It's a question with a lot of weight, all of a sudden, and it has Neil licking his upper lip in contemplative anticipation. His stomach flutters. He curls his fingers in Steve's shirt and he backsteps toward the edge of the bed. It's bigger than any bed he ever had growing up--at his parents or at Welton--and he knows it's better with someone else in it.

"Let's start out on it," he says as he sinks down to sit on the edge, "and see where we go from there."