I Told The Moon About You

8: Midnight

EIGHT
Midnight

Mars got better two days later, and it was almost like she had never gotten sick in the first place. She was far too excited to go to school — she was never excited for school. In fact, she called the place a prison.

He wondered if it had to do with that new friend she made.

If that was the case, Elias was happy. She was making friends and slowly getting out of her comfort zone. That was one of the main things he wanted for her.

He aimed to tell Roman about it, oddly eager to see even one or two of those assholes, but when he got to work, he was left disappointed seeing the barstools empty. Roman wasn't there, and he was always there.

He thought he was just late, but when he still didn't show up even hours later, Elias knew that wasn't the case. He wondered if it had to do with when he came by. Had Elias said something wrong? He ruminated over everything he could've possibly said that had made him not show up, but absolutely nothing came to mind.

Maybe he made him overwhelmed? Was Elias too friendly, too blatantly eager to have company that it made him uncomfortable? Elias thought they were friends, but there was a high chance that was a one-sided belief, if this was anything to go by.

Elias debated messaging him, but he kept becoming too busy to even think of what to say. So, he pushed it all aside and chose to focus on work instead of anything else. If he thought about it too much, he could screw something up.

When work ended without any sign from Roman, Elias situated himself inside his car and stared down at his phone. Maybe he should text him. And if he didn't respond or sounded bothered — or told him to fuck off, which didn't seem like something Roman would do — then Elias would just leave the situation be. He wasn't a fan of pouring his energy into someone who didn't want it.

Elias -
You didn't stop by today. I hope everything is okay (:

He waited for a few minutes to see if Roman would respond right away like he always did, but nothing came. Elias sighed and tossed his phone into the passenger seat, heading home and turning on the radio.

The situation was a little more frustrating than he expected it to be.

When he brought Mars home after picking her up from their neighbor's house, he listened to her excitedly tell stories about her school day. She sat with Lily at lunch and met some of her friends, they included her, she got their numbers and was already part of their group. Apparently they all had similar interests, so Mars got comfortable fast.

The day seemed to pass by quickly, as it always did. He collapsed onto his bed around midnight, fresh out of the shower, and he was fully prepared to just pass out, but his phone buzzing woke his brain up.

Roman had finally texted him back.

Roman -
Sorry

Elias waited. To see if he had anything else to say, but it seemed like he wasn't going to follow up with any explanation of why he was apologizing.

Elias -
? Why are you sorry??

Roman -
I feel bsd

Roman -
bad*

Elias -
For what? Not coming by? That's okay, I'm just wondering if everything is alright with you

Roman -
that too

Elias -
??

Elias -
Are you okay?

Roman -
I don't know