An emergency is an emergency. It wouldn't look too strange for a teacher to come to the aid of a student in a case like that. And if Mallory was there? He'd let Eli take the hideaway bed and James would sleep on the couch. Figuring out turns in the bathroom would be the most awkward part.

James finally moved his hand away from Eli's so he could comb his fingers through the boy's hair. Even slightly blurry, he could still make out enough of Eli's features to find him handsome. Turning his head this way and that -- trying to find the best angle to get the clearest view with his imperfect eyes -- he just gazed at him for an increasingly long time. It was strange and outright flattering to have Eli's heart. To have had it for years without even knowing.

"I wonder how I never really saw you before," he mused.