” James watched her push her way through the crowded basement, picking up a half-drunk beer she found discarded on a table. He sighed. They’d been fighting a lot, more than they ever had. He wasn’t sure if that’s what love was supposed to be like.

He anxiously turned the cold keys between his fingers. He missed what they had over the summer—the bliss of a new relationship, the eternal hum of cicadas that filled the gaps between them.

The sharp edges of the keys left indents in his palm from how hard he was gripping them. “God”, he grumbled.

He went further into the basement, shoving past the kids he recognized from some of his classes, although instead of discussing philosophy they now sang loudly and reeked of beer. He found one of the people who actually lived in the house, Ro, standing in the corner of the room with some girl he didn’t recognize. “Hey, someone dropped these,” he said, handing them over to Ro. The girls exchanged glances, locking eyes before each giving him a dirty look; it was obvious he had interrupted something.

“Um, great. Thanks”, Ro said. She looked over at Kate, who was anxiously stirring her drink and notably looking everywhere besides Ro. She knew this was the guy Mari’s been with, but couldn’t remember his name. She figured it didn’t really matter. Everyone knew they were bound to break up any day now.

Kate cleared her throat as the guy walked away. “So”, she started. “I was, uh, going to say something.”

“You were.” Their faces were flushed, both attributing it to the drinking but maybe it was something more. Kate’s eyes were framed by glitter and Ro tried to ignore how her face glowed in the dim, lantern-lit basement, how her plastic tiara sat like it was always meant to be there.

Kate let out a nervous laugh, stirring her drink more and more aggressively. The clicking of the keys as they rolled through Ro’s fingers echoed louder than they should have. “It’s just that I, uh”, she cleared her throat. “I mean, we have known each other for a while, and I don’t want to, you know, mess anything up, but I think, or I guess it’s more of a know, that I like–”

“Hey!”Avery slid in front of Kate, pointing to the keys twirling in Ro’s hand. “Those are my partner’s keys, could I grab them?”

Ro had to bend her neck all the way back to look at Avery. She cursed tall men and their tendencies to ruin things with their loudness. She huffed, shoving the keys into Avery’s hand before pushing him to the side, grabbing Kate’s face in her hands, and kissing her.

Avery didn’t really understand what was going on, but then again he was generally confused by lesbians. And at least he found Wren’s keys.

They were still sitting with their face tucked into their knees by the time Avery found his way outside. The latter sat down next to them, letting the keys dangle from their worn, embroidered lanyard. “See, I told you it would be fine”, Avery smiled. “What would you ever do without me?”

Wren glanced up out of their arms, eyes scrunched from a smile. “Thanks”, they said, their voice muffled by their crossed arms. They uncurled themselves to grab their keys, grateful that they hadn’t been lost or stolen in the house. They traced over the clay ladybug keychain Avery had made them for their last anniversary. Although losing their keys would have sucked, they knew they realistically could have gotten new ones. That keychain, however, would have been lost forever. “Can we go home now? I’m tired and it’s too loud.”

“Of course. I’ll drive.” Avery took the keys back from Wren, holding them extra tight in case they somehow slipped out of his hands and re-entered the void of lost things. Hand in hand, they tiredly bumped into each other, stumbling down the grassy hill to Wren’s Subaru. “You know, I think Ro and Kate are dating”, Avery mentioned as they climbed into their seats. He blasted the heat and played Wren’s favorite jazz playlist.

Wren hummed. “That’s cute. They work well together.” The car’s movement lulled them, their eyes drooping. The street lamps streaked between their eyelashes as they leaned against the cold window.

They were silent for a couple of minutes. “I think Mari and James broke up”, Avery added. The only response he got was a soft snore.

Avery smiled. The key’s lanyard softly bumped against his knee as he drove, making sure to avoid all the potholes his town was too lazy to fix.